by Sable Hunter
Clint nodded his head. “I don’t want anything, personally, understand. I just signed a big contract. I’m set and I’ll take care of her. But if she’s been cheated out of anything that rightfully belongs to her, I think she should have it.”
“Her separation from the family was tragic,” Pepper spoke up, still holding Judah’s hand tightly. “She was taken from her home, but that home also split in half. A husband and a wife blamed one another so deeply and bitterly that they divorced and the two remaining children, the brothers, didn’t see one another again for over fifty years.”
Rowan moved near to his brother. “Hey, we’re here for food and fellowship. Let’s take these matters up another time, shall we?”
Clint nodded and Pepper took the opportunity to introduce Judah. “Clint, Rowan, this is my friend Judah James. Judah, these are my cousins, Clint and Rowan Wilder.”
Rowan held out his hand to Judah. “Hey, I know you. You’re the singer. Shiloh. Right?”
Judah gave Pepper a sidewise glance. “I am and Pepper’s shy, I’m her boyfriend.” He shook Clint’s hand and then Rowan’s. “It’s good to meet you.”
Clint narrowed his eyes. “I thought you were married to your backup singer. What’s her name? Ivanka...”
“Ivana,” Pepper corrected before Judah could say anything. “They’ve been…separated for a while.”
“This is your family, Pepper. We can tell them.” He placed an arm around her shoulders. “There never was a marriage, it was a Hollywood-style fabrication to discourage attention and innuendo.”
“Really?” Rowan asked. “How often does that happen?”
Heath stepped in, apparently tired of the subject. “Hey, I’m starved. Let’s eat.”
Pepper was a bit relieved too. When they arrived in the kitchen, Molly had everything ready. “Welcome.” She came to greet them. “I’m thrilled you could come. The food you brought looks incredible.”
Over the next hour, they all made polite conversation. There were some questions for Judah about his career, but no grilling as Pepper had feared. Most of the time was spent getting to know the Wilders. They learned that Gillian had been divorced from her husband, the father of her children for almost two decades. Clint, obviously, retained a great deal of anger about it. Rowan seemed more at peace with everything. He and Heath hit it off and after dessert, they made their way out to inspect the horses. Once Ten engaged Clint in a discussion about football, the rest of the evening was smooth sailing.
To Pepper’s delight, Judah joined her, Molly, and Cato in the kitchen to do dishes. The girls enjoyed teasing him, begging for stories about other celebrities and places he’d been. Seeing him laugh and talk, just did her heart good. She’d have to remember to thank Molly and Cato, they made him feel completely at ease.
When they finished, she eased up to him. “Hey, it’s too cold to go for a moonlight ride. How about we go parking?”
“Parking? Like necking?” He was immediately intrigued and immediately aroused.
“Yea, let’s slip out while everyone is otherwise occupied. I know the perfect place.” As they were finding their coats, she spotted Cato and sent her a message, signing with her hands.
We’re going for a drive. If anyone asks, tell them I’ll be back soon.
Cato gave her an okay sign.
Finding the air to be nippy, they raced to the car. Once they arrived, Judah went to open the door for Pepper and found a man already sitting in the seat. A rough-looking character who looked to be in his mid-twenties, complete with a torn T-shirt and a prison tattoo. “Hey, who are you?”
“I’m your worst nightmare, James,” the man sneered at Judah.
“Get out of my car, jerk!” He reached to grab the intruder and his hand closed over…nothing.
Mortified. Humiliated, Judah backed up, shutting the door without seating Pepper. “Maybe, you should just go back in.”
Pepper didn’t have to be told what happened, he’d seen someone. Someone who wasn’t there. “No, it’s fine.” She touched his arm. “I understand. I want to be with you. Please.”
He jerked the door open and waited while she climbed in, then he walked around the back of the car and slammed his fist on the trunk.
Seeing his distress, Pepper was afraid he wouldn’t talk to her. She gave him a few minutes, before she started to get out and go to him. She’d just opened the door, when he relented and came to sit behind the wheel. “I’m sorry,” he told her.
“Don’t be, this is part of your life and I want to be a part of it too.” She laid her head on his shoulder and felt him stiffen. “Stop it. I did a lot of reading today.”
Judah groaned, “God, I don’t want to be a subject of study, I want to be the man you’re attracted to, the man you want to be with.”
“You are,” Pepper insisted. “I just want to understand.”
Judah cranked the car. “Where are we going?”
“A bluff overlooking Lake Buchanan.” She gave him directions. “It’s not far and still on Highland property.”
They rode in silence. Judah didn’t know why he felt embarrassed, it wasn’t like she didn’t know about his problem. Somehow, he just thought it wouldn’t happen around her. He wanted to keep everything compartmentalized – Pepper apart from his lunacy. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. Telling her what he’d been thinking, he confessed, “I didn’t think it would happen with you.”
Pepper felt like she might cry. She searched for the right words to say. “Don’t you dare apologize. I love you. I love everything about you. I don’t know why this is a part of you, but it is. And because it is, I embrace this. I want to share it with you. You don’t have to deny it, or hide it, or ignore it. As long as we’re together, Judah, we can deal with anything.”
Judah found the spot she’d chosen. It was a beautiful view. The moon and a thousand stars were reflected in the still, placid waters. The distant landscape was a study in light and shadow where the hills rolled and the trees grew on the sides of steep embankments. The limestone shone white in the moonlight and the river looked like a ribbon of cobalt blue.
Once he put the car in park and turned the engine off, he hit the power button so he could place the car in the accessory mode to play the radio on low and keep the interior lights burning. “I want to be able to see you,” he explained as he took Pepper’s hand and brought it to his lips. “I’m so torn, pulled between wanting you more than my next breath and needing to protect you from this ugliness.”
“It’s not ugliness. I read a gazillion articles today and I found out how many different conditions are labeled schizophrenia. You have a few of the positive symptoms, but none of the negative ones like depression or paranoia. I know what you see and hear unsettles you, but who’s to know where it comes from? I think it’s just part of you. I have thoughts and worries and demons, if you will, that plague me about what I should or shouldn’t do, about mistakes I’ve made or the wrong direction I might be headed. With you, I think similar type thoughts and concerns manifest themselves outside of your mind, almost like an illustration.”
Judah groaned, “Please don’t try to whitewash my affliction.”
“No, listen.” She unfastened her seatbelt and went to her knees so she could lean closer to him. Placing a hand on the side of his face, she urged him to look at her. “Who’s to say what’s possible? Who’s to say what’s normal? How do we know what’s truly better, how you are, or how I am?”
Hearing her argue his case before a jury of one, he relented and pushed his seat all the way back in one swift move. Then he pulled her to him, enfolding her in a crushing embrace as she straddled his lap, her knees on either side of his hips. “If I wasn’t already crazy, you’d drive me insane. You make me want too much. Hell, to hear you talk, what I am is preferable to what other men are that you’ve known.”
Pepper pressed her face into the crease of his neck and melted against him. “I firmly believe that to be so, with all my heart.” She lay agai
nst him as he stroked her arms and back. “I know it’s not the same thing at all, but I’ve never felt as capable and worthwhile as my brothers and sister. They all have goals and talents. I’m a throwback, I should’ve lived in the fifties when women were expected to keep house and raise children. If you’ve ever seen the Nostalgia channel, you know I’m more Donna Reed than Wonder Woman.”
“Stop it,” Judah whispered. “You’re brilliant, beautiful, and kind. You’re my ideal.”
Pepper clung to him, absorbing his strength and offering him hers. “You’ll never know how safe you make me feel. I know nothing can ever hurt me when you’re around.”
“I would protect you with my life. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Pepper. The very best.”
He showered a gentle rain of kisses over her face – her cheeks, her forehead, her eyelids. When his mouth came near to hers, she claimed it, joining their lips and kissing him with all the love in her heart. He was aroused, she could feel how big and hard he was beneath her. “Could I…?”
“Could you what?”
She moved from his lap back to her seat and went to her knees, leaning over the console. Placing her hand over his lap, she rested it on the swollen ridge of his cock. “This. May I?”
“God, yes.” He closed his eyes and tipped his seat farther back.
Pepper could scarcely believe what she was about to do. She’d never done it before, but he needed her and she wanted to show him how wonderful she thought he was. Hopefully those Sable Hunter books of Avery’s and the few videos she’d seen on the internet would give her enough insight to not make a fool of herself.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked at him. God, he was perfect. Lying there like every woman’s dream, his beautiful face, sexy hair, and that mind-blowing body. Glancing into his lap, she could see his erection swelling against his jeans. With unsure hands, she unbuttoned them, noticing how his breathing sharpened and his body tensed. This pleased Pepper, she enjoyed knowing she could excite him this way. Once she lowered the zipper, the hard, pink flesh rose to meet her hand. “No underwear?”
A chuckle fell from Judah’s lips. “I like the freedom.”
“I like it too, it’s sexy as hell.”
Judah felt his cock grow harder and he groaned as she pried it free of his jeans. With wonder, he studied her face as she studied him. Even though they’d made love twice, this was the first time she’d inspected him up close and personal. “Do you like what you see?”
His unabashed query made Pepper hot and wet. “Very much.” She caressed him, rubbing her thumb over the velvety soft head. Truly, this was the most erotic and sensual thing she could ever imagine doing. She held him in her palm, slowly sliding it up and down. The veins stood out under the silky skin and he was long and thick. “How do we manage to get all this inside of me?”
“Very carefully,” he teased as she petted him, his breath coming faster with every pass of her small hand. “I’m going to come in your hand, baby,” he warned her.
“Well, I guess I’d better get on with this.” Lowering her head, she covered the tip of his cock with her mouth. Judah’s whole body jerked and he groaned. Pepper smiled around his girth, liking that he was finding pleasure at her touch. As she swirled her tongue around the head, she analyzed his flavor. Salt. Spice. Musk. Her imagination hadn’t been sufficient to prepare her for what having him in her mouth would be like.
She decided she liked it.
Sliding him deeper, she relished the sense of power it gave her. As she moved her mouth up and down, Judah pushed his hips up and his moan of ecstasy filled the car. When she pushed down or raised up, his hips followed, unwilling to lose even an iota of contact. His hand wound in her hair and hers were busy stroking the length of his cock that she couldn’t fit in her mouth. Pepper found herself so turned on by the act, each stroke of her tongue and lips over his shaft brought her closer to coming.
“Faster, baby. Suck harder.” He tugged on her hair, urging her on, his hips pumping upward, propelling his thick cock deeper down her throat in an erotic rhythm with every dip and pull of her mouth.
Judah closed his eyes in bliss. “God, I’m going to come,” he groaned in a voice so sexy, Pepper had to reach between her own legs to rub her demanding clit. Wanting to give him everything he needed, she moved her mouth faster and faster, taking him deeper every time.
“Oh, God. Fuck, yea,” he growled, his hand moving down to hold the nape of her neck. With one hard thrust of his hips, he came hard, his cum shooting across her tongue. As she swallowed, she looked up and found him watching her with a blazing intensity.
“Pepper,” he whispered, “You are so…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the car rocked and a low, bellowing rumble sounded outside the window.
“What the hell?” Judah yelled.
Rising to sit on her heels, Pepper lowered her window and a curious cow poked her head in and let out a plaintive moo.
“God, please tell me you can see that cow.”
Pepper couldn’t help it, she laughed. “Yes, Judah, I can see the cow. We’ve been discovered.” She pushed on the big bovine’s head. “No, I don’t have any nuggets. Go on, we’re busy.”
Judah let out a sigh of pure happiness. Pepper probably didn’t even realize that her sweet acceptance of him and his weaknesses could very well be his salvation.
CHAPTER TEN
“Hey, baby. My recording session ended early. Put on a pretty dress and I’ll be there in a half hour. I’m taking you to the best restaurant in Austin.”
Pepper hugged herself, chill bumps of excitement blooming on her skin. “I can’t wait, Judah. I’ll be ready.”
“Good, see you then. Love you.”
Pepper hung up the phone and squealed in delight.
“Happy, much?” Ryder asked from her spot on the couch.
“Yep, you should recognize the symptoms. You’re so sappy sweet in love with Samson and Gideon that I get a toothache just watching you three together.” Pepper had to admit that Ryder looked beautiful. “Your sojourn in paradise was good for you. I’m envious of your tan.”
“Next time we go, I want you and Judah to go with us. There’s plenty of room and we can take Hawaii by storm!”
“Sounds wonderful, I’ll certainly talk to him about it.”
“So, tell me. How was dinner with the Wilder brothers?”
“Enlightening.” Pepper came to sit by Ryder. “I’m not saying they aren’t great and that someday we may be close to them, but it’s going to take some time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Rowan seemed genuinely glad to meet new members of his family, but Clint…”
“Clint’s the football player, right?”
Pepper nodded. “And Rowan owns the horses, yes. As I was saying, Clint seems to have a burr under his saddle about what his mother might’ve missed out on. Money. Land. Etc.”
“But that wasn’t our fault,” Ryder protested.
“I know that and I think he knows it too. I’m sure he’ll come around and I don’t know what Dad, Heath, or Aron have planned, but I’m sure they aren’t going to let Gillian and her family lack anything that’s rightfully theirs.” Pepper stared out the window at the rolling hills of Highlands. “This place belonged to Gillian’s father, I can see why they might think they’d been cheated by fate.”
“Time will tell, I guess.” Ryder leaned forward, her face serious. “I’m know it’s going to be a process getting to know this new branch of our family tree, but I’m more concerned about our own. What’s going on with Philip?”
“What do you mean?”
Ryder rolled her eyes. “You’ve been so wound up with Judah, you’ve missed what’s going on under your nose.”
“Like what?”
“Remember, we talked a month or so ago that we thought Philip was seeing someone. There was lipstick on his collar. Well, I learned yesterday that he was seen in a jewelry store in
downtown Austin. Did you get a gift of jewelry from our brother? I didn’t.”
“No, I didn’t.” Pepper shook her head. “But that doesn’t mean anything. He could’ve been buying something for himself.”
“The only jewelry Indiana Jones McCoy wears is that old pocket watch and a signet ring. He’s not in there buying himself a gold chain or a clunky 70’s style nugget bracelet.”
Pepper shrugged. “So, you think he’s seeing someone.”
“I do. And I think we need to put our heads together and figure out who it is.”
“I don’t know, Ryder. You and I have both experienced how it feels when the family gets a little too involved in our romantic life. I think we should just wait until he’s ready to share.”
Ryder glared at Pepper. “You’re no fun, Miss Voice-of-reason.”
“Philip is a man of superb judgment. You don’t have to worry about him.”
“I know.” Ryder sighed. “He’s just emerged from a traumatic experience, someone wanted him dead. Forgive me if I worry. I don’t want anyone else to hurt him.”
Pepper softened. “I understand and I agree.” She happened to glance at her watch and saw the time. “Oh, my God! Judah will be here in fifteen minutes!” She sprang up and ran up the stairs. “You can come up with me, if you want.”
“No, thanks, I’m heading back down the hill. Samson and Gideon promised to come home early, we’re planning a romantic dinner.”
“We’re two lucky women, that’s for sure,” Pepper called down as she headed to her room. The family was out and about today, there were some exciting things afoot for the coming year. Tennessee, Tanner Barron, and Joseph McCoy were setting up a Wilderness Training camp for young people, not far from Enchanted Rock. They were so excited. The program would not only teach young people about the joys of camping and how to survive in the wilderness if need be, they were also going to offer scholarships and mentoring opportunity for troubled teens. Aside from whatever Philip had going on with his jewelry excursion, he’d also just received the opportunity to head up a dig at the famed Alamo in San Antonio. This was a huge coup for Philip and Pepper knew he was more than excited.
