Thunder In Her Body (10 page)

Clare was in hog heaven.  Just last fall when she was at the condo, she walked down behind the stables near a small race track, and fed apples to an old man’s horses, with his permission of course.  She loved anything with four legs and hair, and this was a rare treat.  She hoped it would be only the beginning of many trips down to the corral with Aaron.

“Clare, I’ve got to be in court over in
Grant County – Silver City – tomorrow, for an afternoon docket.  What’s say you come along with me and watch a little New Mexico court action.  It’s not a bad drive, about 2 ½ or three hours each way.  I can pick you up around eight o’clock. We can stop somewhere for a late breakfast before we get to the courthouse and if all goes well, we can be back in Crystal Bend in time for a late supper?” Aaron asked, looking for a promising response on her face.

“Oh darn, Aaron.  All I brought with me were jeans, capri’s and some shirts.  I don’t have anything decent to wear into a courtroom,” she said with her mind racing to see how she could remedy that situation.  She wanted to go.  It would mean time spent alone with him.  They could get to know each other even better, and it did cross her mind that court may run late and they’d have to stay over in
Silver City!  Anyway, that was an area of New Mexico she and Lynette had just recently talked about exploring the next time they came out to the village.  They’d discussed using the condo as a home base, to do more exploration of southern New Mexico each time they came up.

“I tell you what,” Clare started, thinking and talking all at the same time.  “I’ve got a really nice pair of jeans packed.  If I can get back to town before the stores close, I can pick up an appropriate type of blouse and a jacket or something.  There’s several women’s shops in town.  Walmart stays open late.  If nothing else, I can find something there.  I’m not hard to fit,” she added as she walked over where Lynette and Blaze were playing with the black horse.
  Clare realized that this change in plans might not sit too well with her friend, but she really wanted to go with Aaron, and hoped that Lynette would understand.

“I’m going to step back so if you swing at me, you’ll miss,” Clare laughed aloud, starting the conversation uneasily.  She was already aware of how close Blaze and Lynette were getting.  She knew her friend well, and the way Lynette let Blaze get so near to her meant she was falling for this Indian.

“What the heck.  Are you sick?” Lynette asked, her voice tinged with concern.

“Ah, no I’m fine, but we need to get back to town.  Walmart may be my best bet since its Sunday…”

“What the hell?  Excuse me Blaze,” Lynette apologized.  “What’s going on?”

“Aaron has to go to court in
Grant County tomorrow and I’d like to go with him – see a little New Mexico justice,” she explained hesitantly.  “But I don’t have anything appropriate to wear.  If I can pick up a nice blouse and sweater or jacket, then I’ll be fine, but we need to get back to town.”

Lynette was thunder-struck.  This announcement had blasted her out of the merriment with Blaze.  Lynette looked back at him.  He’d buried his head in the ribs of the black horse.  He was shaking his head from side to side as he hung on to the horse’s mane, but he said nothing.  Then he started to laugh.  One of those ironic laughs that comes up and out when there is nothing else a person can do, but laugh.

“Blaze,” Lynette said softly.

“I know.  I understand,” he said ruefully.  “I understand.”

There was an uneasy silence for awhile after that as the men completed their chores.  Once back in the truck, with Clare babbling about a jacket and Aaron assuring her that she could find something, Blaze held onto Lynette’s hand tightly, so much so that it was a bit uncomfortable.  He squeezed her hand then released it, over and over, but never let it go.  He was quiet and pensive.

“I’m sorry,” she said, speaking to the expression on his face.  It was sad, almost like a child’s disappointed face when the trip to
Disney Land had been cancelled.

“It’s Ok,” he finally said resolutely, patting the back of her hand.

Once back at the ranch house, the ladies insisted on cleaning up the kitchen before they left.  After all, the dishes had been sitting since brunch.  The men cooked, so the women cleaned up.  It only seemed fair.
  Blaze disappeared down the hall with Lynette before they were ready to leave.

“You’re killing me, you know that don’t you,” he said as a statement not a question.  His need for her was so excruciating at this point that desperation had overtaken him. He pressed himself against her and she thought she felt a slight tremble in his arms.  He kissed her hard enough to almost bruise her lips and she kissed him back.  He wrapped his arms tightly around her and held her, held her as though he couldn’t let her go.  Then he released her abruptly.

“This ain’t happenin’!  Come on.  This can’t happen,” he repeated, as he took her hand and led her down the hallway toward the living room.

Lynette watched him compose himself.  She could see him building something in his mind, and the tone and demeanor of a diplomat emerged.

“Aaron, if you get all your stuff together this evening and take it with you, you and Clare can get an early start from their place in the morning.  You can take Clare shopping for what she needs tonight and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you stay at the condo, right Clare?” he said turning toward her, careful to ask her permission.

Clare flushed a bit, thought about it for a split second, then snapped her head and said it would work well for her if it didn’t make any problems for Aaron.

“It doesn’t take both of you ladies to go buy a blouse and a jacket,” Blaze added, and you’d be closer to Grant County from their place anyhow”.

It was clear that Blaze didn’t want Lynette to leave.  It was glaringly clear to everyone.

“Clare, are you gonna be all right with this?” Lynette asked with genuine concern.

“I’m fine with it, as long as I can get out of here and get to the store,” she replied, urgency tingeing her voice.

“Aaron, what about you?” Clare said, trying to read his face.

“Give me about ten minutes – in fact, come on back here with me Clare and help me pick out a shirt and tie.  My brief case is in my office and I have everything I need in it.  Just need to gather up my workin’ clothes and we can be off,” he said jovially.  “Haven’t shopped with a woman in years.  Pretty scary when you think about it.   Can I just sit in the car while you get what you need?,” the spooked attorney asked playfully.

Lynette watched them move quickly down the hallway to Aaron’s wing, then she turned to Blaze, who she realized, had never let go of her hand.

“What do I say, Blaze, except you handled that well.  Your intentions are very transparent though,” she said, smiling, but a little tense.

“I have no need to pretend, Lynette,” he said.  “You’re all over me already. Somehow, you’ve climbed inside of me. I want you.  I want you so bad right now I could burst into flames.  I know we’ve only known each other for a few hours but I can’t pretend we’re just trying to be friends,” he said huskily. “I know that, and I think you know that, too.” He paused, and looked down at her.

“You can change this, you know.  You can go back with them if you want to,” he offered.  “I’ll be disappointed, but I’ll understand.”

It had occurred to her that she could choose to stay anyway when Clare hit her with the court announcement, and Blaze could take her back home in the morning.  She knew what she wanted to do.  But she didn’t want to be presumptuous.  She
was
where she wanted to be.  As an after-thought, she said it aloud. “I’m where I want to be Blaze.  I never expected to stay over though, so I didn’t bring any…,” and he interrupted her sentence.

“You don’t need anything,” he said in almost a whisper.  “I can provide you with every comfort.  Anything you want, I’ll see that you have it.”  He paused, looking deep into her glowing face.   “I believe I can give you everything you need,” he said, as he bent forward and kissed her gently on the lips.

C
HAPTER 5

¤

The First Bedroom

C
lare and Aaron were probably less than a mile away from the ranch when Lynette walked hurriedly toward Blaze’s bedroom and entered his glistening marble bathroom.  Knowing what was to come, she wanted to take a shower first.  No one gets a second chance to make a good first impression she knew.  She’d spoken those words hundreds of times in her
Work Readiness
seminars.  It was, to her, necessary to be fresh, and smell good when she first eased into Blaze’s waiting arms.  She’d bathed well earlier in the morning before Aaron came to pick them up, but, she thought the dust and hay, and the evidence of sexual arousal being around Blaze all day, deserved to be lathered off.

He was somewhere in the house locking doors, closing down the garage and she felt it gave her time to freshen up. 
Quickly, she pulled off her clothes and laid them carefully on a small wicker stool next to the large, black marble counter.  This verified her suspicion that a woman designer had decorated this house.  Probably a man would not have thought of such an interesting piece. Then on the other hand, she’d spent hundreds of hours watching HGTV and the variety of female
and male
decorators demonstrating how to make your home look like a million with simple, creative pieces.

Reaching into the linen closet, she retrieved a cream-colored wash cloth and what she thought was a large, sand colored towel.  Instead, it was a bath-sheet large enough to wrap twice around her.  She carried it over to the counter and stood there, looking in the oval mirror at her naked torso. The bright vanity light exposed her every curve.  Her skin was smooth and the color of that pale palomino horse, but the years had, in fact, taken their toll on her body.  Her ample breasts no longer stood at full attention with nipples pointing straight into the air.  They didn’t sag per se, but full breasts were heavy and the nipples found themselves looking more downward, maybe pointing at the door knob.   Before she lost the weight, her breasts rested up on her enlarged upper stomach, but not anymore.  They were on their own and gravity is no one’s friend.  She rubbed her hand down and over her navel and onto her stomach which was flatter than before.  The rise that began at her navel was soft because there was no mass of fat to support it.  The softness felt good even to her, but she was not sure what it would feel like to Blaze.  She turned sideways and observed her hip and butt, which had slopped back to its original pear-shape.  She liked her butt.  It wasn’t big and high and round.  It wasn’t exactly a

J-Lo
behind either.  But it was far from flat.  Frankly, it was fine; nice and shapely with weight – fullness – at the bottom.  All along it had been her stomach that was her gravest concern.  She rubbed her thighs, though firm, they’d lost the volleyball tautness of her youth.  They were strong but dimpled in places.  This was what happened when you spent your adult life eating all the wrong foods and grieving with donuts, cakes and cookies, she thought.  These were the ravages of pain, covered by calories.  She vowed that she would never gain the weight back, but she wished there was some way to regain the firmness of her athletic youthful body.  This was, what it was. It was what she had to offer Blaze.  If he was repulsed, it would not be the first time, and she would survive the insult.  After all, her husband never wanted to touch her stomach because it was not board flat.  She wondered if that was one of his criteria for all the other women he slept with during their marriage.

She threw the bath sheet over her shoulder and turned to step toward the shower.  At the edge of the bathroom door stood Blaze, arms folded, leaning against the facing, watching her.  Instinct caused her to pull the towel down in front of her in embarrassment.

“Oh…I…,” she stammered, trying to find something that would make sense in this moment.  He stepped inside the bathroom, his bare feet making no sound. 
He walks like a seasoned brave, she thought. 
With a gentle hand, he pushed the towel down out of her hands and pulled her up to him.  His shirt was wide open and his burnished chest was warm and smooth.  She stood in his arms, butt naked; vulnerable and unshielded just as she had come into this world, and she knew he was going to take her into another world- his world.  He kissed her with a tenderness they had not shared before.  The only few kisses they had were hard and passionate.  This was something else.  This was a language that needed no words.  This kiss said I accept you as you are.  What you are pleases me.  He took her hand and began to lead her into the dimly lit bedroom, but she resisted.

“I need to take a shower before…,” she said.

“No you don’t,” he countered, and neither do I,” he assured, in a heavy, husky voice.

“Blaze, I’ve even still got straw in my hair,” she objected quietly.

“I will pick it out,” he replied as the tension in his hand increased.