by Erin Wright
“A nephew,” Abby said, a huge grin on her face. “The interior of the cake was blue. I thought Stetson was gonna pick Jennifer up and carry her around, he was so happy. The thing is, I think he would’ve been just that happy if the cake was pink. He’s thrilled to death about this baby. And Carmelita too. I know you guys miss your parents something fierce, but this baby is lucky to have a grandma like Carmelita around.”
Wyatt nodded. “I was too old for her to step into the role of mother when Mom passed, but Stetson was just a kid – only twelve – and I know they became really close after that. I was lucky to have my mom around until I was 18. She was such a wonderful lady – she would’ve loved you.”
Love.
It was time. He pulled in a deep breath. “Abby Connelly, I love you. I love you with all of my heart and soul. A part of me will always love and miss Shelly and Sierra, but they are my past. You are my future. It doesn’t matter to me that you can’t have kids. Sure, I’d love a little Abby running around, but more important than some hypothetical child is being with you. That’s what matters in this world, and it’s actually Shelly and Sierra who taught me that. I thought I had forever with them. I thought…” His voice broke, and he cleared it, trying to move past the lump in his throat. “I was wrong about them. I don’t want to be wrong about you. I love you—”
She pressed her lips against him then, cutting him off, and he felt moisture on his hands that were cupping her face and he knew she was crying but she was kissing him and tugging at his shirt and he couldn’t help kissing her back, tears be damned. She could be crying tears of happiness for all he knew. Right then, all he wanted was to show her how much he loved her, with his tongue and his body and his hands.
He scooped her up into his arms and began carrying her up the stairs. “What?!” she shrieked when he picked her up. “Wyatt, you’re going to hurt yourself!”
“Don’t you worry about me,” he said with a huge grin down at her. “I’m just fine. Not as fine as you’re going to be in just a couple of minutes here, of course.”
She grinned back up at him, and he took the stairs two at a time, the pain that had been wracking his body just a half hour before mysteriously gone.
Abby had just that kind of effect on him.
Once they made it to the bedroom, he slowly allowed her to slide down his body, the ache of his cock growing stronger by the moment. She spun around and flung herself against him, her hands starting to work on the buttons of his shirt. His hands slid down her back, enjoying the feel of her beneath his fingertips.
She managed to unfasten the last button just as his hands came to rest on the curve of her ass, and she tugged at it, the fabric reluctantly pulling free of his Wranglers.
She placed her hands on his chest. The coolness of her soft hands felt wonderful against his skin. The trail left by her touch excited him, reminding him how much he wanted this. How much he wanted Abby. He knew there would never be words enough to describe how much he wanted her…forever.
Abby pulled away from him and continued her work on releasing him from his jeans. Wyatt also desperately wanted to help her out of her clothes but the frantic way she was working on his clothing made it the best decision to stay out of her way for the moment. There would be time for him later. Losing a finger would not help the mood.
She was actually very quick about working the button and zipper. Wyatt made short work of kicking off his boots and sliding his underwear down to the ground. Somehow, he ended up completely naked and Abby was still wearing everything she’d shown up in.
That wasn’t fair, not one bit.
Wyatt leaned into her, catching her lips with his. The kiss was flaming hot as they pressed furiously against each other. His hands worked feverishly to remove her soft blouse while maintaining their kiss.
Finally, he finished the last button. The fabric parted, revealing her lacy bra and her perfect breasts. Wyatt froze, taking in the sight. His fingers lightly brushed over the pale scars crisscrossing her stomach, and he knew from the extent of the damage that she’d been lucky to live through the accident.
He was lucky she lived through the accident. He didn’t want to contemplate a life without Abby.
He finally ran his finger inside the waist of the well-fitted slacks, momentarily confused by the lack of snap or button on the front. Not wanting to show his lack of experience, he continued to slide his fingers around her waist, and found the hook and zipper right in the middle of her back.
There you are.
Wrapping his other arm around her, Wyatt pulled her close to him and used both hands to free her of the barrier between them, and he made it happen with only a little bit of fumbling. The smooth fabric slid silently down her legs and she stepped clear without removing her tongue from his mouth.
Wyatt finally broke the kiss by picking her up again. He carried her the last couple of steps to the bed and laid her down gently. He stood for just a moment, wanting to take her all in at once. Her perfect toes reached out towards him, sliding up and down his thighs as she let him look.
He felt himself stiffen further at the sight. She was so gorgeous. He’d been getting excited from the very beginning, of course, but this perfect woman lying there on his bed with that look in her eye…well, Wyatt couldn’t help responding.
He reached down and hooked his fingers under the thin strings of fabric of her panties riding high over her hips and slipped the minuscule bit of lace off her body. He joined her on the bed, his knees landing between her opened thighs. His hands planted beside her head on the mattress. Bending his elbows, he kissed her, his need coming through his lips.
This kiss was just as hot as the one when they were standing, but this time, it was more. This was an invitation and he took it. Keeping their lips pressed tightly together, he lowered his hips and in one smooth motion, slid into her. Her heat, the moisture…she was going to be his undoing if he didn’t hold himself back just a little. He had to last longer than this…
Her arms came up, wrapping around his back, her grip surprisingly strong and tight. She locked them together as he started rocking back and forth.
Wyatt desperately tried to express his love and desire for this woman with every thrust, thinking the words I love you with every movement, a mantra building inside of him.
Finally, his control was gone and they melded together and time froze. Nothing existed but them and their future that was just beginning. Wyatt’s heart released a knot of tension he didn’t know he’d been holding onto, and he allowed himself to become one with the woman he loved.
Epilogue
Abby
She looked out into the bright sunshine outside the kitchen window. It was a gorgeous August day…as long as she stayed inside the house. It was too hot outside, even up in the mountains, but inside…she got to admire the sunshine without having to be baked in it.
She heard a hiss, a low woof, and then a yowl as Jasmine and Maggie Mae took off up the stairs. She could hear them tearing around the second story, a bump, and then a crash. With a half laugh, half cry, Abby dried her hands and headed up the stairs herself. If these two didn’t kill each other soon, she might do it for them.
Ever since she’d moved into Wyatt’s place – her childhood home – a month ago, they’d been doing their best to assassinate the other, often sneaking up on each other when one or the other was daring to actually take a nap. She figured they’d learn to like each other…right about the time the last lamp in the house was broken.
She went into the office and found Jasmine perched on top of her desk, hissing at Maggie, her back arched and her tail as big around as a Christmas ham. Maggie was pacing back and forth below her, trying to figure out how to get to the hissing cat without actually getting up on the furniture.
“Maggie Mae!” Abby bellowed and the dog instantly crouched, looking forlorn. “Go downstairs right now!” Maggie turned and trotted out of the room, her tail tucked between her legs.
“And you, young
lady!” Abby turned to glare at her non-repentant cat who decided that since her arch enemy was gone from the room, it was petting time. Jasmine looked up at her, her big baby blues looking so mournful as she held a white paw up in the air.
“You have got to stop antagonizing Maggie Mae, pretty girl,” Abby said, instantly softening towards her baby as Jasmine continued to look pitifully adorable. “We only have so much room in the lamp budget, you know.”
She picked her up in her arms, cradling her against her chest, when she heard Wyatt’s deep voice behind her. “Were they going at each other again?” he asked softly, leaning forward to nibble her neck.
“Ohhh,” she said in a breathy voice, immediately forgetting all about the fights that had been tearing up the house. “What are you…” She sucked in her breath as he sucked her skin into his mouth.
And promptly forgot what she was about to ask him. She couldn’t think at all when his mouth was doing that. Or that…
He gently pulled away and turned her in his arms, picking up Jasmine and setting her back down on the desk. He took her hand but instead of leading her to the bedroom, he led her down the stairs and out the front door.
“Where are we going?” she asked, confused. The lust had cleared away just enough for her to know that whatever he was doing, it wasn’t normal. She’d expected him to be gone all day; they were getting into harvest season, and he should be out riding a tractor in straight rows, or planning their strategy with Jorge, or working with Declan and Stetson to get the tractors and trucks to the right place at the right time, or…
He pulled her up to the top of a small hill that overlooked a ravine stretching into the distance. This was one of her favorite places to go as a child, and even now, the view took her breath away. They stopped under an old mulberry tree, the red fruit beginning to ripen in the summer heat. They paused for a minute, just looking at the view, and then he turned to her, a look she couldn’t read on his face. He took a deep breath
“Abigail Gwen Connelly,” he said, dropping to one knee in the cheat grass and dirt, “will you marry me?” He opened up a jewelry box to reveal a simple silver band in it – no stone, no glitter. He must’ve asked her father what jewelry could be worn while on duty.
It was…perfect.
“Oh Wyatt, yes!” she said, launching herself at him, and they rolled around in the cheat grass and dirt, laughing and kissing and she was getting poky shit in places she wouldn’t want to mention but she didn’t care because yes, she would marry Wyatt.
Suddenly, she stopped and pulled back and stared at him. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Really sure? You know I can’t have kids and I don’t…don’t want you to resent me.” Ever since that day that she’d been sent over to talk to him by her father, the topic of kids had lain between them, an unspoken topic of pain that she hadn’t wanted to breach. He’d said that he was fine without them, but she saw how he was out at Adam’s place. He was a natural with children. He deserved to be able to have them.
He deserved someone who wasn’t broken like her.
“There you go, ruining the other half of my surprise,” he said teasingly, giving her a peck on the cheek and scrambling to his feet and helping her up. “Here, look at these plans.” He picked up a long roll of white paper that’d been leaning against the mulberry tree trunk. She couldn’t believe she’d missed it; so much for her police training and paying attention to her surroundings. If it’d been a snake, it would’ve bit her.
He unrolled the plans and held them out for her to look at. She peered at them over his shoulder, trying to read them. It looked like a house. A really big house. “Do you want to build this house?” she asked, confused. It looked big enough to hold an army. Sure, their current house was a little on the cramped side, but they were making it work. They didn’t need something that—
“Yes,” he said, happiness lighting up his whole face as he turned and kissed her soundly on the cheek. “After you and I run off to Vegas and get hitched—”
“What?!” she yelped. “I don’t want to get married in Vegas!”
“—then we can work on our certification to become foster parents,” he finished, ignoring her protestations. She immediately forgot all about Vegas and just stared at him, mouth round with surprise.
“Foster parents?” she echoed.
“Working with the kids out at Adam’s place…there’s so many who need someone to love ‘em,” he said simply, shrugging. “But we need a bigger house if we’re going to do it right.”
“What are you going to do with the homestead?” she asked. Sure, the house they lived in was a little small, but it’d been in the Connelly family for generations. She didn’t want to lose that history.
“Jorge. He and his family are stuffed into that double-wide. I figure that his kids or grandkids can move into the homestead. Or hell, him. I’m going to have the lawyer draw up the papers; Jorge can buy the house and the acre it’s sitting on over the next five years. No interest. He deserves it, after keeping this place running while I wasn’t here. For someone who hates to be dependent on others, that stint in jail taught me that without my family and Jorge, I would’ve been screwed.”
He pulled her against him, stroking her hair as she nuzzled closer into his chest. It was hot as hell and she wouldn’t be able to snuggle against him for much longer for fear of spontaneously combusting into flames, but for the moment, she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
“Without you…I don’t know where I’d be, or who I’d be. You are all I want or need, Abby. Although, once we get our certification to be foster parents, what do you think about Juan?”
Abby pulled back and stared up at his handsome face, the slight darkening from whiskers covering his jaw, his stormy blue eyes staring intently down at her. “You two really hit it off,” she said softly. “I think he could really benefit from having someone like you in his life all the time, not just the occasional afternoons that you can make it out there.”
She stroked her hand over his stubbled jaw and he turned to plant a kiss into the palm of it. “That’s what I thought too. I haven’t been able to go out there as much as I would’ve wanted since spring hit, but every time I do go out there…there’s something about him, Abby. Make him a little taller and a little whiter, and he’d be me. A chip on his shoulder the size of Texas, but wanting to learn. Wanting to trust someone. I could make a difference with him, I know I could.”
She felt tears spring to her eyes, and she leaned up and pecked him on the lips. “Darlin’, I’ve never heard sexier words in all my life,” she said softly.
“Sexy?” Wyatt said, laughing.
“Yeah. Damn sexy. In fact, I have an idea in mind.” She took his hand and began tugging him back towards the house. He slipped the ring box back into his pocket, and she grinned to herself. He could slip it onto her finger later. They had more important things to do just then.
Much more important.
Enjoyed your time in Long Valley? Want to read about Wyatt and Abby’s wedding? Turn the page for a sneak preview of Returning for Love, Book 4 of the Long Valley series…
Returning for Love Preview
Declan
~ Late September 2017 ~
Declan looked around the barn, surprised by how changed it looked. When a flock of women all descended on a place and put some real elbow grease into it…well, it could even make the Miller Family Farm barn look respectable.
To think that Stetson was hosting Wyatt’s wedding at his place. I don’t know if Mom and Dad would believe this is happening and cry from happiness…or from shock.
“Hey, Declan, can you help me?”
He turned to locate the sound of his sister-in-law’s voice. Where is she? Finally, he spotted her lugging in a box. In her matron-of-honor dress. He hurried over. “Jennifer, Abby will kill you if you get your dress dirty!” he scolded her, taking the box from her. She just shrugged.
“I’m the mother of the grandbaby. I think Carmelita will defend m
e to the death.”
Declan threw back his head and laughed. “True enough. Where are we going with the box?”
“Up to the front table. It’s the last of the centerpieces that we’re putting out. The guests will be here any minute now.”
Music started twanging through speakers set up throughout the barn just for the occasion, and Declan got an itch to start line dancing to Boot Scootin’ Boogie. But the clinking emanating from inside of the box reminded him that he was carrying a bunch of Mason jars around. Dropping and breaking them seemed like a sure-fire recipe for the wrath of his newest sister-in-law to come down on his head.
Newest sister-in-law. To think he had two of them now. He was the only single Miller brother left, something his brothers razzed him about endlessly, and his sisters-in-law spent their time trying to rectify. That blind date they’d set him up on last week…
His hands set out the jars, pre-filled with rocks from the creek, as his mind worked things over. As much as he liked seeing Jennifer and Abby happy, he had to put his foot down at some point. He’d only ever loved one woman and, well, she wasn’t coming back to Sawyer any time soon. Maybe never. Which just meant that he’d better be happy with Patches, ‘cause coupledom just wasn’t for–
And then Jennifer was shoving a watering can with a long spout into his hands. “Guests are showing up; I need to go greet them. Finish filling these jars up to here,” she pointed to the side of a jar, “with the water, and then put a candle in each one. I’ll make sure someone comes along and lights the tea candles.”
She was off before he could offer to light them himself. Oh well. He carefully filled each jar to the specified height with the watering can, then dropped the tea candles in.
They were real pretty, floating in the jars. When Abby had asked him if he thought she should do wildflowers or rocks with water and candles in the jars, he’d thought she was plumb crazy. Mason jars plus rocks plus tea candles plus water sounded like a disaster to him.
