Hanging on (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2) Page 33

  He laughed and kissed me.

  I felt pretty good anyway. I tried to control my strut as I went to see if Ty needed any help getting Lump ready.

  “I am doing gate this time,” I announced.

  Lump looked at me with an excited smile. “Sorry Jess, but you work better when you don’t expect it.”

  “Seven seconds to beat,” I said.

  “Easy,” she retorted. Famous last words.

  She was strapped on a steer as well, but I noticed hers was bigger than mine was. I wasn’t stupid enough to get offended.

  I got to my place at the chute. Adam started talking her through it like he talked to me, only he gave her some general instruction about the bulls movements, which I already knew from the last time.

  Lump was fiercely athletic, as anyone could guess. She took the advice, then turned to me. “Now or never. Let her fly.”

  “Ready. Set. Go!”

  I threw the gate open and the steer went leaping out. Lump held her hand up like a pro. She moved her body in a close mimic of the form, and held on for dear life. She made it to about five seconds and started falling. She let go and not so gracefully hit the dirt.

  Without any signs of outward panic, she got up and dusted herself off. The bull was hopping toward the exit.

  “You good?” Adam called.

  Her smile lit up her face. “This is so my new sport. It is exhilarating!”

  “No!” Three guys said in union.

  Lump rolled her eyes as she climbed the gate to get out.

  “New sport!” she whispered to me.

  William came over and put his arm around me. “You two never cease to surprise me. Do you want to go to my house tonight?”

  I got a bout of butterflies at that thought. He still made me nervous when anticipation was a factor.

  “Let me work out the car situation with Lump real quick. Be right back.”

  Lump was still over at the chute taking off her stuff. As I neared, I heard Adam saying, “Well, you shouldn’t be with a guy like that Betsy. He’s dangerous.”

  “And you are safe, huh?”

  “That’s why I’ve stayed away from you.” Adam’s voice was gentle. It sounded like it was about to break. “You don’t deserve to be around someone that scares you.”

  I knew I shouldn’t be hearing this, but if I walked away they would hear me and think I was eavesdropping, which I was. So I opted for the overly loud approach.

  “Hey Lump?” I called as if I didn’t know where she was.

  “Yeah?” She called.

  I walked up and saw Adam leaning against the gate looking at the ground. Lump was wiping a tear from her eye.

  “Um. Are you okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Right. Well, do you want the car because I can get a ride with William.”

  “I’m coming Jessica. Wait for me, I’m coming.”

  “That’s what she said.”

  “Dumb ass.”

  She quickly finished up and left Adam, who was still looking at the ground.

  When she caught up to me, I asked, “What was that fight about?”

  “Adam is mad because I keep dating dangerous guys.”

  “No, not that fight--let it be known that I completely agree with him—but with David?”

  “Aren’t you the girl that always loved danger?”

  “Yes, when I was 19 and stupid. You gotta grow out of that, Lump. You have to find a guy that treats you right. There is nothing better. We deserve no less, you know?”

  She sighed. “I don’t know what I am doing. I always pick assholes. Real assholes, that want to hurt me. Tonight I wanted to push the envelope with David to see if he was one of those guys. When I started dating him I knew, just knew, he wasn’t. But he would have hit me sure enough.”

  “He would’ve if you gave him a chance, yeah. Stop picking those guys. There are nice guys out there that treat a woman right but aren’t whimps. I found one. They exist.”

  “I don’t know how to stop picking those guys,” she said with tears in her eyes.

  It was like a cover was taken off, allowing Lump’s tears to rise to the surface at a moment’s notice. She needed a trip to Dr. George! I must remember to mention it to Gladis.

  With all the things I constantly had to remember, I seriously needed to think about getting a notepad!

  “Then stop picking guys for a while,” I said, getting my line of thought back on track. “Let one pick you and prove himself. Maybe that will change things.”

  She nodded, resigned. I’d take it.

  We walked the rest of the way in silence. When we made it to William he looked at me jovially. When I didn’t return the feeling he looked at Lump and saw that there was a problem. His face immediately went blank as he adopted a patient pose, waiting for us to do as we would.

  “Do you want to come with us?” I asked Lump. “William has an extra room, or five. You wouldn’t have to be alone.”

  She shook her head. “I think I’ll go hang out with Gladis. She’ll be up for another hour. She always knows the right things to say somehow.”

  “They call that wise. I don’t think we’ll ever learn our lesson enough to get there when we are old...”

  Lump laughed flippantly. “See you. Bye Willie. I’ll be here next time for another ride.”

  “We’ve created a monster,” he said with a smile as a good-bye.

  I climbed into his truck, waited for him to climb in and get settled, then laid my head in his lap.

  “She’s lost,” I said. “The one guy that seems to understand her doesn’t want to be near her. And she doesn’t trust him. Well, and he has a cute, rich girlfriend. What a mess.”

  “I doubt the girlfriend is in the way. She is anything but Adam’s type. He is probably just lonely and she is good for sex.”

  “William!”

  “It’s true.”

  “Yeah, like that fake blond with big boobs that one time?”

  “You always bring that up.”

  “I wonder why...”

  He rubbed my head then my back. “I love you, you know.”

  “Oh, really? I didn’t get the memo.”

  “And now I know what type of ring you like. You will never be safe!”

  “Don’t even think about it! I’m too young. And I am still not convinced you aren’t going to leave me.”

  “You’re rarely stubborn, but when you are it is about the silliest things.” He sighed. “I promise, I won’t ever leave you. Not even if I die. I’ll just keep on, haunting constantly, rattling chains and opening curtains. Especially if you are with another guy!”

  “William? What is it about me that draws you? That you can’t find in a girl with your same situation?” I still hadn’t been to figure out what Gladis had said—to guard what he wanted.

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “Yes. That’s why I am asking,” I said sarcastically.

  “Girls in my situation have had everything handed to them. They are deeply imbedded in an endless supply of money. And yes, I could, too, if I wanted. My brother thinks that way. But I am ambitious. I want to make my own empire, or vastly improve the families’. I want to make a difference by what I do, not just have money. It all sounds so noble, but it’s not. It’s just...money is great, and certainly helps, but...it’s not all there is.”

  “I would take a life with a bunch of money if it was offered.”

  “Sure, not many wouldn’t. But you have already learned the lessons of not having it. What you said to Dez that day was exactly why you are the only one for me. Why you make sense to me. You could have gone a different way in life, and even if you made it, you realized it would have changed you. So you chose a different path. A path people would probably say you are crazy to take because you had an opportunity to be a star and matter.

  “Those people don’t realize that those things don’t actually matter. Hooking up with something you believe in, does. And thank you for the great things
you said about my family’s company, by the way. I think my father likes you more, if that were possible.”

  “Hmm.” I was glowing.

  The truck stopped and I looked up to see we were still outside of town, off the road in a pull out area. There were no cars in either direction.

  “Are you going to kill me now?”

  He cupped his hand beneath my chin and lifted my head so he could kiss it. He kissed me tenderly but deeply, exploring my mouth with his tongue. He backed me away and looked at me. His eyes were luminescent from the trucks console lights. He looked intensely into the depths of me, pulling me to him with his charisma.

  “I was lucky to have found you,” he whispered.

  “I am lucky that you wanted me.”

  No seriousness lost, he slowly shook his head. “You will be mine, someday. I’ll never give up hope you’ll say ‘yes’ to forever.”

  I felt my eyes overflow with tears. He kissed them away with soft lips, and kissed my mouth again. On the radio the Alison Krauss song, ‘When you say nothing at all’ came on.

  William gently kissed down my neck as he took off my shirt. His hands found the clasps of my bra and removed that as well. His rough hands turned to velvet as they slid over my breasts, paying attention to my nipples.

  I removed his shirt so I could feel his robust chest and powerful shoulders. His hands were at the buttons on my pants as I was reaching behind him to feel his smooth, muscled back. He was softly moaning as he kissed me, sucking slightly to intensify the connection.

  I got into a kneeling position, which was not easy in the cab of a truck, so he could work my pants down. I then sat down and put my legs out awkwardly so he could get them off. He hadn’t caught my underwear with the pants, unfortunately, but he just worked around them.

  He tenderly pushed me back on the bench seat of the cab, spreading my legs so he could take a loving taste. He spread my lower lips, licking the length of my slit. His mouth slid up to my clitoris as he inserted two fingers, starting to work them back and forth.

  Spidery arms of pleasure spread through my body. I arched, then swung my hips up to meet the dive of his fingers and mouth, touching the back of his head as he worked. His tongue explored me thoroughly, tasting the salty, sucking in all the right places. His fingers worked furiously until I was taken higher, my nerves frazzling. My head going light. My body strung out.

  I exploded in delight, my skin catching fire. Warm shivers wracked my body, glistening from the exertion of indulgence.

  William lifted my body up so I was sitting again. He had his pants unbuttoned and around his thighs, his rigid manhood sticking into the air.

  Without thinking, I bent my mouth to him. Taking him fully, working to control that insubordinate gag reflex. I used my hands to stimulate and pet his shaft and cojones. Speeding up gradually, taking him along the path toward completion.

  He stopped me at the precipice. I looked up at him startled, thinking I did something wrong.

  “I want to be inside you, Jessica.”

  He lifted me by my shoulders, giving me a second to tuck my legs around his thighs.

  I was so wet I was dripping, my core aching to be filled. I angled my opening above him, feeling the prod of his velvet tip, silky and sensuous.

  I sat down with all my weight.

  “Oh!” William gasped, clutching my butt, letting his head fall back. He sunk in to the hilt.

  You feel so good.” He opened his eyes, connecting with me. The most handsome man I could ever imagine, dirt and sweat crusted and all. “You are so beautiful Jessica. I found the best God had to offer. He’s rewarded me with you. I’m not sure I deserve it, but I will gladly open up to it.”

  “Hold me tight, William.”

  He wrapped me in his arms firmly, rocking my body against his own. I laid my head on his bunched shoulder, feeling his hard body against mine, his chest muscles against my soft breasts.

  The intensity of our motion increased, as did his hold on me. I felt his power inside and all around, drinking in the manly quality of it, assured of safety and well-being. I let myself go, as I did so often in his arms, and let the pleasure overtake me.

  He reached deeply inside me with his hard cock, pressing me to his unyielding strength. His embrace got harder still as we climbed upward together. My arms were balled along the side of him and I grabbed on to him, huffing and crying out in love and euphoria.

  At climax I screamed his name, breaking my hands free to put on his shoulder.

  As we were coming down I looked into his eyes, remembering so long ago when we were standing outside his trailer and his eyes first reached into me and took hold. I smiled slightly and bent to kiss him long and deeply.

  We stayed there for a while, kissing tenderly while he was still inside me. Neither of us wanted to break the connection, both knowing we would have to eventually. He whispered sweet nothings as I walked down memory lane, noting all the times he had that blank face when he looked at me, hiding his want and desire. All the times I thought he didn’t care about me, but all the while he being desperate to shed his obligations and tell me how he felt.

  “It is me that is being rewarded from all the karma I have paid out. You are just an innocent bystander,” I said in his ear quietly. “I will say ‘yes’, eventually.”

  He pulled me back and looked into my eyes with such elation my heart surged. This time his eyes got glossy, but he blinked it away profusely.

  Men! I thought warmly.

  I snuggled into him, stealing comfort and love from his body. We had a giant future looming in front of us, some with rough patches that would grind me down. But he was my pick, so there was nothing for it—I’d just have to hang on and ride it out.

  THE END

  ~*~*~*~

  The story continues in the next installment of the Jessica Brodie Diaries.

  A Wild Ride, Book 3

  With forever on the line, Jessica wants nothing more than to settle down, finally¸ and continue on with her life. The only problem is that, since she’s moved to Texas, she has been fraught with problems. Despite a narrow miss when her home gets broken into, this time it isn’t her that’s in danger. When William has a tragic bull riding accent, it is up to Jessica to play hero.

  Alongside Jessica’s personal problems, her friend Lump is also trying to find her way. One bad, violent date after another and she is left broken and spent. The one man that is perfect for her, is out of reach.

  EXCERPT:

  Chapter 1

  I walked into William’s house with my butt bare and my pants draped over my arm. We’d just had a love-making session in the car on the way back from bull riding practice in which I admitted that he was the one.

  I was under no illusions that I was mature enough to marry yet, so I gave him a promise. Like I was in grade school. I had the guy of the century, I was so happy my face hurt half the time from smiling , and all I could offer up was a promise.

  I should just punch myself in the mouth right now.

  At any rate, that’s where matters stood. Plodding along. It was a comfortable pace since I still worried about his social status versus mine. I still worried that he would realize a girl from the other side of the tracks—or so his mom thought—was too much work to fit into his snobby society of wealth and power. And sometimes gaudy taste.

  Halfway to the shower, William asked, “What is the deal with the dirt and smell?”

  I started laughing. “I assume you mean me?”

  He laughed, also. “I meant to ask you earlier but never got a chance.”

  “I need Lump’s help on something. Unfortunately, she is going through a pre-adult crisis at the moment, and made me shovel hay with her in return.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah. As a heart attack, which I almost had. So I spent the evening helping Adam, and his new ranch hand Lump, bail hay. It was not the most fun I have ever had.”

  William laughed and kissed me on the head. “It’s
good for you.”

  “That reminds me, when are you working on your ranch next?”

  “Tomorrow, why?”

  “Can you save some stuff until I get off work? I want to watch you.”

  “You want to watch me work?”

  “Yeah. Without a shirt, preferably.”

  He laughed again and shook his head. “Is it worth you being put to work helping?”

  “Only if I get a happy ending.”

  “Deal.”

  William lived up to his promise. The next evening he was shirtless, sweaty, and working in the evening sun. I watched him for a good while, admiring his play of muscles, his powerful strokes, the sun glinting off those powerful shoulders—he saved the most manly task for last, chopping wood.

  When he was sufficiently embarrassed, he made me start carrying and stacking the wood into piles. Without my shirt.

  That night I was living in a country song, though I decided taking a sexual hay ride was way overrated. It was scratchy and itchy, and I had to thoroughly wash my lady bits to make sure I was hay free. But laying with William, watching the setting sun through the barn door, was dreamlike.

  Time started speeding up as we got nearer Christmas. I had talked in length with Adam about an attack plan for William’s bull, which was the item William most wanted and couldn’t have because the guy wouldn’t sell to a Davies. I was convinced I would get that little sucker. If I had to dress like a slut and prance around, I would.

  Unfortunately, I would also make Lump do it. It was unfortunate because in order to agree, Lump made me work with her on Adam’s or William’s ranch three days a week. On the days I danced I got a fur-low. Lucky me.

  Lump was the big glitch in my happy life. My long-time friend from L.A. was not finding her groove. She was violent, temperamental, and most of all, unsettled. Worse still, she didn’t know what the problem was. She didn’t know how to fix the issue.

  So she lost herself in hard work. And since misery loves company, guess who had to sweat way more than she wanted to? Exactly, my ass.

  As opposed to me, on the farm she worked hard and quietly, rarely saying two words to anyone. She had her music in her ears and occasionally sang along with a perfectly pitched voice. William or Adam would stop what they were doing to listen. I stopped, too, just for the break. Which embarrassed Lump and cut off the singing.