Her Gentle Giant: No Regrets (12 page)

“Damn, you are beautiful. Your pussy is wet and swollen. Do you want to feel my cock inside you, taking you from behind like this?”

“Oh, baby, more than you can know.”

“I love the sight of you so ready, needing my cock so much,” he murmured as he slid a finger slowly into her entrance. “Mmm, I can feel you quivering around my finger. Are you close, baby? Do you need to come?”

“Yes, Eli, I want to feel you inside me. I want you to fill me. Give me your cum,” she whimpered and gasped when the head of his cock pressed into her pussy. He swept his finger into her juices and swirled it around her asshole, and she gulped, stiffening a little.

“Don’t worry, baby. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. Just relax for me, okay?” He rubbed her juices around her ass with his thumb, pressing inward. She arched her back and tightened the muscles in her pussy around the head of his cock, causing him to hiss again at the tightness.

“So you like that, I guess?” At her nod, he slid his cock into her a little more, groaning at the different sensation from this angle and from feeling the tightness of the ring of muscle at her ass. She whimpered and moaned under him and tried to take more of him. “You’re so tight, baby. He could tell by her sounds that she was close and not content to take it from him slow, but that’s how he was going to give it to her.

Her soft whimpers increased as he slid a little more of his thick cock into her, her hips reflexively grinding on him, making him groan as well. He pressed the pad of his thumb more firmly against her asshole feeling the muscles there begin to give way as she gasped softly. He’d be willing to bet she wanted to scream right now.

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Grinning devilishly, he slid the rest of his cock slowly into her hot, tight cunt, and his thumb pressed gently until, with a shuddering whimper from her, the tight muscles in her asshole gave under the pressure, and his thumb entered her ass. Her head flew up, her hair sailing around her, and she was utterly silent. Her body told a different story, though, as she quivered and shook. Her body flushed all over with heat, and he felt a fresh gush of honey from her pussy. He could no longer keep himself from stroking into her sweet, slick heat, and she moved with him. He reached around with his other hand and heard her muffled cry as he stroked her swollen clit.

“I want to fill you with my cum, baby. See it dripping from you when I’m done. Do you like the way my finger feels in your ass?”

Her whole body vibrated with tension in his hands.

“Oh, Eli, yes!” Her soft voice shook, and he knew she’d come soon.

“You’re close. I can feel those little spasms on my cock as I pump into you.

Come for me, baby. I want you to feel good. Let me give it to you.” He continued to stroke slowly as she begged him to take her harder and faster.

He continued the same rhythm but also began to stroke his thumb into her ass until he was up to the top knuckle, pumping in and out in the same rhythm in both openings.

The tension building in her body must have been unbearable, and he murmured, “Let go for me, angel,” plunged into her hard, and gave her several deep, fast thrusts. She moaned blissfully, her pussy was tight as a vise on his cock as she came. His release gathered momentum until it felt like his whole body might explode, then he did. Eli had no idea how much noise he made as he came hard, his cum pulsing into her in long hot streams.

The relief after so much tension was overwhelming and sent chills up and down his spine.

She cried out softly and her arms collapsed beneath her. The only thing holding her up was his hand clasping her hip tightly to him. He leaned over her, resting his forehead between her shoulder blades.

He withdrew his finger from her and wrapped his arms gently around her hips, listening as she tried to catch her breath. He breathed in her clean, womanly smell and rubbed his cheek and forehead in the damp sheen of sweat that had formed on her back. On impulse, he licked her and smiled at her shuddering gasp and the taste of her sweet saltiness on his tongue. There wasn’t a place on her that didn’t taste good.

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“Are you all right?” He groaned with her as he slowly withdrew from her silken, warm cunt, once again aware again of the chill in the room. As his softening cock withdrew from her, he experienced a moment of simple, primal satisfaction as his cock left her pussy dripping with his cum. His seed, mixed with her cream, trickled from her opening and ran down her thigh, and he smiled at her satisfied, feminine sigh. He glanced up and caught her watching him over her shoulder. She seemed to enjoy his close scrutiny of this beautiful part of her. She truly did have the prettiest pussy he’d ever seen.

He helped her roll over on her side and covered her up. “I’ll be right back, angel.” He went to the bathroom and soaked a washcloth in warm water and retrieved a towel. After washing up, he returned and, despite her protests that she could do it, he cleansed her of the sticky residue from the lubricant. He returned to her warm, sleepy form curled up in his bed and slid between the sheets, pulling her back to his chest.

“Are you all right?” She nodded as she yawned, snuggling against him.

He’d fucked her harder than he’d intended, unable to hold back at the last.

“You didn’t hurt me, Eli. You’re always very careful with me,” she said sleepily before giggling softly. “Even when you’re fucking me good and hard like I asked, you’re still my loving, gentle giant.” She yawned again.

“I love you, Rachel. You own my heart.” He squeezed her warm, languid body to his.

“I promise to take good care of it.” She stroked his forearm then clasped her fingers in his before falling deeply asleep.

Later, they both were awakened by the brief sound of his infant nephew crying. With Rachel curled up against his chest, Eli smiled at the sound of Kelly cooing to Matthew. Her dulcet words calmed him while she must have been changing his wet diaper. Matthew’s fussing abruptly ceased, and Eli grinned, thinking that he must have gotten what he was squalling for. Rachel shook with soft laughter against his chest.

“A nice nipple in the mouth can solve a world of problems, regardless of the man’s age I guess,” Eli said, chuckling.

“I’ll bear that in mind, big man.” She snuggled closer. “Matthew is a precious baby and Kelly is very good with him. She must miss her husband something fierce right now.”

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“He’s a good man. He counts himself lucky he has her in his life. The woman is a saint. They’re both grateful he was here for Matthew’s birth because they knew Chris was leaving soon. They just didn’t have a date.

Every day he spent with them was priceless.” He cuddled her closer, trying to imagine himself in the same shoes as his brother-in-law.

He thought of Rachel, large with his child, and the mental image stole his breath away. He could see her as she held an infant with dark hair in her arms, and it made his chest swell with a myriad of emotions, pride and love being predominant. His hand strayed to her smooth abdomen, and she slid her hand over his. He kissed her shoulder softly. “I would be the happiest man in the world, Rachel.”

She turned to him, and he could tell there were tears in her eyes as she looked up at him.

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Rachel carried Matthew through Stigall’s Department store as she and Kelly looked for linens and felt her cheeks flush a little at the memory of Eli’s soft heartfelt words during the night. She’d been so overwhelmed she’d been unable to speak for fear of bawling like a baby. Eli evidently understood and had comforted her until she fell asleep.

Rachel could picture herself pregnant with Eli’s baby, his gentle hands resting on her swollen belly as the baby kicked and squirmed within her.

She could also picture Eli making love to her with the intent of making a baby. She smiled at the thought of his intensity, momentarily distracted from what Kelly was telling her as more telltale warmth spread over her cheeks.

“What? I’m sorry, Kelly. I didn’t hear that last part you said,” she confessed as they walked through the department store. Rachel had invited Kelly and Matthew to go shopping with her for kitchen items, which she held no hope of finding salvageable because the kitchen had been in the front part of the apartment which had suffered the most damage. She also planned to get fresh linens for her bedroom and bathroom.

Kelly’s eyes twinkled merrily as she stared at Rachel. “Wow, girl! You have it
bad
for my brother, don’t you? He put that blush on your cheeks just thinking about him?” Kelly laughed as Rachel’s cheeks flamed even hotter.

Rachel giggled and put her hand to her cheek as she cuddled Matthew against her chest.

“Maybe.”

“He’s pretty wonderful, isn’t he?” Kelly asked as she reached for Matthew so that Rachel could look for a set of sheets and a comforter in the bedding department.

“He really is.”

“You’re in love. I give it two months, and you’ll be married,” Kelly predicted smugly.

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“Think so?”

“I
know
so. It’s in Eli’s eyes. He adores you, and rightfully so. It’s good to see him so happy, not lonely anymore. He’s always been too solitary.”

“I love him, too.”

“I can tell. Are you gonna say yes if he asks you to marry him?” Kelly looked at her expectantly. Her little pixie face was bright with hope, and she looked like she was about to start bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Teasing her, Rachel asked, “How is it that Eli is like a giant and you are positively elfin? Huh? I see the resemblance in your eyes and the color of your hair, but the similarity stops there.” Rachel laughed at Kelly’s disappointed pout.

“Eli got his height from our dad, but our dad is blond and blue-eyed, very Scandinavian roots there. I got my stature and build from my mom, and we got her eyes, too. Can you imagine,” Kelly snickered, “what it must have been like trying to get it on? Like
climbing a tree
!
What
? Am I wrong?”

Kelly laughed, watching Rachel break out in a fit of giggles.

“I know two gals you have to meet while you’re here, Kelly. You would fit in so well at our get-togethers. Do you like to dance?”

“I love to dance, just not much opportunity lately.” Kelly smiled and pointed at the baby.

“I have two good friends who are also sisters. Grace Warner and Charity Conners. Eli is friends with Charity and her husband, Justin.”

Kelly’s eyes sparkled. “I remember them from before we got stationed in Abilene! Charity is a
nut.
I absolutely love her.” Rachel smiled at Kelly and thought there were probably very few people whom she didn’t love.

“My husband and Justin grew up together and were friends with Eli. Eli introduced me to Christopher. They all used to ride together all the time. So has he taken you for a ride on his Harley yet?”

“Well, we’ve only been together a couple of days, if you count today and yesterday,” Rachel answered.

Kelly looked genuinely horrified. “You mean I horned in on your first night together?”

“Well, technically no, because we got to his duplex during the night on Thursday night, but it’s all right. We’ve known each other for a few months, and he’s been asking me out since the moment we met.”

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Rachel told her the whole story while she picked out a set of ivory-colored sheets in a luxurious Egyptian cotton and found a pretty wedding ring patchwork quilt. She wasn’t sure why she picked that particular quilt pattern over the others and didn’t want to analyze herself too much. She picked out some towels with help from Kelly, who had been surprisingly mute through the whole wedding ring quilt selection process but had looked like she was dying to say something. As Rachel picked out a stack of dark blue bath towels, she couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

“So, are you gonna say yes?” Kelly asked expectantly.

“To what?” Rachel asked, nervous at this line of questioning. She didn’t want to sound desperate.

“When he pops the question, silly!”
When
, she had said. Not
if
, but
when
.

“Kelly, we’ve only been a couple for a couple of days.”

“Yeah, but you’ve been in love since you set eyes on each other two months ago!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Uh-huh! He’s going to ask you, and I bet you’re married by Christmas.
Ooooh
! A Christmas wedding, how romantic! Oh, Rachel, can I help you pick out your dress?” Now Kelly
was
dancing on the balls of her feet. Matthew squeaked in her arms and drifted back off to sleep.

“Oh, so now you’re planning my wedding?”

“Ooooh!
Can I
? I’m excellent at planning weddings and parties! You should totally let me do that. You would love it! So? Are you gonna say yes?” She settled down long enough to ask again.

Rachel looked at her and smiled, finding Kelly’s enthusiasm contagious.

What would she say if he asked her to marry him? Oh, hell yeah. She’d say yes.

“I would say yes, Kelly, but I need a little time, and he told me we would take it slow. I don’t know about your Christmas wedding scenario. I mean, he hasn’t even hinted at that. I can’t believe I’m talking to you about it. We only just got together.” Rachel felt like she was jinxing herself, putting the cart before the horse.

“But you do love him?”

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“I adore him, Kelly. If I had any idea how good it was going to be, I wouldn’t have said no to him for as long as I did. All I could see was all the women hanging off of him every night. I didn’t think I could deal with that.”

Kelly laughed. “He’s a total
ho
magnet, isn’t he?”

“Kelly! He’s your brother. He can’t help it.”

“Yeah, he can’t help it he’s yummi-licious.”

“You
do
know Charity Conners! Did you say your brother is
yummy
?”

“What? I’m not blind! He’s got that whole badass biker dude-slash-gentle giant thing workin’ hard for him. Worked on you, didn’t it?”

“Only totally, bad girl. Only I find him to be more of a cross between an Indian warrior and a Viking.” Rachel chortled and looked around them to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. Kelly gave her a salacious thumbs-up and then got a startled expression on her face.

“
Wait a minute
! You’re friends with Grace! Are you the one who saved her ass? You are, aren’t you! Oh, I have so got to meet that Hot Mama.

Three freakin’ husbands. She must be a
dynamo
!”

“Shhh! You maniac! Sure, I’ll introduce you, but you gotta ixnay on the ee-thray usbands-hay! Grace shops here, honey. She used to work here, too.”

“
Oops
, sorry, big mouth here.” Kelly patted Matthew’s back gently.

“I’ve gotta meet her!” she said more softly.

“Help me pick out a shower curtain and rings. I’m anxious to get back home and see how the guys did at the apartment. That was thoughtful of him to not want me to go over there. Facing all my burned up stuff would not be near as much fun as shopping with you.”

Originally, she had intended to go, but Eli had talked her out of returning with them to the burned-out apartment. The fire chief had said that while they were welcome to come and salvage they should not hold out much hope of finding much more than ash and charred remnants of her belongings. They would bring whatever they could to her, be it a little or a lot. Rachel was thankful she’d invested in the renter’s insurance policy because everything was covered, and her claim was already being processed.

Kelly asked, “Did he say if they recovered much?”

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It sounded to Rachel like they’d made some progress, maybe even found a few things that weren’t ruined that she could still use, but they didn’t give her any specifics.

“No, just that it looks even worse over there in the daylight. I’m not holding out much hope, but it would be nice if a few things were salvageable. Which one do you think I should pick?” Rachel asked, gesturing to the shower curtain samples.

“Well, you picked blue towels, and your rugs are blue. Not going very girlie here, are we?”

“Blue is my favorite color, but I wanted things that Eli would feel comfortable using if he came over.”

“Okay, but go more girlie on the shower curtain. Stuff like that doesn’t bother him near as much as you might think. You’re going to need a king-sized comforter on your bed. With Eli under the covers, it will be too small, and you’ll freeze.”

Rachel snickered. “Trust me. I don’t worry about freezing in bed with Eli.”

“Like a sick kitten to a hot brick, huh?” Kelly said suggestively. “Still, you should get the king size. You can use it on his bed after you get married.

Lemme have it. I’ll be right back. Don’t get the
paisley
shower curtain, get the girlie white
lace
, and make sure and get the clear liner and a window curtain to match for the bathroom window. Be right back.”

Rachel smiled, watching Kelly as she scampered away. Talk about dynamos. She picked the white lace shower curtain and got the clear liner and plain white hooks. Kelly came back with another wedding ring quilt in a king size, but with brighter colors and fewer muted shades.

“Is this one all right? The colors are a little different but very pretty.

The ivory background will match your sheets. You done?”

“Yes, that’s fine. I think I like it even better than the one I picked out.

You’ve got a good eye, Kelly. I like your style.”

Kelly brightened up, not missing the opportunity to self-promote. “See?

You should let me plan your wedding. You would be so happy!”

They arrived home as the men were unloading Eli’s pickup into the entrance of the garage, setting everything inside for when she settled down enough to go through it all. Mike and Rogelio came over, grinning, to help her carry in all the shopping bags. She carried the first bags she’d picked up
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to the porch then turned to look up at Eli standing in the truck bed. He looked down at her from his tremendous height, his thick, muscular arms crossed over his broad, powerful chest.

Rachel asked, “What are you up to, Eli?”

With a big grin spread across his face, Eli jumped out of the truck bed, landing beside her. Feeling instantly enveloped in his massive presence, she looked up at him, smiling into his twinkling eyes.

He reached over the bed and said, “I found something of yours.” Then he yanked a dirty blanket off her cedar hope chest.

She let out a loud yelp and jumped into his arms. One leap and she was clinging to his neck, holding on tight. He laughed and put his arms around her hips as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She kissed him, thanked him, and cried a little because she was so relieved it was okay. Finally, she released him, and he set her back on the ground and helped her into the bed of the truck.

“It’s got some pretty bad burn marks on the side nearest your bedroom door, but I think a refinisher could probably remove or repair that damage, and it would be good as new. It’s very well made, and the lid has a nice tight fit on it. I think you’re going to be happy.”

She reached to press the latch and lift the lid. Everything inside it was untouched, with no evidence of smoke creeping in around the lid. The fresh scent of cedar was the only aroma to rise from the interior of the hope chest.

She paused as she gently touched the contents of the chest then closed the lid carefully, looking at the three men standing there.

“Thank you for being willing to go back there, for going to the trouble for me. It means a lot to me. I gave up hope there was anything left. Can we put it in the garage for now? I’ll empty it out and store everything inside while I work on it. I think I can remove that blistered varnish and sand it down and refinish it myself. I’m so happy. Thank you.” They lifted it down, and Kelly looked on smiling as Eli came back to Rachel, put his arms around her, and hugged her before helping her back down.

“I found your wristwatch on the floor by your night table. It must have gotten knocked off in the rush,” he added, reaching in his pocket to hand her the undamaged wristwatch her father had bought for her twenty-seventh birthday last year. She accepted it from him and hugged him again.