Page 68 of Vaquero
Julio would never tell how many times Bianca had denigrated him. The truth he’d lived with had become clearer to him now that he’d found Meg. Bianca had been an abusive woman. Throughout their marriage, he’d been nothing but her faithful dog. A whipping boy. He’d taken her verbal assault because he’d loved her, and he’d prayed that someday, she’d love him, too. But now he knew better. Bianca had loved herself even more than her only child.
“You weren’t any more happily married than I was, were you?” Meg asked, her fingers tracing his collarbone.
Pride kept Julio from speaking evil of his wife. He was not a backstabbing gossip. “It is best to let the past go,” he offered evenly. “Someday, I might tell you a story, but for now…” He thrust his hips forward. “Let’s focus on what we have here.
The sexiest smile curled her lips. “I like what we have here,mi amigo. I like it a lot. Please... Let’s do what we just did again. Maybe a couple more times?”
A grin nearly broke his face then. Yes, broke, because he hadn’t smiled that hard in so long. His cheeks felt cracked at the same time they felt soothed by joy. He was exposed and vulnerable, yet reborn at the same time. This genuine, giving woman made him stronger. Meg was the second chance he’d been searching for.
“Gracias,” he whispered to God and to Meg, to every one of the guardian angels watching over him. His mother. His ornery maternal grandmother. Even sweet, innocent Tomas. They’d always been there. They were all that had kept him going these last dismal years, and now, they had led him to Meg.
The sassy woman with her legs spread beneath him whispered seductively, “You’re welcome.”
That did it. Taking a deep breath, Julio angled his head and kissed the unrepentant angel in his arms. He tasted mint and Meg, his favorite combination.
With a heavy sigh into his mouth, she wrapped both arms around his neck and cocked her elbows behind his head. Her fingers raked carefully over his scalp. “Have you ever thought about letting your hair grow?”
“Me?” His gaze instantly fell to the crest of her shorn head. “I will if you will,” he murmured, his voice uncommonly deep and rough.
“It’s red, in case you didn’t already know. Chestnut, really.”
“I know,” he purred. “I looked.”
The sexiest blush blossomed up Meg’s neck and over her cheeks. Everything with the world according to Julio was good again. He’d lived through several levels of Hell, but now he’d found heaven inside Meg’s strong, determined arms. Inside her generous, loving heart. Against her ample breasts. Despite her limitations, she’d still become the most selfless woman he’d ever known, one who had courageously devoted her life to protecting motherless children.
It was too soon and too fast, but Julio knew he was falling in love. That was his downfall with Bianca, falling too soon. Giving his heart away too quickly, before he’d truly understood the woman he’d thought he’d loved. But this time was different. For starters, Meg loved children, not rocks. She had a heart of gold. Real gold. The kind that paved the streets of heaven. Not fool’s gold, the kind that lined pockets of greedy men and women on earth.
Her magnificent breasts heaved against him with a satisfied sigh, but all the talk had relaxed him. He pulled out, not giving their protection a chance to fail. Pinching the neck of the condom tightly, he asked, “How many of these do you have?”
Growling, she cupped his head between her hands again and grinned like a naughty little girl. “I bought a whole box! They were on sale at NEX, and I bought new clothes for my kids, some for me, too.”
Her enthusiasm made him smile. An aircraft carrier was a floating city, complete with Navy Exchange stores, where sailors or military veterans could grab haircuts, Starbucks coffees, as well as shop for clothing, shoes, souvenirs, even flowers when available.
“By the time I get back from the head,” he told her, “I want you out of those panties and ready for more.”
She giggled. “Hurry back!”
Julio shoved off the bed and padded across the small berth to the head. He loved the tinkling notes of music within her laugh. Even that was freely given, like sunshine. Like rain. His eyes were finally open. He was seeing a whole new world, and it was beautiful. It was Meg.
