When You Fall... (32 page)

She felt him behind her, his chuckle against the back of her neck. She could feel him moving behind her, his hips grinding into hers. She heard the tear of a condom, but she couldn’t see anything, couldn’t turn around, pinned by his body against the back of hers, pushing her against the door.

He leaned back to remove his shirt and she felt his hands underneath her dress, softly caressing her ass, followed by the sound of a zipper lowering. He pulled her hips outward, tilted them up, lifted her dress, situated his legs between hers and pushed upward, filling her completely.

She groaned. He groaned, pushed his face into the curve of her neck, his forearms resting against the door, one on each side of her body, his head next to hers. Eyes on fire stared back at her. She was trapped, lodged between the door and his body, and he started to move, or rather his hips did, pushing her upward.

She moaned again and he pushed in harder. “Baby… you… feel so… good,” he said, his voice a rasp into the air as he thrust upward again. “It’s… sick… what… you do to…,” he said, groaned….before he could pant out the final word of his sentence, “me”, and thrust upward again. His hand went to the back of her head where he turned it to face him. He kissed her hard while he thrust up again, groaning into her mouth.

He let go of her head, like it took too much effort to concentrate, laid his head into her neck again and thrust upward, pushing her onto the tips of her toes. Their voices had turned to nothing more than grunts as he continued to thrust upward, then again harder, punishing even. She didn’t care, as long as he didn’t stop.

“Don’t stop,” she said to his grunt as he pushed upward again. He removed a hand from the door, running it over the smoothness of her breast before gliding downward past her hips, to her spot.
How could this be
she thought. How did he do this, this mix of soft with his hand and hard with each thrust? It had her inching toward her climax. He moaned as he felt her muscles quiver around him. “Baby…,”he said, followed by a few words in Spanish, and then a long torturous moan escaped his mouth, as if he was in pain, pulled from the depth of his person, his hips in overdrive now.

She hoped his door would hold, but then she didn’t care if it did or not. She came, hard with him, a few minutes later. He groaned into her shoulder, pushing into her one final time, lifting her off her feet, but still wedged between him and the door.

He held her like that for a minute, before he moved his hand to her waist, holding her to him as he stepped away from the door. He turned her to face him and kissed her again, softly this time.

“You are beautiful,” he said, pulling back, gazing at her body, her breasts cupped in this lacy black bra that he hadn’t had the patience to remove completely.

“You okay?” she said, eating him up with her eyes. He was something special with his black hair in disarray, sweat-covered skin, and jeans at his hips, barely hanging on, and one of the best parts of him, staring back at her.

“Yeah. Why?” he asked, bringing her eyes back to his, holding back his smile at her satisfied perusal of his body.

“You looked a little strange there for a second.”

“It’s what you do to me,” he said, serious now.

She leaned in and kissed him. “Thanks for tonight,” she said, and leaned over and kissed him again. “Thanks for making me forget.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“I want more,” she whispered against his lips.

“Lucky you. So do I,” he said, taking her hand, leading her to his bedroom. Who was this woman? How could he feel so much passion for her, when they had known each other for such a short time? It occurred to him then, that maybe his parents had felt this too, this… connection, so long ago. Had his father felt this too? The way he felt about Carter. He’d seen her earlier crying and he wanted again to make it all better. He wanted her to be happy and more importantly, he wanted to be the one that made that happen.

#

Sunday morning.

Carter awoke to the sound of a rooster crowing. It wasn’t light out yet. She checked her watch. It was five in the morning, and she was still draped over him. They were in his bed, at least.

She’d snuggled into a spot underneath his arm and rested her head on his chest. He was asleep on his back with one arm wrapped around her shoulder.

“You awake?” he asked.

“I am. I had a good time,” she said.

“Me, too.”

“I was supposed to have spent last night in Austin at my sister Savannah’s soiree; a night to meet all the single bachelors that her husband, the surgeon, could scrounge up. But this was so much better.”

“It helped?”

“It did wonders,” she said, peering out his bedroom window. “You do know that I’m partially responsible for getting myself here,” she said.

“In my bed? Thought we both had something to do with that.”

“No, I mean with my family. I could have said, “Screw you people. I’m going to ride horses. It’ll be me-and-my-little-cowgirl self in charge now, and we are going to run this ranch. If you don’t like it, you all can kiss my ass.” Instead I gave in, pushed me aside. I made it easy for them.” She leaned down, placed a kiss on his stomach, and smiled against his skin.

“When I was a little girl, my great-grandfather would stand me on the top rail of the old paddock after I was done watching him work. We’d look over at a horse he was training and he’d say “Carter it’s up to us kiddo—me and you—to preserve our heritage. Promise me?” She was quiet for a minute.

“He’s managed to help me keep that promise and I am so very grateful. I am also incredibly hurt and angry with my father. Don’t know when or if I’ll get over that.”

“You know Carter, most people don’t know what they want when they’re young, and even if they do, the pressure to change, to fit in, is so subtle and comes from all directions that most of us don’t follow our dreams. I knew a kid once that loved rocks, collected them like crazy, and talked about them all the time. It was annoying and of course us kids thought he was nuts, and gave him a hard time about it, too. But not his parents. They held up his collection with pride, showed it off, listened to him as he went on and on about the rocks. Now he works in geology, started his own firm, is doing well for himself, and he’s happy—and still in love with rocks.”

“Bet he was white. They seem free to follow their hearts, however off-beat.”

“Nope. He was from Mexico. There are more of us out there than you think.”

“His parents must have been from a future generation sent back to raise him.”

“I know, right?” he said, laughing. “What about Courtney? Do you trust her?” he asked, changing the subject.

“I’m going to call my attorney, get in touch with the firm that worked with my great-grandfather, the one that holds the oil and gas proceeds in trust. I don’t know. This is all so new. I could use the help with the place, getting it back in order. It would be easier to have a partner. What do you think?”

“Whatever you do, don’t rush into anything. Take it slow. I think talking to the attorney is a good idea. I’d ask why they never contacted you regarding the sale. When are you going to meet with your family?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Two weeks. That’s Courtney’s suggestion. My father asked her to put together a plan to review in the next two weeks. God, it’s another confrontation and I hate confrontation,” she said.

“Don’t think about it. You have lots to do before then,” he said.

“You’re a nice guy, you know that?” she said, rolling over to her side. “I feel like I have a friend, a true one. Thanks,” she said. It was true, she valued his opinion and talking to him was so easy.

“You do, and you’re welcome.”

“How is the wife search going? Am I in the way? Will I be in the way?” she asked.

“Nope. You’re fine. I haven’t had that much time to look anyway. Taking a break from searching, actually.”

“Good, ‘cause I want to do this some more with you,” she said, leaning in to kiss him.

“Do what?”

“This,” she said, smiling as she kissed her way down past his waist. She heard him catch his breath before he moaned her name.

She looked up and caught his eye. She smiled. “Want me to stop?” she asked, smiling her wicked smile.

“Hell no,” he said, and caught his breath again as Carter went back to work. He couldn’t, didn’t think for a while, but just held on to her head, and moaned and groaned out his pleasure. Much later, she scooted out of bed and stood up.

“Gotta get up. Lots to do today,” she said, lifting her hands above her head. “For the first time in a very long time, I’m both excited and hopeful,” she said, smiling down at him. And it was true. She walked away, wiggled her butt, laughing at him over her shoulder as she made way inside his bathroom. He heard the shower start up.

He’d watched her from bed, smiled at her playfulness, and at the way she’d made him feel. He’d had a blast last night, dancing with her, all fun and ease. They came back here, and he’d made love to her like a man lost in the desert, one who’d been without water and she his first drink.

She wasn’t going to leave, and that was a relief. He felt a loosening in his chest. Who was this woman that managed to obliterate his list, made it seem silly, like something that only a fool would come up with? She in her way, had made him rethink everything, and she wasn’t leaving. What did that mean for him?

And was that race thing an issue? He didn’t think so. Maybe it was just her family’s desire, but he needed to be sure, before he… before he what? Before he asked her to marry him. Again.

He was turning into his father and how sad was that? Rafael thought he’d never fall, was finally at a place he never dreamed he would be—wanting to marry a woman simply because he loved her. His dad loved his mom beyond reason and until now, he hadn’t wanted to be that man—the one who’d put his needs at the tail end of all things. His parents’ relationship, the source of all his conflict regarding love inspired marriages.

When you fall… it seemed like you lost a part of yourself. Could he stand himself if he turned into his dad, his male pride gone, never to return?

#

Monday

“Hey,” Carter said into the phone the following day. It was her uncle/dad. She didn’t know how to refer to him anymore, so she’d settled on uncle/dad.

“I wanted to make sure that Courtney had arrived, that you two were getting along all right. I told her I thought that you and she could take a few weeks to develop a plan, a time line of how long it would take to have the place ready to sell.”

Courtney wouldn’t be back at the ranch until the end of the week, but she wasn’t going to share that fact with her dad.

“Yes, she told me, and that works. We’ll have something together for you by then.”

“That’s sound great, Carter. I am so proud of you for taking this sale and making it work. You don’t know how much I appreciate it. I’m sure your sisters appreciate it, too. You’ll be able to put Bentley behind you, and move your life in the direction you want.”

“Have you always been in charge of the finances for the family?” She asked evenly, or as even as she could knowing all that she knew now.

“That’s a strange question. Of course I have. I was the only one left living to do so.”

“So you are familiar with the will and all things having to do with the ranch?”

“Where are you going with this, Carter? Of course. I was the executor of the estate,” he said.

“I see. Okay then. When Courtney and I come up to visit, we would actually like to meet with the entire family. How about we drive up on a Sunday for dinner, say, in two weeks, and we can show everyone the business plan then.”

“That’s not necessary. I can come out there,” he said.

“It will be easier this way,” she said.

“If you’re sure then,” he said.

“Let us know which house for dinner and we’ll be there,” she said, hanging up.

#

Saturday

It was Saturday and they were meeting today to discuss where to start. Carter spent the prior week meeting with attorneys. She’d met with the firm that represented her family, and one she’d selected for herself. Both confirmed her half-sister’s bombshell. They’d even known about her birth, and gave her a letter from her great-grandfather, explaining it all. She cried while reading it, because he added his wish for her to follow in his footsteps.

The family’s attorney had been surprised that she hadn’t known, and wanted to speak to her dad, but she asked him not to; not until she had an opportunity to consider her options further. She was not going to sell the property and made that clear.

She and Courtney had communicated by telephone since their initial meeting, each agreeing to think over what they would do if the ranch was theirs alone; to spend some time dreaming. They were meeting today to compare dreams and maybe between the two of them, a plan and a future could be carved out for the ranch.

Carter sat on the back porch early in the morning. She’d watched Rafael –the egg and poultry delivery man—leave in his truck. He’d recently purchased some kind of refrigerated truck. She shook her head and chuckled at that.

She moved her legs from the railing and stood up, watching her new half-sister drive up.

“Hey,” Carter greeted her as she reached the porch.

“Hope you’re ready, because I am. Been up since five this morning, too impatient to sleep,” she said, walking to join Carter on the couch.

“Me, too. Inside or out?” Carter asked.

“Out,” Courtney said. “I thought we could talk first before we started bringing out the paper work.”

“Sure.”

“I met with the attorneys for the family and I found an attorney for myself, and met with him, too. I felt like I needed to. Nothing against you. But we just met last week,” Carter said.

“I understand. That was smart and I’m glad that you did your homework,” Courtney said.

“So, where do you see yourself as it relates to the ranch?” Carter asked.

“I’m going to be straight with you, so don’t take this the wrong way, okay?” Courtney said. Carter nodded.

“I took your dad’s offer to act as the property manager as a way to get inside and find a way to hurt this family, the family that left my father to find his own way. I didn’t know. I don’t have much love for your father. Up until now, this has been mostly a revenge thing for me. I wanted to be a thorn in the side of your father and your sisters… and you.”