Godsend (Hell Yeah! Heritage), page 11
Jolie watched him with indulgence as he examined her breasts. He caressed them, moved his thumb over her nipples, his eyes so intent, his touch so gentle. Her skin was a pale gold color, but her nipples were dark. “Do I please you?” She knew she wasn’t as large as some women.
Austin bent to place a kiss in the valley between her breasts, then he skimmed his mouth up the slope of one globe, brushing his lips delicately over a tender bud. “You please me greatly.” His shaft was full to bursting. Tonight, he’d find solace between her legs, but he would put off that pleasure as long as he could stand it.
Jolie stroked his back, humbled that she could feel tremors in the big man’s body. “Kiss me, Austin.” She knew she wanted something, she just couldn’t define what.
“Gladly.” Instead of rising to claim her mouth, he opened wide and engulfed the tip of one of her breasts.
The action surprised Jolie, but a moment or two later, she fully understood. “Oh, my,” she whispered, closing her eyes in ecstasy.
This, this was wonderful.
As his lips continued to do amazing things, she held his head, threading her fingers through his hair. Jolie could feel every tug of his lips in the needy place between her thighs. As he suckled, her hips began to move – rhythmically – seeking.
Austin was hypnotized, so into loving Jolie that the sky could have fallen and he would have been none the wiser. Being with a woman was one of the wonders of creation, but lying with this one was the epitome of anything he could wish for or want. While he nourished himself at one breast, he caressed the other. Moving from one globe to its twin, as if he thought one might feel neglected. “Saints, be praised,” he whispered. He did not intend to neglect one spot on her body.
Jolie moved restlessly beneath him, her body demanding something she couldn’t define. “Austin,” she pleaded for him to succor her.
“I’m here, I’m here.” Right where he wanted to be. As he fed his endless hunger for her sweetness, he wondered how he’d be able to leave her now.
“Please,” she begged, opening her legs instinctively.
Knowing he needed to prepare her, Austin intended to use all the information he’d learned from the woman who’d tutored him. He trailed hot kisses from her breasts, over her flat, sleek middle and down to her delicate feminine treasure.
“What are you doing?” Jolie asked, her head raised, her eyes wide.
“Admiring what belongs to me,” Austin said as he knelt at her knees, his hands moving to spread wide her thighs. “Oh, honey,” he murmured, “look at you.”
Jolie looked, but all her eyes could see was him. But when he bent down and placed his lips on her… “Austin!” She almost levitated off the bed.
“Shhh, easy, love.” He grasped her hips and set out to fulfill his every desire. Austin moaned in gratitude, using his lips and tongue to satisfy his hunger and to raise her need for him to untold heights.
Jolie was mindless with pleasure, she held her legs as wide apart as butterfly wings, her hands in his hair, her hips moving – moans of ecstasy filling the air.
The way she responded to him, only made Austin want to give her more. He used his tongue to give her pleasure. His own manhood was deathly jealous, reminding and demanding to take part. Knowing his control was slipping, he sought to bring her to that point of complete surrender. Moving his mouth up, his lips found the small button, the place he’d been taught would make a woman mad with desire.
Shaking her head back and forth on the pillow, Jolie thought her body would take flight. Austin was doing unspeakably wonderful things. She couldn’t keep quiet, she couldn’t be still - - all she could do was accept and scream. “Austin!”
Hearing her crescendo, Austin rose over her. “I’m going to make you mine now, Jolie.”
She was already his, no one else would do. Still shaking from the wondrous joy he’d give her, Jolie welcomed him close.
He lay on top of her, reaching between them to place the head of his manhood at her tender opening. With great care, he pushed in, just a little way.
Jolie buried her face in his neck. She’d heard women talk, she knew this was supposed to cause a woman pain. “Take me, Austin. I’m ready.” Being one with him was so much more important than any discomfort. When he took her at her word, and moved a fraction more, she was amazed how big he felt. Wondering if her body could accommodate him, she braced herself by sinking her teeth into his neck.
Feeling Jolie’s passion, Austin sought to give her what they both craved. Drawing back, he thrust forward, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he assimilated the perfection of being contained fully within her body. Enveloped. Gloved. Surrounded by hot, wet velvet. “Jolie, I am undone!” He stilled, shaking with emotion. Years of abstinence, months of loneliness, the seeming sentence of a lonely existence was obliterated in one single shining moment of perfection.
Jolie stiffened. The shock of his invasion caused her to hold him even tighter. She scrunched her eyes closed, trying to absorb the reality of having him within her. A burning, stinging sensation made her want to cry, but she refused. This was Austin. This was what she’d longed for – she hadn’t known it would feel this way, but that was of little significance. Having him in her arms, knowing he was finding pleasure, knowing this was what a woman did for her husband, was the core reason for marriage – Jolie longed to be what Austin needed. Burying her face in his shoulder, she accepted his possession.
The need to move overwhelmed Austin. Flexing his hips, he pulled out slowly. When Jolie’s breath hitched, he bent to kiss her. What he found on her face caused him to freeze. “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” He shifted so he could hold her face in his hand, look into her eyes. “Baby?” His heart dipped. He had no experience with virgins, this subject hadn’t been covered in his schooling. “Jolie?” Raising up, he prepared to pull out of her, to move aside. His intention had never been to hurt her. Panic filled his heart. “I’m so sorry.”
Realizing what he was about to do, Jolie clutched him, stopping his movements. “No, don’t leave me. Stay right where you are.”
Austin was aghast at his actions. He should’ve taken greater care. And he was aghast that his stubborn member was still hard and aching to continue. “No, I will not be the cause of your pain.”
To Jolie’s surprise, the discomfort was fading. Being filled with him was still overwhelming, but it didn’t feel as if she was being torn asunder. “It doesn’t hurt as much. Please. I want this so badly.” She raised her head to kiss his chest. “I want you. Don’t stop.”
Resting on his elbows, Austin searched her face. “You tell me if you want me to stop.” Steeling his resolve, he forced himself to move slowly. Flexing his hips, he tried to be gentle, using his body to caress her, to convey the deep feelings that warmed his heart. He wanted her to enjoy this so much, he felt desperate to do anything to make her want him.
Jolie held on, the feel of him within her was so strange. She held his gaze, her arm holding his neck, her fingers tangled in his long mane. He was such a beautiful man. Giving him a tremulous smile, she was determined to like this, or at least give him the impression that she did. To show Austin that she was willing, Jolie moved her hips to meet his, her inner muscles contracting in an instinctual response to his possession. And when she did…she felt something that caused her to gasp.
Hearing the sounds she made, Austin stilled once more.
“No, don’t stop.” This time it wasn’t for his benefit, it was for hers. “It doesn’t hurt so much anymore…it feels…”
Unable to refuse the overwhelming urge of his body, Austin continued to pump inside of her. “How does it feel?” He prayed for her to want this.
Jolie arched her back, the hair on his chest rasping against her nipples. Every time he moved, every time she moved, she felt a delicious tugging. “Good,” she breathed, a little amazed at the truth of her statement. “Don’t stop.”
Her request was different, her words had a breathless quality that had been absent before. “Are you sure, Jolie?”
“Please.” Something was happening, something good. This was different than what she’d felt with him before…this was bigger.
An immense sense of relief swept over him, and Austin gave in to the impulse he was craving. Holding himself up, he began to move in earnest. He rode high on her body, encouraged by the look on her face, the way she lifted her legs to clasp his hips, the way her fingernails dug into his skin.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered. Instead of pain, now his every thrust gave her pleasure. A growing unnamed need, an unanswered question seemed to rise like a wave inside of her. She was filled now, that hunger was appeased. But now…now she sought fulfillment, an aching growing appetite for an unidentified pleasure. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Jolie crossed her feet behind his hips and lifted her body, giving herself completely over to him.
Joy coursed through Austin. Seeing and feeling her acceptance, he unleashed the tenuous grasp he’d held on his control. Over and over, he thrust inside of her, pumping his hips, his jaw tense. His growing need for release was only trumped by his desire to please her. “Are you close?”
Jolie tried to form words, she felt like she was trying to hold onto the strings of a kite she’d once seen Charlotte fly at Oak Hill. The beautiful object had caught the wind and threatened to lift the girl off her feet. Jolie felt that same buoyant wind pulling and tugging, a building energy that made her feel wound as tight as a top. “Close to what?” she managed, wanting only to continue in her quest for a golden prize she couldn’t define.
Even amidst his rapture, Austin had to smile. His innocent darling, so accepting of his male hunger, yet so untouched – except by him. From now on, always only by him. “You’ll know, this is like before,” he whispered. “As I love you,” he spaced his words, punctuated by his sinking into her softness, “you’ll feel a desperate need to fling yourself off the edge of the world.” He felt his own crisis approaching. “And when you do, don’t fight it, open yourself up and fly.”
Jolie didn’t exactly comprehend what he was saying, but his words did accurately describe the wave cresting inside of her. A seemingly vital craving ate at her, fueling the near frantic writhing of her body as she clamored for… “Austin!” she screamed as the wave broke and crashed into her, sending her spiraling into space. The winding popped, releasing an explosion of bright, hot color behind her eyes. Jolie felt like she was floating, rising into the very clouds of heaven. “So good,” she whimpered. She’d loved what they’d done in bed earlier, but this time he was inside of her and that made all the difference.
For the first time, Austin understood what it meant to share another’s pleasure. Achieving his own goal was critical, but experiencing Jolie’s ecstasy was out of this world. When she reached her pinnacle, when she melted beneath him, he couldn’t have held back if he’d wanted to. He gave one last powerful thrust and then let go, his seed shooting out in powerful pulses. “Jolie, my Jolie,” he shouted, every muscle froze, his eyes closed in absolute ecstasy.
Finding her own calm, Jolie watched Austin’s face. To see this powerful man so overcome by something she’d given him was incredulous. Jolie ran her hands up and down his arms, wanting and needing the connection with him. She echoed his question. “Feel good?”
Austin collapsed, unmindful at the moment that he might crush her.
Jolie gloried in his weight pressing her down into the mattress.
“Heaven.” Austin sighed. “You took me to the gates of heaven.”
After their lovemaking, Austin once more tenderly cleaned her up, this time finding blood on the rag. The sight made him feel territorial. “You’re mine now,” he told her. “I’ve claimed you. No priest has heard our banns, but we are one now. Our union has been consummated.” He’d returned to their bed, pulling her into his arms.
Jolie sighed. “I’m not about to try and get away. There’s nowhere else I want to be.” That she had no other place to go was irrelevant, even if she did, this was where she belonged.
During the night, he came to her again and again. His hunger for her seemed insatiable, and each time she met him with equal delight.
Austin’s happiness knew no bounds.
* * *
The next day, they lingered in the bed later than usual, unwilling to part from one another’s embrace. When they finally did rise, Jolie busied herself preparing food to break their fast. Austin began to gather his clothes and items he’d need to take on his journey.
Sandy seemed to understand that he’d be leaving, following him and whining his concern.
“You’ll be staying here,” Austin informed the hound. “You have to take care of our Jolie.”
Jolie smiled. To think she might have missed this, ran in another direction, passed by without knowing this man even existed. A shiver rocked her body. Unthinkable. She couldn’t imagine not knowing him, not being here.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing her expression. Coming behind her, he clasped her to him, kissing the side of her face.
“Nothing.” She smiled. “I’m just thankful to be here with you. I was just thinking how sad it would be if I hadn’t found you.”
Austin closed his eyes as he allowed the possibility to sink in. “I would have died without you. God sent you to me, my love. He answered my prayers and brought you to me. You are my salvation. You are my godsend.”
His words fed her soul. Jolie basked in his adoration.
“Now, let me finish packing, and then we’ll eat together.”
She watched him as she worked, standing over the hearth, making hoe cakes on a flat griddle she’d found at the bottom of his cabinet. Jolie hummed a little tune she’d heard her grandmere sing to her. Even though Austin would be leaving on the morrow for a short journey, Jolie felt like all was well in her world…
…until she saw Austin begin to lift the mattress.
As she lifted the last cake to place on the plate, she froze – horrified. Dropping the utensil, she rushed forward. “What are you doing?” she cried.
Austin stopped, turning to see what was wrong with her. “The deed to my land is here. I’m going to take it with me.”
Jolie panicked. When she hid the papers she’d taken from Coffi underneath the mattress, she hadn’t noticed anything else there. But sure enough, there were two items. Austin saw both of them also. Holding the mattress upright with one hand, he retrieved both documents. “What is this?”
All of Jolie’s strength ebbed from her body. “Don’t look. Please, Austin.” She held out her hand. “Give them to me.”
Too late, Austin’s eyes had already skimmed the document. What he saw confused him. “This is a bill of sale. For slaves.” His stomach clenched as he read the descriptions, much like one would make if one were describing cattle. He read the first two, but when his eyes hit the third, he felt sick. Reading aloud, his voice was tense. “Light-skinned female, eighteen years of age, purple eyes. Five-foot-four. One hundred-two pounds. Juliette Dumas.” Slowly, he turned, his eyes meeting hers. He didn’t have to ask the question, but he did. “What are you doing with this, Jolie? Who is Juliette Dumas?”
Jolie backed up. Her world was crumbling at her feet.
She could read the confusion on his face. Rejection would soon follow. Shaking her head, she knew she couldn’t face it. She couldn’t witness the love he held for her dying in his eyes. “I have to go.” Staying was not an option. She couldn’t go back to the chains; she’d rather die than go back.
Whirling around, she threw open the door and fled. Where she ran didn’t matter, the only thing she wanted was to get away. Jolie never wanted Austin to see her again.
Trying to comprehend what had happened, Austin felt paralyzed. What did this mean? Was Jolie and Juliette the same person? Had she lied to him? The ramifications of the revelation rocked Austin to the very foundation of his soul. Again, he stared at the paper. A slave? He shook his head, trying to think.
But his next thought wasn’t about the document in his hand or the meaning of it, what dawned on him was that Jolie had just ran away from him.
What if she didn’t come back?
Throwing down the despised bill of sale, he ran out the door and stopped, his eyes roving desperately from right to left. “Jolie!” He couldn’t let her get very far. Miles of wilderness stretched in all directions. Their nearest neighbor was hours away. Realization of the dangers she could face hit him square between the eyes. Why in the hell had he let her leave? Why hadn’t he stopped her?
Shock – it had been shock.
Right now he didn’t have time to deal with processing what he’d discovered. After he found her and brought her home, he’d deal with what he’d learned.
Heading back into the cabin one more time, he picked up his rifle. “Sandy, let’s go.”
Once outside, Austin searched the ground, trying to determine which way she had gone. Seeing the depression of a small footprint, he took off in the same direction. “Jolie!”
Ahead…Jolie was crying so hard, she couldn’t see. Over and over again, she stumbled and fell, fleeing in no particular direction, only wanting to run far enough that she couldn’t see the rejection in Austin’s eyes.
She didn’t take time to consider where she might be going or what she would do to survive. At the moment, she just wanted to get away. Surviving, facing tomorrow wasn’t important. The only thoughts she could process were thoughts of what she was losing.
As she fled, with every step, her heart broke just a bit more. Desperately wiping her eyes, she strained to see a path ahead of her. She’d come to Palo Gaucho, now she had to find a way over it. Seeing no choice, Jolie waded in and began to swim.
Not far behind her, Austin ran. She was quick, fleet of foot. But as fast as she ran, she had no defense over attack by animals or Indians or anyone who would find her…hurt her. God help him, he prayed, she was so little, so delicate. What was he going to do if he couldn’t find her? Why had she run? How could any of this nightmare be true?
