Promises Prevail

by Sarah McCarty

  She hugged the coat to her with her one hand while with the other she pumped in counterpoint to the motion of her lips. Twisting lightly as she pulled away, swirling her tongue over the tip before sucking strongly. Keeping her eyes on his as he’d ordered.

  “That’s it Sunshine.” His lids slipped lower. “Do that again.”

  She did and was rewarded by the salty taste of his pleasure. But she didn’t need to taste to know she was pleasing him. She could see it in his face, the way his eyes narrowed, and his lips pulled back from his teeth. His big hands drifted up from her shoulders until both were in her hair. Three short tugs and the thick mass fell around her shoulders. He ran his hands through the heavy tresses as they spilled over her back and face.

  “Son of a bitch, you’re something,” he groaned as his cock pulsed again.

  She wasn’t, but for this moment in time if he thought so, she was content. His finger touched her cheek and pressed, feeling himself through her flesh.

  “Faster now, Jenna.”

  She obliged, taking him deeper, sucking harder, pacing herself to the harsh tension of his breathing, the pulse she could feel throbbing just beneath the satin-smooth skin of his cock. He was huge, hard, so swollen with the need to come that she thought he must split, and still he didn’t give her his seed.

  She redoubled her efforts. His breath hissed through his teeth and his head fell forward, his hair framing his dark face as the angles sharpened with his torment. Then his eyes opened and locked with hers, searing her with the intensity of his passion. His hand slid over hers, working her fingers free, replacing them with his own. Holding his cock steady for the descent of her mouth.

  “Open the coat. Just for a minute, Sunshine. Let me see those beautiful breasts of yours.”

  She did, but she couldn’t help blushing. This was so much more intimate than anything she’d ever done with Jack. The air chilled her nipples pulling them tight. Clint’s hard mouth tilted in a smile.

  “Put your hands under them and lift them up, like you’re offering them to me.”

  She had to shift forward to do so. She worked back off his cock as she cupped the underside of her breasts, not sure what he wanted. He arched his hips, reclaiming lost ground.

  “Such a shy little wife.” He touched her cheek. “Do you want me to tell you what to do?”

  She lashed his cock with her tongue as she nodded.

  “I want you to pretend those are my hands on your breasts. I want you to stroke them and fondle them and give yourself pleasure.”

  Oh heavens. She had absolutely no idea how to do that. His big hand cupped her chin, his thumb pressing against the bulge of his cock.

  “Shh, don’t panic. We can work up to that.” His voice was a harsh growl. “I’m not going to last much longer anyway. Your mouth is sweeter than honey.”

  Hay rustled as his hips arched, reflecting his need. “Take me as deep as you can, Sunshine. Slow and deep, and I’ll take care of the other.”

  She blinked as his hands closed over her breasts. They were huge and cold. Very cold. She shivered and he laughed, a deep husky sound of pleasure and pain. Despite the fact that she was the one wearing a coat, he was the one sweating. His hips arched up, feeding her more of his cock.

  “That’s the way. Just stay relaxed and take it, Jenna. All that you can. Slow and deep.”

  His hands on her breasts were gentle without that mean edge she was accustomed to, and his voice was so soft as he asked rather than slamming into her throat. She did her best, swallowing as he nudged the back of her throat, feeling the painful pressure as he pushed in, blinking back the tears and pushing forward, wanting to please him, hoping this time her marriage could be more friendship than anger. She groaned in relief when he pulled back. Her relief was short-lived. His fingers slid up to her nipples. She blinked, bracing herself for the wrenching pain that always came when a man put his hands there.

  “Ah, baby, you have the prettiest nipples.” His fingers stroked lightly, rhythmically, the calluses dragging on her flesh. “They’re like delicate, silky pebbles of flesh under my hands. And your mouth. Damn, Jenna, you have an incredible mouth.”

  He pinched her nipples lightly. A warning? She wasn’t taking any chances. She took him all the way to the back of her throat, suppressing the urge to gag, struggling to relax enough to let him in.

  “Son of a bitch, you’re going to make me come too soon,” he said as he pressed against her, his cock pulsing with the caress of her spasming throat.

  Too soon? Her jaws already ached. She checked his expression to see if he was serious. He laughed deep in his throat. A lazy sound.

  “I want a chance to play with these sweet nipples before I come,” he explained. She started. He circled the pebbled flesh with his thumb. “Nothing too hard. You’re not ready for that. Maybe just a little stroking at first. Just enough to make them sit up and take notice.” He pulled out, not as slowly as before, and his movement wasn’t as smooth. Was his calm a lie?

  “Would you like that, Sunshine?” he asked on a tight note. “Would you like me to pleasure your breasts?”

  She’d like anything that didn’t bring that awful pain. She nodded as she suckled the tip of his cock. A spurt of warm seed flooded her mouth. His hands left her breasts to cup her head.

  “Later then.” His voice was a hoarse expression of sound. “Later, I’ll pleasure them until you scream, but right now I need your mouth.”

  She gave it to him, taking him as deeply as she could, wetting his shaft with saliva as she withdrew, using the slick surface to facilitate the strong strokes of her fist. Sucking hard, working him hard, taking him so deep it ached, and still it wasn’t enough. His hands on her head urged her closer, urged her to go just that little bit further.

  “Just a little more, baby.” His cock pressed the back of her throat. “A little more and you’ll have it all. C’mon Jenna. Take me. Take me.”

  She took a deep breath and did, moaning as he popped through her resistance at last and as her muscles spasmed a protest around him he came, flooding her throat with his hot seed, holding her to him as he cried out and bucked. He held her to him so long that she began to panic, needing air, and still he came.

  She caught his wrists in her hands. On a rough “Jesus” he let her go. She wanted to throw herself to the ground and gasp for air, but she knew better. Instead she drew on every bit of control she had, hauled air in through her nose, and carefully caught every silken wash of his seed, not spilling a drop, swallowing it while nurturing the last remnants of his pleasure, cementing his good will the only way she knew that worked. Taking a small measure of pride in her ability to do so.

  Finally, he pulled her up into his chest and wrapped his big arms around her. The buttons on his shirt dug into her breasts as he kissed the curve of her shoulder before he slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her hard, his tongue stroking her lips as his hand massaged her sore throat.

  “Damn, baby. No one’s ever taken me like that. Given me that.”

  He was shaking against her. Against her stomach, his cock rose hard, undiminished. She touched his heaving chest. She’d done this to him. With nothing more than her mouth she’d taken his strength and given him pleasure. She curled her fingers around his cock.

  “Would you like me to do it again?” Her voice was hoarse from the strain and the words were awkward as her tired jaw muscles tried to shape syllables. To her surprise, he shook his head.

  “Sounds like that mouth of yours could use a little rest.” He touched the corner of her lips with his thumb. He held it up for her inspection. It glistened with moisture. Very slowly, she stuck out her tongue and licked his finger clean. His nostrils flared and his eyelids twitched. “You are a hot little thing, aren’t you?”

  He sounded very happy with that conclusion. He pressed his thumb against her lips, rubbing it over the moist lining, his dark gaze holding hers while a strange shiver of sensation shot through her body. His eyes narrowed as he
registered the tremble. His thumb pressed a little harder. She closed her lips around it and sucked, holding his gaze as she did so, watching the heat flare anew.

  “Shit.”

  His cock came fully erect. In a flash, he had their positions reversed—the prickly hay bale was beneath her, the wall behind her, and before her stood Clint, looking totally pagan with his big cock jutting out from the open fly of his pants and his long hair loose about his exotic face. She jerked as he seemed to fall forward, expecting to be crushed under his weight, but there were only a couple of thunks in rapid succession above her head, and then the steady push of his cock against her mouth.

  She looked up. His wide lips parted on a wickedly primitive smile.

  “One more time to take the edge off, and then it will be my turn to make you scream.”

  Chapter Seven

  Clint opened the basket containing his wedding present. The cake was a little worse for wear, but a few dents weren’t going to put him off. Not with the way Jenna could take simple ingredients and make a man’s taste buds scream for mercy. Above his head, he listened to the small creaks that indicated Jenna’s progress around the bedroom. He’d left her to get changed and ready for bed while he brought up their snack. His cock throbbed in his denims, as eager as if he hadn’t come twice so hard down Jenna’s tight throat that he’d thought his head would explode.

  He grabbed the knife off the table. Damn, she had a mouth that could make a man cry uncle. And that body. That “drop a man to his knees” body… He placed the knife in the middle of the cake and cut a large slice. He was so hungry for her that he felt like a green boy going after his first woman. He just wanted to bury himself in all that lush heat over and over until she was so full of his seed it would pour out of her when she stood. He wanted to permanently mark her as his so no other man could trespass. That she was his wife didn’t seem to be enough. In a demand he’d never known before, his body wanted to mark her physically, making it obvious beyond a shadow of doubt to whom she belonged. So much so that he’d lost his head and started his honeymoon in the barn.

  He put a second piece of cake on another plate, hooked a couple of wine glasses on his finger and grabbed the bottle of wine. Hopefully, chocolate and wine would keep Jenna from dwelling on that less-than-romantic start to their life together. For a man with a reputation for having a way with the ladies, he wasn’t putting his best foot forward with his wife.

  Danny whined from where he lay in the center of the big kitchen floor. Clint didn’t even need to look down to know what he wanted.

  “Forget it, fella. This is my present.” Danny cocked his head at him and let the muscles in his face sag. Clint snorted. “I stopped falling for that hang-dog look about a year ago.”

  He stepped over the big dog and Danny rolled, presenting his stomach. Clint petted him with the toe of his boot before heading out. This time his snort was one of disgust as the big dog’s jowls fell back and he wiggled like a puppy.

  “You know, there used to be a time when you inspired fear in people.” Danny gave a blissful moan and wagged his tail. Clint shook his head and popped the door open with his elbow. “Damned shame you went and got yourself domesticated.”

  He was still shaking his head as he climbed the stairs to the bedroom. Sure enough, he was going to have to get another dog to guard the place. The good life had flat-out taken the mean out of a perfectly good dog. The scramble of feet behind him let him know that Danny wasn’t letting that chocolate cake out of his sight. Clint tapped lightly at the bedroom door with the toe of his boot. He heard a sharp, “Oh” followed by a thump as something hit the floor. He was about to kick the door open, thinking Jenna had fallen, when he heard a string of curses. One corner of his mouth kicked up. Who would have known sweet little “wouldn’t say boo to a ghost” Jenna could curse like a wrangler?

  “Jenna?”

  “What?” The disgruntled tone kicked the other side of his mouth up.

  “Open the door.”

  “Just a minute.”

  Something nudged his elbow. Danny had meandered his way over and was looking expectantly at the door. “No way, bub.”

  Danny moaned and slumped to the floor. The doorknob rattled. Danny perked up. Clint pushed him back down with his foot. He did not need Jenna falling for that hang-dog look and bringing an audience to their wedding night. The door cracked and he had a perfect view of the left side of her face.

  “You going to let me in?”

  “I’m not quite ready.”

  As nervous as she looked, he figured he could be staring down his ninetieth birthday and still be standing outside the door. “Sunshine, if you’re trying to make yourself beautiful, I’ve never seen you less than gorgeous.”

  “Even that night?”

  He knew what night she was talking about in that whisper. He’d never forget it or the panic he’d felt running into that inferno and knowing he was probably too late.

  “Yes. Even that night.” The one eye he could see blinked once, twice, but the door didn’t open. He shifted the wine bottle into his hand with his knee. “Can you tell me what the problem is?”

  Her mouth worked. He had a glimpse of white before her teeth sank into her lower lip. “I want to turn out the lamp.”

  It took him a second to remember he’d sent her upstairs with a comment about leaving the light on so he could see her lying on that big bed with that wonderful mane of hair spread about her.

  “Why?”

  “Mara and Elizabeth bought me a nightgown as a wedding present.”

  That sounded promising. “I’m not following.”

  “It’s too short.”

  Now there was a fact to perk up a man’s cock.

  “How short?” His drawl was a little more intense than normal. More of her lower lip slipped out of sight.

  “Short enough to be showing things better left covered.”

  “Somehow, I’m not seeing that as a problem.”

  “You will.”

  That agonized whisper pulled his sense of humor up short. He kept his tone as gentle as possible, considering he was more used to using his voice to intimidate than cajole.

  “Jenna, open the door.”

  “Can I turn out the light first?”

  “No.” He wasn’t starting this marriage off creating barriers between them.

  With a deep breath, she stepped back, staying behind the wood panel as the gap widened. Clint stepped through the opening. The wine glasses clinked together as his elbow bumped the door.

  Danny whined and scrambled to his feet. Clint put his shoulder to the door and pressed it closed, locking Danny out. He turned, to see Jenna in all her glorious splendor. And she was glorious. That thick, wavy mane of long hair tumbled past her shoulders, framing her softly rounded face and providing the perfect backdrop for the rosy pink glow of flesh left so enticingly exposed by the bodice that barely clung to her shoulders. He couldn’t take his eyes off those shoulders and that filmy white fabric gracing them. Just one push with his finger and it would slide down those soft arms and waft away from those incredible breasts. He might have to nudge it again if it got hung up on the plump tips, but then it would float down to the wide flare of her hips, catching again before it slid down her thighs.

  His gaze dropped to her thighs, which she was doing her best to keep tucked behind the flounced hem of the gown. Her scarred thighs.

  “They must have taken my robe out of my valise.”

  If she could have disappeared through the door, he had no doubt that she would have. The flush on her cheeks begged the brush of his fingers. The agony of insecurity in her blue eyes offended him. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Because his hands were full, he bent. She ducked her head. His kiss landed on the part in her hair. The faint scent of roses teased his nostrils.

  “Ah Sunshine, did you think you had me beat in the scar department?” She wouldn’t meet his gaze, just clung to that doorknob like it was her lifeline.

  �
��It’s different for a man.”

  “Guarantee you, collecting them hurts the same.” She glanced up as if surprised that he could know pain. Damned if he could figure her out. “You’re beautiful, Jenna.”

  He put the wine and cake on the dresser. Behind the door Danny moaned. Jenna reached for the knob.

  “Don’t you dare.” She jumped. He softened his tone. “We’ll never get him out of here if he gets in.”

  “What harm—”

  He tucked the long fall of her hair behind her shoulder. “I’m not looking for an audience tonight.” The flush rose from her chest and flooded her cheeks as she caught his meaning.

  “But surely after the barn?” She looked so damned adorable, so innocent, though he knew she wasn’t.

  “Got to admit that warmed me right up.” Impossibly, the blush deepened.

  “But Jack…”

  He didn’t want to hear about her first husband. Especially not on his wedding night. He slid his hand around the nape of her neck.

  “Do me a favor and don’t mention him.” She flinched from the anger in his tone. He bit back an “ever” and added a softer, “Not tonight at least.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  The little bit of confidence she’d displayed since the barn disappeared as if it had never existed. She seemed to shrink in on herself, hunching her shoulders, and as much as the move provided him with a clear view of her breasts and accented the rich valley between, he hated the meekness she drew around herself like a shield.

  “Don’t be sorry, just don’t mention him.”

  “I won’t.”

  He sighed. So much for his legendary finesse. He pulled her away from the door. She lurched against him. She caught his forearm in her hands. Her palms were damp. She was nervous. He wrapped his arm around her waist and took her weight against his chest. “You feel good in my arms.”

  “I do?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh.”

  “And I’m an ass.”

  “You are?”