It Must Be Love

As I head downstairs for church, I am still smiling from my night of passion with Tobias. Frankie is impressed when he sees me sitting and waiting for him.

“Come on, old boy,” I say. “You’re gonna be late for your morning service.”

He rolls his eyes and pulls on his jacket. “I know something is going on with you,” he says suspiciously.

I do need to tell him about Tobias, but Frankie warned me away from him so many times, and my stubbornness doesn’t want to admit I went against everything I said in the beginning.

“Girl, who got you smiling like that?” Sara asks as I head toward her on the lawn of the church. They don’t miss a trick around here.

Sara knows about my love affair with Tobias, but she doesn’t know about our passionate night. Tobias is a private man, so I have to restrain myself from sharing too much with his friends.

It’s hard not to show where my happiness is radiating from when the source of it shows up at the church entrance.

My heart starts to thump when I see him in his jeans and special Sunday bright-white shirt. He never wears a cap to church, so he has his short hair gelled in place.

As our eyes meet over the lawn, we smile at each other. Our connection lingers until he is drawn away by a girl who is trying to get his attention.

We left each other the afternoon after our night of passion. He was ever the gentleman and took me for brunch before driving me home.

That was yesterday, and last night he was out of town with his dad and Travis, visiting an uncle. I’m surprised to see him back so early.

When we head into the church, he makes a beeline for me. I smile again as I feel him close behind me.

“Fancy seeing you here,” I whisper.

His smile grows and I feel his hand stroke mine as we sit close to each other. When everyone is seated, I take his hand, and as our fingers link my breathing quickens. I cannot concentrate on anything other than him.

My eyes are on his legs, which are outstretched in front of him—his black boots, blue denims, and that crotch. I now know what lies beneath, and I lick my lips as I think again about that night.

He squeezes my hand tightly, and I wonder if he can read my mind.

“How was your uncle?” I ask as the singing starts.

“He’s not doing great. We sat up with him all night,” he replies.

I look at him. “Sorry to hear that. Is that why you’re here this morning?”

“I need to head to bed after this. We’ve been up all night.”

I feel selfish when my first thought is that I won’t get to see him again today. We had all planned to go for drinks later tonight at the honky-tonk, and I fear he won’t make it.

I don’t even get to kiss him at church and have to watch the good church girls being forced on him by their mothers. He smiles politely as each and every one of the mothers push their pretty, virtuous girls in front of him.

It reminds me a lot of ~Cinderella~ when the mothers want their daughters to marry the prince. I guess I am like Cinderella in some ways—I don’t fit the norm, and he has selected me from all the other women around him to be his.

***

The smile that blossomed earlier has started to wilt. I haven’t heard from Tobias, and as I feed the horses in the stable, I suspect he is still asleep and will miss tonight.

“Wow, there, Jack,” I say as his damn horse starts to make a strange noise. It’s loud and makes me jump each time he does it.

“It’s just a whinny,” Tobias says. “He does it when he’s excited to see someone. It’s his way of being welcoming. Look, watch his body language when he does it.”

He moves to the horse confidently, and Jack rubs his head on Tobias as Jack continues to whinny louder.

“I thought he hated me,” I say as I continue to fill his hay. My smile is back on my face now.

Tobias laughs. “You make a habit of jumping to the wrong conclusions.”

I smirk. I know he is referring to us when we first met, but like his horse, he gave me reason to believe he hated me too.

“I want to show you something,” he says as he pulls me out of the stable.

I follow him into his house, and he locks the door before turning back to me.

“Live and learn,” he sniggers.

~This cowboy wants sex! Thank the Lord we are finally on the same page.~

I stay grounded, letting him walk to me.

“Sing for your supper, cowboy,” I say as he wraps his arms around me.

He chuckles but obeys, breaking into a twangy-sounding song.

Having him serenade me with his husky Southern voice is the most romantic thing that I have ever endured. I kiss his lips.

“I love that song. What is it?”

“It’s a country song, princess, from right here in Tennessee.”

I can’t imagine anyone would sing it better than my Tennessee cowboy, but I might have to start downloading some of these country songs he’s introducing me to.

I wrap my arms around him, and he lifts me off my feet with his powerful arms. My new favorite place to be is wrapped around him as he carries me to his bed.

I lift his T-shirt off with haste and take a deep breath as my eyes survey his sculptured body.

As I run my fingers over his Latin tattoo, which he still hasn’t told me the meaning of, I smile and bite in my bottom lip. His smile grows as he moves closer to me.

“Come on, princess, don’t hold back,” he mumbles.

“Never,” I sneer. “Bring that big cock to me.”

My hands move down to his jeans, and I unbuckle his belt with ease. He lets out a small moan when my hand teases his manhood as the zip lowers and his jeans drop around his ankles.

“So you want this now?” I mumble between kisses.

“Oh yeah,” he growls. “I want you, princess, so bad.”

Once we are naked, I gesture for him to sit on the floor. He smiles as he complies.

With his arms outstretched behind him, I climb onto his lap and straddle him. He licks his lips seductively as I hold his shoulders and lower myself onto his erect penis.

Our bodies are so close, and I hold all control of the timing and speed as we thrust.

The sex is extra steamy as our eyes connect throughout. Our bodies become one, totally in sync, and it’s like everything else evaporates around us.

Time freezes, and it’s just the two of us, connecting, becoming one, creating something more than sex—creating a connection so deep it reaches right to the pits of our souls.

I love everything about this man, but his eyes are unquestionably my favorite. As we lie close to each other, exhausted and sweaty, I can’t imagine ever not wanting to lose myself in the blue of those eyes.

“Are we going to the bar?” I ask, running my hand down his bare chest.

“I would rather just stay here and make love to you,” he replies as he shifts anxiously.

“Oh,” I say as I kiss his lips. “So you make love to me, do you?”

He keeps his eyes on the ceiling as I observe his face for an answer.

“What do you think, princess?”

“I don’t know, you cowboys are a different league. I can’t help but fall for your charm.”

He smiles. “Fall for my charm?” he repeats.

“Fall for you,” I correct.

“Princess,” he says, “I fell for the you that first day I saw you by the store.”

I shake my head. “Nah, no way. You hated me.”

He laughs loud. “No,” he protests. “You were just so mean to me. To everyone. But I knew you were special.”

We cuddle and although I am just where I want to be—naked in his bed, with my legs wrapped around him—I can’t help feeling like he isn’t all here.

Maybe it’s the issue with his uncle getting to him, maybe it’s just me overthinking, because everything right now just seems too perfect.

At ten o’clock, my phone rings.

“It’s Sara, she’s probably wondering why we haven’t shown at the bar.”

“Answer, then,” Tobias says. “Tell her I have you chained to the boiler and you can’t get away right now.”

I laugh as I head into the other room to take the call. “Hey Sara,” I say as I answer.

“Is everything okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Oh, I just wondered what was going on. You and Toby aren’t here, and Lynn is freaking out, and I connected the dots and I assumed you knew.”

“I knew what? I’m with Tobias now.” My heart rate triples. What is Sara talking about?

“Shit! Speak to him, Ella, I’m sure he can explain better than me.”