Incidental Contact (Those Devilish De Marco Men) (35 page)

So why drag those clothes out of her trunk?

Because if she didn’t, she’d lie here on the sofa and imagine them floating in the hot pool come June. Or rolling in the leaves come September. Putting up a Christmas tree in December.

Amy jumped off the sofa with a groan. “Idiot.” She stomped across the room and yanked open the front door. A tractor chugged past. Then the wrecker, with Eric at the wheel, pulling—
What is that?

When she realized what he was towing, Amy leaped off the porch. Her tennis shoes slipped on the wet grass, but she took off running. She pulled up short at the end of the driveway. The wreckers were too far down the lane for her to catch them. A horn beeped. She looked right. Cynda waved and braked. Grams already occupied the front seat, so she jumped into the back.

“What in the world?” Amy slammed the door.

Cynda looked over her shoulder with rounded eyes. “Not. A. Clue. I was just leaving to take Grams home when we saw them go by. It’s nowhere near closing time. I had no idea they were here.”

The vehicles ahead came to a halt near the end of the road. Dan swerved onto the grass, easing the big tractor through two of the trees lining the lane. The wreckers were idling, but the doors opened. Eric jumped from behind the wheel of the first wrecker. Jonah followed, then Maze and another guy she’d seen at the garage climbed out of the second rig. Chainsaws dangled from the mens’ hands.

“I can’t figure out what these boys are up to.” Grams smiled at Amy over the headrest. “But I sure wish I could still eat popcorn.”

“She is too cute.” Amy grinned at Cynda.

Cynda bobbed her head. “Oh, that’s why she and Eric are thick as thieves. Two of a kind.”

Amy watched in amazement as tree after tree went down. Jonah grabbed the branches of one, backing across the road. She jumped out of the car and ran to help. The teenager straightened and scowled, shaking his head. Tugging off his gloves, he handed them to her without comment.

She pulled the gloves over her hands and waggled her fingers. Jonah laughed at the unfilled fingertips. First time she’d heard that sound in days.

* * * *

E
ric shouted, “Dan!” and pointed at the spot between two downed trees. He had a clear line of sight now, from the corner where De Marco land began, to John’s barn. Dan backed the tractor into position and lowered the auger. The old tractor engine whined but the machine had plenty of torque, chewing into the heavy, wet clay.

Dan worked the controls and lifted the auger. “Deep enough?” Eric peered into the hole, then held his hands about six inches apart. Dan dropped the bore a second time. Eric motioned for Maze and jogged to the wrecker, drawing a diagram in the dust on the truck’s fender. “When Dan brings the tractor out, move into that spot, then I’ll hook up our cables. We’ll pull forward together, moving at forty-five degree angles. Think that’ll work?” He drew two diagonal lines.

Maze nodded. “Looks like a plan. Let’s do this.”

The thick metal cables pulled taut, then sagged when Dan and Scott put their shoulders to the wooden figure and manhandled the base into the hole.

Eric stuck his arm out the window of the older wrecker, raised his arm and circled his finger in the air. “Crank ‘er up, Maze.” Dan, Scott, and Jonah stabilized the pole while the thing found its equilibrium. Eric yanked the brakes and jumped from the cab. The angel’s wings soared over the trees, their hastily-applied coat of whitewash stark against the leaden sky.

Intending to backfill the hole, he bent to grab the shovel. Dan wrapped his hand around the handle and pulled the tool from his grasp.

“I’ll do that.” Dan pointed to a spot behind Eric. “Maybe you should go with your woman. Me and Cynda’ll be along.”

Eric whirled. A few of those watching the police activity had moved in their direction. The small group stopped a few feet shy of the sign marking their land as private property. Amy had Jonah in tow, moving toward the huddled curiosity seekers—or mourners. Squinting at their faces, Eric decided they were there to mourn the dead. He hustled to catch up.

The wind whipped Amy’s words to him. “
Siento mucho tu perdida.
” She reached for a calloused, brown hand.

Jonah grabbed the same hand the minute Amy moved to the next person. “
Te acompaño en tus sentimientos.
”

Eric wiped his hands on his jeans. He joined their impromptu line, shaking hands with a heavy heart. “
Que el angel de la vida te traiga paz a ti y a tus seres queridos.
May the angel of life bring peace to you and your loved ones.” Swallowing, he repeated the sentiment Amy and Jonah were expressing. “We’re so sorry for your loss.”

Some might say his effort was pointless. Bringing the angel off the mountain to stare down the evil symbolized by John’s barn had been all he could think to do. He couldn’t shake the idea that asking for a hate crime law was sending the message hate was tolerable, as long as you didn’t act on it.

But, didn’t that idea lay the foundation for apathy?

Maybe the angel had been in the wrong place all along, up there in the clouds, rather than down here in the mud.

When he’d shaken the last hand in the small group, he looked down the road. Several people still loitered beside their vehicles. Scott threw up a hand as he chugged past in the older wrecker.

Maze pulled off his baseball cap, folded it, and shoved it into his back pocket before starting down the impromptu reception line. Behind him came Dan, Cynda, and Grams. Dan’s heavy drawl laced his boyhood Spanish.

Amy took his hand, dragging his attention back to her. Eric’s breath caught at the tears gleaming in her eyes. “What a beautiful gesture. You realize people can see the angel from the main road? I guess you’ve already figured out how to light it at night?”

That was a great idea, one he hadn’t thought of. “I need to buy a weatherproof spotlight or two, but I can make that happen.”

“My great-grandfather helped carve that angel.”

The unfamiliar voice made Eric turn again. A man about Colton’s age pushed a woman who appeared nearly as old as Grams in a wheelchair. The rest of the group now moved in their direction, on foot and in their vehicles. When the pair came to a stop, Eric couldn’t catch every word of the old woman’s rapid-fire Spanish. “Her grandfather,” the young man interpreted. “He and his brother carved the angel in 1931. She wants your permission to touch it.”

Eric went to his knees in the road. Grasping her withered hand, he nodded, blinking back tears. “
Si.
My family would be honored if you would bless the angel,
abuéla
. She belongs to us all.”

Was that Amy’s hand stroking the back of his neck, or the ghost of his grandmother?

A
my opened her eyes and squinted at the clock on Eric’s nightstand. Not quite five a.m. The ‘early to bed and early to rise’ concept had become her new normal. This was now officially her favorite time of day. Before the world woke, Eric belonged only to her.

She slid her leg over his thigh, rubbing her foot along his calf. She moved her palm down his chest, reveling in each rise and dip of his hard muscles, every nerve alert to any shift in his breathing.

Tugging the quilt over her head, she shifted lower in the bed as gently as she could. Kneeling between his thighs, she pressed her lips to the top of one thigh, then the other. Then his cock. The skin felt silky to her lips, slightly puckered, but very warm. Inhaling his scent made an ache begin between her thighs. The head felt different to her lips than the shaft, softer and spongy. She eased her lips around it and stroked the helmeted shape with her tongue.

Wrapping her fingers around the shaft, she took more of him in her mouth. This was the only way she’d ever be able to take him completely.

He made a soft groan, but she thought he was still asleep. Now that she had him wet, she lifted her head, letting him slide almost free before moving down his length again. Another groan made her smile. He began to thicken in her hand, pushing her encircling fingers apart. She kept her pace slow, just enjoying the sensation of him sliding over her lips. Sweeping her tongue along the underside of his cock, she increased her suction, stretching his length by raising her head.

The tug made him harden. The delicious ache blossomed in her clit. A few repetitions and he was rigid. The thick vein running along the underside throbbed under her tongue.

She felt his fingers slide through her hair. Growing bolder now that he was awake, she stroked him with her fist, moving her head to drag her tongue along the seam between his balls. He picked up the hand she had resting on his thigh and brought it to his shaft. His hands covered hers, showing her how to twist her fists in opposite directions.

She had something to prove. Drawing one sac into her mouth, she rolled the tender flesh around with her tongue, delighting in the way his abdomen went rigid and his breathing momentarily stopped. She savored the task, making sure to stroke every millimeter of the tender skin before returning her attention to his cock.

She was wet and aching, but this was for him. She continued to move her mouth over him, taking him as deep as she could. Now she had no hope of reaching his base, not with her mouth. Keeping her hands moving like he’d shown, she sucked and licked until he was the one squirming and
that
felt sexy as hell. She smiled inwardly as the salty taste of precum flooded her tongue.

Minutes later, he wrapped his fingers around her upper arms. “You’re doing such a good job, you’re gonna cheat yourself,” he warned in a whisper.

Reluctantly, she allowed him to slide from her mouth. Crawling over him, she positioned him at her entrance. He put his hand on the back of her head, pulling her down.

She closed her eyes while they kissed, but knew he’d turned on the lamp.

Her confidence wavered, but only for a moment. That look in his eyes when she raised her head made her tummy flutter and her confidence spike. 

“So damn sexy.” His words made her heart soar.

Rocking slowly, she took him in, inch by inch. She kept her rhythm steady, watching his face, tuned in to his grip on her hips. When he increased the pressure of his fingers, she increased her speed, but never took her eyes off his face because that look was what she craved.

Straightening, she balanced on her knees. Lifting her body to take only part of him, she let him enjoy watching his cock slide into her. When she moved her fingers to her clit, his gaze followed. The smile playing on his lips gave her a feeling as good as any ‘A’ she’d ever earned. She tugged a nipple with her other hand. He lifted his fingers to her opposite breast, raking that distended nub with his nail. The rough touch brought showers of sparks and each one ignited a fire in her channel.

She was on the verge of coming when he pulled her head down again. Her breasts were pressed to his chest. Her forehead rested on his. He slid his hands under her ass, lifting her. Then he drove into her with fierce thrusts, making her cry out with each jab, but his kiss muffled the sound.

She was almost there, but he rolled her to her back. Gripping both her ankles in one large hand, all he gave her now was the head of his shaft. Amy twisted. She turned. She tried every way she could think of to drive more of him inside her, but he kept his jabs short and fast. The head of his cock raked a spot that made her insane.

“Eric, I need all of you,” she gasped. 

His grin made her laugh. Laughing during sex was new. Every time he touched her, it seemed she felt something new. He released her ankles, pushed her legs wide, and covered her. The sensation of his body on top of hers was what she’d been aching for. He slid his hands under her head. His gaze was intent now and she saw no trace of a smile.

“You have all of me, Amy.”

Then he rocked into her the way she needed, sending her into a darkness that exploded into bright bits of color. He cried out, muffling the sound by pressing his face into her neck.

“Good morning to you, too,” Eric panted, pulling back. “Do I need to panic about you not giving me time to put on a condom?”

Amy felt her eyes go wide. She’d almost made it a whole week without blushing, dammit. “Um, not unless my birth control shot quits two years into a five-year gig.”

“Common sense.” He kissed her. “It’s your super power.”  He drew back and his expression became serious. She couldn’t quite decipher the look in his eyes. “So you know, I’ve never done this before. Gone bareback. But... it was...you’re... well, it was worth the wait.’ Something flashed in his eyes. “As for sexy lessons, I think my work here is done.”

She waited till he was in the bathroom and heard the water running before she punched his pillow. Every time she thought he might commit—give her some idea of where they stood—he spit out the hook like a prize bass.

My work here is done. What does that mean, in guy-speak?

* * * *

E
ric unlocked the padlock and hoisted the roll-up door on the peach packing shed. He was planning to take off work by two, but a head start on disassembling the net would help him later.

Yet the real reason he was here was because he needed to get away from Amy. He needed time to think about the risk he’d taken. Being bare inside her meant he’d barreled across a bright ‘do not pass’ line in his mind without a second’s thought. Never once had he gotten carried away and forgotten to use protection.

He had no damn excuse. He hadn’t known she was on birth control, so why would he risk her future like that? The last thing he wanted was to live through another heart-wrenching decision like Sarah’s, and never mind what he’d seen Lila go through.

He could see why Amy didn’t want kids. She’d have about two hundred and seventy a year, after all. He had to be more careful. Not for him. For her. The last thing he wanted was to derail her plans. He knew what that felt like.

The minute she’d taken his cock inside her, he’d understood why Dan felt being bare inside a woman was such a big deal.

It meant you’d damn well better be ready to commit. It meant you might be starting your own miracle, and miracles looked a bit overwhelming.