“That’s not true.”
He pushed her shirt up and put his mouth to her breast.
She gasped his name and pulled him closer. “That’s not true,” she sobbed.
“It’s true. But maybe...” He slipped her pants down, his hand sliding over the mound of her sex. “Maybe someday...” He freed his cock from his pants, sliding a knee between her legs so she’d open for him. “I could be.”
By the time he slipped on a condom, she was panting, but she still wasn’t prepared. She wasn’t ready for the sure stroke of his thrust and the shock of being so utterly filled with him. She cried out, and he swallowed the sound with a kiss.
“This is more,” he said as he pulled back and thrust again. “It’s more than anything else.”
She framed his face in her hands and kissed him, raising her knees to his hips to take what he offered.
“It’s better than anything else,” he growled.
“Yes,” she gasped.
He took her deeper. Invading her body and her soul. “It’s better.”
“Yes. It’s better. Walker.” She twisted her hands into his hair and tugged his head up until she could meet his gaze. He pressed his hips hard against her and held himself there, deep inside her.
“You’re better,” she said. “And, God...Walker, I love you so much.”
His eyes widened for a moment before he closed them. It was slow after that. Slow and deep and careful, as his tongue stroked hers and his hands touched her everywhere. Everywhere. Finally he pulled her on top of him, and let her set the rhythm. He slipped his hand down her belly, and his thumb brushed her clit, and Charlie was lost.
She was lost in the feel of him, the fullness, the stroke of his body in hers as she took him faster.
“You’re so beautiful,” he growled. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Charlie. I love you. Goddamn it, I love you.”
She came with his words in her ear. Those terrifying words wrapping around her, getting inside her, making her believe that this was better.
Both their hearts were thundering when he pulled her down to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. She was crying again, her tears sliding down his neck, but there was no way to stop them. She was terrified. She had nothing. No job. No future. And now there was this. Love. Awful, overwhelming love.
And she wanted it.
“You
’ve made a stupid mistake, Charlie,” he whispered into her hair.
“What?” she croaked.
“You shouldn’t have convinced me I’m good enough for you. Now I’ve gone tame and you’ll never get rid of me. I’ll never leave you alone.”
She curled her arms around his wide chest, still shocked at the size and heat and strength of his big male body. It was all hers now. Other women might have had their shot, but they’d blown it. “So you’re mine now?” she asked.
“I’m all yours, Charlie. One good ol’ cowboy in your hands, whether you want him or not.”
She squeezed him tighter, listening to his heart beat slow and sweet against her ear. “I want all of you,” she whispered. “Just the way you are, or however you want to be, Walker. Just you.”
EPILOGUE
THE BRIDE HAD insisted she wanted a small wedding. In fact, she’d insisted she wanted no wedding at all, but she’d given in with suspicious ease.
First, they’d planned for a small reception at the Crooked R, but so many people had begged for an invitation that the plans had changed. And changed again. Now the wedding and the reception were being held in the huge, high-ceilinged event room at the Ability Ranch. The tall windows framed the snowy Tetons and blue sky above them. Despite the sun, an occasional gust of wind blew sparkling waves of snowflakes off the roof, but there wasn’t a hint of cold inside. Inside, the air shimmered with happy conversation and laughter and waves of anticipation, but when the first notes of the fiddle sounded, every voice went quiet. The groom removed his black cowboy hat and handed it off to his best man, Cole Rawlins.
The bride had refused to wear white, but she looked stunning in a pearl-gray dress. A sapphire necklace and earrings played up her blue eyes and upswept white hair, and it was clear that the pink in her cheeks couldn’t be attributed to rouge.
For a moment, Rayleen looked scared, her eyes darting over the large crowd of people rising from their chairs for her.