Promises Linger (Promise Series) (46 page)

She could work with that. Taking a steadying breath, she clenched her muscles on his fingers.

“Don’t you want me, Asa?”

He pulled his fingers all the way out and pushed them back in. Rougher this time. “When I’m done playing.”

He was done playing if she had anything to say about it. And she did. Lots. “But I need you now, Asa. I need your cock in my pussy. All of it, Asa.”

He fucked her harder, forcing a grunt from her lips. She had to struggle for her voice. “I want you to stuff every last delicious inch of that huge cock in me. I want you so deep in me that I’ll be able to taste you.” His fingers pulled from her ass.

“And then I want you to come. I want to feel you spurt inside me. I want to feel every drop of your seed as you fill me to—”

The words were cut off as he rammed his cock into her dripping cunt, giving her what she wanted, grabbing her hips and pulling her closer, forcing her to take more.

Her shrill cry was pure satisfaction.

“Witch,” he chastised as he pulled free and drove deep into her tight pussy again. “Is this what you wanted?”

 
She nodded.

“Me too,” he admitted on a groan. He pulled out. Her inner walls clung to his cock, struggling to keep him within her. “I love this tight pussy of yours.”

He reached around and slid a hand under her hips. His fingers grazed her clit. Lightning shot up her spine, jerking her off the bed. “Poor baby,” he murmured in sympathy, “all swollen and neglected.”

He rubbed his finger over the well lubricated surface as he fucked her hard and fast like she wanted. When she was on the edge, her spine stiff with need, her juices pouring from her cunt, pleas for release tumbling from her lips, he took the sensitive nub between his finger and thumb, and milked it in time with his thrusts. As he drove in, he pulled her clit down, toward him, dragging his fingers along her length. As he pulled out, he let go. Only to repeat the gesture on the next thrust. She came in a blinding rush, ignorant of anything except the fiery explosion that fragmented reality until all that existed was his cock, her pussy, and the insatiable pleasure rushing through her.

She came back to herself a few minutes later. He was still in her. Still hard. His fingers still caressed her clit, though delicately in light of her sensitivity. She wiggled her hips in invitation “You didn’t come.”

A kiss landed between her shoulder blades. “In a minute.”

He pulled his cock free of her pussy. A rush of juices spilled over his hand. He dipped the head of his cock in the puddle, pausing a moment to nudge her clit with the tip.

She purred and tilted her hips in response. He smiled against her back, and stroked her recovering clit a little harder. Her body, which she thought was exhausted, began to pulse anew.

He levered himself up. The air felt cool after the heat of his body. His cock eased down against her anus. Before she could resist, he breached the well-lubed opening with just the tip.

“Oh God!” He was too big. Too hard. Too much.

“Easy darlin’.”

He kept his cock where it was, barely in her, poised for possession. Her muscles clenched and released with anticipation and dread. A dark throb of desire took up a beat in her pussy. The echo reverberated in the muscles of her ass. She didn’t know whether to push him away or pull him close. Not that she could do either. She was helpless and at his mercy.

He had none. Refusing to give up the ground he’d gained, he began playing with her clit, swirling his fingers over the surface, tweaking it when she got complacent, rubbing it when she moaned. Despite her apprehension, her attention switched from her ass to her clit, needing him to give her more. Something, anything. He did, pressing harder on her ass, coaxing that forbidden desire into life until she was moaning into the quilt, begging him to take her. To do it.

He did. Pulling her hips up with his hands as he surged hard from behind. With a popping sensation, he was in her, driving up the tight channel, his huge cock dragging against the sensitive nerves, throwing her into overload.

Against her ear, he whispered one word, “Mine.”

She didn’t breathe, struggling to come to terms with the reality of his burning presence. She hadn’t expected to feel so vulnerable. So possessed. He pulled back until only the tip of his cock parted her. His hair brushed her cheek as he put his mouth on her shoulder. She felt his muscles gather, the edge of his teeth, and then he was surging back into her. Deeper than before. He held her pinioned with his body and his mouth as he drove into her. Shock subsided as something primitive began to respond to the elemental possession. Her body relaxed and his cock moved more freely in her passage. She tried to push up, but his teeth tightened on her shoulder as his fingers tightened on her clit.

“Mine,” he repeated, fucking her harder, forcing her to take more. To take him.

She turned her face sideways, kissing his hand where it was braced beside her head. “Yours,” she admitted, knowing it was true, understanding what he needed.

“Make me yours, Asa.”

He froze above her as if he wasn’t sure what he heard.

She kissed his hand again, and then turned her face into the quilt. “Make me yours, Asa,” she repeated. “Claim me.”

“Oh God, Darlin’.”

As if she’d lit a fire under him, he went into motion. His hands, mouth and cock were insatiable, demanding her response, demanding she hold nothing back, that she let him do as he wanted, with no restraint.

He wasn’t gentle. She didn’t want him to be. She wanted him as he was. This was her Asa. Part primitive warrior. Part wild knight in shining armor. The man who saw her for what she was and reveled in it. When he finally buried his cock as deep as he could and pumped his hot seed into her welcoming ass, she buried her face in the quilt and relished each spurt, knowing there was no going back. She’d made her choice. She was his.

Chapter Twenty

It turned out worrying about Asa borrowing trouble was a moot point. The next morning, it galloped up to the front door as bold as brass in the shape of Aaron on his blood bay. As soon as he heard the hoof beats, Asa leapt out of bed. Despite his explicit “Stay there”, Elizabeth followed him to the window, her progress much smoother as she wasn’t hopping into her blue denims as she went. She merely had to shrug into her robe. By the time he was buttoning the fly of his pants, she was beside him. She ignored his exasperated glance and pulled back her side of the curtains.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. The message she’d sent Aaron two days ago had said she needed to speak to him. She hadn’t said it was urgent. As a matter of fact, she’d said anytime after breakfast would be fine. The rising sun flashed off the silver conches circling his hat. She flinched from the assault on her vision and the catastrophe brewing beside her. Asa was never at his most cooperative before a full stomach.

“Elly!” Aaron bellowed, the urgency in his voice unmistakable. “Elly! Are you all right?”

Asa let his side of the window curtain drop. “The man seems to have something important on his mind.”

“What makes you think that?” she asked, stepping back.

“Might be the way his horse is winded, or the way he’s bellowing like a bull.”

She strove for innocence. “It might?”

From Aaron’s haste, he must not have been home to receive her note, and had worked himself into a lather worrying as a result. She cast another glance at the window. She saw Cougar approaching from the bunkhouse where he’d spent the night. She breathed a sigh of relief. Cougar would keep Aaron entertained while she worked on her husband.

Asa reached out and touched her cheek, the grimness of his expression not matching the gentleness of his touch. “Yeah, it might.” He sighed. “What’d you do, Elizabeth?”

She tightened the belt on her robe and avoided Asa’s gaze. “What makes you think I did anything?”

Aaron bellowed again. Through the window, Cougar’s muffled drawl could be heard in response.

Asa trailed his finger down her cheek, tipping her gaze to his when he reached her chin. “The fact that you’re ducking my gaze. The fact that, if you pull that belt any tighter, I’m going to be caring for two wives, and because my gut says so.”

She couldn’t hold his gaze. “Your gut could be wrong.”

His fingers slid along her neck until they anchored in the curls at the base. One tug and she was back to looking at him. “Is my gut wrong?”

She took a deep breath. Instead of the hedge she’d intended, out popped the unvarnished truth. “I sent him a note.”

“After we agreed you’d trust me to handle this?”

She was glad she hadn’t lied before. “Of course not! I sent it two days ago.”

He stared at her a moment before the rigidity left his posture. The fingers still anchored in her hair began to stroke her skin. “I’m glad to hear that.”

She put her hands on her hips. “You were ready to believe I broke my promise!”

“Seemed possible based on the situation.”

“The situation being your worry that I place more value on Aaron than I do you?”

“You’ve known him all your life.”

“You’re my husband.”

“I know you’ve got a strong sense of duty, but—”

“You’re my husband.”

This time he didn’t argue. She stared at him a minute. Downstairs, she heard Cougar ushering Aaron into the study. No doubt he’d be up here in a minute. Aaron wasn’t easily put off. He would, however, just this once, have to wait. There was something she needed to get clear between herself and Asa. “Aaron and I grew up together. I know him and I trust him. I think you’re mistaken in your assessment of him based on my knowledge of his personality, but that doesn’t mean I put him before you.”

“You sent him a note.”

“Yes. I wanted to know if he saw anyone around. Anyone suspicious. Specifically, your previous foreman, Jimmy.”

“You think he’s causing trouble?”

She sighed. He didn’t need to sound so skeptical. “I think he’s vicious enough to do a lot of things behind a person’s back.” Asa stared over her shoulder, obviously pondering her statement. She touched his cheek, bringing his gaze back to hers. “About this ridiculous fear you have regarding my loyalty…”

“I don’t doubt your loyalty.”

She continued as if he hadn’t interrupted. “You are my husband. The man I trust with my ranch, my life, and the lives of any children we might have together. If you put that on a scale and balance it against my affection for Aaron, you’d see there really isn’t any competition.”

His expression didn’t change. Behind his eyes, emotions surged. She sighed. She was obviously going to have to spill her guts, to borrow one of Asa’s sayings. “I don’t believe you’re right about Aaron, but, if this comes to a confrontation and it doesn’t go the way I think it will, when the dust settles, I’ll be standing there by your side.”

“You mean that?”

“I’m not in the habit of saying what I don’t mean.”

His response was interrupted by the knock on the door that prefaced Cougar’s “Y’all up in there?”

“We’re up.”

“You got company.”

“We heard. Tell him I’ll be right down.”

“He wants to see Elizabeth.”

Asa put his fingers over Elizabeth’s lips, preventing her response. He stared into her eyes as he said, “He’ll have to make do with me.”

“Better hurry.” Cougar growled. “Looks like lack of sleep has been hell on the man’s patience.”

“I’m right behind you.”

As soon as she heard Cougar’s footsteps leave the door, Elizabeth shook free of Asa’s hand. “There’s absolutely no reason I shouldn’t go down and speak to Aaron.”

“Darlin’,” Asa drawled in that slow way that said his mind was set. “Until I’m as convinced of that man as you are, you’re not getting within shouting distance.”

She followed him as he headed for the dresser. “You’ll have a much better chance of intelligent conversation if Aaron is sure I’m all right.”

Asa opened a drawer and pulled out a shirt. As he shrugged into it, he said, “I’m not looking for intelligence. I’m looking for truth.”

“Which,” she persisted, “you’d be much more likely to encounter if both of you are calm and rational.”

He buttoned the shirt to mid-chest. He looked impossibly handsome and assured. “You’re not going down, Elizabeth. The man came here wearing guns.”

“Everyone wears guns.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You just got done saying you trusted me.”

She stamped her foot. “Don’t twist my words against me.”

He grabbed his boots and sat on the bed. His other eyebrow winged upwards to join the first. “Exactly how am I twisting things?”

“By trying to make me feel guilty so I’ll abandon rational argument.”

He stomped his right foot into its boot. As he stomped the other one in, he asked, “Is it working?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Somewhat.”

He stood and tucked his shirt into his pants. “There’s no somewhat about it, Elizabeth. Either you trust me or you don’t.”