by Jet MacLeod
“Yes, ma’am, that will not be a problem,” he said.
“Good,” I responded handing him a twenty dollar bill, “This is for your troubles, Mister Wade Shylock. Good-day.”
And with that, I was gone. I am sure he was standing there on the boardwalk in front of the bank with his mouth hanging open. He must have thought I was some sort of loon and I was beginning to wonder that myself. I had given up everything that I owned to come to Amarillo, to find Reece. Why? I couldn’t tell you. I just knew that I had to see her again, no matter the cost. I loved her.
*****
I lay in my bed in the hotel. I was tossing and turning. I couldn’t sleep. I was so close to her, but yet I was still so far away.
I could only wonder what she thought of me. I hoped that she didn’t hate me for what I did. I knew that I hated myself enough for the both of us for leaving her in that doctor’s office, half way dead. I just knew how I felt about her and that I had to be with her. I had to try. I needed to try.
I rummaged through my things and dug out the clothes that I had borrowed from Silas, grateful that he wasn’t that big of a man, yet. His clothes wouldn’t swallow me and they would still allow me to ride without much worry. I thought about the first time that I saw Reece in those jeans. I could only wonder what she would think of me in Silas’ buckskins and cotton shirt.
I rang down to the desk and asked that a bath be drawn. I felt nasty and if I was going to see Reece, I wanted to at least try and be presentable. The night manager was a little rude, but he managed to get the job done, once I flashed a little cash.
The knock at the door about twenty minutes later told me that the bath was ready. So, was I. I gathered my towels and Silas’ clothes. I walked to the end of the hall and in to the bathing room. The manager handed me the key, smiled and told me, “Goodnight.” I locked the door behind myself.
I stripped down and got in the steaming water. It felt so good. The heat penetrated into my bones. I relaxed all at once. I washed with my favorite lilac and rose soap. It always made me think of good times.
I had to lay there for a while. I think I almost went to sleep in the tub. I finally decided that it was time to get out because the water was cold and I was pruned.
I dried off and stood in front of the fire back in my room. I liked the way it danced and the way the heat licked at my body. I could only think of one thing that felt better and that was the feel of Reece next to me.
I laid out Silas’ clothes on my bed. I rang down to the front desk, again. I started to get dressed when the bellhop knocked at my door.
“Yes, ma’am, how can I help you?” he asked.
“I am going to be going out. I am going to need a horse. Be a dear, and fetch one for me,” I said, handing him a few dollars, “Do that for me, and I’ll give you more.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said enthusiastically.
I closed the door and finished getting dressed. When I was done, I walked down the stairs to the lobby. I was greeted by the same bellhop with a smile.
“I have a horse for you, ma’am,” he said.
He, then, escorted me to the horse that was waiting outside for me. She was a small Pinto mare, but beautiful. He assured me that she was as fast as they came, too. He helped me mount her. I reached into my pocket and handed him some more money, just like I had promised.
“Thank you, my good man,” I said, tugging on the reins.
“No problem, ma’am,” he answered and then asked, “When should the Grande expect you back?”
“I should be back in about a day or so,” I said, “Please keep my room ready. I might be sending for my things, but it all depends. I might just come back for them.”
“Goodnight, then, ma’am. I’ll see you, then,” he told me, waving me off.
I trotted out of town, but as soon as I hit the outskirts I urged the Pinto into a full gallop. She answered me at once with a buck and a quick burst of speed. I was now on a horse towards an uncertain destiny and for once, I didn’t fear the unknown. I was going to embrace it, full bodied.
Chapter Thirty-One
Rayne, the Circle B Ranch
I rode up towards the main house. I tried to be as quiet as I could. I didn’t want to alarm anyone to my presence there. I tied up the Pinto on a hitching post near the corral. I walked in from there.
I looked up to see a light burning in an upstairs room. I hoped it was Reece’s and I was rewarded when I saw her come out and stand on the balcony. She carried a glass of wine in her hand. She stood there overlooking her land and completely missed me.
She looked ravishing in her jeans and shirt. Reece must have been warm, because she took a gulp of wine and then discarded her unbuttoned cotton over shirt back into her room. She stood there with her blond hair tied back, her Stetson was gone. She looked like something the wind had blown in. She was so damn incredible.
I heard Eli coming. I ducked down behind some crates, making sure that I could still see her. He walked across the yard.
“Miss Teresa,” he called up to her.
“Yes, Eli,” she answered.
“Still want me to take the new guys down to the BJ tomorrow?” he asked.
“Yup, teach ‘em right, Eli. They’re going to be yours as soon as we get you a herd. I’ll have Curly deal with the boys here. Big Mike’s got enough to deal with,” she told him and took another swig of wine.
“Um, Reece,” he said.
“What is it?” she asked him.
“Do me a favor, will ya?” he questioned.
“Depends on what it is,” she replied.
“Don’t lose yourself in a bottle. I’d hate to have you do something that you might regret in the morning,” he explained.
“Why, Mister James, is that a proposition?” she teased.
“No, ma’am, just an observation. I’ve see too many people go looking for something at the end of a bottle. I’d hate for you to lose yourself doing something that foolhardy,” he responded.
“Alright, I get the point. Last glass, tonight, and then I’m going to bed. Promise. Sheesh, your worse than Dad or Jedidiah was,” she replied.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he stated, starting to walk away.
“Hey, Eli,” she called.
“Yes’m,” he answered, turning back around.
“Goodnight,” she said simply.
“Goodnight, Reece,” he answered walking away.
I stayed in the shadows. I didn’t want Eli to know I was there. Suddenly, both Eli and Reece turned their noses to the air. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was that they smelt.
I could swear from where I was sitting that I could see Reece smile. I saw Eli shake his head. He kept walking towards the corral. I watched Reece walk back into the house and shut the door that went out to the balcony. I had lost track of Eli and was suddenly made aware of how close he was to me.
“Well, look what the breeze brought in tonight. How are you doing, missy? Miss Rayne, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” I answered dumbly. He’d caught me. Now, everything I was planning went right out of the window.
“Well, I am not sure what you are about, but don’t hurt her. I might do something that we would both not like and that I promised myself I would never do. So don’t do something that will make do it,” he told me.
“Do I want to know what that is?” I inquired.
“I’d either have to hit ya or kill ya. But, to tell you the truth, I’d rather not, got me?” he questioned.
“Very much so,” I replied.
“Good. Now, she’s up in her room. It’s the one with the light burning. You can’t miss it,” he told me.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, curious.
“Because I know that you make her happy and I promised George that I would keep her happy,” he explained. “Now, if you go in the back door there, you could sneak up the stairs in the kitchen and she wouldn’t hear you. If you go up the other set, she’ll have you lo
oking down the barrel of her Peacemaker before you can blink. From the kitchen stairs, it is the fourth door on the right. Got it, kid? Good, now go get her.”
I didn’t need any more encouragement than that. I headed for the main house door as I heard Eli walk away whistling. It was a happy tune.
I followed his instructions and found myself staring at the door. I stood there, stupidly, staring at the knob, still debating what I would do when I got in the room. I was beginning to lose my nerve. I’d never lost my nerve, but I was seriously about to in front of that close door.
I watched my hand slowly reach for the door. Thoughts flashed through my head, all of them delicious. I felt the cold metal beneath my fingers. I gave the knob a turn and was in the room. The only light was that of the moon pouring in a window, gracefully onto the bed.
She was lying in her bed. The sheets were barely draped over her. The quilts were on the floor at the foot. Her boots were standing tall next to each other near a night table by the bed. Her shirt lay across the back of a rocker and her pants lay across the seat of the same chair.
I sucked in a breath. The sight of her laying there took my breath away. I sighed slowly.
I took off my hat and placed it on the hook next to hers on the wall. I shuffled out of my boots and laid them on the floor under my hat. I stood there wondering what the hell I was actually going to do.
She rolled over. It was a subtle movement, but it pulled the sheets. She had gone to bed completely naked. The knowledge and the sight of her there sent a lightning bolt straight to my groin. I was getting wet and I hadn’t even touched her, yet.
I gasped. She was just too beautiful. Her blond hair fanned out across the pillows. Her arms buried underneath them as she slept on her stomach. Her body was perfect. The scars from the incident were barely visible in the moonlight.
“Dear God,” I whispered.
I shrugged out of the shirt. I let it drop to the floor wherever it landed. I shed the pants and the rest quickly. I had to be next to her. I had to touch her. I had to know if she felt the same way that I did. I had to know if her skin burned under my fingers like mine did under hers.
I stood there naked, next to the bed. I was breathing so heavily that I was sure that she would wake from the sound. I slowly crawled into the bed, under the sheets.
I lay down next to her in the bed. She didn’t stir. I was surprised but I didn’t try to wake her either. She felt so good next to me.
I couldn’t resist. I had to touch her. Her skin was warm, but the longer my fingers ran over her skin the warmer it got. She started to have goose flesh. I could tell she was becoming aroused. I ran my hand down her back. I freely felt her, every inch of her. I was hoping that she would wake up. She didn’t. I continued to touch her.
She stirred a bit and rolled from on her side to on her back. I was rewarded with the movement with the sight of her breasts. They were beautiful. My mouth watered at the sight of them.
The feel of her skin next me was exquisite. I wanted to taste her. I wanted to lick her flesh. I wanted to touch her in ways that she has only previously touched me. It was open season on her body and I was the hunter. I was in control. She was lying there asleep and for some reason, I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she woke.
I wanted her to feel what I felt when she touched me. I wanted to make her feel the heavens and the stars that she had given me. I wanted to give her everything.
The temptation to touch her, to kiss her, to taste her won. I bent over her body and glorified her breasts. I cupped them in my hand, softly rubbing my thumbs over her nipples. She arched up at the touch and gave me a soft moan. It was too much for me. I twisted them and teased them with my fingers. She moaned again. That is what broke the spell with my fingers, I then, turned to my mouth.
I took her right nipple into my mouth. She moaned. I gave her left breast the attention of my other hand. She swelled underneath me and arched up into my mouth. I ran my left arm under her back to steady her in that position. I kept up my onslaught of her nipple. I nipped, bit and teased it to new heights. She moaned again.
I turned my attention to her other breast, giving it the same treatment. She burned under my hands and mouth. She was panting. She was arching into me, deeper, closer with each breath. I bit down, harder that I had before and was rewarded with a hand to my neck, holding me to her breast.
I looked up from my sucking to see her looking at me. Her eyes were fluttering in the passion that she was feeling. Her mouth was parted in pleasure. She didn’t want me to stop, that much I knew from her fingers digging into my back.
I stopped long enough to mouth, “Reece.” She bucked and I with her. She wanted me. I felt her arms come crashing down on my back, pulling me closer until I was directly on top of her.
I was overcome with emotion. I tilted my head up and kissed her. Our tongues danced the dance of desire and control. Somewhere in her sleep induced stupor I won. My body locked with hers.
Somewhere in the moment, I heard her gasp my name. And then, it got louder with each saying of it. I thought that the boys down in the bunk house would hear her soon, if I didn’t do something to quiet her, they would. I kissed her again. Once again, winning the war of passion.
I ran my hands down the length of her body. I wanted to touch her so bad. I wanted her to burn. I wanted so much from the woman who made me feel. I wanted her to feel. I wanted to feel every inch of her as she sought heaven by my hands.
I continued down her sides to her legs. I knelt between them, holding them up. I ripped the sheet off her and the bed and threw it on the floor. I held her at the ankles and slid down her legs until my stomach lay on the curl of the apex of her thighs. She was damp and hot. I was starting to feel the same way and she hadn’t even touched me yet.
I bent my head down on to her stomach. I kissed every inch of it that I could find, before I slipped up to her breasts, again. She bucked and bucked. The pleasure was running through her. She felt magnificent.
“Rayne,” she panted.
“I am here, my love,” I told her.
“Please,” she begged.
“Yes, darling, yes,” I answered her.
I moved down to those downy curls. I kissed her. I had to hold her legs apart or she would have suffocated me. I flicked my tongue out. I felt her cream. I liked it and licked it all up. The touch of my tongue there drove her to new heights. She arched up to my mouth and bucked off the bed.
Somehow I managed to get a hand up her belly to her breast. I gave it a squeeze. She moaned. She pushed and pulled. She bucked. She tightened her legs around my head and shoulders. She wanted heaven and she wanted it soon.
I took my free hand and dipped into her. She screamed out in pleasure. I could barely hold her down on the bed. I remembered the rhythm she’d used with me and did my best to duplicate it inside of her. I touched her deep inside with two fingers.
She writhed wildly on the bed. Her hands were buried in my hair and tangled in the cover sheet of the bed, alternately. She screamed and moaned as I continued to flick and tease the hard pebble of her sex with my tongue. She loved it and I loved doing it.
She was getting creamier. She was getting wilder. She was getting closer. I pushed a third finger inside of her and urged the thumb of my other hand into her mouth to try and stifle the scream that was coming. She moaned louder and bit down on my thumb.
“Yes, yes, yes…” she moaned.
“Find it, my love,” I told her.
“Rayne…Rayne…yes…yes…AHHHHH,” she cried out.
I never stopped my movements. I rubbed her with my thumb as I entered another finger. She was so open, so wet, so inviting. I wanted to touch her so deeply that she would never think of anyone but me again.
“YES,” she screamed as the heavens found her, “YEEEESSSSS, OH GOD, OH GOD, OH GOD, YES, RRRAAAYYYYNNNNEEEEE, YES, YES, YES, YYYYYEEEEESSSSS!!!!!”
She fell limp in my arms. I caressed her. I soothed her as
she found her way back to me on Earth. I kissed her. She was sated and spent and I knew that she loved me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Reece, the next morning
I could feel her holding me, but I wanted to give her pleasure. Being together with her was the only thing that I wanted now, and she was in my bed. I couldn’t resist the urge to take her, again.
She felt wonderful there beside me. She fit my curves with hers, like she belonged there. She did belong there in my arms.
I kissed her softly, slowly deepening the kiss as the fever of my passion grew. She moaned softly for me. I knew that she was mine. I ran my hands down her naked body, to find a thin sheen sweat against her skin. It was the proof of our love making just before. If she thought that she would get off that easy, she was with the wrong lover.
I was going to have her, tonight, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives. I wasn’t going to let her go this time. She was going to be mine. I was going to burn myself upon her so that no one else could please her the way that I could. I would make her mine, alone.
I ran my hands over her breasts, teasing her nipples. They stood at attention for me. I cupped her breasts as I sucked on her nipples, one and then the other. She arched and moaned in pleasure. I rubbed my face on them.
I didn’t care about being slow. I ran my hands down her. I grabbed her legs and put them over my shoulders. I wanted her to scream.
I buried my face into her. My tongue began its onslaught of her folds. She writhed beneath me. I put a hand on her belly to hold her down, while my tongue continued its dance. She bucked for me. I held her down.
I wanted her to come for me. I plunged two fingers into her waiting wetness. I was rewarded for the effort. She arched up and bucked, calling out my name.
I never knew it could be like this. I wanted her so bad, but I didn’t care. I wanted her to feel things, things that she had just given me. God, she was beautiful.
She dug her hands into my head, urging me on. She wanted more. I gave her more. She came so hard, and so quick that I didn’t have time to stop it. I just lay there between her legs and lapped up her passion, stroke after moan-causing stroke. She shook and writhed and fell upon the mattress.
