by Maddy Barone
He leaned his head down until his nose was buried in her hair and inhaled deeply. Gina almost cringed. Several days of not washing her hair due to her head injury and a long day of train travel left her feeling grimy. The silly man honestly didn’t seem to notice. She smiled. Too bad more men weren’t silly like that. She caught his earlobe in her teeth.
“Put me down now,” she whispered in his ear.
Very carefully he knelt and put her on the edge of the bed. He took her face in gentle hands and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “Home. We’re home, and I am going to make love to you here, and it will be perfect.”
She returned the kiss, stroking the soft hair at his nape. “It’s always perfect when we make love.”
He drew back a little. “Even that first time?”
His skeptical tone made her smile. “Well, we were still getting the hang of it then. We got better at it.”
He kissed her again. “Practice makes perfect.”
She drew in a breath, unsteady with anticipation when he cupped her breast. “Practice is good,” she agreed.
“Tell me what you like,” he ordered.
She almost chided him for being bossy, but the gentle pressure he applied over her nipple made her moan. “That is very nice. It would be better if you took my shirt off.”
Cole worked each button free with agonizing slowness. When he slid her blouse off and tossed it aside she could see her stiff nipples pushing against the fabric of her undergarment. She didn’t wait for him to remove her bra. She slipped it off herself and arched her back to offer him her breasts. He stayed perfectly still, staring at her with greedy intensity.
“Don’t tease me, Cole.”
He flashed her a naughty smile. “Maybe next time?”
“Sure.”
She liked the idea of next time. They had lots of ‘next times’ ahead of them. A whole lifetime of … She lost her train of thought in a gasp of delight when Coles’ teeth teased her nipple.
In spite of what he’d said, the next ten minutes were a long, slow, burning tease that drove Gina nearly wild. Their clothing was scattered over the floor and their bare skin slick with perspiration before Cole finally moved over her and his cock nudged at her entrance. Gina panted as she stared up at him. He stared back at her.
“Mine,” he growled. “Only mine.”
They could talk about that later. Gina raised one foot to tap her heel into his flank. “Come on, Cole,” she moaned.
“Come in, did you say?” he said, with all the roughness in his voice smoothed to silk. “I will.”
And he did. In one, long, slow push, he filled her so full she couldn’t think of anything else. Couldn’t feel anything else. When he set the rhythm of advance and retreat, she followed, pushing them both higher and higher. Her head whipped back and forth on the pillow, faster and faster, until the world exploded in glorious sensation punctuated by Cole’s strangled shout.
It took them several minutes to come back to earth. Cole lay half over her, his shoulder overlapping her, and one of his legs thrown over her thighs. His face was pressed to the top of her head. She could feel his panting breaths stir her hair.
“Cole?”
He shifted slightly. He sounded dazed when he said, “Huh?”
Her giggle was a little choked. “I don’t think we need any more practice. That was perfect.”
The muscles pressed against her tightened. “No more practice?” He lifted his head to squint down at her. “That was perfect,” he agreed. “But imagine how much better it will be if we keep on practicing.”
She groaned. “I don’t know if I can survive anything better than that.”
“I’ll protect you,” he promised. “It will be wonderful.”
The light in the room was dimming, but she could see his earnest face. She raised a hand to smooth over his high cheekbone to the corner of his mouth. “It will be, but you have to give me some time to recover.” The cool air prickled goosebumps over her shoulder.
He somehow lifted her and slid her under the quilt with one smooth movement. “We should rest then, and regain our strength for later.”
Gina let herself drift on the edge of sleep. Cole’s arm was draped over her waist, a heavy promise of protection and companionship. The thought made her smile. There had been a time when she would have seen this embrace as a cage.
“What?” Cole whispered into her hair.
She was quiet for a moment, trying to order her thoughts. “When I first saw you in the coffeeshop in Omaha, I was scared.”
“Of me?”
The note of hurt in his voice made her caress his cheek. “Yes. And no. I thought I had finally found a safe place with Lachlan and Ceara. A safe, boring life as a barista, not the daughter of a madman. I think you scared me because I deep down inside my heart I knew you would disrupt my quiet, safe life.”
“It’s true. I endangered you.”
“No,” she said swiftly. “I endangered you. People on the train from Omaha were killed because of me. You nearly died. And all the people in Omaha ̶ No, I know that my stepfather would have attacked Omaha anyway. I know that, but I still feel guilty.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead “I wish you wouldn’t.”
“I’ll try.” She drew a deep breath. “What I wanted all my life was to be normal. To be safe. To have someone love me because I was me, not because I was Gerald Todd’s stepdaughter. I wanted to be part of a normal family. I wanted to be able to make my own choices and have people love me even if my choices were stupid.” Tears stung her eyes as she took another breath. Nearly her entire life had been lived according to Gerald Todd’s commands. “And I have that now. I have all of that now. You love me not because I am Gerald Todd’s stepdaughter, but in spite of it. You told me you would keep me safe, and you proved it. And now I have your whole family to be a part of.”
“I don’t know that you would call them normal,” he protested dubiously.
Her giggle was shaky. “They are perfect, from Laura and Gen to your parents.” A weight fell from her, leaving her joyfully buoyant. “They accept me. They like me.”
“They love you,” Cole interrupted fiercely. “You are a member of the Wolf Clan. We take care of each other.”
“And even though you are bossy at heart, you will listen to me when I want to do something.”
“I can’t promise to like it,” he warned.
She stroked a hand over his heart. “But you know it is important to me to be able to make my own choices.”
“Yes.” His voice was reluctant. “I can promise to always listen to you. And I promise I will try to not be unreasonable.”
Everything she had always wanted was in her grasp. Todd was dead. She had a man who loved her and a family who welcomed her. Even her mother was safe and nearby. “Cole, I can’t ask more than that. I will try to not be too headstrong. You will try to not be too bossy.”
He kissed her lips. “Sounds good. We can practice those too.”
At her quick frown, he smiled. “You will practice not being headstrong. I will practice being reasonable.” He kissed her again, more deeply, so the heat flared again. “And we can practice that other thing together.”
“Hmm, yes,” she moaned. “Let’s not forget that other thing.”
Epilogue
It was a hot afternoon in early July. The windows in Patia’s room were closed and the curtains drawn to keep any peepers away, and the heat was an almost tangible weight. Gina used a handkerchief to dab at the sweat on her upper lip before tucking it back into her sleeve and helping Carla to arrange the veil over her daughter’s thick brown hair. Patia was a beautiful bride.
“My baby,” Carla murmured, staring over her daughter’s shoulder at their reflection in the mirror. “All grown up and getting married.” She sniffed back tears. “I can’t believe it.”
“Oh, mom,” sighed Patia. “Don’t cry. You’ll make me cry and then my face will be messed up. If Dad sees both of us in tears he
will want to kill someone. Probably my bridegroom.”
Carla sniffed again, almost militantly. “I won’t cry.”
Patia turned to Gina just as she pulled out her handkerchief to wipe her face again. “Are you crying too?”
“No,” Gina denied quickly.
“Well, you can. In fact, I wish you would. Pregnant women are expected to cry, and if dad sees you crying, he’ll be so concerned about you that he won’t notice me and mom crying.”
Gina slipped the hanky back into her sleeve with a laugh. Her father-in-law had been very solicitous since she and Cole had announced her pregnancy last week. She was only three months along. What would he be like when she was eight months along? Cole was even worse. “Okay, I’ll go find him and weep on his shoulder.”
She stepped out and walked along the den’s corridor to the front doors. She waved at the women from the Plane Women’s Eatery as she passed the kitchen. The wedding supper would be a barbeque, but Renee was in charge of the side dishes and the cake. Patia was having a small wedding, with only family for guests, but when family was the Lakota Wolf Clan, that meant hundreds of guests. The bridegroom’s family wasn’t as extensive, but Mayor and Mrs. Madison were there, along with Marty and Victoria Madison, and a few dozen others.
The only place large enough for the ‘small’ family wedding was the yard outside the den where training took place. The benches from the dining hall and been brought out and lined up in two rows. There was a row of chairs in front reserved for the immediate family. Some people were already sitting. Others milled around, chatting with cousins they hadn’t seen for months. Cole and his dad were standing with a couple of men she hadn’t met. Cole saw her and raised his hand to call her over.
She blew him a kiss and started over. The scent of roasting pig wafted by and she paused to swallow heavily. For some reason her morning sickness had bothered her more in the afternoon, and only for the first couple of months or so. Today was a bad day for it to resume, but it passed quickly. Once she’d settled her stomach, she went on.
Cole came to meet her with a frown of concern. Taye and the other two men had stayed put, but they too looked worried. “Are you alright?” Cole asked urgently.
“Of course. Just a twinge of morning sickness,” she replied.
Appearing slightly reassured, Cole put an arm around her and led her to his father.
“I’m okay,” she told Taye.
Her father-in-law nodded and introduced two of his cousins from the Clan. They chatted for a few minutes before two of the teen boys carried a podium up the aisle and set it down facing the benches and chairs. The minister walked briskly up the aisle between the rows of benches to the podium. He waved an arm to get everyone’s attention.
“Good afternoon,” he boomed. “I’ve just been told the bride is ready. Will everyone please take their seats?”
Taye, looking suddenly pale beneath his brown skin, hurried toward the den. Cole urged Gina toward the chairs in the front row on the bride’s side. They left the two seats closest to the aisle empty for Taye and Carla. Wolf’s Howl slipped into the chair on Gina’s other side.
“Finally,” the young man muttered. “Maybe life will get back to normal, now that the wedding is done.”
It wasn’t quite done yet. Gina stood with the rest when the minister told them to, and half turned to look toward the den where Patia would emerge. Her mother, standing beside Jay in the row behind them, caught her eye.
“I didn’t get to attend your wedding,” her mother murmured.
Her relationship with her mother’s had improved. Jay’s patient and consistent love seemed to free her mother’s emotions, making her more empathetic. Gina reached and patted her hand, remembering her own little wedding in the hospital’s basement chapel in Omaha. How frightened she had been then. If she could have looked into the future and seen where she would be today, she wouldn’t have been frightened. Or maybe she would have. Getting to this place, free of her stepfather, surrounded by a large and supportive family, loved by the bossy alpha who held her hand now, hadn’t been easy. Cole had been tortured and people had died for her to get to this place.
Cole must have sensed something, because he turned away from the den’s front doors to lean over her. “Are you okay?”
Gina smiled mistily up at her husband. It was his sister’s wedding day and she was about to make her big entrance, but he turned to her to be sure she was alright. “I love you,” she whispered.
Smiles bloomed on several nearby faces, faces that had been stoic only a moment ago, so Gina knew they had heard her. Cole lifted her wrist to his lips and pressed a tender kiss to the sensitive flesh over her pulse. “I love you, too. But are you okay?”
Behind them a violin began to play. The doors to the den opened and Taye stepped out. Patia and Carla followed, and all three of them walked arm in arm up the aisle.
“Yes,” Gina whispered. “Everything is perfect.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maddy Barone hates hot weather, so it’s a good thing she lives in North Dakota, USA, where summers are intense, but mercifully short. She has a B.A. in History, which is probably why she works in the financial department at Medicare. She keeps her love of history alive by participating in the Society For Creative Anachronism, an international educational organization which studies the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In her free time she reads, knits, spins (yarn and thread, not the exercise kind) sews historic costumes, and plays with her two rescue cats.
Visit her at www.MaddyBarone.com
