How to Rope a Real Man (20 page)

“I’ve been checked and I’m good.” She came to him, pushing her breasts against his chest, her hands fluttering on his neck. “Get your shirt back off and come with me.”

Then she walked out the kitchen door, into the night.

He fancied himself a smart man, and so he ripped his shirt over his head and followed. Out of habit, he touched the porch light switch, but then thought twice about that choice and left the lights off. It was a clear night and the moon was a sliver. The stars would be brilliant.

She was waiting on the porch, staring over Aldra Valley, his private sanctuary. The stars were, indeed, breathtaking. A million glittering jewels from the edge of the world and up to infinity. Over the years, depending on his mood and the tenderness of his grief, he either took comfort in how small the stars made him feel or he cursed his insignificance to God. Tonight, with Jenna, he felt like he owned the universe.

The wild grass on the valley’s slope behind his house crackled and shook in the slight breeze, sending up their sharp, beautiful baked grass scent. He loved the land, the freedom of wide-open spaces stretching out before him and the wide-open sky above him. It was the greatest feeling to know he had this place to offer Jenna and Tommy.

He took her hips in hand as he came up behind her. “I want to give you the world,” he whispered into her hair. “My whole world, Jenna. Will you take it?”

She turned in his arms, walking him backward. Her eyes were fathomless orbs of darkness, but her parted lips were dewy and glittered in the light from the heavens.

She pushed him back, into a porch chair. He went, wondering what her plan for him was, eager to find out. Maybe the nature he offered her had turned her wild, too. They could lose themselves in the universe tonight, make it whatever they wanted.

She lowered to her knees and unlatched the button on his jeans.

Drunk with the knowledge of what she was about to do, he was lost about whether to help with the zipper and boxers, thread his hands into her hair, or grip the armrests for dear life. Ultimately, there was nothing for him to do but take whatever she was going to give him. Slouching in the chair, his fingers twitching idly, he watched her mouth close over him.

If Matt hadn’t had his heart set on condomless sex, he would’ve let Jenna finish him off in her mouth. She was so damn skilled, he was ready to blow almost immediately. But now, all he could think about was how it was going to feel when their bodies joined.

He knew he was close when he couldn’t stop his hips from thrusting into her mouth with a reckless lack of control. “God, Jenna. You’re so good at that. But I need you to stop.”

She dropped her head all the way down, deep throating him and pulling back off with a slow suction that had him hissing through his teeth. “Why should I stop now?”

He cupped her chin with his hand, touching his thumb to her moist, swollen lips. “Do you have any idea how hot it makes me, thinking about my come inside you?” He sat forward, his cock pushing up over his stomach, and felt the moisture at the tip smearing across his abs. “I want to go to work tomorrow dreaming of you walking around with panties wet with my come. Fuck, Jenna, it makes me so damn crazy to think about that.”

With a carnal smile, she extricated her chin from his hand. “I love it when you get like this. Aggressive and growly, so demanding. It turns me on something fierce.” She bent low and licked the moisture from his stomach, then the tip of his cock. If she liked aggressive, he could give her that, no problem. He wrapped his hands around her head and shoved his cock down her throat. She took it like she was greedy for it as deep and hard as he wanted to give it to her.

When he couldn’t take anymore, he backed her face off of him, hooked his hands under her arms and pulled her to standing with him. After a hard, wet kiss to let her know how ravenous with desire she made him, he moved past her and grabbed the cushion off the bench swing.

Tugging her along by the hand and with his cock straining out from his open pants, he descended the porch stairs, If they were going to do it in the great outdoors, then they were going all the way—in the grass, under the stars, out in the open.

A ways from the house, in the thick, soft grass, he tossed the cushion down. Turning to Jenna, he took hold of her shirt and pulled it off over her head, then made short work of the rest of her clothes. He felt between her legs, to the wetness there. Good. She was ready for him. “Lie on your back.”

He memorized the look of her open, beautiful body under the glow of the night sky as he shoved his pants and boxers to the ground and dropped to his knees. He kicked her legs farther apart and buried his face in her pussy.

He loved going down on her more than anything. Just this once, though, he wanted so badly to ram himself inside her—rough, quick, and dirty. But she didn’t come easily with intercourse and he’d never be the kind of man to sacrifice her pleasure for his own. Though his body was growing impatient, he forced himself to slow down and take care of her.

When she was breathing hard and straining with need, her back arching and her body swollen and ready for him, he kissed his way up her stomach to her breasts, positioning his cock at her entrance. She curled her arms around his shoulders and brushed kisses along his jaw.

The feel of his cock head touching Jenna’s hot, wet body and her arms and lips caressing him, brought him right to the edge of ecstasy. He looked out over Aldra Valley, then out at the millions of stars above them, shimmering on Jenna’s skin, and the thick, dried-sage desert air wrapping around them like sanctity itself.

“Matt,” Jenna breathed, nuzzling his neck. “You make me so happy.”

He raised up to his elbows and looked into her eyes, brimming with tenderness and arousal. Holding her gaze, he sunk his cock into her.
May this be the first time of thousands
, he thought as their hip bones touched. They held themselves together, kissing and breathing into each other until Matt’s body took over control and began to move.

Their lovemaking built to a crescendo until the movement had no ending or beginning, transforming into a blur of need and love, sweat and flesh, and sweet, sweet friction under the wild New Mexico sky until he didn’t even want to come. He just wanted to hang there suspended in time and the bliss of being Jenna’s lover.

Holding her tight, he rolled to his back, with Jenna on top to better access her clit. He worked her body with unyielding purpose, his fingers coaxing sensation from her clit, his hips thrusting up hard and fast, straining to hold back until she could drop over the edge of release with him.

Her inner muscles clenched. With a ragged gasp, she fell forward, gripping his shoulders with her fingernails. Her pussy pulsed around him and he finally let go. He grabbed her hips and pumped every last drop of himself deep inside her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flat against his chest, and closed his eyes, content in the knowledge that he was the luckiest man in the world.

Long after their climaxes, they remained in each other’s arms, staring at the night sky and talking about the future. Jenna didn’t think she’d ever been happier in her life. She stretched her toes out in the cool grass and indulged in a deep, cleansing sigh. “I love it out here.”

“Me, too. I’ve been meaning to ask you about something you mentioned at dinner. You said that apartment you decided on is available on the first of August. That’s next week. Are you serious about that?”

Thinking about moving to Santa Fe put a smile on her face. She’d be away from the danger of Carson uncovering her secret and close to the man she was falling in love with. Double bonus. “I am. In fact, I’m going to tell Rachel about college and my new job this weekend.”

That was the only tricky part for Jenna. She dreaded that conversation, which was why she’d put if off for so long. But there was no getting around it, even though the thought of it twisted her stomach into knots.

“You’re not worried about Amy coming back from her honeymoon to find you gone?”

“Amy’s going to be too busy being pregnant and a newlywed to give my life any more than a passing thought.”

He looked unconvinced, but dropped it. “All right, then. What can I do to support you?”

Despite her sudden rush of anxiety, she grinned. Could he be any more perfect a boyfriend? “That depends on what your plans are for this weekend.”

He shrugged. “I usually mountain bike on Sundays with my buddies Ken and Liam, but I was thinking that if you were serious about moving up here next week, then we should spend this weekend at your place packing. We could join the Sunday barbecue with your sister and friends, and then, whenever you’re ready to make the actual move, I’d drive down after work and we could gather a crew of guys to help you with the big stuff.”

“Lisa Binderman’s hosting the barbecue this weekend since Kellan and Amy are out of town. I’d love to go.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“One more thing, actually. Bunco is this Thursday night at Patricia Parrish’s house. I was thinking of going. Then, I’ll already be there to talk to Rachel about UNM and my move to Santa Fe on Friday.”

She loathed the idea of spending another evening in the company of Carson’s mother and the other matriarchs and town gossips, especially now that she knew Kyle Kopec had been involved in Carson’s beating. Kyle’s mother, Gayle, was a regular player and Patricia Parrish’s best friend. But Jenna was dying a slow death not knowing what Carson’s plan for vengeance was.

Why hadn’t he made his move yet? What was he waiting for? Had he paid a visit to his parents yet? If so, to what end? If there was any surefire way to get a read on the situation, Bunco would be it.

“Would you take Tommy with you?” Matt asked.

“Rachel usually babysits him when I go to Bunco. I’ll need to check with her to make sure that’s still okay, but I’m sure it is.”

“Well, you leaving on Thursday will give me time to take care of something I’ve been planning on doing.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

He wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger, then let it go. “I’ve been saving and planning for something almost since I became a lawyer. It’s nothing like you going to college and becoming a computer engineer, and it’s not a secret to my family or friends, but I’ve had this dream for years and I’ve never been able to get myself to pull the trigger.”

She drew a patter through his chest hair. “Tell me about it.”

He took a deep breath. “My favorite part of my job as a lawyer is the pro bono work I do on the side. Helping families get a fair shake against big oil. I’ve helped save family farms and houses and send kids to college. It’s fulfilling in a way the corporate litigation isn’t.”

“You saved our farm.”

He shrugged off the praise. “It wasn’t all me, but I helped and it felt great to be able to do that. My dream is to quit my job at the law firm and open up a low-cost legal clinic.”

“Wow. Cool.”

“Yeah. I’m really excited about it, but it’s a risk—a huge risk—financially. I don’t need to make a killing to survive, financially. I mean, I live on my family’s land, so there’s no mortgage, and I don’t have many needs. I didn’t get into law to get rich. Since I haven’t had a family of my own, my career is everything I am, my whole identity, and giving it up to go for this dream, I’ll be honest with you, it’s scary.”

“What tipped the scale for you to decide to finally go for it?”

He stroked her hair. “You did. When we were dancing during the rehearsal dinner, you said I was a wade-in-slowly kind of guy. You were absolutely right, but I hadn’t been able to see that in myself. I didn’t use to be that way. I was always cautious and a planner, but at some point my caution transformed into cowardice against taking chances. I forgot what it was like to want something and go after it full-speed ahead.”

“Something changed for you at the wedding.”

“Yes. It finally hit me how much I was missing out on because I was afraid to take a leap of faith. I wanted you in my life so badly, for so long, and yet I let fear keep me from telling you how I felt. It’s the same for me with this job change. You’ve given me the courage to pull the trigger and go for it. Not only because of how happy you’ve made me, but because you’re living your life boldly, going for the dream career you want and you’re not letting anything stop you. I want to be like you. I want to be as brave with my life as you are with yours.”

Her heart swelled with pride. “That’s the best compliment I’ve ever been given. I bet you have the clinic all planned out, too. I bet you even have an office picked out.”

He grinned. “I do. Actually, I’d narrowed it down to two locations. One in Santa Fe and one in Catcher Creek. You moving here makes the decision a no-brainer, even though the timing is ironic.”

“How so?”

“Because I have your and Tommy’s futures to think about now. I know you and I have a long way to go to being a family, but I feel like we’re headed that way. I want to be able to provide for you, but giving up a great job in this economy seems outrageous.”

She splayed her hands over his chest and snuggled closer. “Not to me.”

“It wouldn’t bother you if I got poor all of a sudden?”

She chortled. “You know it wouldn’t. Look at me—I’m giving up free housing on thousands of acres to move into a tiny apartment in the city. Who’s the crazy one now?”

“Going after your dream isn’t crazy.”

She pushed up on an elbow and tapped the end of his nose. “Are you hearing yourself? It’s time for Mr. Conservative to do a little dream following of his own.”

She rubbed over the hair below his belly button and felt his cock grow until the tip touched her hand. When it came to sex, they were both insatiable. She loved that aspect of their relationship.

“With you in my life, I feel like I can do anything.” He pinned her beneath him and kissed his way across her collar. “Tomorrow, would you and Tommy meet me for lunch downtown? I’ll show you the storefront I have my eye on for the legal clinic.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

He covered her breast with his hand, tugging on the nipple. “And then Wednesday, I’m going to take off work. I’ll watch Tommy so you can go to your computer lab. Would that be okay with you? I know your friend Carrie’s parents offered to watch him, but I think some guy time with him would be great.” He curled his head down and circled her nipple with his tongue.

Love for him crested inside her. “Guy time. He’ll love it.”

“Good.” He moved to her other nipple and drew it into his mouth. “We need to take my bubbies to Torah study in the morning, but there’s a playground at the synagogue we can hang out at. Then, I was thinking he and I could go horseback riding and have a picnic lunch, if that’s okay with you.”

“Whatever you want. I trust you implicitly with him. I am a bit jealous he gets to meet your bubbies before I do.”

“They’re a crack-up. After my grandpas died, they moved into a condo together. Neither one of them has a verbal filter worth a damn. My parents invited us to their house for dinner on Wednesday, so I’ll make sure the bubbies get an invite.”

“Sounds like a great plan. I can’t wait.” She wrapped a hand around his hardened cock, reveling in its thick, heavy length. “Sounds like we’ve got everything worked out except how we’re going to spend the rest of the evening.”

He stroked her hair as her favorite lazy, lopsided smile spread on his lips. “Actually, I’m crystal clear about my plans for you tonight.”

“Is that so?”

He captured her mouth in a sweet kiss, then rose to his feet and offered her his hand. “I think it’s time I introduced you to my bed.”

She let him pull her up to standing and into a tight embrace. She looked over his shoulder at the moonlit wilderness, thinking that there was no more perfect place in the world for her and Tommy than this peaceful, magical land, alongside the man who called it home. It was all in her grasp—this place, Matt’s love, her future career—and all she had to do was make it through one more quick trip to Catcher Creek before she could escape that town and the ghosts of her past once and for all.

On Wednesday, Matt sent Jenna off to school early. Her class didn’t start until one, but he figured she could use the extra time to study, so he and Tommy waved her away after breakfast.