AllFreeNovel
Share Us
of marijuana smoke and her eyes were often glassy. Zach had less trouble dealing with her stoned than when she was straight and plotting ways to escape. As for Nelson, the kid was still in the throes of hero worship, tagging after Zach as he went about his chores, trying to find ways to talk about his night with the prostitute. It didn’t seem to matter how many ways Zach explained that nothing really had happened except that he’d managed to get a few new scars; Nelson was still enthralled, certain that Zach had really “scored” with the whore but was protecting her honor, or some such crap.
The kid was sick, Zach thought as he stepped out of the shower and threw on a pair of cutoffs. Nelson’s fascination with all things sexual seemed bent. He wanted to know all about bondage and S&M and all that shit that Zach didn’t really know about and didn’t want to know. Men and women in leather and chains—like some kinky group of Hell’s Angels or something. It kind of made his skin crawl.
Pushing all thoughts of Nelson aside, Zach found leftovers in the kitchen, and since the maid had already retired for the night, he heated up the pork chops in the microwave, snatched himself a beer out of the fridge, and took his meal onto the back porch where the old collie was curled near the swing. Shep perked up at the smell of the meat and whined as Zach sat down and started in on the chops.
“Don’t give me that,” he said to the dog. “You’re too fat as it is.” Shep thumped his tail on the floorboards. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted softly and the sounds of bats’ wings disturbed the silence. The air smelled of horses, dust, and sagebrush. Zach thought he could find peace out here in the middle of nowhere. If it weren’t for his family.
Zach finished his dinner, tossed the bones to the dog, and wiped his fingers on the frayed edges of his cutoff Levi’s. He finished his Budweiser in two swallows, then walked back to the kitchen for another. Downing the second can quickly, he began to feel a slight buzz as he crushed the aluminum in his fist. He made his way back to his room, where he flipped on his stereo and flopped onto this bed. The song was an old one by the Doors.
“…Come on baby, light my fire…”
Like Kat. Boy, could she light dangerous fires. Zach closed his eyes and let the music surround him.
“…Try and set the night on fire!”
The French doors were cracked and the hint of a breeze stirred the curtains. His eyes opened and he stared up at the ceiling. He was hard, as hard as he’d been when Kat had kissed him on the roof of the tack room. Just thinking about being with her had given him wet dreams for three nights running. The ache in his loins was so bad that he’d even considered driving into Bend with his brother and looking for some woman who would ease his pain, but the memory of his last visit to a whore had kept him at the ranch. He didn’t need any more trouble but, Lord, did he need some release. The pressure. Pounding, pounding…
Deep down, in the darkest oblivion of his soul, he knew that he didn’t want just any woman, that though he would go through the motions with any willing female, he was certain that anyone but Kat wouldn’t do and Kat, his stepmother, was the worst choice of all. He rolled over to his side and considered jacking off. It sure as hell wouldn’t be the first time, but it left him so…empty or lonely or feeling stupid. Face it, Danvers, you want her. All you have to do is walk down the hall, turn the corner, and tap on her bedroom door and the sweetest bit of pussy this side of the Rockies will be waiting to give you any fantasy you can dream up!
His throat was so dry he couldn’t draw up any spit and he squeezed his eyes shut, resigned to his fate as he reached for the fly of his pants.
He heard the creak of the door, felt the wind turn, and his heart jolted. His eyes flew open. At first he thought she was a vision, the beautiful woman on the other side of the glass. Moonlight spangled Kat’s black hair silver and her silk pajama top shimmered. His heart began to pump so loudly that he was certain she could hear it.
The doors opened further and dry leaves blew into the room. The wind tossed her hair away from her face and as she entered the room, he saw the tears glistening in her eyes. Her lips trembled and her nose ran.
“What—what are you—?”
“Just hold me, Zach,” she whispered in a voice strangled by grief.
“What is it?”
Walking numbly to the edge of his bed, she sniffed loudly, then stood in front of him, as if hesitating.
He drew himself into a sitting position. “You shouldn’t be here, Kat—”
“I know, but…Oh, God…” She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and tears trickled down her cheeks. Between the broken sobs she said, “Witt just called and the police have run out of leads…the investigation is still open but they all think, the police and the FBI, that London…that London is dead.” The last word was barely a squeak and Zach couldn’t help himself. He stood and took her into his arms, trying to comfort her as sob after heart-wrenching sob shook her body.
“Oh, God. Oh, God.” Burying his face in the crook of her neck, holding her close, he willed himself to think of her not as a woman, but as a person to whom fate had handed a crushing blow. She clung to him and cried like a child, her tears raining down his chest. He told her it would be all right, that of course London was alive, that someday they would all see her again, but even as he said the words, he believed them to be lies.
When at last the racking sobs quieted, he lifted his head. “You should go back to the room, take some sleeping pills—”
“I can’t. I don’t want to be alone. Please, Zach, don’t make me go. Let me stay with you. Just hold me. Please.” Her words held the echo of doom, but he couldn’t deny her and when she turned her face up to his, he kissed her trembling lips, knowing that he was about to cross a threshold from which there was no return. Life would never be the same. The truth would be blurred with lies, but he kissed her and she responded, her body quivering in fear and desire.
His brain thundered and his blood turned to liquid heat as she let her fingers slide down his scarred back, along the slope of his spine and lower still to his buttocks. He felt his already stiff cock rise to the occasion, knew there was no turning back as she tugged and the buttons holding his cutoffs together popped in a ripple and her hands were upon him. Warm and soft, her fingers brought a magic that he never dreamed existed.
They tumbled on the bed together, lips searching, tongues eager and before he could consider all the consequences of his actions, Zachary stripped her of her nightshirt, ripping the buttons from their holes as the seams of the soft fabric gave way. Then he gazed at her breasts, felt the gentle pressure of her fingers on his spine, and watched as she licked her lips. He could barely breathe when she ran her tongue across his nipples and anxiously parted her legs, lifting her hips to rub her dewy nest of curls to his crotch.
He thought he might come all over her. “Kat—”
“Just do it, Zach. Please.” Her fingers dug deep into his muscles.
Closing his eyes, he entered into that moist, dark warmth. A primal cry rumbled from his throat and he couldn’t stop himself. In three long strokes it was over; Zachary came fast and hot and fell against her, realizing dimly that he’d just doomed himself to a living hell. No son dared lose his virginity to his father’s wife and expect to survive.
But he didn’t care. He wrapped himself in her warmth and kissed her again, more sure of himself. He’d take it slower with her this time, learn from her and be the best damned lover she ever had.
Zach couldn’t remember when he’d slept so soundly. He moved slightly and felt another body, warm and soft and naked. With a smile, he remembered the night of lovemaking and he rolled over to find Kat, her eyes half open, staring at him. Dawn was breaking over the horizon and soon the ranch hands would be up; she had to leave.
“I wondered how it would be with you,” she said as she slid a finger along the scar that was still visible near his hairline. Though she smiled, a sadness lingered in her eyes.
