cdnndc, hawaiianbelle and jazphace – thanks so much for taking the time to post a response. As always I appreciate it. :)
Chapter Forty-six
Marita admired Sean's slumberous expression, his handsome face in a state of sleep, beautiful – an unusual thing for a man, but so true when she thought of Sean - and more peaceful than she'd ever seen him. She wondered how long it would be before they'd resolve all the issues in Lexington – Ned's trial, the trouble with the ranch, before they could finally go off to live their lives, return to tranquil moments like this. Marita continued to gaze at the gorgeous man that was her husband, now tenderly touching his taut chest, lightly brushing her hand over his pecs, causing him to stir, to languidly sigh. Encouraged and delighted at his amorous response to the memorable morning she hoped to give him, Marita moved to his chiseled stomach, caressing his navel then slowly slipping her hand lower, beneath the sheets and between his legs. Sean groaned, his mind and body now fully roused as she slipped her hand around him, gently stroking his length and kissed his mouth, lingeringly, passionately before pulling away. Sean's sigh of protest, melded into a gasp when she proceeded to his chest, her mouth hotly trailing over it's center and peaks, scorching him with yearning fire, then skimming his stomach, sensuously tonguing his navel, fostering a burning moan, before she turned her attention to his shaft. Her mouth then joined the erotic knead of her hand to taste him in the most deliciously, rapturous ways, driving him to feverishly keen her name, to brutally grasp the sheets beneath him, when his release finally came in a passionately violent shutter that drove a guttural scream of ecstasy from his lips. Breath rushed from Sean's lungs, his limbs weak and trembling, still tingled with heat and pliant euphoria as Marita lovingly, relentlessly assaulted his body, ardently kissing his stomach, his chest, then stopping for a moment to tease and torture his pecs. Sean groaned in pleasurable angst, his body again becoming inflamed as she moved to his neck, fervently drinking in its male taste before she took his lips in a deep kiss. "I need to get dressed." She breathlessly whispered. "Get to my pa's before the workers start arriving." She said, then kissed him again and moved to leave the bed when Sean surprised her, grabbing her before she could go, pulling her back to the bed, rolling her beneath him.
"You don't honestly think I'm going to let you off that easily." He huskily declared as he teased her feminine portal with his hard shaft, instantly arousing her with feverish desire.
"Sean." She gasped, pleading with him to give her what she needed, but he refused to answer her cry, instead continuing the torturous ministrations with his shaft, while adding a tender caress to the peaks of her breast. "Sean, please" Marita passionately breathed as she thrashed against him, when he mercifully, fervidly answered her plea, plunging into her tight heat while hungrily seizing her mouth...
Several hours later...
Marita stood before the mirror in her pa's home, styling her hair, thinking of the passionate morning she'd had with Sean. She'd wanted to give him a morning he wouldn't soon forget since their intimate time would now be limited, and she'd done just that. She proudly mused with a hint of shyness as she tamed the stubborn curls enough to pull them into a bun. But Sean couldn't simply let her have her way with him and walk away, and really what did she expect after what she'd done to him? She blushed. He had to reciprocate her passionate gift, and reciprocate he'd done. He'd made love to her with a passion and intensity she'd never experience before. Marita heatedly shivered. He'd kept her there more than an hour past the time she'd planned to leave, but it was all worth it. She shyly thought, her body flushing with yearning at the memory of his touch. Thankfully exhaustion had ebbed their desires, and she was able to tear herself from his grasp just in time enough to make it to her pa's house before the servants and ranchers started to arrive for work. Her heart clenched with longing and love, missing Sean already. Though they'd continue to see each other over the next couple of weeks, for work, meals and maybe even the occasional private moment, those times would be incomparable to the weekend they'd just shared, freely living and loving as husband and wife. She wished they lived in a world where color and class was irrelevant, where people respected the love between a man and a woman no matter their ethnicity, but that was not their reality – at least not here in the states. Hence keeping their marriage secret was best not only for themselves, but for their families. At least this time we're married. She then happily mused. And would soon be living their lives together, openly in…Europe. She quietly acknowledged what she and Sean had still not yet decided but knew would likely be their home. A nervous excitement coursed through her at the thought of starting a new life with Sean as she absently pinned her hair, failing to notice that she was no longer alone…
"Marita, what are you doing here?" Her father asked with bewilderment that was tinged with hope, drawing her shocked eyes to the door.
"Pa…I…you're home." She stammered, completely surprised, for she didn't expect her pa to return from Winchester until late evening, and thus she had no concerns he'd catch her there.
"Of course I am, I live here." He lightly stated. "But why are you here? Have you, decided to move back in?" He questioned again, still wishing for the impossible.
"Oh I… spilled some juice on my dress." She quickly recovered, speaking the lie with confidence. "I remembered I'd left a couple of dresses here when I moved out, so I came by to change." She said as she returned her attention to the mirror and resumed fixing her hair.
"What's that on your hand?" Isaac asked, noticing the sparkling jewels on his daughter's finger, just as she realized she'd failed to take her wedding rings off. Marita instantly dropped her hand to her side in a futile attempt to remove the rings from view while struggling to come up with a response, but before she could speak, her pa was upon her, grabbing her hand from her side.
"These are wedding rings." He stiffly stated after observing the jewels closer, returning a severe, yet fearful gaze to his daughter. "What did you do?" His voice shook with a sternness she hadn't heard since he'd scolded her as a child.
"Nothing that's of your concern." Marita replied as she pulled her hand from his grasp.
"Please tell me those are John Wesley's rings that adorn your hand." He beseeched a truth that in his heart he knew was implausible.
"I will tell you nothing." She strongly stated as she moved away from him.
"You owe me an answer." He demanded, following her.
"This is my life." She firmly contended as she walked to the bed and gathered her things to go.
"I am still your father and I deserve to know what's going on!"
"All you need to know is that I'm happy." She turned to her father, holding his fierce gaze.
"Are you back with Sean Logan?" He questioned his voice tight and on the brink of ire.
"I will not discuss this with you." Marita held her ground, returning her attention to the items on the bed.
"You will answer me this instant!" Isaac pushed, his fury growing.
"I am not a child!"
"Did you marry Sean Logan?"
"This is none of your business!"
"You will not leave this house until you answer my question!" Isaac yelled with vexation, stepping into her path. "Now answer me! Did you marry Sean Logan!
"Yes!" Marita angrily declared. "I am Sean's wife! We married two days ago in Ohio!"
"Sean!" Lexy exclaimed as she ran up to her brother with Alice following behind and gave him a hug.
"You're back." He happily smiled, returning her embrace. "How was your trip?"
"Awesome!" She excitedly answered, pulling back from the hug to animatedly detail the wonderful things they'd experienced – the great crafts and games, and delicious candy and food…
"Speaking of which, we brought the candied apples you requested." Alice interjected, handing Sean a bag full of the delicacies. "I hope they'll bring some sunshine to what I'm sure was a dreadful holiday." She lightly added.
"Actually the holiday went rather well, better than I expected." Sean declared, now nearly beaming at thought of his holiday wedding and weekend with his new wife – particularly their intensely erotic time that morning. His body ardently trembling at the pleasing memory.
"What did you do?" Alice questioned, curiously noticing her brother's demeanor brightening at the topic of his weekend activities. "I take it Zenith's quick recovery was only part of your 'rather well' weekend." She deduced, knowing that the horse was better due to her brief chat with a ranch hand before entering the house.
"Alice." Lexy whined, before Sean could respond. "I didn't get to tell Sean about the best part of the festival." She said. Alice sighed, conceding her sister's excitement about the trip, letting go her curiosity about Sean's weekend to allow Lexy to reveal the amazing thing she'd seen in Louisville when Clay entered the room.
"Any problems while I was away?" He directed at Sean, completely disrupting Lexy's tale and irritating Sean whose stance hardened at the sight of his brother.
"Clay, Lexy was trying to tell Sean about the festival." Alice immediately scolded her brother who was in a foul mood, due to his failed attempt to secure the money needed to make a payment to Asa at the end of the week.
"I'm sorry to disrupt this important discussion, but there's just the matter of business, you know the thing that puts food on the table and those pretty dresses on your back that needs to be discussed." He harshly declared.
"What is your problem?" Alice angrily questioned. "You've been like this since we left Louisville."
"Nothing's my problem"
"Obviously that's a lie…"
"Alright, let's not do this." Sean strongly interjected, stopping the argument that was about to ensue, eying his brother with suspicious, suspecting he knew what the source of his exasperation was. "I'm going to have to cut this short anyway. Right now, there is some important business I need to discuss with Clay." He said, upsetting Lexy and irritating Alice, who felt like Sean just gave Clay a pass for his rude behavior.
"Now?" Lexy sighed, staring at him with disappointed eyes.
"Yes, now." Sean stated, his tone serious, letting her know that he wasn't going to go back and forth on this topic. "I promise, you can tell me all about the cotton candy and rides at dinner. Right now, I must speak with Clay."
"Is everything okay?" Alice asked, her voice a mixture of annoyance and worry.
"Yes." Sean assured. Thinking, at this point, his sisters didn't need to know the extent of their troubles. "It's just some business stuff that needs to be resolved right away."
Alice scoffed and rolled her eyes at her brother's reply, not really sure if he was telling her the truth, but having no other choice but to believe him right now. She then directed a saddened Lexy to lead their exit from the room and quietly shut the door behind them. Sean turned his back to his brother and returned to the desk, laying the bag of candied apples upon it. The temper that had been stayed by his sisters' presence now quickly rose in ire. "I know you're angry with him, but try not to be too hard on him. He just wanted to prove himself, and sometimes in trying to do that we can make grave mistakes." Marita's words whispered in his mind, the truth in them. Lord knew he'd made his fair share of mistakes, but nothing as egregious as this.
"So what fire needs to be put out now?" Clay asked, thinking the last thing he needed was more problems with horses and thus clients with the mess he still needed to resolve with Asa.
"It's ironic that you ask that since I have the same question for you." Sean said, folding his arms across his chest and turning to lean against the desk, to face his brother.
"What could I possibly have to tell you seeing as I've been in Louisville all weekend." Clay impatiently replied.
"I don't know, you tell me?" Sean said. "Is all truly well with the ranch? Or is there something you haven't told me?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Clay angrily questioned. "You know everything there is to know about the business." He said, failing to even entertain the possibility that his brother knew of the situation with Asa.
"You really want to play this game?" Sean sharply questioned. "When the ranch, everything that our family has built is about to be destroyed."
"I don't have time for your riddles."
Sean scoffed at his brother's pride and arrogance, finding it unbelievable that he would continue to lie when he'd made it pretty obvious that knew that there was trouble with the ranch. "This isn't a riddle Clay." Sean tartly replied. "I know about your little problem, that's now our family's problem. I know about your deal with Asa Winters."
Isaac dropped onto the bench at the end of the bed, holding his chest, his breathing shallow, alarming Marita who instantly rushed to his side.
"Pa, are you alright?" She questioned with dread. Isaac said, not a word, but lifted his gaze to his daughter, his eyes a storm of darkness, scaring her.
"Do you not remember the pain and horror you felt when you were beaten by that lunatic?" He then asked, his voice low, emotional, yet biting, causing her to tremble with disquiet at his words, at that attack she still couldn't remember. "Of course you don't." He sighed in realization as his daughter dropped her eyes. "Otherwise you wouldn't be so eager to create this fantasy life with Sean."
"This is not a fantasy life." Marita disputed, lifting strong eyes to her pa even as her heart hurt at his anger and angst, at what had been done to her in the past. "What I have with Sean is real…."
"Real?" Isaac retorted, cutting her off, barely giving the words a chance to leave her lips. "So real that you had to go to another state to marry, that you can't even acknowledge that you love Sean much less are married to him for fear of retaliation." He severely declared.
"I don't have to justify my choices to you." Marita maintained.
"No you don't." Isaac replied. "But you do have to answer to the world, and I will not stand by and let you pay that call again. I will not let you run off to the north, to peril with Sean Logan!"
"You have no choice. He is my husband." She stated a truth that nearly sickened her father who still could not believe this was happening, that his worst nightmare had come to fruition.
"That means nothing here." Isaac tightly countered. "In the eyes of Kentucky you are still a single woman and therefore as your father I have full authority over you."
"Which means what? That you're going to break your vow to respect my choices? That you will try and ruin my life, my happiness by forcing me to give up Sean?"
"Do you not understand where I'm coming from?" Isaac vehemently asked. "You talk about my lies and your love for Sean but do you understand what I felt when I learned you'd been attacked and worse when I saw you lying unconscious at death's door?" He stated with anguish. "It nearly destroyed me to see you that way, to think that I was going to lose my daughter over a choice that never should've been made. "
"I understand your fear, and I'm sorry that my choice is hurting you." Marita earnestly stated, her voice shaking with emotion. "But I won't give up Sean."
"And I will never let you leave here with him." Her father vowed, his gaze woeful, yet hard.
"You do know that if you do anything to sabotage my marriage to Sean, that our relationship will never recover." Marita steadily, but sullenly stated, her heart aching at her words, that after the estrangement his previous actions had caused he would repeat that behavior or do worse to keep her from Sean.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Isaac defiantly declared, even though he knew, deep down that such a choice was a mistake. "I'd rather you be alive and not speaking to me, than dead and lost to me forever."
"Well then there is nothing more for us to discuss." Marita sadly replied as her pa helplessly lowered his eyes in bitter gloom. "I'm truly sorry that it has to be this way." She quietly uttered, tears in her voice, then retrieved her bag from the bed and quickly left the room as her pa dropped his face to his hand and struggled to restrain a cry of certainty, yet doubt, fury and fear over his choice that could cost him his daughter.
"So." Clay retorted after gaining control of the shock that nearly crushed his solid stance and quickly began to pace. "I did what I had to do to save the ranch."
"You have done anything but save this ranch." Sean tightly declared, pushing away from the desk, using all the strength he had not to respond with violence to his brother's callous statement. "Your foolish decision to deal with Asa Winters has us on the brink of losing this house and the land it stands on!"
"What are you talking about? I have this deal under control!" Clay fiercely disputed.
"No. You have nothing under control!" Sean lividly replied. "Asa Winters has filed a lien against the property as a way to collect payment on the loan!"
"What? That's impossible!" Clay rejected in angry disbelief, stopping in his tracks to face his brother. "He said I had thirty days to pay him back!"
"And you stupidly believed him!"
"It's in the contract!"
"A contract that is invalid!"
"How is that possible?" Clay queried, reeling with fury and dismay.
"I don't know Clay. Maybe if you'd bothered to read it or had it thoroughly reviewed by the ranch lawyer we wouldn't be in this mess." Sean seethed as Clay stood quiet and incensed, his eyes cast to the floor. He had read the contract, and it specifically said that Asa could not resort to extremes to gain repayment on the loan unless he was thirty days or more behind on repayment. He'd actually used that clause to get Asa to back off when the man began demanding his money right away. And now that bastard was trying to take the ranch.
"No, there must be some mistake." He suddenly spoke in denial. "He can't do this! It's in the contract." He fumed.
"There is no mistake." Sean made clear, his gaze firmly locked with his brother's. "Mr. Ridley confirmed that Asa's filing is legal." He said, furthering Clay's infuriation, who couldn't believe how the situation had spun so far out of control, that he'd forever be seen as a failure while Sean would be deemed perfect for seeing them out of this impossible mess. "I just don't understand how you could be so foolish?" Sean uttered with baffled anger. "Did you really think that going to Asa Winters of all people was a better choice than going to your rich grandfather? Even to me when I returned?" He questioned, his voice growing loud with exploding chagrin. "You know that Asa's wanted to stick it to pa for years and you put our livelihood in his hands for your precious pride!" He seethed. "Unbelievable!"
"Is it?" Clay defensively exclaimed. "Isn't this what you expected all along for me to mess things up?" He argued. "So what's your plan? Because I know the all knowing and perfect Sean will have one." He sarcastically quipped.
"I don't have some grand plan Clay." Sean retorted.
"Oh well that's a first."
"Don't get crossed with me." Sean ordered. "This is your fault! Any 'plan' that could've been made was lost when you didn't come to me or even Grandpa Cab when you had the chance. Now our only hope is some legal maneuvering by Mr. Ripley." He said, unnerving his brother who fought to keep up a galled face. "And you best pray that it works, because if it doesn't you'll not only have your pride to worry about. You'll have to explain to our pa how you lost our home, the business him and Grandpa Shane worked so hard to build, to his worst enemy - Asa Winters."
Jeb stood in the shadows of the Logan home, staring at its greatness, the life emanating from the lights that shined through its windows as news of a betrayal blackened his already dark heart, filled him with rage and violence. He knew it was coming, that the days of complicity with his plans were numbered, but he never expected such treachery from Jeremy Bradford. Jeb had thought it was odd when the young man had failed to tell him of the changes to security at the Logan Ranch and when he'd vanished without a trace Jeb thought the young man had run off – abandoning the plan in fear, only fleetingly thinking that it could be something more sinister. But now he knew the unthinkable was indeed the truth. After spending a day at the ranch he'd learned that the Logans were looking for Jeremy and upon further discussion with the boy's neighbors he'd discovered that Jeremy had went off with two young men fitting the descriptions of Clay and Sean Logan and had not been seen since. Somehow the Logans had learned of his plan and based on the truth he'd beat from that investigator who was now dead, they planned to use Jeremy to prove Ned's innocence. Well he couldn't let that happen. Jeb vowed with wrath as he fingered the trigger of the gun he held in his hand. He would be damned if he let all those years in prison and his careful planning be all for naught. They were all going to pay: Ned Logan, Jeremy Bradford and even his brother, he deemed with ire now thinking of Asa's secret plan to acquire the Logan Ranch, something Jeb had found out thanks to a couple of loose lips at a saloon outside of town. He had a good mind to storm into that house and demand to know where they'd taken Jeremy, and if they didn't tell him…His body vengefully shook as his thoughts abruptly returned to his most pressing issue. If they didn't tell him, he'd destroy them, which would break Ned forever. He mused with menace, but remained where he stood, remembering that his son was in that house, and that no matter what, he'd never do anything to hurt him. His day would come. Jeb knew as his heart still raged, eager to use the gun in his hand. Soon they'd rue the day they'd dared to betray him, soon their lives, their spirits would be in shambles, destroyed by his hand.
