Ace's Wild (20 page)

“I know something that’s going to feel even better.”

“What?”

His thumb slipped between her pussy lips, working between the thick folds, finding the smoother center, finding that hard nub.

“Spread you legs.”

“I can’t...”

“Spread them.”

He rubbed and she did. Bracing herself against him, rocking her hips on his cock, taking more as the pleasure built. He wanted her to come. He wanted her to know that little death. He needed her to know that first time was with him. All her firsts belonged to him. All her seconds. Her lasts.

Her eyes closed, and her head fell back. A flush spread down her chest; her nipples peaked; her whole body went stiff. He rubbed harder, faster. She shook and tightened. Her pussy grabbed at his cock, milking it with little internal flexes that drove him crazy. He gritted his teeth and groaned right along with her.

“That’s it. That’s what I want. Open your eyes.”

She did.

“Good girl.”

Her gaze focused. He increased the pressure, lifting his hips. His cock slid deeper. He was big and she was little, and he worried but she was so lost in the pleasure she didn’t notice the pain, becoming one with it. His pain, her pain and the pleasure, just so much pleasure. She was close. So close. So was he.

“Come for me, Pet.”

She looked at him, not understanding, and he caught himself. Had he ever had a virgin before?

“Just let go,” he murmured. “Let the pleasure take you. Don’t fight it.”

“I don’t know...”

He cut off her protest with a light drag of his nail against her swollen clit, brought her to the edge with a series of circling caresses. She moaned and clutched. His balls drew up tight.

“Right there?”

She nodded, relaxing totally into him, gasped when he did it again. And again. Her muscles pulled taut and a fine quiver started deep.

“That’s it.” He rubbed harder, holding her gaze, gauging her pleasure,

“Come for me.” With a fast, hard rub, he sent her over the edge. “Now.”

Her orgasm took her in a shuddering convulsion. He watched it start in her eyes, felt it spread outward, body shuddering, eyes closing, nails grabbing and digging in a rhythm that matched the clenching of her pussy. Hard and fast she milked his cock. Demanding even as she took. Impossible to resist.

“Goddamn.” Fisting his hands in the silk of her hair, he arched her back, inching deeper into the hot, slick perfection of her pussy. Feeling that hard pulsing start in his balls, holding her put as he jerked within her. As she came that first time. For him. With him. His. Fucking his. No one else’s. Ever. She was his.

“Ace!”

“No one else,” he groaned, forcing the words past the hard knot of desire. The woman was going to burn him up.

Closer. He needed to be closer. Deeper. So deep he’d always be a part of her. She moaned. With every jerk of his cock she clenched. It was good. The most innocent lovemaking in which he’d ever indulged, and it was so damn good.

“Come here.”

He needed her closer. Taking her with him, he collapsed back against the tub, his breath soughing in and out of his lungs. Damn, he might never take a full breath again. Pet collapsed against him. So sweet and delicate. So passionate. Her arms came around his neck. His went around her back. Her cheek found his shoulder. She sighed and shivered. Her hug summed up everything he felt.

Home. He finally understood what it meant. He was home. Kissing Pet’s forehead, her cheek, pulling her hair out of her face, seeing the stunned wonder on her face. He couldn’t help a chuckle. He felt good, inside and out, in a way he never had. At peace. Right.

Rubbing the base of her spine, he kissed her temple. His fingers naturally cupped her ass. “Come morning we’ll find the preacher and get married.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

T
HE
SALOON
DOORS
slammed open, the late-morning sun temporarily chasing away the interior shadows. For a moment, a familiar silhouette stood in the doorway, Caden Miller. And right behind him, Luke.

Ace swore. His day only needed this.

Caden strode into the near-empty saloon like he owned it, a shotgun cradled in his arm. Luke followed right on his heels. Not many came through the doors on a Tuesday. Ace shuffled the cards through his fingers, sliding them one over the other. Didn’t take a genius to know why they were here. The shotgun was a good clue. When he was in a killing mood, Caden favored his revolvers. Ace took a sip of his whiskey and laid out the first tier of his solitaire game. The shotgun meant Caden was annoyed. Luke tagging along meant he was bored. Or annoyed. Shit again. He hoped Luke was annoyed. Luke bored was too creative by half.

“Preacher’s set up and waiting,” Caden said without preamble when he reached the table.

Ace spared him a glance. “Yeah?”

The muzzle of the gun slipped toward him.

“Yeah.”

Chairs scraped as a couple of patrons noticed the confrontation.

“I’m a bit underdressed for such an occasion.”

Luke pushed his hat back. “He’s got a point, Caden. A man can’t get wedded up in denims and a torn shirt.”

“He can change.”

Ace shook his head and dealt the first row of his solitaire game. “No.”

Luke grunted. “Doubtful he’s got anything in his saddlebags to do the lady proud.”

More chairs scraped. A couple creaked as the patrons perked up to the potential excitement. Shit.

Caden wasn’t deterred. “He can borrow yours.”

Ace made a couple of moves with the cards. He could already tell the game wasn’t going well. Laying out another row of cards he said, “You two are making a spectacle of yourselves.”

Caden panned with the shotgun to include the greater world beyond the saloon. “I’d have to go a bit to make a bigger one than you did last night.”

If he and Pet hadn’t tipped over the tub getting out, they might not have made a scene at all, but things were what they were. With a jerk of his chin, Ace indicated the audience. “I’m not the one making a spectacle of the woman’s name in a saloon.”

To his surprise, Luke backed him. “Another good point.”

Caden growled under his breath. Ace kicked out an empty chair with his foot. “Take a seat before you give anyone any more gossip to gnaw on.”

Caden grabbed the chair and cut him a glare. “Just so you know, if I’m not happy with the conclusion to this talk we’re about to have, I’m going to blow your toe off.”

“Boots won’t fit right without a toe,” Luke observed, pulling out a chair for himself.

The bartender looked over. Ace nodded and motioned. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

Silence reigned for a minute. The new barkeep put two glasses on the table. Ace had to think to remember his name. “Thanks, Tim.”

Uncorking the bottle, Ace poured whiskey into each and then pushed them over.

Caden looked at his. “A little early to be drinking, isn’t it?”

Luke took his and lifted it in a silent toast. “I’m thinking not.”

Ace followed suit. Caden’s gaze jumped between the two of them. On a curse he threw his back, too. It was too much to hope a single shot would be much of a distraction. Caden’s glass hit the table.

“So spill it.”

Ace refilled the glasses. “This may shock you, gentlemen, but you’ve got the shotgun pointed at the wrong party.”

Luke choked on his drink. Caden slowly narrowed his eyes, the way he did when he was absorbing something.

“We’re going to need another bottle for this.” Luke motioned to Tim, who brought it over immediately. “What the hell happened?”

Ace poured the last of the bottle with not too steady a hand. “The lady turned me down.”

Luke cocked an eyebrow at him as the bottle rapped on the lip of his glass. “How many of these bottles have you had?”

“None of your business.”

Luke glanced to the barkeep. Tim held up one finger. Caden snagged the second bottle before Ace could.

“Then you’re done.”

“The hell I am,” Ace snarled. To Tim he said, “You’re not long for this saloon.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Parker. Mr. Miller’s—”

Caden cut him off. “Don’t worry about it, Tim.”

Very deliberately, Ace moved the black two on the red three. “Fuck you, Caden.”

“You need a sober head to deal with women problems.”

“Who said I have problems?”

Luke huffed. “The fact that your lady love needs a shotgun turned on her to see the sense in accepting you? Just a thought.”

“That’s not doing Hell’s Eight’s reputation a lick of good,” Caden added, leaning back in his chair.

Ace scooped up the cards. “Not much left of that reputation after your wife not only rejected you but threw you out of her house.”

Caden leaned back in his chair, a smug smile on his face. “Only until she saw the light. But you’ll note, in the end, she
did
become my wife.”

“Maddie’s different.”

Caden shook his head. “True. Maddie had a need to know who she was. There’s no lack of self-knowing in Petunia.”

That was the truth. “I’m beginning to think that lady knows herself too well.”

“Meaning?” Caden asked, pulling the cork from the second bottle and pouring a shot into two glasses.

“I thought you said we were done?”

Caden took one glass, Luke the other.

Caden smiled. “I said
you
were done.”

Ace grabbed the bottle back. “Uh-huh.”

He poured a glass. Luke confiscated it.

“Son of a bitch. Why don’t you two worry about your own women?”

“I don’t have one.” Luke grinned.

“Maddie said you’ve been around Hester quite a bit lately,” Caden offered.

It was Luke’s turn to frown. “Maddie needs a new hobby.”

That was news to Ace. He cocked a brow at Luke. “You’re interested in Hester?”

“We’re not talking about me.”

“
I’m
talking about Hester.” He’d much rather have the conversation focused on Luke. “Pass me the shotgun, Caden.”

Caden didn’t pass the gun but he did sit back in his chair and study both of them. “Now, I can understand Hester wanting to stay man-free, but Petunia’s been goggle-eyed over you, Ace, since you ran her over at the bakery.”

“Now, there’s an image.” He poured another whiskey. This time no one took it from him.

“So what happened last night?” Luke asked.

The liquor shone a dull amber in the glass, sitting as it was far from the sunlight, struggling to make it through the saloon’s dirty windows. “I don’t think Petunia is fond of the institution of marriage.”

Luke poured another glass. “Can’t say that I blame her. She’s used to doing what she wants, when she wants, and you would definitely hamper that.”

“Like hell.”

Caden snorted. “Have you met yourself? You couldn’t help it. You been lusting after that woman the way a dog lusts after a bone, and it’s not in you to be halfway with a woman. You’d want all of her. In all ways.”

Intensity. Totality. Yes, he wanted that. “There’s plenty of women here in town would tell you differently.”

Luke scoffed. “We’re not talking about dalliances. We’re talking about that rare woman who can hold her own with you.”

“And still be giving,” Caden added with emphasis on the
giving
.

He hadn’t realized they understood him so well. “Ya’ll been studying me?”

“You’ve been the topic of conversation a time or two.”

“Even placed a bet a time or two.”

“On what?”

Luke shrugged. “Hard to pick just one thing.”

“So who won on this one?”

Caden sighed, took Luke’s glass and tipped the contents into Ace’s. “No one, it appears.”

“What is she going to do?” Luke asked. “Head on out to California?”

“I imagine.”

“You don’t know?”

“The conversation ended when she said no.”

“And you left it there?” Caden asked.

“No place to take it.”

Ace picked up his glass. Nothing had ever taken him aback as much as that no. He’d been holding marriage as his ace in the hole. And it’d been nothing against the wild card of her independence.

Luke swore. “Damn.”

Ace put his glass down, the liquor untouched. He’d started the morning with the plan of getting stinking drunk, but the drunker he got, the less appeal he was finding in the idea. He was too damn old to be waking up hungover.

Lucas filled his glass again. “Short of hog-tying, how do you plan on keeping her here?”

Now, there was an image to fire a man’s blood.

“More than that, what makes you think you have the right?” Caden asked too casually.

“She could be carrying my baby.”

Caden reached for the shotgun and whistled under his breath. “That’s a hell of a lot of right.”

Ace nodded to the shotgun. “If you point that at her, I’m going to be unhappy.”

Caden shrugged. “It might scare her into being reasonable.”

“Have you met Petunia?”

With a sigh, Caden put the gun back. “You’ve got a point.”

Luke swirled the whiskey in his glass. “So even after the trauma with the Comanche, she let you touch her?”

She hadn’t just let him, she’d begged him. It had been the hottest yet sweetest lovemaking he could ever remember having. And he wasn’t a man who thought he valued sweet.

“She had her reasons.”

Caden whistled again. “That’s one tough woman.”

“Worth holding on to,” Luke added.

Yes, she was. Ace took his shot glass and poured the contents into Caden’s. “Yup.”

Caden looked at it before leaning back in his chair. “I heard Rose was in here draped all over you the other day when she came in. Women tend to frown on that.”

“Proud women even more,” Luke tacked on.

Caden spun the glass between his fingers. “It’s never good for a woman to know about a man’s past dalliances.”

No, it wasn’t. And Petunia knew all about his. The foreign sense of helpless frustration swelled. “Shit.”

A couple of cowboys burst through the door, their hooting and hollering too raucous for his mood. Ace considered shooting them.

Luke shook his head. “Don’t.”

Ace paused, hand on his gun. “Why the hell not?”

“’Cause we’re the ones that would have to clean up the mess.”

It was a good point.

“Still doesn’t mean I’m not going to shoot
you
,” Caden said, adjusting the shotgun against the extra chair.

“What the hell for?”

Caden sipped the whiskey Ace had just poured him and met his gaze squarely. “There’s the little issue of you two taking off after Comanche without me.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Luke shrugged. “You’re married.”

“Married or not, I’m still Hell’s Eight.”

Those were fighting words for Caden. Ace pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger and pushed the liquor away.

It really wasn’t his day.

* * *

I
T
REALLY
WASN
’
T
her day. Last night had been the most tumultuous of Petunia’s life. There was nothing she wanted more right now than the time and privacy to sort out how she felt about what had happened. Instead, she had a room full of friends wanting to make her feel better about the kidnapping, about Ace, about everything. But mostly they wanted to fix what they saw as a pressing problem. Her compromised state.

“In my day such things did not go on,” Luisa repeated for the third time in her thick Italian accent from where she stood by the window.

“It’s not what it seemed,” Petunia hedged, sitting on the side of the bed rubbing her forehead.

Hester, over by the wardrobe, huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “What else could it mean when a man stays in a woman’s room?”

“You’re not helping, Hester.”

Hester snapped back, “I’m not trying to.”

“I wasn’t myself.” In the beginning, at least. But in the end... In the end, Ace had given her back herself. Petunia owed him for that.

“Hester is right,” Maddie said, pushing her hair off her face. “There’s only one way that will look.”

Luisa fussed with the curtains. “For a man to stay in a woman’s room all night, this is serious.”

“I think we all know Ace well enough to know he’s always serious,” Hester said.

Petunia cut her another glare. Hester smiled sweetly back.

Maddie licked her lips, fussed with her skirt, grabbed the post at the foot of the bed as if she needed the balance and then took the bull by the horns. “He needs to be serious about you, Petunia.”

“As in proposing?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t want to be married.”

Maddie waved her hand as if her wishes were nothing. “But marriage will solve everything.”

For everyone else. “What everything?”

“The rumors and gossip...” She looked away and didn’t finish.

Luisa crossed herself. “A woman’s reputation, this is a fragile thing.”

“Mine’s tough as nails,” Petunia said.

Maddie shook her head. “You say that because you haven’t left this room yet.”

“Already, there is talk,” Luisa whispered, looking out the window nervously as if she expected those talking to be gathering at the door.

“What talk?”

“About what was done to you.”

Part of her cared. How could she not? But this town wasn’t her home, and she’d soon be leaving. When she did, she’d leave the talk behind. “They’re going to speculate one way or the other. Marriage won’t stop that.”

But marriage would stop her.

“Neither will leaving. Because that’s your plan, isn’t it?” Hester asked. “Just to leave us all here to cope as best we can while you run off to a shiny new life?”

“The world is not so big that this won’t follow you,” Maddie cautioned. “Being kidnapped makes you...notorious.”

“Spending the night with Ace makes him notorious.”

“For a man this doesn’t matter,” Luisa said.

“It matters to some,” Hester protested.