by Zoe York
She leaned in to inspect a larger photo in the center of the bookshelf. It was of Gabe, his parents, and all seven of his siblings. She picked him out easily because he was the youngest boy, but he had changed a lot since the photo was taken. He wasn’t, as she’d teasingly remarked, a chunk, but next to his strapping older brothers—the eldest of whom were already fully grown men in the photo—the lingering baby softness made him an obvious target for harassment. Turning away from the photo, she slipped her hand into Gabe’s and leaned her head on his shoulder as she let her gaze roam around the rest of the house again.
“This is a beautiful home,” she murmured. “I can’t believe it’s a rental.”
“My landlord and I did the remodel three years ago.”
“His style or yours?”
“Mine. Why?”
“It suits you. And yet… it barely looks lived in.”
He shrugged. “I work a lot.”
“Was this the house you lived in when Leigh….?”
“No, it’s the one we were going to move into. My other place was an old singlewide trailer out of town, and I was perfectly happy there, but she wasn’t keen about moving into it. I was saving up to buy my own land, so I didn’t want to be spending a bunch of money on rent, which is why I told her she needed to chip in if we were going to move into this place. You already know how that conversation went.”
“Then why’d you move in here?”
“Call it a sacrifice for something I couldn’t see then that I’d never have with her.”
“What, marriage?”
“More than that.” He hooked his thumbs in his pockets and glanced around the space. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done on this place, but it’ll never be home. Crazy as it sounds, your little cabin is more welcoming to me than this place. It’s cozier.”
“Funny. Until you started spending time out there, that’s the last thing I would’ve called it. But now… you’re right.” She turned to him and slid her hands around his waist, hooking them behind his back. Smiling up at him, she murmured, “I imagine if Cody and I were here, this place would be much less empty.”
“It would indeed.”
He lowered his mouth to hers with his hands cupping her face, and she leaned into him.
“It’s beginning to feel a lot more like home already,” he whispered. “Come on upstairs, and we’ll finish the tour before I get changed.”
Her pulse quickened as she followed him up the steep, narrow stairs. At the top was a sitting area that took up the back third of the attic. French doors stained to match the barn wood throughout the house opened out onto a balcony barely big enough to fit two chairs, and four-foot walls shielded either side of the staircase while giving the room an open feel. Annemarie turned toward the front of the house and noted the wall that separated the sitting room from the bedroom. She followed Gabe, almost giggling when he had to tip his head sharply to the left so he didn’t knock it on the slanted ceiling to the right of the stairs. She had no trouble walking entirely upright.
“How many times have you hit your head?” she asked, unable to resist.
“A few. Here’s the master suite.”
They’d passed the separating wall, and Annemarie first noticed the log bed that dominated the bedroom. The bathroom sat in the corner to her left, a triangle with the two acute angles cut off and a walk-in closet behind the left wall of the bedroom. The Jacuzzi tub sat directly across from the sliding doors, which matched the ones to the office downstairs but had frosted glass instead of clear. To the right of the tub was a stunning, glass-enclosed shower tiled with slate. The toilet was tucked off to the left, and between that and the tub was a beautiful sink and vanity with a slate counter and a barn wood stand. As she would expect in a house remodeled by an electrician, there was plenty of light throughout—canned lights above, wall sconces beside the vanity and shower, and a row of round bulbs above the big mirror.
“This is gorgeous, Gabe,” she breathed. “Did you really design it all?”
“Most of it.”
“I am seriously impressed.”
She backed out of the bathroom and faced the bed again. It stood beneath the window, neatly made and covered with an heirloom quilt with horses and the same warm earth colors and cool blues and grays of the barn wood and slate. She suspected that had inspired the entire remodel, and when she asked, he confirmed it.
“It was my Aunt Naomi’s wedding present for my parents—she made it herself.”
“It’s beautiful.” She walked over to the bed and skimmed her hand over the quilt, admiring the elegant stitching and the swirled pattern of the quilting. “How did you end up with it? Seems like something they would want to keep.”
“Supposedly it didn’t match the décor they picked when they remodeled the main house, but I think Mom’s still a little miffed that Aunt Naomi was more concerned about it getting ruined than she was about Mom being in the midst of giving birth.”
She jerked her head around to him. “Wait. Who was born at home?”
He raised a hand with a guilty smile. “Guess I was a little overeager to meet the world.”
“Cody was, too,” she said, snuggling into his side. “Not quite as eager as you were—I did make it to the hospital—but he came two weeks before his due date, and I was only in labor for four hours. My doctor kept telling me to wait, that’d it probably take quite a while since he was my first, and I finally told Mom she needed to drive me in to Casper. My water broke in the lobby of the hospital, and Cody was born half an hour later.”
“You were out at your parents’ house?”
“Yep. On summer break from college.”
“Have I ever told you how much it amazes me that you stuck it out and finished school? That can’t have been easy.”
She shook her head and swiveled to face him. “It wasn’t, but it was something I had to do. I didn’t want to quit and resent my son for it.”
“Don’t ever doubt your strength again, Annemarie.” His voice was gentle, as were his fingers when he brushed them over her cheeks.
“Yes, sir.”
She stood on her toes to kiss him, fiddling with the top buttons of his shirt. He didn’t seem to notice until she had them all undone and slid her hands between that shirt and the T-shirt beneath, slyly working it over his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“You wanted to be spontaneous, so let’s be spontaneous.”
“We’ll be late for dinner.”
“Do we have reservations someplace?”
“No.”
“Then how can we be late?”
He rolled his shoulders as she tugged the shirt down his arms to make the process easier.
“You’re not going to stop me?”
“Not this time. I know everything about us that I need to.”
He claimed her mouth with a fierce desire that sent her pulse skyrocketing. There would be no holding back, no stopping this time, and the promise of sating the ravenous hunger consumed her.
“What do you know?” she asked hoarsely.
“I know your strength and your spirit.” He trailed kisses down the side of her neck and over her shoulder, drawing a shiver from her. “I know your heart. In a few minutes, I’ll know your body, too.”
“What else do you know?”
He kissed her mouth again before he answered, splaying his hands across her back and holding her close with a reverence that left her breathless.
“That I trust you.”
He raked his teeth over her neck, and she shuddered. Goose bumps tingled across her skin, and she leaned into him.
“Also that I love you.”
Relief. It permeated her with wonderful intensity. She’d suspected as much, and he hadn’t been shy about letting her know she was valuable to him, but to hear confirmation….
She buried her face against his chest and sagged in his arms.
“Maybe some would say it’s too early to know, but I know m
y heart as well as I know yours—I know its weaknesses and hopes—and it’s had plenty of experience with false love to know that this isn’t. It’s real. And I don’t care how long it takes for you to arrive at the same conclusion, I’ll wait.”
She dragged his mouth to hers, silencing him with a kiss.
“I’m already there. I know it’s real because every time you talk about Leigh, I hurt for you. I know because of that country song I ask you to sing every time it’s on the radio. You’re not just singing someone else’s words. You mean them. Even more than that, I know because when you say I’m strong, I believe you. You make me feel strong. And I know because you are the kind of man I want my son to grow into.” She folded her hands behind his neck and leaned back in his arms, laughing softly. “In case you didn’t get the message from all that, I love you, too.”
“I picked up on that,” he chuckled.
“It feels really, really good to say that. Finally.”
“Yes, it does.” He lifted her pendant gently with his fingers and studied it with a tender smile. “Do you want to take this off before we get carried away? I’d hate for something to happen to it.”
She nodded, and he reached behind her neck to unclasp the necklace, then handed it to her. She set it on top of his dresser and returned to him, sliding her hands up his stomach and chest and over his shoulders before burying them in his hair, suddenly annoyed by the thin fabric of his T-shirt. She wanted to feel warm, naked skin beneath her palms, to explore the lines of his body with her lips. She wanted to claim him. She tugged the hem of his T-shirt free from his jeans, and he bent over so she could pull it over his head.
They kicked off their shoes, and after sighing at the loss of those couple extra inches, Annemarie focused on the beauty of the man in front of her. It was absurd that he could be so shy about his body. He didn’t have the chiseled six-pack those romance-cover cowboys had, but he was undeniably toned. She suspected he worked out to hone the edges, but most of it was probably the product of his highly physical job and enviable genetics.
“If I can’t doubt my strength anymore,” she whispered, nipping at his jaw, “you’re not allowed to question how beautiful you are, either.”
“Not a word I’ve ever associated with myself,” he said, inhaling sharply, “but when you say it, I believe it.”
“Good.”
He unzipped her dress, and she let it fall to the floor. Her bra and panties followed quickly and then his jeans and boxers and socks. He lifted her off the floor and settled her on the bed with a tenderness she’d never known before him, and when he slid his hands up her body before settling onto the bed beside her, she forgot about wanting to explore all the lines of him. She forgot everything but the heat of skin against skin and the taste of his mouth as he kissed her.
This wasn’t about physical satisfaction, although she’d definitely find that, too. It was about making the final connection between them. She couldn’t wait. She’d have plenty of time later to play.
He was ready, anyhow, so she squirmed closer to him, nudging her hip under him. When he unexpectedly latched onto her breast with his mouth, heat exploded. She gasped and arched against him. Strong hands stroked down and back up her body, and heat turned into an ache. She dug her fingers into the meat of his shoulder, pulling him on top of her, and sought his mouth as she gripped his hips with her thighs. The move pressed his arousal between her legs, and instinct took over as she rocked her hips against him.
“Not yet, sweetheart.”
“Yes, yet. Now.”
“As appealing as the idea of having a baby with you is, let’s take this one step at a time, all right? Marriage first, love.”
“Wha…?”
“No, that wasn’t a proposal. Not yet.”
The sensations pounding through her left her dizzy. Did he just say marriage and proposal? Giddiness crashed through her. To stem it, she clasped his face and kissed him fiercely. She wiggled her hips and grinned when he swore under his breath.
“Hold on a minute, would ya, Annie?”
Propped above her on one arm, he reached into the drawer of his nightstand, and she took the opportunity to run her hands over his chest, tracing the contours of muscle, ribs, and collarbone so lightly with her fingertips that his skin prickled with goose bumps. He briefly dangled a condom box above her before he dove after her neck and thrust his arousal against her, tempting and teasing her. She inhaled sharply at the promise of what was to come.
“Forgetting something?” he whispered in her ear.
She nodded and daringly caressed him before the thin layer of latex became a barrier between them, delighting in the feel of silken skin against her fingertips. When she snatched the condom from him and sheathed him herself, he groaned. She glanced up to see him tip his head back and clench his jaw, and she grinned smugly.
“Mine,” she purred, angling her hips toward him again.
“One hundred percent.”
“Good, because I’m yours, and it’s time to prove it.”
He claimed her mouth as he settled over her and pushed slowly inside her. She quivered and angled her hips to take him deeper. He filled her marvelously, and she sighed, contented and relieved to be joined with him.
Finally.
He let her set the pace, and with a confidence that surprised her, she did. Even in a position of submission, she felt powerful and in control. He was hers to drive wild. There was passion and primal instinct, but there was also tenderness and reverence, and she could say without a doubt that she’d never experienced anything like it. Sweat beaded on their skin, but he showed no signs of wanting to pick up the pace and she was too mesmerized by the tightening and loosening of the muscles of his back as she dragged her hands up and down his body to hurry it. When she slid her hands down his sides and dug her fingers into his buttocks, he shuddered.
“I can’t hold on much longer,” he uttered. “Sorry, Annie.”
“Then go for it.”
He took command, and in seconds, she was panting as they raced toward climax. She matched his pace, whimpering as the orgasm hovered just out of reach for agonizing minutes. Just when she was about to scream in frustration, Gabe took her to the edge, and they plunged over it together. Her body jerked with the force of it, and Gabe hung his head, his body trembling as he fought for breath, but he held himself above her for minutes more, still joined with her.
When he finally pulled away and lowered himself onto the bed beside her, skimming his fingers over her arm and gazing adoringly at her with his head propped in his palm, her pulse and breathing had slowed enough that she no longer feared her heart would pound right out of her chest.
“That was faster than I was hoping for,” he murmured.
“Do you hear me complaining?”
“No.”
“And you won’t. But I fully expect you to put your stamina to the test later tonight.” She wiggled her brows. “All night.”
“Is that a challenge, Ms. Garrett?”
“Yes, it is. Are you up to it?”
He grinned wickedly. “I guess you’re going to find out.”
In contrast to the heat of their lovemaking, the air was cool, and her skin chilled as sweat dried. She reached for a blanket only to realize they’d made love on top of the bed. With a quirk of her lips, she smoothed her hand over the horse quilt and started laughing. Gabe propped himself up on one arm and eyed her with one brow lifted.
“Let’s not tell your Aunt Naomi about this.”
His head fell back, and he laughed. The rich, deep sound of it was heaven. Still chuckling, he flopped back into the pillows and gathered her into his arms.
“I could stay here, just like this, all night,” he murmured.
“Mmm. So could I. But I’m hungry.”
“Join me for a shower?”
“You bet your sexy ass.”
He jerked his head back and stared at her. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you swear.”
“And my ass is reason enough?”
“Well, not just that but every… other… glorious… inch… of you.” She punctuated each word with a kiss—first on his lips, then his neck, his shoulder, and finally his chest right over his heart. She lifted her head, resting her hand where her lips had been, and gazed into his eyes as his heart beat faster beneath her palm. “Especially this. This is my favorite part of you.”
She laid her head on his chest with her hand beneath her cheek and sighed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m afraid you’re getting the short end of our relationship again, just like you got the short end of our deal.”
“How do you figure?”
“What have I given you in return for everything you’ve done for me?”
“A lot. You’ve shown me it’s safe to love again. You’ve invited me to be a part of your life and your son’s life, given me a family to call my own for however long this lasts… and I’m hoping it lasts a very long time.”
Let’s take this one step at a time, he’d said. Marriage first, love.
Were they headed that direction? She curled herself around him and let herself imagine having this—and him—for the rest of her life.
What a life that would be.
“Can you accept that I love you and that seeing you smile is all the payment I’ll ever need?”
She nodded.
“Good,” he said as his stomach growled. “Because you aren’t the only one who’s hungry. We have all night to talk and make love, so right now, let’s shower and go find something to eat.”
Chapter 16
Gabe sprawled on his bed with his legs dangling over the side, distracted by Annie as she blow-dried her hair and reapplied her minimal makeup. He’d only made it as far as tugging on a pair of brand-new Wrangler jeans. He hadn’t even gotten around to zipping and buttoning them, too enthralled by the woman at his bathroom sink clad only in lacy black panties and matching bra. The feminine curves of her hips and back, the elegant shoulders and neck, the soft, pale skin, and the cascade of silky light brown hair…. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
