by Brook Wilder
She sat there like a god damned goddess in the moonlight and Jackrabbit felt like he couldn’t breathe at how beautiful away. It stole the very air from his lungs and he was left helpless to do anything but lay there as she draped her lush body across his own.
“Fuck, Rachael.” He exclaimed at the feel of her. It was almost more than his already aroused body could handle. Desire ran through him like a drug. He felt drunk on her, but damn did he want more. So much more. Everything that she could give him, that’s exactly what he needed.
“You’re killing me.” Jackrabbit whispered through clenched teeth. Every muscle in his body had tightened until he felt like he was going to burst apart if he didn’t get inside her soon. But all he could do was lie there and let her do whatever she wanted to him.
“Hah, I haven’t even gotten started yet.” Rachael purred against his ear and he had to bite back yet another groan of pleasure.
Her mouth moved from his ear, painting a trail of feather light, teasing kisses down the side of his neck stopping when she got to the collar of his shirt.
“Hmm, this definitely has to go.” She said in a sultry voice as she plucked at the fabric of his jacket.
“Your wish is my command.” Jackrabbit said quickly. He didn’t waste any time as he sat up and tore off his clothes until he was nude from the waist up. Then Rachael was pushing him back down and continuing her torturous kisses across his chest and down even lower until stopping once more at the waist band of his jeans.
He didn’t need to be told what she wanted this time, nor did he hesitate to unbutton the jeans and kick them off his legs. Jackrabbit lay back, shivering as Rachael slid his boxers down quickly afterward. It wasn’t the cold that had him shivering though. No, he was burning up in the warm night air. It was her touch that had chills racing across his body.
Jackrabbit barely had time to adjust before her mouth, hot and hungry, closed over his already thick erection. He’d been hard for her since the moment he picked her up at her place and caught sight of her in that dress and now all the tension from the night seemed to coalesce at the end of his pulsing shaft.
“Rae, Jesus, Rae, you really are trying to kill me.” He groaned, and was met with an airy laugh.
“Not yet.” She whispered against him and it had his hips gyrating eagerly. She teased him for a few more moments and his fingers fisted in the blanket beneath him as he tried desperately to hold on to something—anything. But she was merciless and drove him straight to edge and soon he was panting and trembling wildly beneath her.
“Rae, damn it, I can’t hold on much longer.” He’d barely gotten the words out before she was moving, throwing one leg over his as she straddled her hips and then his whole world exploded as she slide her sweet, wet pussy over him, taking all of him in one hard thrust.
All the breath left his lungs and the only thing he could do was hold on as she rode him fast and eager. He hitched his hips and her moans washed over him as he hit that extra sensitive spot deep inside her. He kept the angle, loving the aching, needy cries that tumbled from her lips.
All too soon, the blood was rushing through him, rushing south and then it was too much, the feeling of her surrounding him, milking his cock as his orgasm hit and he exploded deep inside her. His eyes squeezed shut at the feel of her pussy tightening impossibly tight around him, signaling her climax just a second after his.
Wave after wave of pleasure threatened to drown him as all the stars overhead swam behind his eyelids in an explosion of light and warmth that seemed to stretch on for an eternity. It took a long, long time for him to fall back to earth.
Jackrabbit collapsed backwards on to the blanket with a gasp, trying desperately to draw a much needed breath into his burning lungs. He felt like he’d just run a marathon with the way his pulse was racing out of control but he knew it was her. It was all because of her.
With a muffled laugh he wrapped his arms around her and drew her down until she was lying against him and using his chest as a pillow. He could feel her soft breaths tickle his skin and there was only one word that he knew of describe the light feeling glowing inside him.
Happiness.
He was happy. And it was all because of Rachael and their baby. His hand slid down to rest on her belly and Jackrabbit just left it there, content to shut his mind off and revel in the shockwaves of pleasure that still rippled through his body.
As the afterglow continued to warm him he couldn’t help but wonder to himself. Maybe, just maybe, they could make this thing between them, whatever it was, really work. He cared about her. More than he cared about anyone other than himself in a long time. And it felt good.
He still wasn’t quite ready to put the thoughts into words, and he had a feeling Rachael would turn around and run in the opposite direction if he tried, but for the moment, they could make this work.
Something, it just felt right. They could stay like this for as long as it lasted. Taking it day by day, hour by hour. For the first time in a long time, Jackrabbit felt a kernel of hope and it blossomed right beside the happiness washing over him.
He pulled her in even closer, loving the way she melted against him. For the first time, he realized that there was more to them than just the physical—not that he had a complaint in that department. The thought of an emotional connection should have terrified him, but instead it filled his chest with a warmth that continued to expand. He looked up at the stars twinkling happily overhead and a satisfied smile curled across his lips.
CHAPTER NINE
“So, talk to me. The boys are in the other room doing god knows what and I want to know everything!”
Rachael sent a sideways glance at Elsie as her friend took a seat on the couch next to her, her feet crossed on the cushion in front of her.
“Um, everything? Elsie, you’re going to need to be a little more specific.” Rachael said before giving her best friend another look.
Elsie leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I’m talking about the baby.” She said with an excited grin on her face. “And Jackrabbit. You guys seem to be spending a lot of time together.”
“The baby is great.” Rachael slid a hand across her tummy that was just now beginning to show. There was just the barest hint of roundness there. It hadn’t been there before and its presence finally made it all seem so much more real. “And Johnny is… fine.”
“Fine.” Elsie planted her hands on her hips giving her an exasperated look. “Rachael, that man is more than fine, but I meant what was going on between you. Have you had… the talk?”
“What’s ‘the talk’?” Rachael asked, casting a glance at the kitchen where Jackrabbit and Hatchet were still talking.
“You know what the talk is, Rae. About the baby. About what you’re going to do after he or she is born. Are you going to raise it together? Are you going to move in together?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, just slow down there a minute, mama bird.” Rachael said, holding a hand up to stop her friend’s tirade. “For the moment, we’re just taking things slow and I’m perfectly happy with that.”
“Slow? Honey, you’ve only got a few more months before that thing pops and then you’re gonna have a baby on your hands.”
“Six months, Elsie. Plenty of time to figure things out.” Rachael’s arms tightened around her middle.
Elsie gave her a stern look but she just shrugged it off with a grin.
“Listen, Elsie. Things are going really great between us right now. We’re just taking it day by day and we’ll see what happens but I’m not… I can’t make any promises.”
“I know you can’t, Rae.” Elsie said, throwing her arms around her in a big bear hug, “It’s just that…you look happy, you know? Really happy? I’m surprised to be honest, but there it is.”
Rachael’s grin softened to a sweet smile. “I am happy. For the first time in a long time, I really am.”
***
“So, you don’t know where Finn is?” Hatchet asked, loo
king far less worried by that statement than Jackrabbit expected.
“He fell off the grid. But that doesn’t mean he’s not still out there.” Jackrabbit rose to his feet. “And that also doesn’t mean that he might not still come after you, or Elsie.”
He walked over the open doorway that led from the kitchen to the living room, peeking around the frame of the opening so he could see Rachael and Elsie sitting on the couch together, talking.
He and Rae had gone out to Hatchet’s ranch, he’d told her it was to see their two oldest friends but in reality he needed to keep Hatchet updated on what was happening with Finn and the crew.
It made him nervous, not knowing where Finn was, but Hatchet looked unperturbed by the news as he puttered around the kitchen. His friend didn’t say anything else and some snippet of Rachael’s conversation caught at his ears.
“…Plenty of time to figure things out.” He heard Rachael’s husky voice first. There was a pause before she spoke again but he could only make out a few words. “…Things are going…great…just taking it day by day…can’t make any promises.”
Jackrabbit didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what they were talking about. His ears pricked up even more as Elsie spoke.
“It’s just…you look happy. Like really happy.”
And then after a short pause, Rachael again and her words had some unfamiliar emotion tightening inside his chest.
“I am happy.” She said.
“You really care about her, don’t you?” He nearly jumped at the sound of Hatchet’s voice beside him.
He turned, shrugged, and turned back to the conversation he was trying to eavesdrop on.
“It will be a lot less painful if you just admit it, you know? Don’t fight it so hard,” Hatchet said softly, gazing at the two women who sat with their heads close together on the couch. “Speaking of painful, have you talked to the sheriff yet? About the baby?”
Shock ricocheted through Jackrabbit as he turned to his friend, his expression all surprise. “Wait just a damn minute. You know about the baby?” Jackrabbit demanded with another scowl in Hatchet’s direction. Hatchet just shrugged.
“Of course I do. Elsie tells me everything.”
“And let me guess, anything I tell you, Elsie will find out about it.”
“Exactly,” Hatchet added with a wide, humor-filled grin, “You’re starting to catch on.”
“Jesus Christ.” Jackrabbit shook his head, spearing his fingers through his hair as he pushed back the wayward locks. “What else do you know?”
“I know that you need to talk to Rachael’s father before the whole town finds out and he hears it from someone else.”
“Rachael hasn’t told him yet.” It wasn’t a question. Jackrabbit knew she’d been avoiding her father and to be completely honest, he didn’t blame her one bit.
“You got to talk to him, Rabbit.”
“God no, are you fucking crazy? That man already wants to skin me alive!” Jackrabbit hissed as quietly as he could so that his words wouldn’t travel.
“He’s going to find out sooner or later about Rachael and the baby, and then it’s going to come out just who the father of that baby is.” Hatchet drawled slowly, giving Jackrabbit a serious look. “And what do you think he’ll do then? Congratulate you on a job well done? Or beat seven shades of shit out of you? Better just to grab the bull by the horns.”
“Grab the bull by the horns? More like an antelope wrestling an old pissed off lion.” Jackrabbit muttered under his breath, thinking of the hard as nails sheriff. That man didn’t suffer fools lightly. To be honest, he didn’t suffer anyone lightly.
Hatchet was quiet for a moment, gazing at his wife in the other room. He was silent for so long Jackrabbit thought he was done lecturing him for the day but no such luck. After a minute, his friend spoke again.
“Just get it over with, Rabbit. It’ll go better for you, believe me. That man is intimidating as hell, but he’s fair. Just tell him the truth and don’t try and bullshit.” Hatchet sent him another small grin. “Believe me; I’ve got some experience dealing with hard-headed father in laws.”
“He’s not my god damned father in law.” Jackrabbit mumbled under his breath.
“Not yet, anyway.” Hatchet said another muffled laugh that had Jackrabbit balling his fingers into a fist.
“Not ever. You know, just because you were unfortunate to have to suffer through wedded bliss doesn’t mean we’re all fated to the same torture.”
Hatchet just laughed again, shaking his head as he sent goo-goo eyes to his beloved Elsie. The whole damn thing made Jackrabbit want to gag. Or maybe that was just the knowledge that sat in his stomach like a lead weight. The knowledge that Hatchet was right. Damn him. He was right.
***
Jackrabbit stared at the front door of the police station. He’d been sitting on his parked bike for the last twenty minutes wondering what the fuck he was doing. Never in a million years would he have ever thought he’d voluntarily walk into the sheriff’s office and he knew there was a fifty-fifty chance Sheriff Donohue would immediately cuff him, throw him in a jail cell, and never let him out again before he could even get a word out.
It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, taking that first step towards the front door. But he knew Hatchet was right. He had to face Rachael’s father sometime and rather sooner than later. You sure about that? Personally, I’d be happy with never.
Jackrabbit hitched his shoulders as if readying for a fight. If he was honest with himself, he agreed with that inner voice but he knew it wouldn’t do him any good in the end. Furthermore, it certainly wouldn’t do Rachael any good. He just needed to man up and face this thing head on.
With a deep breath that all but stalled in his lungs, Jackrabbit wiped his palms on the sides of his jeans before he threw open the door and stomping inside. Several officers turned to look at him, their surprise registering as they recognized him. He was no stranger to the Mayville police station, unfortunately for him. It only made what he had to do that much harder but he didn’t stop and he didn’t slow down as he made his way to the glass door that had Sheriff Donohue’s name painted across it in chipped block letters.
It took him another five minutes to force his hand into a fist, raise it to the glass pane, and knock three times. On the third he heard the sheriff’s brusque voice call out in answer.
“What is it?”
Jackrabbit stood there for a long moment, not exactly sure what to say. He was still thinking in silence with the sheriff called out again.
“Well, don’t just stand there twiddling your thumbs. Open the damn door and tell me what you want!”
With one more deep breath that he prayed wouldn’t be his last, Jackrabbit grasped the handle, pulled the door open, and quickly closed it behind him. The last thing he wanted was some nosy deputy eavesdropping on this particular conversation.
“Now, Tanner, what the hell do you need that you had to knock on the door—” Sheriff Donohue stopped mid-sentence when he looked up from the paperwork on his desk only to see Jackrabbit standing there, shifting awkwardly from one foot the other. He slowly rose to his feet, walked around his desk and leaned one hip against the front edge, staring the whole time.
“You.” The sheriff spat as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Jackrabbit grimaced before taking a few tentative steps forward. “I, uh, well… I don’t know how to say this.” Jackrabbit started, stumbling over his words. He didn’t think he’d be quite this nervous since… well, since he couldn’t remember when.
“Just spit it out.” Sheriff Donohue growled, “Some people got real work to do, not stealing other people’s property and causing trouble.”
Jackrabbit grit his teeth against the sarcastic reply he wanted to shoot back. But he was pretty sure calling the man a pretentious old bastard wouldn’t help him out any with what he needed to do next.
“Liste
n, I don’t know how to say so I’m just going to come out and say it, alright?” Jackrabbit paused and steeled himself. “Rachael is pregnant and I’m the father.”
Fireworks and pain exploded behind his right eye and he went reeling back as Sheriff Donohue’s fist connected hard and sure against his face.
“God damn it!” Jackrabbit bit out, holding his head in his hands as he tried to fight back the sudden stinging nausea and stop his world from spinning. It was a few long moments before he could blink open his watering eyes but even then, the sharp pain had him squinting a glare at the man who had just sucker punched him.
“You deserved that.” Donohue said, his voice edged part in anger, and part in resignation. He walked slowly back around his desk, opened the drawer, and pulled out a bottle of whisky.
