Rodeo Rancher

by Lauren Wood

  Lisa insisted on coming in again and this time I let her think she had won. I didn’t want to tell her that it was just so that no one saw her here, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t care, as long as she thought she was getting her way.

  “Come in Lisa. I don’t want you standing out here.”

  She smiled at me and I could see a bit of triumph in her face. That look I had seen far too many times. There were many reasons that I had always given Lisa her own way, partially because it was just easier and partially because I wanted to make her happy. While the latter was no longer a reason, it was still easier to go along with her to stop a fight. Lisa liked to fight and she could have my head in a jumble in minutes. I had known for a long time that she enjoyed twisting me up, but not this time. I wasn’t with her anymore.

  “So how did you find out I was here Lisa?”

  Lisa shrugged and walked into the kitchen. She looked good, really good and my body was still under her spell. I assured myself that my mind was still intact, but I don’t know if it was. While I was in love with another, years of familiarity were hard to combat. My body missed being inside of her, thinking of her as mine for too long.

  “Smells good in here, Joel. What are you cooking?”

  The woman was already going to the stove and lifting the lid.

  “Don’t do that Lisa. You know that I have always hated it.”

  “You didn’t mind too much not so long ago Joel, or have you forgotten so quickly?”

  “I haven’t forgotten.” God, I wish that I could forget. I wished more than once that I could just erase the years that I spent with this woman for good. It had turned into one of the worst decisions of my life. It wasn’t a mistake that I was willing to make again.

  “Good, then let me have some of this rice stuff and we can have a real chat. I miss your cooking Joel. Even though you tried to teach me, I never was too good at it, was I?”

  “No, you weren’t. You were the only person I knew that burnt boiled chicken.”

  She made a face at me for the reminder and I turned away to hide the smile on my face. I forgot also how quickly Lisa pouted when she wasn’t getting her way. The reminder was almost worth the unexpected pop-in.

  “Don’t make fun of me. I tried.”

  I shook my head again, calling her out on her lie. “No, Lisa you didn’t try and that was why it didn’t work with us. Since you are here, I will take it as you aren’t working out with whoever it was you left me for. Is that why you are back or is it because you want something? There are only two options that I can think of with you. Tell me I am wrong.”

  When she didn’t answer, I didn’t need one. Lisa had never been mysterious. She was too basic and it was easy to see through it all this time around. Now all I needed to know was what it was this time that she wanted. Then I would see if it was easier to give her what she wanted or send her on her way. Either way I needed to get her out of the apartment before Cameron came back. She would not be okay with it and I knew that.

  “Why do you always see the worse in people Joel?”

  “Not people Lisa, you. And let’s just call it from experience.”

  The lip went out again and a long time ago it would have affected me. It still did in a way, but it was a source of anger and frustration now. I didn’t find it cute and it certainly didn’t make me want to give in. Everything had changed and the biggest change came from realizing that I could go on without her. I was in love with someone else and that just made it so much easier to fight the small attraction that lingered from our marriage.

  “I don’t like when you are in this kind of mood. I know what it is that you want Joel. Just let me give it to you.”

  Lisa was walking towards me and I was stepping backwards like she was a walking flame. I had already been burned from her once before and I was going to avoid a repeat of that at all cost. Call it what you will, but that woman’s touch was bound to leave a mark.

  “I don’t want anything from you.”

  “I beg to differ, Joel. Look down.”

  I did and I cursed. “It is not my fault that my dick is an idiot. I know better.”

  She tsked me and I stopped. “You need to go Lisa. I am not playing this game with you again. You are a rollercoaster that I got off of a long time ago and I don’t want to get back on. Tell me what it is that you want so we can be done here.”

  “You really want me to leave?”

  Lisa had stopped and she had a look of shock on her face, like she couldn’t believe that I really rejected her.

  “I never want to see you again Lisa. It is that simple. We are divorced and that makes you dead to me.”

  “How can you be like this? We were together a long time.”

  “Too long Lisa. Either tell me what it is that you want or leave. I don’t have time for this tonight.”

  It was then that we both heard the knock on the door. I knew immediately who it was and the dread inside of me multiplied rapidly. There was no way that I wanted to have to explain why Lisa was here. Cameron wasn’t going to understand. I wouldn’t understand if she had an ex in the house with her. It didn’t look good.

  “Who is that Joel? Did you have company coming over? Is that why you want me to leave?”

  I didn’t want to answer her, but she started to walk towards the door and I had to say something to stop her. “I will help you Lisa. Just tell me what it is you want and get away from the door.”

  The smile on her face increased and I knew that I was in trouble. “I just need a place to stay while I am here. Two days, tops.”

  My head was hurting from trying to figure that out, but it was the small olive branch that I needed to make sure that it all worked out, as long as Cameron didn’t find out about it. The knocking had stopped, but I was still trying to refrain from talking very loud. I was more worried about what was going on with Cameron. I heard the footsteps retreat up the stairs and I could breathe again.

  “Thank you Lisa.”

  “Don’t thank me. Just let me stay here a couple of days while I am in town and we will call it even. I was going to repay you with a way that I knew you would enjoy, but I am okay with this arrangement. You are looking good Joel and the offer still stands if you change your mind.”

  I shook my head and just went back to the pan on the stove. It had the slight smell of burnt rice and I knew that I had let it go too long. Frustrated that I wasn’t going to see Cameron tonight, I dumped the food in the garbage and went back into the living room with a few blankets and pillows.

  “Here Lisa. You can sleep on the couch this time. You sent me to sleep on one more times than I can count.”

  “Yeah, we did have some crazy times.”

  She was talking like that was a good thing and I couldn’t help but shake my head. I never would understand her and at this point in my life, I wasn’t willing to try anymore. She was my past and I was ready to move on with my future. Cameron was my future.

  Chapter 18

  Cameron

  I tried to call him again, but again Joel didn’t answer. I was more than a little irked, but I waited at home for him. Maybe something had happened and he was somewhere in the building fixing something. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but it was clear that our date wasn’t going to happen anymore.

  Bedtime was fitful and my ears strained, trying to hear the door downstairs open or close. It was like he didn’t even come home at all because it was well into the morning before I went to bed and there was still no sign of him.

  Waking up, I swear that it was the door downstairs closing and some yelling that was barely audible that woke me up. I could have sworn that it was Joel’s voice I heard, than replied to by a female voice. I didn’t like the idea of it at all and my first instinct was to go downstairs and see what was going on.

  I looked down at the silk shorts and tank top that I was wearing. I wanted to change, but I didn’t want to miss it. Something in me told me that I needed to see what was downstairs, what w
as going on. Somehow it was going to be pertinent to the future. I didn’t know how or why I knew that just that it was.

  “Joel, you told me that I could stay another day or so!”

  “Not when you are trying that crap. Leave Lisa. It is what you should have done last night.”

  The words hit me in the gut like a punch. Whoever the woman was that he was talking to had stayed the night. I didn’t know who Lisa was. I didn’t want to know, but my feet propelled me down a few stairs till I could see both of them. Lisa was a gorgeous being that any woman would have been jealous of. I was no exception.

  They both saw me at the same time and I froze on the top of the stairs. “Sorry, I uh…” Backing up, I turned to go back to my apartment when I heard Joel’s voice.

  “Cameron wait, this is not what it looks like.”

  Chapter 19

  Joel

  “That is who you left me for? You could have done better.”

  I just wanted her to shut up and I told her so. It didn’t help though. Nothing ever helped with Lisa and she went on as I went up the stairs, leaving her in front of my door. What she yelled towards me was a bunch of lies and I hoped that Cameron didn’t hear them. Lisa had to say something about being my wife. She loved to cause problems and this time was no different.

  Knocking on the door, I waited only a few moments before I used the keys that I told Cameron I wouldn’t use again. I just had to talk to her before she started thinking the wrong thing. I didn’t even want her mind going there. Not for a moment.

  “Cameron I am opening this door.”

  I was already in when she came out of the bedroom and told me that I better not. She was standing there looking at me and I could see that her face was red and blotchy. Cameron had been crying and that was the very last thing that I wanted to see. “It really isn’t how it looks.”

  “Who is she Joel?”

  The question threw me off and I knew that the answer that I was going to give her was not the one that she wanted to hear. She didn’t want to hear that Lisa was my ex-wife. I hadn’t even gotten to tell her about her and this was not the way that I wanted to broach the subject. She was not going to like my answer.

  “She is an old girlfriend.”

  “From here?”

  “No, she came down from Chicago.”

  “Well she came a long way to see you. You could have just told me that you were going to be busy Joel. I would have understood.”

  “I wasn’t busy. She just showed up and that was the end of it. I tried to get her to leave, but she needed a place to stay for the night.”

  “How generous of you Joel. Please leave and don’t come back. I mean it this time. I don’t want you using my key to break in anymore. If that is going to be a problem, I will call your uncle. I have lived her a long time, but I am not going to deal with a manager that just comes in whenever he wants to.”

  I was losing her. I could see it in her eyes and she was never going to listen to me. “She just came here to mess with me. She slept on the couch and I told her to leave this morning. I swear to you Cameron that nothing happened.”

  I needed to touch her, kiss her, tell her with my body the words that she didn’t want to hear. She was mine and I wasn’t going to let her go, not for anything and just because Lisa had showed up, I was not going to lose everything because of it. That was what Lisa wanted and I wasn’t about to give it to her.

  “Please hear me out Cameron. You know that I love you and that I would never do anything to hurt you.”

  She shook her head and then smiled through the tears. “Yet here I am with my heart broken. How do you manage that?”

  The sassy mouthed woman that I fell in love with was gone and the one in her place was sad. I didn’t want to see her like this and I moved to hold her. Cameron took another step back, but she had backed herself into a corner. I should have stopped and given her space, but every time I did, something went wrong. I wasn’t going to chance it this time. I had to have her and I was not above doing anything to make it so. Not this time.

  Pulling her in for a kiss, the only thing that gave me a little ease was the fact that she still wanted me and moaned softly when our lips touched. I wanted her, badly and by the fever in which she kissed me, I had to believe that she wanted the same thing. There was nothing else that I was able to believe than she was going to be mine. That was all I could think of and there was no other thoughts past that.

  Her body was soft and compliant when I pulled it closer to mine. It was such a contrast to my hard chest. I could feel her soft breasts yielding to my touch. Cameron was everything that I wanted and needed in a mate. She was all that I could think about and even though it was still in the air, Cameron was the only one that I was ever going to want. She made me feel invincible and I wasn’t ready to lose that.

  Turning her around, I pushed her up against the wall and started kissing on the back of her neck and her shoulders. She was squirming from my touch and I had to stop myself once before I moved too fast. Her hips were non-stop, backing into me and rubbing her soft ass on the hardness below.

  “What do you want Cameron?”

  She whimpered and answered with her hand moving behind her to grab a handful of my cock. It wasn’t hard to understand what that meant and what she wanted. I wanted the same thing and I was pulling down her shorts before she had a moment to think of a reason as to why she shouldn’t.

  I knew that Cameron was impatient and it worked out well because I was too. Just the idea of losing her had her even more preciously in my arms. I wasn’t so blind that I couldn’t see how badly it could have all went. Something told me that possessing her fully was the only real way to silence all of her thoughts. Words couldn’t express everything that I wanted to say.

  “Now Joel!”

  Giving her what she wanted, I moved forward quickly, pulling her hips to meet mine as I thrust forward. She wanted it hard and fast, something I had learned the first time we were together. While Cameron was delicate, that wasn’t the case when we were in the bedroom. She wanted it harder than I would have ever expected and faster than I could manage sometimes. The woman got crazed and it didn’t take her long to start moving up to meet me faster. Her hands moved to my butt and pulled me in deeper. It was like she couldn’t get enough. It was something that we both agreed on.

  “Turn around.”

  Pulling out of her, we both groaned at the emptiness. I looked down at the wetness she had dripped on me and the round ass that moved out of my view. I wanted to see her face as I entered her and I picked her up, barking orders to wrap her legs around my waist. She was perfect and felt like nothing in my hands. Now I could go as hard and fast as we both wanted to. Cameron felt the difference almost immediately and threw her arms around my neck to hold on.

  “Yes Joel, I am coming!”

  I felt the flush of fluid run down my leg as she came all over my cock. It had never been like that with anyone else, but it was clear that she was satisfied. Her head moved to my shoulder and she had less ability to hold herself upright. I pounded into her a few more times before I could feel the need boiling up in my balls and I couldn’t hold it back anymore.

  We stayed face to face like that, breathing heavily for several moments. I moved to kiss her and she didn’t kiss me back. Her eyes were still closed and I knew that she was getting through her pleasure. Cameron almost went comatose sometimes and when I set her down, her knees were weak. I liked that I had done that to her, more than anything else. The sound of her pleasure and the way she whimpered was nothing compared to the way she felt when I knew I had done her right. She couldn’t even stand up on her own two feet and I was silently taking credit for it.

  “Will you listen to me now Cameron?”

  She wasn’t listening to me, but she still nodded her head like she was listening. I knew that she hadn’t heard a word I was saying and that was fine for now. Anything to get her to agree with me was enough for me.

  I took her
to the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. Cameron looked beautiful and she didn’t even try to hide her body. It was as tempting as the time before, but I knew that I had to secure us. I couldn’t leave things as in. I didn’t just want her underneath me in the bed, I wanted her for good.

  Lying down next to her, I traced her jawline with my fingers and played with her hair. She just sighed against me and snuggled in towards me as I ran my fingers through her hair. Cameron was perfect. She really was and I knew that if I didn’t get it out soon she was going to be asleep, another thing I had learned when we were together before.

  “Are you going to go to sleep?”

  She shook her head that she wasn’t, but the grin on her face told me otherwise. As soon as she started to come, that was it.

  “I want us to be together Cameron.”

  Her smile got bigger and she waved her hand to the bodies pressed together. “What do you call this?”

  “I call this one night that I want it to be many. I want us to really be together. I love you Cameron and I don’t want to hear you say how we are not together again. We are together. You are mine.”

  She opened her eyes and the blue ones met mine. I could tell that she disliked the sound of my owning her, but there was no other way to describe it. She was mine and that was it.

  “Let’s just take things slow Joel. We barely know each other.”

  “That’s not true and you know it. We know enough. I know enough to know that I love you and I don’t want to live without you.”

  That got her attention. “You love me?”

  “More than I ever thought possible.”

  “Then what about Lisa?”

  I sighed and kissed her. I had to tell her the truth, but I didn’t want to feel her pull away. I didn’t think I could take it.

  “She is my ex-wife. We have been divorced over a year and she just popped up. I couldn’t do anything about it Cameron, I really couldn’t.”

  “Do you love her?”