by AE Rought
“I don’t have a Wyoming license.”
“No.” He winked. “But you do have a Michigan one. Do you think all the tourists and migrant workers have Wyoming licenses? No. And they drive all over this state.”
“But what about insurance and the rest?”
“We’re loaning it to you. You’ll be covered under our insurance.”
“You’re not going to take ‘but what’ for an answer, are you?”
“Nope.” Steve drained his glass. “Sounds way too negative. If this day is about decisiveness a ‘what if’ answer just screws it all up.”
“Okay, okay. You win.”
“Great,” Ilene chimed in. “You can call Slade after dinner.”
“I guess I have to, don’t I?”
The remainder of the meal was spent in chitchat and Steve telling me the in’s and out’s of the Jeep I’d be driving home. By the last slice of pizza I knew everything there was to know about the Jeep, save how many times someone had farted in it. Even though he hadn’t said it, I couldn’t get the image out of my head of sitting in the driver’s seat and having a weird funk floating in the air. A shudder ran down my spine, and I grabbed a blanket when I took the phone over to my favorite chair by the window.
Dialing the phone with Tinker on my lap and rooting in the blanket was a feat in itself. I held the phone with one hand, petted the dog with the other while I waited through the first two rings. Slade answered on the third ring. “Kally? Is everything okay?”
“It will be soon, if you still want me to come home. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, Slade, and I think you’re right. We can work through anything…together.”
“Don’t be silly.” His voice sounded brighter than it had since running into Red Baxter in the Trading Post. “Of course I want you to come home. What time do you want me to pick you up?”
“I don’t. I’m going to—”
“You don’t want me to come? Is Ilene driving you then?”
“Calm down, cowboy. I am driving. I left you, and I am going to come back. This is something I have to do, Slade, a form of commitment, I guess.”
His sigh was audible. “Commitments are good to make.”
“Yes they are.” Ilene peeked around the kitchen doorjamb, and I gave her the thumbs up sign. She whooped and threw her hands in the air. “So…I’ll see you tomorrow then. I’m damn tired and want to get some sleep before driving on snowy roads again. I’ll call you when I’m getting close, okay?”
“Sounds good, darlin’. G’night.”
My heart pattered in a sweet, familiar rhythm. “Good night, Slade.”
“Sweet dreams.”
“They will be.”
I disconnected the phone and nestled it in the blankets beside the Pom. Tinker and I sat looking out the window at the Christmas lights across the street for a long time. A sudden calm had settled in me the moment I had decided to go home. I enjoyed the sense of stillness and the snow falling softly outside the window. Steve and Ilene wished me a good night on their way up the stairs, and then I ducked into the half-bath to change into my pajamas before turning in for one last night on the scratchy sage green sofa.
Excitement and apprehension mixed in my stomach and chased away my appetite the next morning. I sipped a cup of Earl Grey tea and picked at a day-old apple fritter while we stowed my things in the back of the silver Jeep. Steve had left the garage door up when he left for work, a large and obvious indicator I should soon follow.
Ilene stood on the steps to the back door, a travel mug of fresh tea in one hand and the remains of my fritter wrapped in a napkin. “I kinda hate to see you go,” she pouted. “I’ve really enjoyed having you here.”
“I know.” I stuffed the road food into the console of the Jeep. “I won’t be far away. And I have to do this, Ilene. I love you, but I love Slade too.”
“Then give me a hug and get your butt on the road.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
We both cried. Tinker barked, demanding to go outside. Ilene sighed and then giggled. “Duty calls.”
“Yeah, take care of my dog.”
She rolled her eyes and ushered me into the Jeep. “Get out of here, Kally. Go and love him.”
“I will.” I closed the door and waved farewell through the window.
The Jeep purred, rolling down the miles between Gillette and Moorcroft, where Steve’s map instructed me to turn north. The buildings were decorated for Christmas, and I found myself looking forward to the holiday for the first time in weeks. Christmas at the ranch, hopefully in Slade’s arms like it was before I left. I could picture the fireplace, the flames dancing, the soft cushions of the sofa. I could almost smell the clean scent of pine coming from the large Christmas tree.
A nervous sense of anticipation and fear danced on my nerves when I turned further north from Route 14 onto Route 24. How will he react when I drive in? “Time to find out,” I said.
I pulled my cell phone out and pushed the speed dial number for the Fourth Moon. The first ring didn’t even finish before Slade answered. “Kally?”
“Yup, it’s me.” I peered through the snowfall. “I’ll be turning into the back drive any minute.”
“Great! I’m hanging up then.”
I couldn’t respond. He had disconnected the call.
The Fourth Moon was more beautiful than when I had left. Christmas cookie pine trees drooped under the weight of thick layers of snow and weak sunlight lit the open spaces a shimmering white. The Jeep rounded the corner and coasted down the hill toward the ranchers’ drive, where the warm earthy scent of wood smoke crept into the interior of the Jeep. I inhaled deep greedy breaths. I’m home.
Every occupied timeshare house was decorated with pine boughs, red bows and tiny white lights. Even the dream catcher in George and Rosie’s window had a string of mini lights wound around it. I looked up the drive, and the main house captured my attention. The roofline sparkled with lights, pine garland festooned the wrap around porch. The breaks of the Jeep squeaked when I pulled to a stop before the ranch house.
I sat behind the steering wheel of the Jeep while it idled in the driveway. My legs were rubbery and my heart slammed. I yearned to run into Slade’s arms, soak up all the cowboy goodness I could before he held me away from him and read me the riot act for not understanding, for leaving him. Just go in and apologize. Say you were wrong. Beg him to take you back.
Easier thought than done.
Pulling the keys from the ignition, I steeled myself for the coming emotional storm. Ruby firelight flickered through the living room windows and a familiar form paced in the foyer. Slade paused at the doorway and I pictured him there, holding the brass doorknob, debating on whether or not to welcome me. God, I wanted him to wrap me in his arms, ached to be held and cared for by him.
Cold, clean air, scented with fresh cut pine and wood smoke whipped into the Jeep after I opened the door. My nerves tangled inside, twisted in a sick sense of nausea, but the moment I put my feet on the ground, I knew I was home. I needed to convince Slade.
Any doubt about my reception disappeared when Slade threw open the door and rushed to my side, his boots skating the last couple of inches. Tears welled up, blinding me. I raised a hand to wipe them away. Slade caught my hand and pulled me to his chest. The warm scent of Stetson enveloped me. I drowned in it, drowned in his embrace. If the world stopped on its axis, I would be content to freeze in his arms. The flannel of his shirt wicked away my tears. “Slade, I am so—”
His arms circled tighter. “Hush now.” He stroked my hair. “I know.”
Enormous pressure burned in my chest. I had to speak, to apologize. “But I was wrong to get so upset, you—”
“I,” he stressed the word, “am just damned happy you’re home. You are in my arms, and nothing else matters. Leave the past where it belongs.”
Slade scooped my legs into his arms and shut the Jeep’s door with a bump of his butt. He cradled me to his chest, sheltering me from the wind,
from the emptiness I had felt without him. On the front porch, he set me down only long enough to open the door, usher me in and then lock it behind us. He never locked the door, unless he was leaving the ranch. “What’re you doing?”
The blue of his irises was an ethereal shade when the morning light caressed his face. His expression said everything. Inside I melted, only my skeleton kept me upright, and the bones pulsed with my speeding heart. Never had one man’s gaze so completely silenced me and excited me at the same time.
My boots fell haphazard on the boot tray when he peeled them and my jacket from me. I opened my mouth to speak, but he buried his lips against mine in a desperate passionate kiss. Slade’s arms were around me, his hands searching, touching as he reacquainted himself with my curves. The needs I had suppressed in the name of hesitancy dissolved in his embrace. I wanted him to hold me, to never release me again.
Entwined, we collided with the sofa. Pillows and cushions spilled onto the floor. Slade swept them aside and off the rug before the fireplace.
He pulled away, leaving an aching distance and sudden craving for his warmth. He stroked my cheek with his thumb, his gaze piercing my heart, my soul. “Let me make love to you, Kally.”
Never had any words sounded so tender, so seductive and vulnerable. I nodded. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”
Slade pulled off his shirt, exposing his ranch-built muscles and luscious tanned skin to my fingers before he guided my body down to the carpet. Drowning in my desires for him, I clung to his chest like a life preserver. His heartbeat was mine, my breath was his breath, given to me through a deep lip-tingling kiss.
Bracing his weight on his knees, he straddled my hips and unbuttoned my blouse. The fabric fell away, leaving my body and breasts exposed to the firelight and his touch. Shivers of delight climbed my spine and tightened my scalp. Then, he arched over me, pressing those rippled abs to me and cloaking my nipple in the hot wet velvet of his tongue.
Eager for more of the pleasure he gave, I curled my fingers in his wavy dark hair and guided his lips to the tip of my other breast. His tongue danced on the tingling nipple. Warm delight rushed from his mouth to flood me. I groaned, released my grip on his hair. Arching my back, I reached for his wide belt buckle, which I unlatched and pulled from his jeans. The leather strap whispered in the half-light, snaking through the path of belt loops and onto the floor. I wrapped my fingers around the edges of his fly and worked loose the first button before he held my hands and pressed me to the floor.
He pulled my jeans from me, the murmur of the zipper mingled with the crackling tones of the fire. Moans rose from me and above the ambient noise when he followed the waistband of my jeans with his tongue. Slade’s leg slid along mine, a delicious sensation of denim on bare skin. I lay beneath him, reduced to twitching, desire crashing through me, until he hooked his foot between my ankles and eased my legs apart. Then, excitement fueled my desires.
He settled his chiseled chest between my knees and a shudder of anticipation rose through me. Light kisses blanketed my stomach, stopping at the edge of my panties. His fingers traced the lines of the fabric barrier, sending shivers up my spine and tightening my nipples.
His hot breath penetrated the cotton of my panties, and then he pressed his tongue against the material and slipped a finger beneath them. My heart pumped love and lust through me. I loved him, loved his touch and I lusted for more, more fingers, more tongue—less fabric between us. I wriggled my arms down, hooking my fingers in the waistband of the cotton chastity belt, but Slade smacked my hands. He gave me a warning glance, insisted on teasing me, prolonging and heightening my desires.
I twined my fingers in the rug’s braided fringe. Slade touched the folds of my sexual core, and I lost my grip. My eyelids closed, my fingers clutched open air. Breath came in shallow and fast but exhaled in a groan. His fingers rhythmically slid in deeper and then out, while his tongue rubbed my clitoris through the thin cotton barrier.
Only one word passed my lips. “In…in…”
His fingers, his tongue, the hard rod I felt pressing and pulsing against my leg. I wanted it all.
Slade answered my desire, hooking his fingers over the edge of my panties and finally pulling them away. There was no embarrassment, no inclination to hide, I was exposed beneath Slade and loving it. I relaxed and he pushed my knees farther apart. Settling on his stomach, he kissed the edges of my crease before easing his tongue inside. Hot bliss throbbed through me, pushed in by his tongue. I whimpered for more while he stretched with one arm and grabbed his jeans.
His gorgeous blue eyes coursed over me. Slade reared up to his knees, deftly switching tongue for fingers to tease my tingling flesh. With his free hand he produced a condom from a pocket of his wallet. He pinched the corner of the wrapper between his teeth and ripped it open before bringing his hot mouth back to my slick opening.
I’d hardly caught my breath before his tongue returned, dancing on—in—around my sensitive points while he put the condom on. He pinned me with a searing gaze, my heart slammed against my ribs and then he curled over me taking a nipple in his mouth. Shivers of delight covered me. On his knees, lips pulling pleasurably on my nipple, he rubbed his rounded tip against my crease. Slipping past the sensitive edges he asked, “Did you say, ‘in’?”
I wanted nothing more. Gazes locked, I nodded. “Yes. In…”
Slade obliged, driving pleasure deep into me and my mind into a carnal haze.
“Ohh.” My chest heaved with panting breaths. “Again…”
Another plunge, deeper, and this time, Slade groaned too. He adopted an up-and-in slide, kissing me each time before he rode back out. Joined in body, bound in spirit, our hands wound tight together at our sides. He’d stolen my heart and now he took my breath away with his passion. The rhythm increased. He stiffened within then pulled nearly out.
Lifting my hips from the floor and twisting while I rose, I pressed against his pelvis and took him in. His pulse thumped against my walls. Slade exhaled a heavy breath, gaze on mine. He panted, “Do it again.”
Repeating the motion, I watched his eyes pinch close and his face twitch. A fifth time seemed all he could handle. Slade pushed me back to the floor. Surrendering to the urges driving us both, he rocked until his rhythm had me whimpering and writhing beneath and against him.
Sweat bloomed on his skin, intensifying his cologne. Air raced through my nose in deep, greedy huffs. I abandoned our tangled handhold, grabbing his shoulders and rising to meet him, before I pushed him over onto his back. Slick and ready, I eased down his shaft. Slade sighed, his fingers convulsed on my hips. His obvious pleasure fueled my desire to satisfy his craving for release. I rode him until he came and I cried out in orgasm too.
He pulled me to his chest and wrapped me in a tight embrace. I closed my eyes, drank in the intimate moment, a libation for my heart and soul. The words, “I love you” begged to fall from my lips, but I wanted to hear them from Slade first. He kissed my cheek and then lifted my face and looked into my eyes. “Kally, please don’t leave me again.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
I eased off of Slade. In one fluid motion he rose and scooped me into his arms and then, naked, he carried me up the stairs and to the bath. I sat perched on the edge of the cold porcelain, chills creeping up my spine while a deeper, primal emotion filled me. The air was too much, and too thin. My heart raced and slowed to a lifetime between beats. The water thundered in my ears and the herbs swathed my sinuses. All I could see was Slade, my cowboy—my love.
Laughter and tears mixed. I pulled Slade to me, kissing him with every bit of love and passion I felt for him. We melded together, a perfect fit. He twined his fingers in my hair, pulling my head back to kiss my throat. Resting his forehead on my cheek, I felt a tear wet my skin and I wasn’t sure if it was my own. I drowned within his sky blue gaze. “I know just how you feel.”
With one last kiss, he eased me into the fragrant water by my shoulders. “You so
ak and warm up, and I’ll get your things from the Jeep.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Not naked you won’t.”
“Of course not. I’d be the poor sap to get caught locked out in the nude.” He smiled his sweet, heart-melting grin and we both laughed. He dashed out the door, giving me a perfect opportunity to admire the exquisite sculpted nature of his butt.
He was so good for me. With Slade I knew I was loved, even if he hadn’t said those words. He gave me confidence, comfort and a true sense of emotional intimacy. Things I never knew I needed until he shared them with me. I sighed, sank beneath the herbal-scented waters and listened when his bedroom door opened and then his feet thumped down the hall. Surfacing, I rested my head against the tub before using my favorite lavender sage body wash.
I had no more wished for Slade to wash my hair like he did the first night than he knocked on the door. The brass knob turned, and the panel swung in, followed by Slade in loose button-fly jeans, a pair of pajamas in hand and a sheepish blush on his face. “I hope you don’t mind me getting these from your bag…”
How could I mind? We just made love. Why would it possibly bother me if he got in my bag? “Of course I don’t mind, silly.” I batted my eyelashes, a coquettish tilt to my gaze. I looked from him to the bottle, to the strands of damp blonde hair on my shoulders. “Would you mind?”
“Only if you told me not to.” He winked and my heart fluttered and pulse sped. Placing my pajamas by a heater vent, Slade emptied the pitcher of its contents and knelt on a folded towel. His hands traced my arms into the water. He soaked a washcloth in the herbal waters and then folded the washcloth and placed it over my eyes. “Relax, darlin’, and let me take care of you.”
Leaning back against the porcelain, I surrendered to his touch, reveling in the intimacy we shared. The herbal scent soothed me. His hands gave comfort and took sadness. A warm sense of bliss bubbled up in me, flooding out into and weighting down my limbs. His face was beside mine, the Stetson cologne mingling with the steamy lavender and sage. The warmth turned to sleepiness while his hands worked down my shoulders, my arms, and moving back up, slipping in the lather to my neck and scalp in a physical lullaby. “Mmm,” I purred. “I could fall asleep right here…”
