Cowboy Up: A Contemporary Romance (The Cherry Series Book 1)

by Luna Starr

  Yes, it was safe to say I was hooked and smitten with the young virgin. And I was also determined to be the first man to sever that hymen and take her virginity from her. The very thought had me nearly creaming my pants.

  “Jessica,” Father Anton said as he faced her. All eyes, including Tommy’s, were transfixed on her. “Please, lead us in a prayer,” requested Father Anton, with a fatherly smile.

  “Okay, I would be happy to and thank you for the honor,” she said and blushed, placing her hand on her chest. “Okay...” she said again as she nodded and stood up from the bench. I instantly raked her figure, taking in those heaving breasts and those wide, flared hips. I instantly felt my cock growing heavy and had to talk myself down. Instead, I faced forward and folded my hands on the table just like everyone else was doing. I then bowed my head but I didn’t close my eyes.

  I scanned the room. Everyone had their eyes closed and heads tilted toward their respective tables, ready to open themselves to Jessica’s prayer. That was when I looked straight at her. As if feeling my eyes on her, she opened hers and returned my stare. I looked straight at her with a fixed smile as she started to recite her prayer. I couldn’t say I was paying any attention to her words though. Instead, I licked my lips as I stared at her, wanting her to know how badly I wanted to taste and lick her cunt. I could see her breath hitch as her eyes widened and she began to trip over the words of her prayer. I continued to stare at her and she never broke my gaze, almost as if reciting the words only to me.

  When she finished, Father Anton stood up. “Thank you, Jessica,” he said loudly. “Very well stated. Everyone, please enjoy your dinner.”

  My table mates dug into their plates, which included a side of white rice, and a gelatinous looking, white, rubbery chicken breast, with a small pile of canned beets that were an anemic red. I found myself curiously no longer hungry.

  “Not bad,” commented Sister Janice, while biting a piece of the dry chicken. She immediately downed a few sips of water, ostensibly because the chicken was so dry, it had gotten lodged in her throat. For myself, I couldn’t say I was exactly thrilled with the menu, but when you’re in the middle of an African village, thousands of miles from a supermarket, your expectations are somewhat tempered.

  I heard Sister Carmen calling to Sister Janice from across the dining hall, her voice shrill. “Sister Janice, do come sit with us,” she said. Father Anton waved at the sister as well, letting it be known that he wanted her company. I was beyond pleased that the nosy sister was now going to eat her dinner somewhere else. I was grateful for any chance I could get to have Jessica on her own, well, with the exception of Tommy, I supposed.

  Sister Janice stood up, with her plate in hand, and started for the other table, seemingly pleased to have been invited to the more important table, as it were. I watched her join Father Anton, Sister Carmen, and some of the volunteer staff at their table as I turned to face Jessica.

  “How’s your food?” I asked.

  She glanced up at me with those big brown eyes and I could tell she was nervous. I liked the fact that I made her nervous—it turned me on. I took a quick glance at the table where Sister Janice was sitting to make sure no one was watching us. She was already busily involved in conversation with Father Anton and none of them were looking our way.

  “It’s okay,” Jessica answered as she looked at her food and turned up her nose. “I guess I should be grateful that I have anything at all.”

  “It’s fucking horrible,” Tommy said as he poked at the beets and then gave me a frown. “Don’t mince words, Jess,” he said as he smiled at her and she smiled back at him shyly. I could tell by her expression that she found him attractive—it was there in the way she looked at him. Instantly, I remembered watching her with him in the Jacuzzi and I felt a spur of jealousy suddenly loom up within my stomach. Was there a chance that Jessica was interested in Tommy more than she was with me? Of course, it was possible. Regardless, I would not allow the boy to take something so valuable as her virginity and then drop her just as quickly. No. I would not tolerate this beautiful woman being treated in such a way. Tommy and I would need to have another conversation.

  “How is yours, Mr. Jacobs?” Jessica asked me as she glanced up at me with those doe eyes that seemed to look right through me. Her eyes were captivating; they’d make even the most average woman beautiful if she were lucky enough to be born with the same eyes.

  “Food is passable,” I answered, uninterested in continuing the discussion. Instead, I glanced down at her bandaged hand. “How is your hand?”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “A little sting, nothing to worry about.”

  “You know, mantis don’t bite,” I continued, holding back a chuckle.

  “What the hell is a mantis?” Tommy asked as he faced me, still moving his food around the plate like he used to do as a child to make it look like he’d eaten more than he had.

  “It’s an insect,” I answered, never pulling my attention from Jessica. “And we used the poor mantis as our alibi.”

  “Your alibi?” Tommy questioned me.

  “Yes,” I continued with a quick nod, still keeping my attention on the young girl. “We blamed Jessica’s cut on the mantis—I said it bit her.”

  “How did you cut your hand, Jess?” Tommy asked as he faced her with concern and then glanced down at her bandaged hand as if only just realizing she’d hurt herself.

  “Oh, it was with a razor,” she answered as she colored and dropped her attention back to her plate. I was fairly sure she was remembering what it was she’d been shaving and that was the reason for her flush.

  “Well, be more careful,” Tommy answered as he dropped his gaze from her face to her bust. Yep, it was fairly obvious that my son wanted more with Jessica than the time he’d spent with her in the Jacuzzi. Hmm, now it would be a matter of how we handled that subject and when. As far as I was concerned, that conversation needed to happen sooner rather than later.

  But, for now, I wanted Jessica to myself. And I was impatient to have her. “Jessica, are you interested in soccer?” I asked as she glanced up at me, her eyebrows arching with surprise.

  “Um, I guess so?”

  “Tommy, you interested in a game?” I asked as I faced my son, more than aware that he detested soccer and definitely wouldn’t take me up on it.

  He frowned immediately. “No, can’t say that I am. I’m more interested in catching up on some sleep I missed in that shitbox of a plane.”

  “Well, we have some time,” I answered as I looked at the table with Father Anton and the sisters. They were entranced in conversation and I didn’t think they would notice or care if we departed for a little bit. I faced my son. “Go take a nap, Tom,” I said with a quick nod. “I’ll teach Jessica here some soccer moves.”

  “Good luck,” Tommy said to Jessica as he frowned. “And if you’d rather take a nap, yourself, don’t feel like you have to accept my dad’s offer,” he added as he looked at me and shook his head. “He can be a little overbearing.”

  “No, it’s okay,” Jessica said as she smiled at Tommy and then faced me. “Soccer sounds fun.”

  “Then it’s set,” I said as I stood up and clapped my hands together excitedly. We cleared our plates and as we passed by the table where Father Anton and the sisters were sitting, I explained to them that I was going to teach Jessica some soccer moves, figuring they would trust her with me. And they did, exemplified by their smiles and quick nods. Then they were back to whatever discussion had been occupying them before I interrupted.

  We walked outside and Tommy headed in the opposite direction, toward the bungalow he shared with me. Meanwhile, Jessica and I both started toward the soccer field which was maybe thirty feet away. I hadn’t realized how loud it was in the hall until we exited into the quiet, temporarily vacant village. A bluish hue blanketed the village as it absorbed the glow coming from the remarkably large full moon. I glanced down at Jessica and smiled at her.

  “I f
inally have you alone,” I said as I noticed a soccer ball abandoned just underneath a raggedy looking tree that stood in front of my bungalow. I ran to it and started kicking it from one foot to the other, thinking it would make a good alibi. The truth was that I had zero interest in playing soccer with Jessica.

  Jessica kept her hands in her pockets and walked with a submissive, hunched posture. She definitely looked nervous, like a scared puppy dog, with her worried brows. Whatever was bothering her was suddenly at the height of my thoughts. Whatever it was, I wanted to do away with it, stomp it back into obscurity.

  “Jessica, what’s the matter?” I asked.

  She looked up at me, then took another sharp glance behind her as the last bungalow faded from view and we walked into a wide open yard which the missionaries had set up as the soccer field.

  “I feel like I shouldn’t be out here with you alone,” she answered.

  “Why is that?” I asked as we walked halfway across the field and I continued to kick the ball forward, both of us looking down at it even though our thoughts were miles from soccer.

  “Because you make me think and feel things that I shouldn’t, Mr. Jacobs,” she answered as she looked up at me, worry in her features.

  “I would never make you do anything you aren’t comfortable with, Jessica,” I said, my tone of voice low but serious. “If you just want to be my friend, I will respect that. You know that.”

  “I don’t just want to be your friend,” she announced with a visible sag to her shoulders as she sighed. “That’s the problem.”

  “Why is that a problem?” I asked as I smiled down at her. “You must be aware that I don’t want to just be your friend either?”

  “I know I shouldn’t feel the things I do or think the way I think when I see you or when I’m around you,” she started as we reached the end of the soccer field and continued into the dense foliage of the jungle beyond.

  “But?”

  “But I can’t seem to control my thoughts and feelings,” she answered with a shrug and then a sigh. “I can’t seem to be good when I’m around you.” She sighed again. “It’s like, when I’m not with you, I’m really strong in my thoughts. I tell myself that I’m going to focus on my faith and that you and I can’t be anything other than acquaintances. But then when I see you, all that strength goes out the window.” Her shoulders slouched down again as she refused to look at me.

  “Well, tell me this,” I started as I reached down and tilted her chin so she would look me in the eyes. “Is it a bad thing for me to make you feel good? Is it bad for me to touch your body and to make you quiver and gasp?”

  “Well, no, not exactly,” she countered as she bit her lower lip. But then, she shook her head. “But I’m supposed to be waiting for marriage,” she continued. “I’m supposed to save all those things for the man I’m going to marry and for him alone.”

  “What if I told you I want to be the man to take care of you?” I asked as I faced her and her eyes went wide with surprise.

  “Mr. Jacobs,” she started as the surprise turned to concern, like she didn’t understand what I was getting at. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “There is something here, between us, Jessica,” I said as I gripped her by the arms and turned her to face me. “You must feel it?”

  “Yes, of course, I do, but I never for a second thought it was anything more than…” she started but then lost her nerve.

  “Sex?” I finished for her as she nodded. “No,” I answered as I abruptly shook my head. “You are not just sex to me, little girl,” I said as I faced her earnestly. “Maybe it started that way but I can’t get you out of my head and I know myself—I know when something I feel is heavier than just a sexual need.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” she said as she faced me and shook her head. She was in shock—I could tell by the expression in her eyes.

  “Don’t say anything,” I answered. “Just listen to me.” She nodded as I cleared my throat. “I’m not saying I want to marry you,” I said as she dropped her eyes to the ground. I lifted her chin again. “That’s not to say, though, that I don’t want to take care of you and that I couldn’t love you. I’m just not sure I’m the type of man who would want to marry again. Not after the messy divorce with Tommy’s mother.”

  “I understand,” she said sadly.

  “But marriage doesn’t mean two people are happy, Jessica,” I continued. “Marriage is something that was invented by man and it is not a measure of two people’s love for each other, in my opinion.” She nodded as if she was following me but didn’t say anything so I continued. “But, having said that, I absolutely respect your thoughts and your feelings about it. And I would never do anything to make you feel like you were going against your faith or your beliefs. If you tell me that you want to wait until marriage, I will take a step back and offer you friendship only. I can do that, Jessica.”

  “I appreciate it,” she said softly as she smiled up at me.

  “I mean it. I hope you believe me?”

  “Yes, I do,” she answered but then her smile fell.

  “Then, what’s the problem?” I asked. “Why do you look sad again?”

  She sighed. “Because my brain is saying one thing but my heart and my body are saying another.”

  I chuckled as I reached down and took her hand. “It seems to me that you need to do some thinking, beautiful girl,” I started. “You need to decide what you ultimately want and what is right for you. And once you figure that out, you come to me, okay? Whatever you want, whatever you tell me, I will respect and I will do it.”

  She nodded.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jessica

  I was so conflicted, I wanted to cry. On the one hand, I appreciated Mr. Jacobs so much for telling me that he would respect my wishes. But, on the other hand, I didn’t want to be his friend. I wanted so much more with him. I wanted to find out what could exist between the two of us but I was afraid—afraid because he was so much older than I was. I was afraid what everyone would think—Tommy, my parents, Gloria.

  But then I looked up into Mr. Jacobs’ beautiful blue eyes and all that worry suddenly receded into the background. Nothing mattered suddenly. Just him. Just me. Just the two of us together, out here in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the lush tropics of the jungle.

  And my body was thirsting for him, hungering to feel his touch. My pussy was already soaking through my panties, the stinging sensation becoming demanding. My nipples were hard and every piece of me was screaming out—broadcasting my need to be tasted, licked, fondled, fucked.

  “Shall we head back then, Jessica?” Mr. Jacobs asked as he smiled down at me in that kind way of his that made my whole stomach erupt in butterflies.

  “No,” I managed to croak out. I shook my head as I lost myself in his eyes and realized what I as saying.

  “Jessica?” he asked, confusion revealing itself in his expression.

  “I…” I started and then lost my nerve. I glanced away from him, unable to look him in the eyes as I searched for the right words. But words failed me.

  “What do you want, baby?” he asked me as he took both of my hands and smiled down at me warmly. “Tell me what you want, beautiful girl.”

  “You,” I managed to squeak out. “I want you, Mr. Jacobs.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked as his eyebrows met in the middle of his face. “I don’t want to take something from you that you don’t want to give me.”

  “I want to give you everything,” I answered, speaking from my heart, knowing that what I was saying was true. Yes, my mind was telling me to wait until I was married. Yes, I had promised myself I would follow a righteous path but there was something about that that didn’t feel right to me—something that didn’t feel genuine.

  “Baby girl,” Mr. Jacobs started as he reached down and ran his index finger down my cheek. “I am the one who will give you everything. But, first, I want to make sure you think about what i
t is you want. I don’t want you to jump into anything.”

  He started walking back toward the village but I stopped him by pulling against his arm. “I don’t want to go back yet,” I said.

  “What would you like to do, Jessica?” he asked.

  “Can we walk a little bit more?” I said as I smiled at him, feeling embarrassed because I couldn’t say what I really wanted. It just sounded too dirty. “Maybe we can explore?”

  “At night?” he asked with a laugh.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “Maybe for a few more minutes,” he answered. “I don’t want everyone to get alerted and send a search party out for us.” Then he laughed and his laugh was contagious.

  We continued forward, walking along a path that was carved out on the side of the dense foliage of the jungle. At the end of the path was an old shack with a crumbling roof. Mr. Jacobs was like a little kid coming across a treasure because his eyes went wide, competing with the width of his smile. He immediately started for the old, ramshackle structure and pulled against the weathered door which opened, sounding like the cackle of a witch.

  We entered the mostly empty shack, realizing it was an impromptu storage facility where the mission kept their sporting and maintenance equipment. Against the wall, a concrete workbench had a hammer and nails resting on top of its flat surface. The bench was illuminated by the moonlight through the single window inside the wooden, musty construction.

  Mr. Jacobs softly closed the rickety old door behind him. Highlighted by the moonlight, he was nothing short of exquisite with his dark hair and sparkling blue eyes. He stood still, staring at me as neither of us said a word.

  It was Mr. Jacobs who broke the silence as he started toward me, his footsteps loud against the uneven concrete. He didn’t say anything as he gathered me into his arms. I wrapped mine around his waist as I held him closely. His warm aura draped over me. His intensifying breaths began syncing with mine. My pussy was throbbing, aching so deeply inside of me. I knew the only thing that would appease it was Mr. Jacobs hard shaft. And I wanted it. God, I wanted it so badly.