“Wouldn’t want to disappoint the fans,” he whispers, his long fingers reaching up and skimming along the curve of my jaw. My eyes flutter at the contact. And when I open my eyes his are clear, free from the storm clouds that shadowed them at the beginning of the summer. The blue is so bright I get lost in them, eyes that are blazing with need.Fuck it,I say to myself and finally give in to the pull that has always drawn us together since that very first night he picked me up out of the dirt and made me feel whole again.
Our lips touch and sparks zing from the tips of my fingers to my toes. Dean growls deep in his chest, and I moan into his mouth. I trail my hands up over his stomach, feeling his muscles flex under my touch, over his pecs and around his neck, intertwining my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. Tugging gently, I pull him back from me, both of us panting.
“How did you know I was here?” I ask quietly, resting my forehead against his.
“Darlin’,” he says with authority. “I always know where you are.” Smiling, I can't even muster the energy to pretend to care, nor do I really. Whatever his method is, I’m so happy he’s here. Then his mouth is back on mine, pulling me deeper into his embrace. It isn’t until we’re both dizzy from lack of oxygen that we pull apart again.
“Dean, there is something I need to tell you.” I’ve accepted my feelings for him, that I know for certain, but I’m suddenly nervous about telling him that I’m pregnant. “I’m…” I open my mouth, but the words won’t come out. Instead I reach behind me and pull the scan of our baby out of the pocket of my jeans where I’ve kept it with me every single day. He slides his hands overmy arms and tucks the trembling picture in his rough palms, holding them firmly and with so much care.
Those eyes that have slowly pulled me under since that first night peer down at the image of our baby. The energy shifts between us, wrapping around us in a hold that feels like each of our pieces have just slid into total completion. I feel the tears that slowly fall from his eyes land in my open palms. “I know, darlin’.” His voice comes out a whisper, and I snap my head up to ask him how, but he silences me with a kiss on the corner of my lips. “And I’m so fucking excited.” Relief floods through me and my knees buckle underneath me, but Dean steadies me with an arm around my hips. “I love that baby inside you, Hannah.” His warm hand slides over my belly and tears well in my eyes. “But don’t you ever forget who I loved first.” He swallows my gasp with a bruising kiss. Dean's hands slide behind my thighs, lifting me into his arms, and I cross my heels against his lower back, holding him to me. His boots scuff over the floor and I bury my face in his neck, breathing in the comfort and smell ofhome.
A door slams and I jerk up in his grasp, looking around before my eyes land on his face, a devious smile spread across his handsome profile. “Full circle, don’t you think?” he asks, his long legs carrying me over the small tack room floor before setting my ass on top of a saddle resting on top of a wooden rack. My body thrums with the urge to have him on me, inside me, any way I can have him. I justneedhim now.
“Sure is, cowboy,” I drawl, watching happily as his eyes flare and his hands reach out and grip my face roughly.
“Remember when I told you I wasn’t a gentleman?” His deep voice echoes off the walls. I swallow thickly and nod, biting my lip in anticipation. God, I missed this side of him. The side that owned me, dominated me, made me feel alive. “That hasn’t changed,” his lips tip up at the corners, “and I still plan on dominating you before I worship you.” Chills break out over mybody and I shift against the leather saddle, trying to wiggle closer to him.
I let out a frustrated sigh when he takes a step away from me, the heat of his body retreating with him. Then he lifts a finger in the air and swirls it in a circle, motioning for me to turn around. My boots thump against the floor as I jump down and turn slowly, soaking in the way his eyes roam over me, the front of my thighs brushing against the side of the saddle. I shiver when his chest presses up against my back and his hands wind around my hips. Then his fingers brush against my stomach before flicking the button and slowly pulling the zipper down. The cold leather meets my palms as I lean forward to keep myself upright while he slides my jeans down over my ass and legs, the cool air from the fan chilling my heated skin.
With one hand between my shoulder blades, Dean gently shoves me down across the saddle. “You ok?” he tenderly whispers in my ear. I nod up and down, moving my ass against the front of his jeans. “Greedy for me, aren’t you?” All tenderness has vanished, his voice back to the demanding and confident Dean that makes my toes curl in my boots. I moan when his fingers graze between my legs, pulling my panties to the side and running through the wet that gathers there. The sound of his belt snapping open makes the room buzz with electricity. It’s pure torture the way he drags the head of his cock back and forth, driving me crazy, and making my arousal drip down the inside of my thigh.
I feel his hand smooth over my back, up around my neck, and into my hair. I can just picture the rose tattoo on the back of his hand stretching as he grips my curls in his fist and pulls my head back, turning me to face him.
“I fucking love you, Hannah Harlow.” Then I’m screaming his name as he buries himself inside me. His pace is relentless, pushing me further over the saddle with each thrust. I feel thetoes of my boots scrape the floor with each smack of his hips. In the midst of his hand in my hair and his cock slamming into me, I feel my body begin to float above me, the pleasure building somewhere deep inside me, threatening to spill over. It’s not until I catch out of the corner of my eye the hand with the spur inked on the back start to circle my neck that I close my eyes and succumb to the rugged ride that is Dean Wilder. Together, we chase each other off the edge, the room filled with the heat from our sweat slicked bodies, sticky sex mixed with the smell of feed and hay wrapped around us.
“Atta girl.” His breath mists across my damp brow, his hands turning me around to face him.
“I love you, Dean,” I pant out into his chest as he holds me tightly while we try to catch our breath and slow our racing hearts.
With a soft kiss to the top of my head, he whispers, “Let’s go home, darlin’.”
dean
“You ready?”I glance away from the window at Owen who ties his tie in the mirror. Turning back to the window, I watch Hannah hold onto my mom’s arm and laugh about something before they go back to chatting back and forth in front of the tables set up below.
It’s been eight months since I chased her down in Amarillo and fucked her over the saddle in the tack room. We packed up her trailer and I drove us home. She tried to put up a fight, asking what I’d do with my truck parked beside hers. But I’d simply tossed my keys to one of the ranch hands and told him, “Sell it. We only need one now.” Her jaw hit the dirt and her eyes were as wide as a full moon. I just shrugged, swiped the keys from her hand, and hopped in the driver's seat.
We spent the drive home talking about everything and anything, sometimes nothing at all. The silence between us has never felt uneasy or out of place. About half way back to Green Haven after we’d stopped for dinner, she’d climbed in the passenger seat and broke down in tears. I still remember how I pulled her over into my lap and let her tears soak my shirt. Aftera long moment, she told me through watery eyes that she would give up racing so she could raise our baby. “Why the fuck can’t you do both?” I’d asked her. She told me that she didn’t want me to quit riding, and trying to juggle two schedules would be too hard with a kid, so she’d give it up.
Smiling, I remember holding her chin in my hands as I told her, “Hannah, I don’t think anything could stop you from being on the back of a horse. You may need to slow down for a bit, but being a mother doesn’t mean your dreams have to take a back seat.” Then she burst into tears all over again. My heart still skips a beat at the memory of her warm eyes flicking up under tear stained lashes, the words she said next will forever be branded into my soul. “Dean Wilder, I think I’ve found the piece I’ve been missing.” I touch my chest, remembering how she laid her hand over my racing heart.
Those brown eyes looked so full of conflict. Without thinking, I spoke the truth that had been weighing heavy on me for a couple summers. “I’m ready to be done, darlin’, I’ve been riding for a long time. Not sure how much more my body can take, and I don’t want to be the dad who is too broken to run around with my kids. I’m done.” That only made her cry more. I did my best to assure her that I had made my decision and I was sticking to it. I was ready to hang up my rigging and be the dad I never thought I’d get the chance to be.
“You’d do that, for me, for us?” she’d asked as she slid off my lap and back into her seat, tear streaked cheeks shining in the parking lot lights.
I’d tipped her chin up and leaned into her space. “Darlin’, I’ve killed a man for you, not much I wouldn’t do for you both.”
“It’s your day, not mine,” I finally answer Owen, walking from one window to the next to keep an eye on them as they walk across the lawn, adjusting a few chairs as they go. The country club is only a few miles from the hospital in Denver, but I stillfeel uneasy being far from Hannah’s side for too long. Even at eight months pregnant, she still looks drop dead gorgeous in her bridesmaid dress. When she stepped out of our room in that green satin dress, my fingers froze on my shoelaces. I was grateful I was sitting on the couch; if I had been standing, I would have passed out just from one look at her. I tried to tug her back in the cabin to change out of her heels when I finally made my legs work, but in true Hannah fashion, she pointed a finger at me and gave me a look that would cause any weaker man to tuck tail and run.
“I mean, are you ready for all that?” Owen bumps my shoulder, looking down to where Hannah stands. I feel his eyes on me, but can’t look away from the woman below me who has stolen my heart since that night two and a half years ago. He doesn’t wait for a response, just gives my arm a squeeze, chuckling under his breath as he turns back to the other groomsmen.
“Alright boys, it’s time!” Owen raises his glass, ice clanking against the sides as he downs the last of his whiskey. We all lift our own drinks then follow him out the door and down the steps of the large barn the country club rents out for weddings. My feet miss the bottom step and I nearly fall on my face when I get to the bottom of the staircase and see my woman waiting for me. Her brown hair is down and wild, just how I like it. She gives Owen a hug then catches my eyes over his shoulder. A huge smile fills her face and her dress hugs the swell of our growing baby. I have to rub a hand over my chest to ease the fullness that makes my heart feel like it’s about to explode. Together, we walked down the aisle after Owen and my mom, Hannah’s hand nestled in the crook of my elbow. I don’t hear one word of the vows, my entire focus stuck on Hannah standing across from me. Her eyes narrow on me before she looks back at the brideand groom, her eyes misting over as they exchange rings and lean in to kiss.
As the autumn sun sets and a cool breeze makes its way down to the valley from the mountains around us, I take my time spinning Hannah around the dance floor, her heels long since forgotten.
“My feet are killing me,” she leans up and whispers in my ear. I stopped dancing, letting the other couples move around us.
“Here.” Shuffling my boots, I lift her toes and slide my feet under hers, all her weight resting on me. “I’m not done dancing with you yet.” I carry her with me back into motion, letting the laughter and music of the reception swallow us. Slowly, the song fades out and Nate Smith's voice starts to sing the beginning of my favorite song,Not of this Earth.
