by Ali Parker
I reached down to run my fingers through his hair, to show him without words how grateful I was for him.
But he caught my wrist and pinned it at my side on the bed.
Then his tongue flicked out and caressed my clit.
I bit my tongue.
He licked and suckled until either he couldn’t stand it anymore or he took pity on me, and then he slid his tongue up my slit and eased a finger inside me. The pressure was intense. My pussy was tight and desperate for so much more than just this.
I wanted it all.
And I wanted it now.
Please.
Wyatt slid another finger inside me. It was all I could do not to scream his name and beg him to fuck me. I knew he wouldn’t listen. And I’d be giving him too much control. Not that I cared.
The pleasure was almost too much. I forgot entirely why I was fighting so hard to keep quiet anyway. Wyatt pressed his fingers up to my G-spot. The world faded out. He drew my clit between his lips and suckled and then ran his tongue over the sensitive spot, and I all but melted into a pool of sheer need in his arms.
And then I came.
I clamped my forearm over my mouth and bit down on my own skin as I moaned his name.
Wyatt chuckled deeply as I coated his fingers in my release. I couldn’t keep my eyes closed anymore. I stole a glance down at him, still propped up on his elbows between my thighs, as he licked his fingers clean. Then he was up on his knees and it was clear he wasn’t going to give me time to recover from my orgasm. He gripped my thighs and jerked me to him.
I moaned and reached for his cock, but he slapped my hand away. I lifted my hips. He pressed into me.
The sound that escaped me wasn’t a moan or a sigh, but it was a little bit of both. My eyes rolled back in my head as he gave me all his length on the first thrust.
“Yes,” I whimpered. “Yes!”
Wyatt fucked me deep and slow. I gripped the sheets and writhed beneath him. He held me in place. His fingers pressed into the flesh of my thighs and I turned my head to the side to muffle my cries in the sheets.
“That’s it,” Wyatt growled. “Fuck, Piper.”
I rolled my hips against him. Wyatt bore down deep and hard. He planted his hands on either side of my head and bowed his head. I draped my arms over his shoulders and pulled him down to me, and I held him there as he moved inside me. The kiss was desperate and sloppy and it set my veins on fire. Wyatt seemed to lose control, too, because he shuddered under my nails when I dragged them down his back and stopped to grab his ass.
I smiled into our kiss. “Mine.”
“Ours.”
I shook my head. “Mine.”
I sealed his rebuttal with another kiss. My tongue plunged into his mouth and his hands raked over my body, pressing into my hips and waist and thighs. He rocked against me. My breath hitched in my throat and the world came to a grinding halt when another orgasm rocked me. My toes curled, and my back arched, and Wyatt silenced my cry with a hand over my mouth as he too gave in to his own climax. He came on my stomach, and I lay panting heavily beneath him as he collected his bearings.
Then he pushed up, padded to the bathroom, and returned with a towel, which he used to gently wipe me down. Then he cleaned himself up before sliding onto the bed beside me. I pulled the blankets up to my chin and settled down against my extra-fluffy pillow while Wyatt gazed out the window.
“It feels so good to know I won’t ever lose you again,” he breathed.
I rolled into him and settled against his side to rest my cheek on his chest. His heart was hammering away as fiercely as mine. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me now. For good.”
He ran his fingers through my hair. “I wouldn’t say stuck is the right word.”
“Oh?”
“Blessed seems more appropriate.”
Giggling, I slapped his chest lightly. “Such a softie.”
“Sometimes. When it calls for it. And I’d say our wedding night calls for it, don’t you, Mrs. Brewer?”
I sighed as I gazed up at him. He’d turned his beautiful dark eyes toward me. “Say it again,” I whispered.
He reached for me and traced my jaw with his thumb. “Mrs. Brewer.”
“That’s my second favorite sound in the whole world,” I said. I knew he’d ask me what was the first. His mouth was already open and the question was there on the tip of his tongue, ready to escape. But I beat him to it. “Second only to the sound of your laugh.”
As if on cue, Wyatt laughed. It was a deep and joyful sound and it rumbled through his chest beneath my cheek. “Who’s soft now?”
I grinned. “I couldn’t let you go embarrassing yourself like that. I had to get all mushy too. We’re husband and wife now, after all.”
“Is that what that was supposed to be?”
I shrugged and settled in closer to him, fitting snugly under his arm. “Go to sleep. Tomorrow is another big day.”
Our first day of many being husband and wife.
Chapter 24
Wyatt
I kicked one leg up onto the porch railing and leaned back in the wooden rocking bench my father built for my mother on her twenty-eighth birthday. Well, he’d intended to give it to her on her birthday, but my father was the sort of man who was never good at managing his time when it came to anything other than tending to the ranch. He could be up at the crack of dawn and do all his chores before noon, day in and day out, but when it came to meeting other deadlines like birthdays and anniversaries, he had an uncanny knack of missing it.
And not by a day or two. Sometimes by weeks or even months.
In total, the bench took him about three months to build. My mother never batted an eye. She knew it was coming, and she knew he was good for it, and when he unveiled it exactly twelve weeks after her birthday, she’d smiled, kissed his cheek, and told him it was the loveliest gift anyone had ever given her.
And it was lovely.
The wood was just as shiny and new as it had been the day she’d first laid eyes on it. My father oiled and waxed it on a near-monthly basis to make sure it lasted a lifetime, and after he passed, I took over. It was a place I liked to sit to think of them and the life they gave each other.
Now, somehow, I’d won the lottery in life. I got to sit on my mother’s bench with Piper every morning.
I could hear my wife in the kitchen. The patio doors were cracked open behind me to let the morning breeze flow through the house. In the kitchen, pots were banging, something was sizzling on the stove, coffee was brewing, and my new family was laughing.
Piper’s parents had insisted on cooking us breakfast this morning. I’d woken up planning on being the guy who’d serve everyone eggs and bacon and waffles, but when I came down to the kitchen at half-past eight, Piper’s parents were already toiling away in our kitchen, opening cupboards and pantries and getting the lay of the land. I did not protest when they said they’d be cooking. Instead, I fixed a pot of coffee and set it aside for Piper, Janie, and Phillip to enjoy when they rolled out of bed.
I could hear them all now, goofing off in the kitchen like children. Piper’s delighted squeal of laughter rolled through me, and I smiled fondly as I sipped my coffee and gazed out at our ranch, at the sun rising over the barn, the rolling green hills buzzing with lazy bugs just getting started with their morning, the trees swaying in the gentle breeze, the horses grazing out behind the white tents from the wedding, which would be taken down later this afternoon.
The patio door slid open the rest of the way behind me. When it sealed closed again, the voices of Piper’s family became muted and distant. I didn’t have to look over to know it was Piper who’d come outside to join me. I couldn’t explain it, but I could pick her out just by the sounds she made, how she closed a door, how she padded barefoot across the wooden porch, how she sighed contently as she stood behind me and soaked in the same view I’d gazed at my whole life.
“This will never get old.” Piper set a hand o
n my shoulder and rubbed her thumb in slow circles. “Breakfast will be ready in about ten minutes.”
“Sit with me.”
Piper moved around the bench. I lifted my arm for her and she sat down. I draped my arm over her shoulder and she leaned in to rest her cheek on my shoulder.
“How did you sleep?” I asked, pressing my lips to the top of her head.
“Like I’d spent the entire day working the ranch.”
I chuckled. “A wedding is hard work.”
“Who knew?”
“Everyone?”
Piper giggled and nodded. “Yes, I suppose everyone did. But I can’t imagine what it would have been like to do this on our own. We didn’t really have to worry about anything. Laurel took care of all of it for us.”
“She’s a miracle worker.”
“We should do something special to thank her.”
“I always have extra eggs from the chickens. We could send her home with—”
“Eggs?” Piper lifted her cheek from my shoulder and scowled up at me. “We can’t thank her with eggs, Wyatt. Your country is showing.”
“Milk, then? Fresh squeezed—”
“Wyatt.”
I laughed and held up my hands, feigning innocence. “All right. All right. We’ll do better. We’ll think of something. You’re right. She deserves it.”
Piper settled back down against my shoulder. I leaned back to peer down at her and found that her eyes were closed. I smiled at the rosy hue to her cheeks, her long lashes—all of her. She was wearing an oversized gray pullover and leggings, Piper’s classic morning attire. I suspected she was either wearing no bra or just a thin little sports bra of some sort. Her hair was tousled, probably from our romp in the sheets last night, and her lips were a little swollen like they always were in the mornings.
“I can feel you staring at me,” she said.
“Sorry. I’m just glad I get to do this every morning.”
“Me too.”
A cricket chirped somewhere below the porch. Boone’s loud and obnoxious laughter rose from the outbuilding. The boys were stirring. They could probably smell Piper’s parents’ cooking.
“Hey, Wyatt?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for what you did for my mom and dad with the restaurant. I haven’t seen them this happy in a really long time. But…” She trailed off and looked up at me. Her eyes slid back and forth between mine and I put a hand on her thigh.
“But what?”
“But I need you to know you didn’t have to. You still don’t. If it’s too much, we can backtrack and work something else out. We’re all eternally grateful but—”
“Piper, this isn’t a handout. They’re my family now too. And I take care of what’s mine. They will want for nothing. Just as you will want for nothing. You know me. I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t want to.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. I’ve missed this for a long time, Piper. I grew up with my house sounding just like this. With it being full. And now that I have this back, I don’t want to lose it. Family matters more than anything. And ours should be close together. Once a Brewer, always a Brewer.”
Piper grinned. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The outbuilding door swung open and slammed into the wood sliding with a bang. Piper nearly jumped out of her skin, and she scowled across the grounds as Boone and Dodge made their way haphazardly up the drive to the bottom of the porch steps. Both seemed a little unsteady on their feet, a telltale sign of a night spent indulging in free alcohol and dancing.
Boone braced himself with a hand on the bottom railing. “Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Brewer.”
“Good morning,” Piper chimed.
Dodge tipped his head. “We couldn’t help but catch the glorious scent of something cooking over here. Is that bacon, by chance?”
“Maybe,” Piper said, lifting her chin.
Dodge pressed his hands together in prayer. “How inclined are you and yours to share with your lowly ranch hands?”
Piper looked up at me. “I don’t know. Should we bother? Or should we banish them to tend to the chores?”
I shrugged and rubbed the back of my neck in mock thoughtfulness. “I don’t know. There’s a lot that needs to get done. The horses need brushing, the stables mucking, the chickens fed, the—”
“The two of you are made for each other,” Boone muttered.
“Like love birds,” Dodge added.
“Or penguins,” Boone chimed in.
Dodge shot him a look. “Seriously? Every time you have to tag on to what I said?”
Boone shrugged. “What? It’s true. They mate for life.”
“If we let you eat with us, will the two of you give us some peace?” I asked.
Dodge nodded eagerly. “Most certainly, boss.”
I tipped my head toward the sliding doors behind us. “Then get in there. Breakfast is up in five or so minutes. Try not to get in anyone’s way, either.”
“And keep your flirtations to yourself and leave Janie alone,” Piper added as the ranch hands hurried up to the porch, their boots banging on each step.
Boone pulled the sliding door open. “No promises.”
She glared at him. “I mean it.”
Dodge chuckled. “I’ll keep him in check, Mrs. Brewer.”
“You’d better,” she said. “Because just in case you haven’t put two and two together, I’m your boss now too.”
Dodge blinked. Boone looked at me.
I grinned. “Don’t look at me. You heard the lady.”
Boone and Dodge muttered some incoherent things to one another as they slipped inside. Before they closed the doors behind them, Piper and I caught the warm greeting they received from her family.
Our family.
“We only have a couple of minutes left for just us,” Piper said.
She was right. We had a day with the family ahead of us. I was looking forward to it. But time with Piper was still precious. We could have spent those final minutes sitting peacefully, but there was something I needed to ask her.
“Hey,” I said, rubbing her thigh.
“What’s up?”
“How are you feeling? After talking to Levi last night?”
Piper drew her bottom lip into her mouth. “I’m good actually. I think I was being unrealistic thinking I could heal the hurt I caused him just by saying sorry. By looking him in the eyes and telling him I cared about him. But I realize now I’m not the person who can help him. And he has his brother. And his music. He’ll be all right.” She smiled up at me and sat up a little straighter. “Besides, he’s not my man to worry about anymore.”
“Well, you don’t need to worry about me, Piper.”
She laughed softly. “Oh, Wyatt. You mustn’t know me at all. I will always worry about you. Because I want the best for you. And us. And our future children.”
I grinned and leaned back to stare out at the barn once more. “Children, huh?”
“Two. Maybe three.”
“Three?”
She shrugged. “Or four.”
I laughed. “Let’s start with one and take it from there. What do you say?”
Piper ran her finger along the gold band on my ring finger. “Sounds good to me.”
Epilogue
Piper
Eighteen Months Later
“Shoot,” I hissed, flinching when my wrist hit the top rack in the oven. I set the pan of braised pulled pork down on top of the stove, dropped the oven mitts on the counter, and hurried over to the sink to run cold water over the mini burn. “Stupid. Just stupid.”
“What did you do?” Janie’s voice rang through the speaker of my phone.
I’d been cooking for almost an hour. “I burned myself on the oven.”
“Well, what did you go and do that for?”
“Ha. Ha. I didn’t do it on purpose, silly.”
“How’s it looking? I wish I was there. Y
ou make the best braised pork. Are you putting that sweet glaze on it?”
“Sure am,” I said. “It’s Wyatt’s favorite.”
My stomach rolled with excitement when I said his name.
I could hear Janie’s smile in her voice. “When will he be there?”
“I don’t know, probably another five or so minutes, tops.”
“Are you excited to tell him?”
“I feel like I have to pee every fifteen seconds from the nerves.”
Janie laughed. “Cross your legs. You’ll be fine.”
I turned off the trickle of cold water from the sink and went about finishing up preparing dinner. The potatoes were done and staying warm on the oven while the carrots and broccoli slowly simmered in a pot covered with a crooked lid to let out the steam. I’d drizzled them with honey and added a bit of butter—another one of Wyatt’s staple favorites.
“How are things in New York?” I asked as I began pulling out dishes and cutlery.
“Good. The Casanova Club is halfway through for the year. There are quite some characters this go around. The quality of men isn’t nearly what you had for your year. You lucked out, girl. If you had this group, you definitely would have taken the money.”
I laughed. “Well, thank God I didn’t.”
“Indeed.”
“And?” I pressed. “How are things with you and Max?”
Janie and Max had hit things off the night of the wedding, but she hadn’t said a word about it to me for over a month after the big day. Max had sent her some messages, asking if she wanted to get together, and she’d been blowing him off, unsure of how I’d take it.
But when she told me she had a crush on him, I told her to go for it. Max was a good man and I considered him a friend.
They hadn’t made things work for the first year after the wedding. He’d done some traveling for work and Janie received a promotion at the Casanova Club. She’d always been career-focused, and she took the year to deep dive into business. She now worked closely with Jackson Lee and operated as a coordinator for events. She was the go-to person for the men, which was probably how she knew the men this year weren’t the same kind of stand-up guys I had.
