Fool's Gold (2 page)

“Christ!” Addie rested her head against the back of the seat. Strong suction on her tit, combined with fingers dragging though her folds, felt fantastic. Suddenly, she wanted to come, too.
Had to come
. “Oh, yeah. That’s good.” She bucked her hips, encouraging the hand.

“Mmm, my horny little bitch.” Chloe nipped at the puckered bud she’d been sucking.

Addie bristled at the words but tried to ignore them and focus on feelings. Chloe’s touch felt good.
Damned good
.

“I wish I had a dildo to fuck you properly. I know you like it deep. Hard and fast, right, babe?” Chloe sank three fingers into Addie’s wet pussy, thrusting them in and out.

“This feels wonderful. You’ve got a talented hand.”

“My hand loves to fuck your tight, hot pussy.” Her thumb circled Addie’s clit and applied pressure. Her other hand tugged Addie’s other breast free, and Chloe switched sides, sucking the dry nipple into her mouth then releasing it. “I love how you can come with just a few little strokes.”

“I don’t know about that…” Addie’s body tensed as Chloe bit her sensitive nipple. She relaxed as Chloe’s tongue laved over it, a smooth, wet, sort-of-apology.

“
I
know,” Chloe mumbled, her mouth firmly against Addie’s breast. “Come on, baby.

Come for me. You come so pretty.”

Fuck!
Addie gave in to the sensations and rode the wave of pleasure sweeping through her. Orgasms at Chloe’s mouth and hands never failed to startle her. Intense and satisfying, somehow they made Addie forget all the little things that nagged at her when they weren’t having sex. Ripples of delight ebbed like waves against the shore as Addie closed her eyes and gave in to the imminent climax. She tensed then shuddered, letting go as wonderful shockwaves caressed her body. When they subsided, Addie sighed with contentment.

“Mmm, that was nice.” Chloe dragged her hand out of the shorts and rubbed her sticky fingers over Addie’s lips. “Kiss me.”

Addie obliged, kissing her hungrily after Chloe let the fingers dip in and out of each of their mouths. She enjoyed the taste of her own musk but enjoyed the taste of Chloe better.

Too bad there wasn’t time for that.

Her hand dove into Chloe’s tight shorts, shoving the small thong out of the way. She’d reciprocate with a hand job and save the rest for a housewarming party, later that night at the inn. “There it is.” Past the silver hoop that pierced flesh, she found the small button of Chloe’s clit and rubbed it.

“Oh, yeah. Keep kissing me.” Chloe opened her legs for more attention, and they kissed passionately as Addie stroked her.

Addie’s other hand slid inside Chloe’s flimsy blouse, tugging the buttons open along the way. She kneaded the flesh of one breast then the other. She twisted the ring in Chloe’s left nipple, and her lover squirmed. Her body twitched with each touch, and Addie knew she hit the right pleasure spots.

Her fingers zeroed in on Chloe’s pussy and drove in and out, within the confines of the woman’s tight shorts. “Come on, sugar. Ah, you feel so good. I know you taste good, too.

Later, I’m going to eat you up.”

“I’m coming!” Chloe shrieked. Her shudders rocked the car, loud panting cries shattering the silence of the rest stop. She gasped as her body twitched, and her knees closed tightly, as if trying to capture Addie’s hand and keep it right where it was.

Fighting back a chuckle, Addie saw her through the climax then drew back. “Shh.” She touched the other woman’s mouth gently. “Damn, girl! Trucks passing on the highway could hear that.”

“Who cares?” Chloe batted her eyelashes drowsily. “That was fucking beautiful. I don’t care who knows it.”

Pressing one last kiss to Chloe’s mouth, Addie smiled and moved back to her side of the seat. She adjusted her clothes, putting everything back to rights, and started the engine. “Can we go now?”

Chloe didn’t move, just lay there with her breasts hanging out and her shorts askew.

She waved a hand in the air. “Drive on. Anywhere you want to go.”

Resisting the urge to pinch one of the exposed nipples, Addie pulled from the lay-by and merged back onto the highway. They’d have time to stop later and clean up, maybe even apply some makeup.
Cattle Valley, here we come
.

Melissa Danes wadded up a cheeseburger wrapper and shot it across the counter into a trash can. “Two points,” she said out loud, though no one was around to hear. At midday during the week, the bookstore was as quiet as a mortuary. Sometimes she wondered how Naomi, her employer and friend, managed to keep
Booklovers
open.

She went behind the sales counter. Sipping diet soda from a paper cup, Mel inwardly blessed Deb’s Diner for their delivery service. Most days she brought a sandwich and fruit from home, but some days, nothing but a thick, greasy cheeseburger would do.
And one of the
world’s best chocolate chip cookies.
She spread out a napkin and set the large cookie on it, inhaling the aroma.

The front door jingled open, announcing a customer. Mel looked up as a large, bald-headed black man entered the store. “Hey, Gill! What’s going on?”

His legs were so long, he strode to the counter in just a few steps. “Hey, Mel. Kyle said Naomi called him yesterday about some cookbook he special ordered. I told him I’d swing by and pick it up then I forgot.”

“Ah, okay. Lemme check here.” She punched some buttons on the computer which sat next to the counter. “Wouldn’t want to send you home with the wrong thing, since you’re a day late and all that.”

“No shit. I’d catch hell.”

She smiled, thinking of the handsome hunk Gill had been married to for less than a year. It was hard to envision Kyle Brynn giving anyone a bad time. He seemed as sweet as the goodies he whipped up in his bakery. “Don’t tell me, the honeymoon is over.”

Gill grinned. “Not hardly. But that’s another story, and I’d hate to make you blush.”

“Stop it.” Mel waved a hand at him good-naturedly. Her friends in Cattle Valley were some of the best people she’d ever known, but none of them was shy about discussing their sex lives. Sometimes, it appeared the big, masculine, gay guys were the worst when it came to embarrassing her. She was so petite compared to most of them, and they loved to tease her about that and just about everything else. She focused on the computer screen. “Here we go.

Confectionery, the Encyclopaedia of Sweets.
Dang, as if that man doesn’t know enough about sweets already.”

Gill raised his hands. “Don’t ask me. I just do what he tells me. Speaking of sweets…”

He leaned over the counter and inhaled the fragrance of her cookie. “Smells familiar.”

She nodded. “I’m glad Kyle started providing the diner with baked goods. Seeing as how he doesn’t deliver, and they do.”

“Oh, he delivers.” Gill grinned. “You just have to know how to ask.”

“You are horrible!” Mel came out from behind the counter. “I’ll get that book. Naomi probably stuck it in back.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mel went to the stockroom and scoured the shelves before she spotted the cookbook.

She carried it to the register and rang up the sale.

Gill handed her a credit card, and she processed it.

“How’s Kyle getting along, anyway? I see him out of his wheelchair some days, but back in it other times.”

He nodded. “It gets tiring. He still does a lot of baking in the chair because the kitchen is set up for it. After his accident years ago, no one knew if he’d walk again. But his physical therapy is going well. Once it’s complete, and he’s ready to get rid of the wheels, I’ll probably raise the counter tops.”

“You’re so handy. It must be nice to be able to do stuff like that. I can’t swing a hammer to save me.”

Gill chuckled. “When I said I’d do it, I meant I’ll make the call to Hal Kuckleman. He’s a damn fine contractor and a good friend. I know he’ll fix the kitchen however Kyle needs it.”

“I gotcha.” Mel slipped the book and receipt into a paper bag. “Here you go, Gill. I hope Kyle enjoys it.”

“I’m sure he will, thank you. So, how goes the real estate agent job? Anyone new or interesting moving into town?”

She shrugged. “So far, I’m not making enough serious money to allow me to do it full time. I’m working with a couple of people who want to move here. Nobody as famous as you.” She grinned at him.

“Shit.” Gill waved a hand. “That seems like a lifetime ago. Funny, playing pro football used to mean everything to me. Now, I can honestly say I haven’t thought about it in ages.”

“You found something more important.”

“Yeah. I sure did.”

The look on Gill’s face made Mel’s stomach tingle.
Will I ever find someone who talks about
me that way?
Even in the openly gay community of Cattle Valley, it seemed unlikely. A good man—or in her case, woman—was still hard to come by. “That’s so wonderful,” she mused aloud.

“Before you get all mushy on me, I’m out of here. ” He turned and held up the bag.

“Thank Naomi for Kyle. And enjoy that cookie.” Gil winked and left.

“See ya.” Mel watched him go, feeling wistful. It was nice to see people around her so happy, but sometimes jealousy niggled at the back of her mind. Especially when Naomi struck up a relationship with an author
Booklovers
brought in for a signing. Courtney Cross had apparently fallen as hard for Naomi as her boss had for the cute, blonde woman.

Courtney had pulled up stakes and moved to Cattle Valley, and was supposedly working on a novel based on their little town.

Mel was extremely happy for them, even when she trudged to the grocery story to buy replacement batteries for her vibrator. It had been her only companion for far too long, and sometimes she couldn’t help feeling irritated about it.

The front door jingled again, and several people walked in. Mel glanced at her cookie with a sigh before wrapping it up and setting it aside.
There’ll be time for that later.
There always was.

Late in the afternoon, Mel was changing out the front window display when she heard a noisy rumble from the street. She glanced out and saw an ugly car with flaking, dark green paint cruising slowly down Main Street. The noise, the grating sound of metal scraping asphalt, seemed to be coming from something dragging in the back.

The car slowed in front of the store then made an awkward turn and pulled in to park.

Mel peered through the dirty windshield, but it was impossible to see the driver.

Nobody from around here
. She was sure of that.

When the woman climbed out, stretching after what had apparently been quite a drive, she was hard to miss. Her shapely, tanned legs led up to a pair of short, jean cut-offs, with a T-shirt over them. Mel tried not to notice the pleasant way the shirt was filled out, instead skipping up to the woman’s face.
Zoing
. Her heartstrings lurched.

The stranger was definitely attractive. Her cheeks were as gaunt as a model’s, but her lips were full and a pretty shade of pink. Dark eyes were heavily lined with a makeup pencil, and long lashes were coated thick with mascara. Short black hair with tips of red framed her face.
Wowza.
Mel hadn’t seen anyone that cute in town for ages.

They didn’t get a lot of strangers through Cattle Valley. Most visitors were friends or relatives of town residents. In the summer, they had tourists, especially during Rodeo Days, but that was several months off.

Mel watched the woman adjust her clothes then lean down to check her face in the mirror on her car door. When she straightened and looked towards the bookstore, Mel hurried away from the window.

She tried to act nonchalant, leafing through a stack of paperwork, when the door jingled. She looked up as casually as she could and offered a smile. “Hi there. Help you?”

The woman strode towards her. If Mel hadn’t seen the car, she might have believed the casually dressed bombshell to be an actress or a model. But nobody, not even a famous person going incognito, would choose that big, green boat to drive.

She gave Mel the once-over before replying. “I’m looking for a guy named Mel. Tia Brooks told me he’d have the keys to the bed and breakfast I purchased.”

“
You
purchased?” Mel blinked, attempting to hide her surprise.

“Yes. I’m Adeline Murphy. I’m the new owner of the Apple Valley Inn.” She stared at Mel for a moment then asked, “So, is he around? Mel?”

Mel’s heartbeat drummed so loudly, she thought the other woman would surely hear it.

She cleared her throat and tried to remain cool. “I’m him. I mean, I’m Mel! Melissa. Melissa Danes.”
Now I’m babbling
. She closed her mouth.

The woman’s pouty expression changed to a smile for the first time. “You’re Mel?

Oops, sorry about that. I guess Tia never specified. She just said Mel would have the keys, and I assumed…well, anyway, sorry.”

“No problem. I do have the keys. I wasn’t expecting you. Tia said you’d call.”

“She never told me that. Or if she did, I forgot. She was in kind of a hurry the last time we talked.”

Mel nodded. “Her mother was sick. I guess she told you that. Tia was anxious to get back home. She’s from Jamaica, you know.”

Adeline chuckled. “I could tell by her accent when we talked on the phone. Not much doubt about it. So…” She glanced around the store then let her eyes settle back on Mel.

The dark pupils seemed to gaze right though her. Mel shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. She normally wasn’t shy around people.
I work retail, for crissakes! I’m around
people all day long. S
omething about this woman made her squirm, though.

“Nice bookstore.” Adeline looked around again.

“Thanks. My friend owns it, I just work here.” Mel touched a display of the latest best seller sitting on the counter. “Do you like to read?”

“When I—” The front door opened, the sound of the bell interrupting her words.

“I thought you were getting the keys. You decide to stop and shop or something?” A blonde-haired woman in even skimpier clothes than Adeline wore walked towards them.