by Silver James
Chapter 10
A month. A month of breakfast, sometimes lunch but always dinner with a pretty woman in his kitchen and at the table with him. A month of sitting on the porch swing with the woman who was becoming important. A month of Elena’s kisses. A month of watching her sashay through the barn in tight jeans. Of the sweet curves of her butt sitting the saddle of one of his horses. All of it sweet torture. She’d gone back to work but spent every night in his house and every weekend. He hated that she had such a long commute. but she never complained, never suggested that they stop this…whatever it was growing between them.
Elena wanted more. Pops knew that. Elena wanted it all. And he couldn’t give it to her. He could maybe share a bed, for a while at least. He thought. Taking those kisses to the next step, touching her bare skin, feeling her full breasts pressed against his naked chest. Hell, feeling her lips pressed against all sorts of places on his body. His dick swelled with the images in his head. So yeah, he decided. He could share his body so he could share in her sweetness. But he couldn’t give her his heart.
Never thought you were a stupid man, handsome.
He ignored Rosie’s voice, something he’d never done when she was alive, even if he didn’t want to hear what she was saying. A girlish giggle caught his attention. Joy clung to the saddle horn as the horse she perched atop trotted around the corral. She bounced along, laughing nervously.
“Loosen up, baby girl,” he called. “Heels down, stirrups forward. Sit back in that saddle. Feel the rhythm.”
The kid was interested in the animals he kept around. She’d learned to brush the horses and didn’t complain about mucking out their stalls. She fed, watered, collected eggs from the dozen hens he kept, and watched with curious eyes whenever he and/or Elena saddled a horse to ride. Two days ago, she’d shyly asked him if riding was hard. He’d immediately put her on Suzie Q, a plodding mare that’d taught a tribe of kids how to ride. Today, she’d asked for a mount slightly more exciting.
As he watched, she followed his instructions. “Stoker likes to get his head. Firm grip on the reins. And relax into his gait. That’s a jog trot. Ya just gotta roll with it.”
Joy took her hand off the horn long enough to wave but her hips and spine remained stiff. Elena walked up beside him and placed her hands on the top rail of the fence, her shoulder brushing his as she leaned his direction.
“Yo, chica,” she called. “You like to dance?” Joy shot her a confused look. “You know what the salsa is? And I don’t mean the dip I fix with Mexican food. The dance.”
“Uh-uh-uh,” Joy stuttered with each bounce.
“Think Dancing with the Stars.” A look of concentration scrunched the girl’s face. “Gotta roll your hips, chica, and make your spine like a Slinky. Feel the movement and dance with it.” Elena’s sweet laughter sounded like happy birds. “I’ve seen you, Joy, dancing with the vacuum.”
Joy blushed bright red but did as Elena instructed and Pops knew the moment the kid got it. She found her seat, relaxing back into the cantle. Her weight eased on the stirrups as her leg muscles gripped and loosened like they should. Her back and shoulders absorbed the bounce. She looked at ease and totally pleased with herself.
“Good job!” he called, directing the compliment to both his girls.
Elena’s shoulder nudged his arm. He glanced down to find her beaming up at him. “I’ve seen you ride a horse, Papi. I think I’m gonna teach you to salsa.”
He stiffened. He didn’t need to learn the salsa or the Texas Two-Step, or any dance for that matter. Rosie had loved to dance and there was many a night they danced on the porch under the moonlight.
Wasn’t me who loved it, handsome. I did that shit because I could be in your arms and you always got turned on, and yeah, baby, it was you enjoying our dance.
God, that was his Rosie. He relaxed and gave a little smile to Elena. “I think I’ll surprise you.”
“Quick study?”
“Something like that.”
“Then we have a date.”
His lungs hitched for a moment but then breath came easy. A date. They’d go to Randy’s Hellhouse, a local watering hole with decent bar food and a juke box. And they could take Joy. This was Tarpley. And it wasn’t like they’d be there late. Even on a school night. Joy fought going to the public school and it wasn’t because she hated riding the school bus into Bandera. She remained terrified of those bikers, positive they’d cause death and damage if they found her. She worried about the other students and teachers.
Glancing down again, he recognized the hope the shining in Elena’s eyes. He could give her this at least. And he would. “We do.”
The surprise on her face registered. She’d been teasing, despite her hope. Then the surprise melted into something softer, sweeter. Desire. Yeah, they needed to go dancing soon. Like tonight.
Elena chanced a quick look at Pops’s profile. Joy managed to convince them that she could stay on the ranch alone. That convincing lasted for over an hour. It ended when she opened the gun safe, took out a 9mm pistol and a .30-30 Winchester lever-action rifle. She cleared both weapons to ensure they were unloaded. Then she proceeded to load them. When she’d finished, she’d looked to Pops and stated that with the firepower in the house, she could protect herself until help arrived.
It was then that Elena realized the girl wasn’t afraid of being alone or taking care of herself, which should have been evident by the run-in she’d had with Joy in San Antonio. No, what kept Joy vigilant, and fearful, was getting anyone else involved.
“Are you surprised?” Elena asked quietly.
He took his eyes off the highway just long enough to look at her. “Nope.”
“I am.”
“There’s military in her background.” Pops had his suspicions before but the way she so precisely handled those weapons? Joy had some training and it wasn’t the simple hunter education required by the State of Texas to get a hunting license.
Elena swiveled in her seat and rather wished the big Ford truck didn’t have such a wide center console. Every instinct she had insisted she reach over and touch him. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” He shot her a look. “I mean, she’s familiar with weapons, and I don’t know how long she was out there on the streets alone, but she managed to take care of herself.”
“So why isn’t someone looking for her?”
He had a point. “I don’t know. Maybe the same reason she won’t tell us her real name or where she belongs.”
“Those bikers.” He couldn’t keep the growl out of his voice.
No longer able to resist, Elena reached over and rested her hand on his arm. “What about them?”
“Why would they take and keep a young girl like her?”
“You know why.” Her stomach churned. She’d tried to get Joy to talk about her time with the gang. The girl clammed up tight whenever she broached the subject.
“I don’t think so. Why keep her? If they were trafficking, they’d sell her off fast.” He took his hand from the steering wheel and captured the hand Elena rested on his arm. Twisting his fingers, he interlaced his with hers.
“Why do you think that?”
“Think about it, Elena. She doesn’t shy away from men. If they’d—” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat to continue. “If they’d done something like that to her, do you think she’d have approached that man at the fund raiser? Would she have gotten into the truck with me to come home alone with a strange man?”
Elena considered his argument and saw the signs he’d picked up on but she hadn’t. “Okay.”
“And she’s comfortable with a family. She does chores. She’s polite. Someone raised her. And it wasn’t those bikers.”
He flipped on his blinker and let go of her hand to turn into the parking lot at Randy’s. A few cars were parked near the entrance. The place was always packed on the weekends, but this was a weeknight. People in these parts worked for a living and that usually meant rising early so late
nights were rare. He parked, swung out of the truck and hustled around to open Elena’s door. She’d learned to wait on him after their first foray to the grocery store in Bandera. Pops grinned. That had been quite the disagreement. His pretty Elena was a feminist.
“Why are you grinning?” she asked.
He wisely shook his head and held out his hand to help her step down. She’d changed into a dress with a flirty skirt and heels. She had some great legs and he let his admiration show. She snorted and rolled her eyes.
“Men,” she muttered.
Holding her hand, he led her inside. Randy, the owner, occupied the space behind the bar and Pops gave him a head nod in greeting. Several of the regulars turned to check out the new arrivals. He escorted Elena to a table and held her chair. “You trust me?”
Elena gave him a side-eyed look. “About what?” That got her another grin. She liked it when she got that grin. “Fine. I trust you.”
“Good.”
He swaggered off to the bar and Randy met him. “Two chili cheeseburgers, fries, and Coronas.”
Randy eyed Elena before returning his attention to Pops. “You know what you’re doing?”
Laughing, he shook his head. “Not a clue, man. Not a clue.”
While Randy ducked into the back kitchen to place the order with his cook, Pops went to the jukebox and studied the song selections. He found a Marc Anthony song and hoped it would have the right beat. Then he plugged in Dierks Bentley and finally, a Jason Aldean. By the time those three songs were over, their burgers would be ready. As the notes of the first song drifted from the speakers, he moved to the middle of the cleared space that doubled as a dance floor. Then he looked at Elena and extended his right hand. When she simply stared, he curled his fingers in invitation.
With a nervous smile, she pushed back the chair, stood, and walked toward him, her steps hesitant. When she reached him, she placed her hand in his and he drew her close—right as the salsa beat hit. And just as Rosie had said, dancing was just like riding a horse. Once you learned, you never forgot how. The moment Elena figured out he could dance, she was all in—hips melded to his, body swaying, feet moving. When he swung her out, that flirty skirt lifted in the breeze and the glimpses he got of her thighs were enough to make him consider getting their food to go.
All too soon, the next song dropped. He immediately led her in a boot-scootin’ two-step. And finally, with the Aldean song, he settled her in for a body-pressing, slow-swaying love song that got her heart pumping and made parts of his anatomy come alive. Oh yeah. He knew what he was doing. And they were so getting those burgers to go.
They didn’t get the food to go. It was on their table, along with their Coronas when they returned to their seats accompanied by a round of applause. Elena’s face pinkened—from embarrassment, excitement, or exertion, Pops wasn’t sure. He didn’t care. He was too busy enjoying her dazed expression, not to mention the way her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip—a lip he planned to be kissing very soon.
The jukebox remained silent as Randy called from behind the bar. “I’d pay you two to give dance lessons!” The regulars hooted in agreement.
The pink darkened to an attractive rose shade on Elena’s face. And screw him, he liked that a hellava lot. They ate, neither paying any particular attention to their food or drink. They only had eyes for each other. Next time, Pops would not order food that took two hands to eat. He wanted to hold Elena’s hand, touch her thigh under the table, anything.
“You gonna finish those fries?” he asked.
“No.” The word came out breathy.
Pops pushed back from the table, the chair scraping loudly against the wooden floor. “Time to go.”
Elena didn’t wait for him to hold her chair. She was up and headed for the door seconds after he tossed some twenties on the table.
“Glad you figured it out, Pops!” Randy called.
Behind Elena’s back, Pops responded with a lifted hand, one finger pointed toward the ceiling. Randy’s laughter followed them out.
The road was neither long nor winding from Randy’s Hellhouse to the ranch. As he pulled up and parked in front of the house, he saw the lights on in Joy’s room. The curtains flicked and he caught a brief glimpse of her smiling face and a thumb’s up gesture. That kid was too tuned in for his own good, but he didn’t care. He’d wanted this to happen far longer than he cared to admit.
As instructed, Joy had locked the door and set the alarm. Anxious enough about the rest of the evening, he muffed the code the first time. He hit clear and reentered the numbers. The alarm pad beeped and the green light came on. In a few moments, he had the door closed, locked, and the alarm reset.
He hung his hat on the rack beside the door and looked a little sheepish. “As you can guess, darlin’, it’s been awhile for me.”
Elena stared at his boots before she got the courage to meet his gaze. “Probably not as long as you, but it’s been awhile for me too.” She shifted her eyes toward the door at the back of the house. She’d been in his room, had to admit she’d fantasized about sharing his bed. Her eyes came back to him. “I want this,” she murmured. “Want you.”
Pops took her in his arms, bent his head as she raised her face. Their lips met in the middle. The kiss, gentle at first, went hot and wet within moments. His mouth fused to hers, the arm around her waist tightening as she pressed her body against his. His other hand tangled in her rich hair and he groaned. She whimpered, her hips swiveling against his erection. Without hesitation, he backed her across the living room and into his bedroom. Once inside, he kicked the door shut.
No time for second thoughts. No time for embarrassment. He was a grown-ass man. He knew how to please a woman and he had every intention of pleasing this one. She kicked off her shoes as he pulled on the zipper of her dress. He slipped it off her shoulders so that it pooled at her feet. His mouth went dry when he stepped back to look at her. Her bra cupped full breasts and he could see the dusky-rose areolas through the white lace. Her panties, cut high on her shapely thighs, were the same lace and the dark thatch of hair at the junction of her legs enticed him.
“Damn, darlin’,” he breathed.
She pinkened and the small part of his brain that was even pretending to function rather than short-circuiting at the sight of her, noted that when she pinkened, it was a full-body blush. He filed that tidbit away. He dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around her thighs, and buried his face against that lace.
Elena found herself on the bed, flat on her back, feet still on the floor and her knees spread wide, panties and bra both gone. Pops knew what to do with his hands and mouth, as both were busy rubbing, licking, and tweaking her various erogenous parts. Like he could read her mind, he apparently knew exactly what she needed. He didn’t allow her arousal to simmer. Nope, nada, negative. He took her straight to boiling. She arched beneath his ministrations, feeling shameless in the way she pressed her sex into his face.
Her mind blazed to match her blood. More. She wanted more. She wanted to feel his skin. She wanted the taste of him in her mouth. Hot blood pumped through her as she moaned and curled up to sitting, reaching for him.
“Not yet, pretty girl. Not yet. We’ll get there but first…”
He bent his head, nibbling on her clitoris as he pushed two, then three long, strong, calloused fingers into her entrance. Unable to control herself, her hips bucked and she felt rather than heard his chuckle. And then she felt too much. Her body went up in flames and she soared like a phoenix reborn. When she could think again, she discovered he held her close, her puckered nipples rubbing against the bare skin of his chest. When had he undressed? He turned her to him, and she reached for him. She lifted her head, her mouth seeking his, found it, and she pressed her lips to his, tasting herself on him, and finding that unbelievably sexy.
The taste of her, the feel of her…it all soaked into him until even his bones were saturated by all the goodness that was Elena. Her warm brown eyes sear
ched his and he wondered what she was looking for. Then she smiled. Whatever it was, she’d evidently found it. His dick throbbed at that smile, her full lips curving at the corners. He wanted all of her… Her heart beating hard and fast. Her warm, silken skin beneath his hands. Her full breasts pressed against his naked chest. And her eyes—laughing and soft and sweet as she gazed up at him like he was the best man on earth.
His hand dropped to cup her, those sure fingers testing her. She was drenched down there and swollen from his attention, but she was so ready to take him. She arched her hips in invitation though she demanded in no uncertain terms, “I want you.”
He rolled her to her back and she opened her legs, a silent request. Pops froze. Condoms. How many times had he lectured the boys—and girls who’d slept under his roof. He hadn’t touched any woman but Rosie in twenty-five years, but disease was just scratching the surface.
“I’m on the pill,” Elena whispered. “And I was fine my last check-up.”
Well, whew! “Darlin’—”
“I want you, Papi. All of you.”
And that’s all it took. He gripped his erection, lined up the head, and bit back a groan as her slick, plump flesh closed around him, coaxing him inside, pulling him with each grip of her inner muscles. And then he couldn’t stop himself. He buried his cock deep inside her. She gasped, her legs reflexively circling him, her heels digging into his butt.
Oh, hell yeah. He pulled out, glided back in. She was hot and slick and everything feminine. She moved, matching him, like they’d done this a hundred times before. No awkwardness, no gawky mistakes. They simply fit. A man and a woman making love. She trembled beneath him, her breath hitching as her hips surged up to meet his thrusts. The need inside him—the one he’d ignored since his last time with Rosie—fought free.
“Baby,” he murmured.
“Yes, Papi,” she begged. “Hard and fast, Papi. Love me hard and fast.”
Her wish was his command. He plunged into her, one hand under her sweet butt, tilting her so that she could take him deeper. In. Out. Quick. Strong. He pumped into her and Elena was right there. Right there with him. With him.