Badass (25 page)

With a small yelp, Avery almost levitated off the bed. “Foot a duck! What time is it?”

“Calm down, sweet thang. It’s just eight o’clock. We’ve got plenty of time.” She wiggled in his arms like a slippery eel. Finally, he let her go before she tangled herself any farther in the covers. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Going to her knees in the bed, she plunked herself over on top of him – just climbed right on, laying full length on top of him. “I gotta go help, Tricia. I can’t let her down.” Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him long and deep, her tongue delving in and rubbing against his. “Mmmm, you are such a temptation.” She snuggled down, fitting her head under his chin. “Am I taking too many liberties?”

Moving that wealth of hair to one side, he rubbed her back. “Impossible. Consider me your playground. Wanna ride the roller coaster?” He pumped his hips up and let her feel his cock that was beginning to rise to the occasion.

“I wish,” she licked his chest, kissing all around his nipple. “Maybe, we could get together later in the week or something – that is, if you want to?”

What was it going to take? “Avery, my Avery.” He took her chin between his thumb and first finger. “I will take you to work and pick you up when work is over. Tonight, we’re going to a family dinner celebrating Jessie and Jacob’s wedding. They’re sneaking off to get married this afternoon. I want you moving in with me – today.”

“Wonderful, I’m so happy for them,” she beamed – then went very still. “About us – I would love to move in with you, but we’re still making sure this all works. Right?”

He reiterated his last mental point. “What is it going to take, love? I thought we proved something here last night.”

“We did,” she agreed. “Still, I think we have a ways to go,” she was purposefully vague. What she wanted was for him to tell her that he loved her. During their lovemaking, he had said that he loved her just the way she was, but people said things like that all the time. Avery dreamed of Isaac holding her face, looking in her eyes and telling her that he loved her more than life itself. When that happened – she would have everything she’d ever wanted. Isaac.

Isaac was feeling a bit frustrated. He had her in his arms, but he felt like she could fly away at any moment. It was like trying to hold on to a little wild creature, that didnnight know whether they could completely trust you or not. “If we still have a ways to go, pumpkin – you might ought to try giving me a map so I can find my way.”

Not knowing how to answer, she chose to change the subject. Glancing at his watch on the bedside table, she sighed – “I’ve got to get ready to go and yes, I will go to my house and pack a suitcase and go home with you tonight. Where we stay doesn’t matter to me. Home is where you’ll be.” She could tell that admission pacified him, somewhat. “If you could pick me up at – say six? I need some time to talk to my agent for a few minutes.”

She began scrambling off of him – to be so graceful on stage, she was adorably uncoordinated. Most likely, he would spend a lifetime catching her before she fell. Funny, that sounded perfect to him. Tearing his eyes off of her bobbing rump, he digested her comment. Agent – what agent? “What are you talking about – agent?”

No time like the present – after all, they were sharing everything else. “I write romance novels. Most of them have been just contemporary, but I’ve started writing erotic novellas, and they’re selling like hotcakes. I’m a smut writer!” she announced proudly.

“Holy Shit!”

Chapter Seven

As Isaac went about his day at the bar he attempted to digest the information that his pure and innocent little church girl had – in a matter of a few days – emerged from her cotton wool cocoon and revealed herself to be sexually adventurous, fun as hell, sweet as sugar and the weaver of erotic words. “That beats all I’ve ever heard,” he talked to himself as he wiped down tables.

His morning had been full of necessary busy work. Doris had insisted that they hire a cleaning crew, and she had been right. So, he had interviewed three different services this morning, and had settled on one that ought to work out fine. Crowbar did all he could, but he needed help. They would start tomorrow. Plus, he had placed his liquor order. All of the family fun had depleted his stock. They still had Aron and Libby’s wedding on the 16
^th
and then his birthday on the 31
^st
. He couldn’t believe his big brother would be tying the knot in less than a week and Jacob was getting hitched - - right about now - - he realized as he glanced over at the clock.

Isaac didn’t worry about money – not really. Hardbodies wasn’t making a killing, mainly because he used a lot of his inventory for private use. As far as he was concerned, that’s what it was for. He wasn’t accountable to anybody but himself and his employees. Tebow kept them all going and Noah deposited his share of the profits into his checking account monthly. That money was what he used to take care of his ‘projects’. None of the family questioned one another about their profit sharing funds – each brother did their own thing. Noah and Aron made sure that proper investments were made, the ranch was updated, expanded and ran like a well-oiled machine. Jacob was the mogul of the group; he had made some private investments and now had his own mineral company. Still, they were a family and families took care of one another.

“Boss!” Levi called from the back. Isaac laughed – in many ways Levi was such a cut-up. “The bull is here!”

Ah, the mechanical bull. “Excellent. I’ll be right there.” When he got to the back, the deliverymen had just unloaded the big box and were ready to take it in to bolt it to the floor. “Do we have all the electrical hook-ups ready to go?”

“Sure thing – we’ll be bouncing around on this thing before the sun goes down.”

Levi’s off-hand comment just gave Isaac an idea. He wondered if Avery would want to ride him while he rode the bull. Hell yeah! Together, they worked with the installers until the simulator was in proper working order.

“How much are you guys gonna charge to let somebody ride this thing?” one of the deliverymen asked.

“Nothing,” Isaac answered. “This is to draw customers in and keep them happy once they get here.”
“Makes sense,” the two shook hands with Isaac and Levi and took their leave.

As they picked up the scrap pieces of cardboard left over from the box to burn, Levi cut his eyes at Isaac. “Did you meet that new girl last week, Pawnee Baker?”

“Yea, I did, she seemed like nice lady.” Just a few days ago, his response would have been – ‘she’s a looker – nice rack’ – but that was pre-Avery.

“I heard something about her.” Levi’s tone, more than his words - told Isaac that whatever he was about to say was important to him.

“What’s going on?” He walked over to the bar. “It’s five o’clock somewhere – right?” They didn’t open till five – but ownership had to count for something. “Wanna beer?”

“Yea, I think I need one.”

Taking two longnecks from the cooler, he opened them and walked over to join his friend. “So what did you hear about the lovely Miss Baker? I saw quite a few cowboys checking her out. If you’re gonna throw your hat in the ring, you’d best do it in a hurry. Is she into kink?”

“Hell, she gives kink a whole new meaning.” Levi leaned back and took a long swig. Isaac thought he looked miserable. So, he waited for his bartender to continue – and he waited.

“She’s pretty, you know – I mean real pretty. And I was attracted to her, big time. It’s not like I don’t have pussy, but there was just something about this woman that seemed so soft and vulnerable. I guess you could say that she brought out the man in me.”

“He said that it’s rumored Pawnee has a . . . damn, a cock – a little one, but a cock, nonetheless. Supposedly everything else is there and all of it functions perfectly. It knocked me for a loop, I tell you,” He slouched over with his forearms on his legs, the beer bottling dangling between his knees.

“That beautiful woman is a hermaphrodite? I thought they were, you know, rougher looking. She seems so – normal – beautiful, I mean.” Isaac had seen a lot of things. He knew transsexuals, bisexuals, homosexuals, even some who claimed to be asexual, but never had he met someone with both male and female genitalia. “God, I bet she’s lonely.”

Levi looked up. “That’s what hit me. A person like that – there’d be nowhere for them to go – you know? Can you imagine how cruel people would be?”

“Yea, she seemed so fragile and feminine. I can’t imagine anyone being mean to her.” Isaac felt sympathy for her. He had an open mind about things, more so than lots of people. “Does it give you the willies?”

“I don’t know, man. I just don’t know.”

“What are you going to do? Are you still going to ask her out?”

“Hell, I don’t know. I just don’t know.” Isaac stood up and held out his hand for Levi’s empty beer bottle. “Whatever you decide – you have my support.”

“Thanks, man.” Isaac left his friend sitting there with a big decision to make.

****

Noah had stayed with Harper until she had been looked at, cleaned up and admitted to the hospital. The doctor said she had broken ribs and deep lacerations. There was also a tear in her rectum from rough anal sex. This bastard Ajax had beat the shit out of her. Oh, she bore some of the blame. After all, Harper willingly put herself in these risky situations. But there was something strange about this and he seemed to be involved whether he wanted to be or not.

Against her will, he had phoned her folks. They were good people, who had been friends with his own parents. Old Kerrville stock, they simply didn’t know what to do with Harper. Her mom had asked Noah if they should try and get her some help, and he had been a strong advocate. Counseling was critical, as far as he could see.

For a few minutes, he considered calling Kane – but this seemed like it should be kept private. All day a creepy feeling had been crawling up and down his spine. Something told him that he needed to see to this – personally. Harper didn’t know for sure how to find Ajax, but she gave him several places to look for him – primarily dives and strip joints. He had asked about sex clubs –BDSM clubs – but she said he didn’t do those anymore. Apparently, he had been banned. That struck him as funny, he didn’t realize those kind of people had a conscience at all. With list in hand – Noah set out to find Ajax and see if he could get in a few licks of his own.

Tricia stopped smiling long enough to dig out a dozen pair of white cotton underwear and some plain serviceable bras. “This stuff won’t do. We need to get online to Victoria’s Secret and do some serious shopping for you.”

“Just grab anything, I ran out of time. My agent kept me on the phone too long. All of that writing I did last summer paid off.” She looked up at her partner and smiled. “I got a three book deal!”

Tricia folded panties and arranged hose and slips in the side pockets of the soft-side luggage. “Congratulations, I guess you’re not going to have time for me.” There was a hint of hurt in her voice.

“Nonsense, I gave you a good eight hours today and I intend to do that five days a week. Isaac doesn’t have a problem with my working, and I enjoy what we do. You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”

Tricia perked up. “Good. When am I going to get to read something you wrote?”

Turning, Avery opened a drawer on her nightstand and handed her friend a book. “There you go. I hope you enjoy it. Remember, it’s sort of risqué – not as spicy as my current WIP’s, but pretty racy, all the same.”

“Sable Hunter, I like that name. Neat.” She held the book close to her chest as a distinct rumble was heard in the living room.

“I thought I told you to lock these doors. Just anybody can walk in here on you two,” Isaac fussed as he found them in Avery’s bedroom.

“I see that. Don’t you believe in knocking?” She grouched at him, but she was all smiles. She let him gather her close for a kiss.

“Hi, Tricia, how are you?”

“Jealous. Are their instructions in this book of yours on how to find a man like the one you have cornered?”

Avery made a wry face at Tricia. “Very funny, like you need any help? You’re gorgeous – isn’t she, Isaac?” Held close in Isaac’s arms, she felt completely safe and . . . . . yes, loved. If he didn’t feel the same way she did, he was doing a heck of an imitation.

“Hey, is that one of Avery’s?” Keeping one hand on her arm, he reached for the book. “Let me see.” He thumbed through it – “I want to read everything you’ve written.”

“That’s no problem. We have no secrets. Do we?”

“No, we don’t,” he assured her. And he was damn thankful he didn’t have to lie to her. Avery knew all of his secrets and she loved him anyway. That knowledge was extremely freeing. “Are you about ready? The family will be gathering in, soon.”

Snapping her suitcase shut, she looked around. “Yes, I have enough. I can get the rest of my things later.” Avery was going to be positive. Everything was going to work out. Isaac would learn to love her. He just had to.

****

Cady, official McCoy fiancé had stepped up and prepared the wedding supper for Jessie and Jacob. Joseph had helped, playing zydeco on the music system. They had concocted gumbo, grilled shrimp, rice pilaf, and bourbon chocolate bread pudding. It was going to be a meal to remember. Cady’s family had returned to south Louisiana but their gift had been to fill their freezers full of enough shrimp, crawfish, and Andouille sausage to last till the next visit.