Page 100 of Dandelions and Smoke

“No,” he says breathlessly, stopping abruptly to look up at me as I’m about to slide down. “I want you to stand until your legs give out from the pleasure so that when you sit on my face, you can’t hold yourself back. Then I’m going to slide you back over my cock and remind you of exactly where you belong.”

Before I can respond or think of any of the thousands of thoughts that usually preoccupy my mind, his mouth is back on me, tracing my nerve endings until my breathing fractures into ragged gasps and my knees buckle. I am entirely at his mercy, and it’s exactly where I want to be.

His fingers dig deep into my waist to anchor my weight, holding me trapped against his hard frame as I completely dissolve into his touch. I reach for him, clutching onto his head as I let go of a ragged exhale, losing myself completely to him.

With precision, he slides me gently down his body while my thighs tremble on the verge of collapse until I’m back at his waist. He frees himself from his pants and fills me completely.

The sheer intensity forces a broken gasp to leave me before I can stop it.

“Garrett,” I gasp, breathless as I stretch around him.

Pressing off his elbows, he captures my lips once more and starts to move, proving his point over and over until a choked cry of pleasure escapes me, instantly met by his deep, guttural groan that vibrates through his mouth and reverberates through me. We collapse over the edge together, completely undone, his grip tightening around me like a man holding onto his entire world with the plan to never let go.

Tomorrow, Lettie, Lucas, and Cam will return to the ranch. Their next chapter is just beginning, and ours is, too. As hard as it’ll be to say goodbye so soon, I’m finally ready to go home.

I finally know exactly where I belong.

TWENTY-TWO

CHIEF

After promising Rory that we can visit whenever she wants and signing up for a frequent-flyer program to prove it, we finally returned home two weeks ago. Both of us hit the ground running. I’ve been catching up on all the work I missed while gone, and Ainsley and Tris were more than ready to hand over every shift they didn’t feel like working to Rory. She’s exhausted by the end of every double, but Ainsley claims, “She had this lick comin’,” and though I haven’t the slightest clue what that means, I’m guessing it’s country-speak for Rory’s paying for leaving them too.

After weeks of feeling like I was holding my breath, it now feels like I’m floating. Relief is finally settling inside me, slowly replacing the fear that I’ll wake up and she’ll be gone again. Grinning while I work, I think about how I haven’t been able to take my hands off of her when we’re in the same room, not because of the fear, but because I’m so happy I know she’s mine. Every time I reach for her in the night and find her still beside me, a little more of me believes she’s staying. I’m happy to have her home. I’m happy to have hope again, to believe in a future and the life we get to create together.

God, I can’t remember the last time I was this happy.

Since being back, it feels different now, somehow. Jasenia thought she could tear Rory and me apart, but all she did was show us how much we have to fight for. What we have now has never felt more solid. We’ve spent every night since being home together, and every day I make sure to tell her I love her.

On top of catching up with work, I’ve followed through with my promises to Rory and myself. I’ve met with my lawyer, and we’ve been to court. Hearing the judge grant me primary residential custody effective immediately almost had me falling out of my chair.

I’m fighting to keep that happiness.

Our happiness.

The excitement of hearing that decision, however, was quickly replaced with a nausea that nearly had me keeling over. When the verdict was passed, Jasenia wore a vacant look, her face slack until her gaze finally met mine. That’s when I saw it. Whatever she had been using to hold herself together up until that moment cracked, and beneath it was a quiet devastation.

My stomach still twists in knots as I think about all of the ways I can mess this up, mess him up, but I know I have a village behind me. It’s a crazy village, but it’s mine and one that I can rely on to help me and will love my boy almost as much as I do. We agreed that Jasenia would transition Scout to living with me by April first, which is now only a couple of days away.

As I sign off on some papers from city hall, I’m finding it impossible to focus. Instead, my thoughts drift to when I told Rory, and how she nearly burst into tears.

She called it the best birthday gift ever.

I clear my throat and press a hand to my chest, trying to contain the emotion building there as I lean back in my office chair. I think about the way she speaks of him, how her whole face lights up, the way she practically buzzes with excitement at the thought of meeting my son.

It only makes me love her more.

Before I can get my thoughts back on work, Billy bursts through my office door.

I wipe quickly at my eyes and glare at him, though the tears still clinging to my lashes are probably ruining any attempt at looking intimidating.

“Is now a bad time?” he asks, flashing a smile like someone who is all too used to talking his way out of trouble.

“I’m getting a lock,” I grumble, flattening my mouth into a firm line.

“That won’t matter.” He shrugs. “Pinky taught me how to pick them.”

“Why would she do that?” I mumble more to myself than to him, but it doesn’t seem to matter.