STORY EXCERPT

He had really nice deep-honey eyes that seem to sparkle with amusement. “You took the wrong fork. Iona lives down the left road, and Linc and I live down the right. But it’s good you got lost because her road is probably impassable by now. I’m waiting for Linc. He had an emergency surgery in Richmond. I’m getting a little worried about him. Would you like a hot drink?”

“Oh yes, thank you. I’m freezing my culo off right now.”

“Culo?”

“I should have said culata because my mamá always says I talk like a ranch hand, which isn’t surprising since I was brought up around ranch hands. It means ass, culo does, and culata is butt, which is more polite. My mamá is old-school Mexican as far as manners go, but me not so much.”

“You’re Mexican?” Jeff Antonetti led Willie through a short hall into a large kitchen and family room. His unexpected guest was an interesting force of nature. She had big brown eyes that were slightly tilted at the ends, double dimples, and curly black hair that barely covered her ears. She had continued to strip off clothes as she talked, now down to what looked like a fleece shirt and pants with long johns sticking out from that. For the first time in a long, long time, Jeff felt himself stirring in response to a woman’s body. Her ass was high and looked hard, and her breasts looked absolutely suckable. He shook his head to clear it.

In the kitchen, windows faced what Willie assumed were the mountain. The darkness that had been looming all through her drive had blotted out any opportunity to see them. The growing night was pierced only by the bright lights from the kitchen and the light from the wraparound porch. He repeated his questions as she rambled on about the snow and the drive.

“No, no, no, no, but my family is. Although I could be. There are African Mexicans in the north of Mexico, but I’m just plain old African American.” Willie perched on a tall stool around the cooking island. She smiled at Jeff’s puzzled look.

“My mother died when I was born. My father was my brother’s drill sergeant in Army Rangers. He and Moises were very close, and after a while when my father deployed he would leave me with Mamá and Papi. Unfortunately, he was killed. I didn’t have any other family and nobody came looking for me. Mamá had five boys and considered me a gift from God, so I stayed because she always wanted a girl. I love them to pieces, but it was hard having five older brothers, plus CJ and Clint always making sure I was a little lady if they weren’t teaching me how to cuss or ride or rope like a man,” Willie said.

Jeff continued cooking, quickly fixing Willie a cup of hot chocolate with a dollop of whisky and whipped cream. She stopped to take an experimental drink from her cup, sighed a deep “umm,” and finished in her explanation.

“I was not quite three years old when my dad died, so I don’t remember him very well. I have pictures and stuff, but that’s not really the same thing as remembering, is it? Well, Mamá and Papi kept me, and I love all of them dearly, but Mamá keeps harping on how much she wants grandchildren, how she’s not getting any younger, how none of the boys is even close to finding a nice girl. For me she wants me to marry one of the Gonzalez boys, even though everybody knows they’re all pigs. They’re always drinking and fighting at the honky-tonk. They live in a pigsty of a house a few ranches over.”

Jeff found himself falling into her eyes as they flashed as she talked about the Gonzalez brothers and the people at the ranch. As she talked, her whole body moved to help with the illustrations. Her slightly raspy voice rose and fell and even changed when imitating the people she talked about. The close cap of blue-black curls danced around her face as she moved with the intensity of what she was saying.

“Mary Knowles from the office said that she saw them.” Jeff continued working on the dinner he’d prepared for Linc, a simple meal of roasted Cornish hens and vegetables he made to complement cold weather. He liked the non-stop narrative that Iona’s little friend provided. He’d not realized how lonely he was sometimes when Linc was away. He poured her a glass of wine and realized that Willie was waiting for him to answer a question. Jeff paused as he added more vegetables to the grill to add to the meal. He’d not looked at a woman with interest since he’d been a freshman at Harvard. He stopped, stunned by the unfamiliar fissure of desire, desire for a woman. Willie Mae Dollar was still talking.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said.” He smiled at her.

She broke into a rich, throaty laugh. “That’s okay, Papi says I can talk the ears off of a bull, so I’m used to people zoning out from time to time. I’ll try to stop.”

“Don’t bother, I like it. You’ll have to spend the night here. Do you have an overnight bag?”

“Nope, I left my stuff at the plane in Charleston. I thought I’d get in and out so quick I didn’t even bring so much as a change of underwear.”

“Let’s get you some of my sweats and some socks. Linc’s six five, so his stuff would be way too big for you. The floors have radiant heat, but no matter how much you insulate you can’t keep all the cold out.” Jeff ushered Willie into a small guest room with full-sized bunk beds and an open shower in the bath. He provided her with toothpaste and a brush.

“This is great room. It looks like a kid’s room. Did you decorate?” she said. The room was painted in light grays with some splashes of royal blue in the linens and chair cover. The closets were recessed into the wall and opened with a pleasant snap of a hidden release mechanism. She spent time exploring the room.

“Funny you should ask that. Linc and I have just decided to start a search for a surrogate. You interested?”

ADULT EXCERPT

She had deep-brown eyes that were slightly slanted and danced in time to her stories. Deep-brown skin glowed in whatever light there was, flashing an underlying red tinge that actually rose and fell with her emotions. Dimples flashed on each cheek when she smiled, so they were there all the time. Her voice was breathless and slightly husky, more so as she drank her huge goblet of wine. Before she could explain who one of her many brothers was dating, he leaned over and kissed her.

It was different from a man, softer and warmer in a way he couldn’t explain. He pulled her into his arms, awed by the smoothness and warmth of her skin. He pulled her into his lap and let his hands roam over her body, learning her, warming her.

Willie tried to not respond, but she could feel the moisture running down her leg. Her moan filled the room as his tongue caressed the inside of her mouth. He sat her on the island, placing her legs wide around his body. It was a strange and wonderful feeling, softness and warmth like nothing he’d ever felt.

Willie was shocked by her reaction to a man who had earlier proclaimed that he was totally gay. To have his hard body stretching her legs wide and pushing her into the hardness of the granite of the island and the different hardness of his body made her mind spin more than the wine she’d drunk.

He didn’t kiss her right away, studying her face and feeling the contours of her body with his hands. He started at the top of her curly, soft hair and drifted down to the curve of her ears that he outlined with his fingers. As a vascular surgeon, he was used to telling the smallest details of some of the tiniest parts of the body with the tips of his fingers. He traced the outline of her lips, feeling the moist exhale of her breathe as he went further, dropping only the tips of those very talented fingers to her collarbone and finally to the tops of her breasts.

“I’ve never tasted a woman’s breast before,” Linc said. He smacked his lips over her right breast, licking it, nipping it, finally biting it. “It tastes different from Jeff’s, fruity and spicy at the same time. Damn this is good.” Linc’s face disappeared again into the Willie’s cleavage. He licked the valley with slow, even strokes, learning a new territory.

Willie lay back on her extended arms, watching Linc as he loved, laved her breasts, basking in the sensation. She wanted to say no, but it seemed rude and she really didn’t want to anyway.

“I think I’ll fuck you now.” Linc positioned himself between her legs. He felt the moisture from her pussy roll over his dick, positioned at her entrance. He pushed in slowly, groaned, and collapsed onto her. “Oh, shit. So tight, so warm, so fucking wet.”

Willie accepted his dick. “You’re fucking huge.”

“Jeff is thicker. I’m longer. I like this, different, very different from my baby.” Linc surged into her, bottoming out as he seemed to hit a wall.

Willie wilted into his arms. He held her up as he drew back and slammed back into her. She gasped and moved down to meet him. “I like this so much. I love this.” She gasped and moved with him, meeting him thrust for thrust. The sound of their bodies slapping together filled the room.

She whimpered, shuddering into a major orgasm, gripping his shoulders and biting his right shoulder again and again. She could only whimper as he drove into her over and over, splashing pre-cum all over the island. He jerked her hard against him one final time before she felt him expand within her and splash inside her. They were sweaty and panting. He silently pulled out. After silence descended throughout the room as their beating settled and their bodies cooled, he wet a paper towel, wiped her off tenderly, and helped her down.

“You’re so very different from what I’m used to. I don’t know if I like that or not.” He wasn’t really talking to her, but she heard it. It wasn’t a shock, but it did hurt that before he even said if what she considered mind-blowing sex was good or not he was already distancing himself.

“Go sleep with Jeff. I have to check on something at Iona’s house.” He stomped out of the room. Willie stood like a statue in the kitchen while he dressed for the weather then she heard him slam out the front door. She tripped her way to the master bedroom where Jeff lay. He lifted the covers, and she dove inside naked and unsure.