Lucille looked out at the barnyard where Cash walked across to return to the barbecue just minutes after he had been up there with her. They had decided afterward to stagger their departures from the loft so that no one would suspect that they'd been together.

She knew her uncle would tan her hide if he knew what she'd been up to the past hour, just before he took a shotgun to his own ranch hand. So she had to time her return to the party just right, hoping he wouldn't have noticed she'd even gone missing. She had her built in excuse that she had gone into the barn to check on Maelstrom, her gelding that she had brought to the ranch for an early morning ride with Carlton, Celia and some others while the spread of every food imaginable was being laid out on the decorated tables.

Buffet style of course, where everyone would load up their plates and then find a spot to sit or stand around the former pastureland which had been converted to a picnicking area.

But Lucille had been flirting heavily with Cash all week, now that she'd graduated from high school at last and he didn't see her as jail bait. She'd be heading to Colorado State University up north in the fall along with most of her friends including the guy whose father owned the spread including the barn where she'd been fooling around with Cash.

They'd arrived at the bottom of the loft separately, planning their escape from the party to where they could be alone together. She'd been so excited at what they had planned, it was all she could do to eat anything, so she kept it simple, sitting with Celia and watching Carlton and some of the other guys play pickup football in front of them before the heat really drenched the valley like a blanket.

The loft had begun to heat up but Cash had forced open a window and some breeze wafted in carrying just a hint of barbecue steak and roasted potatoes from the picnic. She had looked around at the cramped but cozy space and the heavy woolen blankets lying on the floor and smiled at Cash.

"You brought them didn't you?"

"Huh?"

She sighed, her mind whirling a mile a minute and the feelings rushing through her body, overwhelmed her.

"The rubbers…"

"Oh…yeah…I still had some left from before Tonya."

She moved closer to him, drawn by the earthiness of his musk, combined with a hint of sandalwood, and he slid his arms around her waist kissing her softly on the mouth.

She took a deep breath when he broke off his kiss.

"Then we'd better get started," she said, "We don't got a lot of time before the three legged race and then I know my uncle will do a head count."

He moved his lips over her mouth again before she could continue…sliding his hands down over her denim clad ass, molding his hands there as he pulled her closer to him.

"Shhh…don't worry…we've got our cover stories," he said, "Now let's get some of those clothes off of you…"

She smiled as he moved to unbutton her shirt, his fingers trembling just slightly.

"I thought I'm the one that's supposed to be nervous," she said, "I mean it's supposed to be a bigger deal for the girl."

"It's not nerves, it's anticipation," he said, "You're one hot and very sexy girl…I've had my eye on you."

That pleased her, and sent a rush of desire through her that pushed her nervousness aside.

"You have…but I thought you and Tonya would get back together."

He shook his head as he reached about midway with her buttons, catching enough of an eye at her lacy bra to make him fumble even more.

"She's at her aunts for the summer," he said, "so no point in doing that since especially if she decides to stay longer."

He finally got her shirt unbuttoned and slipped it over her shoulders and onto the floor. His eyes widened at the sight of her breasts nestled in lacy cups, the color of ripe peaches. He reached towards her back to undo the bra.

"Hey Cash…it's in the front."

He found the snap and undid it and her bra wound up next to her shirt. She reciprocated by helping him remove his tee-shirt bearing his leanly muscled chest, before he reached his hands to cup her naked breasts, rubbing the hardened nipples. He kissed her harder on the mouth and she felt his tongue trace the edge of her lips, and she parted them slightly to let him inside her mouth.

Celia told her it would feel much better that way. She'd been right about that, because the tingles she felt went way beyond her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer to feel the warmth of his skin against her own. His hands caressed her breasts and she sighed when he fondled her nipples.

"I'd like to have a taste…"

She looked at him.

"Then why don't you?"

She closed her eyes as his mouth moved down to her breasts and when he popped one of her rosy hued nipples in his mouth, she nearly cried out. Her legs began to weaken as he moved from one to the other.

"Oh god…," she said loudly not being able to help herself.

Besides, they were alone in the barn with some horses, two cows and an ornery goat that hardly cared if there were some horny couple getting it just above their heads.

Carlton entered the barn to look for Lucille because he knew his uncle would notice she'd gone missing again and he didn't want her to get into trouble. She'd been grounded for the past couple of weeks for staying out past curfew with some friends who had driven out to the point and drank some beers. Her way of rebelling against being the class valedictorian and president of the debate team…was to hang out with kids that tried to stretch the envelope when it came to authority.

The barn looked empty except for the horses including her gelding Maelstrom who poked his head over the half door when he saw him. Otherwise, it looked pretty quiet so he turned around to leave.

When he heard a woman's voice, crying out almost as if she were out of breath…so he stopped to see if he could identify it…

"Oh don't stop…it feels hot when you do that."

"You taste so sweet," a male's voice answered, "though I bet you taste better under those panties."

Carlton's ears burned, not enough to make him blush but the voices sounded like they were coming from up in the loft and that it was some couple who had slipped away hoping for some privacy to get it on with each other. None of his business, so he decided to leave then he hesitated.

"They got to come off," the man asked, "I want to see what's underneath."

A woman sighed loudly, and then he heard some thumping noise and then the woman's voice again.

"What about yours Cash?"

Carlton froze where he stood, knowing now at least who the guy was in this passionate interlude. One of the hands hired to work on a neighboring ranch, who had been working different spreads in the valley for about 10 years. Carlton had run into him hanging out at the main watering hole in town, playing pool or flirting with a variety of women on the dance floor before picking one to leave with after the place closed.

He'd been hanging with one woman, a waitress named Tonya for a couple of months before she left town to visit family. Clearly he had moved on to someone else judging by the noises coming from the loft.

And she sounded pretty young, with a voice that rang familiar in his ears.

They'd dispensed with their pants and had been kissing in the middle of the loft, their bare chests pressing together and Cash had been fiddling with Lucille's panties trying to work them down her legs, while she fondled his erection through his briefs. It felt much larger than she imagined it would though she knew that when guys got excited, their cocks grew in size and became hard. God, she wondered what it'd feel like when he stuck it in side of her. Her pussy had already dampened her panties while his fingers had brushed against it as he worked on her panties.

And she loved how his cock felt through his briefs though she was dying to pull it out because she loved looking at it.

She had played with his behind the barn just a couple of days ago, when he'd lowered his pants just enough for her to tug it gently out of his briefs. It felt hot in her grasp and she fondled it, coaxing it into growing hard. Not that she even had a clue what she was doing but judging by the groaning done by Cash, she figured she must be pretty close to doing it right.

He'd told her through harsh whispers to rub it up and down hard, don't need to be so gentle, and she had done that, until she saw his body go tense, his face tighten and felt a whitish, warm fluid on her hands.

That had been interesting but she wanted to feel more of him.

He didn't seem much interested in having her handle him too much today, he just told her if she did it, he'd bust his wad and then it'd be over before it got started so she just stood there, behaving herself while he kissed her and finally liberated her of her panties. She felt a gentle breeze blow on her pussy and she felt something hard pushing through the cotton of his briefs.

"Oh god…you feel too damn fine girl…"

She reached down towards his briefs.

"So do you…"

His hands covered her hands as they fumbled to remove his briefs which he kicked off as soon as they reached his feet and he stood there with his erection rising up from dark public hair, ramrod straight and when he fondled himself, it glistened.

"Now I want a taste of that…"

He groaned.

"Later…I can't wait any longer…"

Carlton stood there feeling like a voyeur listening to the coupling above him but he couldn't leave. Cash had a reputation for lusting after them and leaving them after he'd had his fill and the younger the better, from what Carlton had heard from the other guys. Twice, he'd had the fathers of some of the girls he bedded come after him threatening charges against him for ruining their daughters. But Cash remained free and resumed bedding nearly every girl in the valley not locked up by her parents.

He wondered what naïve girl he had up in the loft now, but then again, she didn't appear to be complaining.

She appeared to be enjoying herself very much.

He should leave; he should go searching for Lucille before her uncle caught up with her. But he remained still inside the barn.

Cash pushed Lucille's naked body against the mattress and lowered himself on top of her. She had watched him while he had torn open the foil packet with his teeth and rolled the condom over his erection.

"You ready?"

She shot him a look.

"I've been ready," she said, "Now get on down here…"

He smiled lying himself between her thighs which she had opened up willingly enough. She let her hands stroke his back before wandering down to his ass which flexed beneath her fingers as he thrust inside her.

She sucked in her breath, because her pussy had suddenly stretched around his cock so much it burned.

It didn't seem like his cock had gone in that far. He looked up at her.

"Oh come on…you're not a virgin are you?"

She blinked her eyes feeling the sting there too.

"Oh no…no I've done this plenty of times…"

He frowned, not sure if he believed her but when she caressed the small of his back, he thrust his hips again and this time…his cock stretched her even more as it sank in deeper.

"Oh my…"

She felt thoroughly possessed by him, and as he grabbed the back of her thighs to pull her closer to him, she felt a shift inside her as well.

"You're damn tight in there," he said, "You always been like that?"

She sighed, her head bumping his chest while he thrust again, and again. The stinging gradually faded and she felt some more pleasurable sensations from the way her pussy had grabbed onto his cock with each stroke. She arched her body to meet his, and found that left her with feeling more excitement race through her. He thrust even harder, and she rocked against the mattress, while still holding onto his ass.

"Anything wrong with that," she asked.

"No…no…it's just that a girl like you has to have guys after you…"

She felt warmth fill her at his words, even as she listened to the sounds of their bodies striking each other, thank god they were alone with the animals inside the barn.

"Oh…Cash…"

Carlton just shook his head at the lines that Cash was feeding the latest woman he'd coaxed into taking his cock inside of her. He didn't mean a single one, the guy was such a player that he waited for the day he'd finally run into a woman who wouldn't buy his line of bull.

But the cries of the woman with him now, continued in waves, timed with each of his thrusts Carlton knew having been with enough women himself. But he never flattered them just to get them in the sack and he never made promises to them that he wouldn't keep.

He heard the rocking sensations of a couple in the throes of passion, the cries and moans and he hedged knowing that if he didn't find Lucille and get her back to the picnic, her uncle would really chew her out again. Not that he could completely blame him for that because she'd been cutting a little bit loose lately with her new crowd of summertime friends.

She worked hard enough during the day for her uncle to be able to pick what she did at night but not if the police had already warned her and her crowd to break up their impromptu parties or spend the night in a jail cell.

He turned around to leave and then that's when the woman screamed and he had to smile to himself, knowing that meant that Cash had just lit her fire even as he used her to get himself off.

"Oh god fucking dam…"

That woman had a blue streak in her most likely driven by the throes of the pleasurable sensations rocking through her body right now.

"Oh, damn your pussy's hot…"

She moaned again and then he heard more movement.

"You are one hot number Lucille…"

Carlton froze when he heard that name split through the air. Damn he should have known, because her voice had sounded familiar and Lucille had been missing from the party.

Oh damn, he thought, if her uncle came looking for her in here and found her buck naked with his ranch hand, he'd throw the cradle robber straight out the loft window. Not that his niece wasn't legal but in her uncle's mind he still saw the young girl that came to live with him when her parents died.

But so far her uncle hadn't come looking for her. The noise up above him increased and he knew that they'd disentangled themselves to fumble back into their clothes before heading back to the barbecue.

He receded to a dark corner when he heard someone coming down the ladder which turned out to be Cash and following him would be Lucille but he knew she wouldn't come down right away.

No, this couldn't wait, he had to get up there, and even though it'd been too late to talk some sense into her, he had to at least get her back to the party.

Lucille didn't hear him when Carlton climbed up into the loft. She had gotten her clothes back on, carefully because damn, what Cash had done to her had stung. She thought about lying to him about her experience but didn't know if he bedded virgins.

Truth was, he probably didn't care either way, as long as her pussy was in front of him but she'd been a bit embarrassed about it. What was the big deal anyway, and when they got down to it, he'd left happy.

"Lucy…"

She turned around and her eyes widened as she saw Carlton standing near the ladder.

"I didn't hear you come up."

He sighed.

"Maybe you were too busy with Cash…"

Her cheeks flushed but her body also tensed up.

"So you were listening to us while we were…"

He nodded.

"Not because I wanted to but because I came looking for you because your uncle's going to notice you missing pretty soon if he hasn't already."

She shook her head.

"I'm 18 and I can do what I want now…"

Carlton stepped closer to her and studied her face. She still had plenty of color in it from what she'd been doing with Cash. Her hair was a bit tousled but otherwise, she looked like the girl he'd grown up since they were neighbors.

"Why'd you pick Cash?"

She crossed her arms.

"You mean as my lover? Oh come on Carlton, I don't ask you the same thing about the women you've brought up here. You should probably have your name carved on the wall."

He sighed rubbing the back of his neck. He stood taller than Cash and was built leaner than the other hand but was still as strong as an ox. She knew that Carlton had no problem attracting the girls, with his good looks and charm. In fact, she was surprised he came to the barn alone.

"Lucy, what's up with you lately," he said, "You used to be a…"

She sighed, her arms still folded at him.

"A good girl…that's what you're saying," she said, "That's all I've ever been to anyone but aren't I allowed to have fun too?"

He heard more in her voice than sarcasm, he heard weariness too. All her life, she'd worked so damn hard in her schooling to finish at the top of her class and on her uncle's ranch. Not to mention working part-time at the pharmacy in town which she started doing this week. He wondered where she had even found the time to get herself into trouble at those parties that got busted up by the sheriff.

She ran her fingers through her thick red hair to get it back into some respectable shape before returning to the picnic. Carlton just watched her knowing that being beautiful just came naturally to her but she didn't seem to know it. But he'd watched her struggle in the past few months with the different paths in front of her, as if she didn't know which to take.

"I'm not really all that bad Carlton," she said, "I hadn't even done it with any guy before Cash and I hadn't even told him that."

That didn't surprise him much because of how she'd chafed in her roles lately. Not even that she'd lied to the guy who'd taken what she offered.

"You shouldn't have had to lie…"

She shrugged looking back out the window.

"But I did…and I'm glad it's done," she said, "though I doubt I'll be seeing Cash again."

Carlton doubted she would either because Cash never stuck around a woman once the chase had ended and he'd won. Not that she needed a guy like that hanging around her getting her into trouble. Lucy needed…but he couldn't finish

"Lucille…you in here…"

Both of them froze in the loft but it had been a woman's voice, not her uncle's so she relaxed a bit and looked over at Carlton. They'd gotten a reprieve because she could only imagine what her uncle had done if he'd caught her together with Carlton.

Maybe he would have gone to Carlton's daddy and brokered some kind of deal to get them hitched together.

No, the guy next to her was definitely handsome and very sweet to her but she had no plans to get married to anyone…not for years anyway.

Not when there was a whole world out there yet to discover.

"I'm up here…," Lucille said carefully, "Who is it?"

"It's Melissa," she said, "I thought I'd warn you that your uncle's looking for you and he's got his shotgun."

Lucille looked at Carlton. They started down the ladder quickly. Melissa waited for them carrying her baby daughter in her arms.

"You'd better head on back quick," she said, "Your uncle's convinced some guy's gotten you into trouble."

Lucille rolled her eyes.

"I can take care of myself."

Carlton spoke up.

"I was with her and we were just…talking…"

Melissa didn't look as if she believed that story.

"I'll bet but I'm not the one you have to convince," she said, "I'm not the one carrying the shotgun but I had Buck run interference."

Lucille sighed.

"I'd better go back and talk with him."

Carlton followed her.

"I'll help…"

Melissa put her hand on his shoulder.

"Unless you want to marry Lucy here, you'd better stay out of it."

Suddenly they heard a commotion outside in the paddock area and Lucille ran outside. Melissa turned to him.

"I know you like her a lot but she's one confused girl."

Carlton nodded.

"I know…"

And that's when they heard the gunshots.

Lucille waited in the lobby in the emergency room while some young medical resident sewed her uncle up. He had tripped and fallen while running after the wrong guy with his shotgun and accidentally shot himself.

Luckily it had just nicked him but they were keeping him over night. Sitting beside her was Carlton and alongside was Buck, Melissa and the baby Rachel. She looked at Melissa who wasn't much older than her but who had somehow roped Buck into marrying her and then there was Celia who had her mind on roping Carlton.

In contrast, she'd given up her cherry to the love them and leave them Cash who had disappeared off somewhere in the hospital with a young nurse.

She got up and went to the drink machine to buy a lukewarm cola. Celia joined her and got a diet drink, still fancying a modeling contract in her future.

Suddenly more people rushed into the lobby including Austin who had joined his cousin Carlton and Caitlyn who had been out riding with him near the base of the mountains when they got the call about Lucille's uncle getting shot.

She looked at all of them sitting vigil and had to get some fresh air, no she needed to get out of there. So she finished her cola and then walked out to the parking lot and went straight to the Harley sitting parked that belonged to Cash and sat on it. After starting it up sending a bunch of smoke out of the tailpipe, she drove a little crookedly out of the parking lot before heading on down the highway.

Heading to nowhere in particular.

Carlton had gone looking for Lucille for the second time that day and hoped his discovery wouldn't be followed by more gunfire. But they had taken her uncle's shotgun out of his clutches before putting him in the ambulance. Only Austin was still packing since he was ex-military and he checked his gun in at the front desk.

But the doctor had arrived looking somewhat fatigued in his scrubs and told them that Lucille's uncle would be in recovery for a while and when Carlton had looked around the room for her she'd turned up missing again.

He heard some jostling in one of the hospital rooms and peeking inside saw what looked like a guy's ass in between some woman's thighs, and the bed bounced with each thrust.

"Oh…Cash…"

Well he'd found Lucille's lover at least and that he'd moved on from taking her virginity. Suddenly the woman's eyes popped opened and then widened.

"Oh baby…you're so hot…"

"Um Cash…there's someone here and if you wanted to do a threesome, you should have told me in advance."

Cash jumped up and went for his pants to pull them up and then turned around to see Carlton staring at him, just shaking his head.

"I should have shot you."

Cash threw him an easy smile.

"Hey Carlton, you just jealous that I got to little Lucy's cunt first…?"

The woman trying to pull on her own clothes looked from one man to the other and backed away when she saw the expression in Carlton's eyes.

Then the fist flew and Cash crashed back on the bed, narrowly missing an IV stand. Cash got up and threw himself at Carlton and the brawl began.

Lucille checked herself in the hotel so glad to finally get away from all those crazy people back in of all places, Serenity Ridge. The name totally didn't do justice to the town's reputation.

She'd hit the Arizona state line and stopped in a small town with a diner, a movie theater and checked into the only hotel that didn't look fleabag. After unlocking the door, she tossed herself on the bed, lying there and looking at the ceiling.

Thinking what a crazy day this had been and wondering when they'd send some posse of ranchers looking for her.

Cash might be missing his motorcycle right now and she couldn't blame him because the raw power she had felt between her legs when she rode it rivaled him.

Tomorrow she'd be heading to California and maybe when she got there, she'd send them all a postcard.