My Heart Laid Bear (Blue Moon Junction) (7 page)

              Clover dressed, questions swirling in her mind.

Sam walked her to her car, holding her hand possessively in his. He drew her into his arms, and though she could feel the hot, hard length of his aroused cock against her belly, he kissed her almost chastely before standing looking after her as she drove away in a daze.

Blue, her husband Pete, and Jemma were crowded around the computer in Blue’s office, frowning at the screen.

“Oh, it’s too bad,” Blue said. “I was looking forward to seeing the Winklesteins and the Ramseys this year.”

“What is it?” Clover asked, standing in the doorway. Blue looked upset, Jemma looked disgusted, and Pete looked resigned.

“Marjorie went whining and crying to the Jamboree Planning Committee and they said that unless we disown Sam and fire you, the McCoy family is no longer welcome,” Jemma said scornfully. “As if.”

“What? No, that can’t be. I don’t want to cause all of you trouble,” Clover exclaimed in dismay. “I should find another job.”

Blue shook her head. “We are not going to let them dictate how we run our business and live our lives,” she said firmly. “Besides, attending the Jamboree has its issues. They’ve got these arbitrary ideas of social status, they exclude a lot of our family’s friends, and it can be very divisive.”

“They’re a bunch of A-holes. We should have our own Jamboree,” Jemma said.

“Jemma! You’re a genius!” Clover cried out.

“I am?” Jemma looked pleased. “I mean, of course I am.”

“Really,” Clover said to Blue. “Your family is popular and has a great reputation with bears nationwide. Why not hold an alternative get-together, and invite everyone?”

“Except the people on the Jamboree planning committee. And especially Marjorie,” Jemma said, making a disgusted face.

“No, we would invite everyone,” Blue said. “It’s up to them if they want to come or not.  You know what? That is a great idea. I could hold it the same weekend as the Jamboree so that everyone who isn’t invited has a place to go.” She looked considerably cheerier now. “I do love planning these events. This will be so much fun. We’ll call it the McCoy Family Jam.”

“We could let families camp out in the west part of the property,” Pete said. “We can have barbecues. It will be a much more down-home, comfortable feel than the Jamboree.”

“I can start doing the social media marketing for that too,” Clover said happily. She hated the idea of any harm coming to the McCoys because they’d been willing to hire her.  “You’ll need a website for the event. Oh, and Jemma, you can help out with the youth programming.”

Jemma lit up with glee. “Yes! I already know what bands I want to invite. And we could use the camp for activities for the kids. The challenge course, the archery range, everybody will love it.”

“I’ll call the web design company,” Clover said. “Let’s get this party started!”

* * *

The exhilaration from earlier in the day had worn off and been replaced by a twisting dread. Clover had found the address of the Snakepit, and they opened at 5 p.m., so she figured that was when Sapphire would be showing up, whether she was working there or hanging out there these days.

Clover had arranged a ride home for her brother and sisters, and very reluctantly cancelled her evening “honey tasting” with Sam. And she’d refused to tell him where she was going.

If this relationship with Sam was going to progress, she needed to know why he had refused to let Jeffrey marry Sapphire.  She was starting to have her suspicions. Something smelled fishy about this whole set-up.

She arrived at the Snakepit at 4:45, and it definitely lived up to its name.  It was a squat, ugly concrete block building painted a brownish-crimson.  The side of the building had been peppered with bullet holes, the yellowing windows were cracked, and one of them had been covered over with wooden boards that were adorned with graffiti.

She parked next to a row of motorcycles and climbed out. Did she actually want to go in there?

Glancing around the parking lot, she realized that she wouldn’t need to. Sapphire was standing with her back to Clover…passionately kissing a biker with long, greasy brown hair and a ratty beard. A jackal shifter, by the scent of him.  She was holding a beer in her left hand, and had her right arm around the biker’s waist.

The biker wore a jacket that announced his allegiance to the Skullriders – the kind of gang that gave bikers a bad name. Drug running, prostitution, weapons smuggling – that was what they were known for.

“Sapphire?” Clover was boiling with fury.

Sapphire spun around with a screech of outrage and dropped her beer on the ground.

“What the hell? You’re spying on me?” she screamed.

“You’re pregnant and you’re making out with some random dude and drinking alcohol?” Clover cried out, outraged. Good God. This baby was going to be born with two heads.

“You’re pregnant? Get the fuck off me!” The biker leaped back in horror. He couldn’t have been more horrified if Clover had announced that Sapphire had highly contagious leprosy.

“No, no, no!” Sapphire wailed, rushing towards him. He backed up quickly. “Baby, I’m not pregnant! I swear!”

“Bullshit. You showed me the goddamn pregnancy test.” Clover glowered at her sister.

 “Fuck this. You didn’t say nothing about no fuckin’ baby. I’m outta here.”  The man turned and headed for his bike.

Sapphire ran after him, wailing. “No, baby, you don’t understand! It was a scam! I’m not pregnant, I swear! I was dating this rich dude and my friend was preggo, so I snagged her pregnancy test and made a copy and just put my name on it! He was totally on the hook, and then his asshole brother found out, and—”

The man leaped onto his motorcycle and roared off, his bike kicking up a cloud of dirt as he screeched out of the parking lot. Sapphire whirled around and screamed at Clover, eyes blazing with fury.

“You! You ruin everything!” Tears were streaming down her face, leaving black rivers of mascara.

Clover barely restrained herself from hauling off and socking her in the face. She’d dropped everything to run to Sapphire’s rescue, and dragged her brother and sisters with her…for nothing.

“You are disgusting. And you are not coming anywhere near me or any of the kids, ever again,” Clover yelled.

“They’re my family too – you can’t keep me away!” Sapphire’s face contorted into an outraged snarl. She didn’t look pretty at all right then.

“Oh, please.” Clover looked at her with disgust. “You ran off and didn’t talk to any of us for years. I don’t know why you’re even bothering to come around and try to buddy up to us now, but it’s too late. If you come bother us, I’ll get a restraining order and I will tell the judge why, I swear to God. Trust me, no one in Blue Moon Junction wants to see your face.”

She jumped into her car and drove off, leaving Sapphire screaming swear-words and stamping her feet in the dirt.

When Clover got back to the McCoy property, she went straight to Sam’s office.

“I just saw my sister. Hanging out at this disgusting bar called the Snakepit, with a biker from the Skullriders gang.  She was never pregnant – she just admitted it to me. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have believed me?”

She shrugged unhappily. “Maybe. No, I wouldn’t have. I would have thought you were just saying that because you didn’t like our family.”

“I know how strong family bonds are. It was something that you needed to find out for yourself. I’m sorry that this happened, but you understand now why I wouldn’t let Jeffrey marry her – and why he was willing to listen to me.  I got wind of what she was up to, and convinced her friend who’d lent her the pregnancy test to talk. Well, paid five hundred bucks for her to show Jeffrey the test. Jeffrey had never loved Sapphire in the first place, but if she really had been pregnant he would have married her.”

She sagged against the desk. She felt like a complete idiot now. She’d stomped in to Sam’s office like some avenging harpy from hell, shouting and cursing at him…and her sister had been trying to pull a scam all along. “I see.”

Sam leaned back in his chair. “The Skullriders. Hmm. I didn’t know they were in this area.”

“Well, they’re about an hour away from here,” Clover said. “The bar is out in the middle of nowhere. I doubt they’d try to come hang out in this county; it’s got a reputation for being pretty law-abiding.”

He stood up. “We’ll have to keep an eye out for them.” There was a gleam in his eyes as he walked towards her.

“And now, Miss Jones, I believe that you have been neglecting your duties. Leaving early? And even worse, trying to cancel a date with me?” He loomed over her. She scooted back on the desk.

“Was this actually a date?” she wondered.

“We can go out to dinner in town if you like.”

She felt a warm glow deep inside her. He really meant it that he wanted to be with her. To be seen with her. To let everyone know he was with her.

“Maybe we should wait a bit before we take it public,” she said.

“Your wish is my command.” He tipped her head back and brushed his lips over hers. His breath smelled sweet and minty. “In fact, after I go lock that office door, you’re going to tell me what you want me to do to you tonight.”

The rush of desire that washed over her left her breathless. “I…am?” she squeaked as he hurried over and locked the door.

“Yes, you are.” He grabbed her by the hand and led her over the big leather couch that faced his desk.

“And then I’m going to reciprocate.” Her legs trembled with desire and she sank onto the couch.  “I want to make you come. I want to know how much I turn you on.” Her voice quavered slightly as she said it. Deep down, she felt that same insecurity that had plagued her all her life. She still saw herself as the fat girl with the hand-me-down clothes and the weird parents. The one who stayed in the shadows and sat in the back of the room and never raised her hand even though she knew all the answers.

“You want to know how much I turn you on?” Sam grabbed her hand and placed it on top of his enormous cock.

              She couldn’t hold back a little gasp of arousal. She desperately wanted that heated length inside her, but that wasn’t the game they were playing, and she couldn’t deny that the thought of having this powerful, confident bear-shifter obedient to her every whim and responsive to her every whimper was seductive.

              “Now tell me what you want me to do to you,” he murmured. He kissed her gently on the mouth, then drew back and just gazed at her, his lips slightly parted and his pupils dilated in eyes that had once again turned that wild honey-gold.

              Clover took a deep, shuddering breath and began to unfasten the row of buttons that ran down her dress from neckline to hem. She drew the fabric aside, then flicked open the front clasp of her peach satin bra. She should have felt exposed, self-conscious, with her ample curves exposed to him, but his gaze was so hungry that she felt nothing but nervous anticipation.

              “Kiss…kiss my breasts,” she said, a blush rising in her cheeks at the unfamiliar experience of expressing her desires out loud.

              “Gladly.” Sam palmed one of her breasts with his large hand, then bent his head to suck the other nipple into his mouth. He suckled the pebbled flesh, sending bolts of silvery sensation to her clit, and a trickle of arousal soaked the fabric of her panties. He lapped at her nipple with the flat of his tongue, gently abrading the flesh, drawing it to an even harder and more sensitive point. Then he nipped it gently between his teeth, making her gasp and arch against her mouth.

              He pulled away and grinned at her. “Tell me what you want me to do to you,” he said again.

              She shifted, trying to ease the ache between her thighs. “Take my panties off,” she said, “and….and…”

              He kneeled between her knees and pulled her panties down, placing a quick, teasing kiss on the curls of her mound. He looked up at her. “I want you to say it,” he insisted. “Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

              She swallowed hard, her pulse accelerating, and said, “I want you to…put your fingers inside me.”

              He growled, then delicately parted the moist petals of her pussy with his fingers. He was so huge, had such big hands, but he touched her with such gentleness that it almost hurt her heart. He bent his head and lapped briefly at her clitoris, making her thighs tremble, then looked up at her as he slid one thick finger into her core. He curved his finger back towards himself, gently stroking her G-spot, and her pussy clenched around his finger, gripping him tightly. He held her gaze, licking his lips as he began to move his finger in and out, hitting that sensitive bundle of nerves with each movement and sending her soaring towards orgasm with a suddenness that make her pant and clutch at the leather of the couch.

              She let her head fall back and closed her eyes, allowing herself to succumb to the intensity of the sensations. Sam moved his finger in and out of her pussy faster and harder, pushing her relentlessly towards bliss, and when she felt his tongue on her clitoris again, rapidly flicking in time with his hand, the pleasure crested and she cried out hoarsely, writhing against his mouth as she came and came.

              It took her a few moments to come back to herself, weak and shaking, but when she did, she said in a wavering voice, “I want you to stand up and take off your shirt.”

              Sam obeyed her, stripping his shirt over his head and revealing sleek muscles that made her mouth water. His biceps flexed as he clenched and unclenched his hands, gazing ravenously at her naked body.

              “Come here,” she said, with more confidence in her voice.

              “But I—”

              “I’m telling you what I want,” she insisted. “Come here.”

              He stepped towards her, and she drew her leg underneath her so that her mouth was at the same level as the straining bulge of his cock. With fingers trembling with a combination of completion and renewed lust, she undid the button of his fly, slid the zipper down and released his dick. It was thick and heavy in her hand and twitched against her palm. Sam bit back a needy moan and shuddered. She looked up to see the strangest expression on his face – wild and lost and lustful.

              She bent her head and ran her tongue delicately over the mushroom-shaped head of his cock, savouring the salty taste of his precum, then sucked him into her mouth like a lollipop. He moaned and ran his fingers into her curls.

              She began to bob her head, slowly, taking the full length of him into her mouth until his pubic hair tickled her nose, then withdrawing until he almost popped free of her lips. With each pass she tongued the precum from the slit in the head of his cock and savoured his building groans of pleasure and anticipation.

              She began to move faster, hollowing her cheeks as she sucked on him, taking him as deep as she could without choking. She could feel him trembling as he tried to resist thrusting into her mouth, and dug her fingernails in his taut, rounded buttocks to draw him closer. He gave a throaty cry and shuddered, then stepped back, breathing hard, his erection bobbing against his belly, a pearl of dewy precum on the tip.

              “I didn’t tell you to move,” she protested, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “I want to make you come.”

              He leveled a ravenous golden gaze on her and growled, “We can make each other come.” Then he pounced, tumbling her backwards onto the sofa.

              He settled between her thighs, his body hot and strong and heavy, and Clover wrapped her legs around his waist and silently begged him to enter her.

He thrust inside her in one excruciatingly smooth motion, stretching and filling her, making her bite her lip to hold back a desperate moan. She wanted to beg him to take her hard and fast, to fuck her, but he stilled for a moment, breathing hard and burying his face in the side of her neck.

She squirmed and panted and locked her ankles behind his back. “Sam…”

She could feel it the moment his control snapped. He rose up over her and thrust hard, almost desperately, slamming against her with each flex of his hips. The muscles in his arms and chest bunched and coiled and she gazed up into eyes, gone feral, and wild sensations shuddered through her and a heavy heat began to build in her belly.

He cursed, then gathered her into his arms and held her against him as he continued to pump. She clutched at his back, feeling the flex of his muscles under the sweat-slick skin. She allowed her head to fall back and moaned wildly as the sensations between her thighs crested into a maelstrom of sensation that swept through her, electrifying her and leaving her weak. Her body clenched and throbbed and pulsed around him and she thought she might go insane from the sweet wildness of the pleasure.

Sam’s rhythm stuttered and he gave a low, hoarse groan that had her coming all over again as he throbbed inside her and flooded her with his sticky seed.

He collapsed on top of her and they clung to each other, fighting for breath, limp and sated.  He drew back and kissed her, a kiss full of passion and hunger. He stroked her hair as they lay in each other’s arms. It was a long time before they felt ready to let go.