Her Gentle Giant, Part 2: Remember to Dance (19 page)

* * * *

Eli couldn’t take his eyes off of Rachel as they ate lunch at O’Reilley’s. They sat and talked at a table for two, and Eli felt like he must be wearing a big sappy grin as he sat there taking in her glowing beauty. She would blush when she caught him staring but said nothing about it, sometimes just pausing to gaze into his eyes quietly.

At one point he asked softly, “What are you thinking about?” He watched in pleasure as her cheeks blushed rosily.

“I was just imagining what it will be like, being married to you, making a home with you and…”

“And what?” he asked huskily over the lump in his throat. He couldn’t help but respond to the love in her eyes.

“Waking up to someone who loves as sweet and hard as you do every morning. Raising a bunch of kids with you. Making that house into a home with you.”

The sappy grin returned to his face as he imagined it along with her.

Eli was meeting a home inspector later in the week to check out the ranch house they had looked at to determine if the house was sound enough to warrant an investment in the necessary remodel. After they heard from the inspector, they’d decide about whether to make an offer on it or not.

After paying the bill, Eli walked her through the crowded lobby and out to his truck. He lifted her gently into the passenger seat since she was wearing her long denim skirt and buckled her in. She grinned and kissed him as he
accidentally
brushed her breast with his shoulder. This was becoming a habit with him.

He took her back to the duplex so she could drive herself out to her parents’ ranch. He helped her load her wedding dress, which was zipped up in a long opaque garment bag, and the tote bag that contained her hot rollers, cosmetics, shoes, and other accessories so she could beautify herself for the portraits Carrie and Raquel would be shooting of her today.

Smiling at her once she was buckled into her seat, he said, “I have a couple of errands of my own to run right now, so I’m going to take off, too. How are you feeling?” He placed a hand on her upper thigh, squeezed gently and felt her body quiver slightly in response.

Her beautiful face radiated love when she looked into his eyes. “I feel super.”

“Good. Have fun with the girls.” He kissed her tenderly then waved as she backed out of their driveway.

* * * *

“Holy
hot
freakin’ hell!” Kelly shouted as Rachel quickly snapped closed the hinged cover on her nude portrait and clutched it to her chest. Grace did the same with the ones she had done for her men. Kelly had snuck up on them as they were taking their first looks at the nudes, which Carrie had brought with her. Teresa and Rachel’s mom were outside helping Carrie and Raquel arrange potted plants for an advantageous shot out at the pavilion.

“Kelly! I’m shocked!” Grace said in mock horror. “When Little Matthew’s first word is ‘hell,’ I want to be a fly on the wall when his daddy asks you where he learned it.”

Kelly snorted. “Trust me, he’ll know.” Then she reached out to get another look at the portraits they clutched. “Come on, I’m like a sister, or something, right? Show me?” she wheedled.

“Okay, you can see mine,” Grace said, laughing, and laid all three out on the bed in Rachel’s old room. Kelly opened them all and gasped, looking over at Grace with new respect and admiration. “Grace, they are going to
love
these. They are so…so gorgeous.”

Grace clapped her hands in happiness. “I think they will, too. It’s good to have someone else’s opinion, though.”

“They used the lighting and shadows so cleverly. You are so brave to do these, and I love that they are all black and white. It gives them a timeless quality.”

“Thanks, sweetie.”

“Can I see yours, Rachel?” Kelly asked nicely. “Please!”

Rachel smiled and relented, cringing when Kelly flipped it open and gasped. Rachel shut her eyes and said, cringing, “Too much? Too much
me
?”

“Nuh-uh. It’s perfect! He’s going to treasure this. I love how you have your hands in your hair. That does great things for your boobs. He’s gonna be
stunned
!”

“Carrie said we could look at the others, but we better hurry because we need to get your hair fixed, Rachel.”

They peeked at her mom’s first and cooed over it. Her mom looked over her shoulder into the camera, a feather boa framing her lush, satiny shoulders as she gazed at the camera with a come-hither stare meant for Rachel’s father.

“Daddy’s going to love it.”

They looked at Teresa’s next. Carrie had captured her demure personality perfectly in the shy tilt of her head and the way her eyes looked up at the camera.

In Kelly’s portrait, she was reclining on a chaise lounge, dressed in a white gown and barefooted. Kelly had a twinkle in her eyes and appeared to be slowly drawing the hem of the gown up her legs.

“
Wow
, your husband will love this, won’t he? Can you send him a copy of it?” Rachel asked.

“She gave me a disk with the file on it that I can load on the computer and e-mail to him. She also printed me a small copy to mail to him. This one is for our bedroom. He’s going to love it.” Kelly sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. The girls hugged her and let her bawl for a minute. She pulled it together pretty quickly, though, and they got started rolling Rachel’s hair. Rachel’s more risqué boudoir portraits were in the back of Carrie’s SUV, otherwise they’d have snuck a peek at those as well.

The portrait shoot went well. The weather held out nicely, not too bright and not too cloudy, but the temperature was a little on the cool side. Afterward, her mom served them a late snack, and they had fun looking at
almost
all of the portraits, including the boudoir portraits. Her mom was giddy with excitement for her father to see the portrait that evening.

Teresa was thrilled with her portrait as well but begged off early. Angel had volunteered to watch Michael for her that afternoon, and she didn’t want to take too much advantage of his good nature. The others looked knowingly at each other. Anyone who observed Angel with Michael knew he was over the moon for the little boy. He probably was taking him for a horseback ride around the ranch at that very minute, completely unaware of what time it was.

Rachel’s mother invited her to stay for supper, but Rachel declined, since Eli had told her he had already made plans, but promised they’d come over for supper another night soon.

She pulled into the driveway, happy to see Eli’s truck parked there. Another familiar SUV was parked behind the motorcycle, and Rachel recognized Jane Jensen, their real estate agent, standing on the porch talking with Eli and Elijah.

Jane was animated, and her pale cheeks were flushed a pretty pink. Rachel waved back when Jane waved at her but sat in the truck observing. Jane was speaking to Eli about something but kept looking up at Elijah and smiling. Rachel climbed from her truck after a few moments, smiling and wondering what was up with Eli’s dad and Jane. Elijah was a sociable, easygoing guy and quite good-looking. Jane seemed quite taken with him.

Interesting.

Eli stepped off the porch and came to her, swinging her up into his arms and hugging her.

Elijah spoke several quiet words to Jane. She nodded and handed him a business card. She turned and stepped off the porch. “I have to run. Hi, Rachel, Eli and Elijah can fill you in on the news. I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon. Wish I could stay, but I have another appointment to keep.” She hugged Rachel, said good-bye to Eli, then turned to wave at Elijah, who was standing on the porch, leaning up against one of the porch beams smiling at Jane. She blushed again and hurried to her car. Rachel looked up at Eli in curiosity, and he cleared his throat and rolled his eyes at her. Something was
definitely
cooking there.

“Well, kids. It’s time for me to hit the road,” Elijah said as he stepped off the porch. “Gotta get back to San Antonio, but I’m sure I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay, Dad. I sure am glad you got to come out for the pig roast. I hope you had a good time,” Rachel said, walking with Eli over to where he stood on the driveway.

“Oh, I did, I did. I know you have plans, so I’ll let you get on with them. I’ll catch a quick bite in town and head on out.”

“I could fix you some supper, Elijah. I don’t mind at all,” Rachel replied, not liking the thought of him leaving hungry.

“Nah, sweetie. I should have gotten on the road earlier. Got caught up talking with Eli and Miss Jensen. But thanks for the offer.”

“You’re welcome. Drive safely, all right?” she said and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Eli hugged his dad. His dad got in his pickup and waved as he drove out of sight.

“Interesting,” Rachel said softly.

“You have no idea,” Eli said meaningfully, kissing her again. “I have a feeling we may be seeing more of Dad around these parts, thanks to a certain pretty real estate agent.”

“She seems like she is attracted to him.”

“Oh,
I’ll
say.” He chuckled. “And Dad was definitely turning the charm on for her.”

“So tell me the good news.”

“Jane stopped by to let us know that the current owners of the ranch house are becoming anxious to sell the house so they can settle the estate and pay bills. Taxes are due on the house, and they are hoping to get them taken care of at the time of sale. The county is willing to work with them, but they need to get it sold soon. They are willing to consider any reasonable offer.”

“Excellent. Did you tell her we want to have it inspected?”

“Yes. I told her I’d be meeting with an inspector this week. She understood that we wouldn’t know anything until then.”

“Great, what else is going on?”

“I have a surprise inside for you.”

“Oh, goody, can I see it?”

Eli brought her inside, but she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He convinced her to take a warm shower while he got ready. While she was in the shower, he came in and said, “I’ve put something on the counter for you. After you have it on, open the bathroom door, and I’ll come get you.”

When she stepped from the shower, toweling her hair dry, all she found on the counter was the satin blindfold.

With her heart pounding, she dried her hair quickly and tied it on. With her eyes covered, she opened the bathroom door. Deprived of her sight, and turned on by the idea of being naked and vulnerable like this, she waited for him.

He didn’t keep her long. She gasped when she felt his touch at her waist. He gathered her to him, and she went with him into the bedroom. Quietly, he helped her onto the bed and positioned her comfortably. He moved to one side of the bed, and she heard fabric being gathered up, and then he lifted her wrist gently and began to tie something soft to it.

Her bondage sashes.

“Eli, what are you—” she began to say until he held something to her lips. Uncertain, she didn’t know what to do.

“It’s just a grape. Eat it. I know you must be hungry. I’m going to feed you with my hands. Is that all right?”

She sighed happily and nodded, chewing on the grape he slipped between her lips. He went around the other side of the bed and tied her other wrist. Her arms were bound now, but not tightly. She had freedom to move a little. He crawled up on the bed between her thighs and offered her a piece of cheese, which she took gratefully, realizing she was hungry.

As she ate the cheese, he slid his warm hands up her thighs, groaning softly as he touched her. She wasn’t expecting it when he lifted her hips and slid her down so that her arms stretched out toward either corner of the bed. He caressed and stroked her hips before offering her a small chunk of freshly-baked bread that had been dipped in a sweet cream cheese dip. She “mmm-ed” over that, and he gave her another as he chuckled before he left the bed and moved down to the foot. He stroked her arch as he lifted her foot. She lifted her head blindly in confusion.

“Wait a minute, I only had two. How—”

“I ordered two more.” Amusement filled his voice. He spread her thigh out wide. “Is that too much? Are your muscles sore from this morning?”

“Oh, no. I…l–like it, actually,” she stammered as he held another grape to her lips, which she accepted gladly.

He tied her ankle down, and her heart began to pound. She felt so exposed already, but when he spread the other thigh, she knew her glistening wet pussy would be opened for him. Then what would he do?

He placed another piece of cheese between her lips then tied the other ankle down, spreading her till she had to moan with the erotic pleasure of it. More moisture gathered in her opening, and she knew he’d see it, too. He crawled between her thighs and smoothed his warm hands gently over her, gently rubbing down the muscles in her thighs and calves and in her arms. Once when he leaned over her, he groaned again like he was restraining himself.

After he finished rubbing her down, he left the bed again. He returned with something he laid on the mattress. Sliding his hand up her torso from her abdomen to between her breasts, he offered another small chunk of the bread smeared with the cream cheese dip. As he caressed her, he spoke love words to her, telling her he adored her and he’d thought of her as he sat on the back deck that afternoon and played his guitar. All the while, he fed her more grapes, cheese, and bread.

When she’d had her fill, he said, “Now, it’s my turn to eat.”

“You’ve fed me, but you haven’t eaten?” she asked softly. Her pussy began to throb in time with her heartbeat,

“Oh, I’ve had the main course, but now I want dessert. I think you will like it, too.”

She was startled when she felt a moderately cold touch on her nipple. It was his fingers, smearing something on her. Her heart began to pound, and her breathing turned into panting. He smeared more of the same thing on the other nipple. It was cold, but her nipple felt like it was on fire. His fingers came back with more, placing it on her quivering abdomen randomly in a pattern that led down to her mound, his fingers caressing and smearing the dessert on her as he returned with more and more. He stopped, and her breathing became rasping moans because she knew what was next, and she knew he was looking at her mound, enjoying the view and building her anticipation.

“I’m going to enjoy licking my dessert from you so much, angel. But nowhere more than from
right here
.” His warm fingers delivered a dollop of whatever the dessert was to her mound and enflamed pussy. He was going to use her as his dessert platter.

She wanted to moan and scream with delight and agony at the same time. The smearing of the dessert on her had been sheer, torturous bliss, and now he was going to lick it off of her, as well. She arched her back, crying out when he applied an extra-large blob all over her lips and her clit, being very thorough. He spread more over her hipbones and into the dip at the juncture of her hip and thigh. He moved up to her chest and spread the last of it over her collarbones.

“This is how I’d love to always eat my dessert. Straight off your luscious, sexy body. Want to know what it is?” At her panting nod, he said, “Open up, angel, and taste what I’m about to feast on.”

She opened her lips and felt two fingers slip into her mouth, a little of the dessert on the ends of them. She sucked good and hard, causing him to groan in pleasure as she stroked his fingers with her tongue. The creamy coconut custard and whipped cream with little flakes of baked sugary coconut mixed in

“Mmm, my favorite. Coconut cream
pie
.” She sighed blissfully.