The young man knelt down and beckoned the boy. “Hey, Charlie. I’m your Uncle Mark. You probably don’t remember me. I used to come visit you and your mom when you were little. Then I was out of the country because of my job. But your mom used to write long e-mails, telling me all about you. She sent lots of pictures.” His eyes filled with tears. “I wish she had told me she was sick. I really miss her.”
Mark held his arms and Charlie moved to him and began to sob into his shoulder. “I miss Mom so much, too.”
They hugged tightly and Mark said, “I know you don’t want to leave Kate, but the last time I talked to your mom, I promised her that you and I would take care of each other. It’s what she wanted for both of us.”
Charlie nodded, his tears slowing to sniffles.
“I’m going to be working in Atlanta nine months out of the year while you’re in school, but I’ll have to do some overseas traveling during the summer months. I thought you could spend summers here until you’re old enough to travel with me.”
Charlie’s eyes grew wide and he asked Kate, “Can I?”
Kate held her arms out and he shyly walked into her bear hug. “Your uncle and I had a good talk. You can come every time he’s away till you’re tired of all this.”
“I’ll never get sick of being here,” Charlie said solemnly. “I love it.”
“And we love you,” Kate said, wiping some tears.
At that very moment, a blood-curdling yowl came from the depths of the barn that sent them all rushing in to see what horse was standing on Peach’s tail. Every hair stood out straight on the battle-scarred old tom as a chubby, black Labrador puppy jumped playfully around him.
“Look out there, fellow.” Skyler laughed as she scooped the puppy up out of the reach of angry claws. “Peach probably isn’t the best playmate for you, little guy.”
Mark stepped forward and took the squirming puppy from her. “Oh, so that’s where you got off to.” He held the puppy up, facing Jessica and Skyler. “I’d introduce this little rascal to you, but he doesn’t have a name yet. That’s going to be up to Charlie because this is his new puppy.”
“Wow! He’s mine?” Charlie beamed as Mark handed the puppy to him. “Thanks, Uncle Mark. I’m going name him Rascal.”
“That’s a great name.” Mark turned to the women as they watched the puppy joyfully lick at Charlie’s face. “I don’t know much about being a father, but I’ve had a lot of experience being a boy. I’m counting on that to get me and Charlie through without my sister here to supervise us.”
“Why don’t we go sit on the porch for a while so we can get to know each other?” Kate suggested.
“Skyler and I will take care of the horses,” Jessica said. “Then I’ll join you.”
*
Jessica and Skyler made quick work of rubbing the horses down and turning them out in the paddocks to relax before they were brought in to the barn for the night. Their eyes met often, and they exchanged smiles as they went about their tasks in the barn. Skyler turned the last horse out and headed to the tack room to hang up the halter and lead rope in her hand. When she stepped through the doorway, Jessica reached out and grabbed Skyler’s shirt, pulling her close.
“Seems like I’ve been waiting all day to kiss you again, and I just can’t wait any longer.” Burying her hand in Skyler’s sun-streaked locks, she kissed her deeply.
Skyler pressed her body against Jessica’s and they both moaned. When they finally broke the lip-lock, Skyler touched her forehead against Jessica’s. “Think you could find your way back here later tonight?” she begged softly.
“I thought you didn’t backtrack down trails you’ve already ridden,” Jessica teased.
“I think this trail will need lots more exploration.” Skyler’s voice was also teasing, but her eyes were serious.
“Leave your door unlocked, stud. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”
This time it was Skyler who initiated a passionate kiss that made Jessica’s knees go weak and her face flush with desire.
“I sure hope so,” Skyler whispered.
*
The house was quiet when Jessica slipped down the stairs after everyone had retired for the night. The cool night air and the fact that she hadn’t injected her knee that day made her leg ache. The pain, though, was no match for her desire to be with Skyler again. She marched down the drive with a determined limp, her heart racing with the anticipation of lying next to Skyler’s nude body.
She climbed the stairs to Skyler’s apartment quietly and slowly opened the door. The apartment was dark except for flickering candlelight coming from the bathroom. “Skyler?” she called softly.
“In here, Jess,” came Sky’s low, husky voice.
When Jessica stepped into the doorway a slow smile spread across her face. Skyler was sitting chest deep in a whirlpool bathtub full of bubbles. The warm light of nearly twenty candles illuminated her sculpted features. She smiled at Jessica. “Join me?”
Jessica slowly began to strip off her clothes as Skyler’s eyes followed every graceful movement. When she finally stood before Skyler completely naked in the flickering light, Skyler sighed. “God, Jess. You are so beautiful.”
She held out her hand and Jessica took it in hers before stepping in the tub and sliding down to lay her body on top of Skyler’s. They drank each other in. Skyler reached up to release Jessica’s French braid and let the silky dark locks spread across her shoulders. They pressed their seeking mouths together.
“Let’s go slow tonight,” Skyler whispered. “I want to savor every moment with you.”
“I’ll bet you say that to all the girls?” Jessica teased.
Skyler stiffened. “No, actually.”
“I was just flirting. There was nothing behind that remark,” Jessica said with concern. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. You are too special to me.”
Skyler’s face was serious. “Do you say that to all the girls you’ve been with?”
Jessica gazed lovingly into her eyes. “No.” She took a deep breath and decided to plunge forward. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.” She stroked Skyler’s cheek. “I know you’ve been hurt badly in the past and find it really hard to trust. So, I’m going to stick my neck out first and let you know exactly how I feel.”
“Jess, you don’t have to. I trust you.”
She touched her fingers to Skyler’s lips. “No, I do have to. Not telling you won’t make it any less painful if you choose to turn away.” She took a long breath and looked deeply into Skyler’s eyes. “I’m in love with you, Skyler. You are always on my mind. I dream about you. When we are together, I feel complete, like I’ve finally stopped looking for something.”
Skyler’s eyes filled with tears. Jessica’s heart fluttered as Skyler looked away for several long, tortuous moments, a mixture of feelings crossing her handsome face. When she finally looked back into Jessica’s eyes, her voice was strained. “Jess. I’ve tried not to fall in love with you. Everybody told me it was wrong, that I’d mess it up. I think…thought I would mess it up, too. But scared as I am, I just can’t help it. I can’t think of anything but you. Nobody has made me feel that way since…well, for a very, very long time. I really didn’t think I had it in me to be in love again.”
Jessica leaned forward into a kiss, but her leg slipped in the tub and she grimaced as pain shot through her knee.
“What’s the matter? Skyler said anxiously.
“I just hit my knee wrong. It’ll be okay in a moment,” Jessica said through clenched teeth.
Skyler took her shoulders and turned her around so she could straighten her legs out and rest her back against Skyler’s chest. “Let’s just relax a minute,” she whispered in Jessica’s ear, then ran some more hot water to warm the tub.
They relaxed back when the temperature was right again, their bodies sliding sensuously against each other.
The bare skin was too much for Skyler to resist, and she began nibbling
the neck that lay exposed before her. Their bodies pulsed from the warm bath and building passion as they caressed and kissed various sensitive areas.
“I can’t help myself, Jess. I just can’t keep my hands off of you,” Skyler purred.
“I think we need to continue this in the bed,” Jessica gasped.
The night was a long marathon of slow, tender lovemaking, stroking hands, plunging fingers, exploring tongues, undulating bodies, breast against breast, and heart against heart as they reached ecstasy time and time again. Finally, they fell into an exhausted slumber, their hearts secure and their bodies sated.
*
Skyler shook her head to stop the ringing in her ears before she woke and realized it was her cell phone next to the bed. Shit! It was almost eight a.m.
She grabbed the phone and put it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Sky, you still asleep?” It was Kate on the other end. “Charlie and Mark are about to leave. I thought you might want to come say good-bye. You okay?” There was a pause. “Or are you just not alone?”
As Skyler tried to extricate herself from Jessica’s warm embrace, she met with resistance. In her sleep Jessica snuggled closer, frowning.
“Uh, you’re right, Kate. I do want to see Charlie off,” Skyler said quickly, avoiding Kate’s question. “Just give me ten minutes to get dressed.”
“Wait. Have you seen Jess this morning?” Kate asked before she could hang up the phone. “I thought she was sleeping late but when I went up to wake her, the bed was already made.”
Skyler shot a panicked look at Jessica, who blinked sleepily. “Maybe she’s up at the gym.”
Jessica grimaced and grabbed the phone. “I’m here with Skyler, Kate. We’ll be there as soon as we get dressed.” She ended the call without waiting for a response.
Skyler covered her face with her hands and groaned.
“What? Are you ashamed for Kate to know about us?” Jessica demanded.
Skyler lowered her hands. “No! I’d just like to stay alive and employed. Kate warned me not to even think about putting my hands on you, and I promised her I wouldn’t.” Even before her explanation was finished, her eyes had already strayed and hands caressed the smooth curve of Jessica’s hip. “As much as I respect her, I just couldn’t keep that promise.”
Jessica wiggled her eyebrows. “I happen to like the way you put your hands on me.” She grinned. “Kate is a bit protective, but I can handle her…that is, if you’re afraid of her,” she teased.
Skyler jumped on top of Jessica and began tickling her. “My blood will be on your hands if she murders me or throws me off the farm.”
“She’s going to murder us both if we don’t get cleaned up, dressed and up to the house in the next ten minutes.” Jessica laughed, and on that note, they both jumped up and raced to the bathroom.
*
“Skyler, I want see you in my office,” Kate said as soon as they’d waved good-bye to Charlie and Mark.
Skyler started to follow, but Jessica grabbed her arm and stopped her. “No, Kate. I know this is about me, so you can say anything you have to say to Sky in front of me.”
The big woman’s normally cheerful face darkened. Few people had ever seen Kate angry, but Skyler had and she wasn’t anxious to see it again.
“Okay,” Kate said in a low voice. “Just what the hell do you two think you are doing?”
“Kate…” Skyler began.
“Don’t ‘Kate’ me, Skyler. I made it perfectly clear that Jessica wasn’t up for grabs. I trusted you to train her as a rider and condition her horse. You repaid me by violating that trust. Don’t you have any control over yourself or was our friendship just not special enough for you to keep your promise?”
Skyler hung her head, but Jessica’s eyes blazed as she stepped between them. “Kate Parker, you’ve been a second mother to me since I was a baby, but even my own mother hasn’t had a say in my love interests since I started high school. As much as I value your opinion, my love life isn’t your place to decide. And I really don’t appreciate you talking to Skyler like I’m not even here or don’t have a will of my own.”
“This is about a promise Skyler made to me before you got here,” Kate yelled. “It’s about violating a trust between friends.” She turned to Skyler. “Didn’t I stand beside you when nobody else would give you a job? Haven’t I looked the other way when you bedded half the female clients of this farm?”
Skyler dug the toe of her boot in the dirt as Kate’s tirade continued.
“I don’t intend to see you use Jess right under my nose like you do all the other women you sleep with.”
Jessica’s temper unfurled even further. Stepping within inches of Kate’s face, she said, “If I want to sleep with Skyler, then I will. If you want me to leave the farm, I will. But I won’t stop seeing Skyler.”
“Just wait a minute here.” Skyler grabbed Jessica’s shoulders and pulled her away from Kate. “Now you guys are talking about me like I’m not here. I’m not going to be the one who comes between you. You mean too much to each other. You both mean too much to me.”
“Looks like you thought of that too late, Skyler,” Kate spat.
Skyler decided it was time to take her chances. Things couldn’t go much worse than the way they were heading now. “You’re wrong about this, Kate. I mean, you’re not wrong about me breaking my promise to you. I deeply apologize for that. But I won’t apologize for being with Jess. This is different.” A hot blush flooded her face. “I love…I’m in love with her.”
“Love?” Kate scowled. “Give me a break.”
Skyler stood her ground. “It’s true, Kate. I never thought I could lose my heart again after Sarah, but Jess is different. If you hate me for this, then I’ll be very sad to have lost my best friend.” Skyler took Jessica’s hand and pulled her in close. “But if you make me choose between our friendship and what I feel for Jess, I’ll have to choose Jess.”
Kate’s brow knit together as she pressed her lips in a tight frown, considering Skyler’s words as if really hearing them for the first time. “How can you know that? You couldn’t have been sleeping together long. I would have known it. You can’t know you’re in love, just like that.”
“That’s where you are wrong again,” Jessica said. “I mean, you’re right that we haven’t been sleeping together, but Sky and I have just spent months getting to know each other. I think that’s what people should do before they form a lasting relationship, don’t you?”
Kate turned a skeptical eye toward Skyler, but she seemed to be softening.
“Kate, I need…we need you to believe in us,” Skyler begged.
Kate stared at her for a long time. “I never thought I’d hear those words coming out of your mouth again after Sarah tore your heart out, Sky.” Then she raised her voice and jabbed her index finger in the air under Skyler’s nose. “But if you hurt Jessica, I’m going to personally kick your butt from here to California. Is that clear?”
The new couple released simultaneous sighs of relief, and Skyler looked down at Jessica with unguarded adoration. “No chance of that. No chance of that at all.”
Chapter Twelve
Jessica was working on her last set on the thigh machine when she heard the gymnasium door open and close behind her. Her smile grew as quiet footsteps came closer. It was always hard to rise for her early workouts, but pulling herself away from Sky’s warm embrace every morning was even tougher. She’d thought Sky would sleep longer for sure. Couldn’t stay away, huh? Maybe I’ll get you naked in the whirlpool with me.
She purposely pretended she didn’t hear the stealthy steps until they were almost upon her.
“We’ve been apart way too long, lover,” she said in a sultry voice. She smiled as she heard her stalker abruptly stop. She completed her last leg lift, but still didn’t turn around. “And I’m glad you’re here.” She reached to point out a spot on the back of her neck. “I really need a kiss right there.”
After she fe
lt warm lips caress the back of her neck, she closed her eyes and turned her head to capture those same lips with her own. Her eyes flew open when she realized the mouth tasted familiar, but not like Skyler’s.
“Wow, I should go out of town more weekends if that’s the greeting I’m going to get when I return.”
“Tory! I…I didn’t know. What are you doing out here so early in the morning?”
The vet’s grin began to fade and confusion washed over her face. “I got in late last night, but I just had an emergency call out this way so I thought I’d drop in. I knew you’d be up here starting your daily routine.” She began to frown. “If you didn’t know it was me, exactly who did you think it could be?”
Jessica’s mind raced. She hadn’t had time to think about how to tell Tory they could only be friends.
The tall vet stiffened at Jessica’s hesitation. “I know we just had a few casual dates, but I thought you would have mentioned if you were seeing someone else, too.”
At that moment, the gymnasium door swung open. Jessica rolled her eyes. Apparently her workout had become Grand Central Station. Skyler hesitated when she saw Tory.
“Tory just finished up an emergency out this way.” Jessica knew her voice sounded strained.
Tory’s green eyes turned angry as realization dawned. “Oh, I see. I’m gone only one weekend and the resident fox has been in the hen house.” She started for the door.
“Tory, please wait,” Jessica pleaded.
Tory stopped her retreat and paused for a moment before turning around. The hurt was evident in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Jess,” she said stiffly. “But don’t come looking for me when Skyler jumps to the next woman. I don’t take her leftovers. It would keep me way too busy.”
“Okay, I deserve that,” Skyler said. “But, Tory, this is not like that.”
“Are you telling me I’m mistaken, and you two aren’t sleeping together?”
Bareback Page 12