Rules of the Ride: A Silver Star Ranch Novel by HJ Bellus Page A

head.
    Gently, I roll over onto my back and adjust her on top of me. Her petite palms collide into my chest as she struggles to balance herself. Her hair sweeps across my face and chest as she sits up on me. Ella gathers all of her hair and tucks it to one side, framing her perfectly etched face. I grip onto her hips, no longer able to fight my desires and begin to guide her up and down on me. My fingers sink deep into her flesh as she moans and squirms on top of me until she finds a steady rhythm.
    The sight of her perfect and very ample breasts bouncing up and down as she finds her pleasure nearly sets me off. Rising to my elbows, I focus on her features and study every part of her, branding it all to my memory.
    “Ella…I’m not going to last.”
    “Wait for me, Maverik, just wait for me.”
    Her words distract me for a moment as I analyze them for a hidden meaning. The tone and determination of her voice convince me there was so much more to her words.
    Flopping back on the bed, I hold off, trying to push back my need to explode inside her again. I wait for her cue and it seems like a fucking century as I watch her ride me and moan. Her palms come down every once in a while, gripping onto my chest as she screams out in pleasure. I grit my teeth together and curl my toes, knowing I’m ready to blow any second.
    “Go, Maverik, go.”
    It only took those three words before I raise my hips and match her every move from underneath, driving deeper and harder into her. I bite hard into her flesh with my hands on her hips and feel her squeeze around me. I hear her scream out my name, and that’s when I finally let go of everything and collapse in satisfaction with her.
    Ella tumbles down onto me, pressing her breasts into my chest, letting her hair flow all around me. I brush it back and begin rubbing her back in a circular motion. I make sure to stay seated inside of her, never wanting to leave that damn spot.
    I feel her kisses on my shoulder. Our bodies are stuck together with neither of us doing a damn thing to separate them. Silence can be considered awkward, but in this moment, it’s our love song that I’d do anything to hear on repeat the rest of my life.
    Ella’s kisses stop, and her breathing becomes more rhythmic. I crane my head to look over at her but have to brush back her hair and find her sound asleep. I can’t help the smile that overtakes me and the joy that filters back into my body. I never knew it had been such a missing factor in my life until I felt it again.
    I wait nearly an hour before I move so I don’t wake her and then creep up the bed with her balanced on top of me. I’d give anything to shower with her and even fool around more but don’t want to wake her. When my head reaches the pillow, I slowly roll down to her side and cuddle right up next to her, tucking her head into my arm and adjusting it so she won’t wake with a kinked neck.
    I’m left facing the nightstand where a couple of empty orange medicine bottles lay on their side, but it’s a picture of a nine-year-old Ella and her mother staring back at me that catches my attention. Ella is perched on a brand new bike with her mom standing proudly behind her. Their smiles and love for one another is contagious in the photograph. I know Ella’s mother was always hard on her, but the rage Ella holds for her is unreal.
    I guess the saying ‘you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’ is true. Ella’s mom gave her everything to live a good small town life, but the girl was destined for the city and big-time fashion. A spark of resentment begins to simmer, but then I focus back on the now and Ella lying in my arms and know beyond a shadow of a doubt it’s her that I need. Maybe letting go of the past is worth it to keep her.
    The growling of my stomach is deafening and I wait for it to wake her, but she sleeps soundly wrapped up in my arms. I lie for hours watching her sleep in peace and think about everything we