Liv's Journey (12 page)

Leo shook his head sadly. "It's a damn shame. But if the lawyer says it's the way it's gotta be, then there's no choice."

Ace ate the last bite of his blackberry pie. "How do you plan to pay him?"

"I'm not sure, yet. Cash, I expect. I doubt he'll want to take a check."

There was a pause as Consuelo came by to pour more coffee.

"I'll come with you to make the exchange, bro."

Trey shook his head. "No need. I can handle this myself."

Ace shook his head, his longish brown hair brushing the collar of his shirt. "Don't be dumb, Trey. I can help."

Leo spoke up before the two brothers could get to arguing. "Ace is right, Trey. You don't know what this guy is about. He could be up to no good."

Trey snorted. He didn't think he'd be in too much trouble handling one slimy photographer. "I hand him the money and he signs the contract. That's all there is to it."

"Not everybody has honor like you do," Ace pointed out.

That was hard to argue with because the photographer certainly hadn't proven his motivations were humanitarian. "Yeah, well…"

"I'm goin’."

Trey stared at Ace, noting his older brother's stubbornly set jaw. Having him along wouldn't be a danger. "Okay." Liv and Jackie laughed together and the tinkling sound was a pleasure to Trey's ears. He smiled then resumed his focus at the table. "We just need to wait for instructions. Liv's agent is handlin' that since she's the one that the guy called."

"Let me know," Ace told him. There was a pause. "She's a pretty woman."

Trey realized he was staring at Liv, but it was hard not to. She was a welcome distraction. "Yeah."

Leo's coffee cup clattered slightly as he put it down. "'Bout time you settled down, Trey."

That got Trey's attention back to the table. "You're tellin’
me
to settle down? Why should I go first? Everyone but Jackie is older than I am. Shouldn't they settle down?"

The older man chuckled. "It's a matter of opportunity, son. You'd be a fool to pass up this one." He stood and pulled a cigarette pack out of his shirt pocket. "I wouldn't like to think any of Cassie's children were fools."

Trey thought it was unfair to bring his mother into it, but it was Leo's way. "Alright, old man, I hear ya."

Leo patted Trey on the shoulder as he made his way toward the door. His after dinner cigarette had to be smoked outside.

The topic at the table turned to other things, and the gathering ended a little while later. As Trey was driving Liv back to her cabin, he noted how relaxed she was, how effervescent contact with his family made her. She'd fit in with the family, he thought. She'd fit in with him.

He had a fleeting thought of how she'd be on Christmas morning with kids and family, the dog barking at a little boy's toy train. She'd be beautiful and laughing, surrounded by torn wrapping paper. It was a wonderful mental image until he asked himself where he was in the picture. Was he drinking his morning coffee and grinning at the comfortable mayhem, or was he in Afghanistan, freezing his butt off and risking life and limb? His mouth tightened.

It wouldn't be fair to ask her to put up with his job. Unfortunately, he was already a little in love with her. No, more than a little. There must be some way to reconcile both his job and a family. Other people did it. But he'd seen way too many people going back home in body bags.

Liv's voice broke into his dour imaginings. "This rain will mean we'll be here an extra day or two."

He'd like that. He wasn't ready to break off their affair yet, wasn't sure he could ever be ready. It would happen and he'd have to deal with it. "That's good news from my perspective," he told her as the truck jounced through a mud puddle.

"Me, too. I'm glad you came to the shoot today."

"You sound like the night is over, Liv. Do you want it to be over?"

He glanced over at her as he pulled the truck up to her cabin. She bit her lip for a moment, then turned and gave him a big smile. "Why don't you come in for a drink? I understand the management here stocks their minibars pretty well."

"You know, I've heard the same thing."

Grinning, he hurried through the rain to help her out of the truck. They ran through the downpour onto the porch and she opened the door.

"My chateau awaits."

He laughed and closed the door behind him, shaking his hat out and tossing it on the bed.

"Oh! Don't do that!"

Frowning, he turned to her. "What? Why not?"

"My grandmother always told me that when a man throws his hat on the bed the woman gets pregnant." She was grinning.

"And here I thought it was done some other way. Storks or cabbage patches always seemed plausible to me." Her giggle made his smile wider. "Come here."

She gave him an arch look. "You don't want a beer, or a shot of Jack? I think there's some scotch in there."

"You are the only intoxicant I need right about now."

Liv practically glowed with pleasure. "Sweet talker."

"Come here, li'l girl. Don't make me have to come 'n get you."

Liv kicked off her wet shoes and fussed with a throw blanket on the corner chair. She bent toward the seat and wriggled her behind at him, whispering, "Make me," over her shoulder.

Trey scooped her up and turned her to face him, forcefully taking her mouth with his own. She moaned, and squirmed against his body. His balls began to ache.

Liv reached between them and tried to undo the buttons of his shirt, while he unzipped her jeans and tried to peel the tight-fitting pants off her hips. She fought with his shirt, making frustrated little noises until he stilled her hands and whispered, "Switch," in her ear.

He pulled off his shirt and began on his pants as she yanked off her jeans and damp blouse. In about a minute, they were both naked and kissing again. As they tried to devour each other, Trey reveled in the tenderness of her mouth and the ripe beauty of her full breasts against his chest. He squeezed her ass in his big hands and gave her a swat. Her reaction was a little gasp and then she wriggled out of his arms.

Giving him a playful grin, she ran away from him and grabbed his hat off the bed, putting it on her head and laughing, barely out of his reach. Trey thought she was about the sexiest woman he'd ever seen, and his erection throbbed with need.

Grinning, he reached for her, but she squirmed away again. They played the game for a pair of minutes, but he finally grabbed her and tossed her—hat and all—on the bed, coming to lay on top of her.

"Gotcha!"

She writhed seductively beneath him. "Maybe. Now whatcha gonna do with me, soldier boy?"

Her nipple was hard beneath his fingers as he pinched. Her indrawn breath and the flush of her cheeks were like a red flag before a bull.

He took his time touching her in all her sensitive places, all the places that he was so attracted to and those which made her arch and groan her encouragement. Her nails raking down his back startled him.

"Ouch! Naughty girl," he told her. "Stay here." Of course, she didn't stay still while he got up. She rolled over and crawled into the center of the bed, watching him over her shoulder as he got her oval-shaped wooden hairbrush off the room's little chest of drawers. He smacked it against his palm, giving her a mock frown as he approached the big bed.

She had his hat back on.

He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her toward the edge of the bed, giving her a firm smack with the back of the hairbrush. She cried out as the hard brush connected with her behind, and she instinctively pulled away, but before he could tighten his grip on her, she was arching back toward him.

"You're so mean," she said on a sigh.

He whacked her a few more times. "Yes, ma'am, I am."

She was immersed in sensation, her eyes closed tight, her body quivering under his hands. He was torn between a raging desire to impale her with his prick or give her butt a perfect crimson blush. Of course, he could do both.

Her pussy was shining with moisture. And as she got more wet, he applied stroke after stroke to her behind with the brush. Soon, she was sobbing with her face pressed into the comforter.

Liv's ass and the tops of her thighs were bright red when he knew she was ready. He dropped the hairbrush on the floor and scooted them both toward the middle of the bed, levering her hips into the right position. Her breasts hung heavy and full, their nipples rubbing against the counterpane as he pressed the small of her back into a deeper arch.

She smelled like woman, warm and ready, and as he nuzzled the back of her neck, he detected her perfume. But it was her hot behind pressing against his pelvis that called to him. He rubbed his dick up and down her wet pussy, enjoying her encouraging moans and little leftover sniffles. The hat was still on her head, but it was askew, giving her a disheveled look that screamed
fuck me
!

"You ready for a li'l trail ride, angel?"

"Do it," she groaned. "Now. Do it!"

"Now, miss, that is purely impolite," he told her, giving her a spank with his hand. Her response was a cry of frustration and pain followed by a wriggle against his cock. "But, just this once…" He pressed the head of his dick into her sopping quim. "Just this once, I'll take your suggestion." She yelped as he spanked her again and slid home at the same time.

"Trey."

He concentrated on moving in and out of her slowly at first, giving her a good long time to get used to him before he picked up the pace. Soon he was slamming against her, balls bouncing off her swollen pussy as she moaned her encouragement.

When she was panting and crying out with every stroke, he pressed his thumb on her puckered little asshole to see how she'd react.

"Oh God!"

"Like that, do you?"

She nodded, her face pink from exertion or embarrassment, he couldn't tell which.

"Next time, angel, we'll explore that…area…a little more."

Liv's pussy was squeezing his cock tightly, and he was ready to explode. He slid his thumb into her and she screamed and pressed back onto him as her pussy milked him. His balls tightened and then he joined her in orgasm, the release of his semen coinciding with each beat of his heart.

There was a bright burst of light from outside the cabin, and the lights went out in the room. A moment later, thunder pealed in the sky.

"Well, that was fine timin'."

She giggled weakly.

Trey gave her another whack on her red bottom and pulled out of her. "Crawl in, darlin'. I'll be there in a minute."

She was curled up on her side, asleep, when he came back. His hat lay sentinel on the pillow by her head.

Chapter 8

Liv considered joining Trey in the shower when she hung up with Amanda, but the shower noise stopped as she was hanging up. Too late. She dressed, taking a few moments to check her behind for bruises after her encounter with the hairbrush the night before. There were a few lingering red marks but that was all. Butts were more resilient than she would have thought.

Trey came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, and Liv was struck again at the male beauty of him. She wanted to explore him further, to lick all his planes and muscular bulges. At the same time, she was bemused by the idea that he wanted
her
for a lover, even temporarily. Maybe the novelty had worn off for him and they'd drift apart, amicably but permanently. The thought formed a painful band around her heart and squeezed.

He started getting dressed. "Good mornin’, angel."

She smiled. "Good morning."

"You spoke to Amanda?"

"Yes. She gave me particulars and is faxing over a copy of the contract. He wants to meet us at The Yellow Rose, in Austin at 1:00 p.m. today."

"Ah. That's a gentlemen's club, darlin'. And there's no 'we' in the equation. I'm goin', but you're not."

Of course she was going! How could he think otherwise? "Now wait a minute. This involves me as much as you. I'm going and that's all there is to it."

Trey shook his head and finished buttoning up his shirt. "Nope."

"Trey!"

"I said no and it's final."

She barely refrained from stamping her feet. Her hands were balled into fists. "You need me there."

"Ace is comin’ with me. He's all the backup I need. It might be dangerous, darlin', and I won't allow you to take a chance like that." He fitted his hat on his head and made for the door.

"You can't just walk out like this!"

He grinned. "I'm doin' that very thing."

"Asshole!"

His smile slipped off his face, replaced with a frown. "You are this close…" He made a gesture. "…to gettin' a spankin' like nothin' you've had before."

The look on his face suggested that maybe she'd gone too far. "I'm sorry. You made me so mad."

He nodded and turned away. "I won't call you names. I expect the same courtesy from you." Sunlight streamed in as he opened the door. "I'll call you after the deal is made."

"Trey…"

His turn was sharp, suggesting impatience, but he looked at her steadily.

"Be careful, please."

"I love you," nearly tripped off her tongue, but it would have been a gaff of the first order. Repressing it made that band around her heart squeeze a little tighter.

"I will, darlin'."

And then he was gone.

* * *

He and Ace barely had time to get to Austin, and arrived about five minutes late. The club was busy with a lunch crowd.

As they entered, the music was reaching a crescendo, loud and thick through the optimized sound system. A busty redhead was pole-dancing sinuously on the stage, naked as a peeled egg. Both men took a moment to admire her before sitting at a table near the back of the room.

Trey was anxious to do the deal and then get back to the ranch. The whole thing was shitty. Ace had no such reservations and ordered himself a hearty lunch, then watched a new dancer take her place on the stage.

"You ought to get a lap dance while we're waitin’, Trey. You look as uncomfortable as a hog-tied steer at ear-taggin’ time."

Trey was strangely disinterested. There was one girl he would have liked to have doing a sexy dance for him, but she wasn't here.