He groaned. He opened his mouth over hers. Heat and need rose within her as he devoured her, claimed her. He swung her up in his arms and entered the bedroom where she’d lain while he’d slept on the couch. He pushed the door closed behind them.
“This room is just like you,” he said as he laid her down on the bed. “All business on the outside.” He motioned to the stark walls and tasteful prints. “And all warm and glowing and creamy on the inside.” He stroked the peaches-and-cream-and-cinnamon quilt, then planted his palms on either side of her waist as he braced himself above her.
She smiled up at him.
“Yes, do that, angel,” he said, keeping his voice low so that he wouldn’t wake Timmy. “Smile at me. I want to remember you smiling.”
She understood. He didn’t want this last time to be sad. Neither did she.
He lowered himself over her. He kissed her, tasted her, brushing his lips over hers again and again. She wrapped her arms around him.
He rolled with her, taking her weight onto him, leaving her gazing down at him. He reached up and with one quick movement undid the clasp that held her hair. It spilled over her shoulders, framing her face.
“This time you control it,” he said. “You give what you want, you take what you want. It’s all you, as much as you want and as deep as you desire.”
She bent and kissed his jaw. “And what about you? What about what you want?” she asked.
She felt him smile against her skin. “With you it’s all good, all beautiful. You’re a lovely, giving woman.”
“Well, then,” she said, her hands shaking as she tried to appear confident without letting him know just how much this meant to her. “Then let me start like this.”
She leaned down and kissed him, as she moved her hands inside the jacket he still wore.
He raised up slightly to give her better access, and she slid the jacket down his arms and freed him. She pulled it from beneath him and tossed it aside. It landed in a corner of the room.
Ace raised a brow. “J.D. wouldn’t be too thrilled at your cavalier treatment of his favorite formal wear.”
She smiled at him. “J.D. isn’t here.”
“Good thing, too. If he saw you like this, I’d just have to kill him, and as you know, I’m not—”
“A violent man,” she whispered. “Oh, I know that, Ace. You’re not a violent man, but you’re a very desirable man.”
She bent and kissed him beneath his chin, popping open the top button on his white shirt. One by one she released the rest of the buttons, then slid her hands beneath the cloth and spread the edges. Warm, muscled skin lay beneath her fingertips. She moved one finger and he nearly jumped right off the bed.
Crystal raised her eyes to his. Tension radiated from him, and he held his jaw taut.
“Sorry, angel,” he told her. “But you make it very difficult to lie still. I want to touch you badly.”
“Touch me,” she whispered.
“I want you to be in control,” he reminded her. He laid his hand on her thigh as she knelt over him.
A long shudder slid through her. “Ace, I don’t think either one of us is in control tonight.”
“I don’t want you to feel, come morning, that I took advantage of you.” His eyes turned serious and dark.
She couldn’t help smiling. She leaned forward, dropping a light kiss on his chest. “I’m sitting on top of you, darlin’,” she reminded him.
He smiled back. “My name’s not darlin’,” he said, handing her back some of the first words she’d said to him.
“Allow me to help you with this.” She opened his shirt farther. “Your hands appear to be full.” Another line from that first day.
He moved his hand farther up her thigh, making her gasp. “Only one of my hands is full,” he told her. But then he slipped his other hand beneath her skirt and touched her inner thigh, stealing her very breath and thought and sanity.
“Both my hands are occupied. Now you can help me,” he said, his voice low and thick.
And she somehow found his mouth with her own. She tunneled her fingers into his hair and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Because there would be no tomorrow, she knew. They were back to the beginning in many ways, living old memories, the kinds of things people did when they knew they would never see each other again.
But not yet. Please not yet, she thought.
I love this man, right or wrong, foolish or not. The thought followed her as she pulled his shirt from him.
“Make love to me, Ace. Please,” she said. “Help me.” And so he helped her. Gently he undressed her. He kissed her, slid his skin over hers.
“I wanted you from the first,” he told her. “Just like this.” He coaxed her onto him and helped her lower herself until he was deep inside her. He urged her to take everything they both wanted.
She did. For long minutes she rocked with him, made love to him. “You wanted me like this?” Her voice was a broken cry.
“Yes. And like this,” he whispered as he turned with her and drove into her depths. “I wanted you every way. All of you. Just as you are tonight.”
His words made her ache, his hands made her gasp. She lay beneath him, cradling him inside her as the heat rose and she matched his rhythm, knowing that tonight she would travel to a place she’d never known before and would never know again.
She’d wanted him, too, that first day. And now he was here. “Have me,” she whispered and she looked up at him as he linked his fingers with hers, pushed their hands up above her head and plunged into her, sending her senses whirling as the stars fell into her soul.
“Ace!” she cried, and he drank in the sound. He held her, waited for her, his body tense and deep inside her. Then he moved again, almost left her, then slid inside her once more as every muscle in his body stiffened. His head fell back in a silent shout. Her own body surprised her by shuddering once more in a slow and blissful release. She took Ace’s weight and wrapped her arms around his back, holding him to her.
After what seemed like too short a time, he raised his head. “I’m crushing you, darlin’.” He started to move to his side.
“Not yet,” she whispered. He gazed down into her eyes, then relaxed against her.
“Not yet,” he agreed, but she noticed that he shifted slightly so that most of his weight was off her. He left one arm and leg entrapping her, claiming her.
She gently touched his cheek. He smiled. “Are you all right, sunshine?” he asked, his voice sleepy.
“Yes,” she murmured, knowing she was. But she was also close to tears when she thought that come morning he would leave forever.
He stroked the sensitive skin at her waist. “Are you sure?” His voice sounded even closer to sliding into sleep.
In that moment she knew that she loved him beyond hope. Even tired as he was, he wouldn’t allow himself to drift off without making sure she was all right, taken care of.
“I’m very sure,” she said, kissing his hair. And she was. Very sure that she had fallen so deeply in love with Ace Carson that she would never stop loving him. He had come to town friendless, with revenge on his mind, but he had never stopped caring for people. For women and old people and small helpless children. He thought of himself as a man with few scruples, but he had more honor than any man she knew. And a great deal of pain. A past that wouldn’t let him free.
She could love him, but she could never hurt him by asking him to tie himself to that past by staying here with her and Timmy. If he stayed, he’d have to stare his past in the face every day of his life.
And so she stroked his hair until he slept. She kissed his shoulder, tried to think what life would be like, how she would make a life for herself and Timmy while they both loved a man who lived his life far from theirs.
Silent tears streaked into her hair, but she held herself still for fear of waking Ace. Slowly weariness claimed her. She slept, knowing that the morning would tear the fabric of her life. Knowing that she had willing
ly stepped right into that pain. And would do so again with no regrets.
Something woke Ace in the darkness. He glanced down to where Crystal lay beside him, tendrils of her long beautiful hair drifting across his shoulder, linking them. He raised himself on one elbow and gazed down at her. He fingered a bit of the silky stuff, kissed it with his lips, breathed in her unique scent, a scent that made him weak with need every time she got near. Moonlight filtered in through the window, silvering her features.
She’d been crying, he thought, his heart wrenching at the thought. Because she thought he’d used her like other men had?
He swore beneath his breath. Somehow he had to make her see that this was different, that he cared. But maybe Timmy’s father had told her that, too. Maybe he wasn’t so different from the men who had hurt her. After all, he had taken her sweetness, made love to her and said his farewells. Where was the difference?
She looked so small in the bed, so fragile, so sweet. He wanted to tuck her into his body and keep her safe. He wanted to slay monsters for her, to make her his, but he hadn’t slain any monsters for her, had he? His own monsters were pulling him away.
He lay back down beside her. He listened to her breathing, willed his heart to beat in concert with hers. He wished things could be different. Wished he could have her and stay with her and love her. Forever.
But forever, he knew, was elusive. Forever was what his mother had wanted with Ford. She’d wanted family and had it snatched from her.
Crystal moved in her sleep and Ace lay quietly, just loving the business of watching her sleep. She had tried so hard to give him family. She had bent over backward to link him up with his brothers and sisters.
His throat nearly closed. There wasn’t a reason in the world Crystal should care whether or not he patched things up with the Carsons. But she had cared. Because she was Crystal. So very special.
She was going to be a very difficult woman to leave. She was going to be impossible to forget. He dared to lean forward and breathe in deeply of her scent. Then he touched his lips to the sweet skin of her cheek one more time.
At last he rose and began to dress. Crystal stirred and he stopped, standing as silently as he could, unwilling to disturb her dreams. Finally her breathing fell soft and regular again. She rested her palm on her cheek like a child.
Ace’s heart broke in two, but he continued dressing. He readied himself to leave so that he could make it fast when the time came. Fast, so his emotions wouldn’t have time to betray him.
Somewhere in the house something shifted, squeaked, crashed. A sharp cry was cut off, muffled. A small thud came from the far bedroom.
Instantly, Ace raced to the door and out into the hall, his heart thundering. “Timmy! Are you okay, bud?” he called as he skidded to a stop just outside Timmy’s bedroom and wrenched open the door.
Timmy didn’t answer, but there in the moonlight was a man, his hand over Timmy’s mouth, dragging him toward the window.
“Let him go.” Ace couldn’t see if the man had a weapon and he didn’t want Timmy to get hurt, but there was no way he was going to let anyone take this child.
The man turned and snarled at Ace, and Ace saw that it was Branson Hines. But in that moment Hines yanked Timmy closer to the window.
The little boy’s muffled whimper cut through to Ace’s soul.
“This doesn’t concern you,” Hines said, his voice high and tight. “It concerns her and those like her. They killed my baby. They took my Deena’s happiness. This time I take.”
“Don’t even think of leaving.” Ace’s voice was icy, crisp, commanding. It could have been his stepfather’s school-principal voice, or Ford’s cattle-king voice. Both powerful men. He needed to be powerful now.
He was watching Branson’s hands, the man’s eyes. His own gaze tracked every movement, looking for weakness. If he jumped Hines now, the man might still have time to hurt Timmy. The boy was so small, so helpless. His eyes were huge and scared above Branson’s hand.
“Hey, wildcat,” Ace mouthed. Somehow he managed to wink, even though this wasn’t a winking matter. He wanted Timmy to think that he had things under control, that they were playing a game even if it wasn’t true.
Just don’t let him be so frightened. And give me strength and good timing. He sent the plea heaven-ward.
“Timmy had nothing to do with the loss of your baby,” he said in that same commanding voice, edging slightly to the side, keeping Hines watching him, turning so that he was no longer in such a good position to leap for the window.
“It isn’t fair that she has a son while I don’t,” Branson whined. “She was supposed to lose everything years ago. I planned it that way.”
A small gasp sounded behind Ace, and he felt rather than saw Crystal behind him.
“Ace?” Her voice was a low quiver.
Branson smiled, and it was an ugly thing to behold.
“Oh, this is better. I hadn’t planned it this way, but having her watch while I take him away is so much better.”
Ace felt Crystal’s pain and panic almost like a physical thing. It knifed through him. At Branson’s first words she had started to move forward, but when the man jerked Timmy aside a bit, she’d stopped. Now Branson was leering, daring Crystal to do something.
Reaching back, Ace touched her hand gently. “Branson seems to need to talk to you, darlin’,” he said. “Get some things off his mind. Could take a few minutes.” He hoped and prayed she understood the message he was trying to send her.
He heard her take a deep breath, as if preparing for battle.
“Close your eyes, Timmy, sweetheart,” she said softly. “Think of riding Freckles and having cookies and milk with Grace. Think of how soft Bert’s fur is and how you and Ace take care of him.” She looked at Branson. “Mr. Hines and I are going to talk. Tell me about your son.”
Her shift in tone from frightened to calm seemed to make Branson nervous. He glanced wild-eyed from side to side. He couldn’t know what Ace knew, that Crystal was shaking. The hand he was touching trembled with fear.
Ace brought that hand to the small of his back. He gave it a gentle squeeze of reassurance before letting her go.
She took another deep breath.
“What do you care about my baby?” Branson practically screamed the words.
Ace shifted to the side as if to give Branson better access to her. He hated doing that, exposing her so, but his move had the expected effect. Branson pivoted to stare directly at her, a vein throbbing beneath the pale stringy hair at his temple.
“I care about all babies,” Crystal said, and as Branson zeroed in on her voice in the waning moonlight, Ace slid farther to the side. He watched the grip that Branson had on Timmy.
“So why didn’t you get your rich friends to save my Deena’s baby?” Hines leaned toward Crystal.
Ace reached for Timmy’s dresser and picked up the first thing he touched. Something hard, heavy.
“A woman has to take care of her body to have a healthy baby, Hines,” Ace said carefully. “She has to make an effort. Maybe you should have told your wife that. Told her she needed to stop drinking, at least. Maybe you should have helped her.”
Branson swung in his direction. “You—”
“Here,” Ace called, tossing the item he’d picked up to Hines, praying that human nature still held for an animal like him.
The object sailed through the air. Branson obeyed the call of nature, reaching out to catch, and Ace dove for his legs.
“Run, wildcat,” he ordered, and Timmy stumbled away just as Ace crashed into Branson, sending both men to the floor. Regaining his balance, Ace drew back his arm and drove his fist into Branson’s face.
“If you ever touch anyone I love again, I’ll knock you clear across the state of Texas. You come near my woman or my child again and I won’t leave breath in your body. No one hurts Crystal or her boy. No one even breathes a bad word about them.”
He lifted Branson as he spoke, shook
him, and then shoved him back to the floor and held him there.
“Timmy?” he whispered. “You okay, bud?”
“Yes, Ace.” The little voice was high and scared, and Ace dared to look away from Branson long enough to note that the boy was clinging to his mother.
Ace applied more pressure to Branson to hold him in place. “I’m sorry you had to go through this, Timmy, and had to see me lose my temper,” Ace said, tears threatening to thicken his voice. “I’m normally not a violent man.”
He looked over at Crystal and she was smiling at him, tears streaming down her face. “You’re not,” she agreed. “But we’re glad that you were able to violate your principles tonight.”
She held on to Timmy, but the look she was giving Ace… It was all he could do to keep holding Branson in place when he wanted to take her into his arms.
“Call the police,” he told her.
“I did. When I first woke up and heard you. They should be here soon.”
As if on cue, a siren sounded in the distance, growing louder by the second.
“We make a great team,” he said as if he’d just discovered something.
“Me, too,” Timmy said.
“Oh, yes, wildcat, especially you, too.”
The sirens sounded in the street just outside the house. Ace looked toward the window and saw the streaks of daylight crisscrossing the sky.
“It’s morning,” he said quietly.
And he looked at Crystal.
Fourteen
After the police took Branson away, Ace simply stood there looking at Crystal and Timmy.
“What?” she asked softly, her arms around her son.
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “It’s just…the two of you together, it’s a beautiful sight. You’re a family.”
Crystal gazed down at her son, who smiled up at her. She kissed the top of his head. “Yes, we are. We most certainly are, just as you and your mother were.”
Her Sweet Talkin' Man Page 17
