Our missed Friday dinner had been rescheduled for today.
They’d gone to church, and I’d met them back at Lolita and Sol’s new place in the city.
Sol was Nico’s father and the spitting image of Nico. Nico, surprisingly, had gray hair when Sol didn’t, not that I’d remind him of that fact.
Sol’s face was much more weathered from being out in the sun day in and day out for the previous forty-five years. He was a third-generation farmer. I’d heard he’d been upset when none of his children had expressed a desire to continue with the family business, but he wasn’t bitter about it. He loved his children fiercely, even though he denied their legitimacy every chance he got.
Apparently, they acted bad and embarrassed him. Which I couldn’t deny. They did. Whenever they could, just because it drove Sol insane.
Me, however, he loved.
Which he proved moments later when he gathered me up in a bear hug.
Sol was smaller than Nico as well. More of a whipcord body type rather than bulky. He also talked. A lot.
“Oh, hija, how I’ve missed you!” Sol crowed.
I giggled and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“Hi, Daddy Sol. How are you?” I asked. “I see that you still look just as young and vibrant now as you did eight years ago.”
He winked. “So you’ve decided to come home. I’ve been waiting forever to see you again. You owe me a race.”
Lolita rolled her eyes and started a diatribe in Spanish that I didn’t even try to interpret. The woman could talk about a million miles an hour.
“I’ll see what I can do about the race. I’m not promising anything, though. I haven’t been on the back of a horse in over eight years. Nautica will have to be gentle with me later this week when I finally take her out for a ride,” I whispered.
He looked at me solemnly. “You’re okay, though?”
I nodded. “I’m okay. I promise.”
His eyes scanned my face for the longest time, but he must’ve found what he was looking for because he let me go, setting me gently down on my feet.
“Alright, Lolita, let’s eat,” Sol demanded.
Lolita shook her head. “Nicolas isn’t here yet.”
“Nicolas obviously isn’t hungry. He knows what time we eat lunch. Besides, he didn’t come for mass. He doesn’t deserve lunch,” Sol informed her.
A snort from behind us had us all turning to see Nico strolling up the front walk.
He was dressed in his Sunday’s finest.
Black form-fitting slacks, a black leather belt, a royal blue button-down shirt, and a blue and white striped tie.
He looked edible.
I’d always admired him when he got dressed up.
Then he’d been merely handsome. Now, he was captivating.
He grinned at me, then stopped to give his mother a kiss.
He repeated the process with me, except instead of a kiss on the cheek, he gave me a soft, lingering kiss on the mouth.
“Afternoon, niña.” He grinned.
“Hey,” I breathed out.
He leaned down and gave me another kiss on the nose before holding the door open for all of us to walk inside.
His parents were both frozen, staring at us in shock.
I was frozen, too. Though, only because I couldn’t seem to make my legs work.
Nico chuckled and pulled my arm.
I became freed, mostly because I didn’t want to fall on my face. Although, he wouldn’t have let me fall.
He never had and never would.
I heard both of Nico’s parents speaking ninety miles an hour to each other in Spanish, and I couldn’t interpret what they were saying. I was fairly good at the language when they went slow, but at the pace they were setting, only the most fluent could understand.
Which obviously Nico was, because he had a killer smile on his face.
“What are they saying?” I asked.
It came out huskily. Breathily.
“They’re saying something about babies in the future,” Nico grinned.
My mouth opened and shut like a guppy searching for food on the top of a pond.
“W-wh-what?” I asked.
He didn’t answer, but I distinctly heard the word percado. Mainly because Lolita had shrieked it, and I’d heard it all the way in the kitchen.
And I knew what percado meant. Sin.
Oh, dear.
We entered the kitchen, and every one of the Pena children, adults and teenagers alike, were all staring rapturously out the window speaking a million miles an hour to each other.
This, at least, I could understand.
They used English.
Nikki was sitting on top of the counter, trying valiantly to see outside.
Nikki looked like a younger version of her mother.
Her hair was shorter, though, cut right above her chin in a stylish bob. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and had what I suspected was a flour handprint on her ass.
There were six kids in the Pena bunch. Nicolas, Nikki, Natalie, Noel, Nova, and Nina. Nina was the youngest at a little over sixteen. Nicolas the oldest at thirty-one.
Sol liked to say he was lucky that he got his boy first, because if the girls had come first, he’d have been too crazy to raise Nico to be a real man.
“What are y’all doing?” Nico asked loudly.
All five girls shrieked in surprise.
Nico grinned.
Then I was pulled into a hug that was both humbling and perfect.
I’d missed these ladies.
Like crazy.
“Oh, my God, Nina! You’re taller than me!” I squealed.
Nina laughed, reminding me of Nikki at that age. She was beautiful, and I bet her big brother wasn’t too happy with how she’d attract the eye of any man. He’d have to be oblivious not to see these ladies’ beauty.
“Oh, you’re exactly the same,” Nina replied.
Our little huddle was pushed over, and we all tippy-toe walked to the side as Nico pushed by us so he could get to the refrigerator.
He reached inside and withdrew a beer, walking over to the bar at the side of the kitchen and sat down. He’d grabbed the TV remote off the counter and turned on what looked to be Sports Center.
What a surprise!
Not.
It was either that or a soccer game. I guess we were lucky.
“I can’t believe he kissed you. What the hell, ho?” Nikki whispered quietly.
Well, whispered was a relative term. She said it more in a normal voice, but the high-pitch tone of it brought everyone’s attention in the room.
Nico and his parents alike.
Lolita joined our hug, fitting herself in between the counter and the fridge door. “Oh, niña. I’m glad you’ve finally come home.”
“Me too, Lolita,” I whispered fervently, laying my head down until it rested on Nova’s shoulder.
Nova laid her cheek against my head, and we all shed a few tears.
It felt good to be home.
“Did you and my brother have any hot sex yet? I always knew you liked him, you know,” Nikki whispered in my ear.
Jesus, the girl always spoke what was on her mind. I swear she didn’t have any filter.
“Nikki,” I said, looking into her beautiful brown eyes. “Do you remember that time when you told that huge man at the corner store that he needed to take a shower because he smelled like ass?”
Her eyes twinkled. “Yes.”
Nico snorted, remembering the story well.
He’d been on leave from the army that time as well. He’d just finished basic training and was home for a week before he was expected to go back.
We’d been on the way to the lake and he’d been pumping gas at the time while we’d gone inside for snacks.
It all started out innocently, of course, like it always did with Nikki.
&
nbsp; I’d gone to the bathroom and had to wait in line while Nikki had chosen our snacks.
When I’d waited a really long time, I finally got the nerve to ask if everything was all right from the woman in the stall.
She’d said that she was fairly sure she was having a miscarriage, and that her husband was outside and to please ask him to come in there.
I’d run out only to find the man in question putting the moves on Nikki.
Nikki had thought it was funny, because Nikki had particular tastes.
She didn’t like anyone who wasn’t a ‘bad boy’, so to speak. This man was about as uptight as you would expect any country club boy to be, so it’d struck me as odd at the time that she was even giving him the time of day.
But, of course, Nikki was a bitch at times, and liked to play tricks on her brother; she liked to lead young, unsuspecting men on, telling them wild stories about her brother, until they’d then try to defend her honor.
Only this time the man’s woman was in the bathroom having a miscarriage, and she wasn’t dealing with an ‘unsuspecting man’ but a real asshole who didn’t care that his wife was in there having a miscarriage. Only that he had a sexy woman willing to give him the time of day.
I’d told the man about his wife, but he hadn’t cared. Nikki had, though, and had let him know what kind of ‘piece of cow shit’ he was. It’d escalated and turned into a screaming match where they’d both gotten nearly violent.
I’d called an ambulance and had opened the door to the convenience store to gesture to Nico that shit was going down.
He’d looked at the sky like he was in pain and had then proceeded to beat the shit out of the guy because the man had put his hands on his sister.
It’d gone downhill from there, and needless to say, we never made it to the lake, and it’d all been because Nikki had a big fat mouth with no filter.
You’d think that eight years would have given her a little more control, but alas, it hadn’t. In fact, I was fairly sure she was worse.
“You really need to learn control, my best friend. One day that no-filter-thing is going to come back and bite you on the ass.” I shook my head.
Her eyes lit, but it was Nico’s voice that had me turning in my huddle.
“Michael likes to say the same thing all the time. The two of them fight like cats and dogs,” Nico muttered as he took a sip of his beer.
“Gooooooaaaaal!!” Sol yelled loudly. “Did you see that shit?”
The question was asked to no one in particular, and we all watched as he stood and moved closer to the TV. “You pussy get off the ground!”
Like I said. Things never changed.
Which made me happy.
“So, what’s for lunch?” I asked, eyes bright.
Lolita opened the oven and removed what looked like a year’s worth of tamales, and I groaned. I hadn’t had a good tamale in forever.
Twenty minutes later, I was on my third glass of milk and my fourth tamale.
“These are burning my lips,” I mumbled, tearing open another husk and revealing the delicacy.
Nico shook his head. “You know, even I can’t eat her hot ones for long. That’s going to come and bite you in the ass later.”
Didn’t I know it?
It’d probably torture me for hours later. Spicy food always gave me a raging case of heartburn, but I’d deal with it since they tasted so damn good.
Lolita sold these once a week at the local farmer’s market. She even entered them in competitions around the state and had won blue ribbons.
“Michael can eat them,” Nikki said.
I was surprised by that but didn’t see the big deal that caused nearly everyone at the table to freeze.
“What?” I asked.
Nikki looked like she swallowed a bug.
“What?” I asked again, louder this time.
“Michael’s never had any of my hot tamales,” Lolita said with confusion.
Uh-oh.
“Lucy, you got some ‘splainin to do!” I teased.
The sisters cracked up with me as Nikki and Nico glared at me.
I held up my hands and proceeded to stuff my face with more tamales.
I couldn’t wait to know more about this Michael and Nikki story!
I could also tell that Nikki didn’t want to have anything to do with the talk that was going to come. She kept giving me covert glances, and when she’d catch my eyes on her, she’d look down again.
Oh, she was going to talk. Even if I had to torture the information out of her.
***
“Who’s ready for dessert?” Lolita asked a few hours later.
I moaned, not able to think about dessert.
I’d had so much food that I’d have to roll myself home.
“Oh, my God. I think I ate so many tamales I might very well blow up. This heartburn is going to be a bitch later. But it was so good to have those again,” I gushed to Lolita.
Lolita grinned at me. “You’ll be happy to know that I made extra for you,” she said.
I blew her a kiss. “You’re the best woman in the world.”
She smiled sadly.
That hadn’t been true when my mother had been alive, and she knew that. My mother had been the best.
I remembered the way my mother used to bake bread every other day. She used to sell it at the local butcher shop in town. She made so much that it took up nearly her entire day.
She used to love to bake, and I used to help her when I wasn’t needed with the cattle.
At one point in time, my mother was my whole entire world, and although Lolita was a wonderful woman, my mother was better.
And being here, it reminded me of what I’d been trying to forget for the last eight years.
To get my mind off of my sorrow, I pushed down into my chair and groaned as I rubbed my hands over my belly. “Next time, I want enchiladas.”
I’d already unbuttoned my pants, which Nico had zeroed in on the moment I’d done it.
“You could…” Lolita started.
“No, Mom. Georgia and I are going out tonight. Can’t stay much longer or we won’t make it on time,” Nico said, standing.
He moved quickly, totally disregarding his mother’s disapproving look.
“But…” Lolita said, but he was already pulling me to my feet and throwing my bag at me.
I caught it with a small oomph and started walking with him. Mostly because he was dragging me again. He seemed to like doing that.
“But…” Lolita tried again.
However, he was already giving her a peck on the cheek and strolling out the door before I’d even had the chance to say goodbye.
“Oh, my God, Nico. What the hell?” I asked, glaring at his back.
He didn’t answer. Not that I expected him to.
“I drove here,” I said as he opened the passenger side door of his truck.
“We’ll get it later,” he muttered, picking me up when I refused to get in.
I squeaked as his palms went to my hips and he set me down on the seat without the least bit of effort.
“But my car’s behind theirs,” I yelped when he started to slam the door.
I swung my legs inside just in time for him to close it.
He walked around the truck quickly, eyes blank. Jaw hard.
“Nico…” I trailed off when he looked at me.
It allowed no room for argument.
Was he mad at me?
“Are you mad at me?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
In fact, he didn’t answer at all until he was pulling into his driveway twenty minutes later.
Well… answer wasn’t really the right word for it, per se.
When I released my seatbelt and turned to look at him, it was to find him staring at me.
Without another word said, he reached for me, dragging me bodily over the center console and slamming his lips do
wn onto mine.
I gasped at the sudden movement, melting into him willingly.
Once his tongue hit mine, I lost all sense of self.
All that was left was him and my infatuation with him.
He tasted just as good as he had all those years ago. The day before my life changed forever.
When his mouth finally disengaged from mine, I was gasping and panting. My chest heaved in excitement, and I must’ve looked rough because he looked exceptionally pleased with himself.
“I’m tired,” he said roughly.
I blinked. “Tired of what?”
His hand went down the length of my leg, then back up.
When his hands met the waistband of my pants, instead of going over it, he went under it, tunneling down.
My synapses started to fire rapidly.
His fingers felt like fire as they found their way down between my legs, coming to a rest at the edge of my panties.
His brown eyes looked molten as he stared into my eyes.
When he raised his eyes in question, I knew this was about to change our lives.
I knew the consequences.
I knew what could happen.
And I wanted every single fucking thing he could give me.
Every one of them.
I wanted him.
I wanted him as my husband.
I wanted him as the father of my children.
We’d been denying it too long.
We’d been together since the night he nearly took my virginity.
We’d waited only because we wanted to be married first.
Then that had happened, that one single horrible fucking night.
He waited for me to finish. To make sure my family was okay before he pursued me.
Given me the time I needed.
Now, though, that time was up, and he was letting me know it.
He was giving me the choice now, whether or not to take this to where we both knew it’d lead.
A place that promised me everything.
In answer, I slipped my hands down to my pants and started tugging them off.
Chapter 8
Lips, tits, and ass.
-Nico’s favorite features
Nico
She slipped the button of her pants through the hole, and I watched in fascination as she started slipping them off her legs.
Code 11- KPD SWAT Box Set Page 27