Chapter 29 – Stevie
Five months later…
Was I still married?
I didn’t know how these things worked.
Did a lawyer send you a notification once both parties signed the paperwork, and the divorce was executed and finalized?
I certainly couldn’t ask Wylie if we were still married.
Hey, husband, are you my ex-husband now or are we still lawfully wedded?
Couldn't ask Jovie, either.
Jovie had been upset when I jetted off to Houston without warning, but what could I have told her? Leaving had been the right thing to do. It had been a long, miserable winter in Houston as I tried to put some distance between Wylie and myself and clear my mind. We had done each other a favor: he made Charles believe I was married to him and protected by Wylie, and I helped him secure Cameron ranch, his birthright, and the place he had called home for over 34 years.
It’d been mutually beneficial to us both and I had no regrets, including allowing my heart to be open to love him while getting to know the incredible man he was behind the layers of thick, rippled muscles, dirty mouth and tough exterior that he projected to the outside world.
I sighed and turned back to the computer I was working on at my new job I loathed. Upon returning to Houston, I'd been hired as an event planner for a major hotel chain, and we were currently preparing for a fundraiser but every vendor that I called reminded me of the co-op I'd help found back in Lonestar Junction.
My phone rang just as I finished creating another marketing flyer in Canva. I looked down, noticing Jovie’s name on the caller ID.
“Hey sis.”
“Stevie! You need to get down to Lonestar Junction, right now.” Her voice was filled with panic.
“What happened?” I shouted, already grabbing my purse and keys from underneath my desk, “Are the babies, ok?!”
“Yes, yes. Your nephews are fine and eager to meet you, but Wylie’s not. He’s been shot.”
What the -?
“How soon can you get here?!” she shouted.
“I don’t know! It takes three hours driving. I might be able to get a flight into San Angelo if you can come pick me up?” I was panicking, not knowing what was going on and feeling a sense of dread and complete loss of control.
“Get on the first flight that you can into San Angelo. Nash will meet you at the airport.”
I sprinted out of the hotel office, not caring to tell anyone where I was going. As I sped to the Houston airport, frantically looking up flights to San Angelo, I knew in my heart I was never coming back to this job or to Houston again. My home was in Lonestar Junction, and my heart was with Wylie, wherever he was and whatever he was going through, I'd never choose to be this far apart from him again.
Thankfully, there was a flight boarding just as I arrived at the airport, and it had one open seat. The short 30-minute flight felt like an eternity as I feared the worst while cruising through choppy air. When I landed in San Angelo, Nash was there to pick me up at Arrivals.
“Where is he?” I shouted as soon as I saw him and rushed into his open arms.
“At the hospital in Lonestar Junction. He’s going to be fine, Stevie, just got wheeled into surgery. We should be able to make it there in under thirty minutes if I speed.”
“What the hell happened?” I demanded as he swerved through traffic out of the terminal.
“Charles snuck up on him and shot him while he was in the field at Cameron ranch.”
“What!” I screamed, my body flooding with adrenaline and anger.
Nash nodded, “Somehow, he found him out in the fields. It sounds as though he posed as a worker to one of the Cameron ranch guys who pointed him to where Wylie was working on a fence that had broken from the last storm we had. Snuck up on him but at the last minute, Wylie heard him and turned around. There was a fight that ensued, and Charles pulled out a gun. Shot him clean through his bicep.”
“Shit...” I covered my mouth in shock. “It’s all my fault.” I cried as tears streamed down my face.
Nash reached over and squeezed my hand, “No, it’s not. That man would have had it out for anyone who defied him, and Wylie sure beat him to a pulp for what he did to you a few months ago. He was on a mission for revenge. Wish he’d just killed him in the middle of Nourish but the future Charles has coming to him now is even worse.”
I couldn't bear to ask any more questions as we rode in silence for the next 30 miles. When we pulled into Lonestar Junction Hospital, I was out of the car before Nash could even park, rushing through the ER doors.
“Wylie Cameron?” I asked at check-in.
“He just got out of surgery. In room 76A," the nurse shared.
I hurried down the hallway and found him lying in bed, his eyes closed, tall frame stretching the hospital gown to its limits and muscles bulging. A doctor stood beside him.
“Is he ok?” I whisper-shouted to the doctor.
The doctor smiled and nodded, “He's just coming out of anesthesia so he’s a little groggy still. He’ll be awake shortly.”
He turned to leave us alone, and I sank into the seat beside Wylie, taking his hand in mine. Tears welled up as I gripped his hand tightly and squeezed. His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled, as if he hadn't just been shot and through surgery.
"You don't have to cry, Stevie. It's just a little bullet hole."
“It’s because of me and I should have been here.”
He shrugged, “Got it all on camera and my new neighbor and friend, Dallas Golden, identified him for the police. The fucker wasn’t thinking that we’d have cameras on the property, but we’ve got to in order to watch the miles of land we own. For a supposedly smart guy, he really doesn’t know anything about rural Texas. The police already got him, charged with attempted murder. He’s going to prison, Stevie. You don't gotta worry about him anymore.”
“Shit…” I breathed out as relief flooded through my body that Wylie was ok, and Charles was gone.
Wylie's threats towards Charles a few months ago had made me feel safer. Now, with his career ruined and him behind bars, unable to hurt me or any other woman again, I felt even more relieved.
Wylie grinned. “Dallas threw me on the back of his 4-wheeler and hauled me to the hospital. He's not such a bad guy, ya know. Plus, I’d take another three bullets for you if it meant I got to see that look on your face every day of my life.”
I leaned in, not caring about our marital status or whether Wylie had moved on in the past five months and pressed my lips against his. He responded with passion, his good arm reaching up to thread through my thick hair, holding me in place. His tongue explored my mouth eagerly, as if he couldn't get enough, and I responded in kind, lost in the moment with him.
“Shit, they need to put a warning on the door when it comes to you two together.” Clay spoke from the doorway as he entered with a cup of ice water for Wylie.
I pulled back quicky and wiped my lips while Wylie smirked.
“You two still married?” Clay asked pointing at us.
Wylie smiled and crossed his arm over his chest, “Never filed the paperwork. But what do you want, Stevie? You want me to submit it when I get out of here?” He asked it as a question, but his eyes indicated he knew my answer before I responded.
I shook my head without hesitation.
“Thought you might say that.” He took my face in his again and pulled me upwards to straddle his body on the bed.
“Wylie! Your arm!”
“Don’t care, need my wife ," he mumbled against my lips as he kissed me harder while my hips began to grind down on his cock.
“Clay, can you leave and lock the door on your way out?” I tossed over my shoulder, "Need to bring my husband some satisfaction to distract him from the pain of his arm."
"Ouch. My arm. It hurts," Wylie mock groaned with a full grin.
Clay muttered ‘ gross,' as he turned to leave, locking the door behind him.
I reached for the blanket, pulling it back to reveal that Wylie had nothing but boxers underneath his hospital gown. Reaching in the flap I pulled out his already firm cock and pumped it in my fist a few times, watching it swell with blood.
I lifted my hips, pulled up my dress and pushed my panties to the side before sinking down on top of him in one firm push. Wylie reached with his good hand around my waist and guided my hips back and forth along his length.
“Mmm... I’ve been missing this. You know how hard it was to stay away from you?” he asked.
I shook my head, “I can’t believe either of us managed it.”
“Started the drive a couple times,” he murmured against my neck, “didn’t want to take the choice from you, Bandit.”
“You don’t ever have to worry about that again,” I said breathlessly as I lifted my hips and then pushed down cautiously while attempting to avoid causing any pain to his arm.
“Bandit, I’m never letting you go again. I’m always going to be chasing you. Doesn’t matter where you run, I’ll be behind you, watching you steal my hats, clothes and my heart like you always have.”
He used his one strong arm to lift my hips up and down faster as we increased our rhythm. My hands found his strong muscled back as I raked my nails up and down them before running through his hair.
“Going to come soon, Bandit, it’s been too long since I’ve been in this pussy bare.”
“Come for me, husband,” I purred as he groaned and threw his head back into the bed, releasing with a sigh inside of me at the same time I hit my orgasm.
When our breathing stilled, I pushed my dress back into place and curled my body around him in the bed.
“I’m going to need you to take that IUD of yours out. I wanna put a baby in you. Want to see your belly all big and swollen with that pregnancy glow women get. I want a little girl with your smart mouth and almond eyes who’ll remind us of the love we have between us right now for the rest of our lives.”
I reached up to gently caress his cheek. "A little baby Cameron, huh?"
“Nope. A little baby bandit.”