BootsandPromises (2 page)

Ella's belly tightened, her thighs
twitching, her core aching for more of Jesse. "Please," she begged.

"Please what?" he asked,
his breath blowing over her dampened nipple.

"Enough foreplay, fuck me
already."

He shook his head, his fingers
stroking the curly hairs at the apex of her thighs like a man would stroke the
fur of a kitten. "Patience, little one." He bent to take the other
nipple between his lips, sucking it fully into his mouth, pulling hard as his
fingers slipped between her slick folds.

Ella raised her knees, digging her
heels into the mattress, sharp tingling sensations starting in her toes and
spreading upward.

He knew what she liked—slow steady
strokes, his fingers dipping lower, pushing into her pussy for the lubricating
moisture of her juices. Then he slid back to the nubbin of skin that contained
a myriad of nerve endings, each twitching, firing off electric pulses.

Ella reached down to cup his hand,
shoving it lower to push his fingers deep into her cunt. She writhed beneath
him, soon too frustrated with the fingers and eager for his full, thick cock.

"Fuck me now, cowboy," she
cried, squirming beneath him, her fingers threading through his hair, pulling
him upward.

He held his ground, refusing to
rise to her demand. "Not until you're there."

"I'm so close, so very
close." And she wanted that most intimate of connections, with him driving
deep inside her, filling all the places that would soon be empty. A sob rose up
her throat, threatening to chill her arousal.

"Then you only need a little
more of this." With the tip of his finger drenched in her come, he flicked
her clit, starting slow and building up speed until the tingling in her toes
became all-consuming explosions of her senses throughout her body.

Her back arched off the bed. Ella
grabbed his hand and held it still as she catapulted over the edge, her body
jerking with the orgasm’s intensity.

He took the condom from her
nerveless fingers, slipped it over his dick in a quick, sure movement, one he'd
done so many times before in the months they'd been living together.

Heat continued to surge low in her
belly, her pussy drenched in lubricating come.

Jesse rose to his knees, turned her
over and brought her up on all fours and then plunged in, riding her like a
bronco buster at a rodeo, slapping her ass just the way she liked. He
stiffened, his hands on her hips gripping so hard, his fingers dug into her
flesh. One final thrust and he pulled free. "Oh God, Ella, I don't think
I'll ever get enough of you," he said on a sigh.

He collapsed on the bed, his arms wrapping
around her.

Ella snuggled close, drinking in
the beauty of him, the strength and kindness, the raw sexual machine. She
wanted to remember every detail.

For a few long minutes, they lay in
each other's arms, body heat cooling, breathing returning to normal.

Ella relaxed against him, pushing
to the back of her mind that their time together was limited.

Jesse smoothed a strand of hair out
of her face. "Ella, we need to talk."

"Did you hear from home
today?" she asked, hoping to sidetrack him from asking her
the
question, postponing it long enough for her to convince him to go back to
Texas.

He smiled. "Talked to Gabe,
today."

"How're your brothers and
sister?"

"Missing us, but fine."

Her heart skipped several beats as
she contemplated her next words. "Jesse, that brings up a good
point."

"Yes, it does," he
agreed.

Ella gulped air and jumped in.
"Good. Then you agree, you should go home."

"What?" He leaned back
enough to stare into her eyes. "Where did that thought come from?"

"I've been thinking..."

Jesse smiled. "Female
thinking?"

She shrugged. He liked to tease her
about some of her ideas, especially when it came to reading his mind. Which she
could rarely do. "I work a lot and we rarely see each other. Plus, you've
been here for two months and have yet to find any job that suits you." She
touched a hand to the side of his face, her breath tight in her chest.
"It's not fair for me to want to keep you here. Texas is your home."

He captured her hand in his and turned
up her palm, pressing a kiss inside. "I want to be here with you. I've
been working on something. I'm sure it'll come through soon. Just you wait and
see." He gave her a half-smile, his eyes twinkling. "I love you, Ella."

She closed her eyes, knowing what she
had to do and that task wasn't going to be easy. Not when she loved him so
much. "Jesse, I need to concentrate on my work. If I want to make it as a
performer, I can't be tied down, worrying about someone else. I need to be free
to come and go, without concern for another person. I can't do that with you
here. You need to go home." She forced out the words with as much
conviction as she could instill without breaking down and sobbing.

Jesse's brows furrowed. "Are
you telling me that what we have between us means nothing to you?"

She could see the hurt in his
chocolate brown eyes and hated herself for lying to him, even if doing so was
for his own good. Ella shook her head, tears welling in her eyes, but she
refused to let them fall. She had to keep up the pretense long enough to
convince Jesse he wasn't wanted in New York City anymore. "I'll always
love you, but now just isn't the right time for us. I have to work long hours,
you can't find work and, you said so yourself, your family misses you. I want
you to go back to Texas where you belong. You should leave tomorrow."

"I thought I belonged with
you.” A broad fingertip brushed hair over her ear. “The job situation will work
itself out. I'll find something sooner than you think."

"No, Jesse. You don't fit in
here. You're a cowboy, used to wide-open countryside and working with the
horses and cattle. You don't belong here."

His frown deepened. "I told
you, I'll make it work."

"You shouldn't have to. You
belong
in Texas. I know you miss your family and your horse." She leaned her
forehead on his chest, her heart hurting so badly, she thought it would stop.

"I love you more than my
horse, Ella." He pulled her close, his arms like iron bands.

She wanted him to hold her forever,
forget all she'd said and just love her. "Tomorrow," she whispered
and looked up at him through tear-filled eyes.

 He stared, his mouth opened then
closed. "Are you sure that's how you want it?"

Ella nodded, unable to speak at
that point, afraid if she opened her mouth, she'd break into sobs, taking back
everything she'd said.

"Can I at least think about it
and give you my answer tomorrow?"

Ella didn't think she could take
another conversation like this one, but she nodded.

"Is it okay if I stay tonight
and hold you one last time?" he whispered into her hair.

Her arms circled his waist, and she
hugged him close, her eyes dry, her heart in ruins. She'd just asked the only
man she ever loved to leave. How would she go on in this big, lonely city full
of strangers without her cowboy?

For the rest of the night, she lay
in his arms, afraid to sleep and miss even a moment more with Jesse. When
morning dawned, Ella had to get up and go to rehearsal.

Jesse rose before her and had
breakfast waiting on the tiny dinette table. He didn't meet her gaze, his face,
dark and brooding.

When the time came to leave, her
hand froze on the doorknob. She couldn't twist it.

Jesse stepped up behind her and
gripped her shoulders, turning her in his arms. Then with the familiar
tenderness he always showed, he kissed her, his lips moving over hers as if she
was a delicate flower whose petals he could only sip from. His arms circled Ella's
waist and he crushed her to his chest.

Ella clung to him, her breathing
ragged, sobs rising up her throat.

After a long moment, he tipped up her
chin. "Meet me at the corner of Central Park South and 5th Avenue at noon,
during your lunch break."

She stared at him, searching for a
clue in his expression, reluctant to commit.

He shook her arms gently.
"Promise?"

Afraid she'd fall apart, Ella could
only nod. Then she tore herself away and ran through the door without looking
back.

That day at rehearsal, she
stumbled, forgot lines, and cried when she should have laughed.

The director threw the script at her
and called for a two-hour lunch break. "Come back with your head screwed
on straight, or don't come back at all."

Mortified, Ella slinked away from
the theater, sure she'd be fired by the end of the day and not caring one bit.
After walking for several blocks, she realized she'd lost the most important
person in her life and beyond that, acting was so inconsequential it didn't
matter anymore. At that point she began to run. Only the distance was too far
to run all the way to Central Park and make it by noon.

Racing to the corner, Ella tried
waving down a taxi, but every last one was full. Frantic now, she stepped in
front of a bicycle courier and almost made him wreck.

"I'll give you..." She
dug in her pocket for her last two twenties. "Forty dollars to get me to
Central Park by noon."

His lips turned down into a grimace.
"Are you crazy? It's already eleven fifty-five. I'd barely make it riding
alone."

She held up the bills. "Forty
bucks says you can get me there."

The cyclist hesitated, staring at
the two twenties. After ten agonizing seconds, he scooted down off his seat and
jerked his head backward. "You can have the seat. Hold on tight, I'll be
making some tight corners."

Ella jumped on, wrapped her arms
around his skinny waist and prayed as he pushed out into the insane Manhattan
traffic.

The courier pumped the pedals like
a maniac, his body rising and falling, his weight adding thrust to their
forward motion. Soon they were zipping between stalled taxis stuck in gridlock,
bumped up on sidewalks when they had to, and narrowly missed being struck by
vehicles running red lights. Horns honked, drivers cursed and breath lodged
tight in her chest, Ella saw her life pass before her eyes more times than she
cared to count.

At noon, they crossed Central Park
South, wove through the pedestrians and stopped at Grand Army Plaza. Ella
cursed the bright sunny day that brought New Yorkers out by the thousands for a
chance to escape their dreary offices. How was she supposed to find Jesse in
the crowd?

The courier snatched the twenties she
held out and kicked off, heading back in the direction he'd come, claiming he
was late for a delivery.

Ella glanced at her watch. She'd
missed the time by five minutes. Would he have waited or decided she wasn't
coming and left?

After pushing her way through the
crowd on either side of the corner for half a block, Ella worked her way back
to lean against the base of the golden statue of General Sherman, her hopes
diminishing by the second, her heart breaking into a thousand pieces. She
didn't have time now to go back to their apartment and check for him there. Her
feet dragged along the concrete. She'd miss afternoon practice all together.

So?

Ella straightened and was about to
run toward the street and throw herself in front of a taxi when a stir in the
crowd captured her attention. People stopped and pointed toward the park behind
her, their eyes round, smiles lighting their faces.

Though in a hurry, she chanced a
quick glance over her shoulder and ground to a halt.

Four mounted patrolmen approached
on horseback. They stopped within twenty feet of Ella, leaving space for a
fifth rider to pass between.

Riding a dappled gray gelding that
looked suspiciously like Paddy and wearing the navy blue uniform of a New York
City police officer, Jesse James O'Brien pulled off his helmet as he reined in
his mount.

Ella couldn't catch her breath. Her
heart skipped several beats then settled into a rapid, raucous rhythm, and she
thought she might hyperventilate. "Jesse?"

He smiled, dismounted and closed
the distance between them. He didn't touch her or hold her.

Every fiber of Ella's being wanted
to throw herself into his arms and call herself every kind of fool for telling
him to go home, but all she could do was stand there and stare. In a uniform or
jeans and cowboy hat, he was the most handsome man she'd ever met.

"What's all this?" she
asked, her words coming out in a breathless squeak. She waved at his uniform
and the other men on horseback.

"Last night I tried to tell
you, but you seemed hell bent on sending me away, instead." His shoulders
straightened and he stood tall. "I found a job."

"You did?" Her words were
short, breathy. "How? When?"

"I'd been working on it for
weeks. Did I mention I have family here in New York City?"

Ella nodded, vaguely remembering
he'd come from a long line of Irish immigrants who'd landed on Ellis Island.

"They helped me get an
interview and start my training. This," he waved at the uniform and Paddy,
"is only temporary until I complete all the requirements. But I wanted
this day to be special, so they helped me out."

Ella touched the dappled gray's
nose. "How did you get Paddy here?"

Jesse grinned. "Gabe brought
him all the way from Texas." He looked back over his shoulder and waved.

Gabe O'Brien stepped out from
beneath the shadow of a tree and lifted a hand.

Too stunned to speak, Ella shook her
head.

"I was waiting for Paddy to
arrive." Jesse reached out and held her hand. "I wanted to surprise
you."

"But why all the
secrecy?"

He chuckled. "I knew you
thought I couldn't fit in, but I wanted to have proof, to show you that I
could. I have family and I have my horse and a job." He dropped down on
one knee. "The only thing I don't have is you." He pulled the little blue
box from his pocket and held it out. "If you still don't want me to go
home, would you consider marrying this New York City cowboy and putting him out
of his misery? I've missed you for five long hours. I don't know if I can go
another five minutes without knowing you’re in my life. Will you be my wife?"