by Aliyah Burke
Jasira kept up with him, legs tight around his waist, nails digging into the flesh of his back. Her muscles tightened, and Stone felt a response deep within him. He kissed Jasira, sliding his tongue into her mouth with the same intensity as he thrust within her. She came hard, arching into him. Her locked grip catapulted him off the cliff and after two more pumps Stone came deep within her.
She shuddered again. Heart pounding, Stone sagged down, rolling at the last second to land beside her. Drawing her close, he covered them with part of the blanket and brushed his lips along her temple. The silence wasn’t awkward, it was comfortable. Contentment surrounding him, Stone gave in to the exhaustion racing up on him. Before he fell asleep his final thought echoed through his head.
I didn’t use a condom.
* * * *
We didn’t use protection. Jasira groaned and ran a hand down her wet face. The heat from the shower spray wasn’t relaxing her like it normally did. Not that she regretted sleeping with him for she didn’t. Not at all.
Oh no. That was good. So good.
Stone had made her body sing and she still wanted more. Just with a condom this time. A baby was not something in her plans. Bracing her hands on the warm tile, she dropped her head and stood there under the powerful spray. Her mind wouldn’t stop creating scenarios that had her pregnant.
“I’m not. It was only once.”
One wonderful, spine-bending experience. She groaned again and shut off the water before getting out. There was a thick robe and a towel waiting for her. Jasira smiled lightly and slipped it on, using the towel to wrap around her hair. With a deep breath, she pulled open the door and walked back into Stone’s bedroom.
A low platform bed sat along one wall. The colors of his room were masculine—mocha and white. Simple and yet elegantly comforting. The furniture was unadorned, and the room was uncluttered. Two of the walls had large windows overlooking his property.
He’s pretty squared away for a civvie.
Jasira walked to the window overlooking the barn. In the lone light she could see snow actually accumulating on the ground. Leaning against the wall, she stared at the large flakes that fell. Her mind raced over her time with Red Eagle. And what he he’d given her. Her hands shook slightly just thinking about it.
“Jasira?”
Turning her head, she smiled at Stone as he entered the room. “Hey.” Butterflies set up in her belly, suddenly unsure of what she should say.
Stone never hesitated. Just strode across the room in nothing but his jeans and drew her into his arms for another one of his spine-tingling, toe-curling kisses. He nibbled her lower lip before running his tongue along the seam of her lips and slipping inside. His kiss was thorough yet gentle.
Pulling back, he brushed a light peck on the tip of her nose. “Are you hungry?”
“A bit,” she confessed.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Just a bit? You only worked enough for only a little bit of hunger?”
Masculine arrogance. Jasira chuckled. “Okay, a lot.”
“I have soup and sandwiches ready downstairs.”
“Oh sounds wonderful. Just let me get dressed—”
“You can eat in that,” he interrupted.
Jasira glanced down, embarrassed by his blatant perusal of her.
“I want you to stay the night, Jasira,” he admitted, pulling her closer with the lapels of the robe. “Will you stay?”
Forever. “Yes,” she whispered.
His eyes burned with passion as he smiled, showcasing that enticing and sexy dimple. Taking her hand, he led them downstairs where two bowls of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches were set out before the fireplace.
“Looks good,” she said sinking to the rug.
“Yes, you do.”
Jasira smiled. They ate in silence until Stone cleared his throat. She looked at him, knowing he had a question.
“What did Red Eagle give you?” he queried.
“Something I need to think about a bit more.”
If he was disappointed with her explanation, it never showed on his face. Instead all she could see was understanding and another emotion she didn’t think she was quite ready to face. Jasira offered up no argument when he drew her to her feet and carried her back upstairs to his bedroom. Flames licked along her skin when he undid the sash keeping the robe closed. He looked at her, his eyes molten with the promise of passion.
“Wiwašteka,” he uttered.
That was a different word than he’d said before. “What did you say?” she asked softly.
He lay beside her. One hand propped up his head so he could stare at her. The other moved up and down her exposed body and Jasira who was normally shy didn’t even mind.
“I said you are a beautiful woman.” His deep voice roughened by desire dragged over her skin like crushed velvet.
She felt like it given the way he continually stared at her. Jasira trembled when his hand brushed over the curls between her legs and she whimpered when he slid two thick fingers inside her.
“Stone,” she gasped.
Leaning closer so their lips were millimeters apart, Stone moved his digits within her and whispered, “We have all night, waštelakapi. All night.”
It barely registered it was the word he’d called her during their previous days together. When it did compute, it didn’t stay long for she shattered to a million pieces as his thrusting fingers were combined with a mouth on one breast.
“Ahhh!” she screamed, grabbing the back of his head and holding him tight.
Before she’d even come down from her high, Stone was sliding deep into her, his hands under her shoulders as he stroked his length inside her. And just like that, the rest of the world ceased to exist. All that mattered was her and the man who had more than handed her a star. He was taking her on a tour of the galaxy.
* * * *
Jasira woke slowly. She opened her eyes and saw it was still dark. Memories of her and Stone flooded her. I’m still in his bed. With careful movements, she adjusted his arm from where it sat along her waist and slipped from the warm bed. She shivered with the loss of heat. In the bathroom, she found her clothes folded neatly on the top of his hamper.
She stared at her reflection. I look like a woman who got some and it was good. Jasira smiled at herself. I did. And it was good. Splashing some water on her face, Jasira tried to sort through everything. She quickly got dressed. Turning off the light, she then made her way quietly through the bedroom, ignoring the intense urge to crawl back in his bed and stay with him. After creeping downstairs, she shoved on her boots and grabbed her jacket before sneaking out the door to her vehicle.
The cold air shot straight through her, and she noticed about a half inch of snow build up on the ground and it still snowed. Should’ve listened to the forecast. She started her Pathfinder and made short work of clearing the snow off. One final look back at the house and Jasira slid behind the wheel. Moments later she was driving back toward Rapid City and further from the man whose bed she wanted to be in. For forever.
Once she made it home, showered, dressed, and fed, Jasira hurried off to the soup kitchen where she volunteered twice a month. It was near to noon when she got home. Sitting in the middle of her bed, Jasira stared at the wrapped object from Red Eagle. Biting her lower lip, she slowly opened it again. Hesitation filled her at the last piece of hide to lift. She did so and gulped.
On the tanned animal skin lay a medicine wheel about six inches in diameter. Each quarter of the wheel a different color. Red, white, yellow, and black. There were three items hanging from it. One from the middle of each colored section on the horizontal line, hung what looked like totems. The final item hung from the middle, which she had discovered the intersecting lines to be indicative of the center of the earth where one stands when praying. The horizontal and vertical lines were representative of sun and man’s sacred paths.
She looked at the totems first. One was a running wolf. The other was two bears. One crou
ched and one standing. The objects were lovingly carved from bone. It made her hands tremble. With a deep ragged breath, she reached for the item in the middle. The material appeared frayed and worn, but it was still identifiable. An old army patch. A swatch of blue fabric upon which sat the gold of a sergeant’s three stripes. But it was what was on the back that took her breath away. Stitched in gold thread were the words, “We Can; We Will.” Her fingers traced the words as she mouthed them, unable to formulate the breath to actually speak them.
We Can; We Will. The motto of the Ninth Cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers.
Tears gathered and fell as she held a part of her past. Her great-great grandfather, Sergeant Isaiah Graham under service to the Ninth Cavalry, had been detached to go to Wounded Knee with the Seventh. Grandpa Jamal had always told of how Isaiah had given his extra uniform shirt to a little Sioux child he’d refused to kill and helped get away.
Is this possible? That this truly is the patch from his uniform?
The phone rang and made her scream. Covering her eyes, Jasira struggled to regain control of her breathing then answered it. When she finished talking to her brother she folded up the hide around the medicine wheel and put it in the bottom of her jewelry box. Then she headed for the kitchen and turned on the oven to cook the pan of chicken enchiladas she had in the freezer. Gathering her hair up in a loose hold, she walked back to the kitchen in warm lounge clothes and thick socks. With her iPod in the docking station on shuffle she swayed to the music.
Jasira had just slid the pan in the oven when her doorbell chimed. Snagging a quick sip of tea, she went to the door after putting the mug down. Pulling it open, her breath escaped instantly, for standing there one arm braced on the doorframe was none other than Mr. Black Hawk.
He smelled like fresh crisp outdoor and masculinity. His jaw was set, those amazing eyes burned worried and slightly angry. Relaxed fit jeans, tight black shirt, and an unzipped black leather jacket completed his outfit.
“So,” he began before she could say a word, “I wake up in bed and the woman who I’d fallen asleep with in my arms is gone. Not just from the bed but totally gone. And I call and hear nothing until now? What gives, Jasira?” He stared at her.
Shame assuaged her. “I’m sorry, Stone. You were sleeping so soundly.” And I couldn’t run like a banshee if you were awake. “What are you doing here?”
His gaze softened slightly. “Baby, I’m a man smitten and a cop, where do you think I’d be? I wake up and you’re gone. It’s snowing, and this is the first I’ve managed to make sure you’re okay. Phones are a wonderful convenience, you know.”
“All I can say is I’m sorry. This was my morning to help out at the soup kitchen. I don’t have my phone on while I’m there. I must have forgotten to turn it back on.” The fact he drove here made her heart go all wonky.
“I was worried.” He paused, tilted his head, and looked at her with a furrow between his brows. “Are we okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine.” He reached out and cupped the back of her neck, drawing her to him for a kiss. A slow, drugging kiss that made her knees weak. “Oh my,” she murmured, her fingers curling into the smooth leather of his coat.
“May I come in?” he asked.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a few of her neighbors watching avidly. “Yes.”
Using one arm, he lifted her close and walked them in before shutting the door. “We need to talk.”
Reality. “I know. Come in and sit down. I have food in the oven; it’ll be ready in about an hour.”
Soon they were seated in the living room. She had Moroccan mint tea, and Stone had a cup of coffee. Jasira stared at the dark liquid in her HAZE GREY & UNDERWAY mug.
“You do know it’s not going to magically vanish if we avoid talking about it,” Stone said.
She lifted her head and met his gaze. There was nothing but seriousness in his stare. “I know.”
“I’m clean,” he stated bluntly. “And I’m sorry I didn’t use protection—”
“No. It’s not only on you. We were both there; I can’t put the blame all on you.” I don’t believe I’m sitting here discussing this like I’m talking about the weather. “And I’m clean too.”
She rubbed her eyes and took a drink. When she glanced up again, his eyes were fixated on her. Jasira almost lost her breath. It just wasn’t fair, the man was unbelievably sexy. Her gaze drifted over his physique, marveling at the way the fabric of his shirt clung to him. Not to mention his jeans.
“Jasira,” he said, bringing her eyes back to his.
“Yes?”
“Come here.”
One more sip and she got up to join him in the chair where he sat. Without hesitation, Jasira sat on his lap in the recliner and rested her head against his shoulder. His strong arms circled her, and his lips teased her forehead.
“You will tell me, right, Jasira?”
“I will,” she mumbled, again praying that what she would be telling him would be a negative.
“Okay.”
They remained like that until the timer beeped. She groaned and began to get up. His arms tightened, and she chuckled before kissing his jaw lightly.
“I don’t need the fire department knocking down my door because my kitchen’s on fire.”
“Fine,” he grumbled playfully.
Jasira got up and jumped when he smacked her lightly on the ass. “Hey now, I won’t feed you if you do that.”
He grabbed her around the waist and nibbled her ear. “I’m sorry,” he purred seductively.
She snorted. “Right.”
Jasira headed to the kitchen and soon they were eating around her round table. After they finished the meal they lay on the couch together. The fireplace offered up the only light in the room and soft R&B played. When she looked out her sliding glass door, Jasira could see the large flakes which still fell.
She was perfectly content. Her head rested upon his chest and his hand ran idly up and down her shoulder. When she yawned, Stone stirred.
“I should get going.”
Maneuvering so she could see his face, Jasira said simply, “Stay.”
His hand cradled the back of her head and pressed their mouths together. She sighed and sank into him, turning her body so she lay draped over him. Her skin tingled and heat pooled in her belly. When Stone carried her back to her bedroom, Jasira wanted him more than anything. And got her wish. More than once through the night.
Chapter Six
Stone barely listened to the couple arguing before him. His mind was firmly fixed upon Jasira’s memory and how it was with her in his arms. In his life.
“Sheriff Black Hawk, are you just going to stand there and say nothing? Shouldn’t you do your job?”
He lifted a brow and stared at the woman yelling. There must have been something in his gaze for she fell silent.
“I am doing my job. You two have been daily stops for me every single day for the past two weeks. You’re going to jail where you can think this over. Then you may think about separating. This is ridiculous. I have more important things to do than break up the same argument over and over again.”
“Wait. You can’t arrest us. I don’t want to go to jail,” Sheyla whined.
“Should have thought about that earlier.” He gestured to his deputy. “Take them and book them. I’ve got other things to handle.”
“You got it, Sheriff. Let’s go,” Deputy Jack Wolf said and loaded them in the back of his cruiser.
Stone groaned and removed his hat briefly to run his hand through his hair. Shaking his head, he plunked his hat back down upon it and stared into the wind and snow that whipped around. Even with his thick sheepskin and leather jacket, he still shivered from the bite that came on the winter air.
He climbed in to his vehicle and buckled himself in before spinning around and heading off to his next destination. That’s how the rest of the day went and he was tired and cranky when he pulled into the gas station to fill up. Darkness had f
allen and the snow had picked up in force. They would probably get a few inches, not enough to stop life out here but perhaps for those places further south it would bring life all to a halt. Jeep topped off, he strode into the small building and tipped his hat at the woman there.
“Dawn,” he said with a smile.
“Evening, Sheriff.”
He grabbed a cup of coffee and walked to the counter. “How are you?” he asked reaching for his wallet and pulling out some money.
“Cold.”
“I know the feeling. You have a great night, Dawn, and stay safe.”
“Bye, Sheriff.”
He waved as he headed back out into the cold. Still, there was a smile on his face when he got home. Tomorrow he had a day off and was looking forward to it. Only one thing could make it better and that would be if Jasira could be here with me. He’d already tried.
After putting his supper in the microwave, he ambled over to his answering machine and pressed the button. Most of the messages flowed in one ear and out the other right up until a sultry southern voice spilled from the box. Immediately he stood at attention, his body gravitating toward the sound as if on a string.
Jasira.
The message itself didn’t register. But by the time her voice faded from the air, he had his phone in hand and was calling her.
“Hello?”
“Hello, waštelakapi,” he said with a smile on his face.
“Stone.”
Leaning against the wall he closed his eyes. “You called?”
“I did. Did you even listen to the message?”
Stone ran his tongue over his teeth. “Sure.”
Her laughter reached him. “Oh, okay. So, that works for you then?”
He sighed. “Okay, busted. I didn’t get past hearing your voice. Tell me again.”
“What am I going to do with you?”
“I can think of lots of things, waštelakapi, for you to do with me.”