Page 65 of Small Town Beast 2: Saverin's Duet

Yes,the beast roared.

She was going to be his wife; she was his mate, Sweet Lorraine was the only woman on earth he would ever love and there was no more waiting; she had said Yes to marriage and if there was a baby then would it really be so bad? Why not, when his whole body needed it— she needed it— but he’d be a gentleman this first time— had to ask her—

“Baby, I— Lorrie do you want it—Agh—”

“Want what?” she gasped, but it was too late. Seed exploded from him with brutal force, pumped deep and endlessly into a fertile, tender earth. Her thighs tightened up and her pussyclenched, clenchedtight, wringing him to the last drop. He could do nothing as lust held him down and made his hips fuck it into her, pushing his soldiers against the gates of life, where they hammered them open and invaded her woman’s body at that most sacred source.

When he sagged against her Lorrie rolled on top of him, somehow gaining strength as his own was so utterly depleted. Her golden skin shone with sweat. She could not be real; she was an angel sent to him. He managed to stroke her hair and bring it to his lips.

“Lorrie,” he rasped.

She wiped away something at the corners of his eyes and planted such a tender kiss on his lips that Absalom was, for once in his life, overwhelmed completely by emotion.

TWELVE

TANYA

Don’t eat anything, don’t drink anything.

Saverin had been insistent. Before he showed up Tanya hadn’t been tempted to take any food from the great table anyway, since the women in charge of it were giving her stares that seemed to warn of dire consequences if she so much as breathed near the potato salad. Pride made her ignore them and their dry-ass food, but now two hours later her stomach was in a very different condition and her pride was on time-out.

Saverin seemed unbothered. His huge arms lay folded across his chest, and he death-stared at anybody who looked their way. If he was hungry he gave no sign at all. “Something ain’t right,” he muttered. Not for the first time. Or the fifth. His eyes scanned the room back and forth, back and forth. The couple were postured in a corner with the wall to their backs. A good defensive strategy, but Tanya was keenly aware that they’d been pushed deeper into the house, away from any real exit. All the windows were guarded by men Saverin called “Green Trees.”

“Like Rory?” Tanya had asked.

“Like Rory,” Saverin confirmed. “He’s Absalom’s second cousin. Mother’s side.”

Absalom. Tanya wondered when Mister High and Mighty would show up, since to leave this place she and Saverin apparently needed his permission. Tuh! The deputy’s pretty manners hadn’t fooled her one bit; he was no different from the seedy characters cavorting around here tonight, drunk off their ass on sour-smelling hooch.

“They’re saying that Absalom is going to start up the marijuana growing again?” she asked Saverin, to distract herself from the food. “But I thought Roman owned all the land.”

At Saverin’s amused expression she muttered, “What? I heard the men talking.”

Saverin said slowly, “I reckon that Absalom thinks that Roman will make contact with him at some point soon. Negotiate terms. Yes, Roman legally owns the Harvest land and most of Florin. But if he’s not here, then…” Saverin shrugged. “I wouldn’t count my cousin out yet. Absalom took this hill too easily. I doubt this is the last we’ll hear of Roman McCall.”

Tanya bit her lip. “You think this all could be a trap?”

“Likely as not,” said Saverin grimly.

The Grandfather clock in the hall struck for seven, barely heard over the blasting country music.

Was Saverin right? Would the other shoe drop tonight for Roman’s revenge? Or would the first explosion come from the Snatch Hills, who were sneering and looking over at Saverin like they wanted to start something.Let them.Tanya knew Saverin had something in store for those murderers, but he whatever it was, he wasn’t saying a word. They were all waiting for Absalom to show up.

But Tanya also realized that even with all their guns they were wary of Saverin, which was definitely interesting.

“They think I dabble in the dark arts, like Roman,” Saverin told her wryly. “There’s many folk who thought that Roman was some kind of sorcerer, and I was his apprentice.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep.” Saverin’s mouth made a hard line as he stared Hiram down.

“What if he stashed the ticket somewhere?” Tanya fretted.

“I doubt,” was the short response.

Hiram was obviously getting drunker by the minute. The flush on his cheeks now matched the dirty crop of red hair on his head. How the hell were they going to get the lottery ticket off him? Saverin had no guns, and Tanya for damn sure didn’t have so much as a butter knife to defend herself. And it wasn’t as if they could go announcing to the room what they were after!

Where the hell is Absalom?

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