Roundabout Road (Saving the Sinners of Preacher's Bend Book 2)

by Willow, Jevenna

  “We’ve already gone over all of this, Jake. Why go through the agony of talking about it again?”

  “Hell, Woman! I could talk about it until blue in the face, and still not understand why you did it.”

  “Then I guess you will never understand my reasoning,” she said. “It was simple science, Jake; the practical application of one’s life. No woman alive wants to know that the man she truly loves, with all her heart and soul, her supposed soul mate, could sleep with another woman and not care at all how deeply that hurt her. I had never felt so much pain as I had during that one unforgettable moment, where I couldn’t even take a breath without wanting to die.” She paused, as the tears welled. “Even the times when my very own father would get so stinking drunk, when he didn’t know which one it was he was beating to a pulp—me or Mom—even then hadn’t hurt as badly as you sleeping with that horrible witch. I couldn’t breathe, Jake. I couldn’t think. All I knew was I had to get away from you before I found out if I was capable of murder. I had to get away from you, from Eliza, from this miserable town doing its damnedest to remind me of my inability to keep something good in my life.” The tears fell swiftly.

  “And you were that something good, Jake. For ten miserable years I tried to look for something better. I can’t seem to find it.” Her tear-filled eyes reached for his. “And why is that?”

  “I don’t know. You tell me,” Jake ruled.

  “I will tell you. It’s not out there,” she rushed out, sweeping her arm around his one room shack. “It sure as hell was not out there for little ole’ me.”

  “Then where the hell was it?” He moved forward, towering over her.

  Liddy swiped the falling moisture with her fingers. This time, her gaze locked with his as she placed her hands to his upper arms. “It was always right here, standing right in front of me. If I’d come back sooner I would have seen this.”

  Jake swept her into his arms and kissed her hard, setting the world on fire; settling a score, so to speak. And no one could tell him otherwise confessing the truth wasn’t good for a man’s soul.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “I have something for you,” Jake informed, smiling at her face.

  They were sitting by a fire, roasting marshmallows. They’d wanted a place remembered with good memories, and the old quarry held a lot of good memories between her and him. Nothing bad had ever happened here; nothing in this old place had ever ripped them apart.

  It was Jake’s idea to make a fire, but he hadn’t planned anything too far in advance. The bag of marshmallows was the only thing in his cupboard until he actually took the time to go grocery shopping. Yet marshmallows were enough.

  He and she had been to hell and back over the years. The strange part was whatever he wanted of her now Liddy was more than ready to give, in spades. She’d found home again.

  Odd that it took so long to realize home was always at her grasp; that she only need to reach out with both hands to have it back.

  She’d felt abandoned by this man ten years ago. The hurt of such a thing could never be replaced by sweet words and kind deeds. One never forgets abandonment. But Liddy was willing to try things his way—this time. If not for her own benefit, then she could certainly do so for the man who’d given up so much of his life because of her.

  She shoved the sticky, sugary goo into her mouth, then gave him her fullest attention. “Oh, and what is this something you have for me?”

  Liddy leaned over, drifted her fingers down his shirtfront, teasing the poor man with a slow and steady slide of her hand further downward. When she reached the waistline of his jeans and dipped her fingers under the material, Jake leaning back on his elbows making for easy access, he lurched forward, grabbed her wrist, and stalled this quest.

  Their sex life had become quite active over the week. She couldn’t help herself. She simply wanted more of him any way had. And she knew Jake’s smile couldn’t be helped either, but the determination in his gaze drew her attentions from what she would confess she desired the most.

  He wouldn’t elaborate on what he had that was so mind-consuming. Instead, he drifted onto another path of thought, staring at her across the shadows of the flickering firelight. His gentle touch removed sticky sugar from her lips as his smile held firm.

  “A stupid question would’ve been for me to ask you if you’d remembered what you did that night. So I’ll not be stupid and ask,” he started with, drawing out her frown. “But do you remember what you threw at my head while screaming how much you hated me?”

  Oh, God! This was not good. He was bringing up a part of their life she desperately wanted to forget.

  Not good at all.

  The idea to come here was suddenly taking a downward turn.

  Liddy leaned back as far as she could until she was forced to stand up, due to her shock. She, with blinding clarity, couldn’t help but remember what she’d thrown at his head, hoping to hit him right between the eyes with it.

  Jake stood, then stepped back from her, and as he did this he sunk his hand deep into the front pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a closed fist, hiding the find. With deliberate slow motion he unfurled his fist.

  “I do believe this is yours, Mrs. Giotti.”

  Stinging tears pooled her eyes, her gasp audible, as she couldn’t quite fathom the depths of her shock with any useable words.

  “Ever since my freedom gained from prison I have kept this in my pocket. I suppose . . . I was hoping you would come back to claim it and I could put it back on your finger, where it belongs. Where it will always belong.”

  Those tears fell quickly, but she bit her tongue to stall her enthusiasm; or perhaps this done only to diminish the astonishment he still had her wedding ring in his possession and hadn’t pawned it for something far more valuable, or far more needed in his life.

  Jake took another step back and suddenly went down on one knee. Okay, so maybe she became a blubbering idiot at that point. But who wouldn’t? The big lug was bent down on one knee, and with love in his eyes, he was holding onto their wedding ring, her wedding ring, as if at any given moment the tiny gold band might burst into flames.

  Liddy had chucked the ring at his head while telling him he could rot in hell for all of eternity. And she did believe at the time she’d meant this.

  “Will you put this ring back on your finger and stay in Preacher’s Bend as my wife? You have to know I love you. Dammit! You know well and good I’ve always loved you. This place, us, I never once doubted we weren’t created by God to be the other half of ourselves.”

  He stopped at that point, stood, and stepped forward, taking her hands into his and slipping the gold band with the one carat diamond onto her fourth finger, left hand. There were tears in his ruggedly handsome, hold-it-together eyes too.

  The man could eat nails if he had to. Tough guy Jake Giotti was getting emotional? If he was, how the hell was she expected to keep it together?

  “But I’m not so certain He meant that creative goal for good or evil. I’ll just take my chances if you say ‘yes’,” he added softly, gaining her smile.

  Liddy nodded. How could she possibly disappoint his enthusiasm? Why would she disappoint him? He needed her to say ‘yes’. And for the love of God, she needed to say it, too.

  Her tear-blurred eyes lowered and she stared at the very ring this man had pledged his love to her with, ten years prior.

  “Can I make a suggestion here?” she dared thrust out, raising her gaze.

  Jake looked chagrined; most likely he’d been expecting her to say “no”, or “see ya later, pal”. Surely, he wouldn’t have put any thought to she’d throw it at his face again?

  “Can we, instead of simply taking up right where we left off . . . Do you think we can remarry instead?”

  Jake’s eyes widened. “You want to get remarried?”

  “Um, yes, I do. It does seem to be the right way to go about changing things for the better,” she suggested.

  “Why wou
ld you want to do another wedding? We’re already married. Another elaborate ceremony would be costly. I know you no longer have the funds . . .um, hadn’t this been clarified while stuck in a holding cell?”

  When she growled, he added, “And I wouldn’t exactly say Theodora is all that generous in the wage department, because what I have to my name is a crappy roof over my head, food when I need it, but not much else. Under the circumstances, you’re agreeing to stay a pauper’s wife if you say yes.”

  Her shoulders rose and fell. “I was always a pauper’s wife, Jake. And we did leave each other on a terrible note. If we take up right where we left off, then this would probably be thrown at your face again at some point in the future, and I’d rather we just start over. I want a clean slate with a new beginning. I’m sure it . . .”

  She never got out the rest. Jake reached for her and she drifted into his arms as his mouth descended to hers. No quick peck, no rushed sincerity, the kiss told her she’d come up with the best idea he’d ever heard. And perhaps it was a good idea—one neither could get out of. They both needed a fresh start, a clean slate.

  They did not have the funds for a huge wedding, but they would figure something out, somehow.

  And Jesus! She wanted this man like there was no tomorrow due only to the sudden tears in his eyes. The ring of her finger made this new beginning a sealed deal.

  Tonight she would have him again; as with all the rest of her nights—and her every day, if at all possible. She wouldn’t have to wish for it. He’d be hers.

  But hadn’t he always been hers? Preacher’s Bend kept him alive and well for the eventual return. Surely this meant she wouldn’t be able to leave him again.

  His large hands settled on her face as a second and third kiss made the temperature inside her rise to unbearable.

  “Do you know how much I love you, Liddy? How much I want to make love to you right now?” he asked.

  Her tongue dragged over his bottom lip, the quivers of sensuality inside him running across her skin like bolts of lightning. Oh, God, did she ever know how much he wanted to make love to her! She’d have to be blind not to notice the huge bulge in his pants.

  Nor notice that bulge growing by the second.

  “Don’t tell me, Jake. Show me.”

  “Now?”

  “Do you have something better to do right now, Mr. Giotti? I do believe we are out of marshmallows.”

  In unison they turned their heads and watched as the bag melted, set too closely to the fire.

  “Hell no! I do not have something better to do.”

  “Then what are you waiting for? Written permission from Mrs. Rosebud?”

  Jake stepped back and lowered the zipper of his jeans, the sound of the sliding metal deafening in her ears. Liddy could only stare at the growing appendage that bounced out of those tight-fitting Levis; an appendage waiting for her deft hands to take hold of and her mouth to encompass, given the chance.

  “Now you follow suit, sweetheart.” He eyed her fully-dressed body with silken devilment in his gaze.

  Liddy removed her T-shirt, tossing it on the dirt. Her jeans followed quickly, her silk underwear flipped haphazardly about until she stood in front of Jake the way God made her. The way Jake wanted her.

  The way she wanted him to be.

  “Come here,” he said.

  Liddy dove into his arms, pressing her sensitive breasts against his solid chest. How was it possible their heartbeats seemed to match every time they touched?

  “This is so wrong,” he chuckled against her ear. “So wrong, in so many ways. But a good kind of wrong, if you know what I mean.”

  “What is so wrong about making love to your wife?”

  “It’s not that. It’s just that I have a funny feeling this is wrong us wanting to do this here, of all places.”

  “We’ve had sex in this quarry before, Jake. This wouldn’t be anything new to try.”

  “But we were a whole lot younger and far more agile the last time we’d been down here. I don’t know what it is, a strange feeling perhaps . . .”

  “Are you getting too old for this, Jake?”

  “Hell no! I’m just thinking about your needs.”

  “If you need me agile . . .” Her grin couldn’t be stopped. “I can do agile.” She jumped up and was in his arms, with her legs wrapped around his waist, and Jake’s face practically buried between her naked breasts, in two seconds flat.

  He licked a fiery path of desire down the center of her breasts, then lowered her back down upon her feet, his arms locking around her waist.

  “No. What I want is you, now, no theatrics, and no kinky tricks. We’ve been blessed with a bright moonlight above our heads, so something has to be right about this,” he determined.

  Liddy looked up and only briefly smiled at the moon. They were about to make love in the old abandoned quarry, under the height of a full moon, below the twinkling stars, and if done right, on top the actual soul of the earth. They had no blanket, no comfy bed to cushion the aggressive nature they’d likely not curb; just dirt, grime, and rock to mock their cravings of one another.

  “Take off your shirt, Jake.”

  “No. You take it off me yourself.”

  Christ! Did he somehow think she wouldn’t?

  Her fingers laced under the cotton hem, then drove upward hard and fast as she removed the man’s shirt faster than he’d likely thought possible. He never had to ask about his jeans. They came off just as quickly, but she had a little trouble when they’d caught around his ankles, so he helped at that point.

  Liddy was then back in his arms as Jake’s mouth met hers half-way. His fingers threaded into her hair and his grip locked on tight to the back of her head. He maneuvered the both of them down to their knees. From there, Liddy arched until he lowered her onto the ground and she drew him down with her.

  “Jesus, Liddy, slow down before you hurt yourself.”

  “Hell no, Jake Giotti, I will not slow down. This is going to be hard, fast, and so damn sweaty, most of the dirt in this quarry should be stuck to us when I’m through with you.”

  “You’re never going to be through with me, if I can help it,” he said.

  She kissed his chin, his cheeks, his lips, placing her hands on either side of his more than handsome face.

  “Is that a promise?” she teased.

  Jake shook his head, grinning shamelessly, as she parted her legs and he entered her quickly; no foreplay, no sweet-talking, just hard, fast, and exactly how they both wanted the sex.

  This was the real hardcore of nature. The sex had to be equally dominating.

  Jake returned to the conversation. “No, Liddy, I said this to you as more of a challenge than a promise.”

  Liddy’s hands went from his face to grab his firm ass and hold him as close as the two of them could get; as close as God wanted a man and a woman while making love. He was so deep inside her, pushed to the hilt; she did believe he was touching her soul with the heel of his incredibly demanding cock.

  Jake slowly withdrew with a sly grin on his face, then reentered her body swift and sure, drawing out the next taken breath from her lungs. The darling man seemed intent on torturing her until she begged for mercy. And she would, in time. Jake could always get her to beg. Liddy was beginning to learn this the hard way, by taking the required baby steps demanded of her.

  Yet she knew by the end of this night, he’d be the one actually begging for mercy. She had a few tricks up her sleeve she hadn’t shown him yet. A few tricks she hadn’t shown any man, ever.

  Thank goodness no one could hear them, or see them, or catch the sound of her climactic screams as her insides fisted hard and fast, drawing every ounce of her nerve endings to the surface.

  Jake tried to smother those screams by placing his mouth over hers and darting his tongue inside. Apparently he’d wanted no one to hear his name called out.

  This only created more ecstasy, more ‘Oh Gods!’, and a lot more sweat.

&
nbsp; He then burst with his own climax, the man’s essence drowning out all coherent thought inside her head.

  “Jesus, Liddy!”

  “You can say that again.” She traced her finger over his bottom lip, smiling.

  “I do believe I will. Jesus, Liddy! That was incredible.”

  “How incredible?”

  “So damn incredible I think the stars dimmed.”

  Jake really had a great grasp for the right words at the right time. Liddy thought they’d drained the moon of battery power on that last shared climax.

  He dropped every bit of his dead weight directly on top of her, but she didn’t mind. This man was the love of her life. Liddy knew he was only gaining strength for another round of delicious sex. After all, they had all night.

  Five minutes later, she could feel his cock pulsating between her legs, hardening again, and signaling it was now her turn to show him what she had in store for the remainder of their evening.

  She gently pushed him off her, rolled Jake onto his back, then maneuvered her body on hands and knees until she was straddling his calves, and her face was at the heat of his hardening sex. One quick smile sent up the length of his body, she tipped her head down and sunk her mouth over his cock.

  Jake’s body jumped as her lips wrapped around him. His hands reached for her head, and his fingers threaded through her hair as her tongue danced and circled the full length.

  “Good God, Liddy!”

  She’d wondered for a few brief seconds if perhaps God wasn’t closing his eyes on this particular ace up her sleeve. If not, she had other ideas mulling in her head; things Jake and she had never done before, but were certainly about to try.

  “Fuck Liddy, don’t . . . stop.”

  She couldn’t even if she had wanted to. Jake had her by the hair and was holding her head in one place, holding her mouth onto his sex.

  She circled its wide width in slow motion with her tongue, then drew up and down the length with her lips held as tightly as possible. It didn’t take long for Jake to come, but she’d wanted to be over him and sinking onto his shaft, not having it blown into her mouth.