A Breath of Heaven (El Camino Real Book 1) Read online

  Cade waited. He smoothed his hand over the sheet, anticipating touching her velvet skin. Lord in heaven! She’d never know how much he wanted her. How often he’d thought about her over the years. Every time he climbed on the back of a bronc or a bull, she went through his mind. Cade wanted to stay alive for her – she was his inspiration. He’d tried to ignore it, he’d tried to explain it away…after all, he and Abby were like dynamite and fire. Anytime they were together it was explosive. Well, tonight, he was aiming for an explosion of a different variety.

  He heard the bathroom door open. The bedside lamp was on, filling the room with a warm glow. Abby walked toward the bed and he felt the earth shift beneath him. Dark brown tresses flowed past her waist. A baby pink shirt clung to her, thin enough he could see those generous breasts. Cade was well aware of her figure, for she dressed in tight jeans and western shirts all the time. But he’d never been privileged to see so much of those long, gorgeous legs or her tempting cleavage. His mouth watered.

  But more than that, Cade liked her. God, he really liked her as a person, and yes, as a friend. Saving his life was huge, but she’d been making his life worth living for a very long time.

  Abby froze. He wasn’t saying anything. Cade was staring at her. She glanced down to make sure how she looked. Had he changed his mind? “Is something wrong?”

  “No, everything’s finally right. I could look at you forever.” Was his quiet reply.

  Tingles of awareness and relief sparkled over Abby’s skin. She moved another step or two and when he held out his hand, she ran the rest of the way and he caught her easily. “Turn out the light, please.”

  “Wait just a second.” Cade held her close, his head buried in her neck. “We’ll get you all comfortable, however you need to be. But I want to look at you for a bit.” He kissed her neck and licked a path all the way to her lips. Her eyes were wary, but filled with hope. “Thank you for giving yourself to me,” he whispered, trying to make her relax.

  “My pleasure,” she answered demurely while keeping a tight hold on the bottom of her shirt.

  Cade’s heart ached for her. Didn’t she realize she was perfect in his eyes? He had no idea what was making her feel insecure, but before the night was over there would be no doubt in her mind that she was perfect for him. Because he intended to show her with his mind, body and soul. “You just wait there. I’m going to get more comfortable.” Maybe if he undressed first, she’d be more at ease.

  “Oh, mercy,” she breathed. Cade had no idea how unschooled she was. She dealt with the breeding of animals all the time, but she’d never seen a naked man before, not in the flesh. And certainly not one like him. Enthralled, she stood there and gazed as he unveiled muscles on top of muscles, tanned skin covered with just enough hair to make her quiver, and an aroused manhood that made her eyes pop out. “Wow.” She held her hand out to touch him—not his cock, she wasn’t that brave—but she placed her hand over his heart. She could feel a pounding rhythm. “You are very sexy, Mr. Tallbull.” She offered with a shy smile.

  More than anything, Cade wanted to show Abby what this meant to him. So, he did the only thing he could think of to show her how honored he was. Cade went to his knees, put his arms around her waist and placed a gentle kiss just beneath her breasts. She jerked in his arms like a frightened deer. “Sit here, love. I just want to touch you a little.” At her concerned expression, he assured her. “Only where you want me to, I promise.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “Can I touch your face and neck?” She nodded, so he traced her features, gently caressing her soft skin, giving her a message without words, showing her how very beautiful she was to him.

  Abby’s whole body was sizzling, partly with nerves and partly from anticipation. Could she please this man? God, she wanted to try. Taking the initiative, she began placing feather like kisses all over his face.

  “Abilene,” he growled. “You’re torturing me.” He sought her lips and drank deeply from them, tangling their tongues together. “I want to make you happy, Cowgirl.”

  “I might be a handful,” she teased, feeling a little more self-assured.

  A sense of déjà vu hit him like an anvil. “That’s how you were introduced to me by one of your brothers on the day we first met.” He framed her face and rested his forehead against hers. “And you’re right, you are a precious handful.”

  “I don’t know…” she teased, “I might be able to take you.”

  Didn’t she realize? He’d be glad for her to take him anytime, anywhere she wanted to. But he played along. “I’ve wrestled enough steers in my time. I know I can wrestle a little ole’ thing like you.” Good, she giggled. “Now, make my dreams come true. Let me see your breasts. Please?” It wasn’t like Cade to ask permission, but this was different. She was different. And when she began undoing the tiny buttons on the soft shirt, he shook.

  “I’m nervous.” She confessed in a shaky voice.

  “Don’t be. You’re precious.” He helped her, his big fingers fumbling with the tiny discs.

  “Don’t go all the way to the bottom, Cade,” she cautioned him.

  Again he wondered why. “Okay, Baby, just far enough.” He unbuttoned to her belly button, and pulling the shirt apart, he groaned. “Fuckin’ perfect.” Perfect size. Perfect shape. He framed the velvety globes with both hands, plumping them together and slid his mouth across the top swell. They weren’t tear drop shaped. Abby’s tits were round and full with large coral areolas and puffy suckable nipples. “Hell, I may cum from just touching you,” he groaned.

  Abby put her hands on his shoulders and held him to her. She swallowed hard, feeling this incredible urge to wrap her legs around him and plead for something she’d never had before. “Cade, please,” she asked for anything he’d give.

  Molding them, he lifted her breasts and luxuriated in how firm they were. Using his palms, Cade rubbed and caressed, kneading the soft flesh, his cock throbbing with excitement. “You like that?” He looked up into her beautiful face. When she parted her lips and whimpered, he took that as positive feedback. Circling one nipple with his tongue, he relished the feel and taste of her in his mouth. “One day, I’m going to suck on you till you sparkle.” He took the nipple between his lips and strummed it with his tongue. When she grabbed his head and pushed her tit into his mouth, seeking more, he smiled. He must be doing something right.

  “I can’t believe how good this feels.” Abby thought she would pass out from the sheer wonder of him tugging and suckling at her breast.

  Cade gave her everything he could until he was literally humping the side of the bed.

  “Let me,” she whispered. Reaching down between them she slipped her hand over his cock, marveling at the size, the hardness, the smoothness—the maleness of him. She was unsure but wanted to try, so she let instinct take over – pumping, stroking, running her thumb over the swollen head, marveling at the creamy liquid beading on the tip. “I’ve imagined touching you like this,” she confessed.

  “Oh, Abilene.” He threw his head back and let her have her way with him. She slid her soft little palm up and down his shaft, up over the head, over and over again, causing him to buck in her hand. “Too excited.” He stopped her. “I want to touch you.”

  “Turn off the light,” she cautioned. Their hands were entwined, and she held on tight, desperately trying to control the next step.

  “I will,” Cade assured her. “Don’t worry. I’m not out to upset you. I just want to love you.” She could take his declaration any damn way she wanted to. He meant it. “Just tell me what to do, Abby.”

  A hot blush swept up her chest and neck, finishing with a bloom on her cheeks. “I have on a pair of panties that doesn’t have a – uh – bottom”

  Cade chuckled but the idea was irresistible. “You mean crotchless panties?”

  Covering her face, she nodded. “Yes, you can touch me through them, just nowhere else down there. Please.”

  Torn, Cade was in turmoil. He wanted
to touch her, take her – God, he wanted to fuck her! But more than that, he wanted to please her, to make her happy. “Baby, we’ll only do what you want. I’ll stand on my head and recite the constitution backward if you’ll just let me hold your hand.”

  Uncertainty filled her face with sadness. He wanted to beat the crap out of whomever or whatever was making her feel inadequate.

  “You need to know one thing, Abby.” He kissed her hand. “I don’t know what the real problem is, or why you’re so unsure. But, it doesn’t matter. To me, you’re perfect.”

  A knot formed in her throat. Abby was having a hard time speaking. She was as far from perfect as a woman could be. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” She started to rise.

  “No, hell, no.” Cade pulled her back with one hand and turned the light off with the other. “We’ll do it your way. You just set the boundaries and I’ll play by your rules.” Gently, he coaxed her back into the bed. “Let’s just lie down and cuddle. I need to kiss you.”

  Quaking, Abby went into his arms. Truthfully, she didn’t know if she could do this or not. “Just hold me, Cade.”

  “All night if you want.” He wrapped himself around her, seeking to give her comfort. From what, he didn’t know. “I wish I understood what was wrong.”

  Too many years of regrets, too many years of loneliness, too many years of longing for this one man culminated in a torrent of feelings. Abby clung to Cade like he was the answer to her problems, even though she knew in her heart what she wanted could never be. “Kiss me, Cade. Just kiss me.”

  His answer was to cup the side of her face in one big hand and grant her request. In the dark, them lying face to face, with one arm under and around her, he began to kiss her brow, temple, eyelids, feverishly running his lips over the flesh damp from her tears. “Don’t you dare cry. Don’t you know how I’ve longed to be here with you like this?” What had happened to her? What had changed her from the carefree teenager he’d known to the withdrawn, wary woman she had become?

  The Christmas following their first kiss, when he’d hoped to begin a relationship with her, he’d found a different Abby Grace. When she’d made it more than clear she wanted nothing to do with him other than their original friendship, he had steered clear of her for a long time. Cade had quit coming around the Kings. Her rejection just hurt too much. Oh, he’d seen Jase and Justice on the circuit, but it had taken several years before he’d grown a shell hard enough to endure sitting across the dinner table from the woman he wanted more than life. If it hadn’t been for Amelia begging, he would have stayed away longer. His and Abby’s relationship had become a game of one-upmanship, harmless baiting and petulant teasing. For the life of him, he didn’t understand it. One day she’d been warm and willing in his arms, the next time as standoffish as a horse who’d been whipped…

  Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

  Cade stilled, ceasing his caressing of her face, his gentling of her soul.

  The accident, the fire, the incident that the whole family had assured him had been nothing—minor, no one had been hurt. What if…

  “What’s wrong?” She asked, hoping he hadn’t changed his mind.

  Damn, he couldn’t ask. If it were true, she’d be up and out of this bed before he could stop her. “Not a thing, Beautiful. I’m just happy.” And he was. She was in his arms. He didn’t know if he was right, but he was damn sure going to find out – an soon. In the meantime, he intended to show her exactly what she’d been missing. Cade gently eased her to her back and began sliding his lips down her neck. “You okay?”

  “Yes,” Abby whispered. “Just remember what I asked.” Her voice was tremulous.

  God, his poor baby. “I only want to make you happy,” he whispered. “And myself.” He chuckled. “There’s a certain part of me that’s desperate to get better acquainted with you.”

  “I want this. And…and…I’m on the pill. Are you safe?”

  He sought to reassure her. “I’ve never had sex without a condom. Until you. If you’ll allow. I don’t want anything between us.”

  “Okay.” She placed her hand over his and moved it down to her breast. His breath hitched and she gasped when his palm closed over the quivering globe. “Oh, yes,” she breathed.

  “Lord, you’re sexy.” He weighed her tits, playing with the nipples. He’d memorized their look and taste a moment ago, before the light was out. They were baby soft, puffy and sweet as candy. “Does that feel good?”

  She hummed an answer, “Um, yes.” Her whole body was on fire, her pussy literally throbbing with arousal. Abby had used dildos, so she wasn’t worried about pain. All she was worried about was him encountering the rough patches of skin graft if his hand ventured to the front of her mound or to the top of her thighs. Just the thought of his revulsion made her stiffen.

  Cade felt her draw away. “Don’t you leave me. Abby. I need you too much.” He angled down in the bed so he could suck on her tits some more. She enjoyed that, and he sure as hell did. Taking one of the hard tips between his lips, he set out to rock her world. Damn, he loved this. Twirling his tongue around the nipple, he pulled on it hard, suckling. His hips had set up a sympathetic rhythm, his cock aching to get in on the act.

  Nirvana. Abby vibrated with pleasure as Cade nursed at her breast. She could feel herself responding, a wetness growing between her legs. Knowing it was up to her, she guided his hand once more, but this time she placed it to the opening of her panties. Ah…

  Sweet Jesus! She was so wet and creamy. And soft. God, what he wouldn’t give to bury his face between her thighs and dine to his heart’s content. For now, he was just thankful to be touching her. With gentle swirls Cade proceeded to pet her pussy. He massaged her slit, up and down, teasing the tight little opening to paradise, moving up to encircle and play with her clit.

  “Oh, God,” she breathed. It felt so good! She tilted her hips toward him, opening her legs a little wider to give him room to work. All the while he was touching her, they were kissing deeply, seductively, tongues mating, breaths mingling. Abby had never known such bliss. They were cloaked in darkness, but her very soul felt alive with color.

  Cade groaned. His cock was so strutted, he felt it would burst before he could gain admittance to the one place he wanted to be—deep inside Abby. “Feel good?” When she breathed a “yes” into his mouth, he eased one finger into her tight little pussy. “Abby, Abby, you are so perfect.”

  Wanting more, needing to be closer, she placed one leg over his, opening herself up to him fully. She wanted to give herself to this man more than she wanted a future. Holding the back of his head, and grazing her lips over his mouth, she offered him all that she was. “Make love to me, Cade. I want you so much.”

  Chapter Six

  “Yes, ma’am.” He rose over Abby, blanketing her with his body, straddling her, supporting himself on his knees and forearms. With unerring accuracy, he found her mouth in the dark, kissing her as if he was ravenous for her lips. “Help me. Spread your legs.” The little scrap of silk that stood between him and the heart of her didn’t do a damn thing to deter him. He opened the tiny slit and caressed her, spreading the cream that would ease his entry.

  “You know...I’ve never…done this.”

  Cade wasn’t surprised. “Oh, baby, I’m honored to be your first. You’re perfect. Remember?” He took his cock in hand. “Are you ready for me?”

  “Yes. I want you so much.”

  He felt her lift her hips slightly. “Help me. Guide him in.” Together they placed his cock at the opening. Abby let her fingers linger on his shaft and he trembled at the significance of the moment. This was more than just sex. This was Abby. He’d dreamed of this moment forever. “I’ll be gentle, my love.” He pressed in and her warmth enveloped him, clasping him tight. He sighed at the exquisite relief he felt. His manhood was wrapped in hot, wet velvet. “God, this is so good. Nothing has ever felt this good,” he moaned. It was all he could do to keep still. He wanted to pl
unge in, to plunder, to ravish, to pound. But this was Abby, so he mastered his instincts and sought control.

  Stretching. Burning. So big. So full. “Cade,” she whispered. How could she tell him how empty she’d felt? How she’d longed to feel whole, complete? As he pushed in, she held on to him, both with her hands and deep within. “I can’t tell you…”

  “What, Abby-girl?” He dipped his hips and pushed further. God, just a bit further. It was hard to think, so he just let himself feel. But as he sank within her, knowing he was becoming one with the woman of his dreams, he had an overwhelming sense of rightness. For the first time...ah, there...to the hilt—he’d come home.

  Abby strained to see his face. The darkness was her cloak, but she longed for cat eyes, to see his beautiful, precious countenance as he closed his eyes in ecstasy. She could hear his moans, his groans of satisfaction as he seated himself fully within her, and—Lord, he began to move. In and out…in and out. She moved with him, mirroring his moves, holding on to him tightly, trying to keep him inside of her. Her hands were not still. She rubbed his arms, kneaded his muscles, raked her nails in erotic patterns on his skin. And all the while, she was whimpering, straining, arching her body into his and taking every bit of the passion he would give her. “Cade, Cade, God, Cade,” she groaned as she felt something building deep inside.

  Holding back was impossible. She was a fever in his blood. Cupping her head in his hands, he kissed her as his hips pumped, driving his cock in and out of the sweetest pussy he’d ever known. This was no stranger, no one night-stand, this was no casual affair. This was Abby. His Abby. And he wanted her not once, not just for tonight. He wanted her over and over, forever and ever.