“And what happens after you convince me that I’m better to stay here? You go back to fighting the good fight, leaving me to worry, wondering if I’ll get glimpses of you in my dreams? And what about us? You’ll just pop in whenever you happen to be passing by for a good fuck? I don’t think so!”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it!”
“Why are we arguing about this? You’re not my partner or my husband. You’re just my lover!”
That’s clearly the wrong thing to say. He pins me with a look so raw and wounded that my breath catches in my throat.
And then he drops his hoe and takes off, stomping in the opposite direction, taking a path into the heart of the thick foliage.
The first drop of rain hits, landing on my arm.
I sigh. “Shit.”
I turn and jog after Kris, ignoring the heated rain as it falls. In the South, the precipitation is never cool. It’s more like the sky gets so saturated that the moisture must come down. Instantly I’m soaked, but I push on through the Louisiana jungle.
“Wait!” I call after his retreating back. “Wait! Kris, stop!”
He pauses in a clearing, arms down, shoulders back, head up to the pouring sky. He looks as if he’s trying to cleanse himself. Memories, perhaps? But I know exactly when he senses me, because his body tenses; his hands clench in fists.
“I didn’t mean that,” I say.
“Yes you did. But you don’t seem to understand anything!” he shouts, turning and stomping toward me. He grabs my upper arms and yanks me flush against his body. “But how am I supposed to do my job if I’m constantly worried about what’s going to happen to you?”
“I could ask you the same question. Do you love me, Kris?” He stares at me, breathing heavily, and I can see the darkness in his eyes. I reach up and hold his face, smoothing them over his warm, wet skin. “Because that’s what love does. It makes us scared, but it gives us unlimited strength.”
“Evie, do you really want to travel on missions in the military?”
“I want to be wherever you are.”
He covers my hands with his own. “I’ve been offered a stationary position, acting as part of the policing force in Wyoming. It would be a…semipermanent position. I haven’t agreed yet. I wanted to wait until I saw you. Talked with you.”
“So you’d be like a cop?”
“Military police.”
“Is that what you want to do?”
“I want to be wherever you are,” Kris says, using my own words. “I’ve met my demons, and I want that life you talked about, Evie. So yes, I love you. When you almost died in the hospital, I was ready to lie down beside you and follow. I kept yelling at you not to leave me.”
I kiss him in a way that tingles down to my toes. It’s more than just a simple meeting of lips, it’s sin and raw power rolled into one punch. His tongue sweeps into my mouth and takes over, tasting me, savoring me. I can feel his hunger. I encourage it. I crave it.
I break the kiss long enough to bring my soaked shirt up and over my head. As soon as it’s gone, Kris resumes his kissing. Every nerve ending comes alive. Kris unsnaps my shorts and slides them down my hips and legs as he kisses his way from my mouth to my breasts. He latches on to one nipple, sucking hard.
He kneels in the damp grass, lifting one leg and then the other to help me take off my panties. His hands trace my muscles, sliding smoothly up my calves to my thighs. Gently he turns me around so that his face is to my ass, and he kneads my cheeks as his thumb sweeps between my crack to explore that territory. I can’t help but clench a little. But he’s careful, patient, and when he sweeps in with his tongue, the embarrassment fades away.
He licks from inside the top of my crack, down one cheek, to just where it meets my pussy. My juices have been running freely, mingling with rain, and I can feel his lips nibbling right at that spot. So sensitive, so heavenly. I can’t help but squirm, wanting more. But he simply denies me, retracing his route, all the way up. And then like a whirlpool, he starts circling my rosebud, around and around, until he hits the target area. He doesn’t slip his tongue inside, but instead runs the velvety roughness over it again and again, sensitizing it awake.
And then his fingers start pressing in, using my own juices to lube me up to prepare. In and out, maddeningly slow. One finger, then two. I try to escape, but there is nowhere to go. After he has three fingers in, he slides them somewhat in and out. At first it’s rough, but gradually the pain starts to fade to a burn. The burn then fades to… Oh my fucking God.
He lavishes me with adoration, his fingers and hands sculpting my body. Warming it, warming me. I melt. I ache. I am a flame brought alive despite the deluge pouring upon us.
When my legs can no longer hold me up, I fall to the grass, oblivious of the mud and grime that flakes around our bodies. This is primitive, the call of nature in our blood. I am mindless of how Kris loses his clothing; all I am aware of is his big, hot body pressing against me.
The rain makes it impossible for me to lie flat, so Kris half drapes over me as I’m on my knees. He still uses his little finger to slip into my rosebud, but his thumb is able to rub my clit. Oh God, it feels amazing. I want more. I want it all.
“Fuck me!” I yell my demand.
Kris sits back on his knees, thighs spread wide, and grabs my hips. I can feel his hot breath on my neck as he lowers me onto his throbbing cock. Inch by inch, I slide down, until my ass allows him entry. Until I am full. The unbelievable sensation torments me, tries to pull me under.
Behind me, Kris starts to pump. I’m not positive that I’m fully prepared for this gigantic man to fit in such a little hole, but little by little I feel the slide, in and out like a well-oiled machine.
The world around us is dark; rain falls as thunder rolls overhead. We don’t care if it’s not exactly safe out here. Our lives are focused into our bodies becoming one. One spirit, one rhythm.
Kris’s thumb continues to caress my nub, rubbing it with each thrust as he pushes into my body. It is too much. I scream as I am flung off that pinnacle, over the threshold. I climax so hard I see stars.
But I’m not alone.
“Fuck!” Kris moans, and his body is out of control. One thrust, again, and he erupts like a volcano.
I have no recollection of us leaving that glade; only bits of memory surface of me being taken back to the cabin. And then warmth and darkness fully engulf me. Content, sated, happy, I fall into the dream that awaits me.
Chapter Sixteen
The dawn is cool, though the hint of heat is already present. My grandmother sits on her porch, sipping her homemade concoction of coffee and chicory. She doesn’t look surprised to see me, and I’ve often wondered if she doesn’t have a bit of premonition in her as well.
I climb the few steps and sit in the chair next to her. The sky in the east is dark. A storm is coming.
“You’ll be leaving soon,” Eulalie says in the comfortable silence between us.
“Yes,” I say. I have no need to pretend I’m here for any other reason. “This was always just a temporary stop in my journey.”
“Mm.”
She sips her drink, staring at nothing. I watch her, seeing points of my mom in her profile. The same nose and chin. The same hairline.
“You’ll be careful? No more bullets?”
“I don’t know,” I answer truthfully. “I’ll do anything to protect my man. And he’d do anything to protect me.”
“Mm.”
I’ve come to realize that murmur is her way of digesting information.
“Is that man of yours ready to make you an honest woman?”
“I don’t know. We could ask him.”
Eulalie follows my gaze. Kris has just come out of the cabin, looking around. When he spots me he starts heading toward my grandmother’s porch. She doesn’t say anything more, only drinking her morning coffee and watching him with hawklike intensity.
“Morning,” Kris greets her.
Eulali
e sighs, puts her empty mug down next to her rocker, then bridges her fingers across her belly.
“Eva-Ann says y’all plan to leave soon.”
Other than raising an eyebrow, Kris doesn’t show his surprise at the news.
“But I got me a condition,” she continues, her voice turning stern.
“Name it,” he says.
“You make my girl an honest one. I won’t have her running all over the US with a man without benefit of marriage. She’s not her mother.”
My breath hitches in my throat, and I cough slightly from the unexpected comment. There could be no other words in the universe that ease the fear in my soul quite like my grandmother’s statement.
“Of course.” He agrees without hesitating.
I see Eulalie’s shoulders relax. “Then tonight we’ll have a wedding.”
I almost fall over laughing when I see the look of surprise spread over his face.
Chapter Seventeen
I spend the rest of the day away from Kris as my family hurriedly puts together a wedding. The men take the groom away, somewhere, while all the females pull out every single dress they own, trying to find the perfect one for me. It’s my cousin Daphne who finds a lovely lavender slip dress made of chiffon that floats all around me as I walk. Absolutely perfect.
A feast begins. Sac-a-lait fish, catfish, sautéed alligator, and various other bayou goodies are caught and fried to perfection. Crawfish, crabs, and shrimp currently boil along with okra, potatoes, and corn on the cob. Decorations go up. Old men and women get out their fiddles and guitars and start tuning.
Happiness washes through me even though I’m definitely not the type of girly girl who likes primping. Still, when the women are done with me and I look in the mirror, I’m amazed at the transformation they’ve wrought.
My long hair is twisted up in an elegant chignon with wispy strands dangling around my face. I’m even wearing makeup. The dusty colors highlighting my blue eyes make them look bigger. Lipstick deepens the rose of my lips.
And then it’s time.
The sun has passed its zenith and starts its descent when I’m escorted by the women out of Eulalie’s house and into the small church located only a few blocks away. Everyone has shown up; most are dressed in their Sunday best. The church doors are thrown open, and I see Kris at the front, standing in front of a preacher. Every pew is full to bursting.
Eulalie takes my hand and walks me down the aisle.
The whole affair is a dream. I smile through the ceremony. My right hand holds Kris’s tightly, and soon we’re joined as man and wife, united in love.
The party that is thrown for us is loud and fun and lasts all night long. Lots of dancing; lots of drinking. As much as I love my family, I want to spend time with my new husband, so I take his hand, and we walk quietly away.
The moonlight shines bright, illuminating our way. The air is hot and heavy still, even without the sun.
“We can leave tomorrow,” I say to him.
“Are we settling in Wyoming, then?”
“Can you be happy just patrolling over a settlement instead of fighting the good fight?”
“It is the Wild West once again,” he reminds me.
I laugh. How lucky I am that fate chose me for this man.
Loose Id Titles by Beth D. Carter
A Man After Midnight
A Silver Lining
Kismet
Spirals
Beth D. Carter
I’ve been pretty fortunate in life to experience some amazing things. I’ve lived in France, traveled throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand. I am a mom to an amazing little boy named Hadrian. I live in Los Angeles, surrounded by friends and family, and work in a career that I love. I’ve managed to fulfill my lifelong dream of being published. I can’t imagine not creating stories and becoming obsessed with characters I create. I am constantly trying to better my craft and each book is something near and dear to my heart. I love writing characters who are real, complex and full of flaws, heroes and heroines who find redemption through love. I draw much from my own experiences and journeys and hope that readers find a part of themselves between the pages. I love to hear from people and can be found on Facebook and at http://www.bethdcarter.com.
Kismet Page 14
