A Breath of Heaven: El Camino Real (12 page)

Justice relaxed a bit and Cade wondered at
his own admission. Funny, he had no qualms. He’d set his heart on Abby Grace
King a long time ago, and now he felt he had a shot—if he didn’t blow it.

“What do you want to know?” Justice asked
in a low even tone.

By his friend’s resigned expression, Cade
realized that whatever there was to reveal was fairly serious. He was almost
nervous, but he needed to understand. He weighed his words carefully, not
wanting to embarrass Abby or offend her brother. “Did something happen to Abby?
To be as beautiful and perfect as she is, Abby is very shy and insecure.”

Justice scrubbed his face. “I don’t want
to know any details of whatever you two have been doing or not doing,” he
growled.

“Has she been hurt? Perhaps in that fire
you all told me was so inconsequential?”

Shaking his head, Justice let out a long
breath. “You mean the fire that broke out right about the time you left for the
NFR rodeo, the day you went into the barn for your daddy’s spurs?”

Cade was shocked. “Are you trying to say
that I started the fire?”

“No, no.” Justice paced back and forth on
the hay covered floor. “Damn! I don’t know if it’s my place to tell you. I
begged her to tell you then, but she was adamant you must never know what she
went through or how it happened.”

“Talk to me, King.” A tense, uneasy
feeling swept over Cade.

“Remember, I was on the phone with Dad
when he told you to go get your father’s spurs. Right after that, Mom wanted to
talk to Abby and I went to take a shower. When Abby got off the phone, she went
back outside to say goodbye to you. As soon as she got on the porch, she heard
the horses whinnying and smelled smoke. Cade, Abby went crazy. She ran right
into that burning barn.”

“Damn! How bad was she hurt? I never knew!
I know she loves those horses, but—” He didn’t get to finish, Justice cut him
off.

“Of course she loves the horses, but it
wasn’t the horses she went in to save.”

Dead silence filled the barn for a moment
while Cade processed what Justice had revealed.

“What do you mean?” He couldn’t bear to
guess. A rising sense of helplessness made Cade weak.

“She thought you were in the barn, Cade.
Abby ran into a blazing structure to find you. True, the horses were all saved,
but I couldn’t stop her. She tore out of my grasp and started up the stairs to
the attic screaming your name. The ceiling collapsed. A beam knocked her to the
floor. By the time I could get it off of her she had been hurt pretty badly.”

From the look on his face, the memory was
painful for Justice to relate, but every word was like a knife in Cade’s heart.
“She was burned.” He didn’t have to ask where. He knew.

Justice cursed. “It just wasn’t fuckin’
fair. No one should have to suffer as she did, but for a woman to be—” He
stopped, cleared his throat and continued. “She begged us not to tell anyone,
especially not you. Abby changed that day, Cade. She went from being a girl
filled with hope in her future to a woman with no faith in her own worth.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Cade shook his head,
solemnly.

“Yes, by God, it matters!” Justice yelled.
“Don’t you see?” He hit the wall of the barn with his fist. “She pushed you
away because she thought you wouldn’t want her anymore. She’s been pushing you
away ever since. And you let her!” Abby’s oldest brother looked at Cade
accusingly.

“Fuck!” Cade stood up and began stalking
back and forth across the room like a caged panther. “I thought she pushed me
away because she’d changed her mind about us! People used to judge me because
of the color of my skin—”

Justice interrupted him. “Not Abby. Never
Abby, you know that.” He was still speaking with a raised voice, his emotions
running high.

“Justice, why didn’t you tell me this ten
damn years ago? Don’t you know I love her?” Cade’s anguished voice filled the
room.

“I wanted to, but she made me promise. But
the way you two carried on, hell, I thought you hated one another.”

Cade walked right up to him. He was so
hurt and so angry. “I have loved her every damn day since I was sixteen years
old! Do you think a few stupid little scars would change the way I feel? She’s
my life!”

Justice smiled. “Well, then what are you
going to do about it?”

* * *

Twin girls had been born to Queen B that
morning. The birth had been difficult. Beefmaster calves were always good size,
but these two had been overly so. They had been backward in the birth canal and
Abby had tried to turn them, but she’d been unsuccessful. So in order to save
mama and babes alike, she’d performed an emergency C-section. This had only
been her third one and she was exhausted, but they’d all survived and Ridge had
given her a bonus check and asked her out on a date. She’d taken the money but
turned down his gracious invitation. The only man she had any desire to date
was Cade. But she’d already experienced a miracle, so she couldn’t expect
another one.

Bubbles tickled Abby’s nose. Relaxing, she
yawned and rubbed bath gel down her neck and over her breasts. The soothing
bath salts were doing their job. When her hand slipped down to the area where
she’d been hurt, she closed her eyes, skating her fingertips over the place of
her shame. It was obvious where the skin grafts had been applied. The feel,
texture and color were a little different than the rest of her body. For the
first few years the color had been darker, finally fading from purple to red,
to mauve and finally to pink. Abby had trained herself not to look at it. She
could actually get dressed in front of a full length mirror and her gaze never
settled below her waist. Wax jobs were useless for her, she had no down or fuzz
to remove. Yet, she’d been able to make love with Cade. Being in his arms had
been a dream come true.

Oh, well. Finishing up her bath, she stood
up and reached for her towel. Time to quit daydreaming. She had a wedding and a
holiday to get through. And a man to face…

“Abby! Where are you? I have a surprise
for you!” Cade’s voice seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Oh, no! I’ll be out in a second!” She
called frantically.

The shock of hearing Cade’s voice made
Abby lose her footing and she sloshed a big wave of water out on the floor as
she sat back down with a giant splash, just as he walked into the bathroom.

Kersplat!

“Good Lord, honey! Are you all right?”
He’d heard her say something, but he hadn’t realized she would be all wet and
soft and naked. “Talk about a pleasant surprise.”

He reached down in the water to fish her out
and she came up sputtering and fussing. “Put me down, you big moose.”

Cade laughed. If he thought their
nighttime peace talks had changed their normal razzing routine he was wrong. To
tell the truth, he was relieved. He loved every facet of Abby’s personality. “I
see you’re squeaky clean.” She was iced with bubbles and foam like a delicious
sweet confection, but she still scrambled for the half-soaked towel like it was
her soul’s salvation. Lord Have Mercy! He got an eyeful of curves and dips and
valleys, smooth white skin and pink tipped breasts. There was nothing in the
world wrong with this woman and he was going to tell her so. “Abby—” 

“Why in the world would you come in on me
while I’m taking a bath?” she yelled.

“Because I’ve got a—”

“I’m a lady, Cade Tallbull. We aren’t
married. We had sex…” She was yammering. Blushing. Embarrassed, trying to cover
up what needed covering up without him seeing anything he shouldn’t.

No, they weren’t married – yet. But if he
had his way…“And the sex was very good.” He interjected clearly. “I want to do
it again.”

Abby continued making her case. “But that
doesn’t give you the right—” What did he say? “What did you say?” She had been
talking so hard that she might have missed something important.

She looked up at him and he looked down at
her. He couldn’t resist. She was so beautiful. Cade hauled her up to him, all
wet and wiggly and kissed her till she was trembling with need and gasping for
breath. Now, this was the way to control a woman. When she was quiet, he answered
her question. “I said I wanted to make love to you again.”

“That’s what I thought you said.” Abby was
dazed. She stood there with a towel covering up the important parts and looked
at Cade, whose shirt was now wetter than she was. “I messed you up.” She patted
the damp material.

“Turnabout’s fair play.” He winked at her.
“You made me wet now, and I’ll make you wet later.” Although it nearly killed
him, Cade was about to give her privacy. Kissing Abby on the forehead, he
turned to go. What he really ached to do was confront her about what he’d
learned from Justice, but he was afraid to until the time was just right. He
needed to make her understand that it was her he wanted – not some idea of
perfection.  

“Wait,” she grabbed his arm. “Don’t go.
It’s light, you can’t make love with me, but I can make love to you. If you’ll
let me?”

“Abby…you don’t need to hide in the dark
from anyone.” Cade fought for words. He wanted to pour his heart out but he was
so afraid of pushing her away. God, he needed to think! And then it dawned on
him what she was saying…

“Don’t you want me? I need to do this.”
She searched his face for answers.

Did she mean what he thought she meant?
Cade shook with desire. “Of course I want you – anyway I can get you. Anytime.”

“Let me put on my shirt.” She held the
towel over her front with one hand and grabbed a pale pink tank top with the
other, then slipped on a pair of matching pajama bottoms. As she dressed, she
chatted – her voice shaking a bit. “You made me so happy last night. I don’t
want to just take, Cade. I want to give.”

Stepping in front of Abby, Cade laid his
hands on her arms, caressing her skin, then captured her lips for a quick kiss.
“Abby, you gave me heaven last night.”

“I didn’t give you anything,” She sighed
with a small giggle. “I just laid there.”

Cade kissed his way down her cheek to nip
at the tender flesh of her neck. “You gave me pleasure and you gave me the
greatest gift of all, yourself – your trust.” Or most of it, now he wanted the
rest.

“It wasn’t enough. Please?” She pushed him
back so he could sit on the vanity and she could stand between his legs.

“All right, if I can do this.” He pushed
the straps of the tank off each shoulder so he could get where he wanted to be.
“Lord, you’re pretty.” Cade cupped her tits in his hands, loving the way the
nipples responded to his every touch. Lifting them, he kissed the tip of both
breasts, sucking on each in turn before nuzzling into the valley between them. 

“Let me, Cade. I want to do this.” She
sank to her knees, her fingers going to his belt buckle, her eyes looking up at
him for permission. He said nothing, but helped her instead. Tugging down his
pants and briefs, he sprang free. Tentatively she touched him, her fingers
caressing the head of his cock. With a shaky breath, she grasped the thick
stalk. “I can’t wrap my fingers around it.” That didn’t mean she didn’t try.
She held the smooth, hard shaft in her palm, squeezing gently, relishing the
power she held in her hand.

Cade held his breath, his whole body froze
in desperate anticipation. “You have me in the palm of your hand in more ways
than one, Abilene.”  

“I’ve dreamed of this moment.” With
lady-like hunger, she slipped her mouth over the big, flared head. He was full
to bursting.

At the touch of her tongue, Cade’s dick
leapt in her grasp as he jerked from the pleasure. She was dragging him into
the fire. “Play with me. I want whatever you will do for me.”

Abby shivered, his raspy tone and sexy
wink made her feel bold. “I want to make you happy.” With a seductive smile,
she kissed him from base to tip. His big body shook. Clear fluid beaded up on
the end of his cock and dribbled down the wide shaft. With a tiny growl of
hunger, she licked it off.

“I like that, baby,” he murmured as his
cock jerked and twitched in her hand.

Abby did too, she liked it a lot.
Luxuriously, she let her palm glide up and down his length, committing every
inch of his heavy rod to memory, the distinctive strong veins beneath the
velvet smooth flesh, how hard he was, the succulent plum shaped head that
begged to be suckled. She pumped him, licking and laving the tip, loving how he
pulsed with arousal and life. “I love touching you, you feel so good in my
hands.”

Bringing a hand to her head, he cupped her
nape, making sure she realized he didn’t want her to quit or move. “I promise
you have no idea how much I want your hands and lips on me.”

As if his approval made all the difference
in the world, Abby let herself go. She took him deep in her mouth, doing to him
the things she’d always dreamed of doing – sucking, licking, and swallowing
around him – letting him know how much she desired him, how important he was to
her. His hips bucked in time with the lashes of her tongue and he groaned in
appreciation as she fisted him, twisting a little in the upstroke. Pre-cum
leaked down his cock, lubricating her efforts.