by KB Winters
Or mine.
“Sure took your sweet ass fuckin’ time, didn’t ya?”
Slayer’s good natured words sent a lightning rod of ice down my spine, and I blinked twice to focus my vision, blurred with tears before my brain registered what I was seeing. Who I was seeing, to be more specific.
“Cruz!” My legs wobbled on my way to him, but I was determined to push through the pain and the fatigue, until my arms were wrapped around his narrow waist.
“You’re okay. Fuck, you’re okay.”
His deep chuckle sounded through thick, heaving exhales. “You worried about me, wifey?”
Wifey. Not gonna lie, that shit sounded really good in the moment.
“Of course I was. You’re my ride home.”
At those words, Cruz wrapped his thick arm around me, nearly suffocating me with his bicep, and squeezed. I don’t know how long we stood like that, with our arms wrapped around each other, just lost in feeling one another. His heart raced against my chest and his face nestled in the crook of my neck.
“Fuck, I’m glad you’re all right,” he said. Cruz pulled back and studied my face, a black wave of anger flashed at the sight of me in Gunnar’s t-shirt. “You are all right, aren’t you?”
“Better now, thanks to you.” I didn’t want to talk about what did or didn’t happen inside the walls of that building. Hell, I didn’t even want to think about it. Not ever but especially not right now.
“Can we get the hell outta here?”
The corners of his mouth tipped into a lazy smile, and Cruz nodded, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Abso-fucking-lutely, babe.”
With a growl he leaned forward and pulled me close with one of those dark, charming smiles that said he was about to lead me to hell, and my only concern was the road trip playlist. Then his lips were on mine, a slow gentle kiss that ignited a fire deep in my belly. It spread out in slow waves that got bigger and bigger with every passing moment.
I clung to his wide shoulders and let him in, savoring the way I felt with his thick arms wrapped around my waist, his erotic growl sending a shiver through my whole body.
“About that getting the hell out of here thing…”
Cruz laughed and flung a lazy arm around my shoulder as he guided me toward a truck near the road. I tried hard to ignore how well we fit together, in and out of bed. We fit a hell of a lot better than two people only conveniently married.
An exhausted sigh flew from my lips as Cruz helped me into the pickup truck, and I closed my eyes and relaxed against the headrest, as much as I could relax without closing my eyes. If I closed my eyes all I saw was Eugene.
If I kept them open, all I saw was Cruz.
Chapter Thirty
Cruz
“How’s she holding up, Cruz?”
I wasn’t at all surprised to open my front door and find Peaches standing there with a heavy bag in each hand, a sympathetic smile on her face.
I shrugged and stepped back, taking one of the bags from her. “Been in the shower for about ten minutes. Figured she needed a minute or two to reset. Wash off.” To get that old fucker’s touch off her gorgeous delicate skin. “She’ll be fine.”
“Trying to convince me or yourself?”
“Yes,” I answered honestly and robotically removed the massive amount of food from the first bag. “Holy shit, for real?”
She shrugged. “You know how Martha gets when she’s worried. Besides, it might be a few days before she’s feeling like herself.” The look in her eyes told me Gunnar had shared how we found Hennessy. A sight I wish I could bleach from my fucking memory.
“Right. Thanks Peaches.” I was too fucking tired to think about things like cooking meals right now. I was worried as hell about Hennessy and I didn’t know how to ask her if she was all right. If I needed to go back and make sure none of the McArthur clan ever took another breath. But I couldn’t. Could I? Did I even have the right to ask those questions when she was my wife in name only?
And did that mean she would want a divorce or annulment now that Eugene McArthur was nothing but a memory?
“Wow, that was intense to watch. Wanna talk about it?”
Fuck yes. “Nope. I’m good.”
“Liar.” Peaches flashed a smile and shook her head. “Go slow and don’t be afraid to ask her what she needs.”
“Thanks for the advice.” My tone was sarcastic but I was grateful for the words. “Anything else?”
“Feed her. Food and sex are the perfect distraction for just about anything, Cruz. Remember that.” She wrapped one arm around me and pressed her big red lips to my cheek in a loud, smacking kiss. “Good night.”
“Night.” Peaches’ words stayed with me long after she was gone and the sounds of the upstairs shower was the only other sound in the cabin while I laid out all the food, unsure what Hen might feel like eating tonight. If anything. If food and sex were the perfect distraction, we had enough food to last at least a week.
And enough desire to get us through the next year, at least. Go slow, echoed in my mind as I climbed the stairs, an idea forming the closer I got to the master bedroom and more importantly, the master bath. A gentle push and the door opened, revealing a thick cloud of steam that made it impossible to see even a foot in front of me. “Hen?”
She gasped. “Cruz?”
“It’s me. You okay in here?”
“Mmhmm.” Her words were muffled, almost like she was trying to hold back tears, which tore my fucking heart out.
I slid the door open and found those big green eyes staring up at me, red and slightly puffy.
“Oh, Hennessy.” Without regard to the fact that I’d already showered and washed McArthur’s blood off me, I stepped inside the hot spray and wrapped Hennessy in my arms.
I ignored the feel of her curves as she cried her eyes out. She cried big, bawling sobs that made her soul quake and small, whimpering cries that had the power to kill me. I held her while she expelled her demons from the night. I held her tight, wishing I could have done more to slay this particular demon for her, wishing I could have gotten there sooner.
“Cruz. Thank you.”
No other words could have sent that shaky breath rushing out of my chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner.”
“I knew you’d come.” Her small hand cupped my face on one side as her thumb traced the line of my jaw. “I’m so fucking glad you did.”
“I would kill him all over again for you if I could, Hen.” Those tears threatened to fuck me up, bad, and I had to make them stop. “What can I do?”
“Make me forget him, Cruz. Erase him from my mind. Please. I just want to forget.”
That was all I needed to hear before I swooped in and claimed her lips, taking my time to savor the plump deliciousness of Hennessy’s mouth. She was pliant and receptive, eager to get lost in the pleasure those kisses promised. She wanted to forget, and I was happy to give her something else to remember.
On and on the kiss went until my cock was rock hard even behind my wet clothes, I was too close to losing my shit. This was about making her forget, not just getting my dick wet.
“Hen,” I moaned and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Her jaw. Her right shoulder and then her left. Her collarbone.
“Cruz, please.”
I smiled and stepped from the shower, taking her with me and wrapping a towel around her body so I could take my time drying off every inch of her until she trembled with need.
“I think you might still be wet right here,” I told her and brushed the soft fabric across a beaded nipple.
“Not just there,” she moaned. She was into it, but she was still thinking about him.
“Good to know.” I let the towel drop to the floor and took a step back to rid myself of my wet clothes until I was naked with my cock straining out to reach her. “Come here.”
I was greedy for her and as soon as Hennessy was close enough, I pulled her into my arms and lifted her in the air until those thick thighs wrapped
around my body. Our lips found each other instantly, frantic in our need to come together, both of us in a heightened emotional state that, when combined with arousal, threatened to be combustible.
We made it into the bedroom and as reluctant as I was to take my lips from hers, I did, tossing her onto the bed so I could watch her titties jiggle. Those strawberry-tipped nipples were hard as a rock and my mouth watered.
“You’re too far away,” she said, her soft voice reminding me of my duty tonight. Operation Distraction was all about Hennessy and it started at those perfectly plump pink lips.
“Is this better?” Our bodies were pressed up against each other, the weight of mine pressing her deeper into the mattress, our breaths mingled in the wisp of a breath that separated us. Before Hennessy could answer, I was devouring her mouth again. Hot and wet and needy, she opened up to me and gave me everything she had in that kiss, and greedy bastard that I was, I took it.
I took it all.
“Better,” she moaned.
But we could do better than better. With a goal in mind, my mouth left hers, and I dragged my lips across soft porcelain skin, kissing her jaw and down the long, feminine column of her neck. My lips skidded across her collarbone, pausing so my tongue could slip into the pulsing dip at the base of her throat and moving on. “Hen.”
“Yes,” she moaned, turned on and breathless. Now she was distracted.
My mouth covered the landscape of her body, lingering for a long time on her gorgeous tits, big and meaty with tips so suckable she almost came from the love I lavished on them. I kissed down the curve of her waist until it flared out to her hips, licking a trail of heat over her hipbone, and I headed across her belly to the other one. I couldn’t cross without stopping to pay some attention to her belly button, enjoying the shocked gasp she let out at the touch of my tongue. “Still with me, Hen?”
“Still. Here.”
“Excellent.” Not one inch of her incredible curves escaped my mouth, not even those shapely legs. The sexy groan she let out when I sucked the skin at the back of her knee nearly made me come, but this was about her. All about her.
“Cruz, please,” she begged when I turned her onto her belly and started kissing her at the bottom of her hair line, making my way down one shoulder and then the next, down the gentle slope of her spine and that sexy little dip at the top of her round ass. And just as I made way down to her thighs, Hennessy arched her back and sent me face to face with swollen pink lips, shiny with need. “Fuck, yes!”
I palmed those sweet ass cheeks and held her exactly where I wanted her, watching the way her pussy pulsed with need, following the path of one single drop as it slid down her thigh, before leaning forward to lap it up.
“Fuck!”
I smiled and let out a small puff of air that sent a shiver through her before I buried my face in her pussy, licking and sucking her until the only man she remembered was me. Until the only hands she dreamed about touching her were these hands, this finger as it slid deep inside her asshole.
“Oh fuck, Cruz!” She was wild, crazed with desire as her head thrashed back and forth. I wished I could enjoy the view but I was too busy lapping up all the sweet honey that dripped from her cunt, slurping her juices until she cried out. “Cruz!”
Fuck yeah, just what I wanted to hear, my name falling from her lips because she couldn’t contain her pleasure. Couldn’t stand the onslaught of ecstasy. When Hennessy reached around and grabbed a fistful of hair, pressing my face into her pussy, I gave her what she wanted. She took control of the moment, and I let her, licking and sucking every inch of her pussy I could get my mouth on. I moaned and she fell to the bed.
“Cruz, yes!”
“Fuck, I love the way you say my name when you’re all fuckin’ hot and need to come.”
She squeaked out a laugh when I flipped her over, never giving her a moment to catch her breath before my mouth was on her again. Holding her thighs open so I could see every move she made and watch every drop of desire that fell from her pussy, I licked her from bottom to top, taking in the way her eyes crinkled at the corners before falling shut, the way her head fell back and her mouth opened to let some of the pleasure escape.
Her body shook. It quivered and vibrated and I never let up, flicking my tongue against her clit until she wrapped her legs around my neck, making breathing impossible but I didn’t give a fuck. I breathed in the scent of her pussy as it leaked, shoving my tongue deep inside her pussy as she fucked my mouth.
“Cruz. Oh God Cruz, yes! Oh fuck!”
She was close. I could feel the way she tightened around my tongue, and I didn’t change anything. Her hips moved faster and faster, her hand gripped my hair hard enough to bring tears to my eyes and my tongue moved like it was powered by the energizer bunny, licking and sucking and lapping at her until she exploded. I moaned against her and that only intensified her orgasm as my cock began to leak.
“Cruz,” she cried for me to stop even as her hand continued to grip my hair and even as she continued to rub her slick cunt all over my face.
“Oh, Cruz. Please.”
Not please stop, just please. I gave her what she wanted, getting lost in the pleasure of driving her out of her mind when another orgasm tore through her. It was short and fast, like the beautiful blast of a supernova, her body suspended in the most erotic arch I’d ever seen, nipples pointing towards the sky, back bowed so she couldn’t get away from my tongue if she tried.
“Cruz,” she said minutes later, her voice a warning as another orgasm worked its way from her body. Her pussy pulsed, slower and harder now, and I knew what was coming and curled a tongue around her clit, sucking hard until a flood of moisture rushed out of her body, and she went slack in my arms.
Now that motherfucker was forgotten.
Chapter Thirty-One
Hennessy
It was fucking weird the way life worked out sometimes. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I got kidnapped and assaulted by a mobster. Just when I’d lost hope in humanity, a group of badass bikers swooped in to rescue me like Prince Charming’s older, hotter, bad boy brothers.
It was also weird how I started to develop feelings for my husband of convenience. My step-brother actually. I couldn’t help it, not after the way he held me and loved me so gently last night. No one had ever made me feel as precious and as important as Cruz had throughout the night. I’d asked him to make me forget, and he’d taken it a step further and given me a night I could never, ever forget.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Peaches walked beside me, and I was grateful she hadn’t pushed me to talk.
“That’s about what they’re worth, to be honest.” My thoughts were all over the place, starting with what happened next. Was Cruz expecting me to leave and send him a quickie divorce in the mail? Had anything changed for him? Was Homer already saddled up to someone else’s gambling table?
“How about something a little easier. How are you?”
That was not easier, but it should have been. “I don’t know. I think I’m all right and then bam there’s his old craggy face just an inch from mine and it’s all right there again.” Eugene McArthur was my own personal demon; the only question was would he haunt me forever?
“It just happened, Hennessy.” She sighed and stopped pushing the stroller and smiled down at Stone sleeping before casting a more serious glance at me.
“You must take all the time you need to get over what happened.” Peaches held up a hand to stop the denial perched on the tip of my tongue. “I know your first instinct is to say you’re fine, and maybe you genuinely are, but this is hard shit to get over Hennessy. Trust me.”
Her eyes were haunted and it was the first hint I’d seen that her life wasn’t perfect. “Allow yourself to feel what you feel. Angry that it happened, frustrated, pissed off at the world. Feel them all. Talk to a therapist. Fuck it out. Whatever you gotta do, do it.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“
Hell, yeah.” She pushed the stroller and told me a little bit about her work for the government and the problems that brought her to Texas.
“It was an ongoing problem and the effects have been…lasting.”
“So I need to find a way to deal with it or let it destroy me?”
“Pretty much. Hardtail Ranch is a great place to recover, if one was so inclined.”
I laughed. “Subtlety is not your strong suit, Peaches. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“Not to my face.”
The look of innocence she tried for was so off the mark I couldn’t help but laugh. That one act, that laugh, the movement of stretching my mouth into a grin, gave me hope that Peaches was right. That eventually things would get back to something resembling normal.
“Seriously,” she asked, “do you plan on sticking around?”
I wanted to, more with each passing day. But it wasn’t up to me, not really. “I don’t know, I guess it’s something we’ll have to talk about. I mean, now that there’s no reason for us to stay married, maybe Cruz wants his independence back. Or his living space.” Though I could think of worse things than being in close quarters with Cruz.
“A little unsolicited advice?”
I nodded because I didn’t have any girlfriends, and Peaches was just the kind of straight talker I liked.
“If you want to stay, stay. Don’t have a talk with Cruz because it’ll scare him, or worse, make him come up with some convoluted rationale for why leaving is best for you. Just tell him that you’re staying and that you guys are doing this relationship thing for real.”
Peaches spoke with such confidence I almost believed it was that easy.
Almost. “Just like that?”
She nodded and waved a dismissive hand in the air. “These guys are great. They really are true American heroes because they will run towards the gunshots, the fire, the shit show, and they’ll do it all to save everyone who lives on this ranch. But going after some really scary shit like love and happily ever after? Well that’s where our strength as women comes in.”
