How to Rope a McCoy (Hell Yeah!) (27 page)

“Not
possible,” Heath said and meant it.

*  *  *

“Heath,
if lawyers get disbarred do cowboys get deranged?”

Heath
turned to look at Zane to see if he’d lost his mind. The sly grin on his lawyer
friend’s face made him smile, something he hadn’t done enough of. “You might
find out soon. I feel like I’m approaching my breaking point.”

“Well,
don’t go off the deep-end yet. I think I have some good news.”

“What
is it? I could use some.”

“I
think we’re going to get the judge I wanted, Judge Harry Prescott. And the best
part is that Ten and Bowie have unearthed what may have been an eyewitness to
Smith’s murder.”

“What?”
Heath couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yes,
while they were hunting the individual who shot at you the other day, they came
upon a man named Ray Faulk. He’s a hermit, reclusive type who lives out near
Silver Creek.”

“A
squatter?”

“A
squatter you might be glad to have.” Heath motioned for Zane to continue. “He
says he was up on the ridge and saw Smith making his way toward the mine. He also
heard a gunshot and saw him go down.”

“Why
didn’t he report it?”

“Faulk
is anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-police and anti-banking. He said
he checked to see if he was dead and he was but that he didn’t want to get
involved or killed, so he left.”

“Why
did he tell
Ten
anything?”

“Well,
Ten and Bowie rescued Faulk’s dog, he’d fallen down a shaft and the old man was
mourning himself to death. Bowie rappelled down and brought the terrier up and
Faulk was grateful, hence he answered Ten’s questions.”

“But
he didn’t see who shot, did he?”

“No,
but we have an exact time and now we can use that time to build a case that
Philip was nowhere around the ranch. All we need to do is find someone who can
verify he was on the UT campus at the time of the murder.”

“Hot
damn!” Heath was relieved.

“Now,
this doesn’t get us entirely off the hook, but it sure as hell gives us
something to work with. And remember, I have that contact at the precinct.
Anytime there’s a dispatch or an arrest or if I need information on a vehicle
or a source, I call Ava.”

“Thank
you, thank you.” Heath shook Zane’s hand. “And thank Ava for me.”

“Hey,
don’t thank me, thank Ten, Bowie and that dog. But I will tell Ava.”

“What
about
Arness
? Have we stopped that court order?”

“Yea,
I have an injunction prepared but you may have to take it down to San Antonio.
It needs to go before the Energy Commission. Plus, your father is putting
together a statement about the mineral rights and we’ve got some people out
searching some of the old courthouse records.”

“I’ll
be glad to do it, just name the day.” He picked up a sofa pillow and began
squeezing it. “You know, we lost so much in Katrina. The document might have
been at Belle Chasse.”

“Your
father doesn’t ever remembering seeing it, he just knows what his father told
him.” Zane explained.

“Damn.
What are we going to do?”

“We’ve
either got to find it or prove the documents
Arness
has are forged.”

“Heath!”
Pepper’s voice called from the doorway. “Jaxson needs to see you.” Her voice
sounded funny.

“Be
right there.” Heath left Zane and hurried to his brother’s room. Tapping on the
door, he waited until he heard Jaxson’s voice telling him to enter.

“Hey,
what’s up, buddy?” He went in, alarmed at the fact Jaxson seemed to have lost
weight in the short hours since he’d seen him.

“I’ve
made a decision.”

“What’s
that?” God, did he want to hear this?

“I
want to go away for a while.”

“Go
away?” Shit.

“Yea,
I’m feeling smothered here. I know Olivia means well, but I just can’t handle
it.”

“Where
will you go?”

“I’ve
rented a little place down around San Marcos on the Comal River. I just need
some space.”

Heath
shook his head. “I don’t know how you’ll make it. How will you—”

“Look,
Heath.” Jaxson rolled forward in the wheelchair. “I’ve got to get out of this thing
and on crutches or an artificial leg or something, and I can’t do it here.”

“Why
not?”

“Everyone
hovers too damn much!” Jaxson spit out. “Besides, I don’t need your
permission.”

“No,
you don’t.” Heath conceded. “I just worry.”

“Well,
don’t.” Jaxson slashed his hand through the air. “It’s time I stood on my own
two…” He paused. “FUCK!”

His
own two feet.

Heath
understood.

“We’re
here for you, you know that.”

“I
know,” Jaxson whispered. “But I need to be alone.”

Heath
put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

One
step forward, two steps back. That’s how he felt. God, he needed Cato.

*  *  *

Heath
picked her up bright and early on Saturday morning. “Hey, beautiful!” He
greeted her.

She
met him with a sweet kiss. Her lips opened to his and he dipped inside. “I’m so
glad to see you.”

“Me
too.” He closed the door on Old Red and went to get in on his side. “Where to?”

“South
toward Corpus Christi.” She announced with a grin.

“Road-trip!”
He loved it. “Let’s just have a good time and leave our worries here.”

“Sounds
good to me.”

He
let his eyes move over her. “You look good enough to eat, sugar.” And she did,
she had on a bright red sundress with strappy white sandals. That waterfall of
hair was bouncing around and if he wasn’t going blind, she was braless. Unable
to help himself, Heath reached over and flicked the hard point of a nipple that
was poking through the thin cloth of her bodice. “Damn, baby. Do you have
panties on?”

“Not
a shred.” Without blinking an eye, she lifted her skirt and flashed him.

Heath
almost ran off the road.

“Fuck.”

“Sorry,
you need to concentrate on your driving. We have quite a ways to go.”

“Where?”
The only place he wanted to go was to bed.

“We’re
heading to Kingsville, we have a couple of stops there, then we’re staying at a
beachside B&B where I’m going to give you head in the surf.”

By
this time, Heath was speechless. His cock was laying a full-out assault against
his zipper.

“Sound
good?” she asked, wondering at his silence. “I bought you a surprise.” Cato
offered as enticement.

“You’re
too good to me.” He put his hand on her knee. “Spread your legs.”

“What?
You’re driving.”

“I
can handle it. I may be steering the truck, but you’re driving me crazy.”

Cato
shivered with excitement. Pulling her skirt up, she opened her legs. “Maybe we
need a towel, I’ll get your seat wet.”

“Like
I care?” he asked. “The evidence of your desire for me on Old Red would be a
badge of honor.”

“What
are you going to do?”

“Just
play a bit.” He put his palm on her knee and skated his hand up a smooth, silky
path to her thigh.

“I
wish I were thinner for you.”

Her
voice was small. Heath slowed down so he could make eye contact. He glanced in
the rearview, there was nothing coming. “Thinner? Why in the hell would you say
that? I like you just the way you are.”

She’d
been about to protest some more when he slid his hand up her thigh and cupped
her mound. “Oh, my goodness,” she breathed.

“Scoot
down in the seat farther.”

Magic.
His fingers were magic. “I may pass out.”

“You
like that, don’t you, baby?” God, she was sweet. Her little pussy was coating
his fingertips with honey.

She
couldn’t answer him, she had her eyes closed and her face was a picture of pure
euphoria. “Damn.” He couldn’t stand it. They hadn’t gone far, he’d taken US 281
toward San Antonio. Looking ahead, he saw a dirt road they could pull down.

“You’re
stopping?”

 “Hell,
yes. I want to do this right.”

Going
far enough down they couldn’t be seen from the highway, Heath pulled into a
close copse of cedars. Cato didn’t have to be convinced. She was so wet, her
juice was running down her thigh. “Oh, please, yes. How?”

Slamming
his seat back as far as it would go, Heath unbuckled, unzipped and pushed his
pants down, then reached for her hand. “Come here, get in my lap,
straddle
me.”

Cato
felt awkward, but she allowed him to help her. He scooted out from under the
wheel, more to the center of the seat and she sat across his lap facing him,
both knees in the seat on either side of his thighs. “This is exciting,” she
murmured.

“Never
had so much fun in my life,” Heath admitted, hastily untying her sundress. “I’m
so excited my fingers are shaking.” When he’d gotten enough of her uncovered to
pull her camisole down, he gently coaxed her breasts from their confinement. “I
lie in bed at night and dream of touching you, sucking you.” Bending over, he
began to suckle at her nipple while rubbing the jealous twin between his
fingers.

Cato
keened. “How do you make me want you so much?”

Heath
didn’t stop kissing her tits to answer her, he didn’t know how. He was blessed
was all he knew.

Wrapping
her arms around Heath’s neck, she kissed his face, his throat, nipping the
flesh while she trembled. When she scooted up to get closer to him, she
discovered the movement caused her clit to rub deliciously over the hard bulge
in his pants. So, she repeated the process, and repeated it. “Oh, God,” she
moaned, looking him in the eye.

Holding
her was like trying to hang on to lightning, she was literally shimmering in
his arms. “You’re fucking amazing, did you know that?” Tugging her forward,
Heath cupped her nape and joined their lips. As he let his tongue dance in her
mouth, he slipped his hand to her sex and began to tease her wet folds while
his thumb circled her clit. “Sweet, so sweet.”

Cato
hummed her pleasure, she was high on this man—he was her drug of choice.
Coherent thinking was beyond her. She cared for nothing but Heath and how he
made her feel. He was driving her mad! His mouth was never still. He kissed her
everywhere—her lips, her breasts, her neck. “Heath!” she exclaimed when he
nuzzled her neck and nipped her collarbone, and all the time his fingers played
in her pussy, rubbing, caressing, stroking.

“Come
for me, baby,” he urged.

“I
want you inside of me. Please?”

How
could he deny her when he would be denying himself? Clasping her bottom, Heath
lifted her onto his cock.

Cato’s
fingers bit into his shoulder as he slowly lowered her, working his way into
her inch by glorious inch. “Oh, that feels so good,” she almost sobbed. “You’re
so hot and thick. I love it!” Cato buried her face in his neck.

Heath
couldn’t get enough. He watched her pussy accept his cock—impaling her was the
most erotic thing he’d ever witnessed. Everything about her was exquisite, from
her flushed, heaving tits to the look of rapture on her face. And she enjoyed
it, there was no pretense. Heath could feel her womanhood contracting around
him and every time she did it, she whimpered.

“Close?”

“Always,
with you.”

Shit.
Heath’s balls ached. He needed to fuck. Lifting her slightly, he rammed upward,
burying himself to the hilt.

“More!”
She screamed as ripples of ecstasy radiated out from her pussy.

Heath
let himself off the leash, pounding up into her over and over again in long,
hard driving thrusts. Cato wasn’t passive. She rode him, arching, throwing her
head back so her long hair tickled his thighs. But what nearly killed him was
what she did with her pussy—she massaged him, milked him, clenching and
unclenching around him until he thought he would die from pleasure. Pumping
faster, he drove both of them over the rim of sanity. She writhed in his arms,
the walls of her sheathe fluttering around his cock. Heath’s reaction was as
old as time—his balls tightened, his cock swelled and throbbed and he exploded
inside of Cato, flooding her with the warm jets of his cum.    

 Heath
held her close, allowing them both to regain their breath. “That was absolutely
unbelievable,” he whispered, then realized she had no idea he’d spoken.
Wordlessly he conveyed the same sentiment, stroking her back and kissing her
neck.

“Thank
you, Heath,” she finally spoke. “You are giving me the most wonderful
memories.”

A
pang of apprehension knifed through him. Setting her up, he spoke, “Let’s get
back on the road. I need to check on the family.” She untangled herself from
him and straightened her clothing. “Can I look in your glove box for napkins? I
need to clean up.”

He
opened it and pointed out some paper towels and even a couple of wipes from a
BBQ joint. “Help yourself.”

Always
considerate, she passed one to him first and they spent a few seconds getting
presentable.

“We’ve
still got a long way to go,” Cato observed.

“Yea,
but we’ll make good time when we get on the freeway.” While she fastened her
seat belt, he headed back to the main road and called Philip to check on
everyone, especially Jaxson.

Cato
kept her eyes straight ahead, not even attempting to read Heath’s lips while he
conversed with his family. She needed a few minutes to regroup and figure a
couple of things out. That she was getting in over her head was just reality.
Her heart was lost to Heath McCoy and she didn’t know if she’d ever get it
back. But whose fault was that? Surely not his. He’d been abundantly clear
about what she could expect from him. No, it was all her. She’d set her heart
on him, pursued him. She had no one to blame but herself.

Cato
had to smile thinking about the weekend she had planned for Heath. Would he
enjoy the things she’d chosen? She hoped so. When their time together was
finished, the only regret she wanted either of them to have, was saying
goodbye.