by Jessa Kane
There are no weapons left in my arsenal, so I try to beg with my eyes. Please don’t hurt me. Please don’t touch me. Please don’t kill me. But there is no rationality left inside him. There’s only the violent criminal. I don’t even think he knows who I am anymore. I’m merely another adversary who threatens his livelihood. I’m beginning to lose consciousness when I hear a click to my right.
“You’ve got two seconds to let go of her. After that, you’re getting a bullet in the head. Give me any excuse to pull this fucking trigger.” Mick’s voice is a chilling whip crack that echoes through the kitchen, but to me, it’s a shot of hope. Relief. Love. “One. T—”
My father moves so fast, he’s a blur. He whips a gun out from the inside of his jacket and fires at Mick. Once, twice. I scream. My father’s body jerks in mid-air and he lands on his back with a choked moan. Dead. His eyes are lifeless, his body unmoving. Dead. A pulse raps against my temples as I sit up, my body lethargic from lack of oxygen. In the distance, I hear my name being called and turn…and find Mick slumped against the wall, holding his chest.
“No,” I scream, scrambling in my father’s pooling blood, desperate to get to Mick. “No, please.” It seems to take an eternity to reach him, crawling across the floor with denials clogged in my throat. “Mick. Mick.”
“I’m okay, Goldie,” he rasps, wincing.
“No. No, you’re shot. This is all my fault. We have to call—” The sound of sirens cut me off. “Oh thank God. They’re coming. Please don’t die. Please. I love you. Please.”
Mick’s hands cup the sides of my face, bringing it close to his, allowing me to see the crackling life in his eyes. The intensity of his affection. “Hailey. Look at me. You think I’d let myself die now that I’ve found you?”
Hot tears roll down my cheeks. “But—”
“I’m wearing a vest, baby.” He drops one hand from my face, guiding my fingers to the bullet hole in his shirt. On the other side, I feel the hard material, the still-warm bullet lodged in the right side. Right over that part of him that beats just for me. “The only thing getting inside this heart is you.”
I climb up onto his lap, sobbing like a baby into his neck. And when his big arms close around me, I know I’m home. This man is my home.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I reassure him. “No, he only managed to slap me. And then you were here. You came just in time. I’m fine.”
His chest shudders. “I’m sorry it had to happen this way, baby. I’m sorry you had to see this.” He curses under his breath. “But I’d do it all over again. I’d kill for you, no matter the price.”
“I know.”
I find Mick’s mouth and kiss him, whimpering when he tugs my hips closer, smoothing his hands down my backside. “Don’t run off on me like that again, Hailey. You damn near killed me. If I hadn’t reached you in time—”
My lips cut him off, followed by a slow tease of tongues. “You saved me. I was trying to save you, too. And I had the evidence you needed, right there in the book. Names of his clients. Dates and addresses. I wanted to help.”
Mick shakes his head, but his attention falls to the book on the floor. “You saved more than just me today. A lot of questions will be answered with that book. Money returned. The Bureau will probably connect it to his drug business and lives will be saved by shutting it down. You were damn brave, baby.” He stands up, cradling me in his arms and giving me a stern look. “Just never, ever do it again.”
“Never,” I whisper, smiling and holding on to him for dear life. “Take me to Montana, Mick.”
His arms tighten around me. “On it, Goldie.”
EPILOGUE
Mick
One year later
Before I met Hailey, I thought this ranch in Montana was as close to heaven on earth as I could get. I was wrong. Since I brought home my girl, I’ve surpassed the highest level of paradise and we only continue to travel higher together. Every single day is a blessing I never expected and I am positive I don’t deserve.
I watch through the open doorway of the barn as Hailey takes her daily piano lesson. True to our promise, we learned to play together, but she had more of a knack for it and wanted to be instructed more often. She has the heart of an artist, my Hailey. The walls of our house are decorated with her paintings, each one more gorgeous than the last. Bright splashes of reds and oranges and pinks in a once-beige living space, so similar to the way she’s affected my life, bathing it in color.
We were required to remain in Los Angeles for a couple weeks after Hailey’s father was killed by my own hand, but I managed to get the paperwork, statements and red tape expedited. Nothing was going to stop me from getting her to Montana where I could make her my wife. And I did that immediately, carrying her through the doorway of the closest courthouse on our second morning home. Christ, just the memory of her repeating our marriage vows, sunlight in a halo around her head, has the power to rob me of breath.
She does. Look at her, sitting at the piano bench, her back straight, fingers dancing over the keys. Her instructor—an older woman named June—paces behind Hailey with a satisfied smile on her face, keeping time with a tapping finger on her crossed arms.
Impatient for a better look at my wife, I saunter into the barn to take in her profile. The swell of her pregnant belly heats my blood. Every time. I can’t stop my hands from smoothing over it every time we pass in the hallway, on the ranch, in the bedroom. Inevitably, touching the life we created together makes me hungry for her pussy. I’m never anything but famished for it—and right now is no exception. I ache to express my love every minute of the day. I’m able to do that best when she’s awash in pleasure and I know I’m doing my God-given duty.
Making Hailey happy.
She is happy, isn’t she? I think of her talking with the new book club friends she made, sipping wine in the study with her Kindle in her lap. Think of her running through the fields alongside the horses in the early morning light, laughing and spinning. Even though she never stops smiling, I still worry I’m not doing enough. I was given the world’s sweetest angel and the fear of waking up from this incredible dream never leaves me.
My wife is paradise.
I walk closer to the piano and sunlight dances on the curve of her neck. Goosebumps lift there and I know she senses me. Her fingers hit a bad note on the keys and she stops, her hands dropping to the bench. Clutching it. The only sound in the barn becomes her breath, rasping in and out of her lungs. Hailey is horny. It’s no wonder, since I woke up early to meet with a horse trainer two towns over and didn’t want to disturb her. I’m determined to make sure she stays well rested while carrying our child. Even if that meant leaving my cock hard this morning when I wanted nothing more than to slide into that tight pussy and let it milk me dry.
Not going to lie, it’s even harder now as I approach the piano. Hailey has assured me over and over again that she doesn’t need nice things to be happy. I’ve been determined to give her every single comfort, regardless. Vacations, clothing, jewelry, the best art supplies. She’ll have everything her heart desires—and after this morning, that will be painfully easy. Without my FBI job, I needed to go full throttle on the horse business. And I’ve just negotiated a deal to breed our best stallion with the offspring of a Triple Crown winner, putting a lot more zeroes in our bank account. Maybe I’ll fly her to Paris tomorrow to celebrate.
Fuck it. We’ll go tonight. I want to ride her while she looks through a hotel window at the lit-up Eiffel Tower, dripping in fucking diamonds.
I settle a hand on top of the piano.
“You’re getting better every day, Goldie.” I shake my head. “You’re incredible.”
“Thank you,” she whispers, her eyes big and hopeful on me.
Don’t worry, baby, I know what you need.
“Yes, I’m so happy with her progress,” says the instructor, wringing her hands. I might make her nervous, but she’s the best teacher around. “Would you like
to hear her—”
“Yes. Later.” I shoot the woman a tight smile. “Could you excuse us?”
She’s well used to this. Hailey and I needing to be alone mid-lesson. I’m sure she’s even heard my wife’s screams of ecstasy through the barn door and smelled my possession in the air when she resumes the lesson. So be it. When my wife and I need each other, nothing stands in our way.
“Yes, sir.”
As soon as the instructor retreats to the barn door, closing it behind her. I move behind my wife where she sits on the bench and cup her beautiful tits in my hands. “They’re so full. Ready to nurse my child.”
Hailey arches her back on a whimper. “I missed you this morning.”
“How much?”
She stands and I kick the piano bench aside. Just like that, we’re panting. My cock becomes a dripping mess in my pants when I see her microscopic jean skirt. It’s so brief that when she leans forward, bracing her hands on the piano, her little, green silk thong looks back at me. “You wear this naughty girl outfit for me?” I lower my zipper with a hard tug and let my cock spring out. “You wanted to give me quick access to this pussy as a nice welcome home?”
“Yes, Mick. Please.”
“Tug your thong aside and give up that tight hole.” I position her hips with firm hands, her body hitting some notes on the piano. “Come on. Give it up to your husband.” Her shaking hands lift the denim and I growl at the insane temptation of her. “Fuck. If you weren’t already pregnant, today would be the day. Got so much come for you, Hailey. I need you.”
“I need you, too,” she sobs, not bothering to hold back a scream when I rip her thong off impatiently and ram myself deep, deep, cramming myself into her sheath. The force of my thrust lifts her off the ground and I bounce her on my angled lap, trying to go that final inch I can never fit. God help me, though, I never stop trying. “Mick, oh God.” She throws her head back onto my shoulder. “I love you so much.”
I’m rocked to the core by the beauty that shines back at me from her eyes. “I love you, too, Hailey. My wife. My happiness.”
We don’t let the piano teacher back into the barn for a good hour. By that time, my wife is smiling at me and all is right with the world.
Heaven.
THE END
