by Haley Travis
“That we’re real,” I whispered. “This isn’t a fling, or a crush, or anything temporary. I want us to be together for good. And knowing how much you want to keep me safe definitely tells me that’s what you are thinking as well.”
“Lorena, I’ve never been in a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks, and that was years and years ago. I stopped trying to date because I didn’t think anybody was dateable. But then you came along, and you’re not just dateable, you’re keepable.”
I giggled as he kissed along to my ear. “I don’t think that’s a word,” I whispered.
“Okay, I’ll use a different word. How about you’re lovable. Because I do love you.”
It seemed so much more serious with us lying here together, alone and naked. His eyes were on mine, gauging my reaction. I was frozen for only a blink before smiling. “Cody, I love you too.”
He exhaled a loud sigh of relief. Then he kissed me. There was something slightly different in his energy, as his arms held me close, and his lips held me captive.
When his lips disappeared, I whimpered in frustration, but then I felt them between my legs. His tongue against my sensitive flesh opened me on levels I wasn’t aware I possessed. A humming moan rolled through him as he licked up drops of my arousal. His hunger for me was strange, but devastatingly sexy.
“I love your little pussy,” he murmured, flashing me a wink. “I need to feel you come on my tongue again, Lorena.”
Hearing Cody, usually so formal and proper, talking dirty, did me in completely. My fingernails dug into his shoulders as he licked my little button steadily. My climax washed over me like rainfall in the desert – hot and desperate and blissful.
Then his huge, muscled body rose up, his lips meeting mine for a kiss so deep it nearly made me dizzy. Feeling his hot, hard length pressing against my mound filled me with a deep, primal ache.
“I need you,” I whispered, staring into his eyes until he realized what I meant.
“If you’re sure, I’ll pick up some condoms tomorrow.”
“I’m very sure, and I’m on the pill.” I could feel myself blushing again. “It was to straighten out some hormonal issues. I mean, I never needed it before, you know…”
“It’s okay, baby,” he smiled. “I just want to be damn sure that you are completely certain.”
“Eight hundred and thirty-three percent sure,” I said.
“That’s a weirdly specific number.”
“It’s the number on the license plate of my new car,” I giggled.
I stopped laughing when I realized what this moment meant. My legs spread open, wrapping around his hips. The feeling of the round head of his shaft slipping between my inner lips was almost ticklish, I was so sensitive.
Cody kept his weight on his forearms, leaving his hands free to caress my face, running his fingers through my hair and along my neck while he looked into my eyes. “I love you so much, Lorena,” he murmured, sliding inside me slowly.
“I love you, Cody.”
As he pressed deeper, he began to work back and forth in slow, smooth movements, opening me carefully without pushing too far at once. The rocking movement of his hips was so arousing that I felt myself becoming even wetter.
It was downright weird feeling like my body was stretching open for him, and I forced myself to hold back a yelp when he passed a certain point.
I couldn’t let him know that it hurt, and indeed as soon as he was all the way inside me, taking slow, steady strokes, the few rough spots turned into pure bliss. He moved in an unwavering rhythm, rolling his hips as he rocked us together.
His eyes half-closed for a moment. “Lorena,” he moaned, “My sweet angel. You really are perfect for me in every single way.”
I could already feel my core beginning to quiver, the pressure building. As he stared into my eyes, I felt like my entire body and soul were melting.
He quickened the pace gradually, his thrusts growing deeper, more savage. Somehow he expertly brought me right to the edge so that he knew the second I tumbled over, shrieking his name.
“Yes, angel…yes!” he growled, following me a split second later as we came in each other’s arms.
After the last tremors rolled through us, his instant grin was pure joy to me. Rolling onto his back beside me, he held my hand sweetly as we caught our breath together.
“I had no idea,” I finally murmured.
“Neither did I,” he said. “For the record, it is not normal for two people to click so perfectly right away as we do.”
“Everything has been a bit fast,” I smiled.
He squeezed my hand, looking at me with concern. “Not too fast, I hope?”
I shook my head. “Sometimes things are sudden, but it doesn’t mean it’s not right. On Thursday I would never have thought that I was ready to sing in front of a crowd. Then Friday was a bit of a surprise, and Saturday was a little emergency. I guess these things just happen.”
“You are my little emergency,” he chuckled, his low voice so sexy when it rumbled. “I was just at the point where I was wondering what the hell I was going to do with the rest of my life. Whether I should get new animals for my farm, start raising cattle again, or buy some new tools and expand my construction business.”
“So...what are you going to do now?” I asked, turning to lean up on my elbow.
“Whatever is right for both of us,” he said. “You could move in with me, and we could farm there. But since this is your grandmother’s old place, you probably want to stay here.”
“I’d like to, if possible,” I said.
“Anything is possible, baby,” he smiled, running his fingers along my spine. “I could buy a couple of the fields next door, and we could start an organic farm. Just easy things like chickens and spinach and peppers. I’ll have to fix up part of this house first, of course.”
“Now that I have a car, I can work more shifts, and longer shifts, to pay for the supplies,” I said.
Cody shook his head. “No, you’re going to be too busy looking for a band to sing with. I’m not going to have you ignore your dreams. That absolutely comes first. The rest of it, we’ll just figure out as we go.”
I couldn’t help giggling. “I’m glad that I’ve started to figure you out,” I said. “You were so quiet at first that I didn’t know whether I could get to know you.”
“You brought me out of my shell,” he said. “Like singing brings you out of yours.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t raise chickens i f we’re breaking eggshells left and right,” I smiled.
His fingers began making light circles and patterns across the back of my shoulder blades. “I’m going to try really hard to leave a note in the morning, but I have to do an early job. So I’ll be gone for a few hours, then come back here, okay?”
“Just don’t forget your phone this time. That way I can text you and clear up misunderstandings before they start.”
“Well, you’re going to have to stop being so damn beautiful while you’re sleeping. If I get all flustered and distracted, that could hardly be my fault. I’m just a man, after all.”
“There you go, wanting to change me already,” I laughed.
Cody nuzzled my throat, then gently pulled my bottom lip between his teeth playfully. “The only thing I’m ever going to change about you, angel, is our living arrangements, and the lack of a ring on your pretty little finger.”
I felt my eyes nearly popping out of my head. “It’s a bit early for that, don’t you think?”
“That’s why I’m warning you slightly in advance, because it’s going to be quick,” he smiled.
He turned off the bedside lamp, pulling a blanket over us as he snuggled me into his shoulder. “I can’t imagine ever trying to sleep without you in my arms again,” he said softly, “And I don’t want any gossip about us living in sin. So prepare to be engaged before the end of the month, angel.”
I wasn’t quite sure if he was teasing or exaggerating, but it didn’t mat
ter. I’m sure that he could tell by the way my body fit against his, my hand over his heart, that I was going to say yes.
Epilogue
~ Lorena ~
*** Two Years Later ***
I thought the air always felt electrified during a show. Everyone in the huge downtown club was there to have a mellow night, but singing with the band was always incredibly exciting to me.
Each band had been special in its own way, as I had sung with a few different groups over the past two years. But once Bobby’s wife was expecting their second child, I officially became a “Well-Behaved Outlaw” last year. Except I wasn’t just singing backup anymore, I was now the lead singer on about two-thirds of the set.
We also weren’t just doing cover songs – we were now getting together and writing our own songs as well. It was an absolute blast to write old fashioned country heart-wrenchers about modern things, like the song I wrote, “The text that nearly tore us apart.”
Luckily, Cody thought the song was hilarious. As I sang it for him, and several hundred other people tonight, he had raised his coffee mug, giving me a big thumbs up.
As I started to introduce our last song of the night, I glanced around to smile at the band. They had all been very understanding when Cody had come to my first rehearsal to meet them. I’d been a bit nervous about it, but he had simply shaken everyone’s hand in that strangely formal way of his, reassured that I was working on a project with quality men.
They were all ranch hands and farmers as well, except for Bobby, who was a mechanic for specialized farm equipment like tractors and combines.
Playing Wednesday and Thursday nights in the city messed up their early morning schedules, but everyone survived. The money wasn’t great, but it brought so much happiness to so many people. It was also the most fun in the world.
As I lifted the microphone, the stage lights bounced off my wedding ring, making the diamonds sparkle even more.
“For the last song, I think we’re going to do an old number by everyone’s Uncle Kenny,” I said, making everyone howl with laughter. It was charming that everyone knew the oldies, and even decades after they were written, still sang along. They were always there, in the back of our minds somehow. Steadying us.
As I began to sing, I even saw Cody singing along a bit from his seat on a stool at the end of the bar. He didn’t come to all of our shows but made it out at least once or twice a month.
The audience went wild tonight. They seemed to love it when I sang songs that were intended for a man to sing to a woman. I didn’t bother flipping the genders, I just sang it the way it had been written. By the time I was finished, the entire room was positively grinning.
“Well, it sounds like those people were caught in a hard place at a bad time, but it sure makes for a great song, right folks?” Everyone applauded and laughed. Then I turned to the deep, shining eyes that were fixated on me. It was a little early to be sharing my big news, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Although I was nervous, I was pretty sure that now was the time.
“Cody, don’t you think that Lucille would be a lovely name if it’s a girl?”
The entire crowd laughed, but then grew quiet as my hand fluttered to my stomach. Cody seemed to freeze, then stood up slowly, walking toward me with the biggest grin I’d ever seen outside of our wedding day.
Bobby leaned into his mic. “And if it’s a boy, it had better be named Johnny, Hank, Willie, or Waylon. Congratulations Lorena and Cody!”
Snapping my mic back into the stand, I left Bobby to say good night to the crowd, rushing to sit at the front edge of the stage so I could jump into Cody’s arms.
He twirled me around a few times, and the cheers were deafening. Then my husband just held me close, murmuring into my ear, “You’re really giving me a baby?”
“You’ve already given me so much, I thought it was only fair,” I laughed. My eyes were misty as I looked up at him. “I love you so much, Cody.”
“I love you eight hundred and thirty-three times as much, Lorena,” he smiled. His jaw was actually twitching on the left side, and although I would never admit to having seen a glimmer of a tear, his eyes certainly looked glassy for a second. “I love you, my sweet wife, and soon to be mommy.”
Cody and I had driven together tonight, so I gave Bobby a wave, knowing that he would understand if just this once I was a diva who didn’t help with packing the gear. As we went to Cody’s truck, he practically threw me inside so that he could jump in and shut the door.
His kiss was pure fire, and I couldn’t help wondering what would happen the second we got home to our quirky little house.
Cody had moved in with me after only dating for a month. I was pretty pleased with myself for making a big deal out of handing him a key to my house, but he outdid me by slipping a diamond ring on my finger.
He renovated parts of the house completely, but others he simply fixed up a bit, and left them with their old country charm. While he was doing the heavy reno lifting, I designed the wildflower and vegetable gardens in the huge backyard, which is where we had our wedding.
It was small and charming and quiet. Exactly what we both wanted. The only bad thing that happened on our perfect day was that during the reception at The Last Barrel, I kept getting in trouble for jumping up and clearing the plates.
Cody’s kiss brought me back to reality, his hand grabbing my ass almost roughly as he squeezed my breasts with his other hand right through my dress. “When these get bigger, your little stage dresses are going to be obscene,” he said, his low voice sounding strained.
“Gosh,” I joked, “A blonde country singer with giant breasts. Who knows how that might turn out?”
His lips crushed to mine before he could even laugh properly, his tongue sliding over my own as we became lost in each other. He pulled away far too soon. “Seatbelt,” he muttered, buckling his own. I sat close beside him as he drove out of the lot, knowing that we would be home in record time.
Looking over at him, I saw that the lust in his eyes had been replaced with something else. “What’s wrong?” I asked as he turned onto the highway.
“How do you feel about me putting my extension on the house?” he asked. “The basement isn’t really tall enough for a proper playroom.”
“Babies and toddlers are pretty short,” I said. “Low ceilings are going to be fine for them for at least ten years.”
He chuckled, and thankfully relaxed his foot on the gas a little.
“I love you so much, Lorena,” he said, holding my hand. As we drove past ranch after ranch toward our beautiful small town, and our gorgeous little house, I realized that I was still pretty nervous about having a child.
But I’d been nervous to speak to Cody at first. And I’d been nervous to sing on stage the first several dozen times. Whatever happened, I knew with absolute certainty that I could get through anything with him at my side.
“Don’t you fall asleep on me,” Cody chuckled.
“Not a chance,” I said softly. “I wouldn’t want to miss a single thing.”
*** the end ***
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