A Divine Life (The Divine Trilogy) (24 page)

Catherine wanted to squirm.

She wanted to press her thighs together and try to relieve the pressure building between them. Instead, she let her thighs spread open, hoping maybe that would help. The wanton female couldn’t help it; his voice was pure sex. When you added the subject matter, yeah, she was helpless and de
sperate to get her breathing under control.

He turned his head to glance at Catherine just as her tongue had slipped out to wet her lips, which were becoming dry from her harsh breaths. Frozen, his eyes darkened. It was a look she knew well. In mere seconds, he’d read her body and knew the aroused state she was in. The million dollar question was: what was he g
oing to do about it?

When he asked if Catherine was wet, she had to squeeze her thighs. Scrunching her eyes shut, she gave in and clenched; the movement created much-needed pressure against her pussy. Catherine didn’t want to worry about right or wrong or that they were in a car anyone driving by could see into. She wanted to relinquish control. “Aye” was all she could say. In her mind, she begged Jayden to d
ecipher her need for her Master.

Then he went there: Catherine’s Master was back, giving her the choice, and she wasted no time making her decision. With daring bravado, she propped her right foot up onto the dashboard and inched the dress up, dragging her nails along her skin as she did. An airy gasp escaped her when the cool air from the vent blew against her skin. The exhibitionist didn’t have to look down to know that Master would see her leaking from between her smooth nether lips.

She swallowed down her amusement at his futile attempts to keep his eyes on the road. They got to a red light, and he turned his head to look at her.

“Show me those tits,” he commanded.

The garment’s neckline was loose enough that Catherine was able to tug the material down and to the sides, tucking it underneath her breasts.

Master sucked in a sharp breath and let out a whistle. “My god, Erin, you are so fucking go
rgeous!” The light turned green, and he returned his attention to the road.

For the most part, the road had been free of traffic, with only an occasional passing car. Howe
ver, there was always the chance that she would be seen with her erotic bits on display. The experience was exciting and thrilling, and it made Catherine’s pulse beat faster.

Watching Master’s Adam’s apple bob when he swallowed, she waited to see if he would take this further or if he was going to just make her spend the rest of the ride like that.

“Do you want to come, Catherine?”

“Always,” she giggled, and he rolled his eyes at her.

“You are insatiable, Jewel. Very well, then; come.”

The submissive’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, and the Dom smirked. “We have about ten minutes. If you really want to come, you better get to it.”

What? Oh! Master wanted her to masturbate for him. Of course. He was driving; he couldn’t help.

She wasted no time spreading her pussy lips with her left hand, and then using her right index finger to rub circles on her swollen clit; she had plenty of lubrication. Catherine found herself having to resist the temptation to close her eyes, and she watched him watching her instead. His breathing picked up, he gripped the steering wheel tighter, and he parted his lips so that magical tongue slipped out and ran across them.

Catherine had been about to fall over the edge when he growled, “Stop!”

In an amazing show of mind over matter, she was able to hear and obey; she removed her finger from her clit but kept her lips spread.

“Please, Master. This girl is so close it hurts.”

He nodded at the road ahead of them. “Sorry, sweetheart, but we’re almost there; so we’ll have to resume this later. Please fix your clothes, Erin.”

They had just passed a sign welcoming them to Sweetwater, Texas. Her large, green eyes looked around at the small town while she tried to figure out what awaited them there. When she had settled both her mind and body, she was able to notice that Jayden looked nervous.

“Are you okay?”

His brown eyes darted her way before snapping back to the road. “Sure.”

“Jayden?”

The car pulled onto a dirt driveway with an arching gate. At the top, fancy metalwork displayed: “Flying M Ranch.”

Erin reached over to stroke Jayden’s arm, and he smiled and said, “Showtime.”

The small dirt road they were traveling went on for about a mile. To either side were acres of yellow-green grass waving in the light breeze. And horses. Lots of horses. In the distance, Erin could make out the reflective surface of a watering hole, and the otherwise unbroken view of the horizon was pebbled by the occasional boulder. It was breathtaking. Before too long, tall oaks and cedar trees began to encroach on the road, giving Erin the feeling of passing through a natural tunnel. When they broke free of the tree line, a huge mansion appeared before them. The lawn around the house was neatly landscaped, and she couldn’t decide which was more beautiful: the path to the house, the house itself, or the surrounding flower gardens.

“Wow! This isn’t a restaurant is it, Jayden?”

He chuckled. “Nope. I never said I was taking you to a restaurant; you just assumed that.”

The car circled around a large metal fountain, which depicted a group of running stallions cros
sing a fjord. He stopped the car in front of the steps to the main entrance and turned off the engine.

“Is that some kind of metal?”

Jayden’s eyes followed Erin’s line of sight to the fountain. Taking her hand, he locked her in his gaze. “Yes, the bulk of it is iron, but the hooves, manes, and tails are copper.”

“How do you know that?”

“Remember, Erin, it’s just us. Just Jayden and Erin; okay, sweet girl?”

“Okay, but how?” Erin’s heart was palpitating faster with by the minute.

“I’ve arranged a few days off from work for both of us, and this is where we are staying. After this evening, it will be just you and me. But right now, waiting inside are some very important people who want to meet us. Oh, and I commissioned my craftsmen to make the horses,” he added.

While she was elated that he’d planned a getaway, she couldn’t for the life of her think of who might be inside the sprawling building. Mind racing, Erin sat in her spot while Jayden went around the car to open her door. The fresh October air was crisp, and she felt like they’d entered another world; their own private world.

He left her standing there gawking at the view and moved to the back of the car. When he set two carry-on suitcases on the gravel, Erin realized that he had thought of everything. Even when he told her they were spending the next few days there, clothes and toiletries hadn’t crossed her mind. Couldn’t blame a girl for being distracted under the circumstances, though!

The trunk closed with a quiet thud, and Jayden picked up the bags and walked back over to where she stood. Extending his elbow toward Erin, he asked: “Shall we?”

Hooking her arm through his, Erin responded with a delighted, “Let’s.” A relaxed smile was plastered on her face.

Together, they mounted the steps and walked across the wide porch to the door. Erin made a mental note to spend some time in one of the big oversized rocking chairs that graced the porch b
efore their visit was over. Jayden set one of the bags down long enough to open the door and lead her inside.

The smell of home-cooked food permeated the house, and they laughed when both their sto
machs growled at the same time. They’d been so distracted by each other that morning and afternoon that they’d forgotten to eat anything since their quick breakfast much earlier in the day. It appeared they were both starving.

“Jayden, darlin’, is that you?”
A strong voice that Erin recognized at once came from down the hall.

Erin looked at Jayden in surprise and was taken aback by how young he looked
suddenly. The smile on his face was huge, and his eyes were light and bright. She was about to say something when a tall woman with green eyes and shoulder-length, wavy, red hair walked into the foyer. She was dressed in what Erin was sure were designer jeans and a pale green silk blouse. The woman was stunning, as usual.

“Jayden! Erin!” Jillian Masterson squealed, and she rushed up to them, pulling them both into a tight embrace.

Jayden dropped the bags and threw his arms around his mother while Erin slipped back. She found herself grinning just watching them.

Jillian released her son, and then she turned her atte
ntion to Erin. “It’s so nice to see you again, Erin. Jayden has been keeping you all to himself―come here, darlin’!” She pulled the younger woman into another hug.

When his mother released her, Erin stepped back. “Hi, Jillian. It’s good to see you again, too. You’ve got a gorgeous home.”

“Oh, thank you, dear. We’re quite happy with it, and we hope that you’ll enjoy your time here so that you’ll come back often!” Her eyes darted over to Jayden, and Erin wondered at the silent message in them.

Jayden chuckled beside her. “Thanks, Mom. Erin and I have had kind of a long weekend, and we’re starving. What’s for dinner?”

A throat cleared behind them, and Jayden’s beautiful smile returned in full force, as did Erin’s.

“Now,
son, is that any way to greet your momma? Is your old lady not feeding you enough at home?” he teased Jayden while throwing a wink at Erin. “Howdy, Erin. Welcome to Sweetwater and the Flying M.”

“Hello, Malcolm. I’m thrilled to be here. I’ve no doubts I’m going to enjoy our visit very much,” she answered with sincerity while Jayden wrapped an arm around her waist.

Malcolm chuckled, and his eyes twinkled when he cleared his throat. “I’m sure you will. There are plenty of things to do here,” he said, looking toward Jayden and winking again.

Jayden's cheeks bloomed deep red, almost like he’d been caught being naughty. She’d have to ask her lover about that; surely his dad didn’t know about their lifestyle. Did he?

In the last year, she had decided that Jayden was one of a kind. He was beautiful inside and out, and now he wanted her, not just her submission. Erin’s eyes moved from Jayden to Jillian, and then to Malcolm, while she wondered how she’d gotten so lucky and if life could be any more perfect.

Before she could let the thought sink in all the way, she was jolted back to the here-and-now by a gravelly voice.

“Cat? Is it really you, iníon?”

Daughter? Erin spun around in shock. “Da?” she squeaked, and her eyes welled with tears.

It had taken
Jayden nine months and one private investigator to locate Smallwood O’Chancey; Woody to his friends, and Da to Erin. He’d been working at a small lake town diner in California as a fry cook when the PI tracked him down. When Jayden learned that Woody had been traveling town to town, picking up odd jobs during his search for Erin, he knew he’d done the right thing in seeking out the man. After the initial contact, it had taken another month of casual communication between the two men to build a rapport so that one, Woody wouldn’t hunt Jayden down as the beast that had hidden his daughter away, and two, he could convince Woody to agree to wait for this reunion.

Through her journal and their conversations, Erin had told Jayden she’d left her previous life behind. She’d gone into hiding because of that monster. Even once he was dead, Erin had lived in fear that one of Spencer’s friends would remember her and have ideas about how she could be trea
ted. On more than one occasion, she’d endured their laughter and mockery, so she had good cause to worry.

Jayden watched the two of them embrace, and his own heart warmed at the sight. Erin needed her father in her life. It had killed him inside knowing she’d turned her back on her Da for her prote
ction and his. As her Dom and now her lover, Jayden was prepared to take over the role of guardian and would be protecting Erin from now on. No one was ever going to hurt her again.

A small, strong arm wrapped around Jayden’s waist, and he looked down into his mother’s grass-green eyes. Her tears glittered back at him when she looked up. “I’m so proud of you, Ja
yden. You did the right thing. I don’t know the whole story—”

“Mom, I can’t
—”

“Shh, dear, I know that, and I don’t want you to tell me. Perhaps with time, Erin and I can reach a point where she’ll consider me her mom, too, and she’ll tell me. Until then, I can be patient. She is going to be around awhile, right?”

If Jayden hadn’t already made that decision, he would’ve been left slack-jawed at the implied message his mom was delivering. Instead, he gave her a gentle squeeze. “Yes, Mom, I think she will be—that’s what I’m hoping for, at least. I love that you’ve welcomed her without judgment.” Jayden smiled.

Yes, his parents were aware of his lifestyle even though they were not part of it. Jayden had ne
ver been able to keep secrets from Jillian, and in return, she’d always supported her son, no matter what. He’d told his mother everything he could about Erin without giving away the bits that were Erin’s story to tell, and he appreciated her subtlety with Erin now. In fact, it was Jillian who had suggested the private investigator when Jayden had gotten frustrated with dead ends during the search for Woody.

He kept a gentle grip on his mother, and they turned to watch father and daughter reunite. The duo had stopped hugging fiercely, but they still had a grip on each other, much like he and Jillian did. Tears were flowing. Seeing them side-by-side, the family resemblance was uncanny. Woody’s hair was greying, but traces of the crimson fire that cascaded from Erin’s scalp still lingered in his beard and mu
stache, and their eyes were a perfect match.

“Oh, God, Catherine, you had me so worried, baby girl. You just vanished and I couldn’t find you and I tried everything and—” Woody was spilling his heart out, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Shh, Da,” Erin consoled him. “I know I worried you, and I’m so sorry. It was just—I needed to get away from my old life and make sure it couldn’t follow me.”

Ja
yden could see the shame in her eyes while she struggled to find a way to apologize.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now. I’ve got my Cat back, and look at you! What a beautiful woman you’ve become. You’re the spitting image of your Ma, God rest her soul.” He smiled at her.

“Da, there’s someone I want you to meet,” she murmured while reaching out for Jayden. He took her hand and let her pull him in. “Da, this is Jayden, the love of my life. Jayden, this is my father, Woody O’Chancey.”

Jayden offered his hand, which Woody took in a firm grip. “Nice to finally put a face to the voice, son.”

Erin shot Jayden a ‘we’ll be talking, mister’ look.

Woody went on, “I don’t know why I’ve had to wonder if my
iníon
was alive or dead for so long; don’t know if I want to know at this point. However, young man, I do know you’ve brought my girl back to me—for that I will be forever indebted to you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Erin jumped a little in his embrace. His mouth quirked at the corner in response to her reaction, but it was understandable. Never before had she heard him acknowledge another person with that level of respect.

“I only did what I felt was right in the situation. Your daughter is my whole world, sir, and I’d do an
ything for her.” Next to him, Erin gasped. While maintaining eye contact with Woody, he was able to feather a light kiss across her forehead before silence bore down on the small group.

Woody eyed Jayden for several moments, and then startled them all when he clapped his hands together. “So,” he boomed, “something smells delicious, and I was promised a home-cooked meal. When do we eat?”

The tension seemed to melt away while everyone laughed at this question.

Jillian soon took charge. “It’s ready, Woody,” she promised, hooking her arm in his and starting to lead him back to the dining room. “I just need to bring the dishes out to the t
able. Why don’t you boys seat yourselves? Erin, can you give me a hand?”

Jayden’s beautiful girl smiled. “I’d love to, Jillian! Just tell me what to do, and I’m on it.”

He couldn’t resist a hidden swat to her ass when she walked away from him. She giggled in response.

Yep; slow, pleasurable death coming right up
.