by Reece Butler
If she ever found someone who wanted her just as she was, warts and all, who wanted an equal partner yet would also cherish her as a woman, she just might consider marriage. But not now. This time was for hot sex with a wild cowboy.
“I don’t suppose you have any condoms?”
“Yes, ma’am. Top drawer.”
He eagerly pointed to the far side of the bed. She scrambled over, purposefully giving him a view of her bottom before she stood on the floor. He groaned, which made her even wetter. The drawer complained, wood scraping against wood, as she hauled it open. There were a bunch of square packets, so she reached in and pulled one out. When she turned around, he’d already shoved the sheet as far down as he could. She pulled it off the bed, completing the job. It took her a moment to figure out she needed to use her teeth to rip the packet open. She carefully removed the latex ring and tossed the garbage aside.
She knelt on the bed and crawled over to him. Biting her lip in concentration, she figured out which side would make it right side out, and slid the latex over his huge cock. Too late, she thought of licking him clean first. She loved his taste, which completely surprised her. He looked at her with such longing and eagerness that any hesitation fled. She wanted that cock deep inside. She’d be on top and could move however she wanted. Or not. She raised herself and put one knee on the far side of his hips. His cock rubbed against her clit and pussy lips when she slid back and forth.
“That feels so good,” he said with a moan.
“Oh, yeah,” she agreed. “But this should feel even better.”
She took him in her fist and, rising up, guided the tip of him into her. Just the tip, since he was so big. Ever so slowly, savoring as each wonderful inch stretched her, she sank down on him. He hissed each time she pulsed up and down. He grabbed the sheets with his fists, perhaps to stop himself from grabbing her.
Good. She wanted to be in control of this, every step of the way. Finally, her bottom touched his thighs. She looked down. Their curls mingled, her black with his red. He throbbed inside her. She clenched in return, making him groan even louder.
“God, you are amazing,” he said.
She lightly fingered her clit with one finger and stroked her breast with the other hand. But though his eyes widened and he panted even faster, he didn’t take the hint. She leaned forward and set her palms on his chest. She dropped down just enough so her nipples trailed over the light fuzz of his chest hair.
“Don’t you want to play with these?” she asked. She gave a bit of a shimmy, making her breasts jiggle enticingly.
He didn’t answer, just went for them with both hands. He played with them, stroking and squeezing. It felt good, but wasn’t enough. She arched, dropping her pelvis so her bottom went high. It changed the angle and drove her clit into his pubic bone.
“Mmm, feels nice,” she murmured as she moved forward and back, her clit against him. He rested his hands on her waist but didn’t put any pressure on her to move to suit him. When she sat up, he went after her breasts again. He teased and pinched, fondled and tugged as she moved up and down, faster and faster.
That thick, long cock hit deep inside her, but it wasn’t enough. She made a high-pitched sound of need. He reached between them and found her clit.
“Oh, yes,” she moaned.
He wiggled it back and forth, faster and faster. She slammed back against him, taking his cock all the way.
“You’re so tight and hot and wet, baby, I’m not gonna last,” he said between gasps.
He pinched her nipple, hard, and her orgasm hit. Waves of release rolled over her, one after another. She was just slowing when he took her hips in his hands and lifted her. She used her thigh muscles to help him lift her up and slam down, faster and faster. He hit something which set off another explosion. He roared and bucked into her. She rode him as her orgasm went on and on.
Finally, he slowed. She collapsed, her sweat-soaked breasts rubbing against his chest as they both fought to breathe. Her head buzzed. She was so dizzy she had to lie flat. She slid to his right side, careful of his cast. She collapsed, head on his chest, her right leg still over his, as they slowly came down to earth. She couldn’t think of a thing to say. Thanking him didn’t seem right, but what did?
He lifted his head and kissed her hair. “If it took breaking my leg to get you into my bed, it was worth it.” He kissed her again, forehead this time. “Damn, woman, you are amazing! I could do with another of those anytime you like.”
The reminder was exactly what she needed. She pushed herself up and looked him in the eye. His were glazed, and likely so were her own.
“I’m glad you liked it, but I didn’t do it for you. And thank you. I thought surviving that fire was something. Don’t let it go to your head, but you just made my future a heck of a lot brighter. I’m going to use you every chance I can get, buster.”
He laughed, deep and open and almost boyish except for the knowingly wicked look.
“Honey, I don’t care why you want hot sex from me, but I’ll be glad to give you more whenever you want. Dang, woman, that was fine!”
“I admit that was the best sex I’ve ever had.” She cleared her throat and tried to act tough. “Keep it up and I’ll stay on for a while.”
Marci pulled up the sheet and then snuggled down beside him. His arm came around her as if it belonged. Warm, heavy, it pulled her close. She could almost feel his heartbeat in counterpoint to hers. This was what she’d been missing all her life. Sexual completion and contentment. She was right where she wanted to be. She closed her eyes and relaxed.
Sometime later she woke, feeling safe, warm, and cozy. She stretched and wiggled to get more comfortable.
“Unless you want to go another round, I’d suggest you stay still.”
Her eyes shot open. She checked the clock.
“Oh, my God, it’s nine thirty!” Her brain went from sleepy to overdrive in zero point two seconds. “The kids will be here in half an hour!”
“Or less. Donny suggested they might be eager to come over.”
She rolled off the bed and to her feet. She tripped on something and kicked it out of the way. Simon tucked his hands behind his head and smiled as if life was perfect. His eyes flickered down her body. Ignoring the heat he created, she ran into the en suite. She stuck a facecloth between the door and the frame so it wouldn’t shut on her.
“I’ve got a few more ideas you might like,” he called after her. “There’s a lot more condoms in that drawer.”
She drowned out his voice with the shower. “I can’t believe I fell asleep like that,” she said, checking the temperature with her hand. “Just zonked out, curled up against him like that.”
Her fingers traced over her body as she washed. She soaped up, taking her time to wash away all evidence of what she’d done with Simon, before and after morning chores. Her body tingled, as if awakening for the first time. It was true. She was thirty and had just realized how wonderful it was to have a man create an orgasm for her.
She ran her fingers through her hair, separating the long strands. Her hair was the only thing she’d denied Ted. He said married women shouldn’t have hair past their shoulders. But since she always kept it up in an elegant chignon, one the senior partners had complimented him about, he hadn’t cut it off while she slept. She was sure he would have otherwise. He believed she was a creation of his, and he, therefore, had the right to determine everything about her.
She hadn’t noticed him impose his will on her. He did it so slowly, by increments, that she was unaware of how much he’d ground her down until too late. She’d become so accustomed to Ted’s demands that she hadn’t realized what she’d allowed him to do to her. She’d become his pet robot, there for no other purpose than to serve him.
“Well, I’m nobody’s robot now, or their pet!”
She rinsed her hair, a process that took some time due to the amount of it. Aggie had short hair, as did Nikki. Marci had never met another woman who’d ha
d hair as long. She’d trimmed it, of course, but only to keep it healthy. She’d been blessed with her father’s Spanish hair, thick and black. She had his eyes and, thanks to her darker skin, she never burned in the sun. Genetics were all he’d given her.
If he had married her mother and taken them back to Spain, would she have been any better off? She’d researched the area her mother said he came from. Men there still thought they had the right to control their women. Had she been drawn to Ted because of her ancestry?
No. It was her childish need to be cocooned. She’d thought at the time Ted wanted her to improve because of his love for her. But it was just his self-absorption. As long as she acted to make him look better, she was acceptable. Have one hair out of place, and she was wrong.
Never again would she change who she was for a man.
Simon didn’t ask her to change. Why should he, when she was only visiting for a couple of weeks. Perhaps that was why she enjoyed him more than she’d thought possible. Ted insisted on separate bedrooms so she’d never slept with anyone but Nikki. Yet she felt so at peace with Simon that she’d fallen asleep in his arms last night, and again this morning.
She removed the towel around her hair. It cascaded around her upper body. The mirror reflected a sensuous woman, one who looked happy to be alive rather than just getting by. Sleek and quiet Mrs. Ted Grant, invisible servant who gave her life for her husband’s career, was gone.
She was wild and wicked Marci Meshevski, full of her own power and living life on her own terms. For now that included lots of hot sex with Simon MacDougal. Thanks to him, she’d begun the final stages in banishing her past life.
She applied lotion, wishing it was his hands spreading it over her body. Once he got a walking cast and could bend, they could indulge themselves a bit more. He could also do more work, something he was looking forward to. Simon was not one to sit idle, and it was irritating him to no end that she could keep herself busy and he could only sit and fume about it. But fume was all he’d done, so far. That, and read that diary. She’d ask him to keep an eye out for any recipes she could use on the ancient kitchen stove.
The honking of a truck had her scrambling into fresh clothes.
Chapter Fourteen
It was midafternoon when Simon finally watched the truckful of happy kids drive away. Donny had arrived alone, which meant he’d stopped at the house to drop off Aggie and baby Sophie. Simon didn’t need a PhD to figure out why Donny had a spring in his step and a wide grin when he jumped out of the truck. He said he was later than expected because they’d taken advantage of a long lunch. Simon had given him a look that said he knew they’d grabbed a quick lunch and ate it in the truck on the way home. After putting Sophie down for her nap, he bet they did the same, only they didn’t do much sleeping. And he was sure Keith would have had time to fix the pump and join them in that bed.
Marci didn’t stop waving good-bye until the truck was halfway down the long drive. Three ravens followed the truck, clowning around by swooping in loops and flipping onto their backs. They loved having children around, and protected them all.
“Donny really appreciated having time away from the kids,” said Simon from the doorway as Marci finally turned. He gave her an encouraging smile. They had the rest of the afternoon to play, and all night beyond that.
“We need groceries. Badly,” she said abruptly as she approached.
Simon scrubbed at his head with one hand. “Yeah, I was going to shop after I had the Doc check my foot. You want to go now?”
“You have to lie down and raise that foot.”
“I’ll lie down if you do,” he said, leering. She gave him a quelling look.
“I can go on my own.”
He didn’t want to admit it, but he was tired. He also didn’t want to have hordes of people stop and ask him what he’d done to his foot. “You can find the way back to town?”
“Yes.” She stuck her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels. “Um, do you have any cash? I only have ten dollars.”
“Just tell them to put it on the MD Connected account.” She looked uncertain. He gave her a sly wink. “When a pretty woman drives up in my truck to buy groceries, they’ll look, but they won’t ask a stranger any questions.”
She pursed her lips and scowled. “Not sure that I like that.”
He grinned. “Welcome to small-town life. They’ll all check you out. A few may ask leading questions. Most will make wild-ass guesses and spread ridiculous rumors. Watch out for the old women sizing you up for their grandsons. The old men will pretend you’re not there, but when you go past, they’ll check out your very fine ass.”
“Excuse me?” She opened her eyes wide, eyebrows raised, and leaned slightly forward.
“Anytime there’s a stranger in town, especially one as pretty as you, tongues will wag. But it’ll be me they hassle, not you. So don’t worry about it.”
“I’m not worried,” she insisted. “You have to live here when I’m gone.”
She crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders as she said it, so he didn’t believe her for a second. She was worried, but wouldn’t let it bother her. Was it the scratch on her face that made her nervous about being seen?
“I’ve got broad shoulders, Marci. I can take a bit of ribbing.”
“Fine!”
She stomped over to his truck and climbed in. He admired the way her jeans pulled snug. At least she’d changed out of those ugly sweats. Though he did like the way they came off so easily. She’d put on a bra, unfortunately, but it was just as well. He didn’t want anyone else checking out what he’d staked for himself.
“Make sure you rest while I’m gone,” she shouted out the window.
He waved as she drove off. He’d close his eyes for a few minutes just to humor her. Then he’d get back to reading Beth’s journal.
* * * *
Marci wiped her damp palms on her thighs every few minutes as she drove into town. She also had to swallow past the lump in her throat. She’d been nervous all her life, worried about what people thought of her. First it was because she was poor, and had no father. She thought marrying Ted would fix all that, but it got worse. Instead of just worrying about what others thought of her, she had Ted’s demands and expectations on top. How she dressed, carried herself, spoke…even where she looked. If Ted found out she’d looked at another man and he’d looked back, she was lectured to and shamed for hours.
But it didn’t matter what anyone here thought about her. No one knew who she was, or why she’d come to Climax. She was just a woman temporarily taking care of an injured man. And maybe if she kept telling herself that, her heart might stop pounding in her chest.
“I’m alive, and Ted is not,” she told herself. After that, she could survive anything. Anything but prison.
She looked around, loving the wide-open scenery. She passed narrow dirt roads leading to ranches, most with hanging wooden signs announcing their name and brand. Hills sparsely covered with dark evergreens rose to steep, bare mountains on each side. Some still had snow on the north sides. The river below the highway wasn’t deep, but from what she saw it ran clear. She could understand why the busy road had been placed far from the fertile valley floor.
She downshifted from sixty to forty, then to twenty-five. Like many small towns, Climax was divided by the highway that was also the main road. Businesses tried to grab tourist dollars as they came through. The hair salon and barbershop were for locals, though the Climax Roadhouse might draw in hungry people. Climax was over an hour from the large town of Dillon over a couple of high passes to the east, and a long way from the city of Missoula to the northwest. Nikki had driven her from Idaho Falls, the nearest big airport, at night. She’d been exhausted and, finally feeling safe, had slept the whole way. Nikki said the view from Badger and Big Hole pass were astounding. She’d have to wait until the passes were clear of snow, and Nikki had a day off, to see them.
It was enough that she was driving someone�
��s pickup into town. She would finally show her scarred face to strangers. Simon didn’t count as he wasn’t going to judge her. If she could get a few groceries and get out with only the cashier seeing her, she’d be fine.
She followed the example of every other vehicle in town and angle parked in front of Tanner’s Foodliner. The door had an old-fashioned bell that jingled cheerfully when she opened it, as if welcoming her. She kept her head down, minding her own business as she grabbed a rickety shopping cart. She had a mental list of supplies as long as her arm, but before she started pulling too many things off shelves, she had to know if they’d accept Simon’s credit.
She’d thought things would be different here, but she had to shake her head at what little was available. Would she find anything that had been introduced after 1980? They didn’t even have herbal tea. Your choice was orange pekoe or nothing. There wasn’t even much that was advertised for microwave use. That didn’t matter since Simon didn’t have one in his kitchen. At least the store had Jell-O instant pudding. She could make a chocolate cake, rip it apart and mix it with chocolate pudding to make a mud pie. She needed to find shredded coconut and green food coloring to make grass to scatter on top. The boys would enjoy it, but Florrie might—
“Help you, ma’am?”
Marci jumped. She hadn’t heard anyone come up behind her. She turned to a middle-aged woman in jeans and collared shirt. Hard eyes flicked to Marci’s scar but she didn’t comment.
“Simon MacDougal told me to get groceries and have them put on his account.”
“Saw you drive up in his truck. You got any ID?”
Since she hadn’t decided if she was going to stay in Montana, she hadn’t even tried to replace her driver’s license.
