“Don’t move,” she reminded him.
What? Oh, right. He had to stay still. “I’ll stay still,” he promised.
She began rocking her hips, and he voiced his appreciation. He closed his eyes and focused on letting her do all the moving. It wasn’t as easy as he’d thought it’d be, but he was determined to be good. He needed to be good if he wanted to finally release the pent-up sexual energy that was humming through his entire body. It felt good. So very good. There was no way he wanted this to end, especially not when he was so close to the brink of release. He gripped the sheet underneath him and let out a cry. Then he felt the familiar tension shatter as he reached the peak. His seed filled her, and wave after wave of pleasure crashed into him. It was so very wonderful. He didn’t want the moment to end, but all too soon, he felt himself softly coming back down to earth.
He opened his eyes and smiled at Mary. “That was better than I remembered.”
“It’s always good with you,” she whispered then leaned forward to kiss him.
“I stayed still this time.”
“Yes, I noticed. And I’m glad you did.”
“You know what that means?”
“That you have control over your body?”
“Yep, and it means we can do this again.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “We can even do it tonight a second time.” Then, before she could respond, he spent considerable time kissing and caressing her until they were ready to make love again.
Chapter Six
Dave scrubbed the shirt along the washboard. Never in a million years did he think he would wash clothes after he got married, but he had finally broken down and volunteered for the task since he had to do something to alleviate the boredom that had become a significant part of his days.
Mary was helping his pa with a calf that had gotten stuck in a ditch in the pasture. His mother had taken all of the children into the house. Dave figured he might as well continue the wash that Mary and his ma had started on earlier that day.
What he hadn’t counted on was how awkward it would be to keep one leg propped up on the ottoman while he ran the clothes over the washboard. A couple of times, his leg almost slipped off the ottoman. He had to stop what he was doing and reposition his leg then try to figure out a better way of sitting so it didn’t happen again.
This, however, was easier said than done, and just as he finished scrubbing the shirt, his leg slid to the edge of the ottoman. Dave hurried to shake out the water from the shirt, but his leg fell to the floor of the porch. Pain shot straight up to his hip and then to his back.
He gritted his teeth and lifted his leg to relieve the pain. This action, however, proved to be a mistake since he only ended up lurching forward into the bucket of soapy water where he’d been washing the clothes. The bucket and the table it’d been on all came crashing down under his weight. He went toppling to the floor right along with everything else. He landed on his side with a resounding thud. He remained still for a moment as the world spun around him.
The sound of someone laughing made the world grow still. Ignoring the soapy laundry water that was all over him, he threw the shirt aside and propped himself up with his arms. He looked over in time to see Joel bounding up the steps of the porch.
Joel snickered. “I thought Tom was clumsy, but you have him beat.”
“It’s not easy to wash clothes with a broken leg,” Dave replied.
“I’ll help you up.” Joel went behind him and lifted him up. With a grunt, he plopped him back into the chair. “You’ve gained some weight since you broke your leg. I have to tell Mary to stop feeding you all the time. By the time your leg is healed, you’ll be too heavy to ride the horses.”
“Ha ha,” Dave muttered as Joel set his leg back on the ottoman. “I can’t understand why Tom doesn’t find you amusing.”
“Tom doesn’t have a sense of humor,” Joel replied. “He takes everything too seriously. Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone what happened. I wouldn’t want them to think you got hurt while doing women’s work.” Again, he snickered.
Dave rolled his eyes. “You’re all heart, Joel.”
“What can I say? I care about people.”
Dave was ready to respond when April came up the porch steps with her newborn baby, Levi, in her arms. She paused when she saw the bucket and washboard tipped over, and then she looked over at Dave.
Eight-year-old Nora came running up the steps around April and gasped when she saw the mess. Nora looked back at four-year-old Hannah. “Look what happened to Uncle Dave!”
Hannah peered around her and laughed. “Uncle Dave is funny.”
Dave shook his head. “It’s just great that Hannah’s taken so much after you, Joel.”
Joel’s chest puffed up with pride. “It is, isn’t it?”
“What happened?” April asked.
“Dave couldn’t figure out how to use a washboard,” Joel said before Dave could answer. “He should leave the laundry to the people who actually know how to do it.” He picked up the bucket and then tossed the washboard into it. Joel glanced at the pile of clothes Dave had already washed. Fortunately, they were safe on the back of another chair. “At least he managed to get some things wet.”
“Those
