“Interesting...”
“Does he not work for you?”
“If we’re talking about the same young man, I actually hired him today.”
“So, he’s new and he was nosing around?”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Palmer said. “I have some questions for him tomorrow. If I don’t like the answers, his career here may come to a quick end.”
“I didn’t get the impression that he was up to anything malicious. Just that maybe he was looking for you.”
“Let’s hope that’s all it was. Because I really liked him. He seemed like a good kid and I thought he had potential. He reminded me a lot of myself.”
Soledad reached her hand out and tapped his thigh. The gesture was gentle and comforting. Palmer dropped his own atop hers and tangled his fingers with her fingers. They sat together for a few minutes, listening to the jazz that played on his stereo.
“I need to make my rounds,” Palmer finally said. He pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“Find that babysitter of ours while you’re out there,” Soledad said. “And I’ll go get your cookies ready.”
Palmer laughed and kissed her again.
* * *
Palmer stood in the center of the barn and looked around. Although Soledad was certain the young man who’d told Palmer his name was Ben Harris had been there, there was nothing amiss or out of place that gave Palmer any pause. They had been able to move Pharaoh back with the other horses the day before, so this barn was empty, housing nothing but old tools and farm equipment. He didn’t bother to check the cabinets because he had moved all the guns from the space the night he’d been shot at. Giving any possible intruders easy access to a weapon didn’t seem prudent.
Jack suddenly barked as he came barreling into the barn. He was panting heavily, like he’d just run a marathon. Palmer filled a metal trough with water, and the dog drank, practically plunging his whole head into the container. “What’s up, big guy? What are you chasing?”
Jack barked again excitedly, spinning around Palmer’s feet. He raced to the farmhouse and back again.
“Okay! Okay! We’re going back inside. Just be patient. Down, Jack,” he commanded.
Jack lay at his feet, feigning patience. He made Palmer laugh as he tried not to jump up and down.
Minutes later, the Bernese was sound asleep under the crib in the guest bedroom. Lyra slept as soundly, out like a light. The kitchen was clean, and Soledad had dimmed the lights. He could hear soft music coming from the bedroom. After double-checking that all the doors were closed and locked, and then setting the alarm, he made his way to the master bedroom.
He stilled in the doorway. Excitement rained through his body like a downpour in the middle of a summer day. Soledad lay naked across the bed. Her head rested against the palm of her hand, her elbow propping up her torso. Her legs were crossed at the ankles and a plate of chocolate-chip cookies rested in front of her pubic area. The smile on her face was pure gold.
“Cookies!” Palmer exclaimed. “May I have one?”
He watched as she bit down on her bottom lip, widened her eyes and gave the slightest shrug of her shoulder.
Palmer reached for one of the treats, pulled it to his mouth and took a bite. He chewed slowly, observing her as she slid her top leg up the length of the other and back down.
He reached his hand down a second time to caress her long hair, twirling a strand around his finger. Soledad trailed her index finger across the back of his hand. Her touch was teasing, and every muscle in his body quivered for attention.
Palmer swallowed the last bite of his treat, then bent to kiss her mouth. Their lips met in a gentle touch, gliding like velvet against silk. Their tongues danced sweetly, flirted nonchalantly.
He finally took a step back. He began a slow striptease, pulling his T-shirt over his head and flinging it to the side. His pants followed, boxers and all, as he slid them to his ankles and kicked them after his discarded shirt. Soledad rolled back against the pillows, apparently admiring the sight as Palmer lifted one knee onto the mattress and then the other.
Picking up the plate, Palmer eased it onto the nightstand. He grabbed Soledad by the ankle and parted her legs. Before she could exhale a breath, he pressed his mouth against her, his tongue darting back and forth over her mons.
He could sense the sheer pleasure rippling through her, every nerve obviously firing sweetly as he gently spread her open like a flower, exposing the petals of her sex as his tongue lashed at her hungrily.
Soledad slid her hand against the back of his head and pushed herself into his face. She moaned, and when he found her most sensitive spot, his tongue wrapping around it as he sucked her juices, she arched her back and he heard her call out his name.
Palmer clutched the round of her buttocks and rolled, pulling her above him, his mouth still locked tightly around her. Her arms flailed as she began to ride his face, thrusting her pubis back and forth against his lips and tongue.
She came quickly, her orgasm hitting with a vengeance. Her body quivered and shook as he held her, refusing to let her move from him as his mouth and tongue continued their ministrations. Then Palmer shifted gears, sliding her downward until she dropped against him, his sheathed dick like solid steel piercing her feminine spirit.
They made the sweetest love, his hands wrapped around her body as he cupped her buttocks beneath his palms and guided her ministrations. He felt her muscles grab his member, her insides pulsing rhythmically around him. It was almost more than he could bear as she leaned forward to kiss his chest, his neck and that sweet spot beneath his chin.
Palmer pumped himself into and out of her, over and over again. He grabbed one bouncing breast and then the other as he fondled the dark nubs that had hardened beneath his touch. Fluids mingled, time stood still and then every nerve in both their bodies exploded in unison. It was pure bliss, paradise on steroids, pleasure beyond belief. As Soledad collapsed against him, Palmer wrapped her in his arms and hugged her tightly against him, vowing to never let her go.
Sleep came quickly to them both, but not before he whispered her name and told her that he loved her. When Soledad closed her eyes, a smile graced her face and joy blessed her heart.
* * *
There had to be some law against the things she and Palmer had done in his bed, Soledad thought. In the back of her mind, she swore that she had heard her mother’s voice admonishing her to be a good girl because only bad girls behaved so wantonly. Annie’s voice had superseded the matriarch’s, her bestie praising her and giving her a high five for being able to get both legs up over her head. Him saying he loved her was icing on some very sweet, sweet cake!
Making love to Palmer was truly an out-of-body experience, and Soledad was certain Saint Peter would hose her down, make her recite a decade’s worth of Hail Marys and then maybe, just maybe, consider giving her a ticket to enter through the pearly gates.
“We’re going straight to hell,” she said out loud.
Palmer laughed. “You don’t go to hell for great sex, Soledad.”
“Well, you definitely don’t get into heaven doing what we just did.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think they call that purgatory.”
“Exactly. We’re going straight to hell. Because what we just did can’t possibly be any good for anyone.”
He tightened his arms around her, her head resting on his chest.
“Do you regret being with me, Soledad?” Palmer asked. “Because you’re starting to make me feel some kind of way.”
“No. Not at all. If I had to make the decision again, I would do it each and every time. What about you?”
“I might not do a repeat of that cramp I caught in my thigh, but I would happily give you a repeat performance of everything else.”
Soledad giggled. They had made love, slept and then woken
to repeat their performance over again. Now, lying together as the sun was starting to find its rightful seat in the sky, both were wide-awake and she was feeling reflective.
“We happened fast. Under extenuating circumstances,” Soledad continued.
“Which makes our being together even more special.”
“Some people would say we’ve only set ourselves up for failure.”
“What do you say?”
“I don’t want us to fail,” she said. And she didn’t, because Soledad had come to accept that she loved Palmer. She loved him with every fiber of her being and she never wanted to let him go. She lifted her gaze to his, her eyes saying everything that was in her heart.
“Then we won’t. But you’re doing what I often do. You’re overthinking things and you need to stop. Can’t we just enjoy being together without questioning every little detail?”
Soledad paused, thinking about his question. “No, of course not,” she finally answered. “Where’s the fun in that? Especially since that now means we have a daughter to consider and little girls come with a whole other set of problems!”
Palmer laughed again. “I’m going to grab a quick nap. Then I’m going to make love to you one more time before I have to get up and go to work. I’d suggest you do the same.” He curled his body around hers, his pelvis against her buttocks, his chest to her back, his arms crossed over her breasts. He cuddled close to her and blew a kiss against the back of her neck.
“Hey,” Soledad said minutes later. “I love you, too, Palmer Colton.” And then she giggled softly, because Palmer was sound asleep and hadn’t heard a word she said.
* * *
Soledad jumped, a loud noise in the kitchen scaring her awake. She lay there for a moment, listening. Except for what had dropped in the distance, it was quiet. Eerily quiet. She reached a hand over to the other side of the bed and it was empty. Palmer was gone. And so was the baby monitor that had rested on the nightstand. If Lyra had cried, she wouldn’t have heard a thing. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Rising, she grabbed the clothes she’d discarded the night before and threw them on to cover her nakedness. Pulling her hair back, she twisted the lengthy strands into a bun. Still uncertain, Soledad hurried down the hall to the other bedroom to check for Lyra, but the baby wasn’t there. She rushed to the kitchen.
Palmer sat at the counter, sipping on a cup of coffee. He was jotting notes onto a sheet of paper. Lyra was in her high chair, gumming one of the teething cookies from the night before. Soledad felt her entire body smile at the sight of them.
“Good morning,” she said softly.
Palmer looked up, not having expected her to be there. “Good morning,” he answered. “You’re up. I was going to let you sleep until I had to leave.”
“I heard a loud noise.”
“I dropped that big pot trying to put it into the cabinet. I apologize.”
“No apology necessary. Are you late?”
He shook his head. “No, right on schedule, actually.”
“You must be exhausted. You didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night.”
“I got enough. I feel invigorated.”
“That probably won’t last long. You’ll be dragging by lunch.”
“Then I’ll come home and you can put me to bed.”
“Me putting you to bed is why you didn’t get any sleep last night,” she said with a hearty laugh.
Palmer chuckled with her. “That’s what I was counting on.”
“Do I have time to grab a shower before you have to leave?”
He nodded. “You do if it’s a quick one. I’m going to finish my coffee and read the headlines to Lyra.”
“Aren’t you a lucky little girl,” Soledad said as she moved to give the baby a kiss.
Lyra gurgled, still gnawing on that cookie.
“What did you do to get her to eat that?”
“I smeared a little grape jelly on it,” Palmer said. “I thought about peanut butter, but since we don’t know if she has any allergies, grape jelly won out.”
Soledad shook her head. “Seriously, they were not that bad.”
He laughed. “You’re right, but with jelly and peanut butter, they are much better.”
Chapter 17
Palmer stopped digging the trench to take a quick breather. The sun had finally disappeared behind a multitude of clouds, giving them a few minutes of reprieve. He gulped air and stretched his tired muscles. At the other end of the expanse, Benjamin was still wielding his shovel, breaking the soil and slinging dirt behind him. He’d been shoveling for as long as Palmer, only pausing for water once or twice. Palmer still had concerns about the boy’s motives, questions unanswered about why he’d gone to the house and into the barn. He trusted the answers would come, and as he watched him work so steadily, Palmer was impressed with his fortitude and told him so.
“You’re doing a good job, Ben,” he said as he stepped over to where the boy was working. “You tired yet?”
Benjamin stopped and stood upright. He swept dirt from his hands onto his face as he wiped away the sweat pooling on his forehead. “Thank you, sir. I’m just trying to keep up with you.”
“That could get you hurt. You just focus on doing what you can do, son.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You ready to grab some lunch?”
Benjamin shrugged. “I didn’t bring anything to eat, so I can just keep working.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll gladly share mine. But you need to take a break. You can’t keep pushing your body like that without risking an injury.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“Come on. We’re done here for the day. I need to make my rounds. Then, after we eat something, I’m going to teach you how to muck the stables. You’ll do that for the rest of the day. It’s dirty work but necessary.”
“Whatever you need, sir.”
“And stop ‘sir-ing’ me. Call me Palmer.”
“Yes, sir.”
Palmer gave the kid a look, then burst out laughing. “Let’s ride,” he said, gesturing toward his truck.
Gathering the shovels, Benjamin followed Palmer to his vehicle. They placed the tools in the bed and hopped into the cab. Palmer started the ignition and a gust of cool air rushed out of the vents.
“Air-conditioning!” Benjamin said with a chuckle.
“It can be a workingman’s best friend,” Palmer said.
Palmer twiddled with the radio dial until the local country station came in loud and clear. A Trace Adkins song billowed out of the speakers, and both men began to bob their heads in time to the music.
“There’s nothing like a cool breeze and a good country song,” Palmer said.
“Maybe throw in a bottle of pop,” Benjamin added.
“A cool breeze, a good country song and your favorite beverage. Sounds like heaven to me,” Palmer laughed.
“My father used to say heaven was a good meal, a good woman and good loving. If a man had that, he didn’t need anything else.”
“Tell me about your father,” Palmer said as he drove toward the pastures to check on the cattle. He wanted to know more about the kid, still not sure if he could be trusted. In the back of his mind something about the boy was eating at him. Something that said he needed to be wary, most especially since he had to protect Soledad and Lyra with every resource available to him.
“He was a great guy. He and my mother adopted me when I was a kid. According to my adoption records, they didn’t know who my sperm donor was, and my biological mother just abandoned me at the local hospital. They never found her and I was put in foster care for a few years.
“The Harris family was the fourth or fifth family to take me in. I wasn’t an easy kid. I had rage issues. But they were great. My mom was so patient with me. I remember how she
used to just sit and hold me and sing to me until I calmed down. She died when I was twelve years old. She had breast cancer. After that, it was just me and my dad. He became my mother and my father. He was the best. He said that they had once wanted to adopt more children, but never got the chance, and when my mom died, he thought it best that I get all his attention, so I never had any siblings. It was just me and him. He gave me a good life. A really good life.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to him?” Palmer asked, cutting his eye toward the young man. “I know you said he died recently.”
“He was murdered. You know that serial killer Len Davison, who’s been in the news for getting away with murder because of that dude who threw away all the evidence?”
Palmer nodded. “Yeah, Randall Bowe.”
“My dad was one of his victims. I didn’t have anyone after that, and now I’m here.”
Palmer released a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry that it’s been hard for you, kid. I was in foster care, too. I was five years old when my family adopted me. I’m blessed to still have them. I know everyone’s not that lucky and I don’t take it for granted.”
Palmer felt the young man staring at him. “You were lucky,” the kid said, his tone almost wistful.
Palmer smiled. “We were both lucky. Don’t ever think differently. We had family who loved us. Not all the kids in foster care will have that.”
Benjamin muttered something under his breath.
“Excuse me?” Palmer said. “I didn’t catch that.”
Benjamin shook his head. “It was nothing. I was just agreeing with you.” He changed the subject. “Do you have any kids?”
Palmer shook his head. “No. I really wasn’t interested in having kids, but...well...” He hesitated, suddenly realizing that, since Lyra and Soledad, everything he had thought he’d wanted and everything he’d believed about himself had changed. He was a different man and life had taken on a whole other meaning. It had happened so quickly that he hadn’t even seen it coming. “No,” he concluded, “I don’t have any children yet.” He took a deep inhalation of air, allowing the wealth of emotion he was feeling to envelop him.
Rescued by the Colton Cowboy Page 19
