Love's Embers (Canon City Series) (20 page)

Charlie put his hand on her arm. “Go over to Gran’s table, Lou.”

She turned and put her hand on his chest. “No. Charlie, he’s not worth it. Please, it’s still a wonderful evening. I don’t want him to wreck this for us.”

He looked down at her and she could see a fire blaze in his eyes. She knew he wanted to protect her and beat Thomas for hurting her in the past, but she couldn’t let him do it.

When Lark turned back around, she saw Thomas move closer to them. He wore a smug look on his face and Lark felt intensely disgusted by him. A few of the people from the crowd moved in closer as the scene developed.

“I was going to cut in and congratulate you, my dear.” He looked at Charlie. “It would seem you’ve won the slut, Mr. Stone. You’ll have to ask her about her sexual choices. It’s very interesting.”

Lark pulled Charlie back. “Thomas, I don’t know why you’re here tonight, but I have nothing to say to you.” She took Charlie’s hand and attempted to move him away.

“It looks as though she might have told you about our little adventure a couple of months ago,” Thomas said and a few more people around them turned to stare. “She was very entertaining that night, you know? She begged for the attention and became quite distraught when she wasn’t punished for the screaming.”

Lark turned back to Thomas and felt her own fury stir in her head. “I’m not sure you want to discuss that here, Thomas. I have an appointment with the Denver district attorney to give a deposition about your adventure and what happened. It seems there have been many complaints made about your
club
.” She let go of Charlie’s hand and stood her ground. “You always denied it to me, but there are enough people here tonight if you want to admit the truth of your actions, I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to help me out with my testimony. Maybe you should start out by telling them how you drugged me. The blood tests that were done that week showed I still had the drug in my system. The district attorney found that of interest and wants copies of the reports.”

“Be very careful, my dear. You might be stepping onto an iced over river. If you fall through, there might not be anyone to help you,” he hissed at her.

“I don’t think so, Thomas, or you wouldn’t look so angry.” She turned back to Charlie and took his hand. “Come on, babe. He’s a loser and not worth wasting a beautiful night.”

They started to walk away and she saw Charlie stare at Thomas.

“Mr. Stone, did she tell you she begged to be tied down? She moaned very loudly and experienced multiple orgasms that night. She was quite sated in the morning when we left. Lark asked me when we could return for more.”

Lark felt bile rise in the back of her throat. She looked up at Charlie and tilted her head. “I tried to give him an out. Ducky, you told me about all those anger demons you’ve bottled up for years; I think it’s time to let them loose. Remember when I said he wasn’t worth it?”

“Yes.” Charlie continued to stare at Thomas.

“He’s worth it; plug him a good one for me, babe.” She stretched up and kissed his lips lightly.

“Right.” He looked down at her. “This won’t take long.” He took off his coat. “Would you hold on to this for me, sweetheart?”

Lark took the coat and watched Charlie walk up to Thomas. He pushed the sleeves on his turtleneck up his arms. They stared at each other. Charlie had a good five inches on the aggressor. Gran came up along-side of her and took her arm.

“So, you’re a body guard now, Mr. Stone,” Thomas sneered and it wasn’t a question, but a statement.

Charlie laughed, but didn’t look away from him. “Have you ever played chicken, Tommy?”

“I can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure and my name is Thomas.”

“The first man to blink gets a bloody nose, maybe even a broken nose.” He slapped his right fist into his hand. “Sheriff Bennett, if I were to clock this guy in the puss, because of the degrading statements he just made about my fiancée, what would the law think about it?”

Lark looked around and saw a circle of people watching the two men face off. A couple of the men moved their women behind them and Jay Hager walked up behind Charlie and crossed his arms. She didn’t realize that Sheriff Bennett was one of the people, but saw him put a hand up to his jaw. He was a tall, older man with graying hair and she knew he was quite muscular under his coat.

“Well, Charlie, it would seem this prick has disrespected your woman with lies. I don’t know that I’ll have much sympathy for him,” Sheriff Bennett said.

Thomas looked away from Charlie and stared at the sheriff. Charlie grabbed the lapel of Thomas’s coat.

“You shouldn’t have blinked, Tommy,” he growled and brought his fist up into Thomas’s face.

The smack was loud and Thomas went down on one knee, holding his nose. Charlie pulled him up and grabbed onto both sides of Thomas’s jacket. Charlie reared back and pounded a fist into the man’s gut. He let the creep fall to the floor where Thomas held his stomach and coughed. Charlie grabbed hold of the back collar of his jacket and pulled him back up to his feet. He started to turn Thomas toward the door that led to the parking lot, but Lark saw Sheriff Bennett walk up to him and put his hand on Charlie’s wrist.

“Charlie, let me take care of this. I’ll be sure he leaves Canon City,” the sheriff said.

Charlie let go of the jacket and nodded. They watched the sheriff escort Thomas out of the building. She saw him turn around and look at her. He smirked through the blood coming from his nose. “This isn’t over Lark. You’ll be hearing from my attorney,” he said and Sheriff Bennett pulled his arm and got him out the door.

Some of the folks who’d watched the scene started to clap. Charlie shrugged and walked up to her. She saw the blaze had simmered down in his eyes and he gently put his hand on her cheek. He moved closer to her and she could feel his warm breath on her lips.

“How about that?” he whispered and put his lips on hers. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and gently stroked around her teeth and cheeks and connected with her tongue.

Warmth flooded her system and her heart pounded in her chest. She realized her core was pulsing and her nipples had grown very hard. “Ducky, you are so hot, right now. Are you okay? Is your hand all right?” she whispered back and smiled at him.

He looked down at his hand and flexed it a couple of times. “Yep, I don’t think I broke anything.” His lips curled and he leaned over to kiss her, again.

She heard whoops come from the crowd and turned with Charlie to look around them. He bent at the waist and bowed. Lark laughed. He took his coat out of her hands and put it back on. The DJ started the music again.

“Sweetheart, if you wouldn’t mind, Gran looks a little dismayed over there and I’d like to ask her for a dance. Maybe I can let her know that we’ll fill her in later when we get home,” he said.

“Yeah, I’ll sugarcoat it a little, but I’ll have to let her know what happened.”

He touched her lips with his fingers. “I’ll be there with you, Lou. You won’t have to tell her alone.” His eyebrows rose and he put his hand on her cheek. “Now, I think we should plan on leaving soon. I’m very interested to see what you have on under that dress.”

“Gran would probably be over-the-moon if you asked her to dance,” she said and kissed him again. “And I think I’ll give her the keys to the rental. I want to see your new Jeep and, of course, show you what’s not on under the dress.” She arched her eyebrow.

He kissed her again and whispered, “You are such a tease, and how will I ever tame you?”

“That’s funny, I just wondered the same thing about you.” She grinned.

He ran his tongue over her bottom lip and then turned. She watched Charlie walk over to Gran. He offered his arm and Gran grinned and took it. They made their way out to the dance floor.

Nancy came over to Lark and linked arms with her. “My oh my, if this hasn’t been a crazy week. The business is almost taken over by your ex-fiancé and then was saved by our oh-so-brilliant attorney. You got rid of a loser, but are now engaged to a hottie and, may I say, a very good defender. I’m out of breath. It’s hard to keep up.”

“You’re right, it seems like I blinked and everything changed. Wait, is it okay for me to blink?” Lark said.

“Have you set a date yet?”

“He just asked me, Nance. I think I really want to enjoy this engagement though. He’s going to start veterinary school at Fort Collins in the fall. I’m not sure if we’ll do a wedding before or after.”

“Will you let me do a bridal shower this time?”

“We’ll have to discuss it. I’m still not sure it’s necessary.” Lark held her hand up and showed Nancy the ring.

“”You’re not going to be grumpy-pants with me again?” She took Larks hand and examined the ring. “This is beautiful.”

“Charlie has good taste. And I was not grumpy with you. I just didn’t want to get good stuff and then have to share it with Thomas.” Lark laughed.

“Point taken. I better go find my significant other. See you Monday.” Nancy walked over to the beer section and Lark saw her find her husband.

She looked out at the dance floor and watched the dancers. She saw Charlie come toward her with a look on his face that made her toasty warm. He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her. He laced his fingers with hers and kissed the back of her hand.

“Where’s Gran?”

“She wanted to talk to Mrs. Bicken’s about the bake-off and I had to thank Sheriff Bennett for his support. I don’t know if you ever knew this, but he was one of the officers who arrested me on that really bad night years ago. He testified at my hearing and convinced the judge that I shouldn’t be sent to prison. There were many, many times when he and his partner came to the house because of complaints. He’s a good man.” He looked at her. “It just hit me. You’re going to be Mrs. Stone. How very cool is that?” He smiled at her and kissed the palm of her hand.

“Yes and you will be my husband, at my beck and call. I’ll require breakfast in bed every Saturday morning. I will also want you to meet me in the shower on a regular basis.” She noticed Charlie’s grin get bigger. “So, you liked the shower?”

“Oh yeah. In fact, I’m thinking we may want to invest in a bigger hot water tank. The water gets cold too fast.”

“I noticed that, but you did keep me very warm.” She laughed. “We could always bring your rubber duck in with us.”

“Nope. Sorry, I’m not sharing you with anything. You’re mine, toots. You better get used to it.”

“It might be a struggle, but I’m sure I will.”

“How about you come out on the dance floor and let me feel you up?” Charlie wiggled his eyebrows.

Lark sighed and let him lead her out.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lark woke up and felt Charlie’s arm move tighter over her stomach. She pushed back to his chest and yawned. “Good morning, Ducky.”

“Good morning, Almost Mrs. Stone,” he said and kissed her ear.

She looked over her shoulder and saw he was propped up on his elbow. She smiled and twisted around to face him. “Merry Christmas.”

“Hey, that’s right. Merry Christmas to you.” He brought his hand up to her face and traced her lips with a finger. “You know, I love waking up with you so much. When the light starts coming in the window, I have to wake up and watch you sleep. It confirms that I’m not dreaming and we’re really together.”

She kissed his finger and felt warmth run into her pelvis. “You’re the best Christmas present I’ve ever received, except...” She stopped and got a serious look on her face.

“Except what?”

“Except for that one year. I don’t remember how old we were, but you saved up your paper route money and got me that pretty little heart pendant with the fake diamond in it. I wonder what I did with that.”

“So, that was your best ever and I’m in second place?” His hand moved down to her hip.

“Don’t think of it that way, Ducky. You’re very important, too.” She grinned and started to laugh.

“Are you teasing me, again, Almost Mrs. Stone?”

“Hee, hee...just a little.” She crinkled her nose and pulled up to kiss his lips.

He pushed her onto her back and moved between her legs. He scooted down a little and began to nibble at her breasts. “I may have to keep you in bed all day and see how many times I can make you shout my name.”

“Oh, Charlie, I love that idea very much, but you know Gran got up at five o’clock to get the turkey and stuffing into the oven. We can’t disappoint her, but maybe we could plan on doing this on New Year’s Day. What do you think?” She arched her back as he sucked and lightly bit her nipple.

“It’s a date, babe. Do you think today would be a good time to tell Gran we’ve set the date to get married for Valentine’s Day?” He moved his hips and put his hand down between them. He ran his fingers over her warm folds.

Lark moaned and bucked her pelvis up against his hand. “Ducky, I love what your fingers do to me. It’s heavenly and yes, we should tell Gran today.” He continued to tease her nub until she was wet and ready for him. When he moved the head of his shaft to her opening, she moaned again louder and wrapped her legs around his waist as he entered her channel slowly.

She looked up into his eyes. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. What if we get Gran to make a huge yellow ducky cake for the wedding reception?”

“Ask me again later, I can’t talk anymore, Lou,” he said and looked down at her with his eyes half closed.

“Oh, babe.” She sucked in a breath as he pushed in all the way. “This is the best Christmas ever, my darling man.” She put her hand up into his shorter hair and his mouth moved down to her with a tender kiss.

“I love you, Almost Mrs. Stone,” he whispered.

Lark and Charlie carried their bags of gifts over to Gran’s. She wanted to skip through the snow and laugh until her lungs hurt, but didn’t want to become silly. She’d loved the shower they took together that morning and after they drank a cup of coffee, decided they needed to straighten up and behave. Although, her grandmother claimed she was hip, Lark knew she could also be traditional and didn’t want to upset Gran. They walked through the snow to the back door of the only home they’d both ever known. Breaker bounced along with them and bounded in the back door when it was open.

Gran was chopping onions and when she turned around, Lark grinned at her and gave her a hug. “Merry Christmas, Gran.”

Charlie hugged them both and kissed Gran’s cheek. “I have my two favorite women in my arms. How lucky is that?” he said.

“Oh, Charlie Stone, it’s too early in the day for flirty stuff. Get your coats off. Oh my goodness,” Gran said and leaned over to pet Breaker. “There’s a good boy. How’s Breaker this morning?” She moved a can on the counter, popped the lid and tossed a treat to Breaker.

Charlie took the bags from Lark and disappeared into the living room. Lark poured them both a cup of coffee. “Gran, your kitchen always smells so heavenly. I love it.” She sipped her coffee and watched as Gran put the chopped onions into a skillet. “Are those for the gravy?”

“Yes, it will be a bit before the turkey’s ready to come out of the oven, but I wanted to be all caught up, so we could sit for a while and open our presents.”

Lark moved up to her and kissed her cheek. “You’re so smart.”

“Go sit down. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Lark picked up the other cup and walked into the living room. Charlie had arranged all their gifts under the tree and Lark wished she had a camera. “Gran, bring your camera. I think we’ll have some new pictures to add to the scrapbook.”

She saw Charlie look over his shoulder at her and he stood up. He walked over to her and took the cup out of her hand.

“It almost looks too pretty to mess up,” he said.

Gran walked up behind them and put her hand around Lark’s waist. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever,” she said and smiled.

“I said the same exact thing this morning.” Lark put her hand on her grandmother’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “Great minds must run in the family.”

“It’s in the Levi’s, sweetheart,” Gran laughed. “Now sit down and let’s get down to business.”