Chapter Twenty-Two
Abbie
A shadow fell over his face as flames behind those bright blue eyes sparked with fury.
Every single inch of him stiffened, including the muscle ticking in his cheek. “Gonna give you one more time to ask me that, Abbie,” he said, the low growl of his voice reaching across the short distance between us and piercing my heart. “Take a second to prepare for my answer before you do.”
Goosebumps appeared on my arm, spreading over my skin like a chill in the night. “Judging by that answer, I don’t need to ask again,” I whispered, my heart rate climbing by the second.
“Fine. Saves me fucking time,” he moved on darkly, taking a step towards me, but I held my ground. “Why are you coming back home asking me questions like that?”
“This isn’t my home,” I said, breathless.
Those heat-filled eyes dropped to my lips. “Yeah, baby, it is.”
I shook my head and took a step back. “You know what? I changed my mind,” I declared, anger flooding my logic, blinding me. “Do you like it?”
“You should know the fucking answer to that,” he said calmly, ice in his voice.
My chin jerked up an inch. “The Beau I knew valued human life,” I shot out, my voice getting louder and louder with each word. “The Beau I knew wouldn’t shamelessly take a life because of a hotel development in town.”
Recognition painted his features, the sight gutting me in a way I never expected. He knew exactly what I was talking about, and yet? He didn’t fucking deny it. I couldn’t believe it. I threw my hands out to the side.
“So the cowboy I left turned into a ruthless fucking monster?” I practically shouted.
He looked to the ground for a moment, and when he lifted his head again, there was a different kind of heat burning in his eyes, chasing my goosebumps away. “What else did you expect me to turn into, baby?”
Another wave of shock slammed into me.
My arms fell to my sides, chest heaving as he closed the distance between us, the deafening sound of gravel crunching under his boots. We were chest to chest now, the brim of his hat brushing the top of my head as his nostrils flared, his neck bending to get into my space.
Our gaze didn’t break when the bunkhouse door shot open and everyone inside filed out.
It didn’t break when Jigs and Denver informed Beau they were heading out to the herd, mounting their horses.
It didn’t break when the twins and some woman walked around the back of the bunkhouse and pulled back around in Lance’s shitty truck before informing us they were heading into town for a bit.
Then, minutes or hours later, who the hell knew, Beau’s hand cupped the back of my neck in a firm grip. I let out a small whimper, my mouth opening as he yanked me into his body, his other arm locking around me, crushing me. His fingers gripped the hair at the back of my scalp, forcing my head back. My hands shot up to his chest, pushing against him as my laptop clattered to the gravel.
“Let go of me,” I demanded.
“The man holding you right now is the man I had to fucking become to survive the agonizing pain of losing you,” he clipped, a rumble coming from deep in his chest. I struggled against him, trying to get away from his heat, his strength, and that look in his damn eyes. A look that threatened to obliterate my moral compass.
“Stop,” I hissed as he spun us, forcing me to walk backwards towards the bunkhouse.
“But turns out, all that pain, all the sleepless nights, all the fucking doubt, Abbie, was all just a fucking lie, wasn’t it?” he demanded through clenched teeth, kicking the bunkhouse door open so hard it rattled the horseshoes on the wall. His hand snaked around to the front of my neck, gripping it and pressing his thumb under my jaw, still forcing me to look at him. He kicked the door shut behind him, and his other hand moved to my hip, digging into my flesh.
All I could see now was him, his heated blues, and suddenly, it was all around me, burning my soul from the outside. He knew.
He fucking knew the truth.
Nothing else mattered anymore. Not the story. Not my stalker. Not the information I’d gotten this afternoon. I came here to yell at him, to scold him, to try and hate him. The entire ride back to Hallow Ranch, I convinced myself that if Beau truly was the monster Bart painted him to be, I could find a way to resent him. If I could resent him, I could eventually teach myself to hate him, and then, somewhere down the line, all the love I had in my heart for him would fade away.
It was supposed to make this easier.
Finding a valid reason to hate him would give me the freedom to walk away—for good.
He didn’t need me. I was nothing but a mess, a fucking burden.
“All that fucking time we lost,” he growled, pulling me from my thoughts. I blinked, and my cowboy shook his head, his upper lip curling. “All that fucking heartbreak and pain.”
“B-Beau,” I pushed out on a gasp, my hands going to his forearm. “You don’t—”
“—Understand?” he cut me off, raising a brow. A dark chuckle left him then, and he began moving me again. “Oh, Wildflower, I understand completely.”
The back of my legs hit the edge of the dining table, and my eyes widened as he leaned me back. He forced a strong, jean-clad leg between mine as his hand on my hip slid down to my thigh and underneath my dress. His rough fingers traced the line of my panties seconds later, and my nipples pebbled.
Great to know my body had never been on board with my plan.
His eyes dropped down, a slow, arrogant smirk forming on his handsome face. “Bet that needy cunt is soaked too,” he rumbled before finding out for himself, cupping me.
“What is it?” I breathed, trying to ignore my body’s reaction, the need pulsing in my clit at the absence of him between my legs. “W-what do y-you understand?” My words were choppy, the heat of his body against mine making me dizzy with need.
Those eyes snapped back up to mine, and my breath caught. “I understand why you had to completely destroy me, baby,” he murmured as he pressed the heel of his palm against me, moving it in a slight circle.
The pressure was almost too much.
Logic faded away, and my hands scrambled to find his shoulders.
“But I’m about to get what I’m owed,” he added, his attention dropping to his hand between my legs. My eyes followed his and even more arousal flooded my core. God, this fucking cowboy.
His strong, thick, tanned forearm poked out from my dress, the feminine fabric against it driving me insane. My fingers curled into his flannel as my eyes traced the length of his veins, the shape of his muscles, all the way to his bicep where his sleeve was folded. He moved his hand against my core again and muttered, “Pussy’s already making a mess, and I haven’t even fucking started.”
“Beau,” I whispered.
He said nothing, his eyes going back to my chest as he shifted his hand, fisting the fabric of my underwear before shredding it away from my body on a low grunt.
“I’m sorry.” My apology was barely a whisper, a confession meant only for his ears. “I’m so sorry.”
“Told you not to stay those words to me ever again,” he warned, his hand around my neck tightening.
“So this is it, isn’t it?” I asked, my voice trembling now. My mind didn’t know what to do. Give in or fight against him—against what was about to happen. My heart wanted to surrender, and my body just wanted him. Wetness pooled in my core as he stuffed the delicate, dark purple fabric in the front pocket of his Wranglers. “One more time?”
The next thing I knew, I was being bent over the table. I braced my hands on the old cedar, crying out in shock as he fisted my hair, yanking my head back. Then, he kicked my feet open, and I heard the sound of him undoing his belt. I couldn’t deny I wanted this. I did, but I couldn’t handle this as a goodbye. He found out the truth, and now, he was in danger—I put him in danger. Tears filled my eyes as he pushed my dress up, and I looked at the ceiling, bracing for him.
His hand smoothed over my ass before grabbing a greedy handful, a raw, deep sound coming for him. I’d never been wetter in my entire life, never wanted him more in my entire life.
“Say yes,” he ordered.
I dropped my head, wishing I was stronger. I wished I could resist him. I wished I could hate the monster he’d become. I wished I could find a way to save us, but this was our end.
When I didn’t answer, his rough, calloused hand moved to my hip again. A second later, I felt the tip of his thick cock at my entrance, and my knees nearly gave out.
“Give your cowboy consent, Wildflower.”
A single tear hit the wood as I whispered, “It will always be yes with you, Beau.”
“You better still be on fucking birth control,” he growled just before pushing inside me.
My back arched at the same time he yanked my head back, my mouth falling open as a desperate moan climbed up my throat. Inch by damn inch, Beau Marks filled me for the first time in six long years, and it was almost too much. My walls stretched around him, and when I felt his balls against my clit, his unbuttoned jeans against my ass, he groaned my name. My pussy tightened in response to the hottest sound in the world: the sound of a cowboy about to come undone.
“Gonna milk me before I even get to fuck you properly, beautiful,” he muttered roughly, holding himself in place.
“I—” I sucked in a gulp of air, my hands trying to find something to grip. “I forgot how b-big you are.”
“Oh, I plan on spending the rest of my days reminding you of all the ways I can wreck your pussy,” he vowed as he pulled out.
Before I could question him, he slammed back into me, pinning my lower half to the table. I cried out, my hands finding the edges to hold on to as he released my hair, his hand going to the back of my neck, forcing me down. Once my cheek was against the cool wood, he held me there. “Stay down,” he ordered, pulling out and thrusting back in, the wet sounds of us filling the bunkhouse. “Stay down and just take my cock.”
“Yes,” I whimpered, my eyes rolling back as he set a brutal pace, the buckle of his belt jingling with each powerful thrust.
“Can’t believe I have to bend you over in the damn bunkhouse and fuck some sense into you,” he clipped, both of his hands pinning my hips to the table now, his cock slamming into me over and over again. I cried out, tears filling my eyes from the pleasure zipping through my body. “You honestly think you can question the kind of man I am, the kind of cowboy I am?”
“B-Beau,” I rasped, begging for mercy.
“You think you don’t fucking know me, baby?” His right hand was gone then, and a not even a second later, it landed on my ass in a powerful smack. “You’re the only person on this planet who truly knows me.”
My clit hummed, throbbing and swollen as he continued to fuck me savagely.
“I don’t take lives for fucking pleasure,” he clipped, his breathing harsh and quick now.
Smack.
“Your cowboy may be a monster, but not that kind.”
Smack.
“Pisses me off you’d even think that.”
Smack.
It was too much. “Beau! Please!” I moaned, wishing I could meet his thrusts and fuck him back.
“No.” Smack. “You don’t get what you want when you question my fucking honor, and you sure as fuck don’t get what you want after leaving me.”
Suddenly, his fist was in my hair again, and he was yanking me up against him. I felt his lips against my ear then, his hot breath coating my skin. His other arm came around my front, banding around my chest. My hands snapped up to his forearm, needing to feel him—to touch him.
“You left me,” he said gruffly, burying himself to the hilt. I felt his cock swell inside me, and I clenched around him, savoring the sound he made in my ear.
He pulled out slowly. “You fucking left me, baby. Shattered me.”
“Yes,” I confessed, my voice cracking as he slammed back inside me, stretching me all over again. He yanked my head all the way back, bending my body like it was his to use so his eyes could meet mine.
“You left me to save my fucking life.”
His words hung in the air around us as we stared at each other, connected.
Together.
One.
Whole.
Complete.
“You left me to save my damn life, and I nearly took it because it was too much to bear,” he murmured.
Suddenly, he released me and pulled out. I whirled around to find him taking a step back.
“W-what?” I stammered, my heart halting. “You w—what?”
His face was pained as he stared at me, but even the shadow of his hat couldn’t hide the regret swimming in his eyes. “Tell me you love me, Abbie.”
I shook my head, eyes wide, filled with tears. I pointed at him as I croaked, “Don’t ask me that when you’re not connected to me anymore. Not after that confession. Not after—”
In a flash, my face was in his hands, and his lips crashed against mine, his hard cock between us. He slanted my head to the side, groaning as his tongue invaded my mouth, tasting me with an unhinged sense of urgency. My arms locked around his neck, and his hands found the backs of my thighs, lifting me up before spinning us and pinning me against the bunkhouse door, the horseshoes on the wall rattling for a second time.
“Tell me you fucking love me, Abbie,” he growled against my lips, trailing kissing across my jaw and over my neck. “I need to hear you say it, goddammit.”
“And I need you inside me when I do,” I hissed, shoving my hand between us and wrapping my fingers around is cock, rock hard and soaked with me.
“Fuck!” he barked into my neck, flexing his hips as I lined him up with my pussy.
“Get back inside me, Beau,” I begged, my voice trembling now.
“Yes, ma’am,” he grunted, pulling his head back to look at me while he snapped his hips, filling me again.
My head fell back against the door and my body took over, my thighs flexing as I moved up and down on him, my clit brushing the coarse hair surrounding his beautiful manhood. “Yes, yes, yes,” I chanted, my fingernails digging into the back of his neck, my eyes closing. “Beau, Beau, Beau.”
His hands squeezed my ass before helping me ride him, helping use him like he used to use me. “My cock is buried inside you,” he reminded me, his voice strained. “Give me what I fucking want.”
My eyes opened, and I was engulfed in his blue, his fire, the heat of his soul. “I never stopped,” I confessed, breathless and oh so close to release.
His pupils dilated and an animalistic sound escaped his throat as he bared his teeth. “Wildflower, baby, please ,” he gritted, pinning me to the door with his hips and ripping my arms away from his neck, pinning them above me at my wrists. I tried to move my hips, but he had control again. His lips brushed against mine. “Since I’m the one who said it last, Abbie, you have to say it back.”
My tongue shot out, tasting his bottom lip before I said the words I’d been holding in since the night he showed up on my doorstep in the rain. “I love you.”
He kissed me then, holding me hostage in the air with my pussy stretched around his thick length. He didn’t stop, neither did I. We kissed each other with abandon because there were no words in any language that would help us heal. Our bodies took over and my hands were released. He slanted his head, and I felt his cowboy hat shift, falling off. I pulled away slightly, my eyes shooting open to find him catching it with his hand. His other hand gripped my jaw, yanking me back to his mouth.
The hat wasn’t on the floor, and that’s all I cared about. Everything else could take a damn number.
I finally had my cowboy back.
Slowly, he started moving again—not fucking me, though.
He was making love to me, savoring me.
His grunts echoed my moans as he kissed down my jaw. I locked one arm around his neck, bringing the other down to his waist and around his back, snaking into his jeans so I could feel his ass flex as he moved.
“Fuck,” I breathed as he kissed my neck, nipping and sucking at the sensitive skin.
“Yeah,” he returned, before biting down on my shoulder.
“You f-feel like heaven,” I stammered, my arm tightening around his neck. It was coming. “This—we…” I trailed off another moan.
“I know, beautiful. I know.”
My hips began moving with him as he increased the pace. I whimpered, pleasure shooting up from my clit straight to my nipples. “I missed you,” I breathed, my fingers diving into his hair, gripping it.
“Keep talkin’ sweet, baby,” he ordered softly, his voice rough, one of his hands wrapping around the front of my neck, holding me right where he wanted me. “Missed that sweetness.” He adjusted his stance, his cock hitting me at a slightly different angle, hitting that perfect spot as he pulled away to look at me. “Missed that attitude. Missed that brain. Missed that creativity. Missed that determination. Missed my fucking woman .”
His body brought me there, but it was his words that made me fall over the edge.
My thighs began to shake as white-hot pleasure shot through my body. “I’m—I’m, Beau, I’m—” I cut off on a cry, my climax hitting me. Everything faded away, and all I felt was him. Goosebumps covered my skin, and all sense of time disappeared as I fell into oblivion.
It didn’t take him long to follow, and as we both drowned in bliss, he told me he loved me back.