by Nicole James
“Barely.” He grinned. “I guess I was pretty exhausted.
“You work too hard.”
He crossed his arms and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. He looked down at his plate. “No choice, there.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
He looked at her. “You’ve been a great help. You’ve been working yourself too hard. I don’t want you to…” He paused shaking his head. “I didn’t bring you here to work as hard as you have been.”
She looked down. “I don’t mind. Having something to keep my hands busy, well, I think it’s good for me.” She shrugged. “You know, not to have to think about not having my memory back yet.”
He nodded. “I just don’t want you to overdo it. Let the laundry slide a day…and you don’t have to mop the floors everyday-”
“I get the picture.” She cut him off.
He reached out and took her hand in his, bringing it to his mouth. He kissed it. Looking at her a long moment, he said softly, “I’ve thought about that night.”
She stared into his eyes. “I have, too.”
“Tonight, after everyone goes to bed…”
“Yes?”
“Come to my bed.” His mouth brushed her hand again. “Please.” He watched a slow smile spread across her face and he grinned back. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
*****
Cary sat on his sofa and finally heard Steve’s truck pull out as they headed to church. He knew he had about two hours until they would be back. It was still only 7:30am, and he didn’t even know if Jessie was awake yet. He figured he could wait another hour, maybe, and then he’d have to try to wake her. He might not get another opportunity to talk to her with no one around for a long time, and he needed to talk to her today. He needed to know if she was okay, if she was regretting what they’d done…what he’d done. Now, in the light of day, he knew he had to take all the blame for what had happened. She had been vulnerable, and though he didn’t mean to take advantage of her, that’s exactly what it seemed he’d done.
Cary walked outside and headed toward the barn. He might as well get some work done, while he figured out what he was going to say to her. He walked inside the barn and started checking the milking machines, one by one.
With his hands busy, his mind replayed last night. How could he have let that happen? God, but she had been beautiful. Lord, what had he done? What if she hated him for it? Could he bear it? His mind ran over and over every minute of the time they’d spent together. He knew no matter how this all turned out, he’d never forget last night or how special it had been.
And then he looked up, and she was standing in the barn’s open door. He did a double take, lowered the lines he held in his hands and just stared at her. She looked so small and fragile.
“You didn’t go to church with the others.”
He shook his head.
She walked slowly towards him. “Why not?”
“I wanted to talk to you. Alone.” She stopped in front of him, and he tossed the lines aside. They stared at each other. He reached up and pushed back a strand of her hair that had fallen across her eyes. “Are you okay?” She nodded and smiled. Seeing that smile, all the words that he’d wanted to say flew out of his head. He saw the joy in her eyes, shining there, bright as the sun. He took her face in his hands, and they came together in a tender kiss. Finally, he pulled back enough to whisper, “Are you sorry, Jess?”
“Sorry?”
“About last night.”
She shook her head. “No, of course not.” She pulled back, and he could see her confidence faltering as she asked, “Are you?”
“I feel like I took advantage of you. You were in a vulnerable state, and I should never have-”
She stopped him. “No, Cary! Don’t say it.”
He could see she was angry now. And maybe that was exactly what he needed. If she was angry with him, then maybe they could keep away from each other. Maybe she would be stronger than him.
“Don’t you dare tell me it was a mistake! Don’t you dare.”
“Jessie, I never want to hurt you. I care about you. What I did-”
“What we did,” she corrected.
“No. What I did. I’m the one who should have stopped. I should never have touched you. I-”
She slapped his face.
He stared at her, stunned. Although he felt he deserved that for what he’d done, he didn’t understand why she was so upset when he was trying to accept the blame. She whirled around to leave. He grabbed her by the arm and stopped her. “Wait!” He pulled her to him and she pulled back. “Listen to me a minute, damn it.” He shook her. “Don’t you understand? I don’t want you to feel guilty or regret what we did, but it was wrong, Jessie. You have to know that.”
She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “It wasn’t wrong. How can anything as beautiful as the way you made me feel be wrong? I’ve never felt anything more right in my life. Don’t you see?”
“I’m twenty-six. You’re eighteen.”
“So what?”
“So what? What do you think your father would say?”
“I don’t care.”
“Yes, you do.”
“What about how I feel? Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“You know it does.”
“But you’d let me go? You want me to find someone else? Someone else to do those things we did last night with?”
He shook his head. “You know I don’t,” he said tightly. And then as if the words were torn from his soul, he gritted out again, “You know I don’t.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
*****
That evening after dinner, Summer was in the kitchen standing at the sink doing the dishes, when she felt a body press to her back and a pair of arms slide around her waist, pulling her back. Steve’s voice whispered in her ear, “You’re still coming to my room tonight, yeah?”
Her eyes slid closed as she felt his soft close-cut beard brush along her neck as he pressed kisses along the column of her throat, down to her collarbone. His arms tightened around her as he pressed for an answer. “Baby?”
“Y-yes,” she whispered and felt him smile against her skin.
He pressed another kiss to her throat. “I’ll be waiting.”
She felt him release her and move away. Then the floor creaked as he walked out of the room. She smiled in anticipation and hoped that Pop and Jessie would turn in early tonight.
As it turned out, when she finished cleaning up the kitchen and walked into the dining room, Steve and Jessie were sitting at the dining room table. Steve’s head was bent to Jessie’s as he tried to help her with her math homework. His head lifted and his eyes met hers. A smile pulled at his mouth. He glanced back to his daughter to see her yawning, her head propped in her hand. “Jess, I think you’ve got the hang of it. You look beat. Why don’t you go on up to bed?”
Jess slammed her book shut, glad for an excuse to be done with it. “Okay, Daddy.”
Steve sat back in his chair as she gathered up her book and papers.
“Night, Summer.” Jessie headed for the stairs.
“Goodnight, Jessie,” Summer called after her and moved toward the table. She stopped next to Steve’s chair and brushed the hair back from his forehead. “You look beat, too.”
He wrapped his arm around the back of her blue-jean clad thighs and pulled her up against him. “Not that beat.”
She grinned and glanced through the archway into the living room to see Pop asleep in his chair.
Steve followed her gaze and then squeezed her legs, getting her attention back. “Hey?”
She looked down at him.
“I may not let you sleep at all tonight,” he teased with a grin.
“Is that a promise?” she teased right back.
“It is if you want it to be, lady.”
Her hand came to his face, her thumbs stroking across his cheekbones. And then she dipped her head and kis
sed him. A moment later, she found herself pulled down on his lap. “Steve!” she protested, squirming to get free.
“Hush, woman, and settle down. Pop’s asleep and no one’s around.” His hands closed over her ribcage, stilling her movements. He felt her relax against him as he stared up at her. One of his hands slid up her back to thread through her hair at the back of her head, and then he was pulling her head down to his as his mouth closed over hers.
After a moment she pulled away. “I’m going to go take a shower.”
He looked up at her and ordered in a voice gruff with passion, “Don’t be too long.”
She smiled and slid from his lap. With a backward glance at him, she dashed up the stairs.
Steve sat at the table until he heard the shower come on, then he got up, the wooden chair creaking as he did. He walked into the living room, bent over Pop and shook his shoulder. “Pop.”
The old man’s eyes came open and he tried to focus. “Oh, Steve. Guess I dozed off.”
“Go on to bed, Pop.”
“Yeah. Goodnight, son.” He grabbed the armrests and pulled himself up.
Steve turned off the ballgame that was playing on the television, then switched off the lights and headed up the stairs. The shower was still running in the bathroom. He paused outside Jessie’s door and tapped on it.
“Yeah?” she called from beyond the door.
He opened it and stuck his head in. She was lying in bed, texting on her phone. “Goodnight, baby-girl.”
“Night, Daddy.”
He flipped her light out.
“Dad!”
“Go to sleep. I swear, I don’t know how you don’t have callouses on your thumbs from all the texting you do.”
“I can still text in the dark, Dad.”
“Goodnight, Jess!”
She grinned, “Night.”
When her door closed, Jessie looked back at her phone and smiled at the text she received.
Sweet dreams baby-doll. Now, go to sleep.
Her thumbs moved over the screen.
You sound like my father.
A moment later, he replied.
You know that’s a big turn-off, right?
She grinned and typed.
Then stop sounding like him.
He replied.
You do know I have to be up at four to milk cows, right?
She laughed.
I was born on a dairy farm, so yeah.
He replied.
Just saying I need to go to sleep now, babe. Goodnight.
She hesitated a moment and then typed.
Can I come to you?
Her phone was silent for a long time and she thought maybe he’d turned his off and gone to sleep. And then it chimed with a reply.
Baby…you’re killing me.
She grinned, her thumbs moving over the pad.
In a good way?
A second later.
Yes. Now I’m gonna lay here and think about you all night.
She typed.
You were going to do that anyway, right?
He replied.
Yeah, baby. I was.
Her thumbs texted back.
Is that a bad thing?
Her phone chimed.
Only if you’re not doing the same.
She typed.
You know I am. So? What are we gonna do about it?
He replied.
Christ, baby. Quit torturing me.
She grinned and typed.
That comes later, if you’re good.
Her phone was silent for a while and she was afraid maybe she’d pushed him too far. And then it chimed.
Get over here. Now, baby.
She grinned and settled in to wait for the house to quiet down.
*****
Steve pulled his clothes off, dropping them in a pile on the floor of his closet, and then he climbed into bed. He had the sheet pulled to his waist and his arms folded behind his head. He stared at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the shower running and imagining Summer’s naked body under the spray of water. By the time the shower shut off, he was rock hard.
A few minutes later he heard the bathroom door quietly open, and then a moment later, he heard her door open and close softly. He hoped like hell she hadn’t changed her mind. He’d half hoped she’d come to him directly from the shower, her body still damp with only a towel wrapped around her. But she’d gone to her room. Either she was waiting to make sure Jessie was asleep or she’d changed her mind.
That wasn’t happening, by God. He’d go to her, if she didn’t come to his room soon. He gritted his teeth and looked over at the clock. He’d give her five more minutes and then she was getting a midnight visitor.
He lay there a few more minutes and then he heard a creak outside his door. His eyes cut to his doorknob and saw it turning. And then she was slipping through the opening and quickly closing the door softly. She turned to look at him, and he sucked in a breath, swearing the wait had been all worth it as his eyes slid down her body. His arms came down from behind his head and he rose up on an elbow. She must have done some shopping at the mall herself when she’d taken Jessie. She was wearing a black silk kimono and it looked like she had sheer black stockings on under it.
“I got you a surprise when I went shopping. I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever get a chance to wear it, or have the courage to wear it, or-”
“Baby?” he interrupted her.
She pulled in a deep breath. “Yes?”
“Show me,” he ordered and watched her lick her lips. Her hands went to the belt tied at her waist and pulled it free. Then she pulled the edges back and his mouth went dry. His gaze skated down her body and his eyes flamed with desire. She had on a black corset top that pushed up her breasts like a goddamn playboy bunny. Attached garters held up the stockings and a string bikini panty barely covered the rest.
“Christ, is it Christmas? You look like a present standing there waiting to be unwrapped.”
She moved her shoulders and the kimono slid to the floor.
“Get over here, baby,” he growled. He watched her swallow and then she moved hesitantly toward him. When she got within a couple feet of him, his arm snaked out and he clamped his hand around her wrist and pulled her to him and down on his chest as he lay back. His hands slid up over her thighs, hips, waist, and then he was rolling with her until she was on her back and he was looming over her. His hand skimmed over the silk stockings up to the bare thigh at the top. He traced the garter strap and then slipped his finger under it and gave it a snap. He watched her eyes flare. “I think I’m gonna want to do you at least once with these still on, baby.”
Her mouth parted and the tip of her tongue came out to touch her lip. He groaned and his hand glided up over her hip. He paused to toy with the strings of her panty tied in a bow at her hip. “I especially like these.” His eyes moved from the bow to her eyes, and then back as his hand slid up over the corset that nipped in her already tiny waist so tight that as he lay his hand on her stomach his thumb touched one side and his fingertips touched the other. He slid his hand up over the lace and boning until he was cupping her breast. He looked down at the voluptuous cleavage and he dipped his head. The tip of his tongue came out and licked along the very edge of the corset. His fingers curled in the side edge and tugged it down a bit until her nipple popped out and into his waiting mouth. He closed over it, sucking deep. He felt her writhe beneath him, her back arching and giving him better access as her head fell back.
“Oh, God,” she gasped out, her hands reaching for his head, her fingers raking through his hair.
He leaned over her, pressing down on her, knowing she had to feel how hard he was, how ready he was to take her. But he didn’t want to rush this. Not tonight. Not with her looking so goddamn sexy. He wanted to take his time and unwrap every inch of her slowly, tormenting her with his mouth, until she wanted it just as badly as he did. Until she was begging for release.
His mouth blazed a
trail to her other nipple, where he repeated his torment, his mouth latching on, pulling deep until she groaned, her hands fisting in his hair. His mouth moved along the mounds of her cleavage, and then his hands fisted in her hair, and he held her head back as his licked and nipped at her neck and the underside of her jaw.
He felt her leg bend and slide along his thigh and hip, her calf and heel hooking around his thigh, pulling him closer. His knee slid between her thighs, spreading her apart as he arched in response, driving his pelvis and cock into her soft mound. He growled as his mouth came down on hers, forcing his way in, lust raging through him and his biceps locked around her.
Her arms slid down his back and her hands ran over the dimples at the base of his spine and then lower over his ass. He felt her hands clench, pulling him even closer. He broke away, tearing his mouth from hers, breathing hard. “Fuck, baby. I wanted to take you slow and easy, but right now all I want to do is take you fast and rough.”
“Yes. Do it.”
He rose up, looking into her eyes. “Later. We’ll get to that, baby. But not yet. Not yet. Want my mouth on you, first.” He moved his hips between her thighs and slid down. His hand went to the tie at first one hip, then the other, pulling the scrap of lacy panty free. And then his mouth pressed kisses down her belly. His arms held her thighs locked apart, spread open for his pleasure. The tip of his tongue skimmed along her cleft and she tried to move under him, attempting to gain more contact, but he held her down, allowing her only what he gave her.
“Steve, please,” she pleaded.