Chapter Ten

Liam startled awake to a god-awful clamor. Randolph, the farm boss, stood in the middle of the dormitory, already dressed and clanging a large brass bell.

“Outta bed, you lazy lugs! Go wash, throw on some clean duds, and hit the mess hall for morning chow.” He ordered, striding down the rows of bunks. “Daylight’s wasting, and y’all have a busy day ahead.”

The gigantic silver-haired cowboy wore boots, jeans, an embroidered shirt, and his ten-gallon hat, barking instructions like a drill instructor. Drowsy grunts and groans came in reply from sleepy farmhands, but they all rose from their beds to shuffle en mass toward the shower facilities.

Liam climbed leadenly to his feet and then paused.

The old PA speaker mounted in a protective wire cage above his bunk hissed and crackled with a most distracting buzzing static. He stared dumbly at it as muddled, dreamlike images of green grass and pink skies skittered around the periphery of his half-conscious mind.

Then it cut off, and reality returned in a jolt to find Randolph closing a steel switch box on the wall beside the open front door. Outside, the first blush of dawn glowed a ruddy orange.

“Settling in okay, city boy?” The older man drawled, locking the box and securing a jangling keyring on his belt. “Got any complaints now you ain’t staying in a five-star Hotel like the big house? Mayhaps I should rustle up a mint for your pillow or arrange a turndown service before lights out tonight. Would that make you feel more at home, slicker?”

He loomed like a colossus, with bunched fists on his brawny hips and waxed mustache bristling like a broom. Liam couldn’t have weighed more than a third of the cowboy’s bulk and abhorred conflict, but something about the senseless posturing bugged him.

“Just passing through, boss.” He replied steadily, straightening under the man’s stern glare. “Not trying to ruffle anyone’s feathers. So save the macho act for your field hands. I’m not one of them.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. Until then, everybody earns their keep.” Randolph sneered, then shouted into the bathroom. “Thaddius, get your dumb ass over here!”

“Sir?” The suntanned giant appeared at the door in a towel, dripping soap suds everywhere.

“You’re on minding duty with Mr Fancypants today. Ensure he gets fed and put to choring until Miss Gabriella finds a better use for him.”

“Yessir, Mister Randolph.”

Liam sat across the table from Thaddius, wolfing down his morning repast.

Damn, he was starving!

Crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, corned beef hash, and syrupy flapjacks disappeared under the relentless attack of his knife and fork. It wasn’t until he had mopped up the last of his gravy with a buttery biscuit that Liam realized the metal tray was all but licked clean.

It would have been embarrassing, except, glancing around, everyone else was doing the same. The clatter of cutlery and satisfied grunts was all there was to hear. Nobody spoke or laughed except the gaggle of female cousins serving the food. They laughed and flirted while ladling out gut-busting portions for the queue of stolid farmhands.

“Have you asked her ‘bout me yet?” Thaddius asked, gulping down a mouthful of beans.

Those had been good. Liam wondered if he could get a second helping and some crusty bread fresh from the oven too.

“Sorry, asked who about what?”

“Miss Gabriella, ‘bout taking me on as a stud.” The monolithic farmhand sounded resigned. Listless. “Life ain’t peachy for a buck without a handler ‘round here. Was hopin’ you’d put in a good word, is all. Don’t wanna be shipped off, ya know?”

Liam stared at him in stunned comprehension, the words slowly sinking in.

Thaddius wanted to fuck his precious baby girl?

Muscles bunched, and the steel fork in his fist bent at a right angle under the pressure. When he dropped the knife in his other hand, fingerprints were etched into the handle. Jealous flayed his heart raw, and an uncommon fury dragged him to his feet…

“Morning, Daddy!” A small, curvy body smashed into Liam’s side, and warm arms wrapped him in a gleeful embrace. “I missed you sooo~ much last night. How did you sleep?”

Glancing down, Liam’s temper cooled at the adorable sight of Gabriella snuggling close. Her firm rump rounded out a short denim skirt and large, buoyant breasts nearly spilled from a pink crop top. Getting lost in the deep swell of her cleavage, he suddenly couldn’t remember the reason for his anger. She beamed merrily at him, then proudly held up a plastic pill bottle.

“You forgot these, silly. When I found them, I told myself, ‘Gabby, be a good girl and make sure Daddy gets his meds.’ I’ve got a whole day planned and need you in tip-top condition.” She prattled in her usual mile-a-minute style, not letting him get a word in edgeways. “We’ve got to prepare the fields for harvesting. That means I get to show you how to drive a tractor. It’s a bunch of fun, you’ll see. Then we’ll stop for lunch, and I’ll make you more of my special lemonade–I remember how much you enjoyed it last time, Daddy–before we spend the entire afternoon together…”

Liam let her continue babbling as he watched a swarm of scantily clad cousins skip into the mess hall, pairing off with the burly laborers and leading them away.

Dixie and Trixie, in their customary bikini tops, spray-on daisy dukes, and wide-brimmed hats, gathered their group of a half dozen. They giggled and shot each other knowing smirks when they caught him staring, wiggling their fingers in a flirty wave.

A momentary vision of the twin sex bombs naked with small curling horns sticking from their chocolate locks and cowbells hanging around their necks flashed through Liam’s mind, leaving him in a half-hardened state of confusing arousal.

Ruby ignored everyone and marched with her nose in the air, towing her two lumbering shadows out the door.

The scene seemed strangely rehearsed, as though choreographed and regularly performed. Did nobody question why so many women–every one of them young and vibrantly beautiful–were necessary to operate a farm with a full complement of overtly male workers?

They didn’t seem to serve any purpose beyond acting like cheerleaders and occasionally reminding their companions what tasks needed handling.

Liam frowned, trying to puzzle out the weird logistics, but his thoughts were still slow from waking, and Gabby’s constant litany was very soothing.

As was the soft press of her lush, barely-legal body against his side.

“–can’t seem to loosen the lid.” She complained, wrestling with the pill bottle before giving in and shaking it at him. “Open this for me please, Daddy?”

“No problem, baby.” Liam chuckled, taking the proffered container and twisting the child-proof cap. There was the sharp crack of breaking plastic as the entire top snapped off in his grip. “Whoops, guess it was stuck?”

“Must have been.” She nodded in agreement, running her dainty hands over the contours of his hard bicep straining his shirt sleeve. “Can you take two for me today? Just to be certain your head doesn’t–”

A short cough and polite throat clearing that sounded like a blocked storm drain drew their attention to Thaddius, who remained at the table folded in on himself, looking forlorn.

Liam had forgotten the big man was there. Angry bile rose in his gorge when he recalled the dull-eyed meathead’s request.

“Do you need help finding the woodpile, Thad?” Gabriella asked, ice in her normally carefree tone. “You’re living on borrowed time since Ruby dropped you like a stinky turd.”

“I know, Miss Gabriella. But Mister Randolph told me to mind him.” Thaddius mumbled, his speech a slow, halting drawl. “And I was simply wonderin’ if you would be so kind to take me on as–”

“We should go.” Liam interrupted sternly, looping a possessive hand under Gabby’s round ass and lifting her as he stood. She was surprisingly light in his arms, squealing excitedly and clutching his neck. “Busy day ahead, right babe?”

“Exactly right, Daddy!” The curvy little blonde tittered, rubbing her braless chest against him. Stiff nipples raked his skin through the sheer pink top. “No time for washed-out has-beens who don’t know their place at the bottom of the pecking order. Can you believe he actually spoke to me with you sitting right there? What a dolt! Forget that loser, sir. I’ll talk to Miss Lily about him later.”

“Yeah... good, whatever,” Liam grunted. Gabby’s wildflower aroma inundated his nostrils.

He slipped two fingers beneath her denim skirt and discovered already moist folds, hot to the touch. Exploring her slick tightness, he lost himself in exquisite sensation before realizing they were just standing there. Shaking his head to clear the pleasant daze Liam looked to Gabby for instruction.

“Um, where are we headed again?”

“Wherever we can find some privacy.” She moaned, squirming on his digits and raising the broken pill bottle in a shaky hand. “But first, say ‘ahh’ Daddy.”

“Ahhh….”

Liam almost choked when Gabriella tipped half the contents down his throat.

A big shout-out to supporter VoidGolem for suggesting this sexy tale and brainstorming smutty ideas with me. Advanced chapters—in fact, all 11k words of part two of this story—are available on my BuyMeACoffee page for the low price of a hot cuppa. Cheers, and happy reading!