A Breath of Heaven: El Camino Real (15 page)

“I have another idea of how we can make
love…if you want to hear it.”

Cade wanted to talk, but he could deny her
nothing. “You’re not a vixen, you’re a temptress. You do know there is nowhere
on this earth I’d rather be than right here with you.”

“Me either.” No question of that.

“Okay, how can I love you tonight?” He was
recalling his own fantasies. She had starred in them for years, she just didn’t
know it.

Abby had been thinking and if she were on
all fours, the part that was damaged would be safely out of sight. No scars
would show from the back, so she turned over on her belly and stuck her rear in
the air. “Would you want to take me like this?”

The view was out of this world. Seeing
Abby on the bed with her bottom tilted up to him made Cade groan. He felt his
lust rise like the tide. “Hell yea, I think I’m up for that.” He wanted her
every way he could get her, he wasn’t about to turn any opportunities down.  

“Pull my panties down.” She wiggled her
tush at him and heard him growl. “Just remember, don’t touch me in the front.”

Cade bit his tongue to keep from
challenging her. “But I can touch your epic little ass?”

Abby sucked in a surprised breath when she
felt his hands mold her bottom, his fingers tracing patterns on her skin. “Yes,
please.”

“You’re as beautiful from this angle as I
expected you to be.” He came down on top of her, hovering so she could feel his
heat but not his skin.

“Please,” she whispered.

He took his dick in hand and rubbed the
thick stalk a few times before taking it and rubbing the flared head up and
down the crease of her ass, dipping down far enough to coat himself in her
cream. “Cade!” she panted, lying her face down into the pillow.

Cade was shaking with need, he pressed the
tip of his cock to her opening and pushed gently inside – slowly – working his
way in as Abby groaned in relief. She wanted to give him better access but
because of the way he was holding her, pressing down on her, she couldn’t open
her legs any wider. The sensation of him taking her was almost more than she
could handle – she was tight and he was big. Cade slowed for a moment, allowing
her body to adjust enough to accept him and when Abby sighed, he pushed in
deeper, sliding in and out in slow, leisurely pumps.

Wanting to see him, Abby turned her face
to the side and Cade leaned over to capture her mouth in a deep kiss, licking
her lips and sucking at her tongue in tandem to the rhythm of his cock
thrusting in and out of her pussy.

“I want to please you so much,” he
groaned. “Let me touch your clit.”

Abby stiffened. “No, you’ll…” She couldn’t
finish, fearing his fingers would venture onto the scar tissue.

“You do it, then,” he ordered.

She did as he asked, looking over her
shoulder, wishing there was a mirror so she could see him clearly. He was so
sexy, driving into her from behind. The sight of him was primitive and
emphasized the bliss of his hard cock pounding into her. Abby felt owned,
possessed – she couldn’t move, only accept what he gave and want more. When he
was inside of her, holding her, claiming her – she could pretend that she
belonged to him – that he loved her.

Abby pushed backward, giving him
everything. Cade began to move faster, thrusting harder. He’d always been more
careful, not this forceful and she loved it. It felt so good that she couldn’t
halt the climax that swept through her, radiating in waves of pleasure from
deep within her core out and through every inch of her being. Abby cried out as
her body shook in ecstasy.

Cade couldn’t help but react to her as she
flew apart. The feel of her clutching him drove him mad, his thrusts became
harder and faster. Every quivering aftershock gave him pleasure and he couldn’t
stop the inevitable – he held her hips tightly, pumping inside of her four more
times before he exploded.

Abby treasured the heat of his release as
it bathed her sex. She wanted to tighten up and hold him inside, keep him with
her as long as possible. She felt him fall forward, collapsing on top of her,
yet stabilizing himself with one hand by her head. Abby jumped as Cade sucked
at the skin of her neck, scraping his teeth on the sensitive area. He marked
her!

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

“Yes, of course,” she answered as he
rolled off. Abby eased to one side, making sure the sheet covered the front of
her before he could get a glimpse. “I think that hickey might show in the low
cut gown I have to wear,” she fingered her neck where he’d placed the evidence
of their intimacy.

“Yea,” he looked a bit pleased. “I want
everyone to know you belong to someone. You’re not up for grabs.” But then he
grabbed her playfully, just to hear her laugh.

Abby swallowed hard. She loved him so much
it hurt. Every moment they were together was making her more and more dependent
on him. When this interlude was over, how would she survive without him? He
owned her, body and soul. She belonged to him. He might not ever claim her, but
that didn’t change the fact that she would be faithful to him forever. She
wanted no one else.  

Cade settled down beside of her, pulling
her close. Before she could stop him, he spoke but what he said, wasn’t what
she expected. “I wanted you to be the first to know that I’m retiring from the
circuit.”

“Retiring?” Was he coming home? She didn’t
dare breathe. What would that mean? Abby didn’t know what to say.

Cade weighed his words carefully, there
was so much more he wanted to tell her – but one thing at a time. “Yea, I’m
hanging up my spurs. I‘m looking at a spread on the north side of El Camino,
there’s a common boundary. I could add to the ranch holdings, yet have a place
to call my own. I need my own place, Abby. I’m ready to start my future.”

Abby began to shake and Cade tightened his
grip on her. She forced herself to speak normally. “How wonderful! I’m so happy
for you.”

He kissed her on the head. “I know, Abby.”
Cade wanted to talk about them, about their relationship – about her fears and
his hopes and their dreams. “Abby…”

A burning sensation in her throat made
Abby feel as if she were choking. He was coming home, he’d be near all the
time. What would that mean? She had always known he would and she wanted him to
– but what would that mean for them? They couldn’t continue this relationship,
not for the long run. And how could she go back to being just his friend? His
sparring partner? How would she be able to see him all the time and not belong
to him? So, she just told the truth. “I’m glad you’re coming home. I worried
about you while you were gone.” She kissed his shoulder. “We’d better get some
sleep. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

Cade sighed, not wanting to drop the
subject. “Okay, if you’re tired. But we still have things to talk about.”

Abby allowed him to hold her.

Sleep was a long time coming. And this
time she didn’t dream. 

“You knew you had to go to the
Bachelorette party, Sis. Pam’s gonna be our sister-in-law, whether we like it
or not.” Trace was always the peacemaker.

“I know. I just wasn’t happy about it.
It’s been a long day, so I just made an appearance and came home.” Abby
flounced wearily on the couch, glancing at the clock. It was nearly nine P.M.
and she still wore the short little party dress she’d worn to the club.

Trace walked to the family Christmas tree
picked up an ornament, turning it in his hand. “This doesn’t really seem like
Christmas, does it?”

“No,” Abby sighed, it doesn’t. “Too much
other stuff is going on.” Her morning had started early. Once more, she’d
awoken before Cade, took a few precious moments to stare at his face before she
dressed and slipped out of the room while it was still dark. Sleeping next to
him was becoming a habit, one she was going to have to break. 

“How are you and Cade getting on?”

Abby glanced at her younger brother,
wondering if her thoughts were written on her face. She pasted a smile on her
lips. “We called a truce. Peace talks are ongoing and a cease fire will exist
until after the wedding.” He’d called her cell several times during the day,
but she had ignored it, sending him a friendly text instead. At the moment, she
didn’t really understand what was happening between them.   

“That’s good to know. I drove by your
office this morning, you were working at the crack of dawn.”

“Why didn’t you stop to help?” Counting
off on her fingers, she reiterated what she accomplished. “I was loading up for
a house call and when I came back I tended to a sick horse, operated on a
little boy’s dog who got hit by a car and mixed up a formula for twin baby
goats whose mother couldn’t handle them both. You should have seen them, they
were bucking and butting that bottle. I could barely hold it.”

  Trace laughed. “I bet you enjoyed those
goats more than you did the hens at Pam’s party.”

“Abby nodded. “I did, the goats were more
entertaining. But all in all, I got a lot done today, I took my clothes over
and dressed there so I wouldn’t lose any time and could use the big kitchen.”
She didn’t tell her brother she’d done it more to avoid seeing Cade than any
spurt of holiday energy. “I worked on Christmas preparations this afternoon.
We’re going to have a good meal despite the madness. Chocolate cake, coconut
cake, mince pie, pumpkin pie, potato salad, ham, turkey—I went all out.” It was
December 23
^rd
and the Kings were used to eating well for the
holiday. The only thing she lacked was a big pot of gumbo for Christmas Eve
supper and she planned on getting that on before she went to bed. Even though
they were well able to hire a cook, Abby wasn’t ready to give up control of the
kitchen.

“I’m looking forward to the food more than
Santa this year,” Trace confessed.

“Did Trevor finally tell you there was no
Santa?” She teased her brother, dodging a sofa pillow. “I guess everything is
on track for Jase’s party?” 

 “Yea, you should see the set-up we’ve
got. Justice outfitted the deer camp into a man-cave hideaway. He has
everything men could want to make them happy: big screen TVs, a kick-ass sound
system, kegs, catered BBQ and shrimp. We’re meeting here and riding over
together. People are already gathering. The party will go on ‘til daybreak.”

“There was a stripper at Pam’s party. Will
you guys have them?” She didn’t like to think about some gorgeous floozy taking
off her clothes in front of Cade, especially when she’d refused to do the same
thing for him. Walking to the window, she looked out at the frigid weather.
Last night Cade had made it pretty clear he didn’t intend for their
relationship to digress, even saying he loved her which made Abby nervous.
Surely, it was passion talking. She’d tried to envision a scenario where all of
this would work out, and she couldn’t. The only place she would be was out in
the cold. The irony of her thought made her smile wryly. 

Trace was in a better mood. “Of course
we’ll have strippers, lookers, two of them—Candi Cream and Ginger Ice. I booked
them myself.”

“Oh, my goodness!” She laughed. “We only
had one. Get this…Dr. Cocktapus!”

“Ha! Did you get wound up in his
tentacles?”

“Ewww.” Abby made a face. “I managed to
steer clear of him. Where did they come from? There aren’t any clubs around
here. Did we have them flown in along with the Beluga caviar?”

“No, I think they came down from Dallas.”
All of a sudden Trace drew serious. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.” Abby sat down to listen. “You’re
my favorite brother.”

“I knew that,” he answered with
confidence. Then, he leaned closer. “Trevor and I are interested in the same
girl.”

“No!” Abby almost fell off her chair.
“Really? Tell me about her.”

Trace shook his head. “Well, we don’t
really know much. She’s a little on the mysterious side.”

“How? I thought you two had a code so this
wouldn’t happen.”

“We do.” Trace looked a bit miserable.
“This girl slipped through the crack. I met her at the Hex Rally on campus and
she bowled me over. We talked for a few minutes. I even kissed her.”

“What’s her name?” Abby smelled the air.
“My cookies!” She raced over to the oven and pulled out a batch of double
chocolate chip.

“Her name is Macy. Long blonde hair, big
blue eyes…” Abby laughed when Trace’s eyes glazed over, lost in the memory.

“What about Trevor?”

“He came home from Austin City Limits and
declared he was in love, but when he showed me her photo on his phone, it was
Macy.” Trace grabbed a cookie from the pan and yelled when it burned his fingers.

“If you’ll give me a second, I’ll get you
a cool one.” Abby wanted to tease her brother about his romantic entanglements,
but she could see he didn’t consider it a laughing matter. “So, how are you two
going to work it out?”

“I don’t know. Neither one of us wants to
step aside. We may have to duel over her.”

 “There’s no contest. Macy is into me.”
Trevor sounded sure of himself as he sauntered into the room from the hallway.
“Abby, you’ve got a letter and a package. Someone left it up at the office.”

“Good.” She closed the oven door, set the
hot cookie sheet on a rack and came over to see if it was what she’d been
hoping for. While she was tearing the envelope open, she looked at her
brothers. They were joking and laughing. She was relieved. Fighting over a
woman had torn up plenty of sibling relationships.

“Where’s Cade?” Shiloh asked as he came in
the room, lured by the smell of fresh-baked goodies.

“He’s with Jase. They’re checking out a
new colt Shalimar delivered this morning.” Quickly, she scanned the letter and
breathed a sigh of relief.

“What’s that?” The twins were looking over
her shoulder. “Damn.” Trace grabbed the piece of paper from her hand. “Cade is
being inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame?”

“Yes.” Abby grabbed the document back.
“He’s three times World Championship Cowboy, seven time NFR qualifier and has
two PRCA Championship Steer Roping titles.”

“One would think you were his agent or
cheerleader…or something…” Trevor drawled. “Did you nominate him?”

“Yes,” she said slowly. “Our family has
nominated several people in the past, you know that.”

“Don’t get defensive,” Trace teased her.
“You don’t have to explain.”

“No, I don’t.” She quickly put the package
under the counter. She didn’t want her brothers to know she’d ordered special commemorative
items with the
COWBOY HALL OF FAME
inductee info engraved on
them. Abby intended them to go under the Christmas tree for Cade. A smile
warmed her face as she remembered what they’d done under the tree. Her favorite
memories of Christmas had been changed forever.

“Can we tell him?” Shiloh asked with a
grin, knowing her answer already.

“No!” Abby didn’t get any more of a
protest out because the door opened again. This time it was Jase and Cade. Abby
wasn’t surprised all the brothers were congregating at her place. They were
hiding. The main house was full of wedding guests, some of them strangers.

Cade’s eyes sought her out immediately. He
was probably unhappy because she had been up and out of bed before him again
this morning, needing to travel east of Nacogdoches to check out a herd
infested with EHD, a hemorrhagic condition caused by a biting fly called a
midge. She’d treated the cattle and taught the rancher how to modify the bank
structure of his ponds to discourage the breeding of the insect. Cade had
called her, telling her that would be the last damn time she sneaked off
without waking him up. The memory of his sweet gruffness made Abby smile. He
probably realized the light of day drove her away, the possibility of the sheet
being pushed down and her clothes riding up to reveal her scars haunted her –
she couldn’t rest.

 “I want to talk to you.” He mouthed the
words to her from across the room and her heart rate sped up.  

“Okay,” she answered silently, knowing he
wanted to tell her more about his future plans, which couldn’t possibly include
her.

“Isn’t it time to go? I’m ready to party!”
Jase grabbed a handful of cookies and kissed Abby on the cheek.

“Yea, I have a surprise for you in the
truck.” Shiloh slapped his brother on the back.

“What kind of surprise?” Jase looked
intrigued. “Is it a woman?”

The brothers shook their heads, amused. “I
think you have your hands full, don’t you?”

Shiloh couldn’t stand it, he let the cat
out of the bag. “It’s something you’ve been wanting a long time, a handmade
saddle by Dirk Lancaster.”

Jase stood, stunned. He knew what this
meant. The cost wasn’t the issue. It was the rarity. Lancaster only made three
saddles a year and they were some of the finest craftsmanship in the country,
inlaid silver and meticulous engravings. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
He hugged Shiloh. “I can’t wait to see it.” Turning to the others, he teased.
“So, what are you all giving me?”

“A hard time, that’s what.” Trace chimed
in. In just a few moments, they were headed out. But Cade didn’t join them.

“Aren’t you going?” she asked him. She
held on to the back of the couch to keep from running to him. Her head knew
this couldn’t work, but her body and heart had a mind of their own. 

“No, I’d rather be here with you. Jase
understands. We need to talk.” He had set some plans in motion, he still needed
to talk to Jase and the others but he and Justice had come to terms. Cade was
hoping to buy a piece of El Camino to go with the Harbison spread. The best of
both worlds – connected to the King’s, yet separate – a place to raise a family
and still be near the people he loved. But first, he and Abby had to get on the
same page.     

Oh, brother. He was moving toward
her—slowly. There was definitely something on his mind. Stalling for time, she
asked, “Does Jase seem happy to you?”

“Truthfully? No. But it’s not my place,
nor yours to interfere. We might not fully understand their connection. As you
and I can attest, relationships can be complicated.”

“I know, I just want him to be happy.”
Abby stood her ground, but she had no defense against him. Cade walked up to
her, slipped an arm under her knees and picked her up. She held on to his neck.
“What are you doing?”

“Making myself happy.” In a moment they
were sitting on the couch, and she was in his lap.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, he looked so
serious. Abby felt small in his arms. If she were surer of herself, she’d love
to run her hands over his shoulders and arms. His mouth was so kissable. She
braced her hands on his chest and studied his expression.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just want to clear the
air.” Cade looked serious.

Oh, no. That couldn’t be good. “About
what?”

“Us.” He’d spent all day worrying and
planning this moment, there was no way they were going to solve this problem
other than just to meet it head on.

The idea that there was an ‘us’ took her
breath. “Alright.”

Cade took her chin in his hand and Abby’s
breath hitched in her throat.

“I know why you’ve been hiding from me. I
know what happened in the fire.”

Abby felt herself crumple. Immediately she
removed her hands from his body and started to get up.

“No. You’re not going anywhere.” Cade was
adamant and held on tight.

Abby felt her body flush with
mortification. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

Cade crushed her in his arms. “Stop it,
Abby.” His voice dropped to a low, harsh whisper. “God, if only I had known!
You thought I was in that burning barn? You ran into hell to save me?”

Abby didn’t know what to say. She let her
arms creep around his neck. Was he crying?

“Do you know what it does to me to think
you were hurt and in pain and I wasn’t told?” He buried his face in her hair.
“I left that day thinking you and I had a future to look forward to. Don’t you
realize I’ve loved you all of my damn life?”