Rancher's Dream

Her fingers moved down his back as his mouth took charge over the skin on her neck. Elizabeth turned her head to the side, giving him more of the skin he desired to taste and drink from. She felt the bites of his teeth on her neck and the pull as he sucked in the flesh at the same time. Her hands moved along his ribs, over his hips, and fingers dug into the hard muscles of his ass. "Jack, please," the request, groaned out of her.

Jack moved a hand between them, and guided the head of his cock to the opening of her slick sex. He pushed the head in gently and then returned his hand to the side of the bed. Leaving her neck, he placed the other hand on the other side of her, and looked down on her body, and her face. "God, you're beautiful Ella." He pushed into her, watching her eyes widen a fraction then close as she absorbed the feel of his cock completely enter her. Jack watched her face; each muscle seemed to react to his invasion of her body. He had heard the name he had called her, and for a brief moment, he had been distracted. The name was new to his lips, but he pushed the thought away, not knowing why he had called her Ella.

The contracting of her muscles surrounding his cock, drove all other thoughts of confusion from his mind. He pushed deeper, then pulled his stiff rod out, before slowly pushing back into her. Stroking and deeply thrusting on each return into her body, Jack urged more tremors from the woman beneath him. Elizabeth slipped her legs up and locked them around his waist. She then began to lift and pump his cock with her pussy. Her fingers moved to his back, and dug into his skin. Elizabeth brought her head up to taste his tongue. They tangled and waltzed together as he moved deep inside her, sliding her sex with each hard drive. The slick walls became more wet, and the head of his cock, was thumping against the back wall of her aroused body, when Elizabeth felt the heat of her body begin its journey towards another erupting flame.

Jack, noticed the difference in her, and quickened his pace. He drove into her harder and demanded more from her. Their bodies glistened in a sheen of sweat, as he moved his mouth from her's, and grabbed a nipple with his teeth. He bit the button, and impaled her continually as he tormented the hard treat. Nails clawed his skin, and her back arched up, the breast buried closer against him, and Jack knew she would be coming within second. He stopped moving, his cock head resting on the inside of her sloppy sex. She glared at him, gasping for breath, her bottom lip trembling. Jack's mouth opened further and he sucked hard on her nipple, while he pushed his cock, deep and hard into her pussy.

"Oh God Jack!" she screamed, as she clasped his rod, and covered him with the thick welcomed juices of her body. Elizabeth felt the eruptions of her body, and savored each feeling that rocked from her soul. She had not felt this much for one man, in so long, she had feared she would never feel it again. Her arms clung to him, as her back would lift and fall from the bed. A welcoming eruption of emotions consumed her.

Jack felt his own release and held himself tightly inside her. Filling her caverns with the hot seed that would search out a resting place for a future both of them wanted. He pumped into her, moving with slow slides against her walls. As she finished her quivers, he to finished his. The fullness of his cock no longer there, but still his sex was wedged inside her, Jack pressed down and kissed her with more passion then he had ever felt. His body had somehow found its home, a place that he had not know he had even been searching for.

Elizabeth held him, as the kiss melted her, and she slipped her hands all over his sweat covered back. He sighed against her lips, and moved off of her. Jack slid beside her body, gathered her to him, and held her close to him. He covered the top of her head with kisses, as she laid her head on his chest. Fingers ran through her hair, working tangles, and small knots. "I love you," he whispered against her head, kissing it as he did."

She looked up to him, smiled and returned his words. The look in his eyes questioned her response, and she reinforced it by sliding her lips to his. "I love you Jack. I didn't think it possible to feel this again, but I do. I love you so very much." She kissed him with the love she had just spoken of, and Jack felt his mind rest, as he held her. Their lips separated and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

*****

The following morning, Elizabeth reached for her lover, and found the space beside her empty. She rolled onto her back and listened to the sound of the shower reach her ears. Closing her eyes, she remembered the feeling of his body on top of hers, and she shivered once more. As the memory of the night returned, she found herself pulled back to the moment that his eyes changed color. She tried to shake off the feeling that it had happened, that it was instead a figment of her imagination, or a heated moment of memory that assailed her.

As the sounds in the next room became more pronounced, the water no longer flowing, she remembered the name that fell from his lips. "Ella," she whispered, bringing her fingers to his lips. Eric called her Ella, he had said it was the name he wanted to give her, a name no one else would know. Why had Jack called her that? Had she mentioned it to him? As soon as she asked that she knew she hadn't. She didn't have the answers, but that didn't mean the questions went away. Pushing the blankets away, she left his bed, and moved to her room. Elizabeth found her robe, and turned when she heard his voice whisper hello against her ear.

Her body was embraced by his. A towel circled his waist, and the smooth cheeks of his freshly shaved face nuzzled her neck. She pressed into him, inhaling the scent of his cologne and his own essence. Elizabeth leaned back, and saw the sea-green eyes, that were those of the man she now held in her arms. "Why did you call me Ella last night?" she asked him, her fingers touching the wet waves of his hair.

"I don't know." Jack had thought about that himself as he had showered. He had never known an Ella. He shrugged his shoulders, and smiled down at her. "You looked like an Ella at that moment. Why?" Stroking her cheek, he continued, "I was with you last night, I don't know an Ella, and I'm sorry if the name upset you. I honestly don't know why I said it, it was as if it just came out on its own."

Elizabeth pressed her lips to his, and whispered, "It is fine, it didn't upset me, just surprised me. I haven't been called Ella by anyone in years, and even then only one person called me that. No one knew it. It was a secret between us."

"Eric?" he asked.

She nodded and removed herself from his embrace. He watched her take out clothes for the day, and found himself asking why he had called her that, but without a logical reason, he just decided to not worry about it. She wasn't upset, so he would not dwell on it. Jack grinned and leaned against the wall, in an attempt to watch her get dressed. That was not to be the case as Elizabeth shooed him away, and proceeded to get dressed while he hurried out to do morning chores.

Jack wasn't surprised to see Butter in the corral with Blaze, and Blaze showing her the proper attention due to the beautiful creature. He snickered to them both as he headed toward the hen house. The morning progressed well as he worked his now familiar routine, thought of Elizabeth filled his mind, and he soon found himself working faster in order to get back to the house for breakfast. He cared for her animals, and gathered up the eggs, before heading back inside he paused a moment, and walked through her garden.

Elizabeth moved around the kitchen, preparing pancakes and sausage, another meal that she knew Jack would enjoy. He had become a permanent fixture in her home and her heart, and she wondered what would happen when he left. She looked over her little farm, once a great ranch. Could she leave it, if he asked her to? It was her last connection to Eric and her life with him, was it time to close that chapter and move on? Elizabeth wanted the answer to spring from her lips, but it didn't, a nagging sense of dread settled in her gut, and she knew that she was supposed to be with Jack, but she also felt she was supposed to be here too. Shaking the thoughts away, she watched him bend down and rifle through the dirt of the garden.

He'd seen the glint of rock peeking from under a small clod of soil and weeds. Jack lifted his brows in disbelief, and bent down to pick up the wedding set. The small hook had kept the two bands together, and he brushed the caked mud off the shiny stone. It tried to sparkle with more brilliance, and he placed it in his pocket. Jack moved out of the garden and headed back to the house. Again he was overcome with emotion, as he watched her turn to face him. Her eyes drew him in, and he felt as if he were swimming through a thick sea trying to reach her. His steps took him to her side, and his lips covered her in a morning kiss.

Returning his kiss was an easy feat for the woman, and Elizabeth relished in the moment. Their tongues tickled each other, and her breasts pressed against his chest. Heat reached through their clothing, and they finally had to pull themselves apart. Jack pressed his mouth to her head, and held her for a moment, absorbing the feel of her in his arms. He wondered what would become of her, after he left. What would become of him? Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he helped her take her seat beside his at the table.

Every morning they would rise from bed together, some mornings his and some hers. Their nights were full of passion, lust, desire, and spoken words of love. Unspoken things were left to weigh on their minds. As the week progressed and the second one drew to a close, neither had spoken of the times he would whisper Ella in her ear as they made love. Elizabeth never mentioned that in those moments of his whispered words, she'd see his eyes turn blue. To Elizabeth it was at times frightening and at other times, touching. Somehow her Eric had found a way to give a small part of himself to her, through Jack, and she embraced it. As she was loving that part of him, the rest of her continued to grow in love and admiration for the man she knew Jack to be.

Elizabeth never asked him to leave, and she never asked him to stay. She was afraid of his answer. If he told her that the love was there, but not enough for him to stay in Arizona with him, then she knew her heart would break. If he asked her to go with him, she also knew she couldn't. This was her home, the country was what she wanted and where she longed to be. As the week of his departure closed in around them, Elizabeth kept her fears to herself.

Jack had gone into town earlier in the week having had her rings cleaned and cared for. While he was there he had purchased one of his own. He now sat in the truck looking down on the ring he had bought her. He wanted to give it to her, ask her to marry him, and embrace her tightly. Jack felt that this was his home, and he belonged with her. He'd return to the city, close out his dealings there, then return to her side. Before he left he wanted her to have his ring, just like she did his heart.

She was a vision of beauty, as she sat in the picture window, her head bent and reading a book. He slipped his hand in his pocket and picked out the rings he had found in the garden, and placed his own in his shirt pocket. "I found these and had them cleaned for you." He plopped the rings into the palm, he had taken from the book.

Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat and she dropped the book to the ground. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she hugged him tightly. "Oh, Jack! Thank you so very much! However did you find them?"

Jack was a little surprised by her zealous reaction, and tried not to read to much into it. He hugged her back, and smiled down at her. "Well, I just had a feeling to look, and there they were. I'm glad I could make you happy."

"Happy! I'm ecstatic!" her fingers slipped the set back on her hand, and she held them out, admiring them once more. "Back where they belong," she whispered, hugged him once more, and headed toward the fridge to start lunch, never seeing the look of rejection on his face.

He stood there for what seemed like hours, and stared out the window. The diamond he had bought burned a hole in his pocket. When her voice called him over for lunch, he plastered a smile on his face and walked into the kitchen. His eyes followed her hands, each time they would move to caress the rings he felt the pit of his stomach fall deeper down. Jack pushed away his plate, and told her he needed to get back to working on the barn. He left, and with a heavy heart, made his way to the barn. Soon he was absorbed in the heat of the labor, and the dread that filled his heart only increased with each moment.

Jack worked hard throughout the day. When Elizabeth came and greeted him, lemonade in hand, he said his thanks, then returned back to work. All afternoon he worked on the patches for the barn, and into the late afternoon, early evening, he fixed the chicken coop. As he thought about all he had accomplished in one day, pride did not fill him, only sorrow. He had buried his feelings of loss in his work, and had reached a decision concerning Elizabeth, Eric, and him.

That night they enjoyed a quiet meal and Jack made excuses of exhaustion and retired to his own bed. Elizabeth allowed him to fall asleep, and then climbed in quietly behind him. The entire day weighed heavy on her mind, and she wanted to wake him up and ask him what was wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She finally fell asleep with thoughts of what she would tell him tomorrow running through her mind.

Jack looked down on her, having waited till she slept before he slipped out of bed. He now was dressed, and his duffel bags sat by the door of his room. A letter and a rose sat on the bedside table, and a ribbon with a ring had been tied to the rose stem. His eyes took in her sight, and he bent down and whispered, "I love you Ella," into her ears. If he had looked in a mirror he would have seen eyes of blue staring back at him.

He had called the airport and they had arranged his return flight to be moved up, and then he had paid out a lot of money to have a cab come clear out to her place and pick him up. As the cab pulled away, his heart stayed in a letter beside her bed. Jack rubbed his chest, trying to ease the pain that was ripping through him. She had shown she wasn't ready for him, and he couldn't play seconds to a dead man.

When the morning sun was peeking out, Jack was in the air, flying towards LA, and the brown haired love of his life was holding a letter, that was being smeared by tears.

Elizabeth,

I have never loved anyone as much as I have loved you. You're the air I breath, the food my body craves, and the blood that rushes through me. Yet all of these things are nothing if I don't have all of you. When I returned the rings to you, and you placed them back on your hand, it cut me to the core. But. . .even that was not like hearing the words, that they belonged there. See, Elizabeth, I wanted this ring to belong there.

Elizabeth held the sparkling gem in her hand, and looked at the set that she wore. She remembered the words she said, and her heart broke further. How could she have been so blind? She had not seen what was in front of her. Instead when she got the connection to Eric back, she had latched onto it, her safety net, had returned. Now with trembling fingers, she continued reading the note, she had read a thousand times.

I had planned on taking you into my arms, making love to you, confessing my whole life to you, but then I realized that you loved him still. That of course isn't why I'm leaving. I'm leaving because I what you to love me more. While I'm here on this planet, alive and beside you, I want you to focus on me. God, that sounds so childish, but it is what I want, and I can't settle to play second to Eric. I'm going back to L.A.; Beth knows how to reach me. I realized that we never talked about birth-control. I want you to find me if there is a child. I'd like to be a dad. We'll cross that bridge if we have to. I do love you, and if you can't love me, I hope someday you'll love someone.

Jack

Sobs filled the room, and she clutched the letter to her chest. Her heart burned, and she cried out in anger and frustration. Soon she was hiccuping her sorrow, and felt her body weigh down on her. Elizabeth climbed back into his bed, and held his pillow to her nose. She buried her face into it, smelling him, absorbing him. The exhausted cries carried her to sleep and she dreamed deeply of a man standing by her bed.

Eric watched her resting. He had lived a few more days with her. Helped her to love someone else, and then began to leave her alone. His job was done, he had helped the man Jack to gain entrance into his wife's heart, and then he had slowly pulled himself from him. The moments that he was with her, and he had allowed himself to show thought Jack's eyes and Jack's whispered Ella's had been his own way of saying goodbye.

He lay down beside her, his fingers traced over the streaks of tears, and he pressed a kiss to her lips and then her eyes. As he lay beside her, he felt her pain, and held it for her, easing her sleep. Eric felt the last three years burn inside him: the struggle she had with his death, the farm, and the bills. He hurt for her, and realized that she had lived all of this so she could live again. The accident had claimed him when it was supposed to. He knew this now; he hadn't been cheated, but Elizabeth had. Eric was the key to releasing her from the pain she felt.

His hands moved over her, and touched her silken hair, her soft shoulders, and her rounded hip. Eric splayed his hand across her stomach and smiled knowing that the life inside would be loved by both of his parents. "You'll make a beautiful bride and lovely mother," he whispered in her ear. "Go to him, and let me go, my lovely Ella."

Eric left her, his heart free of all the pain he had pulled from her. His body ready to return to where it was supposed to be, a watching spirit from above. As he turned to go he blew her a kiss, and whispered for her to wake up and let him go.

*****

Elizabeth felt the ring on the chain that was wrapped around her neck. She had placed it there, close to her heart, after she had woke up. The letter had found a home in the burner of her stove, and she had called Sarah. Her friend had come over and together they talked for hours, later Robert joined them, and they began the healing process for her heart and her mind. She now stood there facing a tall building surrounded by more buildings and lots of cars. Elizabeth hated the city, but she had made the decision to come here and offer herself completely to him. Her life in Arizona was over, she knew that now.

She had felt the release of her husband's hold on her the moment she woke up. The rings nestled in her jewel box, no longer held the luster or shine. Elizabeth toyed with the one on the chain, and fingered it possessively. Would he welcome her back in? Sarah had said he had called her a few times, and was trying to piece his life back together. Would she be in the way? Would they? She touched the soft mound of her stomach. The signs of her pregnancy barely visible to anyone, even less visible when she wore the skirt and blouse she had on now.

Her hand curled around the door of the complex and she soon found herself on the third level, and her eyes staring at the number. Elizabeth pressed a hand to her stomach, and said a quick prayer. She knocked on the door, and waited for her life to begin or end, she didn't know which.