Promises Linger (Promise Series)

by Sarah McCarty

  He pulled back, depriving her of all sensation.

  “Asa!” It was a sob. A plea for mercy. She wiggled against him.

  “Hold on,” he ordered, pushing her hips down with his arm.

  He was not going to leave her like this!

  “No more teasing,” she demanded, struggling to renew contact with his body.

  “I’ve got something better if you’d just stop fighting me,” he growled.

  Something hard and warm brushed her starving pussy. Lightning streaked up her nerve endings. She twisted upwards. “Oh, yes!”

  “Jesus!” He sounded like he was laughing and moaning at the same time. His hands on her hips held her still. His fingers grazed that sensitive spot as he spread her, and then there was a delightful pressure against her openly weeping pussy.

  “Oh, yes,” she sighed again, closing her eyes against the sunlight, wanting to concentrate on the feeling of him against her. Hot. Hard. Huge and eager.

  “Put your arms around me.” The order was a harsh imitation of sound.

  She obeyed immediately. He reached between their bodies. His fingers took over where his tongue had left off, gliding over her clit, circling, teasing. It was too much. Her whole body exploded and then re-centered on that one central point of bliss. She sobbed, the pleasure was so beautiful, and over and over her body spasmed. Each throb had her whole concentration until the last one dropped off. So caught up in her bliss, she barely noticed the pain as Asa breached her pussy with the wide head of his cock.

  She opened her eyes. “That was heavenly,” she whispered as the aftershocks vibrated through her.

  “Glad to be of service.” The lightness of his tone was belied by the strain in his expression. Sweat beaded his brow. She felt the trembling in his arms. The throbbing of his body in hers.

  “Asa?”

  “Stay relaxed, Elizabeth.”

  “I don’t know if I can,” but she knew she would. For him. For herself. Because she wanted his hard cock. No matter what.

  “You can.” He told her, increasing the pressure. “You will.”

  He crept in a bit more. The lining of her pussy pushed against him, gripping and dragging. Sensitizing.

  “Why wasn’t it like this before,” she gasped as he bore down on her.

  He closed his eyes and groaned as her flesh gave and he sank an inch deeper. “You’re still a virgin, darlin’.”

  “But the other night…”

  “I’m not one for force.”

  She felt his muscles gather as he prepared to push. She caught her breath in preparation. Again the pain. Again the frustration.

  “Put your arms back around my neck,” he instructed her.

  She looked up at him. There was no doubt he was in agony. “Does it feel good to you?”

  “That’s the hell of it, darlin’. Men like it any way it comes, whether the women are enjoying it or not.”

  And he felt guilty about that. She saw it in his eyes and understood he was a giving man, but she didn’t want to be a taking woman. She wanted this thing between them to be the same as everything else. Open. Honest. She arched her breasts toward his mouth.

  He bent and suckled her. By the second, his actions grew rougher, more primitive, dragging her along until he was alternately biting and sucking. She could feel the tension pounding beneath his skin, shaking his muscles, dampening his flesh with perspiration. An equally primitive reaction built in her. She felt him pulsing just inside her. It wasn’t enough. She didn’t want to be something precious and worshipped. She wanted to be his.

  She took the decision out of his hands. She braced her feet under her hips and arched upward, impaling herself, biting her lip against a cry.

  Like glass facing the blow of a hammer, her action shattered his control. As if he couldn’t stand anymore. He growled low in his throat, sank his fingers deep into her hips and pulled. She felt him tear deep. Before she could register any pain, he’d pulled out and was surging anew. On the third thrust, she thought he’d break her in two. On the fourth, she didn’t care.

  She twisted, whether to get closer or away, she didn’t know. This was too wild. Too elemental. It excited and scared her at the same time.

  “Mine,” he growled as he thrust deeply into her, his hips slamming against hers, his mouth working her breasts.

  “Yes.” A growl rose in her own throat.

  He lifted her feet until her ankles were hooked around his hips. “Mine,” he growled again, holding himself against her as she worked to get the last inches of his hard cock inside her. She couldn’t and the frustration almost had her crying.

  He took the initiative out of her hands. He slid his arms under her thighs and flipped her legs over his shoulders. He walked his hands up her side. The air was filled with the scent of their lovemaking and the spruce when she lay completely open and vulnerable to his touch. She could do nothing but receive him as he drove his cock into her pussy, grinding his hips against her clit on the downstroke, forcing her to take the last two inches, ignoring her gasps when she thought she couldn’t, sharing her exultation when she, finally, finally did. Then he, as she lay impossibly stretched beneath him trapped between heaven and hell, he caught her gaze with his. She couldn’t look away as he said, “Mine.” As if to prove it, he pulled all the way out. And in one, mind-boggling lunge, re-seated himself to the hilt.

  The air left her body, her nerves screamed, and everything in her pulled up tight. With quiet, deliberate, ruthless persistence, he did it again, but this time when he growled “mine”, she confirmed it, her body jerking in helpless spasms as reality shattered and she gave herself over to his possession as her orgasm took her. As if her climax triggered his, Asa’s control snapped. His cock jerked within her, caressing her walls anew as spurt after spurt of his hot seed filled her eager pussy. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held him tightly while his body shuddered and emptied into hers.

  For the first time in her life, she felt like she belonged.

  * * * * *

  “Who’d have thought Miss Prim Elizabeth Coyote was such a wildcat in bed?” Asa mused with deep contentment minutes or hours later.

  She was draped across his body. Warm sunlight heating her skin. Completely boneless. Sated. “That’s Elizabeth MacIntyre,” she corrected into the curve of his neck. He smelled of man and sunshine. She took another deep breath just because.

  “So it is.” His fingers played gently with one of her nipples. His toes stroked the bottom of her foot.

  Against her thigh, she felt a stirring. She shifted her hips. “Hmmm.”

  “Just ignore him,” Asa instructed. “He has no sense.”

  She didn’t want to ignore him. She reached between them. “I like him,” she said. And he liked her if the way he swelled at her squeeze was any indication.

  “You’re too sore.” It was a halfhearted protest. She loved him for making it.

  She eased down until he was in position. “No, I’m not.”

  She couldn’t imagine ever being too anything to turn away from her husband.

  “I can wait.”

  “I can’t.” No matter how she tugged, he wouldn’t roll over. She raised her eyebrow at him. “This isn’t going to work if you don’t do your part.”

  He laughed, shook his head, and urged her into a sitting position where she straddled his hips. “You do it,” he ordered. “I’m too tired.”

  He wasn’t too tired, she noticed, to stroke her breasts the way that caused the goose bumps to chase up her spine. He did it again, encompassing each breast in one of his big hands, sliding from the fullness of her chest up to the crest with a featherlight touch that had her nipples pulling taut. When he reached the very tip, he lightly, gently grazed her nipples. Just hard enough to get their attention. He did it again. And again. On the fourth pass, she dug her nails into his chest and bit her lip to keep back her cry of protest. She needed more. So much more. She shifted against his cock, experimented, then found just the right
angle.

  Her breath caught as he pressed against her. She was sore and he was bigger than she remembered.

  He stroked the inside of her thighs. “Nice and easy, darlin’.”

  His hands glided up until they spread across her hip bones. His thumbs met at the juncture of her thighs. As she eased down, so did his thumbs, until they connected at the swollen nub of her clitoris. She gasped, jerked and pressed. He stroked her clit again, and she felt the natural giving that allowed his cock to slide home. She didn’t take him all, she couldn’t. She was too sore, but it didn’t matter. They moved as one, flesh gliding together, intimate parts brushing in rhythm, asking silent questions, garnering quiet responses. It was a courting. A mating.

  It was exquisite, sensual and oh, so gentle, this loving. She cried when the end came and the illusion drifted to reality. She wanted it to last forever. She wanted the emotions to be real.

  Asa held her while she cried, offering her his shoulder and asking no questions. Somehow, that made the reality all the more wrenching.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Town was a rude awakening from the quiet of the ride in. People bustled about. The streets were a muddy mess of excrement from the ceaseless parade of cattle, horses, and buggies. Occasionally, boards were strewn across large puddles in order to facilitate crossing the street. The air was full of the scents of food and animals. The din of voices and music from the saloons overpowered the quiet conversations of residents, while the rowdy shouts and laughter of cowboys and railroaders out for a good time dominated all else.

  “Believe it or not,” Elizabeth said as they walked down the boarded sidewalk, “Cheyenne used to be a peaceful place.”

  “Uh-huh.” Asa steered her around the third drunken man in the same amount of minutes. “Some say the railroad is going to be the salvation of Wyoming—put it on the map—but I’ve got my doubts when you see the crew that’s putting it together.”

  “They are wild,” she agreed.

  “Uh-huh.”

  A man careened out of the door ahead of them. He landed on the wooden sidewalk with a bone-slamming jar. Another man came flying after him, prepared to carry on the fight.

  “This is worse than I remembered,” Elizabeth admitted.

  Her grip tightened on his arm, telling Asa she was nervous. He just didn’t know if it was the prospect of getting caught up in a gunfight or whether it was being seen with him that had her nerves strung tight. He sighed and thought it was probably the latter. He wasn’t much of a catch, even if he was handy in a fight. “If you have friends in town, I could drop you there before I go to the bank.”

  “I’m fine.” She glanced up. “After all, I have the notorious Asa MacIntyre by my side. No one would dare bother me.”

  “You’d best be hoping they ask who I am before they swing,” he answered, not sure if her lips were twitching because she was fighting a smile or a frown.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got bragging rights and I’ll be sure to use them if a miscreant seems too impetuous for his own good.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.” He wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but he liked the bragging rights part. Might mean she liked being his wife. Truth was, he kind of liked being her husband. She had a quick wit when she wasn’t trying to be ladylike. She didn’t cling, but she had ways of showing she wanted him around.

  He tipped his hat to a lady and gentleman passing on the right. His mood lightened when they both nodded back. That was something he’d have to get used to. Being respected for something other than his reputation was new. He and Elizabeth had garnered their share of glances crossing town. Most of them speculative, but not once had a woman swept her skirt aside when he passed. With Elizabeth on his arm, he belonged somewhere and it showed. “You want to get something to eat at Millicent’s before we head back?”

  He’d eaten there once before he’d met up with Elizabeth. Next to his wife’s cooking, it was the best he’d had.

  “Can we spare the cash?” Elizabeth asked, sounding hopeful.

  “If we can’t, there’s not much point in me stopping by the bank.”

  Gun shots erupted behind them.

  “Down!” In a flash, Asa had Elizabeth down on the ground, covering her with his body while he aimed his revolver in the direction of the shots. “Son of a bitch!” If he could have reached them, he would have strangled the cowpokes firing exuberantly in the air. The shots ended as abruptly as they started.

  “What happened?”

  “Just a couple of yahoos letting off some steam.” Asa got to his feet. He grimaced as he helped Elizabeth. Her blue jacket and riding skirt were covered in dirt. “Darn, I’m sorry.”

  She glanced at him as she brushed off her skirt. “It’s just a little dust.”

  It was more than that. He tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “My dignity is a little smudged.”

  He winced. “I was kind of hoping not to embarrass you this first trip in after the wedding.”

  “Who says I’m embarrassed?”

  He pushed his hat back. “You’re not?”

  “No.” She tugged her jacket straight. “I’m not.” She brushed the dust off her left elbow. “Truth is, I’m probably the envy of every woman in town.”

  He put his hands on his hips. “Let me get this straight. I throw you down in the middle of the sidewalk, get your outfit covered with Lord knows what, and you couldn’t be happier?”

  She beamed at him like he was a particularly bright pupil. “Exactly.”

  He was never going to understand the woman. “Glad to be of service.”

  But it wasn’t his imagination that her step was lighter as they made the last three storefronts without incident. There wasn’t anything an average Joe could pick up. Her expression was still composed, but there was a hint of pink in her cheeks brought on by excitement. There was also a satisfied tilt to her lips. He shook his head again, held open the bank door, and followed her into the cool interior. The place smelled of ink, leather and wood polish. He didn’t care for the smell any more than he cared for the man standing by the teller cage.

  It was too much to hope that Elizabeth wouldn’t see Ballard, but it rankled that she spotted him right off and almost made a spectacle of herself trying to get his attention.

  “Aaron!” she called, waving her hand. When he didn’t turn immediately, she called his name again. Aaron turned and said something to the teller before coming over.

  “Elizabeth! It’s wonderful to see you.”

  He took her hand in his. Asa waited for Elizabeth to withdraw it. She didn’t. That slapped some of the good out of his mood. Manners dictated he acknowledge the other man. He nodded his head. “Aaron.”

  He might as well have saved the energy for all the attention the man paid him.

  “What are you doing here today?” Aaron asked Elizabeth.

  “Asa had some business to attend and he was kind enough to invite me to come along.”

  Aaron looked his way. “Are you finished?”

  “No.” Asa didn’t figure he owed the man more than one syllable.

  “Well, then, why don’t I take Elizabeth off your hands? You can meet us at the restaurant at the Ballroom Hotel when you’re done.”

  For once, Elizabeth wasn’t opening her mouth, she was waiting patiently for him to do the husbandly thing and make a decision. Unfortunately, this was one of those damned if you do and damned if you don’t decisions. If he said no, not only would Elizabeth think him petty, she’d be here the whole time he met with the bank president while missing a fancy meal. On the other hand, he didn’t want his wife spending the afternoon chatting and dining in a fancy hotel with a good-looking neighbor.

  He slipped his arm around Elizabeth’s waist. “Well, that’s right nice of you. A couple of years from now, I might look more friendly on that offer, but right now, I find I’m partial to Elizabeth’s company.”

  Damn! He was a selfish S.O.B. Eliz
abeth would probably enjoy a chance to have an expensive dinner in a fancy hotel. But, before he could set his mind to backtrack, she leaned into his side. Her “Thank you” was aimed at Aaron and showed no sign of discontent.

  “Are you sure?” the other man asked. “Banking business could take a while.”

  Asa had to give the man points for persistence.

  Elizabeth’s hand settled over his where it rested on her waist. Though her touch was as light as a feather, he had a distinct impression she was trying to soothe him as she said, “I’ve already made plans with my husband, but I appreciate the invitation.”

  The relief that went through him was unwarranted. What else could she say? He hadn’t left her any option. He felt like a dog in the manger, but he couldn’t bring himself to rescind his statement. He neither liked nor trusted Aaron. He didn’t want him within a mile of his ranch, let alone his wife.

  “It was nice to see you again, but…” He stepped back so Aaron could pass. “Don’t let us keep you from your business.”

  The show of manners was lost on Ballard but earned him another stroking from Elizabeth. “Maybe you could come over for Sunday dinner?” she asked.

  She’d better plan on doing a heck of a lot more than stroking if she expected him to sit down to the dinner table with their neighbor, Asa thought. He was saved from having to turn down the invitation by Aaron himself.

  “Unfortunately, I have plans.” He took his hat from under his arm. “Maybe another time.”

  The man hadn’t cleared the door when Elizabeth’s “thank you” reached Asa’s ears.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For being polite.”

  “No need to go looking for trouble.” Not when he had a feeling it was going to come to his door anyhow. Looking down, he noticed she was clenching her hands. “Something wrong?”