Belle of Bellville Ch. 09-10

Isabella dropped her eyelashes and shook her head.

"No."

"But I know you want him." Then she studied the other woman's long eyelashes for a moment. "So you're tellin' me you ain't fallin' for him?"

"No."

"That's because you'd already fallen hard for him."

Isabella snapped up eyes and looked at the other woman.

"Yea," she watched as Elena slowly shook her head, "and I know you'd be his wife if he asked ya. I can see that with my own two eyes—"

"—I've already told you," Isabella said, harshly, "I'm not here to look for a husband."

"Then why are you here?" Elena asked, searching the other woman's eyes. "Why are you really here, Lady from Louisiana?"

"It was a mistake," she answered, truthfully. "One I intend to rectify." And having her fill of this conversation—her emotions weren't stable as it was—and knowing that the window of opportunity was quickly closing, she took Elena's wrist and, with surprising strength, shoved it down before she stepped passed her and quickly headed down the hallway.

Elena watched Isabella stalk away with a stiff back. The question mark mirrored in her green eyes slowly faded as a dawning began to appear and replace it. Then she nodded and, with a tiny smile playing around her lips, she pushed from the jamb and exited the kitchen as well.

**~*~**



Isabella had no time to waste. Good thing she didn't unpack that morning—primarily because she'd overslept—and her things were still in her suitcases. Now an unexpected chance to leave opened to her, and with the Barrington men and most of the ranch hands preoccupied with Lady and her foaling, and the work that still needed to continue on the ranch itself occupying the rest, she could slip away unseen.

Although she couldn't find the letter that she'd written John Barrington from the night before, that wouldn't be a problem. She used the elegant paper and envelope set on her desk and quickly wrote another, shorter one, and slipped it in its envelope and laid it on her bed again. Then she quickly took her suitcases and, once again, climbed out her bedroom window and headed toward her Rover. She disengaged the alarm and after tossing her suitcases into the backseat, she shut the door and quickly stepped to the driver's door—but she was thwarted again.

Excited barking had her nearly jump out of her skin, and she snapped around and fell back against the Rover's driver's door. Jerry was low on his front legs, tail wagging vigorously, and barking up at her. Then he twirled around and let out another series of excited barks.

"Shoo!" She swept her hands at the dog. "Shoo! Go away, Jerry! Shoo! HUSH!" Then, too late, she looked up to find none other than Jacob Barrington marching toward her with a handsome face set to storm!

She visibly paled before high color shot into her face, and everything inside her told her to hurry and get into her jeep and drive off, but she couldn't move. It was as if her feet were nailed to the ground, and then he was in front of her. Her eyes were round as saucers as she looked up into his stark, taut face under the cowboy hat.

"G-Good-morning, Mister—"

"—Gimme the keys," he commanded as he towered out over her. Although she wasn't short by any measure, at that moment, she felt tinier than a mite.

"Wh-What?"

"Gimme the keys," he repeated more tersely.

She dropped her gaze to see he was holding out his brown gloved hand. Then she blinked big eyes up at him again. "I-I need to get something from the store—"

"—And I don't believe you," he said, curtly, before he briefly bent.

She suddenly felt his rough gloved fingers snatch her keys right out of her fingers! She gasped, "How dare you, Mister Jacob—!"

His sharp whistle, through his teeth, silenced her and she looked down at their side and saw Jacob's tri-color blue merle stop his energetic spinning and come to a sudden halt; ears perked and head off to his side as he lolled a happy tongue for a job well done.

Job well done? Then something dawned on her...

She raised her gaze and looked up at him. "You had him stop me, didn't you?"

"Yea," he said without a pinch of guilt as he stuffed her keys into the breast pocket of his blue and black thick flannel shirt. Then she suddenly blinked when she felt his hands on her arms before she shoved back against the jeep. "I had him watching you since that night you'd been dancin' in the moonlight."

Shocked to the core of her soul, she stared, stunned, up at Jacob's angry, stark face. "Wh-What?"

"You heard me, Bella. Now where did you think you were goin'? And don't give me any of that goin' into town for supplies bullshit, cuz you know I ain't buyin' it."

She felt her temper ignite and she grabbed his arms to shove him away, but she couldn't even make him budge! "Take your hands off of me, Mister Jacob!" she commanded with ladylike authority.

"You were tryin' to run again, weren't you? Weren't you?" He narrowed eyes on her.

"Don't be ridiculous! Now take your hands off of me this instant!"

"I ain't bein' ridiculous, Bella. You are," he pointed out.

She glared up at him with barely contained rage. "I said," she emphasized, "take your hands—"

"—I heard you the first time."

"And yet your hands are still on me," she pointed out with hard-blinking eyes. "Now remove them."

He slowly brought his head closer to hers, boring his gaze into fiery sapphire blue eyes that refused to cower. "I don't take commands, Bella. I give 'em."

"Then consider this an appeal to your gentleman side."

"As you'd pointed out already, I ain't no gentleman."

Furious that he thought he could boss her around, an old anger emerged inside her and she threw herself into a furious struggle against him. She gritted her teeth and shoved and even tried to kick his shins, but she was getting precious little result for all her effort.

"Do you really wanna wrestle with me, Bella?" His tone was dead calm.

"No! I just want you to let me go!" she ground out, blasting him with shimmering eyes.

"Never."

That single, simple word sucked all the wind out of her sails, and with a gasp, she snapped up her head and stared big teary eyes up at him. In the next instant, he did release her arms, but his gloved hands cupped her head, and before she knew what he was going to do, his mouth crushed over hers in a passionate, almost painful kiss.

She was briefly stunned by his bold act, but even as she wanted to surrender to his lips, his kiss, she felt she needed to draw a line in the sand or she'd otherwise lose her soul forever. So her hands slipped up from his arms to his shoulders and she began pushing him back in earnest. It was all to no avail, as he only twisted his mouth over hers and drew her under his spell, draining her of her will and power as her heart began to beat hard and rapidly for him. Only when she ceased fighting him did he finally break the kiss, and she was gasping, out of breath, as she raised her teary eyes and looked up into the smoldering dark blue of his.

"You know you don't really wanna go, Bella," he said with a raspy deep voice.

She slowly shook her head that was still between his gloved hands. "Please give me my keys, Jacob," she whispered. "I-I-I can't stay."

"You can't keep runnin', Bella. You're gonna have to take a stand—"

"—I wasn't running!" she cried, lying through her teeth. Then she got frustrated with herself more than with him, and started shoving at him again.

He resisted and even stepped closer, touching their bodies nearly from chest to toe.

"Let me GO!" she cried in her desperation not to swoon for him, feeling his nearness affecting her down to the core of her cells. She suddenly pushed so hard against his chest that she felt a finger nearly snap in two. "Ow!" she cried before she burst into sobbing. "Look what you've done! Look what you've done! You've broken my fingers you brute! "

Okay. So that was an exaggeration, but she was feeling childish at that moment, frustrated that her attempt to leave was thwarted again, and she was feeling so emotionally weak against him—which had nothing to do with his physical superiority over her.

In the next instant, he showed his gentler side when he finally set her arms free and gently took her injured hand to look at her delicate fingers. "They're not broken, just a little bruised," he said as his gaze rose and watched as she frowned teary eyes as she regarded her fingers. "It's best you go back into the house and put some ice on it."

"I-I'll be fine."

"And while you do that, I'll take your suitcases back to your room."

She snapped up her head and looked up into his unreadable face. It was then she realized that there was no lying to him about just going into town—the city. He just told her that he knew she had her suitcases in the Rover.

A look of desperation flooded her face. "I can't stay, Jacob."

"Well, you can't drive. Not today. Not with bruised fingers," he said. Then he motioned with his head. "Come on. We'll get some ice on them 'for they get worse."

She snatched her fingers from his loose hold and frowned stubbornly up at him. "I said I'm fine. I can drive—"

"—And I said you need ice on those fingers."

"The only thing I need now is for you to step back so I can go my way—"

"—And I need you to...stay." He looked into her eyes and watched the frustration and upset fade away as a shyer look flooded her pretty eyes before she looked away. "We both have needs, Bella, but neither of us are gonna get them satisfied at this moment, so the best we can do is go back into the house."

"I-I don't know anything about your needs—"

"—Don't you?"

She frowned angry but also confused eyes up at him, searching his deep-set eyes for something before he lowered his chin just a little, briefly dropped his mask, and looked back with raw emotions that had her blush from the roots of her hair. She nearly hyperventilated by the power of his gaze and her frown was wiped away in an instant before she quickly looked away with high-red cheeks. No man, not a single one in her twenty-five years, had ever looked at her like that before.

"Comin'?"

She quickly looked up and saw him pop an eyebrow. "I meant, into the house."

Now she blushed so hard she feared she was at risk of having it permanently etched in her skin.

"B-Before...Before I do," she stammered, and then swallowed hard, "we can't...what had happened..." She lifted anxious eyes. "It can't happen again."

"What do you mean, Bella?"

She fidgeted on her feet. "You know what I mean," she whispered as if they were standing in a room full of people. Then she raised her anxious gaze and looked at him with high-red cheeks. "It can't happen again."

He popped eyebrows. "You mean sex?"

"Lower your voice!" she nearly hissed beneath her breath.

He looked into her anxious eyes for a few moments. "There ain't nobody here but you and me, Bella."

"And Jerr," she pointed out with a smile in an attempt to make a funny. But Jacob Barrington wasn't in the mood for funny. Her smile faded before she cleared her throat again. "I just want us to be clear about that—"

"—No more beddin'?"

She blinked big eyes and felt her face burn again. "Why, yes, I guess th-that's what I mean."

He nodded once and bent his head. He tipped back his hat as he looked at the ground between his boots. "Tell you what, Bella," he began, "if you ain't willin', there ain't gonna be any beddin'." He raised his head and looked at her. "Sound fair?"

She blinked big eyes as she felt her cheeks heat. "Y-Yes," she said softly, nodding, yet even as she answered and nodded, she couldn't help but feel her heart sinking. She gave herself a mental slap and cleared her throat. "Yes." She straightened. "Perfectly fair."

He nodded once. "Now you best git on into the house and put some ice on those fingers."

"I'm fine and I can drive—"

"—It's around time that everyone'll be headin' in for breakfast," he reminded her.

She stared at him for a few moments, but then she realized he was right. They'd been quibbling for so long that her window of opportunity to leave had closed. She inwardly sighed and finally nodded before she passed him and headed to the back of the house, not seeing how he watched her from shadow of the rim of his hat.

**~*~**



Isabella sighed for the hundredth time that day, as she flipped the light switch in her bathroom and turned off the light as she exited in one of her soft blue nightgowns after a refreshing bath. With brush in hand, she paused in the open doorway and looked at her stacked suitcases on the top of her armoire, and sighed again. Then she grabbed a thick bunch of damp curls over one side of her shoulder and brushed them out as she headed to her bed.

It had been a long day. A very long day. And another missed opportunity to leave. She was beginning to wonder if the Barrington Ranch was some kind of purgatory she couldn't escape. She'd just have to pack up as much as she could just in case another window of opportunity to leave unexpectedly opened for her. Although she gave her word to Jacob that she wouldn't run again, she knew it was a lie even before she uttered that promise. There was no way she'd stay and become a member of his harem!

It was already past midnight, and she really needed to get some rest. Doctor Bennett—M.D. and D.V.M.—would come by to see her tomorrow. He's a busy man. She was happy to hear that all went well with Lady, and that she had foaled another and healthy little mare. She made a point to visit the horses tomorrow since she hadn't been to the stables and would like to see what horse flesh the Barrington's kept.

With a yawn, she finally set her brush neatly on her nightstand and switched off the nightstand lamp before she crawled under her covers for a good night's rest. The memory foam mattress really touched and caressed all her aching parts, and she was soon off to a well-earned sleep, thinking about her mother—which always served to put her mind at ease—but ending up dreaming about a handsome and sexy blond cowboy...

**~*~**



She was standing at the top of the stairs in his loft home. She looked a little surprised around until she noticed him. He stood shirtless by the kitchen counter, and turned his head and looked at her with eyes full of raw desire. She immediately felt her nipples tingle as they hardened just by the way he looked at her, and she felt her own lust rise as he turned and she could admire his ripped and magnificent body openly, because she knew this was just a dream...

She couldn't take her eyes off of his tall sexy frame. He truly looked like a man who'd just stepped out of the Wild West circa 1800—from his long corn-blond hair, down to his broad shoulders, smooth and muscular chest, lean hips, and long powerful legs. Jacob Barrington was the epitome of rugged American man; pure Texas cowboy, just as perfect as God made them.

Her gaze resumed their greedy journey, slowly grazing his masculine form and eagerly admiring his defined ripped abdomen before descending to that sexy pelvic "v" that ended somewhere inside his loose, unbuttoned denims.

He didn't speak a word as he walked across the divide. The soft lighting in his home that cast perfect shadows across his handsome, stark face intimidated her. At the same time, it attracted her, pulled her to him like a helpless moth to flame.

She felt her breathing rev up as her chest rose and fell in sexual anticipation until she was certain she'd faint. When he finally came to stand in front of her she was so lightheaded that she feared she wouldn't be able to stand on her own two feet. Then his arm snaked around her waist before he had her up against his body with a single tug.

She gasped as she melted inside, outside, and between her legs. She could hear her heart pounding loudly in her ears as he brought his full lips millimeters from hers. And just when she was about to close her eyes to welcome his kiss, she heard him whisper, "Tell me to go, and I will."

"No," she whispered breathlessly. "I don't want you to go, Jacob, my love."

He bent his head, and she felt his lips capture hers in a passionate kiss...and it was then when something about this dream didn't feel right. It didn't feel like a dream. It felt...real.

The touch of his hot lips against hers instantly pulled her out of her sleep. She blinked awake, finding that she wasn't alone in her bed any longer. Jacob was with her, on top of her, with only the moonlight to give her vision. She broke the kiss, breathing as if she'd run a marathon, and stared up into his smoldering dark eyes; eyes she could barely see but could clearly feel, before he leaned down and began pressing tender hot kisses against her neck.

"Tell me to go, Bella," he whispered against her skin.

Everything inside her told her to stop this. Her common sense cried for her to tell him to go if she still wanted to salvage some of her modesty. But her heart, filled with a powerful sense of love the likes she's never felt before, silenced those voices of common sense.

"No, don't go," she whispered, and he raised his head to look upon her from between a curtain of golden silk. She stared longingly up at him. She shook her head on the pillow. "I don't want you to go."

He took each of her hands in each of his, and slowly slid them up until he curled her arms around her head on the pillow. "Are you sure?" he whispered with a raspy voice that sounded so incredibly sexy to her.

"Yes."

His mouth covered hers in an instant. He kissed her passionately, deeply, and voraciously. His back muscles rippled as he arched, pressing his hot erection repeatedly against her until she spread her legs for him to welcome the sensation of his burning shaft lengthwise against her clothed pussy.

Their breaths and gasps were the erotic songs they danced to as he began to rub his hips tightly against her, pressing his thick girth against the spread wet lips of her vagina. She broke the kiss with a gasp of ecstasy, already trembling for that beautiful moment when he would send her soaring and exploding among the stars.

He untwined their fingers before his hands slipped sensuously down her arms as his lowered down her body, kissing her body through her nightgown. He took the hem and pushed it up to kiss the soft skin of her tummy, rising with his hands that pushed her gown higher up until her breasts were exposed to his lips and teeth.

She writhed in the fire of her desire when his lips found a turgid nipple. He suckled on one then the other as he quietly slipped her nightgown over her head and tossed it forgotten aside. That move had him rise higher over her, and it was then when she realized she didn't need to undress him. He was already naked and aroused, and the heat of his thick shaft against her bellybutton was absolutely divine.

Less "divine" was the length and girth of his erection. Curious how his shaft looked, her gaze lowered—but then they widened in shock. He was definitely masculine and the epitome of man all over, but she felt suddenly intimidated by his size. She briefly wondered how on Earth was he able to get that inside her before?

At the point of his defined and sexy pelvic V-muscle, his shaft, thick and veined, grew proudly from a nest of golden curls. They appeared slightly darker than the hair on his head, and his testes were barely visible, masked by deep-golden curls. The dome wasn't overly large but large enough to startle her. Then the view of him was obscured when he quickly bent down and captured her lips in an intoxicating kiss until her panic slowly ebbed and was soon forgotten...

He ached for her like he's never ached for a woman before. He wanted her to see all of him, but when he sensed her panic, he quickly changed tactics and cast aside his desire to have her touch him as he brought her back under his spell with his lips and tongue.