by HELEN HARDT
"It’s me, sugar."
Holly inhaled, her skin tingling, as she gazed upon the beautiful painting of the boy on the horse she’d wanted to buy at Professor Fleming’s exhibit. She and Jack stood in his small den which was next to the kitchen. The canvas sat upright on a camel-colored leather sofa.
"That’s why it wasn’t for sale. It belongs to me. I loaned it to Mark for the showing. He painted it when I was six, just Sam’s age. I want you to have it."
She gasped as tiny tingles raced across her flesh. He was giving it to her? Something so precious? As much as she adored the painting, she couldn’t take it. It wouldn’t be fair, not when she wouldn’t be sticking around.
"Jack, I can’t accept it. It’s something special from your godfather to you."
"But I want you to have it. I saw the way you looked at it. You have an appreciation for it that I can never share. I mean, it means a lot to me because it’s from Mark, but you understand the art. What he was tryin’ to convey. To me it’s just a pretty painting."
"How can you say that? Okay, maybe you’re not that into art, but he painted it out of love for you. Can’t you see it? It’s all right there on the canvas. This is more to you than a work of art, Jack. Much more."
"I understand that. Honestly, I do. And I want to give it to you."
"But that means...."
"It means you mean a lot to me, too."
Holly’s heart dropped to her tummy. God, she loved this man. She was so head over heels in love she couldn’t tell up from down. But as much as she loved him and as much as she adored the painting, she couldn’t accept it. To do so would be to perpetuate a lie, a lie she’d already been perpetuating far longer than she should have. She knew better. She and Jack had no future and it was time to tell him why.
A tear trickled down her cheek. She’d lose him today.
Forever.
His long finger wiped the tear from her face. "What’s wrong?"
"It’s a beautiful painting, Jack. And even more beautiful is the sentiment behind it and the fact that you want me to have it."
"You’re beautiful, Holly. The most beautiful woman I know, inside and out."
But he didn’t know her inside. That was the problem.
She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and....
"Jack, tell me about Sam’s mother."
Fucking coward.
He smiled. "Does this mean you accept my gift?"
No. "It means I’ll think about it."
"Okay, good enough. For now. What do you want to know?"
"Let’s start with her name."
"Isabel Watkins. She was a cocktail waitress in a small ranching town on the eastern plains. She was nineteen and needy, I was twenty-two and horny. That about sums it up."
"Was she pretty?"
"Pretty enough. Not as pretty as you."
"Jack...."
"Yeah, she was pretty. Had dark eyes and hair like me, which explains why Sam looks like he does."
"Sam looks just like you. He’s the spitting image of you in the painting."
"Yeah, a little."
"A lot. You’re both beautiful."
"Shucks, ma’am," he drawled, "I ain’t beautiful."
She swatted him in the arm. "Of course you are, and you know it. You’ve surprised me at every turn, Jack. I never would have imagined that my hot one-night stand would turn out to be such a fine man."
"I don’t go out lookin’ for one nighters, Holly. I want you to know that. Sam came from a one nighter, but I was younger then. Not as discriminating."
She grinned. "Just a young and horny cowboy, huh?"
"Something like that."
"You’re more than just a horny cowboy. More than just a nude model. Though I can certainly see why the modeling appeals to you. You get to show off that magnificent body of yours."
"Sugar, I don’t do it to show off my body."
"I was just teasing, Jack."
"I know. But the nude modeling appeals to me for another reason. The money. It pays $200 an hour."
Holly widened her eyes. "Mark pays you that much?"
"The college does. Big universities pay even more. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what it would cost to hire a real model to take his clothes off."
"Is it weird going naked in front of your godfather?"
"Nah. He’s an artist and I’m just a model. He offered me the job because he knew I’d jump at the chance to make the extra income. My ranch is a small operation. Don’t get me wrong. I do fine, but Sam and I aren’t rollin’ in it by any means. The extra bit helps."
"Ah, I see." She gave him what she hoped was an impish grin. "So your body had nothing to do with it?"
"Well...." His face reddened. God, he was so adorable. "Students do need a...good physique to learn to draw the muscle groups and all. But you’re a student. You know that already."
"So you’re admitting you have a good physique?" she teased.
He pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her neck. "I’ll admit it when you admit you have a luscious physique. In fact, maybe you should model nude."
She pushed him away, laughing. "When pigs fly, Jack Sherwood. No one wants to look at a forty-year-old woman naked."
"I do." He moved forward and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. At the same time, he began to slowly unbutton her white blouse. "You have no idea what I went through that night I saw you in Mark’s class. Mind over matter, sugar. I had to work to keep from sproutin’ a giant hard-on in front of twenty-five college kids."
His calloused fingers stroked the flesh above her breasts. She shuddered, and then giggled. "Might have made for some interesting drawings for Mark to grade."
He let out a chuckle. "My godfather and I aren’t that close. I have no desire for him to see me with a woody."
She giggled again. Who was this strange woman? She felt like she was eighteen again, in love for the first time.
"But when I saw you sittin’ in that classroom, all I could think about were those gorgeous nipples of yours, those cherry lips around my cock." He grinned. "I had to close my eyes and think of England."
"Ha, ha," she said, trying to keep it light. But light it wasn’t, as he unsnapped the front clasp of her bra and let her breasts fall free. He pinched one nipple, then the other, and heat pooled between her legs.
"I can’t get enough of you, sugar. Each time I make love to you, after I come, I’m hard again in almost no time flat. The more I have you, the more I want you." He leaned down and nuzzled her breast. His evening stubble was heaven scraping against her hard nipple. "I’ve never felt this way before."
"Oh, Jack...." Neither had she, but she couldn’t say so. Not when it would be over in two days.
"You don’t have to return my sentiment, Holly. I understand it might be too soon for you. But I want you to know how I’m feelin’. I’m not just after a piece of ass."
"I know that, Jack."
"Good." He took her nipple between his lips and tugged gently.
"Jack?"
"Hmm?"
"Should we...go to the bedroom?"
He let go of her nipple with a soft pop and gave her a lascivious grin. "I’d kinda like to try out my leather couch."
He moved the painting to his mahogany desk near the back of the den, and then grabbed Holly and took her lips in a deep kiss. The forceful demand of his mouth against hers, the moist heat of his tongue, left her shaking, yearning for more. Once again her passion overrode her caution, and she found herself wanting—needing—his body inside hers.
Stop him, her inner voice warned. Stop him and tell him the truth. You’re not being fair to him. To Sam. Even to yourself.
Her longing for him silenced her conscience and she responded, kissing him with a raw, devouring fury that overwhelmed all rational thought.
Jack, inside me. I need Jack inside me.
Her lips still glued to his, her tongue deep inside his mouth, she took charge and ripped open the snaps of his sag
e green western shirt, the pop of each snap resonating in her ears and bringing her closer to her goal.
Jack, naked. Her lips around his cock. His fingers embedded in her. Their bodies joined in ecstasy.
She pushed the soft fabric from his shoulders. How glorious his golden muscles felt under her fingertips. When the shirt had pooled in a heap on the carpet, she went to work on his pants. Still their lips remained joined.
He kissed her with a fervor, a frenzy, a mind-numbing surety, and she returned it with equal zeal.
When his jeans were open, she pushed them and his boxers to the floor and urged him toward the couch. She ripped her mouth from his, whimpering at the loss, and pushed him down on the leather sofa. Still clothed, though her breasts hung free, she lowered herself to her knees and took that beautiful cock between her lips.
She wrapped her mouth around him tight and sucked.
"Ah, God," he groaned.
She let him go and teased him with little flicks of her tongue around the swollen head. His strong hands grabbed her head and tried to force her back onto him. She resisted at first, but then couldn’t help herself. She took him deep, deep into her throat. She loved this cock. She loved sucking it. Loved the salty male flavor of him.
Most of all, she loved the man attached to it.
She pulled back and licked the underside and nuzzled his balls. She inhaled his musky rawness. She could never get enough of his scent, his touch, his kisses.
His groans fueled her passion. She took him deep into her throat again and he pulsed against the roof of her mouth.
He pushed her head off him. "Not yet," he said. "God, you drive me crazy, but I don’t want to come yet."
"Please, Jack," she said, wanting this more than she thought possible. "Please. I want you to come in my mouth."
"Holly...."
"Please. I want it so bad I can taste it already."
"Damn." He fisted his big hands in her hair and guided her back down on his cock. The tiny spasms began in the back of her throat and spread along his whole length. She sucked in time with him, milking him, and letting his cum trickle over her tongue. It tasted salty, bitter, but she didn’t care. To her, it was sweeter than fresh cream.
When his shaft relaxed, she released him and smiled. His eyes were closed and a sheen of sweat coated his handsome face. A drop meandered through his night beard, and she caught it with the tip of her finger. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.
"Wow."
"Yeah, wow. Why didn’t you want me to do that?"
"I wanted to come inside you."
"I hope you weren’t disappointed."
"Are you kiddin’? It was amazing. I just didn’t want to leave you hangin’."
"Who says I’ll be left hanging? I happen to know you’ve got more to give, Cowboy."
"Well, yeah, ma’am." He tweaked a nipple. "I’m pretty sure I can pony up to the challenge."
"I thought you might be able to." She slid down his body and removed his boots, his socks, and his jeans which were still around his ankles.
"We’ve got one problem here, though," he said.
"What’s that?"
"You’re wearing too many clothes."
"Hmm." She grasped his hands and pulled him into a stand, then sat down on the couch. His cock, at perfect mouth range, was already growing again. She grabbed the cheeks of his taut ass and kneaded them. He was so damn gorgeous. She cleared her throat. "I don’t really see the problem, Jack."
He leaned down and gave her another soul-searing kiss. She sighed into his mouth as he slid her blouse and bra over her shoulders.
He stopped the kiss, nibbled on her lower lip, and trailed little pecks to her ear. "The problem, sugar, is that I want you naked. Naked, under me, wailing my name as I pound my hard cock into you." He cupped her mound through her jeans. "Does that work for you?"
"God, yes." Her breath came in rapid puffs as he fingered her swollen clit through the thick fabric. The textures, the wetness between her legs, everything worked to send her over the edge. She was near climax already.
"Jack...."
He continued his ministrations, now pressing little love bites to her sensitive neck. "Hmm?"
"God, Jack, I’m...I’m...."
She burst into flames.
"Coming, Jack. I’m fucking coming...Ah, God!"
The spasms ripped through her, her skin chilling, her pulse racing. When they finally slowed, she was panting against his gorgeous hair.
"See?" She took a shallow breath. "I knew you wouldn’t...leave me hanging."
"Not in this lifetime." He grinned. "And we’re not even close to finished yet." In record time, he freed her of her shoes, jeans and panties, and sat down on the couch with her in his lap. He grabbed her breasts and squeezed them.
"I’ve said this before, sugar, but your nipples are like candy." He sucked on one, then the other.
Icy tingles danced across her flesh. His mouth was so sexy. His lips suckling her was a delicious sight. His cock pulsed under her. He was ready again.
Though it took great effort, she pulled her nipple from his mouth and slid downward. She could gaze at his sculpted chest forever. She lowered her mouth and kissed his chest, swirling her tongue first over one coppery nipple, then the other. She licked him and caressed him with her tongue.
"Nice, sugar."
"You’re gorgeous, Jack."
He groaned, then lifted her hips and set her on his cock. She inched downward, taking every sweet centimeter of him.
She sighed. So good. "Thought...you wanted me under you."
"This’ll do for now."
"Yes. It. Will."
She sat up and sank down farther, until he was balls deep, and she swore part of his cock was reaching her soul.
She lifted her hips, and then took him even deeper. She started slowly but soon quickened her pace and rode him with an impassioned vengeance, her boobs jiggling, her body throbbing. He grabbed a nipple in his mouth as she rode him. He nipped her, sucked her, and she cried out when her orgasm exploded inside her.
Still she rode, her walls tightening, taking him hard and fast as her convulsions continued.
"You’re so tight, sugar." His voice came in breathless pants. "I’m gonna come now. Take all of me." He grabbed her hips and slammed her down upon his cock. Her sensitive walls felt every pulse of his climax. She caressed his chest, placing her palm over his heart as it beat in time with his release.
She lifted her gaze and met his dark eyes. They burned with passion.
He smiled.
She smiled back.
No words were necessary.
But as she laid her cheek against his chest, his heartbeat thrumming against her ear, her conscience resurfaced, and her eyes misted.
The end was near.
Chapter Eleven
"What are we gonna do today, Daddy?"
Jack tossed the skillet with a flick of his wrist, and the pancake he was frying flipped over perfectly.
"Can you do that with an omelet?" Holly asked, smiling.
"Never tried it."
"My daddy can do anything." Sam beamed proudly, his missing front tooth making his smile all the more loveable.
"I’m sure he can," Holly agreed, then turned to wink at Jack.
He winked back. "Haven’t had too many complaints about my skills."
"You didn’t answer my question," Sam said. "What are we gonna do today?"
"Well, it’s Sunday. How about we get our chores done early and spend the day relaxing with Holly. I owe her a walk around the ranch."
"A walk? Boring!"
"You can stay here with Luisa if a walk doesn’t appeal to you. Holly and I can take Lacy and Max with us. They’ll love it."
"No, I wanna go," Sam said.
"Good," Holly said. "We’d love your company." She meant it. The little boy had wormed his way into her heart in but a day.
"Yep, we sure would, pal." Jack slid the pancake onto Sam’s plate. "You wa
nt another, sugar?"
"Are you kidding? I’m stuffed. I shudder to think how much you’re going to have to feed Sam when he hits his teens." She laughed. "You’ll go broke."
"Just like my mom and dad did." Jack let out a chuckle. "Teenage boys are bottomless pits. Don’t I know it." He turned to Sam, who was busily buttering his flapjack. "You stay here with Holly for a few minutes. I need to make a phone call in the office."
"Okay, Daddy."
Holly eyed the boy as he slathered syrup over the pancake, and then dove in. He was a beautiful child. If only....
"What kind of things do you like to do, Sam? Other than ride horses and help your dad."
"Lots of things," he said through a mouthful. "Play games with Luisa and Carlos. Sometimes I get to spend the night at their house. Or at my grandma’s. That’s fun. She makes really good cookies. Chocolate chip are my favorite."
"They’re my favorite, too." Holly smiled.
"Plus, there’s some kids my age who live close to my grandma and she invites them over when I’m there. Derek and Kathleen. They’re twins."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. They’re six, too and it’s fun to play with other kids. There aren’t any who live around here."
"I’m sorry about that. Do you get lonely, Sam?"
"Sometimes. When Daddy’s workin’ all day and Luisa’s busy. One day, I hope I’ll have a little brother. I really want a little brother. I’ve wanted one forever. Daddy says maybe someday. I’ve been waitin’ a long time."
Holly’s throat constricted and her tummy sank to her bowels. Icy fingers crept along her spine. Sam wanted a little brother.
Luisa hurried into the kitchen waving a dust rag. "Off, you two. It’s time for me to clean up in here."
Holly stared at Luisa, and then said in a robotic tone, "Please, let me do it."
"Nonsense, it’s what I’m paid for. You go have a fun day with Jack and Sam."
A fun day with Jack and Sam. Right. The air in the kitchen seemed thick, suffocating.
Little brother? Oh, God.
"Luisa? I need a favor."
Luisa turned from the sink. "What do you need? I’ll help if I can."
"Sam? Can you run along and play for a little while? I need to talk to Luisa."
"Sure thing. See you later." He ambled off, whistling a lively tune.
