Now, I could hear the couple in the DVD saying things like “I’m going to fuck you now,” and “Fuck, baby, that’s good,” and “Suck me off, baby.” That was when she put her mouth on his penis, which was beginning to be my favorite part of the DVD. Just hearing his low voice kind of growling those things made me get wetter between my legs. I decided that I was probably one of those people who found that made it better. But I wouldn’t know for sure until I tried it for myself, with a man, not just by myself.
I was getting closer to just coming out and saying to Cody, please fuck me, but I hadn’t gathered the courage yet when he had his accident, so I never got the chance. Now, giving him those sponge baths after his accident was the closest I was going to get to sex with Cody for a while, unless I could figure out how to do it without hurting his neck and leg.
~~~
I wasn’t sure what to think when Russ brought a red-headed girl to the ranch and said she’d be staying with us a while and giving Cody his physical therapy. I wanted to object, to say only I should touch him, but before I could get a chance, Russ explained that Cody’s leg had to be pushed and pulled and exercised in special ways so he could regain full use of it. Then I understood I was being selfish. It was important for him, and he couldn’t help that Russ had brought a pretty girl to do it. Still, it was hard to see.
For one thing, she didn’t care if the door was closed or not. She’d just barge right in and interrupt whatever was going on. One day I barely got him covered when she showed up too early, before I was done with his bath. She laughed and winked at him, and said, “Darn, just missed it.” Then she left but Cody got all tongue-tied and blushed as bad as me. She was lucky I had to finish his bath, or I would have scratched her eyes out.
I tried to talk to Cody about how I felt about her, but I kept thinking that I shouldn’t be that way. So I just kept my mouth shut, even when she scolded me for being up in the bed with him. Her patient! He was my patient first, and he wanted me there. Didn’t he?
You could just about say I was up to my neck in misery all between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Between not being thankful for her being there and my constant need to touch him and have him touch me but getting no privacy, nothing was going right. Every time I got to bathe him, I’d run my eyes over his flat stomach and the muscles all round and smooth over his chest and shoulders, and I’d get to see his cock, a word I’d learned from my DVD, respond to my touch, but I couldn’t have him, not like I wanted him. Sometimes it was too much to bear, and I’d go to my room and cry. I started losing weight and getting paler every day, partly because it was too cold to go out and get some sunshine, but mostly because I wanted to die, being so close to him and yet so far.
So, it wasn’t surprising when things came to a head at dinner one night. As usual, Jenny was winking and rolling her eyes at any hand whose eye she could catch. That set my sisters on edge, because some of those hands belonged to them, or so they wished. The air around the table had closed in like a fog, when Jenny answered Russ’s question about Cody’s condition and lit me on fire.
“He’s doing great, and just as sexy as ever. I’d love to take him dancing when his leg’s better…I’d be the envy of every girl in Rawlins.”
Charity’s eyes flew to mine and she widened them to show me she didn’t know what to make of that. But I did. Jenny was acting like she could move in on my man, and I’d had enough.
“I doubt he’d want to go dancing with a cheap tramp like you, Jenny,” I said, as deliberately as I could. A ripple ran around the table as my sisters tried to suppress nervous giggles, and the men all started to look interested in what might happen next. Charity put her hand over her mouth and I could have sworn she was laughing, but it was no laughing matter.
I’ve heard tell you shouldn’t ever make a redhead mad, that they have tempers like rabid dogs. I’d just broken that rule, and Jenny did look like she might start foaming at the mouth any minute. But she said, as calm as could be, “Oh, and you think he’d prefer the ex-whore of a religious fanatic, and another man’s two bastards?”
There was a roaring in my ears and everything turned red. I didn’t know who had told her our background, but whoever it was was going to get killed next, unless it was Russ or Charity or Cody. And they might not be totally safe. But first, I had a redheaded twat to kill, another of my new words, and I was going to do it with my bare hands. I stood up fast, knocking my chair over, and lunged for her across the table. My sisters started shrieking and the men started yelling, some of them encouraging me and some her, with Russ and Charity trying to put a stop to all of it.
Of course, Jenny dodged, but I was quicker, and came around the table at her. I got a fistful of that red hair and pulled it hard as I could, trying to yank it out by the roots. She was screeching and trying to bite me, but I got a good punch in before strong arms came around me and picked me up, feet kicking and arms flailing to hit her or whoever it was that had me.
“Settle down,” said Cody’s uncle in my ear. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to settle down, but the harder I struggled, the harder he squeezed me until I couldn’t hardly breathe.
“Okay,” I gasped, “I’ll behave. Put me down.”
Hank put me on my feet, but kept one strong hand wrapped around my upper arm while we surveyed the scene. Celeste had a fierce grin on her face that looked like she might have liked a go at Jenny herself. The other three looked like they might cry, huddled together and shaking. Charity was helping Janet put the table and the food that I’d knocked over to rights, and Russ was examining Jenny’s face, which was already swelling with a huge purple bruise under her eye. She was crying and telling him she quit. That brought me up short. What had I done? Cody needed his physical therapy, and I’d attacked the person who was there to give it to him. I collapsed into a chair that was behind me, startling Hank as I pulled him down with me.
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed, not knowing who I was apologizing to. “But sh-she called my k-kids b-bastards.” It even surprised me when I heard myself say that. I didn’t think that was what had set me off, or maybe it was. All of my sisters ran to me then, and huddled around me, hugging and patting me. If my kids were bastards, then so were theirs, and we needed to stick together. Celeste stood up and aimed a mean face at Jenny.
“Apologize, you skank,” she said. I barely had time to wonder where she learned that word when Russ finally stepped in to settle matters.
“That’s enough name-calling, all of you. Annalee, Celeste, I’m surprised at your behavior, but I’ll agree Jenny had no call to say that about your kids. Jenny, I’m sorry you feel you have to quit, but if that’s the way it is, I’ll drive you into town tonight.”
“I should have some compensation for that crazy bitch giving me a black eye,” she replied.
All eyes were on Russ as he frowned. “I think I already said that was enough name-calling. I’ve watched you making mischief among my family for nearly a month now, and what you said about Annalee and her children was uncalled for and unforgivable. You’re fired. Go get your stuff together so I can get you out of here before I have to let these girls finish the job Annalee started.”
The silence that greeted this speech was total. No one even dared breathe as we watched Jenny for what she might say next. We all knew that Russ wasn’t to be crossed in a mood like that, and I was deeply grateful that it was me he was standing up for.
After a few minutes of uneasy silence, Charity got brave enough to speak. “Um, Russ?”
“What,” he almost snapped at her.
“Don’t take that tone with me. I merely wanted to remind you that there’s a blizzard in the forecast. Do you really think it’s wise to drive her to town tonight?”
Russ kind of shrank back to normal size, then, after swelling up to boss size when he gave Jenny that lecture. “Sorry, Babe, and you’re right.” Turning to me, he said, “Do you think you can keep your hands off her until I can get her out of here?”
“Long as sh
e keeps hers off of Cody,” I said, sounding braver than I felt.
“I wouldn’t touch that ignorant cowpoke with a ten-foot pole,” she said, causing Hank to growl where he stood beside me.
“Jenny, I’d suggest you keep your mouth shut. Go to your room. I’ll have Janet bring you your meals there until the weather breaks and we can leave. One more word and I’ll send you out of here on foot.”
I didn’t believe for a minute that he’d make good on that threat, since it would be a death sentence, but it had the effect of shutting her mouth. She slunk off down the hall with an attitude, and I got up to make sure she didn’t open Cody’s door. But I was still worried about his physical therapy.
As soon as Jenny cleared the hallway, I jumped up and ran down to Cody’s room. I wanted to be the one to tell him what happened, so I could try to explain why I’d done it. When I came rushing in the door, he looked up from a paper he was writing on and must have seen from my face that something was wrong.
“What is it, Annalee, is one of the kids sick, or hurt?”
“No, Cody. I’ve got to tell you something, and you’re going to be mad at me. But I didn’t mean it to happen and I’m sorry!” There, that was all my worry in a nutshell. I’d warned him. Now I could tell him what it was all about. He had a puzzled look on his face, so I started from the beginning.
“Cody, you know I have feelings for you, don’t you?” I asked, watching him for signs of what he was thinking.
“I guess so, Annalee. And I have feelin’s for you. What’s this about?” He looked kind of scared, so I rushed on.
“Well, I just can’t stand watching that Jenny put her hands on you and she was saying stuff that made me mad and I called her a name and she called me one and then I hit her.” Darn it, that wasn’t the way I meant to say it all, just tumbling out of my mouth in a rush like a flash flood. Cody was staring at me, half confused, half something else. I waited for him to say something.
“So, wait a minute, let me get this straight. What did she say to set you off?” he asked.
“She said you were sexy and she’d like to take you dancing.” I recalled, trying to be accurate.
“And you didn’t agree with that?”
“No, I agree that you’re sexy, and you’d probably be a good dancer. But I couldn’t stand it that she thought you’d go with her. You wouldn’t, would you?”
He had to think about it for a minute, and I almost hit him. But then he said, “Aw, Annalee, I wouldn’t want to go dancin’ with anyone but you. But I don’t understand why you hit her.”
“Well, first I said you wouldn’t go with a tramp like her, a cheap tramp,” I corrected.
His eyes got round and he kind of strangled when he said, “What did she say to that?”
My eyes filled with tears, and I couldn’t tell him. “It’s too awful,” I sobbed.
“Aw, honey, com’ere,” he said, holding his arms out to me. I went into them for comfort.
“You can tell me, baby. What did she say?”
“Sh-she s-said I was a whore and my b-babies were b-bastards,” I finally choked out.
“She what?! You just wait ‘til I see her again. I´ll set her straight.”
“Um, I don’t think you’re going to see her,” I confessed.
“Why? I’ve got PT in the morning.”
“Well, um, I kind of punched her out and she quit. Then she said something else and Russ fired her. He’s just waiting 'til the weather clears to take her back to Rawlins.” I was so miserable that I’d ruined his physical therapy, that I didn’t realize his reaction until he let out a whoop of laughter.
“You punched her? Way to go, baby! I woulda liked to see that. Did the other guys see it?”
“Oh, yeah. It was at the dinner table.”
At that, he let go of me and rolled over, laughing as hard as he could. “Wh-what did Russ do?” he gasped.
“Well, first your uncle caught me and wouldn’t let me go, and then Russ said that was enough. But he fired her when she talked back.”
“I’ll be hog-tied. I’d give my left nut to have seen that,” he said, still laughing. He turned back over and put his arms around me again. “So, you didn’t want her dancin’ with me, huh, baby?”
I was beginning to see the humor in it myself, so I let a small smile play on my lips when I said, “Don’t get all full of yourself, Cody. I just didn’t like what she called me.”
“Come on, Annalee. You don’t want me dancin’ with anyone else. Admit it.”
“Okay, I don’t want you dancing with anyone else. But you’re in no shape to dance, and here I got your therapist fired.”
“Don’t worry about it, baby, I can do those exercises on my own now. You punched her, I cain’t get over that.”
Realizing that there would be no more lectures from Jenny about it, I twisted around and rolled up on the bed with Cody, still snuggled in his arms. He held me even tighter. This might not quite be the time, but I was going to confess to my wishes and wants soon. With his arms around me, I had only one thing on my mind, and that was getting hold of his cock with my bare hand instead of a washcloth.
Chapter 5
Things got lots better once Jenny was outta my hair. Annalee was herself again, though it felt sometimes like she was about to boil over, and I didn’t understand why. She’d just be on simmer when she come in to bring my meals, or bring the kids to visit. But when it come time for my baths, I woulda needed a leather glove just to touch her without gettin’ burned. It seemed like she wanted to make sure my pecker was extra-clean, for all the attention she give it. It got to where even when it wasn’t time for my bath, Mr. Johnson stood at attention whenever she walked in the room smellin’ like strawberries, hopin’ for her hands on him, even through the washcloth. Tell the truth, it scared the shit out of me.
Oh, I still wanted her. I wanted to get her naked in the bed with me and see all of her, kiss her everywhere and have her kiss me. But it seemed to me that we was maybe movin’ too fast. I still had to make my way in the world, and there wasn’t no room on the rodeo circuit for a couple of kids. Even just her woulda been a distraction there, and I couldn’t afford no distractions. So, I tried to keep it cool with Annalee, and the more I tried to cool it off, the more she tried to heat it up ‘til I didn’t know which way was up.
Uncle Hank stopped by a few days before Christmas to bring me the wrapped gifts I’d asked him to pick up for Annalee and the kids. It wasn’t much, but I wanted to do somethin’, even though I had to borrow the money from Hank, too.
He stuck his head in the door to see if the coast was clear, and then came on in, shuttin’ the door behind him. “How you doin’ son?” he asked.
“Hank, I’m powerful bored. Ain’t there anything I can do? I’m tired of watchin’ soap oprys and playin’ solitaire.”
“What did you have in mind, son? You know you still can’t ride.”
“I know, but I’m pretty good at math, and breedin’ schedules and such. Isn’t there some paperwork I could help with?
“I’ll talk to the boss about it. Hasn’t that girl been keepin’ you entertained?”
“Uncle Hank, you don’t know the half of it. But, she’s got her own chores to do, and the kids to take care of. She cain’t wait on me hand and foot. ‘Sides, you was right. I cain’t take care of her and the kids ‘til I’ve got somethin’ saved up for a place of our own.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve popped the question!” Uncle Hank looked genuinely pained I’d do somethin’ like that without talkin’ to him about it first.
“Naw, Hank, I’d let you know before I did that. ‘Sides, I’d have to borrow the money from you to get her a ring and all, and have you go to town and get it. I’m gonna wait ‘til I can do things for myself.” I knew things was bad, because I sounded so mournful any momma cow woulda adopted me in a New York minute.
“Good, ‘cause there ain’t no way I’m lendin’ you no money for foolishness like a ring.” That musta be
en all he had to say, because he left then without even sayin’ goodbye, just walked on out the door. In a minute, here come Annalee, lookin’ kinda mad.
“What’s up, baby?” I said, with a wink, because we both knew what was up under my blanket. She wasn’t in no mood to josh with me, though.
“What’s got into Hank? He gave me a look like he thought I was on my way in here to kill you.”
“Aw, it’s just the usual. Don’t take it personal, hon. He thinks I’m too young to be in a serious relationship. You, too, probly,” I added, when she started lookin’ stubborn.
“Is that what this is? A serious relationship? Because you haven’t said anything to make me think that,” she pouted. My heart about come outta my chest, lookin’ at that lip pokin’ out. I wanted to bite it.
“Baby, I cain’t say nothin’ ‘til I’m in shape to do somethin’ about it. Can you wait for me to get my shit together? Get on the circuit, get some money and all? Then I’ll say everything you wanta hear, I promise.”
“Don’t wait too long, Cody Wayne. My clock’s ticking.”
I didn’t know what the hell she meant by that, but it sounded serious.
After lunch, the boss stopped in for a visit. He was a busy man, so I didn’t expect to see him every day, but he usually made it in once a week or so. I didn’t expect him to stay long, either, but today he pulled up the easy chair so we could talk without shoutin’ across the room, and asked me how was I doin’.
“Fine,” I said.
“Cody, I’ve been thinking about your situation, and Hank came by my office this morning to tell me you’re getting stir-crazy.”
Wrangled Page 8