“God, now you’re using my words to torture me.”
“If this is torture, don’t stop.”
His lips moved from her face down her throat to kiss the cotton that covered her breasts. “You smell like roses. You taste even better.”
“You taste good, too.”
His pulses were pounding when he clenched his fists and pulled away.
He closed his eyes on a shudder. “We’d better stop,” he muttered hoarsely.
“W-why?” Her voice was halting as her mouth tried to nibble his throat.
“You said you had to go.”
“Oh. Right.” She paused. “My knees feel so weak, I’m not sure if I can even walk out to the truck.” She laughed shakily. “Now is that any way to treat a girl?”
“Then I’ll carry you.”
She smiled impishly.
He shot her an answering grin. “When will I see you again?”
“The night of the barbecue—for sure. It’s next Saturday at seven-thirty. When I think the time is right and Aunt Susie is prepared, I’ll ride over on Jez and get you.”
He put his arm around her and walked her to her pickup like she was his girl. Then he kissed her goodbye. When his lips touched hers, and she moaned, he grasped her more tightly. “God. I can’t wait.”
“You don’t have a choice, cowboy.”
She fluttered her fingers at him and waved goodbye.
“Is that your debutante wave?”
She laughed, blew him a kiss, and waved again.
He fluttered the ends of his fingers back at her.
When she was gone, he worked hard. He didn’t quit even after the sky was black and full of stars. After a supper of canned beans and ravioli, he went out to the barn, where he sat mending harnesses until he fell asleep on the concrete floor.
Matt watched the long black second hand jump as it circled the clock’s face. It was nearly ten-thirty.
A branch scraped a windowpane, and he jumped.
“There she is.” Matt sprang up and eagerly pushed the screen door open, only to stare vacantly at ten deer filing past the front porch and vanishing into the brush.
Damn it!
Matt stayed at the door for another long moment and rubbed his jaw where that muscle of his ticked so savagely. Slowly he closed the door and heaved his long body back down onto the couch beside his telephone once again. He raked his hands through his dark blond hair. Then with a scowl, he lifted the nearly empty bottle of scotch for another burning pull. There were dark shadows under his eyes; his shoulder muscles screamed with tension. No wonder. He was coiled as tight as a spring, ready to jump at the door or phone.
“She ain’t comin’,” Lee snorted in the sullen tone he’d resumed since Frankie had stopped showing up to cook him pancakes.
“I know that.” Matt caught his breath on a growl. “But she oughta call.”
“Not if she’s dumped you. Maybe she doesn’t like us anymore.”
“Us?”
“What’d you do to her?” Lee whispered. “Did you do somethin’?”
“I don’t need this. So, scram.”
“You’re just as pathetic as my old man.”
Their eyes met and locked in mutual pain. Then Lee bolted upstairs.
Matt took another swig from the bottle. When he drained the last drop, he threw it at the wall just like BoBo used to.
Then, just like BoBo, he slammed outside onto the porch, banging the screen door behind him as hard as he could. How he’d hated that sound when he’d been a kid. He’d hidden outside the nights his daddy got drunk ’cause of that one time his daddy had chased him with a shotgun. He still kept a bunk in his supply shed.
The moon was full and bright, the air sweet with the smell of freshly mown grass. The barbecue had to be nearly over by now. Was Lee right? Had she changed her mind about introducing him socially to Aunt Susie and her set? Had she chosen Vince instead?
Why hadn’t she called?
She doesn’t like us anymore.
Raw hurt made Matt’s temper flare. But what if something had happened to her? What if—
He had to call the Lassiters to check on her.
And have them tell him she was with Vince?
Matt swallowed. He had to make sure she was all right. He was stalking across his porch toward the screen door, when the ching of galloping hooves on his drive brought him to an abrupt halt.
A lone horse in a thick cloud of white dust snickered at him shyly.
Matt whirled. “Frankie?”
The horse pawed the drive.
“Frankie!” he shouted as he strained to see her in the darkness. “Is that you?”
The dust settled. He stared at the leather saddle. The skittish thoroughbred mare was riderless.
“Frankie! Oh, my God…”
He would have called to her again, but the realization that she’d fallen, that she could be hurt…or worse, got a grip on him. Her name died to a strangled croak. Purposefully, he strode down the walk toward the horse, stopping short just before the mare pranced nervously away.
His brain pounded. “Take me to your mistress. I’ve got to find her. I’ve got to help her. You’re my only chance…Jez. Is that what she calls you, darlin’? Come here, Jezebel. Come, darlin’. Your mistress and I are friends.”
Jezebel lowered her head and as docilely as a lamb let him take the bridle.
He patted her and talked to her. Then he swung himself up into the saddle and dug in his heels, galloping into the dark.
“Oh, Frankie… Darlin’… You’d better be okay. ’Cause if you’re not— If you’re dead, I’ll die, too.”
Chapter 5
The moon and stars swam in a black sea just beyond the leafy pattern of the oak trees straight over her head. Cicadas sang from the nearby mesquite thicket. That’s how Frankie knew it was still night and not morning yet. The cicadas shut up before dawn, so the birds could take over.
She swallowed on a convulsive breath, her hands clawing gravel and rocky ground. Her temples pounded every time she regained consciousness.
“Matt! Where are you? Why don’t you come?”
She lay where she’d fallen. It wasn’t just her head that hurt. Pain knifed up from her left ankle every time she moved it. That same foot was swollen so badly, she’d kicked her shoe off. She couldn’t put even the tiniest bit of weight on it. She’d nearly fallen again when she’d tried to stand on it.
How long had she been here? Hours. Her brain felt fuzzy. She felt as if she were trapped in a weird dream. All she could remember was the coral snake spooking Jez.
What if he didn’t come?
“Matt!”
Hot tears burned her eyes as she remembered the barbecue. Right before she’d snuck off to get Matt, Aunt Susie had sought her out and gushed.
“I can’t believe this! What a wonderful party! What a wonderful surprise that you can be such a terrific hostess and a lady! I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.”
She’d squeezed Aunt Susie’s hand. “And I have another surprise—”
“What?”
“Something far more wonderful than the party.”
“You look radiant. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were in love.”
The powerful need to be with Matt surged through her. She yearned for him to find her with every fiber in her being. Was that love?
Oh, where was he? Why didn’t he come? She’d left Aunt Susie and Uncle Wayne hours and hours ago. Way before sundown.
Frankie shut her eyes. The moon and the stars were snuffed out, and the bugs got quiet.
“Frankie! Oh, God, Frankie!”
She came awake slowly.
“Oh, God. You’re alive!”
“I’m okay,” she murmured in a sluggish voice that didn’t sound like hers.
“Are you sure, darlin’?”
“I hit my head on a rock or something. And…and something’s wrong with my left ankle, too. But I’m okay—now that you’re here.”
“You thought…I was with Vince?”
He hung his head and kept his eyes shut.
“Look at me,” she whispered, staring at his long lashes that were dark crescents against his face.
He could only squeeze her hand against his lips for long, precious seconds.
“Oh, Matt,” she sobbed. “There’s only you. Don’t you know that yet, cowboy?”
It was some time before he could regain his composure enough to open his eyes and gaze down at her. Then he knelt beside her and wiped the tears from her face. Gently and carefully he put his arms around her. “Tell me, if I hurt you.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve fallen off Jez,” she said shakily.
“She’s pretty spirited…sort of like her mistress. I rode her over here. Oh, Frankie… Oh, God, darlin’, I should have come looking for you earlier.”
“Don’t blame yourself. I should have called you before I saddled up. It was a stupid accident. Jez got spooked by a little bitty coral snake. You know the old saying…red and yellow—”
“Kill a fellow,” he finished with a lame, guilt-stricken smile as he fingered her hair. “Hey, there’s a supply shed nearby. Put your arms around my neck if you can, and I’ll carry you over there.”
“I’m kinda heavy.”
“It’s not too far.”
And it wasn’t. When they got there, he kicked one of the doors open. To her surprise there was a low bunk that even had clean sheets on it.
The mattress dipped when he laid her down.
“You said this was just a supply shed.”
“Sometimes I come out here to think…away from the phone and all the other trappings of civilization.”
A sharp shiver traced through her. Suddenly, the interior of the shed felt sweltering. Or was it just being in bed with him beside her that had her so hot?
“Will you be okay while I go get the truck?”
She clung to his arms. “Don’t you dare leave me. I’ve been scared out of my mind for hours.”
“I have to.”
Clutching his sleeves, dragging him even closer, Frankie stared up at him, her heart in her throat. “No.”
“Darlin’, I can’t carry you all the way back—”
“So, stay with me…here.”
“What are you saying?”
She slid her hands up his arms, then moved them across the broad expanse of his shoulders, over his chest up to his warm throat. “I’m saying what I’m saying, cowboy.” Shakily she unfastened the top button of his shirt.
“But you need medical attention….”
“Later. What I need…right now…and what I want…is right here…in this bunk with me. Now that I’ve found you, I’m not going to let you go.”
His heart was pounding under her fingertips as she slid her hand down his throat and undid the second button.
“Frankie…” he murmured warningly. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Shhhh.” Her hand moved inside his shirt. “You’re so warm. You feel so good.”
Quietly, he shifted a little closer to her on the bunk. Their hips touched, and his body heat fired her blood.
She held her breath. So did he.
“But you’re hurt,” he ground out hoarsely.
“If I was hurt as bad as you think, I couldn’t feel this sexy, now could I?”
Still, he frowned, hesitating, too concerned for her to make a move.
“Don’t argue, Rancher Dixon. Not with a spoiled debutante, who wants to have her way with you.”
When he shuddered with suppressed longing, a wave of desire pulsed through her. “Do you have any idea how much I missed you this week? Aunt Susie kept me hopping with so much boring girl stuff, I nearly went crazy. Hair appointments. Menu changes. A pedicure. I wanted to be here with you. Instead I had to sit under hair dryers and have pins stuck in my bosoms until I wanted to scream that if they stuck me even one more time, I’d go to the ball naked.”
“I like your hair. And the makeup, too.” He grinned down at her. “And your bosoms best of all.”
She laughed. “You said once that you weren’t done with me yet…. So, why don’t you finish what you started, cowboy?”
“I don’t have a condom,” he murmured against her ear. “I have to protect you.”
“Isn’t there some other way?”
He cleared his throat. “Yes.”
His voice was oddly strained, as if he were short of breath all of a sudden. Her mouth felt dry and papery too. She licked her lips, wetting them for him.
“Kiss me,” she whispered on a little prayer. Make me like Mother. Just for tonight. Make me good at this.
She closed her eyes. When he lifted her palm to his mouth and started in the center of her hand with his tongue and then his lips, her heart went mad. Then his lips blew kisses against her wrist and then higher up her arm, into the curve of her elbow. His mouth lingered at the hollow of her throat until she was breathless. Long steamy minutes passed before he finally got around to kissing her on the mouth.
He undressed her slowly, his big hands caressing her lazily.
“You’re perfect,” he marveled. “Exquisite.”
“I’m too skinny.”
“Where? Show me where.”
“Up…there,” she murmured shyly.
“You mean these?” He cupped her breasts, kissing each nipple.
“Too small.”
“Perfect.”
“Too—”
“Shut up,” he ground out hoarsely as he yanked off his own clothes.
The moon bathed him in silvery warm light as he settled his powerful body on top of hers.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered.
“So are you.”
“Do it,” she urged. “Just do it. I can’t wait.”
“Darlin’, you made me wait.” His hands traveled the length of her, from nipple to nipple and then down to her navel and then between her legs, where she was wet. “For years and years. You went off to Vanderbilt.” She did a slow burn when his fingers parted those lips with tender care. “Now it’s your turn to wait, darlin’. ’Cause waiting just makes it better.”
She felt his hunger. When his body finally joined hers, even when he filled her on the brink of that first mutual explosion, there wasn’t the least bit of pain.
She was a virgin.
She clasped him tightly. “So, I’m my mother’s daughter after all.”
“You’re a natural,” he whispered.
And he was right. She was both a lady and yet an animal, driven by instincts too powerful to deny, and yet caught up in the spell of her love for him, too. They were like two wild creatures in the silvery dark woods. And yet they weren’t. They were man and woman, drawn to each other by both body and soul.
When it was over, he wrapped her with his strong, brown arms and held her close. “I remember when you were in the first grade…how scared you were the first day of school.”
“I came late and you showed me around—the great big sixth grader.”
“You had the reddest hair I’d ever seen. I thought it was pretty. I wanted to touch it.”
“You acted all gruff and grown-up. You barely said a word.”
“I was probably trying to impress you. You were Wayne Lassiter’s little ranch princess.”
“Don’t call me that.”
He kissed her, and they made love again. The third time was best of all because they did it with their mouths. Again, some secret knowledge told her exactly what to do.
“Marry me,” he whispered later when they woke up again in each other’s arms.
“Why?”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“Why did you ask me—because we had sex and you think you should?”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s hot. That’s what I think. And it’s going to get a lot hotter.” He got up. “It’s
almost dawn. I’d better get the truck.”
It was only later that she realized she hadn’t answered his question.
“So, this is what’s really been going on!” Aunt Susie gasped as soon as Matt helped Frankie limp into the living room. “And…and I thought you were thrilled about the barbecue and the debutante ball…. I was so happy. Now I see I’ve been living in a fool’s paradise.”
Aunt Susie’s green eyes bored holes through Frankie, which caused her to suck in a panicky breath. Only Matt’s tall, tan frame slumped by the window near the front door of the big ranch house steadied her.
“You’re as a pale as a sheet, girl. I can’t believe you didn’t at least call us from the doctor’s office,” Uncle Wayne said.
“We should have, sir,” Matt admitted. “I was just too worried about her to think straight.”
“So—you just drive up here, girl, and then hobble up to the door on crutches. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you two.” Aunt Susie’s accusing green gaze shifted to Matt again. “What else happened to her…that her uncle and I should know about?”
Dizziness washed Frankie. “I don’t feel too good, Aunt Susie. Dr. Jackson said I need to rest all day. To stay off my ankle.”
“I’m glad it was you who found her, Dixon.”
Uncle Wayne’s deliberate calm voice sent guilt slithering up Frankie’s spine. Her cheeks flamed.
“I’m glad she wasn’t hurt worse,” Matt muttered hoarsely. His dark face had flushed, too. He was staring out the window moodily, refusing to look at her now.
Did he already regret last night?
Oh, dear. What if he did…when she loved him. With all her heart.
Did he love her?
He’d asked her to marry him. But why? Because he’d felt he owed her? Was he finished with her now?
“What were you thinking of, girl?” Aunt Susie persisted, her tone increasingly alarmed.
“Susie, would you stop badgering her? She’s hurt.”
“I know she’s hurt.” Aunt Susie wasn’t through, though. “What were you thinking? To leave the barbecue? To ride off on Jez like that?”
“I—I intended to surprise you.” Frankie’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Well, you did that all right. Showing up here at this hour—with BoBo Dixon’s boy.”
Lone Star Country Club: The Debutantes Page 23