Maya reached for one of the items from the table, and Kendall realized it was her MP3 player. She clipped it to his shirtfront and placed an earbud in her ear and the other one in his and turned the player on. At a low level, “Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good,” by Nickelback began to play. Kendall grinned lazily and dribbled more ice cream over her other breast. He wondered if she understood how much she got to him as he greedily licked more of his dessert off her flesh.
Maya had a gift for staying in the moment with them, and Kendall planned to make sure she felt his full appreciation.
He fed her another bite, grinning with enjoyment as she shuddered when he slid a hand around to grip one of her ass cheeks. His fingertips teasingly slid lower in a tickling touch until they were down her cleft to her spread pussy. He took the spoon from where it was stuck in a scoop of ice cream and licked it, leaving it clean but very cold. She bit her bottom lip and watched him lower the spoon in front of her between her spread thighs.
Kendall smiled with satisfaction when she arched her back and pressed her pussy against his hand while at the same time watching what he was doing with the spoon. He turned the bowl of the spoon upward and slid it slowly through her opened slit, enjoying the strangled moan that escaped her as the cold spoon pressed against her clit.
He raised the copiously damp spoon to his lips and licked it clean of her tangy juices. “Oh, Kendall!” she gasped in a shaky voice then tilted her hips reflexively against his hand.
“Delicious, baby. Again?”
“Yes.”
He scooped up another generous bite so the spoon would get cold again and pressed the softened ice cream directly to her nipple, delighting in her little squeal. The last rays of the sun illuminated her shoulders and her opened thighs and glinted through her thick hair.
He licked the spoon and latched on to her cream-covered nipple then touched the cold surface of the spoon to her clit again. He sucked hard on her nipple then lightly nibbled, and she shuddered and leaned against him. All the while Nickelback played through the earbuds.
The spoon was even more drenched as he paused in his nipple play to lick it clean. His woman’s pussy was the sweetest dessert he’d ever had.
“Had enough ice cream?” he whispered in a gravelly voice that sounded unlike him. Maya nodded and he returned the spoon to the bowl. She reached for the condom she’d laid on the table earlier, and he tore the wrapper open with shaky hands. He groaned as he rolled it on, watching Maya stroke her clit with a delicate finger.
A new song began to play as he held his cock in position for her. She acknowledged the song change with a very sexy chuckle. The music sounded vaguely familiar but not something he normally listened to. Maya had varied and eclectic tastes in music, and he liked that she wanted to share that part of this experience with him.
His eyes adjusted to the dimmer light as the sun sank fully beneath the horizon and dusk fell. She rose up on her knees as the intro to the tune played and the seductive beat of “Like This,” by MIMS throbbed in a syncopated rhythm. At that moment it was definitely climbing his top ten. He held his painfully thick shaft for her and licked the last of the ice cream from her torso as she settled her creamy, wet cunt over his cock. He growled as she teased the tip, pumping up and down as she gripped his shoulders.
She slid on his cock a few inches, groaning quietly as she ground down. What she did to him for the next few minutes would undoubtedly go down as one of his top ten favorite memories. Using the beat of the music as her guide, Maya fucked him into a state near insanity.
The first chorus came around, the female vocalist whispering, “Baby, do you want it like this, like this, like this…” and she pumped on his cock in long, slick glides, squeezing his cock with her pussy muscles on every upstroke. Her movements were graceful and unhurried, timed with the beat. He groaned, sure that she was going to rip the orgasm right from his balls, but then she settled down into shorter strokes with the next verse. She watched him through half-lidded eyes and gave him a sexy little smile.
She tortured him through three choruses of the female vocalist whispering, “Baby, do you want it like this, like this, like this.” He didn’t remember the song being quite that long and felt his control begin to unravel as she whispered along with the final chorus, taking all of his cock with every slippery, tugging stroke.
“Baby, I gotta come,” Kendall groaned, way past caring if he sounded like he was begging. Hell, he was pleading. Maya smiled at him, and she began panting as if her own control were slipping, too. He stroked her clit firmly, and she let loose a sobbing wail as her pussy liquefied and clenched on his surging cock.
“Oh, God!” she cried out exultantly and slammed down on his dick as he threw his head back and gritted his teeth as his own orgasm hit him. He held her hips tightly and ground up against her with every climactic thrust, his release shooting from his cock in searing, satisfying streams.
“Oh, fuck, yes!”
Maya collapsed against him, and he held her trembling body as they caught their breath. Her pussy fluttered around his cock with aftershocks. Almost as satisfying as the blistering release was the way she melted against him afterward.
She whispered in his ear, “So I take it you like it ‘Like This’?”
Kendall chuckled appreciatively at her humor and brushed her wild hair away from her cheeks and kissed her lips.
“As long as you’re my exotic dancer, hell yeah.”
Chapter Twenty
Boone pulled up beside the Pinon Pine Cemetery, and Richard climbed silently from the cab of the truck. He knew by repetition that Boone would wait in the truck for him and allow him whatever time he needed.
His work boots made muffled crunching steps as he walked over the fine gravel drive and up into the grass. He’d chosen Pinon Pines for Michelle’s final resting place on his own since she’d had no close family left alive to make the decisions. Kendall and Boone had brought him to this place to check it out, and even in a raw haze of pain, Richard had known she would like it. The sprawling lawns were maintained neatly and there were plenty of trees to offer shade to visitors.
He walked down the concrete path leading to her section as a hot breeze ruffled his hair. Her marker was easy to spot, hewn from unusual, bronze-colored polished granite and engraved with her last name at the top in bold letters, “Brock.”
The color of the marker had reminded him of the walls of the mesas they’d explored while out hiking or taking a drive, and he’d thought at the time that was what she would’ve wanted.
He stopped in front of the marker and took a seat on the small bench he’d had installed in her memory, holding the bouquet of fresh daisies in his hand.
“Pretty dumb, huh? Bringing fresh flowers to a cemetery.”
He’d lost the inhibition about speaking to her grave marker on his first visit here two and a half years ago. The cemetery was always quiet and deserted on the days he’d come to visit, and it had felt right to talk to her.
He smiled, imagining the twinkle in her brown eyes as she nodded at his statement. She would think it was stupid and a waste of money. She’d said before she died that she couldn’t understand why people paid money for cut flowers when they could plant a tree or a rosebush and have a living monument to love, instead of flowers that were already in a dying state.
The cemetery had rules prohibiting plantings at gravesides, otherwise he would’ve surrounded her with rosebushes and come to tend them every single day. Maybe that was one reason why they didn’t allow such things. The living needed to be allowed to move on.
He couldn’t bring himself to put silk flowers there. Silk lasted longer, but he wasn’t trying to impress cemetery visitors. The flowers were for her and they should be alive, if only for a short time.
The breath-stealing pain of loss and loneliness he usually felt at visiting her grave had lessened somewhat and was now replaced by the low, dull ache of missing her. Her stone wavered in his vision as tears slicked his eyes, a
nd he leaned his elbows on his knees and dropped his head so it hung between his shoulders.
He knew what she would do if she could see him now. She would plunk down in his lap, put her hands on his cheeks, and lift his face to look at her. Then she’d hash out whatever was bothering him. That was why they had been so perfect together. She’d known how to help him put his feelings into words when he sometimes didn’t. She had been easy to be around, and she’d made life feel less complicated.
After she’d died, there had been no reason to stay in Ruidoso. He’d left and joined the rodeo circuit for a few years with his brothers, riding bulls. He’d done what needed doing every day, rode with the best of them, but hadn’t really been alive. Boone and Kendall had been great, not pushing him to talk unless he wanted to. He’d gradually gotten to where he could wake up in the morning without wishing he’d died, too. It was no loss or hardship for him when the guys began talking about taking their winnings and heading down to Texas, to the old ranch his dad had left to them when he’d passed on a few years before. He’d known they would end up there eventually and it was better to go now rather than wait until they were crippled by injury or life on the road.
The move had been well-timed, even though rebuilding the ranch had been hard-ass work. The fruits were now becoming visible. The thought of having someone to share his life with there made it even more appealing to him. But this still hurt, too. Would the scales ever swing in the other direction, and he could look back and feel only happiness and gratitude for the time Michelle was in his life?
A breeze kicked up and roiled around him, and for a few seconds Richard felt as though he was wrapped up in her arms. Maybe it was only a memory producing the sensation, but he felt it like a comforting hug.
Letting her go three years ago had felt like razor blades shredding his soul. Today, those wounds felt covered over. There was scar tissue that would last a lifetime, but he’d healed and there was no question in his mind that he could move on now.
Serenity leaked into his chest and filled the place that had been painful for so long as he told Michelle all about Maya. Tears made dusty wet blots on the toes of his boots as he let it all out. He told Michelle he was in love again.
* * * *
Boone watched his brother as he made his way back to the truck, almost an hour later, minus the thick bouquet of white daisies he’d carried into the cemetery.
He sighed in relief at the absence of renewed devastation usually showing on Richard’s face after these visits. He seemed at peace, judging by the look on his face and the loose, relaxed way he walked. He’d hoped Richard would eventually get to this place where closure could occur and knew Maya was a big part of it. For a long time after Michelle’s death, Richard had seemed like he was one foot in her grave, wishing he could join her.
Richard stopped and looked out over the sprawling green lawns and seemed to take a long deep breath and let it out. He opened the truck door and climbed inside.
Wordlessly, Boone looked over at his brother and smiled then started the truck and headed for the exit. A thought occurred to him as he put some distance between the vehicle and the cemetery. After they were back on the state highway and pointed toward home he glanced at Richard. His brother sat quietly staring off into the distance, but the grief wasn’t etched into his features like the last time they’d made a stop to the cemetery.
“I know what you need right now.”
Richard turned to him and lifted his chin in a typical mute inquiry.
* * * *
Wednesday after lunch, Kendall and Maya sat at the kitchen table and talked about moving her to Divine permanently.
“I don’t think you should list the house with Frank Reeves, Maya, especially not after all the e-mails he sent you.”
Maya shook her head. “I have several friends who can handle selling the house for me. We don’t have to involve him at all. Morgan had left me detailed instructions of what to do if something ever happened to him.”
“Morgan was always good at seeing the big picture and planning ahead.”
Maya was relieved when the memory evoked no pain or melancholy, merely a welling of gratitude to her deceased husband. “There was a key to a safe-deposit box in last week’s letter.” Had it only been last week that she’d received the letter?
“Any idea what’s inside of it?”
“No idea. I didn’t even know he had one. We had a big safe at home.”
They decided to return to her house that Saturday morning and pack her essentials and hire a moving company to handle everything else. Maya wondered if her men would be shocked by what she called necessities.
* * * *
That evening, Maya smiled at Kendall as he pulled open the massive inlaid wood door and escorted her in gentlemanly fashion into the entry of O’Reilley’s Restaurant. The luscious aroma of grilled steaks and other cuisine assaulted her senses and made her mouth water. The interior of the waiting area was decorated in typical Texas Hill Country style, with dark red-tiled floors, and long wooden benches along two walls. Large mirrors hung on the walls, and windows looked out onto a walled terrace festooned with foxtail ferns and other greenery.
Kendall nodded at several others who waited in the entryway after giving his name to the hostess. Maya spotted several lingering looks directed Kendall’s way from women in the room, but he didn’t appear to notice. He smiled down at her and kissed her tenderly before greeting another rancher and his wife who’d just come in the door.
Within minutes the entry was filled with a number of couples and groups waiting for tables, and Maya recognized several of them from the assembly she’d encountered outside of Batson’s a few days before. One of the women who had stood staring into the window of Batson’s Grocery Store was with one of the groups. Maya didn’t have to wonder what she was thinking, because it was obvious in the superior, judgmental gaze she cast coolly in Maya’s direction.
She did a mental cringe as she realized she’d forgotten about the note tucked in her purse. It was still there. Not wanting to ruin their evening out, Maya resolved to give it to him later. She took a lesson from Kendall and ignored the others in the room and focused her attention on him and the conversation he was having with the older couple that had walked up.
“Warner!” the hostess called out.
Kendall placed his hand at her lower back and turned to say his good-byes to the couple as a woman behind her whispered loud enough for Maya to hear, “Which one?”
Maya turned to her, noting her self-righteous posture, and said simply, “All of them, of course.”
The woman gasped and sharply elbowed her companion, who giggled and murmured, “Lucky girl.” Maya winked at her and allowed Kendall to lead her forward from the waiting area into the dining room. He quirked an eyebrow at her in inquiry but she shook her head, determined to not let anything ruin their evening.
She was glad she’d brought a dressier outfit, otherwise she would’ve felt out of place. Sometimes she envied her men the simplicity of their clothing choices. The only difference for them between daytime wear and nighttime wear was a little bit of starch in the shirt, a crease in the blue jeans, and a different pair of boots.
Not that she’d minded dressing up for him. She’d felt sexy as she’d slipped into the ass-hugging black skirt with the slit up the side, and the silky, ultrafeminine top that went over it. High, black wedge heels and diamonds at her wrist, throat, and ears set the outfit off perfectly. Kendall’s eyes had been full of admiration when she’d come from the bedroom.
The hostess seated them at their table in the main dining room, and a waitress immediately appeared to take their drink orders. Kendall stroked her hand on the tabletop as they shared a quiet moment looking at their menus.
Maya glanced up at a noise and looked directly into the eyes of a dark-haired woman two tables away. She was seated with her husband and toddler son. The husband followed the woman’s gaze and seemed embarrassed when he glanced back at his
wife.
If this was where the rumor-mongering was going to start, Maya was ready for it. They could bring whatever they wanted her way and she wasn’t going to back down.
She maintained a level, unashamed gaze in the woman’s direction, which evidently served only to incense the woman. She rose from her chair, throwing her napkin down on her empty plate. Her husband laid a hand on her upper arm and directed her gently, but firmly, back into her seat. He murmured something to her as she took out her cell phone and began typing on the keyboard. The man sighed heavily and looked down at his plate as he continued his meal. The little boy babbled on as his mother silently fumed.
“What are you in the mood for, Maya?”
The words were innocently intended, she was sure, but when she turned her gaze on Kendall, he must’ve seen the heat in her eyes, because he chuckled and placed a hand on her thigh under the table.
She turned her full gaze on him and whispered, “I’d like my dessert first, please. À la mode.”
Kendall nearly choked on his beer as he took a sip. Whatever the good citizens of Divine had to say about her relationship with these wonderful men was of no interest to her when compared to the love and merriment in his eyes as he wiped his lips with his napkin.
He murmured, “Check, please. We’ll take ours to go.”
Maya laughed softly and caressed his hand resting on her thigh. They were in the middle of the dining room, and she didn’t give a rip who saw his hand there. It wasn’t like he had it under her skirt, and the slit didn’t go past the knee.
The waitress returned with an appetizer and cheerfully told them about the specials and took their orders. It struck Maya as odd the way people, most of them women, moved around the dining room, conversing with each other during their meals. Didn’t they know it was rude to interrupt someone when they were trying to eat?
Kendall noticed it, too. “Wonder what’s got them all stirred up?”
The Divine Creek Ranch Collection Volume 3 Page 20