IN HIS KEEPING: TAKEN

Connor whirled her around the grass to the strains of the Tim McGraw version of ‘Baby I’m Amazed By You.’  He stared down at Sylvie as he listened to the words, they were so prophetic.  Everything about her really was amazing!  She was sweet and beautiful and kind, but most amazing of all was that she loved him.  That blew him away.  Sometimes she looked up at him with those big blue eyes of hers and it was almost as though he could see into her soul.  He tightened his arm around her waist as he guided them away from the crush of other dancers.  He looked up to see Matthew and Mark watching them.  He got a kick out of her family.  They were big, loud, and boisterous.  And they certainly knew how to throw one hell of a party.  He had expected the cobbled together wedding to be a disaster; but boy, was he wrong.  It was wonderful!  The setting, the ceremony, the food, the music.  Sara could make a fortune if she gave up pharmacy and worked as a wedding planner in the city.  The woman was a tough taskmaster and…a perfectionist!  Obsessively so.  Nothing slipped by her, no matter how insignificant or seemingly unimportant.  Things had to be done her way, to her exacting specifications…or else.  She had him and her brothers out in the meadow at the crack of dawn this morning setting up the floral archway and chairs for the ceremony, and the tables and chairs for the reception.  He’d carried dinnerware, cutlery, linens, and glassware; hauled kegs and coolers filled with soda, wine, and water; toted floral arrangements and wedding gifts; even lugged DJ equipment and speakers.

He’d been put to work as soon as he and Sylvie arrived yesterday.  He and Shawn were sent to several local churches to pick up items needed for the wedding.  Shawn’s truck was on the small side so they had to make several trips in order to get everything.  Luke and Ben were out in Luke’s truck doing the very same thing.  They unloaded everything back at the farm, hauling it into one of the barns where they stored the items overnight.  As soon as he’d finished that job, Sara had given him a new one: raking up wheelbarrows full of grass.  Matt and Mark had worked all that morning cutting a gigantic square smack in the middle of a flowering meadow with several paths leading off from it.  A large path, some eight feet wide, led to the area beside the creek where the ceremony was held; another emptied into the parking area; yet another directed guests to the 4 rented, self-contained outhouses; and the last led to the house.  They’d cut and mulched the grass as best they could, but the mulch was thick in places and Sara demanded it be removed.  So he and her brothers dutifully followed orders, moving the chopped grass to another area of the farm where it would remain hidden from view and not upset the ‘aesthetics of the pastoral scene.’  Now really!  It was no wonder her brothers referred to her as ‘Der Führer.’  The woman had a real set of clankers on her.  He’d actually gotten blisters on his hands from raking!  Sara obviously hadn’t gotten the memo that he was rich and didn’t do manual labor.  Still, he had to admit the setting was beautiful.  The square was surrounded by a sea of colorful wildflowers waving in the breeze.  He only knew a few of their names: the orange ones were black-eyed Susans, the lacy white ones Queen Anne’s Lace, the blue and pink ones he thought were cornflowers.  There were red poppies, purple coneflowers, pink milkweed, white daisies, yellow buttercups, and a variety of clovers mostly reds, pinks, and purples.  He couldn’t remember what the tall blue daisies or tiny pink feathery ones were called.  The profusion of blooms was amazing.  Sara might be a pain in the ass, but he had to give her credit, the girl knew how to create a setting.  He knew people in the Hamptons who would be green with envy if they saw this party space.

He pulled Sylvie close and nuzzled her hair.  She fit perfectly in his arms, as though she’d been created for that very purpose.  She belonged there, snug and safe in his embrace.  He looked up and saw Matthew and Mark watching him.  They’d been cool to him at first.  Especially after he’d informed everyone that he and Sylvie had reserved a room at the Hillside Inn.  They knew he was Sylvie’s boss, but they weren’t prepared to learn they were sleeping together.  From the comments that were tossed his way over the last two days, they obviously didn’t approve of the relationship.  It was quite apparent they didn’t want some rich prick sniffing around their kid sister, never mind fucking her!  Up until the moment he showed up to burst their balloon, they believed Sylvie to be the same girl she’d always been: a shy little farm girl, a wallflower who never dated, who’d never given them a moment’s cause for concern.  But that all changed in a matter of weeks and they were hard pressed to accept it.  Her four brothers had pretty much given him the third degree, while Shawn stood by acting as backup.  They demanded to know how long he’d been ‘seeing’ Sylvie.  It was the euphemistic way of asking him how long he’d been fucking her.  When he told them about 6 weeks they just glared at him.  He could see them doing the math.  Sylvie had only been working for him 2 months.  The fact that he’d barely known her 2 weeks before luring her into his bed didn’t sit right with them.  Not at all.  It was obvious they thought he was a sleazy playboy-lothario.  A player who used his money and influence to prey on, seduce, and take advantage of naïve young women.

Things had been tense for a while.  At one point he thought they would bodily throw him out of the house; but fortunately, a cooler head, in the form of Sylvie’s father, Lucas, prevailed.  He told them Sylvie was a grownup and could make her own decisions; and that they should mind their own business and butt out!  That if Sylvie cared for Connor, that was enough for him.  And that since Connor was a guest in his house; Lucas expected his sons and son-in-law to treat him with respect.  Once he’d pitched in and started helping out, they seemed a little less hostile.  They held traditional views on sex, marriage, and family; and were extremely protective of their youngest sister.  They took exception to the fact that he’d booked them into a hotel where everyone knew her and knew she wasn’t married.  The town gossips would have a field day at Sylvie’s expense.  He decided it wasn’t so much the sex they objected to, but Connor being so brazen about it.  He didn’t have a sister, but thought he’d be equally protective and just as concerned for her reputation if he did.  He could understand their animosity.  They loved her and didn’t want to see her get  hurt.  And it was obvious they suspected Connor would break her heart.  Except for Ben, who Connor decided was no saint when it came to bedding women, he was sure the rest of them hadn’t slept around much before settling into marital monogamy.  He’d been half expecting them to corner him sometime during the day and demand to know what his intentions were regarding their sister Sylvie.  He inwardly cringed at the thought.

He had to admit he really liked her family.  They were unpretentious, hardworking, generous, kind, and welcoming…at least some of them were.  He understood where Sylvie got it from.  They were a close-knit bunch.  They didn’t talk about money or put each other down.  For the most part they talked sports, kids, current events, history, and especially politics.  The Republicans outnumbered the Democrats in the family, but that didn’t stop the liberals in the clan from haranguing the conservatives.  Yesterday they were arguing about which party bore the most blame for the recent spate of Congressional fuckups.

The Jenkins were a prolific lot, taking the Biblical directive to be fruitful and multiply to heart.  Connor hadn’t been around children much.  They made him nervous.  He’d never even held a baby until Sylvie plopped 18-month-old Bailey in his lap.  He hadn’t realized they were so squirmy and almost dropped her.  It was apparent that Sylvie loved children.  Every time he turned around, she had a kid on her lap or a baby in her arms.  It was also apparent that she’d be a good mother.  That thought made him sad.  When that time came, he’d be long gone and she’d be with someone else.  Someone who’d hold her and make love to her the way he did; only it wouldn’t be him…it couldn’t be him!  He pulled her closer.

The song ended and they disengaged, waiting for the next one to begin.

‘So tell me,’ Sylvie smiled up at him, ‘how do you like Daddy’s pride and joy?’

He looked at her quizzically then answered ‘Very much!  Very…very…very…much!’ he said, punctuating each word with a kiss to her cheek.

‘Not me silly,’ she laughed, playfully punching his arm.  ‘The manure digester!’

‘Oh that.  Yes it’s…it’s…  Well, it’s nice,’ he said, trying to sound earnest.  But it was hard to drum up much enthusiasm for something that was filled with cow shit, even if it did turn crap into electricity.  ‘Your father gave me a tour and a 30 minute lecture on how digesters will revolutionize dairy farming.  He was most effusive in his praise of it.  Can’t say that I understood all of what he said, but it certainly sounds very useful.’

‘You are such a city-boy!’ she chided, shaking her head.  ‘My father loves that thing.  You’re lucky he didn’t give you the 2 hour version with the power point presentation!’ she laughed, then clapped her hands when she recognized the bouncy beat coming from the speakers.  ‘Oh wow!  Listen…the Happy Song!’  Her face erupted into a huge grin.  Her arms shot up above her head and began waving in the air.  Her feet commenced stepping and stomping, her ass wiggling and shaking in time to the music.  He looked at her in awe.  He’d never seen her like this before…so jubilant, so joyful.  Her enthusiasm was contagious.  All the Jenkins women gathered round her and began dancing with abandon, including the newest member Leona.  They jumped, bounced, bopped, kicked, slid, strutted, and twirled, their shoulders shrugging to the beat.  They snapped their fingers and clapped their hands, then punched the air with their fists.  They walked like Egyptians moving in unison first in one direction, then the other.  They vogued, posing like models on a catwalk, wiggling their fingers in front of their eyes trying to look mysterious.  Then they hitchhiked and pointed at their men and crooking their fingers motioned them to come over.  Lucas hurried to his bride and circled her with shuffling steps.  Then the rest of the men joined him.

Connor stood watching, feeling like the outsider he was, until he felt a sharp smack on his ass.  ‘Come on party pooper!’  She grabbed his hands and began pulling and pushing them in time to the beat.  Connor, never much of a dancer, began to move and sway and she lit up.  Her happiness, her enthusiasm for life, was almost infectious.  He looked down at her; and at that moment, in the light of her joy, he felt the darkness inside him abating.  He liked the feeling!

When the song ended, while everybody whooped and clapped, Sylvie grabbed him by the collar and stretching up on her tiptoes kissed him on the lips.  He bent and whispered in her ear.  ‘Are we good now Sylvie?’  She could see the concern in his eyes.

They hadn’t really spoken much about the other night.  She’d tried to ask him about Marisol, but he’d avoided the topic simply saying she was someone he’d once cared for…period…end of story!  She hadn’t learned the truth until Mrs. Cosgrove spilled the beans and told her Marisol had once been Connor’s fiancé.  She had died tragically, shortly after they’d announced their engagement.  But before Mrs. Cosgrove could tell her more, Connor had interrupted them and the older woman clammed up.  At first Sylvie was upset by the news, but the more she thought about it, the less it bothered her.  Connor was older and more experienced than she.  It stood to reason that he would have had a serious relationship or two before he met her.  He must have loved Marisol; otherwise he wouldn’t have wanted to marry her.  And if he loved once, he could love again.  Sylvie had no idea when she died or how long they’d been together.  But the fact that her specter haunted his dreams was troubling.  It would be hard to compete with a ghost!  But Sylvie wasn’t a quitter.  She loved Connor and she’d do everything in her power to make him love her too!  ‘We’re good,’ she reassured him.

*****

Connor had never danced or sweated so much in his life.  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun.  He flopped on the big four poster bed, exhausted, waiting for Sylvie to come out of the shower.  God, but she looked beautiful today in that teal halter-topped sundress, a wreath of wildflowers in her hair!  He had all he could do to keep his hands off her and his hard-on out of sight and under control all day.

Wrapped in a towel, she emerged from the bathroom and made her way to the bed.  Obviously, Sylvie didn’t know the shortest distance between 2 points was a straight line because she kept veering to one side or the other before righting herself again.  She giggled with each step.  ‘My feet won’t work,’ she announced.  ‘I think I may be a little bit tipsy.’

‘No shit…really?  You think?’ he said, laughing.  ‘I would never have known.  Come here you little minx.  I’ve been waiting for this all day.’

‘Waiting for what?’ she asked innocently, just as he jumped up and grabbed her towel, pulling it off her and throwing it on the carpet.

He lifted her up off the floor and dumped her on the bed.  ‘This,’ he said as his mouth caught her right nipple and began to devour it.  He released it after a minute or so and looked at her teasingly.  ‘And this,’ he said, shifting his attention to the other nipple.  Tugging and teasing it till she squealed in delight.  He let go and smiled down at her lecherously.  ‘And this,’ he said, inserting his finger into her sex.  ‘And,’ he said, pausing to drag himself down her body.  He lifted her legs and spread them wide.  He hooked each knee in the crook of his arms.  Now she was completely open to him.  He brought his head close and breathed deeply of her scent.  ‘This!’  He gave her a scorching, lascivious look that warned he was ready to set her body on fire.  Connor fluttered his tongue across her little pink pearl.  And watched as her breasts heaved in arousal.  He circled her clit slowly with his tongue, till she thought she’d go out of her mind.  He could see the moisture seeping from her body.  He lapped up her nectar, savoring the taste: the salty, creamy, sweetness.

‘Oh Connor,’ she moaned, fisting the sheet and rolling her head from side to side.  Her little bottom was trying so hard to stay in place for him, but it was a struggle to keep from wriggling and writhing.  It felt so good.  So very good.  His lips surrounded her throbbing nub and he began to suckle.  She couldn’t help herself; her bottom lifted off the bed, pressing her clit further into his mouth.  She felt like a shameless hussy, but she didn’t care.  She wanted more.  More!  More!  He sucked hard till the nub stood swollen and erect.  Then he rasped the sensitive button with his tongue until it felt like he’d rubbed it raw.  She groaned softly as she threw back her head.  Her lips parting and puffing out breaths.  He could see she was close.  He began to alternately nibble and lick the sensitive berry causing her to thrash around on the bed.  He thrust his tongue into her dripping passage, and began to pulse it in and out.  The air became electric.  Sparks and shock waves exploded from her core.  She was shattering, overwhelmed with sensation.  Her body convulsed as every cell surrendered to bliss.  She was still twitching when he let her legs drop to the bed.  Only to lift them again, this time onto his shoulders, as his cock speared and invaded her.

He loved the sensation of her pussy throbbing around his shaft.  He rammed into her with frenzied ferocity.  Her pelvis rose to meet each pounding thrust.  The friction of skin on skin fueled their passion.  Their bodies undulating and coupling in a primitive mating ritual.  A compulsion so raw and hot it consumed them.  Her hips bucked as he repeatedly impaled and plundered her.  She gasped, body shivering and shuddering as her second orgasm exploded, sending bursts of fire and heat coursing through her veins.  Connor felt her warm velvety cunny contracting around him.  Caressing him, squeezing him, holding him fast.  His cock throbbed, body shuddering and convulsing, as he erupted inside her.  He called out her name as he climaxed; then spent, he lay quiet on top of her.

Beneath him Sylvie smiled.  It was her name he’d called out in the throes of passion.

He kissed her then rolled off onto his side.  He gathered her up in his arms, her head coming to rest on his chest.  ‘You make me very happy little girl,’ he said.

She smiled up at him a twinkle in her eye.  Happy was good.  Love was better.  But for now she’d take what she could get.

*****

The wedding brunch was lovely.  At some point during the festivities each of the siblings came up to Connor and personally thanked him for all his help with the wedding and for arranging such a wonderful honeymoon for their father.  After Kelly had left to see to one of the kids, Matt, ever the big brother, reiterated that his sister was a nice girl and he wanted her to be happy.  Then came the kicker.  In a thinly veiled threat, he explained that her brothers would react very badly if Sylvie was hurt in any way.  Connor just nodded and said he understood.  A few minutes later Ben conveyed the very same message.  Actually, he considered himself damn lucky they hadn’t pulled out shotguns and told him to make an honest woman out of Sylvie right then and there…or else!

It was decided that Sylvie and Connor would take Lucas and Leona to the airport in the Range Rover since it was roomy and able to accommodate both couples’ luggage.  The farewells were long, and in Sara’s case, teary.  She made Connor promise to bring Sylvie back for the Appleumpkin Festival at the end of September.  It was an enormous craft fair held in the village every year.  Sara wouldn’t let go of him until he promised to try.  After innumerable hugs, handshakes, and kisses, they finally left.  It was only an hour’s drive to the airport so they arrived in plenty of time for the newlyweds’ flight.  Connor wasn’t an expert on marriage, but he got the feeling from talking to them that Lucas and Leona would have a happy life together.  They seemed very much in love.

Lucas shook Connor’s hand before entering the airport.  ‘You be good to my little girl, ya hear?’  Connor nodded as Sylvie blushed.

Leona kissed Sylvie good bye, then winked and pointed at Connor.  ‘I think he’s a keeper!’

More hugs and kisses were exchanged.  Then the newlyweds were finally off, dragging their luggage behind them, looking excited and happy as clams.

When he turned to help Sylvie get back into the car, he was shocked to see tears in her eyes.  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, concerned.

‘I was just thinking about my mother.  I think she’d be OK with this.  She loved him…really loved him.  She’d want him to get on with his life, to be happy.  Wouldn’t she?’

‘Of course she would.’  He hugged Sylvie and kissed her on the forehead.  ‘You’re not still upset about your father and Leona are you?  You’ve seen them together.  They’ll do just fine honey.  You’ll see!’

She nodded, but didn’t look convinced.

‘You’ve worried yourself sick for nothing.  It all worked out.  The wedding went off without a hitch and so will the honeymoon.  Now it’s back to the salt mines for you little girl.  Work awaits!  We’ve got a book to finish!’

He hustled her into the car and sped off.  He couldn’t wait to get back to the peace and quiet of home.  Connor smiled.  No worries.  No tears.  No drama.  And hopefully…no surprises!