Chapter 6: News

Vincent had been enjoying his time on the farm.

Early in his third week on the farm, several things happened. Ulani’s shearers turned up for one. They sheared early in autumn to give the animals time to regrow their coats for winter. They were sheared again in mid-spring, so they carried lighter coats into summer. The winter coats were worth more than the summer ones.

Vincent wondered if Ulani would be happy to move her flocks to his estate. He believed they could do well in the mountain range he now owned that was behind the main estate that used to be Ty’s. He would talk to her about it. The area grew similar foliage and had a similar temperature range being at a higher altitude than the low mountainous area that Ulani was currently located in.

He had noticed that she had little room to expand here. The farms around her were owned by others in the same business. On his estate, they grew cotton in the western part of his region. He had heard of new fibre mixes of the two products.

The new material made sturdy serviceable cloths best for spring and autumn wear when the weather was mild. The problem was the price of Uno in his region was too high to make the industry profitable. If they had their own flocks, it would make a big difference.

Paul also turned up that week. He informed Vincent that Frankie and Albert hadn’t conducted any more raids on the main road since the one they had been investigating. The fact that they would have to build a new gang to start with was probably why.

Leigh had headed home without him. He would tell the Masters that Vincent had been hurt and would be back in a month or so. They both only had to write up their case studies to complete their degrees, so there wasn’t a big hurry to return. They were also aware Vincent had other duties that sometimes took precedence.

Paul said Ty had invested in two new way-stations with Clickers to be built that will make it harder for a gang to move about unnoticed. Ty had placed one at the start of the trail on the main road and one near the God’s Grove. He had also assigned two Constables to be based in an office at the way-stations with the clicker operator. He had released small plots of land so other small businesses could set up in those locations.

He has also agreed that he could open up some of the land for livestock farms and selected logging to encourage more settlement in the area. He’d already had an application for a small wood mill to be built. Knowledge of the new God’s Grove would attract the Pagans and the new road did give easier access to Sailfish Cove from Terville.

Paul told Vincent that one of Gutter’s contacts believed he had seen Frankie down on the wharves when his ship was up here a week before. He was here to check on Vincent and he was going into Sailfish Cove to investigate the lead.

Vincent knew it would be at least another week before Ulani could leave, so he went and spoke to her. He found her out at one of the pens. They had separated the young males from their mothers. Ulani was looking at them trying to decide if she would keep any for breeding or not.

Their meat was popular in the north and they were at the best age to cull. There was one young male in particular that already had a thick blood red coat, it was the same little fellow Vincent had tried to pat. She was of a mind to keep him and start a new herd with four of the females that had a similar colouring.

“It’s getting a bit dark to be out here isn’t it?” Vincent asked as he leaned on the rail beside her.

“I like this time of night,” she answered simply.

Vincent breathed in through his nose. “It’s already getting chilly,” he commented.

Ulani sighed, “What do you want Vincent?” she asked while turning so that her back was to the rails.

Vincent moved, so he had an arm either side of her and looked into her face. She was a tall woman and only a 5cm shorter than he was.

“You,” he said and gathered her in his arms and kissed her.

Vincent could feel her stiffen and she fought against responding to him.

He licked her lips and nibbled on the full lower lip before covering her mouth again. This time she gave in and kissed him back. He couldn’t help moulding his hips to hers. He rocked into her as he deepened the kiss and their tongues duelled.

His erection became rock hard when she responded and rubbed back against him. His hand was soon undoing her blouse, and he gently pulled the breast band down to access her lovely breasts. He weighed one in his hand and rubbed the taut nipple. He bent down and wiped his tongue over it covering her areola as well.

He then blew on it so that it puckered up and he sucked it into his mouth enjoying her gasps of pleasure. He broke contact and went back to her mouth so he could kiss her again. His hand happily replaced his mouth. He lent away so he could look at her in the dying light.

“When I had the fever I could have sworn I had that lovely titty in my mouth.”

She gave a short laugh, “You did.”

He looked at her in surprise. His hand was still massaging her breast. “I didn’t dream it? You let me suckle you?”

“No, you helped yourself just like you’re doing now,” she told him with exasperation, but she didn’t push him away.

“I’ve always loved your beautiful breasts,” he said as he gently squeezed the one in his hand and tweaked the nipple.

She desperately wanted to know if he loved the rest of her too. Unfortunately, she wasn’t game enough to ask, but she did push her breast into his hand, as she loved the way he touched her. Even in his delirium, he’d not hurt her.

“What else did I help myself to?” he asked and slipped his hand down to rub between her legs.

The crotch of the pants she wore was damp, and as he rubbed, she got wetter. He knew she wasn’t immune to him and hoped it increased his chances with her. He wanted her to be his wife in body and soul, as well as legally.

“Yes, you were doing that as well,” she got out before gasping when he pushed his fingers into the soft material harder, so they pushed between her nether lips.

“I don’t remember getting much further though?” he said.

“No, your fever had abated a bit, so I got out of the bed before you could do more in your delirium,” she told him and pushed against the hand that was pushing into her.

He kissed her again and returned his hand to her breast, so he could push his erection into her again. He loved humping his cock into her heat and her response to him doing it. He stopped before he got too carried away and ended up blowing in his pants.

He rested his forehead against hers, “Gods Ulani, I want you real bad and in my bed. You have always affected me like this, but I will not force you.” He gently caressed her face. “Do you think you can meet me half way in this marriage?”

“They do tend to last a long time. I intend to be a faithful husband, not like my father. I could never do to you what he did to my mother and to Ty. I think it’s evident that I desire you, and I believe you don’t find me totally repugnant.”

He slipped his hand back down and gently rubbed her now very wet crotch as if to support his argument, that she wanted him too. She shivered when he nibbled on the side of her neck.

Ulani’s problem was that she wasn’t sure if he could stay true to his word. Prue had complained about his womanising over the last couple of years. He was rarely seen with the same girl twice according to her. She knew he wanted her for sex, but that wasn’t the same as loving her.

She knew what an unfaithful father was like. Her own father had put aside his first three wives and had her mother not died of pneumonia, she too was due to be set aside. The King was a well-known philanderer.

Ulani sighed, “If I catch you with another woman, I’ll tear your balls off and feed them to Hugo? Are we clear on this?”

“Ouch, Ulani. Well, since I’m kind of fond of those appendages, I had better be a good boy then. However, I also expect you to honour the sanctity of our marriage. I don’t think I share well, especially when it comes to you. Can I come to you later, please?” he asked rubbing against her again.

Ulani sighed and nodded a yes. Vincent kissed her again deeply and then helped her pull the breast band up. He did the buttons up for her and taking her arm, he led her inside for dinner.

Vincent was pleased with how the conversation had gone.

Dinner was a bit more congenial that evening.

“So are we going into town tomorrow to nosy around?” Vincent asked Paul.

“Well I am, but your father may recognise you. He will go to ground if he does and then he will be even harder to find,” Paul said.

“Sorry, did I miss something?” Ulani asked. “What has your father got to do with the raids on the highway, Vincent?”

“He was Frankie’s agent. He picked up the stolen goods and sold them on,” Vincent replied in disgust.

“I’ve not heard of anyone with the Arrondale name in town,” Ulani replied perplexed.

“No, that because he has been using the name Sir Allan Dale,” Paul said.

“Oh, my goodness! I know that name and the man. He has worked for the Greco Shipping Company for about six months. I have dealt with him several times, as I sell a lot of my fleece to a buyer in Jahyundi.” She looked at Vincent comparing the two. “Hmm, I don’t think time has been kind to your father, Vincent.”

“His hair is streaked with white, and he has a rather nasty scar on his face. It cuts from under his left eye, across both of his lips to the right of his chin. It looks like he was slashed with a blade. His nose is not as narrow as yours is and it and his cheeks are always red and swollen looking. He is also very fat. Possibly why I didn’t see the family resemblance, until now.”

Paul nodded his head, “We think he is addicted to Snort.”

Ulani nodded, “That would explain the constant sniffling, redness and bloating of his face and body. I’m sorry Vincent, but I didn’t find your father a pleasant man to deal with. He always talked to my breasts, leered at me and tried to touch me. We had a most unpleasant encounter the last time I had to deal with him,” Ulani shuddered.

“Lately, I’ve been getting Druid Feather to deal with the company. If they didn’t have the most reliable ships, I’d deal elsewhere. Plus they don’t try and cheat him as they do me. I may be a woman, but I can count and work out percentages.”

Paul and Vincent grinned. Having seen Prue and Willow in action, they could well believe Ulani didn’t tolerate men like Albert well either. They both knew of his reputation with women. “Why didn’t the prisoner mention the scar?” Paul asked Vincent.

Vincent thought back to the interview. “We didn’t ask him for a current description. I guess Ty and I both assumed we would recognise him. I suggest you nose around that company and if you see him, then we get the Constables.”

“I’ll go see them and let them know the description was wrong. I’ll organise a warrant for his arrest. With any luck he will lead us to Frankie, I want him too,” Vincent finished. Disgust for the entire business evident in his voice.

Ulani looked at him with worry, “Vincent I really don’t think you should be going to town at all. Your collarbone is still mending.”

“It’s okay, my dear heart, I’m just doing the leg work. The constables and Paul will do the real work,” Vincent assured her taking her hand and smiling gently at her.

Ulani felt her heart skip a beat. He had never used such an endearment with true feeling before. His concerns made her heart melt at the thought of him actually meaning it. He did seem to want their relationship to work.

Vincent confused her. For a guy that fought against marriage so hard in the past, now that he had decided that they would be married, he was behaving more like Ty, once he too had committed to being married. She hoped this wouldn’t turn out to be a disaster.

After dinner, Vincent and Paul discussed the following day in more detail before retiring.