Page 23 of Chance (Wild River Ranch #3)

“ T rust me,” he’d said. And she did.

“It’s easy,” he’d said. Well, once you know how.

“You’re going to love it,” he’d said. And he meant it. He should have known it wouldn’t be that easy when his gypsy was involved. After a quick nap, he coaxed Joy out with promises of a new adventure. Gypsy did love a new adventure, and he loved her for it.

"Let's get you dressed in something warm. Layers will be better for this. It'll add warmth as well as padding."

She frowned at him with suspicion. "I'm not getting a spanking, right?"

He grinned.

“Why? Have you earned a spanking?”

The suspicion in her eyes was quickly replaced by the innocence of a babygirl talking her way out of trouble. "No, Daddy. I've been as sweet as ice cream and as pure as the driven snow." Once again, her expression shifted, this time from innocence to confusion. "Daddy, what is driven snow?"

With a shake of his head, he helped her with her jacket.

"That question is over my pay grade, Gypsy. Spanking is more my territory, so I can answer that one. First of all, if you were gettin’ a spanking, I wouldn't be puttin’ clothes on your bottom.

And second of all, if your clothes were already on your bottom, they wouldn't be padded. "

She grinned. "Good point," she said. "So, what are we doing? What's the adventure?"

Chance wiggled his eyebrows. "You'll see," he said. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes! Oh, wait, I have to say goodbye to Puggles."

He waited as she touched her stuffie under the covers and pressed two kisses on Puggle's duckbill. Adorable.

After leading her downstairs, he led her to the back courtyard instead of leaving through the front door as they normally did.

Without missing a step, he led her to the small pond directly behind the lodge.

In the summer, they called it the swimming hole.

They kept it clean and had added a slide and a diving board for the family and the families of their guests to enjoy.

But with the cold winters, especially this winter by this time of the year, it wasn't unusual for the pond to be frozen over.

"Oh, Daddy, that’s so cool." Joy skipped over the snow-covered ground to stand at the edge of the pond. "This is one big difference between Texas and Wyoming. Where I live, we never get frozen ponds in Texas."

"I know, gypsy. That's why I thought this might be an adventure."

"What kind of adventure, Daddy?"

"Have you ever been ice-skating outside?"

She shook her head. "I have never been ice-skating outside. Or inside, for that matter. If there's one thing Nameless lacks, it's a good ice-skating pond."

She threw her head back and laughed at her own joke. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He thought her face lit up when she smiled that gorgeous, beaming smile. And it was beautiful. But it didn't hold a candle to his gypsy laughing.

She didn't hold back and try to sound dainty. She laughed from her belly up, practically shaking. He thought for a moment she would fall before they ever got on the ice.

"Woah there, Gypsy." He grabbed her shoulders to keep her steady. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she tilted her face to him, and it took everything in him not to toss her over his shoulder and take her back to their bedroom. Suddenly, kissing her senseless was a much higher priority.

Then it occurred to him. He loved her, and she loved him. He didn't have to refrain from kissing her senseless.

So, he did. Long and deep and wet. He had to stop himself before he threw her onto the snow covered ground and fucked her silly in the courtyard where God and everyone could see.

Forcing himself to remember the plan for the evening, he grasped her hand and led her to the bench at the side of the pond.

He pulled out the ice skates he’d hidden under the bench earlier that day.

Holding them up for her inspection, he said, “I know they're not bright pink with unicorns and sparkles, but I hope you'll try these on. "

She squealed with excitement and clapped her mittened hands. "Oh, yes," she said, almost slipping on the snow. "Yes, please."

In a monumental feat of strength and agility, Chance managed to finally get a skate on each foot.

The task was made much more difficult than it should have been because his little gypsy couldn’t sit still long enough for him to get them tied.

He finally had to threaten her with the spanking they’d talked about earlier.

"All right, I want you to sit right here on the bench while Daddy gets his skates on." He swore he only took his eyes off her for a second. But a second was obviously plenty of time for an excited, energetic Little to decide not to listen to her Daddy.

Before he could stop her, she stood up from the bench, pushed her skates against the ground, and sailed out onto the ice.

Windmilling her arms like, well, like someone who had never ice skated before.

She made it about three yards before attempting some kind of leap.

Instead, her feet flew up, and her bottom crashed to the ice.

Because of her momentum, she wound up sliding all the way to the middle of the pond.

"Calliope Joy Joplin! Are you all right?" Not daring to take his eyes off her, he finished tying his skates and slid/skated to the center of the pond, going down on one knee beside her. "What did Daddy say to do, naughty girl?"

With her lip poking out in a pout too cute for words, she said, “Sit on the bench. But, Daddy! You were taking forever!”

“Well, all you did by not minding was add to the time it will be before you can skate.” Guiding her back to the bench, he sat her down again. “You will sit right there for five minutes and think about being patient.”

She flung herself across the bench. “Five minutes! Daddy, that’s the same as forever!”

He glared at her. “Would you like to rephrase that, little girl? Or would you like me to march you right back upstairs and have you standing in your naughty corner, bottom bared and on display, for fifteen minutes instead?”

She shook her head. "What I meant to say was thank you, Daddy, for bringing me to the ice pond. I’m sorry I didn’t sit on the bench."

Damn straight. "And how did not minding work out for you?"

"Not very good, Daddy. Now I have to sit here longer. And I busted my bottom. I don't like figure skating."

“Is that what you were doing? I believe we need to operate here on the same premise as learnin’ to walk before you run, Gypsy. You have to learn basic skatin’ before you can do fancy figure skatin’ moves. "

"That's one thing I love about you, Daddy. You are a regular Florence Nightingale."

"That's enough sass out of you, naughty girl. And the next time you deliberately disobey Daddy, we'll go back inside, and you'll see what getting your butt busted really feels like."

Scrunching her nose, she answered, "Yes, Daddy. I'm sorry."

"I just want you to be safe, little one. The ice is a lot of fun, but it can be dangerous if you don't mind Daddy. I’m setting the timer on my watch for five minutes.”

She spent her time singing “One Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” changing beer to milk when he stalked her way. He pulled her to her feet, swatted her bottom twice, and started the timer over.

Thankfully, the second time she made it the five minutes without incident.

"Are you ready to be my sweet gypsy now?" he asked when the timer dinged.

“Yes, Daddy. I’m sorry I didn’t stay where you told me.”

“You did the crime. You paid the time. Now all is forgiven and forgotten. Let’s get you out on the ice.”

She stepped on the ice and would have fallen again, but he held her up. Turning to skate backward, he held out his hands so she could use them as braces as she found her balance. After a couple minutes, she pushed herself back a bit to keep steady without him.

He had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing out loud when she began to scissor her feet frantically back and forth. With quick movements, he helped her regain her control, then kept silent and watched, ensuring she didn't fall.

He tried to tell her what to do, but she insisted she could do it herself. Shaking his head, he let her learn the hard way. She'd wear herself out eventually, and then maybe she would listen to him.

“Daddy!” she yelled on her twentieth failed attempt. “These skates are broken. Is there a different pair I can try? "

"Before we do that, little gypsy, why don't you try listening to Daddy instead."

She tapped her chin with one finger, as if thinking it over. Of course, with mittens on, tapping one finger meant she shifted her entire hand, slapping herself on the chin. "I think that might work," she said.

"That's funny, I think that might work, too."

He decided on this first lesson to help her get used to moving on the ice so she wouldn't be afraid.

The second he had that thought, he realized he'd forgotten something important.

"Listen to me, little girl. You may never, ever get on the ice unless I am with you.

I am very serious about this. Do you understand? "

Giving him the best innocent expression he’d seen on her face yet, she nodded. "Ice skate only with Daddy. Got it."

Figuring this was another thing she would more than likely have to learn the hard way, he slowly turned her in his arms until her back was pressed against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist, spreading his feet wide to bracket hers in the middle.

"I want you to work on keeping your skates pointed straight ahead.

Daddy is going to do all the moving right now. "

When she nodded, causing the bunny ears on the hood of her coat to flap around his face, he slowly moved forward.

At first, she stiffened in his arms, but in no time at all, she relaxed, holding her arms out to the side. She cried out, "Look at me, Daddy. I'm flying! I'm flying!"

"I see that, babygirl. How would you like to do a spin?"

"Oh, yes, Daddy! Yes, please! I want to spin.”

Angling his feet, he took them in a small circle, lifting her from the ground so her skates wouldn’t get caught on the ice. "When I put you back down, I want you to point your toes out and bring your heels closer together. Can you do that?"

Because of his height, he could lean over her shoulder and watch her as she concentrated. Tongue peeping out the corner of her mouth, she tried to do what he said. When her feet were in position, he pushed them in a circle again.

They played on the ice for an hour. The sun slowly set behind the mountains. The outdoor lights all around the swimming hole flared to life.

He could tell his babygirl was getting tired. Turning her back to face him, he lifted her from the ice. "Wrap your legs around my hips, Gypsy."

It was a bit of a struggle because her legs were tired, but she did what he asked. He took a few slow laps around the rink. With a large harvest moon rising, he guided them off the ice, pressing her against the railing of the path to the lodge.

When he looked down into her eyes, the desire he saw there burned through him. She deserved tenderness. He should be gentle with her. She was so fragile in some ways, and so strong in others. But when she looked up at him, lids half closed, lips parted, he could barely remember his own name.

She ran the tip of her tongue over her plump lower lip, and his heart thundered. Even with the snow beginning to fall and the freezing temperatures, heat overwhelmed him. He didn’t think about control. Or responsibilities. Or anything other than what this woman was doing to him.

Lowering his lips to hers, he took her mouth. There was no plan. No rules at all. Just his need fueled by hers. His tongue swept inside her mouth as he claimed his girl.

Pressing his hips into hers, he let her feel the hardness of his cock. What she did to him. She tasted of sweetness and wanton passion. He wasn’t gentle, but she kissed him back with the same fevered need that consumed him.

She shoved her hands under his coat and ran her nails down his back. He did the same, palming her breast and pinching the nipple as it pebbled against his hand.

She whimpered, but not in pain. A groan rumbled up from his chest. He reached behind her and squeezed her ass and she shivered.

“Chance!” She called out his name and rocked her hips against him. His babygirl wanted more. He wanted more as well, but not out here in the snow. They couldn’t stay there because he needed her naked. He wanted to feel her skin against his.

And if he didn’t get his jeans off soon, his cock was going to bust through his zipper. He broke the kiss. She chased his lips with her own, not wanting to lose him.

“No,” she cried out. “Please, don’t stop.”

“We have to stop, Gypsy, but only long enough to get back to the bedroom. I promise, I have plans for you, babygirl.”

He led her to the bench and removed their skates as fast as he could, then carried her to their room, her face snuggled against him and pressing kisses along his neck and collarbone.

He had the whole night to worship her body. It might not be enough, but that was all right. They had forever.