The Return (Butler Ranch Book 6)

by Heather Slade

  “Merrigan,” he sighed almost prayer-like as they rushed to remove their clothes. Before she could take another breath, Kade stood before her, naked.

  “I could spend hours looking at you,” she murmured, running her hands over the tense muscles of his arms, then chest, then down to his hips.

  Kade caught her hands in his and moved her toward the bed, so the backs of her legs were touching the king-size mattress. He pushed her so she was flat on her back, staring up at him. She parted her legs when he demanded her to, and watched as his eyes rested on her sex.

  “You’re ready for me, aren’t you, Fatale?”

  Her body writhed as she waited for him to stop looking and touch her. Finally, after what felt like minutes of him running his eyes over every inch of her, he thrust into her, making her gasp with the suddenness of feeling so full.

  “You feel so good, baby,” he whispered, leaning forward and rubbing the stubble on his cheek against her smooth skin. “I want to mark you, so every man who sees you knows we’ve been this way. That I’ve made you mine. Are you mine, Fatale? All mine?”

  “You know I am, Kade. I’ve never belonged to anyone but you.”

  He slowed then, moving in and out of her languidly, no longer frantic, no longer hurried. It was as though every stroke touched her in the perfect place to drive her wild, and yet he refused to rush.

  “Look at me,” he said, and her eyes met his. “I want you to remember this moment forever, Merrigan. Right here, right now, I’m pledging myself to you for eternity and asking you to do the same.”

  Her eyes filled with tears, not with sadness or even joy, but with the surge of power she felt knowing that she would spend the rest of her life with Kade Butler.

  “Marry me, Merrigan,” he said, grasping the palms of her hands with his. “Spend your life with me, just like this, the two of us joined together whether our bodies are or not.”

  “Yes,” she cried, determined not to hold anything back from the man who’d captured her heart and soul. “Marry me, Kade. Tonight. Tomorrow. I don’t care, just marry me.”

  With her words, he began thrusting into her again, harder than before. Within seconds, waves of pleasure so powerful she was breathless overtook her. Her body shuddered as though the core of her was the epicenter of a quake that rippled through her, wave after wave.

  His beautiful blue eyes filled with tears, like hers had, as he matched her explosion with his own. “I love you, Merrigan,” he groaned as he spasmed inside of her, still thrusting, pounding out his pleasure.

  He rested his body against hers and then rolled so she faced him. “I did it wrong,” he murmured.

  Merrigan’s eyes crunched. “I can assure you that you did it perfectly.”

  He smiled. “Not that.” He rolled away from her. “Don’t move,” he said as he stood and left her lying in bed alone.

  “No,” she groaned, reaching for him. “Come back.”

  He leaned down and covered her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue into her mouth in the same way his body had thrust into hers only a minute ago. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered, touching her swollen lips with his fingertips.

  She watched him walk over to where he’d tossed his jacket when they’d entered the penthouse, pick it up, and take something out of the pocket. The view of him walking back to her was equally devastating as watching the swagger of his perfect backside. There was power in every step he took, unmatched by any other human being she’d known.

  “Come here,” he said, taking her arm and pulling her so she sat at the side of the bed and dangled her legs in front of him.

  He leaned forward so the muscles of his chest touched her legs, and took her hand in his. “I’ve already asked you once tonight, but I’ll do it right this time.”

  Merrigan watched as he slid the ring on her finger.

  “Marry me, Merrigan. Make me whole.”

  “Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said, throwing her arms around him. No ring, no piece of jewelry he could give her could ever outweigh his simple words of love, but she pulled back to study its beauty.

  “It’s gorgeous,” she breathed.

  “It fits,” he said, smiling and moving the ring just slightly on her finger.

  “Perfectly,” she answered. “Just like we do.”

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  Kade couldn’t remember a time he’d ever felt as nervous as he did today. Whatever happened didn’t really matter to him, but how it would affect the precious woman standing in front of him, did.

  With Mercer by her side, Quinn opened the envelope. She looked at him with tears that matched his own. He so wished she hadn’t felt the need to do this. He’d told her, time and time again, that nothing any piece of paper said would change the love he felt for her, but she’d insisted.

  “I have to know,” she’d said, and he was powerless to deny her.

  This was her decision, and he understood her desire for the truth.

  He watched her pull the paper from the envelope, time practically standing still as he waited for her to unfold and read it.

  Once again her eyes filled with tears and they spilled out onto her cheeks. Kade froze in panic. Was she crying tears of sadness over what it said? And then she looked up at him again and smiled.

  “I knew it,” she said. “But you needed to know it too.”

  She handed him the piece of paper, and there it was. The proof that he’d been too afraid to hope for. Quinn was his daughter in every way. There wasn’t a single cell in her body that came from evil. Every bit of her was filled with nothing but love.

  Mercer walked over to the sliding door that opened to the patio and waved to Merrigan, Paps, and Razor. Meanwhile, Kade opened the bottle of Champagne that had been chilling in the refrigerator and poured five glasses, plus one glass of water.

  When Merrigan came inside, her eyes met his, questioning, and he smiled. He looked over at Quinn, and his beloved bride did the same. She smiled too as she walked into his arms.

  “I’m so happy for you both,” she whispered.

  “Thank you, sweetheart.” He leaned down and kissed her softly and then pulled back to look in her eyes once more. “Everything I’ve ever wanted in life is right here in front of me.”

  He rested his hand on his wife’s belly. Merrigan was six months pregnant, and the two of them had endured plenty of ribbing for it. Everyone teased that he’d gotten her that way only moments after they were married in a quiet ceremony the day after he’d proposed, with only her brother and his family, along with the minister joining them.

  “I’d like to propose a toast,” he said and waited for everyone to raise their glasses. “To Quinn Analise Butler, within hours to be Bryant, my stunningly beautiful, staggeringly smart, flesh of my flesh, daughter.”

  “I still can’t believe you wanted to do this today,” Razor said to him quietly.

  “It wasn’t my decision,” Kade answered. “She wanted to know before the wedding tomorrow.”

  “Man, what if it had gone the other way?”

  Kade had spent many hours worrying that it would, but it hadn’t, and that was all that mattered.

  “I just thank God it didn’t.”

  “I hear ya. Hey, mind if I make a toast of my own?” Razor asked.

  “Go right ahead.”

  “Raise your glasses one more time,” he began. “I’d like to make a toast to the men, and women,” he paused and looked at Merrigan, “of K19 Security Solutions. Brothers, and sisters, in arms. To us—Kade, Gunner, Mercer, Merrigan, and me—and to those who will soon join us in saving the world.”

  They all drank to his toast, but only Kade heard the words Razor added. “And to tomorrow, when my life irrevocably changes forever.”

  About the Author

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  Also by Heather Slade

  BUTLER RANCH

  Available Now!

  Book One: The Promise

  Book Two: The Truce

  Book Three: The Secret

  Book Four: The Gift

  Book Five: The Truth

  New Series Coming Soon!

  K19 SECURITY SOLUTIONS

  Book One: Razor

  COWBOYS OF CRESTED BUTTE

  Available Now!

  Book One: Fall for Me

  Book Two: Dance with Me

  Book Three: Kiss Me Cowboy

  Book Four: Stay with Me

  Book Five: Win Me Over

  Coming Soon!

  Book Six: Sing to Me

  Keep reading for a sneak peek

  at the first book in Heather Slade’s newest series,

  K19 Security Solutions,

  Razor

  Want more from Heather Slade?

  Keep reading for a short excerpt from

  Fall for Me

  the first book in

  the Cowboys of Crested Butte Series.

  Razor

  When Razor’s best friend of twenty-five years sat him down and told him it was time they both grew up, he thought maybe that outta be a wake-up call. And then, when he took it a step farther and said he no longer wanted to be called “Paps,” like he had been for all of those years, Razor decided that, maybe, it was time to check the mirror to see if he was getting as gray as his friend was.

  Gunner “Paps” Godet had been Tabon “Razor” Sharp’s fellow Marine, sidekick, partner in crime, wingman, and confidant since they’d both arrived at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego for boot camp. It had been a fluke that Godet was even there. Given Gunner was an East Coast boy, he should’ve been sent to Parris Island in South Carolina. But his dad was a USMC O-8, also known as a two-star, who oversaw the base at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. That meant Gunner had his pick.

  Razor hadn’t cared either way, although everybody he served with later, told him how damned lucky he’d been to end up where he had.

  “What the hell are you doin’ now?” Gunner asked.

  Truth was, he was standing in front of a mirror, giving himself a pep talk. It wasn’t being a groomsman in their mutual friend’s wedding that worried him, or even that K19 Security Solutions—the company he and Gunner owned with two other partners—was morphing so quickly he hardly recognized it anymore. Instead, it was the woman his friend’s fiancée had paired him up with in the wedding party.

  Avarie McNamara, who he should’ve forgotten months ago, wound up center stage in every fantasy he had when he needed to take the edge off. It didn’t help that the one and only time he’d met her in person, she was wearing the hottest damn bikini he’d ever seen.

  She’d let him know, in no uncertain terms, that she was interested that day, but he hadn’t been able to take her up on it. He’d been on the clock, filling in as her friend’s bodyguard long before she knew she had one.

  He’d known a lot about Ava prior to her coming on to him that day, but he hadn’t allowed himself to get to know her in the intimate way she was suggesting.

  “It’s a damn tuxedo,” Gunner griped, interrupting his thoughts of the gorgeous woman he was about to see for the first time in over a year. “There’s one way to wear it. Nobody gives a shit what you look like, anyway. Let’s go.”

  It wasn’t unusual for Gunner to be grouchy. Razor hadn’t really known him to be any other way. But in the last six months, it had gotten a lot worse.

  He understood why, though. No one else had been under their watch for as long as “Barbie” Hess had been. When she went off her rocker, decided to make a deal with some really bad Russian dudes, and then threatened to kill one of their own, Gunner had been the one forced to take her down.

  Razor rubbed his chest where it still hurt to think about. It had to be so much worse for his friend. It wasn’t just that Gunner was responsible for her death; Razor suspected that, at some point, Gunner had fallen in love with their former commander’s daughter. He’d never admit it, though, and Razor respected that.

  “What is with you?” Gunner asked when they got in the car and Razor rolled his shoulders.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Razor realized that Gunner would be under the impression he was thinking about Barbie too, considering she had been the mother of the woman getting married today.

  “Ava McNamara,” Razor admitted.

  “Hot limit number. Her twin too. How is she a problem?”

  “I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  “Not like you,” Gunner muttered.

  “You should’ve seen the bikini she was in, that day on Fire Island.”

  He’d spent a total of twenty minutes with her, so for her to be on his mind at all was unusual.

  But the fantasies? Shit. There were times they seemed so real he could swear he knew exactly how her nipples would harden under his touch, and how her wetness would coat his fingers when he sneaked them in her bikini bottom.

  He could even remember how she’d smelled that day. At first it was of sand and sun and margaritas, but the longer they’d talked, the more the sweet scent of her arousal eclipsed everything else. That wasn’t something he had to imagine; that was a bona fide memory.

  When Gunner pulled into the parking lot of San Ysidro Ranch just outside of Santa Barbara, Razor saw Penelope, another bridesmaid, walking along the pathway between two cottages.

  If Ava was wearing the same dress Penelope was, those fantasies he’d been having would soon get a hell of a lot hotter.

  The small amount of pale green fabric she wore was shorter than most bridesmaids’ dresses he’d seen, with a halter top that left little to the imagination. Ava and her sister, Aine, were far more endowed than this girl. He couldn’t even imagine how good the dress would look on them.

  Gunner laughed. “You’re in for it.”

  He knew it, but then there was always a chance that reality-Ava wouldn’t be half as hot as he remembered her being.

  Plus, he knew her type. She was a spoiled little rich girl, looking for someone to take care of her the way Daddy did. He’d known plenty of girls like her. They hadn’t thought much of him until they found out he was a partner in a very successful security and intelligence business.

  Then there was the other type. They’d take one look at the body he worked so hard to keep strong and fit, decide he didn’t have much of a brain, and treat him like a boy toy. He didn’t complain, though. It worked to his advantage when they were looking for someone to rock the shit out of their world but didn’t expect to be acknowledged by the next day’s light.

  Maybe that’s how it would go with Ava later. Wasn’t bridesmaid/groomsman sex a thing? Maybe after the wedding, she’d invite him into one of these cottages he guessed went for at least a grand a night, and he could pound her sweet body out of his system.

  —:—

  Ava looked in the mirror for what felt like the thousandth time and touched up her lipstick. She felt more nervous than the bride looked.

  Quinn and Mercer, the groom, were one of those couples who everyone knew were meant to be. Ava had known it from the first time she’d introduced him to her and the rest of their group of friends.

  There was absolutely no question, even then, that Mercer loved her. You could see it all over his face, in the way he touched Quinn and smiled at her. Admittedly, Ava had been jealous at the time, particularly since, not long before, she’d found out her first love was marrying someone else.

  She and Dash had been broken up for over two years, but still, Ava would’ve much rather been the one to announce she was marrying first.

  “Are you okay?” Aine asked.

  “Me? I’m fine. Why?”

  When Aine smiled and rolled
her eyes, Ava took her arm and pulled her away from the others.

  “Do I seem nervous?” she asked.

  “Probably not to anyone else.”

  Aine was the only one who knew the extent of the crush Ava had on Tabon Sharp.

  Describing who he was to anyone outside of their group was way too complicated. When they’d first met him, he had been introduced as Quinn’s boss at the non-profit she’d interned for the previous summer.

  Later, they found out that wasn’t the case at all. It turned out that, unbeknownst to Quinn, Tabon was her temporary bodyguard and was filling in for Mercer, who had secretly been her “protector” for years.

  When Aine first told her all of this, Ava’s first reaction was that it was a joke.

  “Sounds like the plot of a romance novel,” she’d said when her twin convinced her she wasn’t kidding. “If Tabon’s not her boss, what is he?”

  “Here’s the thing,” Aine had said. “He and Mercer own a private security firm, called K19 something-or-other, with a couple of other guys. And, get this, I guess no one calls him Tabon; his ‘code name’ is Razor.”

  As if the man hadn’t been hot enough before. His nickname, or whatever it was, elevated him to rock-star status in her fantasies.

  ***

  The first time they met, she and her four best friends were staying at Penelope’s dad’s place, on Fire Island, and had just come off the beach to get a drink at one of the local bars. Quinn recognized him first and went to say hello. When she rejoined them, Ava made a beeline in the direction of the man who had to have been the hottest looking guy on the island that weekend.

  The board shorts he wore were red, almost the same color as her bikini, and his plain white v-neck shirt looked like it might be a size too small. Through the thin cotton fabric, she could see the hard outline of his rock-solid chest in detail, and the tribal tattoo that started on his left pec and continued down his chiseled arm, almost to his elbow.