A breath of a laugh left her, but she reached for my hand before I could make it all the way outside, her face falling into something more serious. “Thank you. For coming, for this. It means everything.”
I squeezed her hand. “I missed you,” I said simply as I stepped back, thankful that it felt like the world was finally settling back into place. “See you soon?”
“Please.”
I offered her a nod as I turned and hurried to my SUV.
Excitement slowly wound through me and filled my veins as I started up the engine, making the small distance that separated me from Beau and his carnal promises seem so great when I was beyond eager to be there. Making me ache for him long before I ever arrived home.
I pounded my fist on Sawyer’s door, ready to get what I needed and get home.
The last hours of the day had dragged. Taunting me with each minute that crawled by that I was only one minute closer to being home with my wife when I’d mentally never left our bed that morning. That I still had hours and minutes before I could crush her body to mine and show her exactly what she did to me.
Then a handful of minutes before I could leave, I’d gotten an email that everyone needed to be present for a last-minute, all-staff meeting on misconduct.
I’d nearly lost my shit.
“I need Savannah’s rings,” I said as soon as Sawyer answered the door, already pushing my way inside.
“Where were you earlier?”
“Busy. I told you to bring the rings to the school.”
“When?” he asked on an irritated laugh as he finished shutting the door behind me.
“I’ve been texting you for the last—what the fuck?” I ground out, my stare narrowing on the vulture who’d shown up a year ago, trying to buy our family’s land.
A development company had been sending out someone ever since the year Dad died and Hunter took over, trying to buy up the land and turn it into some retail shit I really didn’t care about.
Every year, Savannah and I hosted them at Blossom and joined the entire town in hating every minute they were there. Last year, it’d been the asshole walking across Sawyer’s living room, face lighting in recognition when he saw me.
“The fuck?” I repeated, narrowed stare shifting to Sawyer when he placed himself in front of me.
“They’re Rae’s friends,” he said softly, voice low and warning me against reacting the wrong way. “He also helped bring Rae back to me last year.”
“Hey,” the vulture said, extending his hand. “Beau, right?”
I stared at his hand, forcing myself to count backward.
Trying to remember the conversation I’d overheard him and Rae have in my kitchen, where she’d persuaded him not to buy the land. But he was back.
“Yeah,” he said with an uneasy laugh as he let his hand fall to his side. “Peaceful visit . . . mostly.” Half of his face scrunched up like there wasn’t much he could do about that. “Company’s sending one of the partners no matter what. I’m the only one who will see that land for what it really is, so I figure it’s best if I come.”
“But they’re just hanging out for a few days,” Sawyer added.
“They?”
“My fiancée,” the vulture said, pointing over his shoulder. “She’s out back with Rae and your mom.”
I nodded, still having a hard time trusting the guy. “I need the rings,” I said to Sawyer.
“Mom’s been freaking out, by the way,” he called over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving me with the vulture.
“About?”
“You called her last night when you never call her,” he explained, voice fading the farther away he got before slowly getting louder again. “Said she called you back a dozen times, but you never answered, and Savannah wasn’t at the house when she went there today. Which, by the way . . .” A broad smile was on his face when he entered the living room again. “Number four. You excited?”
“Hell yeah,” I whispered as I held out my hand for the rings I’d forced him to take the night Savannah had given them to me. “You know I am.” Dipping my head in thanks, I rocked back a step. “And I need to get back to her.”
“Beau Dixon!”
I stilled at that voice and tone, same as it had been my entire life, and looked up, already searching for my mom before she came storming into the living room from Sawyer’s kitchen. Hand raised in the air and pointing a finger at me even though she looked relieved.
“I have been worried.” She sucked in a quick breath and let it out just as fast. “You do not call up your mother in the middle of the night and then ignore every one of her returning calls.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I muttered, glare dragging Sawyer’s way at his hushed laugh.
“Hey!” Rae said when she caught sight of me as she trailed behind, holding a wriggling puppy in her arms. “How’s Savannah feeling?”
My mom looked from her back to me. “What happened to Savannah?”
“When the hell did you get a puppy?” I asked, gesturing to the massive, fluffy beast.
Rae did a little dance, her smile wide as she looked to my brother. “This weekend.”
“What happened to Savannah?” Mom demanded.
“She passed out,” I answered, trying not to remember the way Savannah had looked when her body went slack right in front of me.
Mom’s hand lifted to her chest as she took another couple of steps toward me. “Oh dear. Well, is she okay? What happened?”
“I don’t know, she’s never done that before.”
“What was she doing right before?” a woman I’d never seen before asked as she walked past Rae, looking at me curiously.
“Megan,” the vulture explained quickly. “My fiancée. She’s a nurse.”
“And you’re the angry one,” she said, lifting her hands in mock excitement. “Yay, we met. Rae kinda gave me a rundown on your wife’s situation and what was said over the phone last night, but what was she doing right before?”
I let out a slow sigh as I once again sent a glare my brother’s way. “She was standing there.”
“Had she been standing for a while?”
“No.”
“She needs details, man,” Sawyer said.
“She’d been sitting,” I ground out. “We were talking, and she was sitting in the tub. Not taking a bath, just sitting in there without any water.”
If Megan thought that was weird, she didn’t show it. Just watched me, waiting for the rest.
“She stood up and started walking out of the bathroom, turned to say something else, and her face was drained of color. Lips were chalky. Then her eyes rolled back, and her body went limp.”
Megan nodded quickly, taking in the information. “I think she’s fine. All the emotional stress the two of you have been going through probably aided it, but from what you’re saying, I think her blood pressure just dropped when she stood up.”
I nodded, trying to be thankful for the assurance and not focus on the fact that a stranger knew the fucked-up details of my marriage.
“Mention it to her doctor anyway at the next check-up, but if it happens again, I’d call the OB or take her to an urgent care.”
“What?” my mom cried out, joy pouring from her. “Oh, my heart with all these grandbabies. And you weren’t gonna tell your mother?” she chastised.
“Just found out, Mom.” I looked around the room, then dipped my head in gratitude at the nurse before setting a glare on Sawyer as he followed me to the door, my voice a low rumble. “Why’s your girlfriend telling people shit they don’t need to know?”
A smile flashed across his face, but it was all bared teeth and irritation. “You know by now that it takes a lot for Rae to get personal with people. She talked to Megan because she was worried about Savannah—we both were. Megan did some nurse-interrogation thing to get as many details as possible. I was the one who filled in most the blanks because I know what it’s like to feel absolutely helpless when something’s wrong with t
he girl you love,” he said meaningfully. “Also,”—his gaze drifted back to where everyone was clustered in the living room, playing with the puppy—“Rae isn’t my girlfriend.”
My stare snapped to him from where it’d settled on the puppy, confusion pushing through me as I worried for what he’d say next after everything they’d already gone through.
“She’s my wife.”
I slanted my head, sure I’d heard him wrong. “What?”
A smile pulled at his mouth, slow and unrestrained. “We were falling asleep a couple weeks ago, and she goes, ‘If I didn’t want a wedding, would you still want to marry me?’ Like that’s even a factor,” he said, eyes rolling even as his joy grew. “Then she asked, ‘If I wanted to marry you right now, would you say yes?’” He glanced at me. “I’ve never agreed to something so fast in my life.”
“So, you just got married,” I said dully, trying to wrap my head around the fact that my youngest brother was married and about to be a dad.
“Couple days later,” he confirmed. “Gavin and Faith were there, and that’s it. We were gonna tell everyone the next morning at breakfast, but then you showed up, pissed off at everyone. And when Hunter was still outside trying to calm you down, Avalee announced to the rest of us that Hunter and Madison had just gotten engaged, like, the night before.” He lifted his hands as if to say there wasn’t much they could’ve done after that, and it was only then I noticed the dark wedding band on his left hand.
Not that I usually noticed that shit anyway, but surely someone would’ve.
I looked over to the living room, searching out Rae, and saw the diamond flashing on her hand.
“And no one’s noticed?”
“Well, no one did at that breakfast. And after that all went down, we decided to hold off telling everyone until things calmed down with y’all. So, we don’t wear our rings outside the house anymore . . . for now. But Rae forgot one day, and Mom saw. I thought she was gonna kill me when she realized we’d done everything without telling her.”
“Fuck, Savannah might.”
“Savannah?” he asked with a huff. “What about Em?”
“Emberly doesn’t know?” I asked, amusement building in my chest. “You’re screwed.”
“Well, if we’d invited her, then we would’ve had to invite Cayson. If we were inviting Cayson, we might as well have invited all y’all.”
My head bobbed in a slow nod. “And you’re good with how that went down?”
“Yeah.” Genuine happiness poured from him. After a second, he shrugged. “Rae’s impulsive and still shuts down when she gets overwhelmed. And there are times when it scares the shit out of me because I like stability and need to know what’s going on with the people I love—that they’re okay—her most of all. But I know she needs to do things at a different pace. And when she’s ready for something, she doesn’t ease into it. She dives headfirst in this way that’s a perfect mixture of us, and I love it.”
I nodded for a while before a huff of disbelief left me. “You’re married.”
His answering smile was damn near contagious.
Grabbing his shoulder, I pulled him in for a hug. “I’m happy for you, Saw.”
“Did you tell him?” Rae asked as she appeared beside us.
“About the puppy?” Sawyer asked. “Babe, he saw her.”
Rae smacked him in the stomach and looked pointedly at me, waiting for my reaction.
I just dipped my head as I reached for the door behind me. “Mrs. Dixon.”
Excitement burst from her in an instant, her eyes darting back to my brother as she said, “That’s my favorite.”
Sawyer pulled her close, tone dripping with meaning as he focused on her mouth. “Want me to remind you of my favorite?”
“I’m leaving,” I muttered as I opened the door, looking to Rae as I stepped out of it. “Welcome to the family.”
My head shook as I hurried down the walkway to my truck, still trying to come to grips with the fact that Sawyer had gotten married. Without telling anyone. Especially Emberly, the girl who had been his best friend since they were getting out of diapers, and who was Rae’s sister.
But they’d have to deal with her and Cayson later. They’d have to let Hunter know he’d now missed two weddings.
And I’d have to tell my wife . . . after.
First, I had a hell of a lot of making up to do for making her wait. And even more frustrations and needs that we had to take out on each other.
But by the time I made it home, Savannah’s car wasn’t there. And when I called her, I followed the ringing of her phone to the kitchen . . . that was empty.
I moved through the house, needing to check even though I knew she wasn’t there. But with the way she’d just collapsed the night before, and with her being pregnant, I couldn’t stop from searching every room as I pulled up the first of two numbers I thought to try.
“Hey,” Hunter answered, sounding confused.
I stopped walking and leaned up against a doorway. “What?”
“What do you mean what, you called me.”
A harsh breath burst from me. “You answered like you don’t know why I would call you.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever called me before,” he explained dryly.
My eyes rolled. “Just wondering if you’ve heard from Savannah at all today.”
“No, but Mads and Avalee ended up not coming over because Savannah showed up there. She might still be there.”
I hesitated before confirming, “Savannah’s with Madison?”
“Yeah,” he said after a moment as if it had surprised him too. “Considering how long ago that was, I’m guessing it’s going well.”
I grunted some sort of acknowledgment. “Good,” I said as I pushed from the wall.
“Need me to call Mads?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Savannah’s phone’s here, but she isn’t, so I was just looking for her.”
“All right,” he rumbled, sounding unconvinced. “Talk to you later.”
I grunted some sort of goodbye as I ended the call and slowly forced my fingers to loosen their tight grip on the phone as fear moved through me, thick and hot, at the possible outcomes of Savannah and Madison talking.
There was nothing Madison could tell Savannah that she didn’t already know. But the slightest possibility of sliding backward after the progress we’d made had me anxious. Muscles twitching restlessly and blood thrumming a chaotic beat in my veins as I went back through the house, trying to keep myself busy.
Trying to keep my mind busy.
Making a mental checklist of all the things that needed to be done and looking for anything Sawyer might need to fix before people started arriving in a few days for graduation.
But by the time a car door closed out front only a handful of minutes later, I was ready to snap. Needing to see that girl to know I wasn’t gonna lose her again when I’d finally gotten her back in my arms.
“Beau?” My name rang through the house before the front door shut, and my eyes slowly closed at the way just the sound of her voice slid over me. Calming me and setting my blood on fire all at once.
“Upstairs,” I called out as I finished turning off everything in the guest room I’d been checking, locking the door behind me as I listened to Savannah quickly climbing the steps.
I turned just as she reached the landing, every part of my body instantly reacting to the way she was looking at me. Like she’d been waiting for this and needed me to put an end to her aching. Challenging me, as if she was waiting to see if I’d make good on my earlier words.
“I’m late,” she said, breath hitching and golden eyes flaring with heated excitement when I started toward her.
“I noticed.”
“I’m home.”
A wicked smirk tugged at my mouth as I grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled it over my head. “Noticed that too.”
We crashed into each other, mouths fighting for dominance in a passionate kiss an
d fingers hurrying through every piece of clothing as I walked her backward until we hit a wall. A soft giggle climbing up her throat and getting lost in the kiss and her moans as I tugged her bottom lip between my teeth.
Turning her around, I used my foot to shift her legs wider apart, the head of my cock already pressing against her wet entrance.
A groan of need and appreciation built in my chest when she pushed back against me, her pleas getting lost in her ragged breaths.
I dragged the edges of my teeth down the slope of her neck and nipped at her shoulder, my fingers digging tight into her hips at her responding shudder.
“Savannah—”
“I know,” she breathed. “Please fuck me.”
She cried out when I took her in one long, hard thrust, the sound intoxicating and making my eyes roll back. My heart racing as I pulled most of the way out to take her again and again before finding my pace. One Savannah matched, her hands pressed to the wall to push back against me, meeting me thrust for thrust.
Until she wasn’t.
Until she was leaning back and resting her head on my chest, slowing my movements. “Why are you holding back?”
“You’re pregnant.”
She turned in my arms and took half a step back to look up at me, a whimper falling from her lips when my body left hers. “And that’s stopped us before?”
“You passed out on me last night,” I reminded her.
Reclaiming the step she’d taken, she pressed close to me, her stare falling to where my hardened cock was straining against her belly. “I don’t break . . . not with you.” Wrapping her hands around my length, she started pumping, her grip tightening as she softly demanded, “Don’t treat me like I do.”
That racing of my heart earlier?
It was unforgiving.
Each beat claiming the woman in front of me was mine. Demanding I take her. Make her scream my name.
I removed her hands and let them fall to her sides before pressing the tips of my fingers to her chest and walking her backward until she hit the wall again. Gliding my hand up her throat, I curled my fingers around her jaw and lifted her head to kiss her.
Slow.
Fire Page 37
