“Yeah, honey, it’s me.”
“It smells like roses and feels like heaven,” she said sleepily.
“Mmm, that would be you.”
She chuckled and turned over on her back. Her beautiful pink nipples were topped by darker tips that seemed to pulse with need. They called to him, begging him to touch them, to taste them. He licked his lips and her eyes widened.
“I’m naked.”
He smiled. “That you are. It’s hard to wash up with your clothes on.”
“You washed me?”
He nodded and raised an eyebrow. “Is that bad?”
She shook her head. “No, but I think I love you all the more for it.”
Before he could respond to that little piece of information, she tugged his head down to hers and he was lost in her kiss. She tasted of woman, home and need. Her tongue reached out to his and they danced the age old mating ritual. Clio’s hands tugged at his shirt and he sensed her urgency. He felt it too.
Ace shucked his clothes in a blink and lay down on top of her on the rickety old cot. It creaked and he looked at her with eyebrows raised.
“Is it safe?”
“I don’t care. Love me, Ace. Just love me.”
So he did.
He kissed her lips, cheeks and her delicate pink ears. He suckled her neck until she squirmed and then licked his way down to her lovely tits.
He teased and lapped at them until they were as hard as diamonds. Then he bit them, drawing sighs and squirms from her. His goddess. His Clio.
“Please.”
Her heartfelt plea nearly made him spill his seed against her soft thigh. Instead, he rose up, nudged her legs apart, and gently eased into her tight passage. She was so incredibly wet and ready for him, like a hot squeeze that made him think of roses and heaven too. His balls were heavy with need and he had to stop for a moment to regain his self-control.
His rhythm was gentle at first, but she grabbed his ass and urged him on. He understood. She needed more. He started thrusting for all he was worth. In and out, faster and harder, until he couldn’t tell where he ended and she began. He delved into the depths of all that was Clio and found pieces of himself that had been missing.
When he reached his peak, she joined him, and together they howled at the moon.
Mates.
*****
“What do you mean you’re not coming back to Maybelle’s?” Ace shouted.
Clio slipped on her nightdress and shushed him. “Please don’t wake up the entire hotel, Ace!”
He gripped her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eye. “You can’t stay here.”
She shrugged out of his grasp. “I can and I will. There is no force on Earth that will make me return to her house if there is even the possibility that one of you will be hurt.”
He hit the wall with a fist, making a dent in the cheap pine. “Dammit, Clio! You can’t stay here!”
“I heard you the first time, now you need to hear me. I am staying here. Now I need some sleep because the evil red twins will probably wake me up before sunrise.”
She pushed him toward the door and he was so astonished, he let her. It wasn’t until he was on the other side of the door that he came to his senses.
“Clio, please.”
She smiled and leaned up to lay a kiss on him that made his toes curl. “Good night, my love.”
She closed the door and he heard the sliding lock snick into place. Ace stood there for a full minute until he shook his head like a dog to clear it.
She was staying in the hotel with God knows what kind of vermin and he couldn’t make her leave.
Dammit to hell. Even worse, he stood there like a cow-eyed idiot.
She had called him my love.
Chapter Eight
Clio had been correct in her assessment of just when the evil, red twins, Erin and Margaret, would arrive at her door. It was still dark when they knocked. They gleefully gave her the nastiest tasks: emptying chamber pots and spittoons, replacing water in people’s rooms—she tried not to think about the naked old man she surprised on the third floor—and anything else they could think of. Including replacing the bait in the mousetraps. She nearly broke her finger before she simply left the cheese for the mouse without setting the trap.
At lunchtime, Maybelle came by with a basket of cold, fried chicken, iced tea and apple pie. Clio gratefully stopped working and washed up. She joined her friend in the kitchen and invited Pearl to join them. The cook, who appeared to be at least part Mexican, thanked her but declined. She was too busy cooking lunch for the small dining room.
As they ate, Maybelle kept looking at her until Clio was ready to throw up her hands and yell “What?”
The older woman saved her the trouble. “You saw Ace last night.”
Clio nodded. “Yes, he came by to see me.” That was as much as she was willing to offer.
Maybelle nodded. “You’ve got a few love bites on your neck, Clio. Might want to wear that blue dress of yours with the high collar until they fade.”
A hot flush crept up her neck and she grinned sheepishly. “Oops.”
Maybelle grinned right back. “He was almost pleasant this morning. Can’t believe it myself. Morning isn’t his best time, plus the fact he got fired yesterday.” She shrugged. “I figured it had to do with you.”
Clio remembered the way they’d made frantic love the night before and inwardly smiled. “He wanted me to come back, but I told him no, not if there was any danger to you all. I couldn’t live with myself.”
“I know, sweetie, and that’s why I came by today. I sent Eunice off with that new sheriff, Cody Rowe, on a buggy ride last evening. I do believe those two will do right nicely together.”
“Oh good! I would love to see her out from underneath Peony’s thumb. No one will care that she’s older than him, will they?”
Maybelle looked at her strangely. “Eunice is only twenty-two years old, Clio. Cody is at least twenty-five, if I remember correctly.”
Twenty-two?
“It’s the hard life that’s put some wear on her. I think Cody can erase some of that. Peony won’t hardly speak to anyone, especially Eunice. And I’ve never seen Peony look happier.” Maybelle chuckled. “I sure am glad you came to live with us Clio. Lotsa lives have been touched by you in such a short time.”
Clio felt herself blushing again. She never blushed and here she was doing it twice in two days! Thalia would tease her mercilessly if she knew. The curse of being pale-skinned was the telltale signs of a blush.
“Maybelle, you don’t need to thank me. Why, if I hadn’t come along, Ace would still have his job, your house wouldn’t be threatened, and—”
Maybelle cut her off with a swipe of one pudgy hand. “I won’t hear another word, girlie. Now just eat up before Bernard comes hunting for you, or one of those evil little cousins.”
Clio wanted to say more, but she held her tongue. After her powers were returned, not if, she would reward her friend for her kindness and generosity.
“You know I can’t come back, right?”
“Yes, I know. Doing the right thing can be the hardest thing to do.”
Clio swallowed the lump in her throat. Yes, doing the right thing was very hard. Hard enough to eventually break her.
*****
It was a week right from the bowels of hell. If it weren’t for Ace’s nightly visits, Clio was sure she would have done anything not to be a hotel maid anymore. The only good thing to come out of her job was a respect for Erin and Margaret. They didn’t like her, but they worked just as hard as she did. Another notch in the ever-growing list of reasons why she had been completely ignorant of what it meant to be mortal.
Clio was on the last room of the day to be cleaned. It looked as if there had been some kind of altercation because the room was in a shambles. She set her cleaning supplies down behind the door and started setting the room to rights.
“Now that’s more like it. I told Martha Ann to s
end me a woman I could hang onto and here you are!”
Clio spun around and found a leering cowboy with eyes as cold as the River Styx. He had a belly that hung over the belt of his denims, his shirt caked with stains and his boots looked to have mud permanently attached to him. He smelled even worse than he looked.
Never let it be said that Clio relied on the way a man looked to judge him.
“My apologies, sir. I thought the room was empty. I’ll come back later to clean it.” She went to retrieve her things but he blocked her path. “Excuse me.”
“Oh, no little filly. I know who you are. You’re that pretty little thing in the purple peek-a-boo Ace pulled out of the trough.” He licked his lips and a frisson of fear marched down her spine. “I mean to have me a piece of what he’s been enjoying.”
He closed and locked the door behind him. The sound of the key turning nearly made her scream.
“Please let me out of here. There’s been a misunderstanding.”
“No, there ain’t. You’re one of Martha Ann’s girls and she’s paying me back for that stupid little blonde bitch that tore outta here last night.”
He unbuckled his belt.
“No, I’m not. I’m a maid at the hotel.”
He pulled his shirt free from his pants and started unbuttoning it.
“Liar. You just try and leave without me fucking you and we’re gonna have a big problem.”
He threw his shirt on the floor and Clio backed toward the wall with her hands outstretched. Real fear made her hands tremble and her mouth cotton dry.
“I’m not a whore. Please, just let me leave!” She hated the fact that she sounded scared, even if she was. Clio’s first defense was always words.
“Nothing doing.” He took off his pants and boots in one swift movement and stood before her naked and pulsing. His cock was thick and purple with droplets already gathering on the head. She shook with revulsion at what he wanted to do to her. An act that only Ace had the right to do. He was her mate.
“Ace will kill you for this.”
He smiled coldly. “Only if he can catch me.”
He snaked his arm out and grabbed her, slamming her against his chest. His hardness pushed against her and she fought for all she was worth.
“Stop! Stop! Let me go!”
His scent invaded her nostrils the way his hands invaded her body. He tore at her dress until it was in shreds around her feet. She pushed against him but her hands slipped against his greasy skin. He squeezed her breasts painfully.
“Now those are some titties. Like fruit just waiting to be plucked.”
“Remove your hands this instant!”
He slapped her and slammed her head against the wall, then bit her hard enough to draw blood. Her anger overtook her fear and she felt a surge of power race through her body. Heat pulsed once. Twice. Then she clenched her fists.
“I command you to release me!”
Her voice boomed and echoed around the room. Her attacker stopped long enough to look surprised. She brought her hands back and slammed them into him. He flew across the room and through the door with enough force that it tore the door off its hinges. He landed in the hallway in a heap. Clio was breathing hard and it took her a moment to realize that she had her powers back.
She had her powers back!
Her hands were shaking and silent tears started to roll down her cheeks. Erin and Margaret appeared in the door with astonishment stamped on their faces.
“Clio?” Erin asked. “Are you okay?”
Clio shook her head and slumped to the floor. After the tears released and she allowed herself to cry, the dam gave way. The last two weeks washed over her and she couldn’t seem to stop crying. She didn’t know how long she sat there, curled in a ball of self-pity. Ace gently pulled her up from the floor, wrapped her in a blanket and lifted her into his arms. She tucked her head into his neck and breathed in his life-giving scent.
She cried until all her tears were gone and she found herself in her old bed at Maybelle’s.
“Wash her. She stinks like that piece of shit that touched her.”
His voice was cold and hard, unlike anything she’d heard from him before. She saw his boots head toward the door and Clio struggled to speak.
“Ace, wait.”
He stopped and then he was next to her. She looked at him with aching eyes and touched his cheek. He was as hard as granite and his expression was as cold.
“I love you.”
He obviously wasn’t expecting that because he looked completely surprised. His expression softened and he shook his head slowly.
“You sure know how to knock a man on his ass.”
She smiled and he touched a finger to the corner of her lip.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It doesn’t hurt. I’m…I’m back to me now, Ace. I have my powers back.”
He frowned. “Your powers?”
She sat up and clutched the blanket to her chest. “Yes, when that man hit me, something snapped inside me. Suddenly I had my powers back. I’m me again.”
“You were always you, Clio.”
She stopped and looked into his brown eyes, momentarily lost in what he said. Yes, that was it. Exactly. She was always Clio, regardless if she had her powers or not.
“I’m gonna go back to the hotel and make sure that son of a bitch gets thrown in jail. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
He kissed her hard and then was gone. Maybelle stood in the doorway, wringing her hands and looking worried. That was bad. Maybelle never looked worried.
“Oh, Clio,” she said as she approached the bed and sat down. “I’m so sorry he done that. I can’t believe it.”
She reached up and patted Maybelle’s round cheek. “I’m okay, Maybelle. More worried about Ace than me. He won’t do anything stupid, will he?”
Maybelle snorted. “We’re talking about Ace. He always does something he shouldn’t.”
That was exactly what Clio was worried about.
*****
Ace wanted to shoot that bastard Billy for even thinking about touching Clio, much less almost raping her. After he went back to the hotel, he shooed away those idiots Thompson and Bernard, then dragged the man’s sorry ass down to the jail. The fool woke up about halfway there and starting whining about rocks cutting into his bare legs. Ace told him to shut up.
That young pup Cody was sitting behind the desk, his feet propped up all nice a comfortable like when Ace burst through the door, most likely scaring the piss out of him.
“Rowe! Put this piece of shit in that cell and lock his ass up!”
Cody nearly fell off the chair, but caught himself in time to stand up.
“What happened? And why is he naked?”
“Just open the cell, would ya? He’s kind of big to keep dragging around by his hair.”
Cody nodded and grabbed the keys off the hook, fumbling a moment before the tumblers scraped together and the door swung open. Ace pushed Billy in and slammed the door so hard, the entire building rattled.
“You’re lucky I don’t blow your fucking head off.”
Billy grabbed the blanket off the cot and covered himself with it. “Why should you have all the fun? She’s just a whore.”
Ace grabbed the bars and hissed. “She’s not a whore, you stupid bastard. She’s going to be my wife!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he couldn’t stuff them back in. He didn’t want to. It was an idea that had grown on him the last week and it felt right. He’d ask her to marry him as soon as he got back to the boardinghouse.
He glared at Billy, silently daring him to respond, but the big man finally looked scared. Ace turned and pointed at Cody.
“Don’t let him out, Rowe. That bastard tried to rape Clio at the hotel.”
Cody’s young face hardened before his eyes, then he remembered this young pup was one of the hounds sniffing after his mate last week. His eyes narrowed at the memory.
“She’s mine.�
��
Cody glanced at him and frowned. “Clio?”
“Yes, Clio.” Ace ground his teeth together to keep from hitting the kid.
“Good. I think she’s what you need. I fancy Eunice myself.”
Ace blinked. “Eunice?”
“Yes, Eunice.” Cody’s jaw resembled his a moment ago and it struck Ace as hilarious. He started laughing and slapping the boy on the shoulder.
“Hell, kid, I think we both got it bad.”
So bad he thought staying in Peyote might be a good idea. Just as soon as he could convince Clio she didn’t have any powers and wasn’t anybody’s goddess but his.
Chapter Nine
Maybelle helped Clio bathe in a hot tub with some special concoction of chamomile flowers and herbs. It smelled heavenly and felt divine. She didn’t feel tired or ache anymore, just dirty. With the return of her powers came the return of her immortality. She no longer felt her physical pains.
After her bath, she sat by the window and combed the tangles out of her hair. Night was falling like a dark blanket and lights were decorating the evening like stars. She wondered where Ace was and hoped he understood when she told him about what she had to do and where she had to go.
“Where have you been?”
Her father’s booming voice made her yelp and pull her hair. She dropped the comb and ran toward him. When his strong arms closed around her, Clio laughed with joy.
“Oh, Daddy, I’m so glad you found me! I’ve missed you so much.”
He stepped back and his blue eyes gleamed at her from beneath his shaggy white brows. “Come home now, Clio. Your mother is sick with worry.”
“I’ve missed all of you so much.”
*****
Ace stood outside the bedroom in the shadows and watched. It was obvious that Clio had found her father and she was more than happy to go home. Peyote was an armpit compared to what she was used to, he would bet his last dollar—currently in his pocket—on that.
Her father was a big man with long, white hair and a bright-blue robe, similar to the one Clio had on when she took a dunking in the trough. Her face was lit up with the joy that only she could express.
Something inside him quietly wept for what could have been. His goddess. His mate. Not much in his life had gone right, from the moment of his birth. Meeting Clio had given him a taste of what he’d been missing. A brief taste that would stay on his tongue for the rest of his life. Ace had been a fool to think it would be anything other than what it was. A small piece of heaven.
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