by Erin Wright
As she shoved his pants and underwear down to the floor, she noticed a distinct tan line that followed the waist of his jeans. She paused her kissing of his skin for a moment to appreciate the contrast between the golden brown of his tanned chest, and his white hips. Thoughts of him standing bare-chested in the middle of a field on a warm summer day flooded her mind, and body. She giggled mischievously at the sexy thought. There was a sight she wouldn’t grow tired of…
“What are you laughing at?” Declan asked, amusement apparent in his voice.
“I’m just thinking about you standing bare-chested in an open field,” Iris responded, wrapping her hand around his rigid shaft as she spoke.
“It’s a bit cold for that right now, but next summer you’re welcome to come out to the field anytime,” he responded, while running his fingers through her hair and his voice taking on an equally mischievous tone. “Show up at the right time and I may not be the only one in the field without a shirt on.”
She grinned at the naughty thought before she returned her attention to stroking him, while her mind automatically listed out all the things she found wonderfully endearing about this man, including the fact that he could laugh with her even during the most intimate of moments. She lifted his length upward and ran her tongue up the underside of him, feeling her own excitement grow in time with his.
Declan groaned and his dick hardened even further in her mouth, chasing away any feelings of trepidation she’d had. It’d been years since she’d done anything like this and she was wary of screwing things up, but based on how often he flexed his fingers around the back of her head in encouragement, she was pretty sure she was doing it right.
She was caught up in her own mental reverie when Declan surprised her. He pulled out of her mouth and, reaching down, placed his hands under her arms and helped her to a standing position. She looked at him, confused. She knew he’d been enjoying what she’d been doing, so why…
“I’ve thought about this, a lot,” he said in a husky voice before kissing her. The kiss was rough and full of desire, as he buried his hands deep into her hair. When they finally came up for air, he whispered, “There’s a way I’ve wanted to take you for a very long time. I thought about it when we were teenagers and now…I can’t get the thought out of my mind.”
Iris was both curious as well as worried. The reality was, she might not be capable of some of the more…acrobatic positions a couple could use in bed.
But Declan didn’t wait for her response, or for her to worry her way out of it. Placing his hands on her hips, he swung her around so she was facing toward the bed. Her legs began to shake with excitement, which just increased the worry she was feeling. If she couldn’t even stand properly, she probably couldn’t do…whatever it was he had in mind.
Before she could say anything, though, Declan’s strong arms wrapped around her, and his large body pressed up against her back, silently begging for her to lean into him. She held herself stiff for a moment, the worry almost causing her to panic, but with a whoosh, she made herself relax and trust him completely. He held still, not moving an inch, until she leaned into him, letting her choose when it was time to move forward.
When she did, she felt his breath quicken, and then he whispered, “Thank you.”
Thank you for trusting me.
She nodded once, not relying on her voice to speak. She could’ve said the same thing – thank you for wanting me, even though I am broken. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your love.
But she said nothing at all, just letting her body speak for her.
With impressive quickness, Declan worked the hooks, buttons, and buckles of her clothing until their naked bodies pressed together. His soft lips pressed kisses on the back of her neck as he ran his hands up and down the front of her body, his fingers bumping slowly and provocatively over her hardening nipples. The entire time he explored her, he kept his arms wrapped around her body, holding her up, and never once did she question his support.
She knew she could rely on him fully, and that was the most freeing feeling of all.
After a long and…thorough inspection of every nook and cranny of her body, Declan placed a hand on her upper back, encouraging her to bend over at the waist. She felt a flash of doubt but quickly squashed it, reminding herself that she’d promised to rely on him completely.
With a deep breath, she placed her hands on the mattress and spread her feet apart slightly, relying on the bed to help her keep her balance.
Declan held her hips firmly, and then she felt his tip, seeking her out. She spread her feet just a little bit more, the need for him to be inside her overwhelming. Declan found her center and with a slow, fluid push, he entered her.
Once he was fully inside, he moved his hands, reaching his burly forearm completely around her tiny waist, holding her to him, as he began to ease in and out of her. The granite surety of him erased any residual worry she had about falling.
Finally, she let herself completely succumb to the incredible physical sensations, as well as the pure relief that came from relinquishing her personal worries.
For just a little while, she was just Iris, and he was just Declan, and together, they were just happy. Blissfully, completely, wonderfully happy.
Chapter 25
Iris
Iris leaned against the kitchen sink, using it to stabilize herself, as she scrubbed the red potatoes piled up in its ceramic depths. They’d hired the local catering company – Belly Bliss Catering – to provide most of the food, tables, and chairs for the party, but her mom requested the McLain Red Potato Salad, which could only be made if the person knew the secret recipe for it. Being a McLain daughter, Iris had of course been taught the recipe many years ago, and she figured it was only fair to make it in honor of her parents’ 40th wedding anniversary.
Caterers and staff members bustled in and out of the house, the door slamming closed behind them every time they went, but Iris ignored it all. It was about two weeks until Christmas, and the scene outside her parent’s kitchen window was simply gorgeous, if a little disconcerting. Her own MIL apartment was attached to the backside of her parent’s house, so the views outside were to the same general scenery, although shifted just slightly to the left. It was like looking out her kitchen window, but seeing everything a bit out of place.
The house wasn’t big enough to hold everyone and the Sawyer Community Center was booked up, so Iris and Ivy had arranged for two large white tents with propane burners to be set up in the yard instead. They also had a large bonfire set up and ready to go in the middle. Iris figured between it all, people would probably be able to stay warm, if they were smart and were bundled up too.
Ivy came into the house, muttering darkly. “Iris!” she yelped as soon as she saw her. She tossed her curly red hair back over her shoulder. Iris had to admit, even if only to herself, that she was jealous of the curls. Her own hair was straight as an arrow. “You would not believe who is here!” Ivy continued, stalking over to the counter and grabbing an apple slice from the caterer’s tray. She began munching on it noisily.
Iris grabbed another potato and gave it a light scrub. “Yeah?” she prompted. Ivy tended to be a bit dramatic, so she wasn’t surprised that she’d gotten so angry over a guest already. Hell, the party was just getting started, but that was Ivy for you.
“Tiffany and Ezzy! You didn’t invite them, did you?”
Iris stopped scrubbing the potatoes for a moment and turned to glare at her sister. Ivy shrunk back. “I didn’t think so, I just thought I’d ask,” she mumbled sheepishly.
Iris rolled her eyes, and didn’t even bother answering. If Ivy sincerely thought that her one and only sister, one of her closest friends in all the world, could intentionally invite two girls to a party who’d made her life miserable all the way through high school…well, Iris had no words to say to her.
None that she should be uttering at her parent’s house in the middle of a party, anyway.
When the silence extended out into painful territory, finally Ivy mumbled, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Iris jerked her head once in response, and with that, the little tiff was over. She began gathering the cleaned potatoes to move them over to the kitchen table so she could sit while chopping them. Her legs were already getting tired, and her eyes were aching from trying to keep everything lined up the way they should be. It was never good when the world tilted suddenly without warning.
Well, she shouldn’t say never. There was that time she’d fallen face first into Declan’s lap…
She cleared her throat, forcing her mind to focus on the present, and began juggling the cutting board and her cane, trying to get everything she needed to the kitchen table. She really should’ve had this salad done hours ago, but when the caterers had shown up, Iris had quickly realized that someone had to take charge or nothing would ever get done. All plans of getting the salad finished before guests showed up flew out the window.
“My best guess,” Iris mused aloud as she slowly moved items over to the table, “is that they heard about the free food and music, and decided to come on down and mooch off us. They’re the kinds of people who would think that'd be okay.”
Ivy considered that for a moment and then sighed. “You’re right.” She grabbed the last item – a bowl of washed potatoes – and carried them over to the table for her. Iris smiled up in gratitude at her younger sister. She may be impulsive and say stupid things sometimes, but she could also be sweet and thoughtful. It was one of the reasons she hadn’t killed her yet.
“Thanks, sis,” she said, drawing the bowl towards her and pulling out potatoes.
“Well, they’ve ruined everything,” Ivy announced dramatically, crunching her way through another apple slice. Iris was pretty sure the caterers would kill her when they saw what Ivy was doing to their beautifully constructed fruit platter, but Iris also figured she’d let the caterers do the killing. Sometimes, it was just easier.
“Everything?” Iris echoed. That seemed a bit…over the top.
“Yeah! There was this guy, and—”
“Hey, you guys, I need to know where you want this table,” one of the caterers said, popping his head around the kitchen door.
Iris started to struggle to her feet, but Ivy waved her off. “You sit and take a break and get the damn salad done already. There are rumblings in the ranks that no one has brought the famous McLain salad out yet. I’ll go.” She snagged another apple slice and headed out the door, their voices cut off as the kitchen door thunked closed behind them.
A guy…Iris wondered what that was all about. She’d seen Ivy talking to Austin earlier, although she’d only been watching them through the kitchen window, and thus couldn’t hear what was being said. Ivy had almost looked like she was…flirting with Austin, which just couldn’t be right. Ivy didn’t do cowboys or extension agents, which just happened to be what Austin was.
Well, that and one of Declan’s closest friends.
Austin wasn’t from around there – he grew up in the panhandle – but apparently him and Dec had met when Declan had broken up with her and moved up north to the U of I to get his bachelor’s degree.
Although Iris tried her hardest not to think about that time in their lives – it was damn depressing, if she let herself think about it too much – she did have to admit that Austin was one good result out of the whole thing. The three of them had hung out a few times, and Iris had found the soft-spoken cowboy to be a real gentleman. Declan had invited him to move to Long Valley, apparently, when the previous extension agent had retired, and Austin had been in town ever since.
Well, whether that was the guy in question or not, Ivy wasn’t going to be happy once she figured out who he was. She lived in California and was comfortable there. Honestly, she was a snot when it came to small towns located in Idaho, and even worse when it came to cowboys who lived in small towns located in Idaho.
Iris was surprised Austin had managed to get Ivy to even talk to him.
“Hey, Cookie,” Declan’s deep voice rumbled behind her, just as he dropped a kiss on the crown of her head.
“Oh hi!” she said, jumping about five feet in the air. Okay, not really that far – she couldn’t jump that high even before her accident – but plenty high enough in her estimation. He laughed down at her as she panted, her hand over her heart.
“I really shouldn’t sneak up on you when you have a knife in your hand,” he said dryly. “I’m thinking major damage could happen that way.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, not willing to admit he was right. “Humph,” she grumbled, which was as good of a come back as she could come up with.
And even she admitted that it wasn’t very good.
“You almost done? There are a lot of guests out there.” He stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders as she continued to chop her way through the potatoes.
“I wish,” she groused. “It’ll be a while. You should go out there and mingle, though. I’ll be along as soon as I’m done.” Although, his hands on her shoulders did feel heavenly…
He moved away, and she sighed.
“All right, if you insist,” he said. “I don’t want you to feel abandoned, all alone in the kitchen.”
“Oh, I’m not alone,” she said, waving her knife around in the air breezily. “The caterers come in quite regularly.”
Declan laughed. “All right,” he said, dropping a kiss on top of her head again. “I’ll see you outside when you’re done?”
“Sounds good.”
She watched him walk out the door, the easy sway of his hips almost hypnotic. Damn, he was a good-looking guy. And for some reason unbeknownst to her, he didn’t seem to mind that she was a cripple.
She figured life just didn’t get any better than that.
Chapter 26
Declan
Declan stood next to Mr. Burgemeister as they chatted about beef prices and what everyone expected to happen to them this spring – drop, of course; no group of people on earth were as negatively optimistic as a group of ranchers and farmers – when the song The Dance by Garth Brooks came on. Declan paused, memories washing over him.
It was their high school senior prom. Iris was smiling up at him in her shimmery gold dress as he escorted her out onto the dance floor. She’d been so gorgeous that night, with her curled hair up in pins, and a dress that showed off all her curves…he hadn’t been able to breathe as he held her in his arms and they swayed to the haunting notes.
He’d known then that he’d always love her. And as dumb as he’d been as a teenage boy – and hormones made him do some pretty damn dumb things at times – he’d been right about that.
Declan waited for Mr. Burgemeister to finish his rant on skyrocketing feed prices and then quickly slipped in, “I think this is my cue – I’m going to go find my girlfriend and ask her for a dance.”
Mr. Burgemeister paused for a moment, thrown off his stride, and then his eyes began to twinkle. “If I had a choice between a beautiful young lady or a blustering old fool like me, I’d pick her, too. Good luck, son.”
“Thanks.” Declan tipped his hat and then set off across to the tent where Iris was standing with Ivy and Abby, chatting about…something. He snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her slender waist, whispering, “Will you dance with me?” in her ear.
Instead of melting back against him like he’d expected, though, she stiffened in his arms and slowly maneuvered around to face him. “Declan, you know I can’t dance,” she said in a sharp, frustrated voice, holding up her cane as evidence. “I—”
“I can hold you up,” he interrupted, his brow wrinkling in confusion.
“Don’t make me feel bad,” Iris replied, a frown crossing her face. “I already feel awful because I’m practically a cripple. Please don’t throw this in my face.”
He jerked back, his spine straight as a measuring stick. What the hell? That isn’t what I meant at all.
> “I wasn’t throwing it in your face,” he said slowly, the pain and anger at her words bleeding through his voice, despite his best efforts to keep it neutral. “You should rely on me to hold you up. Why can’t you trust me to be there for you?”
She stared up at him, anger setting her mouth into a firm slash across her face. “Declan, it isn’t always about you. I’m the one who can’t walk, not you. I know my limits. Dancing isn’t on the agenda, now or ever. Period, end of story. If you’re going to be in my life, you need to know this and not just ignore reality because it doesn’t suit you.”
“Doesn’t suit me?” he repeated, thrown off by her words. “I’ve been trying really hard to accommodate—”
“Thanks for coming out this cold wintry afternoon to help us celebrate Betty and John McLain’s 40th wedding anniversary!” Ivy’s voice cut through their escalating argument as she shouted to the group as a whole. Iris turned her back on Declan pointedly, facing her sister to listen to her talk. With a sigh, Declan turned too.
He wasn’t quite sure how a desire to slow dance with the love of his life had somehow turned into an argument in front of the entire population of Long Valley, but dammit all, it had. Just when he thought he had Iris figured out, she turned everything on its head again.
Chapter 27
Iris
Iris smiled and nodded and clapped politely as Ivy gave her spontaneous welcoming speech to the crowd of well-wishers, but inside, she was seething. Just a few hours earlier, she’d been so happy as she’d sat in the kitchen, making the potato salad and contemplating how wonderful it was that Declan didn’t seem to notice or care that she was a cripple.
