A Broken Cowboy Page 5

  He continued to kiss her as he moved in and out, sliding against her growing wetness, until he pulled back and watched the expression on her face, clearly loving the look of absolute elation on her face. Gabriel began to roll his hips with each thrust, making her moan from the sensations running through her.

  Without pulling out of her, Gabriel rolled onto his back and sat up, pulling Mimi with him and placing her on top of his lap so she could ride him. He kissed one breast and then the other as she moved, her motions growing even more frenzied as he took one of her dark nipples in his mouth again, massaging her other breast with his strong but gentle hand. He stealthily slid one hand between them until he found her magic spot, pressing his thumb against her button and rubbing in teasingly small circles, causing her to shriek from the sheer ecstasy of it.

  As she ground against him, riding the full length of his hard cock as fast as she could, Mimi called out her enjoyment, screaming as her orgasm flooded her body with wave after wave of intense pleasure. Gabriel guided her hips with his hands, lifting her up and down against him, moving her faster and faster as his own orgasm built up inside him. She felt him erupt inside her, his own tremors of excitement mingling with hers as they struggled to catch their breaths.

  Without a word passing between them, Gabriel and Mimi each got dressed and gathered their things. He put a hand on Mimi’s arm to stop her as she began to button her shirt, smiling again as he took another long, lingering look at her body, still glistening slightly with sweat. She grinned and posed slightly, then finished getting dressed. Gabriel held her close and nuzzled her.

  “You smell like wildflowers,” he whispered shyly against her neck.

  He walked her to the steps of her cabin, his arm around her waist as they moved in the dark. At the steps, Mimi stepped up on one board and turned to face Gabriel, eye-level with him.

  “You’re welcome to come in, but I know it’s hard. Please don’t feel like you have to, you’re not going to hurt my feelings,” she said quietly, jerking her head slightly towards the door of her cabin. Gabriel looked achingly at the door and leaned forward slightly to take a step up onto the porch, but suddenly he leaned away and took a step back, shaking his head slightly as his gaze dropped to the ground. He turned away instead and picked up his bag, then kissed Mimi one more time, a long kiss that went on for ages, before walking off into the dark. Mimi stared after him for a few minutes, watching the way he moved effortlessly across the uneven terrain, waiting until she couldn’t see him anymore before going inside and closing the door behind her.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  In the morning, Mimi woke up feeling like she couldn’t tell where real life dropped off and her dream began. Had that been real? Had she actually enjoyed incredible sex with a guy she only barely knew, who haunted her ranch like a ghost and appeared out of nowhere when the occasion suited him? Was she that stupid, and yet still that romantic?

  There would be time to think about those things later. Right now, Mimi had laundry to wash and bed linens to clean, now that she had fully functional running water. It wasn’t hot water, thanks to the lack of a water heater, but at least it was water. She went out to the back porch where a variety of pots and washtubs hung on hooks from the wall of the house. One tub, leaned against the side of the house, was so large that it could only have served as a semi bathtub, so Mimi dragged it up onto the smaller back porch and began filling it with buckets of water from her tap.

  After a solid thirty minutes of filling, Mimi began gathering up her clothes, worn from the vacation and the days out here with little to no water. She began pushing them piece by piece under the water, adding generous sprinkles of soap powder and stirring the whole thing with a large wooden paddle leaned against that same wall. There was still room enough and no need to waste water, so Mimi added the blankets and sheets from the bed, and throwing in the few towels from the shelf in the curtained alcove that served as a closet.

  When every stitch of clothing or linen was in the tub, Mimi began to stir feverishly, reaching in from time to time to scrub at a stain she remembered on a certain article of clothing. Rather than go through the hassle of this lengthy chore again anytime soon, she added the last articles of clothing that needed a good washing, shimmying out of her jeans and stripping down to nothing in order to throw in her shirt, pants, and panties.

  Nobody’s here, and the only other person who is around has already seen this, she thought to herself as she worked. Of course, with my luck, the mail man would come out this way today.

  After soaking all of the items under the water, Mimi went inside to place the order for the roofing materials while the soapy water worked its magic. After a lengthy discussion of materials, dimensions of the house, even the direction the roof faces and the amount of full sun it got each day, the supplier provided a confirmation number and delivery date, then said goodbye. Mimi recorded all of those details in her household account software, then went out back to drain and rinse her laundry before hanging it up to dry on the clothes line that stretched from the cabin to the corner of the outhouse.

  As she wrung out each piece one-by-one, she carried each item inside for a good rinse under the tap then carried it directly outside again to the clothesline. The drips of water splattering her floor would actually be helpful later, as her next chore was going to be to scrub the floors with a healthy dose of soap and elbow grease. When everything except the heavy bed quilt was finally fluttering on the clothesline in the breeze that had picked up, Mimi drained the water and set about rinsing the quilt, a chore that she knew would be done once a year at best, given the amount of water and time she used up trying to get the water to run clear of bubbles. When she finally felt like it was as soap-free as possible, she spread it out in the front yard across the stumps from the porch, hoping the sun would do its job in record time.

  Her eyes traveled to the spot near the ring of stones where her fire had been, a place where the grass was broken down and crushed from the night before. There hadn’t actually been a doubt in her mind that she and Gabriel had made love, but seeing the flattened spot in the grass both amused her and made her feel a twinge of guilt. She shook off the feeling as she spread her quilt out to dry, the two stumps they’d used as their tables lifting up the quilt in the middle to let the air circulate.

  Back in the cabin, Mimi got to work on the dirty floors, not wasting any of the soapy water that had sloshed during her laundry chore. She worked on all fours, laughing at the mental image of a naked black woman on her hands and knees and grateful that she didn’t have this kind of wild streak back when she lived in the city. But the more she scrubbed, the more water droplets she seemed to find. Sitting up on her knees in frustration, Mimi jerked when a drop of water landed on the back of her neck and rolled quickly down her spine. She looked around in confusion, then looked up just as another drop came from above, splashing right on her forehead. All around her, drops of water fell from the ceiling.

  She sighed as she realized that another rain storm was almost overhead. She got up and began pulling out the pots and pans she’d used for the last cloud burst, placing them as best she could under the holes and trying to line up the containers with the splashing water. When she went out to retrieve one of the larger tubs to dump the collected water in, her eyes went immediately to her laundry, still hanging on the clothesline.

  Oh! No!

  She started to step off the porch to retrieve them. When she realized they were still so wet that the rain wouldn’t make them any wetter, she let it go, watching all of her clothes hang limply in the increasingly heavy rain. The bed quilt in the front yard was not only soaked, but getting muddy too. That she could remedy, and she ran out front and retrieved the quilt, flipping it over and tossing it over the burnt-out tree that still stood in the front yard, letting the rain wash the spots of rust-colored mud and remaining soap out of the blanket.

  Dejected, she went back in the house to dry off but realized she didn’t have so much as a dish
towel to dry off with. All of her clothes and every bit of linen was outside in the rain. She swore not to let something as silly as screwing up her laundry get her down.

  Instead, she pulled the giant tub that she’d washed the clothes in into the house, positioning it near enough to the sink and stove to fill it with heated water. She grabbed the remaining tubs off the back porch and filled them, setting them on the stove to heat.

  It took long enough, but Mimi finally had enough boiling water and enough tap water combined in the large tub to take a decent bath. She lowered herself into the tub and immediately felt herself relax. She soaped herself in slow, smooth circles, letting her mind wander to the way Gabriel had touched her last night, remembering the delicious way he had connected with her.

  With the hot water moving around her skin and the rain drumming against the roof, Mimi drifted off to sleep only to wake some time later with a painful crick in her neck from leaning against the metal edge of the tub, her knees painfully sore from staying bent for too long. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep, but the water had turned terrifyingly cold, as had the rest of her cabin.

  Looking around frantically for something to dry off with, her eyes rested on the burlap curtain that covered the closet. Stepping out of the tub and tiptoeing carefully across the floor, Mimi took the curtain off the nails that held it in place and shook it out the best that she could, dismayed when clouds of dust flew up into the air.

  So much for my bath, she thought miserably as she wrapped the dusty curtain around her body, rubbing her arms to get warm. She went back over to the stove and turned on both stove eyes, grateful that the previous owner had gone with electric as she held her wrinkle pruned hands over the heat coming off it.

  As Mimi stepped outside to grab some firewood from the covered back porch, she looked at the sky and saw no signs of the rain letting up. It took her several tries, but she was finally able to get a fire going in the small fireplace and soon curled up next to it to try to get warm.

  By bed time, the rain was still coming down with a vengeance. She had eaten her dinner still huddled by her fireplace, wrapped in her sad little curtain. All that was left was to make up a bed near the fireplace and try to stay warm. She pushed the small couch over closer to the heat, as close as she dared without fear that it would go up in flames, and arranged the couch cushions on the floor to try funnel more heat in her direction. She stacked more wood on the hearth next to the fireplace, and cried herself to sleep.

  By morning, the rain had lightened somewhat to a hazy drizzle, and Mimi kept looking out the windows for any sign of a sun that could come out and dry her clothes. She thought about running out and grabbing something off the line to wear still wet, hoping her body heat would dry it eventually, but the distance between the porch and the clothes was practically a lake, mud oozing here and there around the standing water.

  Instead, she busied herself at her computer all morning, checking emails and searching for information online while still wrapped in her curtain.

  By nightfall, the rain that had come and gone throughout the day had finally left, leaving a delicious, fresh smell behind. If she hadn’t been so forlorn and cold, Mimi would have loved to wrap up in heavy blankets and sit on her porch, maybe even sleep out there all night, breathing in the pure air. Instead, she spent another sad night on the floor by the fireplace, waking every hour or so to add more wood.

  At some time during the night Mimi thought she heard a noise, and her heart leapt hopefully with the possibility that Gabriel had finally come to check on her. She pushed that thought away when she remembered that he would never come inside, and began to hope instead that it wasn’t another raccoon.

  In the morning, she felt her eyes fill as she cried real tears of relief at the sight of the sun coming up over the rocky walls that ringed the valley. She ran outside naked and felt the clothing on the line, relieved that most of it was only very damp and not still completely soaked. Maybe once the sun rose all the way up and dried things off, she’d have something to put on by bed time, and be able to sleep in an actual bed with real sheets and everything.

  “Why are you standing in your yard stark naked and crying?” Gabriel asked, his voice back to that same emotionless tone.

  Mimi jumped at the sound of his voice and ducked under the clothes line, hiding herself behind the laundry. “What are you doing here?” she demanded. “And why do you keep sneaking up on me?”

  He didn’t answer, obviously waiting for his question to be explained since he had asked his first.

  “If you have to know, I’m crying because I’m happy that it’s stopped raining, and I’m naked because all of my clothes are wet,” she said patiently, sniffling and wiping her nose in an unladylike way on the back of her hand. “Are you happy now?”

  “Why would you wash all of your clothes at once? What would you do if it rained?” he asked, apparently not taking in the situation.

  “Well, duh, as a matter of fact that’s exactly what happened. I washed all of my clothes two days ago, and have been freezing to death ever since.”

  “Yeah. You shouldn’t do that again,” he replied flatly, eyeing the quilt where it hung over the dead tree. “Your delivery is almost here.”

  “What delivery?” Mimi asked, confused.

  “The roofing supplies.”

  “Oh crap! I forgot about that! I got so upset over the rain and the laundry that I forgot I told them to bring them. Shoot!” Mimi dashed from the laundry line to the backdoor, hoping to sprint fast enough that Gabriel wouldn’t get much of a view, only to find that it was still locked from the inside. She rested her head against the closed door and shut her eyes, opening and closing her fists again. Holding her head up high and squaring her shoulders, she walked proudly around the side of the house, right past Gabriel’s gaze, and went to the front door. She stepped inside and closed it behind her, then heard the strangest, most amazing sound, a sound that stopped her in her tracks and made her cock her ear, not certain she was really hearing it.

  Gabriel laughed. An honest, real laugh bellowed out from deep inside his chest.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The nonstop banging of Gabriel’s hammer against the roof over Mimi’s head was about to drive her mad. She couldn’t very well complain since he’d been at it for two days, staying up there for hours at a time, working away, but every time the hammer hit its mark she wanted to scream.

  Mimi had tried hanging out outside the cabin during the process, even taking her laptop out into the outdoors, but the rock formations on every side of her echoed the hammering, making her hear double the number of blows. Somehow, it was actually quieter inside the cabin as he worked.

  She moved through the cabin, avoiding the little drifts of sawdust that fell as he worked, stepping around piles of wood chunks that had fallen in. As she moved through the kitchen and into the living room, she heard a very distinct sound: “Psst.”

  Mimi looked up and saw Gabriel looking at her through the hole where a roof slat belonged. He stared at her for a minute, then slowly smiled. He had to have known the effect it had on her, and she appreciated how much effort it took. She smiled back, then on a whim, she slid the fabric of her button up shirt aside, flashing him some skin briefly. He raised his eyebrows, watching her, so Mimi grew more bold. She began to undo the buttons one at a time, looking up at him and biting her lip as she did so.

  That’s one way to get the hammering to stop, Mimi thought smugly, glad that she had this kind of power over Gabriel. He watched intently as she opened her shirt all the way, revealing her breasts before running her hands over them and tracing her dark nipples with her fingertips.

  Gabriel swallowed as he watched Mimi move. When she looked up and saw the need on his face, she smiled and started removing more of her clothes for him, dancing lightly as she stepped out of her jeans, then slowly inching down the see through fabric of her underwear before stepping out of the delicate lace panties.

  When she was
naked, Mimi stretched out on the floor beneath Gabriel, giving him the best view. She kept a hand on one of her large breasts, massaging it with an achingly slow rhythm and teasing her nipple into a hard point, while the other hand slid down her flat stomach and reached the soft hair above her mound. She teasingly traced circles around her sex, watching Gabriel’s face silently as she put on a show just for him. His breath caught when she dipped one long finger inside herself, sliding it in and out.

  Finally, Mimi beckoned to Gabriel with one crooked finger, inviting him to take over where she’d left off. She saw him struggle with what he wanted, the desire to feel her and taste her again fighting with his primal need for safety above all else.

  When Mimi realized with horror that she’d been hinting for him to come inside, her expression softened and she immediately jumped up to run to the door, snatching a blanket off the back of the couch as she did.

  Gabriel met her halfway, coming down from the roof and grabbing her in his arms as she reached the edge of the porch. He lifted her up so her legs were around his waist, kissing her roughly, passionately. He held her tightly with one hand as he fumbled for his zipper with the other, and soon enough was sliding inside her, pressing her against the wall of the house as he brought her to the very edge of ecstasy. He continued to thrust into her, harder and deeper, long after finding his own release, patiently giving her what she needed to experience her own pleasure.

  Afterward, Gabriel held her in his arms and kissed her tenderly, smoothing away the animalistic, aggressive passion from only a few minutes before. When Mimi could stand, she smiled at Gabriel and sauntered into the house, daring him to follow her.

  Back inside and back in her clothes, Mimi noticed the hammering didn’t start back up. She looked out through the window and caught the last glimpse of Gabriel off in the distance, just as he disappeared from sight. Instead of returning to work on the roof, he’d left, something that would have been insulting to Mimi if she hadn’t already begun to understand and even anticipate his strange ways.