Ace-High Flush (8 page)

She sobbed and begged, but he didn't relent until she was in tears and thrashing.

"You gonna mind me from now on?"

"Y-yes, sir! I promise. Please stop. Please!"

He humphed, then leaned over her, his upper arms bulging as he held himself up. The little medal he wore was cool against her hot breast. His cock slid over her again, and it both hurt and felt tremendous. She moaned.

"I think you liked that too much," he told her. "Next time I'm gonna use my belt instead."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

His lips hovered over hers, tickling her with his moustache. "Kiss me."

She raised her head, having to work at it as he stayed close but out of reach. She groaned as her neck stretched, but as she thought she'd have to give up and relax back on the bed, he took her mouth with ravening force, pressing her down. She wrapped her arms around him, and squeezed him as hard as she could. She wanted him as close as close could be. If she could have crawled into his skin to be a part of his body, she would have.

"Please do it," she whispered as he pressed kisses over her face to her ear.

He licked her ear and she raised her hips off the bed, trying to press him into her.

Ace rolled, leaning on one arm as he reached for the nightstand. He offered her a wrapped condom. "Don't wanna forget this."

Although she wanted to feel him ungloved inside her, she wasn't foolish enough to risk becoming pregnant. She shuddered at the idea of ending up like her mother. It took her less than a minute to unwrap the latex sleeve and fit it over him. She took the opportunity to stroke his hardness, her heart beating faster with each touch. He was so ready for her. And she was most definitely ready for him.

"Good girl."

She wrapped her arms around him once again and whispered in his ear. "Do I get a reward?"

"You don't deserve one."

"No, but I'm bad in a good way."

He chuckled, poking inside her an inch. She tightened her legs around him and raised her hips, taking in another inch. Her pussy throbbed from the spanking and wept from desire.

He pressed himself a little deeper, teasing. "You ready?"

"Yes!"

Another inch. "You sure?"

"Oh God, Ace! You're killing me."

"Just checkin’."

She groaned and tried to press him into her with her hands on his butt. "More! Don't be mean to me."

"You scared the bejesus out of me tonight, li'l girl. Don't do it again."

"I won't! Oh, please!"

He slid in all the way and they both moaned. "Oh, yeah..." he whispered in her ear. He started pumping his hips, drawing out his strokes for a while, alternating his rhythm until she was mindless with the building pressure. Tension strained his body under her hands, as his strokes came faster and faster. Her hips were pressed hard into the soft bed as he pinned her there.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God!" It felt like her body burst. Like her soul parted from her and slowly came back. It was, by far, the greatest pleasure she'd ever had. His groan of satisfaction as he throbbed his release inside her, made her heart melt. For a moment, for a precious, precious moment, she belonged to him and he belonged to her.

Chapter 5

Ace watched Gabby pad into the bathroom, and the shower started to splash as he was on the phone with his father, Leo Journey. Leo was characteristically unaffected by the fact that Ace was going to have to stay in the area for another few days.

"Don't worry, son. Queenie has the Boot Camp covered, and I can handle the ranch. I will admit that I'm gettin' too old for this shit, but my retirement plan involves a pine box."

Ace laughed. "Q sounds kind of irritable about the new neighbor, Dad."

It was Leo's turn to chortle. "She'll manage. I like Mazie."

"Q thinks you hate him."

"That's because I let her think I do."

"You are a puzzle, Dad."

"When you find the missin' pieces, you let me know, 'k?"

He chuckled. His father had a fine sense of humor. Ace hoped he was a spry when he was nearing seventy.

"Son, did Trey call you? He and Liv are in New York for a few days. Got in last night."

"There was a message on my voicemail when I checked it this mornin'. I had the phone off while I talked to the police last night. I haven't listened to the message yet. What are they here for?"

"Some charity dress-up thing. Liv's foundation is getting' an award."

"Wow. That's great. I'll call him—"

"Ace!" Gabby called in a sing-song voice from the shower. "Come scrub my back, please? I promise you won't regret it."

Leo's ears were as good as ever. "Do I hear a woman, son?"

"Er...yeah. I need to go."

"I'll bet you do."

"The police said a couple more days ought to do it. I'll let you know my travel plans."

"Sure as shootin', son. Y'all have a good time scrubbin' that back."

Ace's face went hot, and he was mighty glad his father couldn't see through the phone. "Take care, Dad."

They rung off and Ace made his way into the shower. Gabby was there, rinsing shampoo out of her hair.

He gave her breasts a slippery squeeze and she wriggled. She was so beautiful with her long hair streaming over her shoulders, and her thick dark eyelashes shadowing her cheeks. He teased her nipples until she opened her eyes. Her look was dreamy, sexy as hell. He was hard as a rock.

Gabby ran her soapy hands down his torso and over his cock. "You brought me a present!"

"The family jewels."

She grinned. "I've always liked my jewels big and hard."

"Always?"

"Well...I use the term loosely."

He pulled her to him. Talking about any other man having her made his blood boil.

Her bottom was perfect for his hand and he held her in place while he rubbed himself against her belly. Her hands never left his rod; he might let her stop that, in about a million years.

Water sluiced down her side and over his arm as he turned her and started to caress her between the legs. She encouraged him with sighs and hums, and he took that as an invitation. Gabby was so slippery and ready, it took him two minutes or less to have her moaning and arching against his hand, coming sweetly to meet him.

Once she'd recovered, she slid down his body to her knees and took him in her mouth. The heat of her around him brought his senses higher and he guided her head in the rhythm he liked best. He felt like the king of the world while the pressure built. He had a beautiful woman at his feet, he was warm and comfortable, life's troubles were at bay for a time. And, damn, but it was good. She slid a soapy finger in his ass and he came hard, like a schoolboy with his first woman. It was a little embarrassing, but Gabby didn't seem to mind. When he'd recovered his breath, he helped her stand and wash off the soap and woman liquor between her legs.

He was mindful of her lack of sexual experience, but he had to ask. "Where'd you learn that trick with your finger? Did you do that with your ex-boyfriend?"

"With Jerry?"

Jerry. He might have to punch the guy out. It was good to know his name.

"You liked it, huh?" She smiled. "I read it in a book. I never did it before."

Ace tried not to be skeptical. "In a book."

She nodded, her face showing innocent pleasure. "A romance book."

Ah. He wondered if that's where other women he'd known had learned it. Maybe they all read the same book. Apparently, they were...descriptive. It didn't bear examining at the moment. "We need to get movin' along, sweetheart. I have to be at the police station in less than an hour."

"I need to get home to my mother. She's going to be so worried."

"You called her last night. She'll be fine. The aide was goin' to call for a relief person for this morning, right?"

"Yeah. But the expense—"

He smacked her on the rump and turned off the water. "We're not discussin' it. Out."

* * *

The police station was bustling when Ace arrived. Detective Cambridge kept him waiting for a few minutes, but apologized as he led Ace through a maze of offices and cubicles.

"Have a seat, Mr. Journey."

"Thanks." The chair was aluminum and plastic, reminding him of the chairs in Gabby's basement. That reminded him of spanking her there, and brought on a smile.

"Is something funny?"

"No." He schooled his face into something more appropriate.

"I have some mug shots here on the computer. Do you mind looking at them? We brought a guy in last night who fit the description of one of the perps you saw, so we're getting him into a lineup. That takes a while to get organized, so if you could look at the pictures while we're setting things up..."

"Yeah. I'd be glad to. I want those guys caught."

The detective indicated the swivel chair in front of the computer monitor. "Why don't you sit here?"

"Sure." Ace examined the pictures carefully and thought maybe he could identify one of the thugs. Maybe it was the one with the watch cap. He'd clocked the guy with a punch to the jaw, so he'd gotten a good look at him, but without the cap it was hard to be sure. The detective was happy to take it all down, however. Ace was dismissed to a waiting room until the lineup was ready for him.

While he was waiting, Ace pulled out his phone and listened to his voicemail. Trey had called to let him know they were going to be in town. His youngest brother had made the reasonable assumption that they were going to be missing each other, since Ace had been scheduled to fly out this afternoon, but when Ace called him, he seemed relieved to find him still in town.

"Save me from shoppin', brother."

Ace grinned. "Liv's got you carryin' packages, hm?"

"Worse. She's meetin' up with New York girlfriends and they're gonna have lunch and go shoppin'. Liv wants me to tag along, but damned if I'm gonna play rooster at a hen party."

"I hear ya. I have to deal with the police for a while longer, but how 'bout if I call you around lunchtime and we can find a baseball game on the tube at one of the bars around here?"

"Sounds like a plan. Good luck."

"Yeah. Thanks."

Ace waited almost an hour, and by the time they called him to come to the little dark booth with its one-way window, he was impatient and bored. Worse, none of the fellows lined up for his scrutiny looked like any of the guys from the night before. That suggested that he might have to do this again. He couldn't help but wonder why being a good Samaritan was so much hassle. It was little wonder that people were so hesitant to aid their fellow citizens.

The detective was unapologetic, and asked Ace if he'd please stay in town for another day. Ace pointed out that he had obligations in Texas, but agreed to one more day. He wanted to spend more time with Gabby anyway. She had grown on him. He knew he was going to miss her once he was back at the ranch. Miss her badly.

Trey was waiting at the bar when Ace arrived. They sat together and had a few beers, watching the Yankees play while the lunch crowd came and went.

"So did you ever find Gabriella Appleby?"

"Uh...yeah."

Trey turned to face him. "There's more. I can tell."

"Yeah, well...we've been sort of datin'."

Trey's dark eyebrows shot up. "Datin'?"

"She doesn't care that I'm the same age as her parents."

Trey grinned and slapped Ace on the back. "Lucky man!"

Ace nodded and smiled, but he was forcing it. The more he thought about dating Gabby, the more difficult the realization that it was temporary became. He was compelled to make a difference in her life—sometimes by spanking the naughtiness out of her—but mostly he just wanted to see that spark of interest in her eyes. He couldn't see that from Texas. "She's a good kid."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

He nodded and drank some of his beer. "I wish I liked her a little less."

Trey made a choking sound, and Ace thumped him on the back. "You okay?"

A nod.

"It's not just sex?"

"Well, there
is
that, but that's not all of it. She's fun and perky, has a decent sense of humor. She likes animals. She tolerates me pretty well."

"She's a cute little thing, too, huh?"

"Yeah. It's the whole package."

Trey eyed him until Ace became uncomfortable. "You fallin' in love with her, big brother?"

"Nah." It was a lie and he knew it. "Maybe. But it's damned awkward. I don't want a long-distance relationship."

"You haven't been serious about a woman in years. Maybe this is a temporary infatuation."

Ace shrugged and changed the subject. It was time to take the bull by the horns. But how?

* * *

Trey was relaxed and lightly inebriated when he got back to his hotel room. There were a few shopping bags on the little couch, and Liv was sprawled out on the bed, wearing only her underwear, taking a nap.

He stood in the doorway and admired her for a few minutes. She'd mostly overcome her shyness about her weight, as much from exposure to so many young people with eating disorders as from his unconditional love of her. She was curvy and sexy. No one but the high-fashion industry people she used to associate with would call her fat.

He got hard looking at her and imagining the things they could do together on the big bed. Married almost a year and still crazy about her! Unfortunately, their second year together was going to have to be spent apart. Being an army officer meant that Trey had to go where they sent him, and, for a while, that was going to be Afghanistan. He wasn't looking forward to it at all. However, it was his career and he took satisfaction from what he stood for and how he performed his duties.

He loved her so much. He was going to miss his wife.

Trey undressed and climbed onto the bed without disturbing her. Liv's long, pale blonde hair was spread out on the pillow, and he rubbed a lock between his fingers and held the silky strands up to his nose. She smelled of her usual orange blossoms, a scent he'd come to associate with Liv and Liv alone. Her forehead was smooth under his lips, her cheek likewise, and when he tenderly kissed her pink mouth, she sighed and wrapped her arms around him.