Ride A Cowboy: Romance Novel

by Jamila Jasper

  ***

  Steel woke up on the couch on his porch, his mind hazy. His mouth felt sandy, his body caked in sweat. It was mid-afternoon.

  He got up to get some water, then came back outside. The afternoon sun had cleared away all the dampness of the morning. Cicadas whined. It was peaceful and sunny and bright.

  When he came back outside, he jumped and almost dropped the glass.

  An impossibly old woman was sitting on the stump, where he’d first met Grandpa Buck a few months ago. Her hair was white as sugar. She was the smallest old lady he’d ever seen.

  “Hello?” He called. She turned to him, and as he approached he saw that her eyes were green as leaves.

  “Hi, dear,” she drawled in a thick Virginia accent. Her voice was scratchy and rusty, like a bucket of nails. “Sorry to frighten you.”

  “Can I help you?” Steel wondered if it was common practice for everyone in Boyd to use the Tucker place as a highway.

  “No, dear, I’m just resting.”

  “Okay,” said Steel. Her way of speaking reminded him of someone. “Who are you?”

  She smiled. Her teeth were stained with tobacco juice. “ I live in the mountains. I just like to come down for fourth of July. See the pretty fireworks.”

  “Do you always come here? To the Tuckers?” Steel wondered if he should be more concerned that a strange old woman was practically sitting on his doorstep. Then he wondered if he was being too inquisitive. Christ, but things did work differently down here. In the North, people lost their heads over trespassing. They were obsessed with fences and walls. Here in Boyd, people wandered all over each other’s property and no one seemed to mind.

  “Don’t worry about me, sugar,” She said easily. “I ain’t worried about you.”

  Steel looked at her. She was smiling to herself, looking off into the distance.

  “What’s your name- er- ma’am?”

  “Lyn Thompson,” she said. “And you are?”

  “Steel Gray.”

  “You look like a Tucker, Steel Gray.”

  “My mother was a Tucker. Jane Tucker, Fiona’s cousin.”

  “Really.” The old woman’s eyes sparkled with interest. She gave Steel a once-over.

  “You knew her?” Steel asked, surprised.

  “Oh, naw. But I knew Fiona, and I knew Fiona’s daddy. Yeah- me and Fee were real good friends.”

  “What was she like?” asked Steel, curious.

  “Kind as a flower. But a little soft- she was a sensitive thing. Loved her bible, that she did.”

  Steel remembered the bible he’d picked up on the dresser of Fiona’s room.

  “She seemed alright,” he conceded. “From what I heard.”

  “Sure was. Well, I better get going.” She clambered to her feet, leaning on a polished wood cane.

  “I see God is working through you, Steel Gray,” she said. She laid a hand on his arm. Goosebumps raised on his skin; her touch was cool and dry. “Sometimes I see things I’d rather not see; it’s a gift and curse, this old age.” She patted his arm. “Take care of yourself. You’ll see me around again.”

  He watched her hobble away down the path.

  ***

  The fireworks shot through the whole sky. People came from all over to see them.

  Steel felt hollow as he watched them from his porch. He had spent the entire day at the ranch alone, thinking about a hundred different things. The old man’s reveal. His argument with Aja. Meeting the strange old woman. He wished he could turn his brain off and get to sleep. He’d wake up tomorrow, still angry, but with a lot more energy.

  He got into the truck.

  He drove around the town, feeling the air whistle through his hair. He drove around the perimeter of Boyd, then he drove around it again.

  On his second round, his phone chimed. It was Aja.

  “Hello?”

  “I need your help.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Home.”

  He picked her up at the end of the driveway. The temperature had plummeted; she was wearing a lilac sweater- her favorite color. Steel remembered her saying once that wearing Lilac made her feel braver- it had been her grandmother’s favorite color too. Did she need to be brave tonight?

  “Thanks,” she said as she climbed in. She smelled like she always did- like vanilla and sugar. Like home.

  Steel turned to her and took her face in both hands. She made no move to stop him. He sucked on her lips, pulling and teasing them, and they broke away softly. Her eyes were round and inquisitive.

  “What was that for?” she asked.

  “For nothing,” he said.

  “I need your help. He wants to meet tonight. At Wren Hollow. Alone.”

  She showed him the text.

  Steel nodded. “You want me to come with you.”

  “Yes. I don’t know what he’s gonna try.”

  “I’ll be there, Aja.”

  “Thank you,” she sighed.

  They drove to Wren Hollow, a small, secluded little inlet by the river. It was perfectly dark. Steel shut off the truck engine and they climbed out a little ways before. The singing of crickets and the bawl of bullfrogs made a chorus all the way down to the beach. Steel had Aja walk in front of him. He had wanted her to stay in the car, and check it out himself. But Aja flatly refused; she wouldn’t be left alone. No way.

  “Remember,” he told her. “No one can hurt you when I’m here.”

  “He’s got a gun, Steel.”

  Steel lifted the hem of his shirt. Tucked in was an M9 pistol. Standard issue.

  “Oh my God,” Aja whispered, putting a hand to her forehead. “Please tell me you’re not gonna use that thing.”

  “I don’t want to have to.”

  Steel felt a sudden prickle up his spine. He had excellent hearing, and their eyes were adjusting to the darkness. The moon was like a sickle in the sky, giving hardly any light. He thought he heard voices.

  He ushered Aja into a copse of trees. “Wait here,” he whispered firmly. “Don’t move, okay? Unless I call for help. Then run like hell back to the car.” He handed her the keys.

  “Put your phone on silent.”

  He crept down to the beach. It was empty. He walked around the hollow for ten minutes. But there was nothing there but the river, and the trees, and the sounds of the forest. Maybe Joe had just wanted to scare her. If so, he would have done a hell of a good job.

  Aja was right where he left her. She practically threw herself into his arms.

  “What happened? I didn’t hear anything.”

  “Let’s go home,” he said, still feeling pins down his spine. “There’s no one here.”

  They rushed back to the car and drove back to his place. Steel could tell Aja was shaken. They went up to his bedroom, and he drew a bath for the both of them in the large porcelain tub. Aja crushed rose petals from the garden and lit candles all around the room. Then they filled it with a special lavender soap Carson had left in the cabinet.

  Steel watched Aja undress and climb into the massive tub. Good thing he’d fixed the hot water in time. She undid her hair from the topknot and sank into the water.

  Steel watched her for a minute more, then joined her. He let her lean against him. She was soft. The hot water making pearls on her skin and running down her ample breasts.

  “You alright?” he murmured.

  “Mhhm.”

  They sat there quietly, content to feel each other’s skin on skin. Steel took her breasts and weighed them in his hands. He rubbed her nipples until they hardened and stiffened.

  “I need something from you,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “A Thank You kiss.”

  They sat in the tub until the water ran cold. They got out and toweled themselves dry.

  Aja checked her phone. “The boys are back safe. Grandpa is home.”

  “Good,” said Steel. “So come here.”

  He cupped her buttocks and pulled her to him
, sinking into the bed. They were both naked; she was wet and willing. He slid into her easily, fucking her with slow, deep strokes, enjoying the way her moist hole tightened around him. Slowly he built her to orgasm. She cried out and shuddered, her body shaking in ecstasy, and he poured himself into her, spurting his cream deep in her belly.

  Somehow it wasn’t enough. He was still hard; he still needed to feel her. He flipped her over and entered her from behind, pulling her up until she was straddling his lap. One hand wrapped gently around her throat, the other reached over to tease her clit. He held her in place as she writhed and moaned against him, pressing his cock deep into her pussy until she begged for a release.

  “I’m going to fill you up to the brim again,” he whispered in her ear. “I want you to know you’re mine.”

  “Yes, yes sir,” Aja whimpered. Her ass bounced against him, but he was the one in control, and she knew it. He let her fall to her knees, her back arched, and continued pumping into her. A wicked thought came into his head. He bent over and pulled her up again, his mouth against her ear. His strokes got faster, more savage. But Aja liked it rough.

  “Oh my god,” she cried. “Oh..oh.”

  Steel smiled, his hand tightening around her throat. She liked it when he dominated her, when he showed her who was in control. Only he could bring her to cum like this. Only he knew what she liked.

  “Just so you know,” he whispered, unloading a final spurt of cum into her needy, sopping pussy, “Next time I see you, I’m taking your asshole next.”

  CHAPTER 5

  The Search

  Aja woke up the next morning in Steel’s bed. His arm was heavy across her chest; she could hardly breathe. He was a big man for real, she thought, wiggling out from under him as slowly as possible. From experience she knew Steel was a light sleeper. For Aja’s mission, she needed him asleep.

  She took a moment to look at his big body sprawled across the bed. His hair was a wild golden mane, shot through with streaks of strawberry blonde. Aja could recall the faces of all the Tuckers she had known vividly; people said Steel had the Tucker look, but she personally couldn’t see it. The Tuckers had been big, but fat. Every inch of Steel’s body was muscled and proportional. Steel slept on his stomach usually, and he was so tall his feet nearly hung off the end of the bed. Aja remembered the night before with a delicious shudder. She could still feel his seed inside her.

  She washed up and brushed her teeth, thinking. He was her protector. She knew in her heart he was the perfect man for her. Big, strong, good with her brothers, honest, like a god in bed. When he touched her, Aja’s whole body felt like a live wire; their union was electric. It would be a long while before Aja met another man like Steel. She knew he only had a year in Boyd- he’d let it slip to her earlier. What would happen then? Would she be able to let a man like that go?

  Aja bit her lip. She had to convince him to stay. But she also had a duty to her family , and that came first, before anything else.

  Aja crept around the room. She’d been in Steel’s bedroom before, and she’d figured out that this had to have once been John Tucker’s room. The furniture was very old and well-made. The walls were covered in delicate cream paper with brown rose accents. Overall the whole room gave off a masculine aura; the eye was drawn to a large mahogany desk by the window. It was ornately carved, especially the feet, which had been once painted over with gold. She’d never seen such an exquisite piece of craftsmanship. A desk like that in today’s market would cost thousands- if you could find anyone to make it. Aja had to wonder where the Tucker family had got their wealth from. Unlike some of the other old Boyd families, they hadn’t inherited any local businesses. Their farm was for purely subsistence purposes- her grandfather said they’d never sold anything they grew, in his day. Yes indeed. She had to wonder.

  Fiona Tucker would not have kept her diary in here. This was the domain of her father, John, the man she had hated, the man she had feared. Perhaps the Will was in the desk. But Aja got the sense that Steel had searched this room thoroughly already, and exploring it now was sure to wake him up. No. Finding it wouldn’t be so easy.

  She wasn’t sure why she was afraid of Steel waking up and catching her snooping through his house. Aja remembered when Carson Tucker had caught her- what a mess that had been. She wondered how much Steel knew about Fiona Tucker’s will, and her family’s part in the whole story of the Tuckers.

  Whatever he knew, she wasn’t sticking around to ask him. Aja trusted Steel. She trusted that he would protect her. She trusted that he would protect her family. But Steel Gray dealt only in absolutes, he wasn’t the type to appreciate dishonesty or sneaking- exactly what she was doing right now. Who knew how he would react if he caught her snooping around the house, looking for some mythical document that would rip his inheritance away from him?

  Aja hardened her heart. She decided to start in perhaps the most obvious place- Fiona Tucker’s bedroom. Before Steel moved in, she had only been inside the house a few times. It wasn’t the friendliest of houses. Steel had done what he could to brighten the place up, but it was still very dark, with austere portraits staring down disapprovingly at every corner. Aja soon realized she had no idea where she was going. It was like the damn place was made of doors. And each one she opened screamed on its hinges like it was a thousand years old.

  “Shit,” she muttered, when she finally opened what could only be Fiona Tucker’s room. It smelled like a tomb. A massive four-poster bed occupied most of it. Aja recalled her grandfather saying that Fiona Tucker had been bedridden in the last few months of her life. To Aja, that pointed to the will being hidden somewhere in that very room. Fiona surely hadn’t traversed the entire three-story house to hide it.

  Or had she? Aja checked under the bed. Remembering the Nancy Drew novels she’d read as a kid, she kept an eye out for secret compartments and hidden trapdoors. The room was so dusty. She rummaged through the desk, noting that though the whole room was as neat as a pin, the contents of the desk were disorganized. Perhaps someone had been here before her, searching frantically for the same thing she was. Interesting.

  There was nothing in the desk. Aja ran her fingertips under it, lightly, lightly. Maybe there would be a secret compartment, a latch, anything…

  Her eyes rolled to the ceiling; she sighed. Nothing. Of course.

  There was no other furniture in the room but an old armoire, which had nothing but some frilly undergarments, yellow with age, and a scrapbook resting on top of it. Nothing. Aja felt foolish and angry. She had believed her grandfather when he told her about the will. She had wanted to believe. Was it just delusion? Was it wrong for her to feel so hopeful about this money- money that she wasn’t truly entitled to?

  She flipped through the scrapbook idly. It was mostly pictures of Fiona from her childhood- familiar places in Boyd, with faces Aja didn’t know. She wondered if Fiona Tucker had ever left this town. Aja didn’t think so. A leaf of paper fell out when she pulled the scrapbook off the drawer. Aja turned it over.

  It was dated- from several months ago. It read:

  “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” Psalms 37:21.

  It was written in flowing, loose script. A woman’s hand. Aja felt the hair on the back of her neck raise to attention. Written under the inscription was the following :

  Trust in Christ Jesus. Look to His cradle, where the Son of God first laid his crown.. - Fiona Mae Tucker.

  “Now what are you doing?”

  Aja screamed and dropped the scrapbook. Her heart was bursting out of her chest; but it was only Steel. He was shirtless, leaning tiredly in the door frame, looking both irritated and amused.

  “I- I’m sorry!” She gasped. She picked up the scrapbook and hastily replaced it. What the hell did it all mean?


  “It’s okay,” he said, eyeing her funnily. “Were you looking for something?”

  “Nope,” she said evenly. “Nothing in particular.”

  Steel was silent for a few seconds. His blue eyes seemed to pierce her soul. Then his gaze shifted; turned appraising. Aja wore a thin nightshirt- one of his. Her brown nipples poked through. In the excitement they had raised to attention. She felt his eyes linger on her round hips, on her breasts, on the way the thin fabric clung to each of her curves invitingly. Aja’s breath grew shallow. She knew what it meant when Steel looked at her that way.

  “Come here,” he said.