by Tyla Walker
‘And he’s taking care of me, too.’
“You should go back home and be with her,” I say. “Andrew won’t come back tonight.”
“Ma’s staying in the hospital tonight,” Hank says. His hand finds my hip and he pulls me in closer between his legs. “And I don’t want you to be alone.”
I lean into him and rest my face in his neck. I breathe in and smell his sweat and the tang of barbecue and smoke.
“Thank you,” I whisper. I can’t help kissing below his ear.
“You’re welcome,” he murmurs, his eyes still closed. I slowly kiss up and down his neck, sometimes trailing my tongue ever so gently along his skin. My right hand finds the back of his neck and moves into his hair. He tries to move the ice from his face so he can kiss me.
“Uh-uh,” I scold. “You have to stay still.”
Hank listens and sits back with a small smile. I reward him with a gentle kiss on his mouth. He presses back hungrily, but I pull away out of his reach. He’s getting the picture now, and he relaxes. Or at least, most of him does. I can feel heat from between his legs, and I press into him further to find him growing hard.
I dip down to kiss him and gently coax his mouth open. I slide my tongue between his lips and feel his tongue pressing back. We’re lost in this for a few moments, and I close my eyes, feeling my body grow warm and eager for him. Though Hank’s right arm is sore, his left is unhurt, and he slides it up my side and over my breast.
“Hey, no moving,” I say, but Hank ignores me. He knows how much I enjoy this. He’s rubbing his thumb against my nipple, feeling it harden through the fabric of my shirt.
“Just a little moving,” Hank whispers. I’m still holding the ice against his face, but with each tweak of my nipple I let it fall to the table behind us. I can feel how wet I’m getting, and unless I want Hank splayed out on the table behind me, I need to cool things down. I pull away and see hunger in his eyes.
“Feeling any better?” I ask.
“Definitely feeling something,” Hank says, and he drops his hand to my ass to press me into his hardness. I gasp and grind against him.
“Will you take me home?” Hank asks, his voice deep and full of longing.
“I was thinking of pushing you onto this table and taking you here,” I say. Hank almost growls as he kisses me.
“If I didn’t have a bum arm right now I would rip all these clothes off,” Hank says.
“Maybe I can do the taking off tonight,” I say, and Hank seems all too happy with this suggestion. I step away from him then. We both need to cool down.
To distract us I gently ease his jacket off his right shoulder and lift up the sleeve of his T-shirt. A nasty slash of yellow, purple, and red crosses his upper arm. Hank winces as I gently put a finger to it.
“Ouch,” I say. “I’ll drive. We can take your truck, and I’ll get a cab back here in the morning.” Hank is about to protest, but I continue, “You should have your car. In case you need to see your Ma.”
“She already likes you, you know,” Hank says as I help him put his arm back in the sleeve of his jacket.
“Your Ma?” I ask. Hank’s mom used to come to the Smokehouse with her husband. I always remember her saying hello to all the staff. And she never failed to announce that it was the best barbecue in all of Texas. “I like her too.”
Hank and I lock up the back door and head to the parking lot. We’ve cooled down from our make-out session inside, but we can’t seem to stop touching each other. Hank has his hand in the back pocket of my jeans like we’re horny teenagers.
“I think we should go to the police about Andrew,” Hank says. I stop and look up. The sky is dark and there’s a cool breeze breaking up the humid night.
“Maybe,” I say. It’s true Andrew is escalating. “I just can’t help thinking they’ll side with Andrew,” I say. “What if they decide...that Nathan should go live with him permanently?”
It’s hard to say this out loud. This is what’s been keeping me up at night. It’s what I’ve been terrified of ever since Andrew showed up again.
Hank wraps his good arm around my shoulders and gives me a gentle hug.
“They won’t, Cindy. This whole town knows what a dedicated mother you are. They won’t take him away.”
I breathe in deeply and try to stop the tears that are threatening.
“Thank you,” I say. “I hope not.” Hank’s confidence is comforting, but he doesn’t know Andrew as well as I do. When Andrew sets his mind to something there’s little that can stop him.
“Uh-oh,” Hank stops and stares at his truck. “We have a problem.”
“What?” I ask. I can’t deal with anything else going wrong tonight.
“My truck’s a stick shift.”
I look up and roll my eyes at him.
“I grew up in Texas, Hank. I know how to drive stick.”
“Is it weird that that turns me on?” He asks.
“It might be weird if it didn’t,” I say. I grab the keys from his pocket, climb into his truck, and let Hank guide me to his apartment.
Twenty-Three
Hank
“It ain’t fancy,” I say as I step out of the truck, “but I’m fond of it.” I’m holding my breath a little. I really think this woman could be the one, but when someone sees how you live for the first time, their reaction can tell you a lot about your future with them. I love my cabin. I want Cindy to love it too.
Of course, she’s not even looking at the cabin. She’s staring at Francis.
“Did you bring that smoker with you from Kansas?”
I kick the dirt a little.
“Yeah,” I say. “It might seem goofy, but she won me a lot of competitions back in the day, so I hitched her up when I had to move.” She turns that million dollar smile on me.
“Baby, you know I don’t think there’s a damn thing that’s goofy about good Bar-B-Que,” she purrs. “You should definitely know that about me by now.”
I wrap my hand around her hip and pull her to me.
“Course I do, Boss.” She laughs and touches my face.
“How you feeling?”
“With you in my arms I don’t feel a lick of pain,” I say. I bend down and kiss her long and slow. My chest tightens and my cock starts to grow.
“Let’s go inside.”
It used to be a hunting cabin, before the nearby lake got drained and drove away the game. I got it for cheap and winterized it a few months ago. Everything about it is simple and clean. I could have gotten a regular apartment in town, but here I wake up every morning to a riot of birdsong and fresh coffee with the trees. I open the front door and she gasps a little.
“Damn Hank, nice view.”
I laugh. The back of the cabin is all windows. The view is just about my only decoration, but it’s old forest full of Texas Ash and Red Oak. No poster that could match it in my opinion. I’ve got flowers on my little table and a rag rug my Nana made almost a hundred years ago. I don’t need much else.
“I know it’s kinda spare,” I say.
“It’s perfect,” she says. “But I’m not here for the house tour.”
And with that she pushes me up against the front door, her hand sliding between my legs and her teeth finding my nipple through my shirt. She bites down just right and my skin catches fire. I slide my hands around her perfect ass and lift her onto my hips. I’m hard as a rock now and I want her to know it.
She grips me with her full thighs, pressing her mound against my jeans. Our mouths find each other and she kisses me with her whole body. My arm complains with pain, but I don’t feel anything but my desire. I carry her up the stairs to the loft and throw her onto my wide bed.
She laughs. It’s full and deep. I think about hearing that laugh every day and my chest tightens a little. Am I already in love? The moon catches the hollow between her shoulder and her neck. It gleams for a moment like a pool of black opal, like the moon wants to possess her as much as I do and my desire takes back ove
r.
She braces herself up on her elbows.
“What are you looking at big guy?”
“I’m looking at a woman who definitely needs to be naked in this bed,” I say and pull off her boots. I trace my tongue up her thigh and she’s pulling her shirt over her head. I bend down to the gentle swell of her belly and kiss down to the top of her panties. She’s breathing hard now rocking her hips just a tiny bit.
I stand to pull off my shirt and her eager hands are already at my belt buckle. She pulls it all the way out and flings it across the loft. My boots and pants are on the floor and her warm hand is working my cock as it presses against my shorts. She runs her hand between my legs and pulls my balls forward just as her mouth finds my head.
“No no, ladies first,” I say as she slips down my shorts. That million dollar smile again. I climb onto the bed with her and slip off her bra in a quick twist, freeing her incredible breasts. They are full and firm, her brown nipples hard and dark as a Daisy’s eye. I take one in my mouth and kiss down as she wriggles out of her panties.
She is so wet and ready. Damn I am too, but I just have to taste her first. I find her clit and suck gently, working my tongue around the sensitive edges. My thumb curls inside her and presses forward. Now she’s moving with me, her rhythm telling me what she wants.
She arcs her back higher and I press my finger against her asshole just a little. I can feel her getting hot and tight. I press my fingers deeper and grab her ass cheek hard with my free hand. She has my hair tight in her grip and her cries are so animal and wild I am suddenly extra grateful I don’t have close neighbors.
She pulses with orgasm, curling her body up around my head. I move up to take her nipple in my mouth again and she whispers in my ear.
“I need you to fuck me so hard right now. “
Happy to oblige. I slip my cock in and her lips grab me like our bodies have waited our whole lives to be together. I start moving in her. I can feel her clit pressing against me again.
“God damn, Hank,” she cries. “I’m gonna come again.” I wrap my hand under her thigh and pull her hips fully into me. Now I’m filing her with my full self, rocking with her. Her arms grip me and we’re slamming the head board hard. Damn I’m close. I don’t want this to end, but I want the sweet release. My balls are tight and I can feel my body cresting. She grabs my head and we are locked in each other’s gaze.
“Come with me, Hank,” She whispers. She arcs back and I can feel her pulsing around me. That’s it. I thrust with all my power and explode into her. It feels like we are locked together for hours. For a moment I can’t tell where her body ends and mine begins.
Her moans recede and suddenly she’s laughing. I pull back a bit and she kisses me again, full, and deep, and rich with promise.
“Oh baby,” she giggles. “I have not ever come like that before. I think you may have fucked a couple of brain cells right out of my head.”
Love and happiness wash over me. What I felt was true. There is something extraordinary here. I lay down and wrap my body against her naked back. I pull her against me so that we are connected from our heads to our toes.
“They’ll grow back,” I say, “I promise.”
She weaves her hands into mine.
“If they don’t, baby it was worth it.”
You’re worth it. I think, breathing in the scent of her neck. You’re worth everything.
I can feel us both drifting into sleep. I smile, imagining her waking up in my bedroom, sharing the morning birdsong, but I feel her stiffening against sleep.
“Baby, you’re amazing,” she says, “and you know I want to stay here and do this again, but I’ve got to get home to Nate.” She gets up and starts getting dressed.
I sit up, looking for my pants.
“No,” she says, “you don’t have to. I’ll call a car. You must be tired.”
I stand up and take her, half dressed, into my arms.
“I’m not ready for this to end,” I say. “If all I get is the extra twenty minutes of driving you home, then I’ll take it. There is no way I’m going to lie here in my bed while some stranger takes my woman home. No way.”
She smiles. She would never have asked me, but I can see she’s happy I want to drive her. More than that, I want to stay with her, I want her to stay, I want to wake up to her and pay bills with her and make a life with her.
God damn. I am in it deep – but how could I not be? She’s strong as hell, she’s as gorgeous as the night sky and she’s as true as an arrow. She’s been through so much, but she still full of joy. I’ve had my own share of heart break over the years. I had given up on love, on finding the one, but damn. Here I am.
She bounds down the stairs and gathers her things. I know she wants to get home so I’m rushing to finish dressing.
“I’m sure you look great baby.” She calls impatiently up the stairs.
“Only if my pants don’t fall down,” I say. “Some seductive succubus done come in here and fucked my belt right into another dimension, cause I’ll be damned if I can find it.”
She laughs.
“It’s down here. I believe that outrageous succubus was so excited about getting at your cock she managed to throw it right out of the loft.”
I’m at the door. She hands me my belt and we step out into the sweet night air.
Twenty-Four
Cindy
I never really thought about puzzles.
It is an odd thought, but as I lie in Hank’s arms it feels right. I couldn’t bear to sleep alone - not anymore. Hank had heartily agreed.
We are two perfect puzzle pieces.
He breathes deeply into my neck, his torso pressed against me, our legs perfectly entwined, his strong arms circling me in warmth.
“I wish I could just disappear into you,” he mumbles, sleep still heavy in his voice.
“Yeah? How come?” I ask.
“Because I know I’ll never find anyone just like you.”
There it is. Something so simple and yet so right.
“And I….you.” I say, lamely. I don’t want to ruin this moment, so delicate and yet so real.
“Oh yeah?” He pauses. "Why’s that?”
Suddenly, like a puppy, he nuzzles even more into me, the stubble of his beard creating delicious scrapes across my skin. I feel a small spark in my belly but push it down. I want, just for this moment, my head to be clear.
“Because you…are one big contradiction. Strong and wild, but gentle and kind. And you’re not….him.”
Why bring HIM up?
There’s just a hair’s breath of a pause. I blew it.
“And I can cook.”
I burst into laughter.
“Yes, you can cook. Men who cook are sexy as hell.”
He hums appreciatively, the muscles of his arms tensing around me.
“What can I say? I’m a modern man.”
In a flash, the arm under me comes to life, deftly flipping me over to face him. I squeal in delight as I fall into a heap on my other side, my curls falling in all directions. He pulls me in for a kiss, long and warm and celebratory.
Just as suddenly, however, he pushes me away. His brown eyes lock into mine. He’s assessing me. It’s not harsh. It’s not probing. It’s the look of someone who cannot quite believe what he’s looking at. There’s a sense of wonder to it.
“How did I get so lucky?”
“Mmmmm?”
I don’t trust myself to say more.
“If someone told me a few months ago I’d be buck naked next to a goddess with skin like silk, a brain like a machine, AND she could drive stick? I would have laughed you out of town. You amaze me, Cindy Washington.”
Damn.
“And you amaze me….Hank Kingford.” I’ve got to get better at this!
He smiles. It’s crooked and sassy.
“Well, we make an amazing pair…what say we celebrate that a little more?”
His eyes hood themselves ever so slightly as h
e leans in for another embrace. My body, eager for his warmth, inches forward, I curve my neck to bring my mouth to his, my eyes close…and…
The sound of my alarm clock snaps me back to reality.
* * *
I was only supposed to have stolen an extra twenty minutes with him last night. After leaving his cabin, we had climbed into his truck, my hand never leaving the top of his thigh. I was finding all sorts of ways to massage that thigh through his thick denim jeans. I was surprised I didn’t wear a hole in the fabric.
But of course, saying goodbye at my doorstep quickly became very inconvenient. Why waste a perfectly good bed if there was one so close? I had justified to myself. Clearly, that didn’t happen.
Now, in my scramble to silence the irritating blare, I panic. The alarm means we are home, in my bed, with Nathan just down the hall.
I fly out of bed, hoping this is a day that Nathan sleeps in and I can sneak Hank out the front door. I start grabbing sweatpants, a shirt, anything to make me turn into Mom as quickly as possible.
“Where’d my damn bra go?” I continue scrambling through the sheets and piles of clothes strewn about the floor.
Suddenly, there’s a touch on my arm.
“Babe. Babe. It’s all right. It’s ok.”
“No, it’s not! It’s too soon for him. With all that’s going on….and his dad coming back….”
“Nate’s a good kid. He gets it.”
“I don’t know if this is the right time…”
“Sorry, I got it wrong. Nate’s an amazing kid. Like his mom. He gets it.”
The touch on my hand turns into a squeeze. I stop my frenzy and look at Hank. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed with his hand on my arm, his hair in every direction. But he’s calm and assured and everything in his face tells me it’s going to be all right.
We decide we’re not going to sneak around like teenagers. If Nathan is still asleep, then Hank will leave. But if not, we’re going to face whatever the day brings us.
