36. Katie
36
KATIE
Dallas’s words hit me and I take a moment just to absorb them.
It’s more than I ever wanted, which was to be settled somewhere—to have a home. A place to call my own. That’s all I wanted, the basics. A family didn’t really come into it, especially not after Toby, but a place to settle, that was the dream.
But to live in full bloom … that’s something else entirely.
I imagine what my life could be like, living here with Olivia and Flynn and Violet, working on the farm, or maybe …maybe finding something else to do with my life if I wanted too.
I imagine a future with Dallas and Sadie, one that already feels certain, wherever we are, because I know Dallas means what he said. He’ll move with me, even if he doesn’t really want to. He’ll do that for me.
But I imagine waking up each day in the farm cottage, Dallas at my side.
I think about teaching Sadie to barrel race on Scout, and spending evenings riding out on the farm with my family; Dallas and Sadie, but also Olivia, Violet and Flynn.
They’re all here, and while Dallas will go wherever I go, he’s happy here. So is Sadie and I know they’ve needed as much security and stability as I’ve always longed for. Can I uproot them from the place they call home?
But then, I think of Max and how every time I see him it’s like that final day with Toby, when I finally realised the truth and the devastation hits me all over again.
I think of Tilly and the horrified expression on her face as I destroyed the memories she had of her brother. More than anything, that’s what I regret the most. I never wanted the Sheridan’s to find out what Toby did, especially not sweet Tilly and most definitely not like that.
I close my eyes and try to push that memory away.
“Katie,” Dallas whispers, his hands still caressing my face with the most gentle care. “You can’t let what happened with the Sheridan’s ruin your life. It wasn’t your fault what Toby did to you. It’s not your fault that Tilly found out the way she did. Whatever problems Max has, that’s up to Max to deal with. Don’t let them take away the life you deserve, the life you’ve always deserved.”
I sigh and lean into Dallas, inhaling his scent and feeling his arms come around me. This is home. Right here, in his arms. None of the rest of it matters.
“You don’t have to decide right away, and if you choose to go, please give us a chance to make plans with you. Don’t just run from us.”
I sit back and study his face. His expression is careful and the story he told me about his ex comes crashing back into my mind. He’s been abandoned before.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to just take off on you. I thought you weren’t coming.” I take a deep breath. “I wanted to stay, before we saw Max today, I decided I was going to stay, but all of that,” I wave my hand in the air, encompassing the confrontation, the realities of my relationship with Toby and everything else that happened, “it shook me. I thought you were right behind me … but you weren’t.”
“Yeah,” he shifts my weight in his lap slightly, then tips his head back to rest it against the rock wall. “I mentioned there was a complication.”
“A complication?”
“Did you see a woman as you left the store?”
“She was kind of hard to miss. She’s gorgeous.”
“That’s Abigail … Sadie’s mum.”
I choke on my breath. “Holy shit.” I want to scramble off his lap. I don’t know why but the urge to run again hits me like a truck. Maybe Dallas doesn’t even want me in his lap anymore. He must sense my panic because he reaches out and tugs on my shoulders, pulling me into him and wrapping his arms around me. His fingers begin to work their way through my hair, untangling the snarls in it.
“She’s not here for me.” The panic in me ebbs a little at his words. Dallas presses a kiss to my temple. “I didn’t know she was coming, but she was interviewing for a job and was going to see how that played out before she got in touch. I guess she needed to know if she’d be settled before she reconnects with Sadie—if that’s what I want.” His hands separate my hair into three sections and he weaves them into a loose braid, like he does most days when we sneak off to the cottage for lunch.
My thoughts are spinning. Abigail is here. What does this mean? For Dallas, for me? For Sadie?
Based on my history, Dallas wanting to get back with his ex the moment I fall in love with him wouldn’t be unexpected.
Based on current evidence, with me wrapped in Dallas’s arms while straddling his lap and him talking about moving wherever I go, Abigail’s arrival doesn’t appear to have altered our situation at all.
I take reassurance from the fact that he’s here, right now, with me. His delay in following me from the farm store makes sense if he was confronted with his past on his way to the door.
But the reality is he still followed me. He’s here with me now, making promises to me about the life we’re going to have. And that is what matters.
“Is that what you want, for Abigail to be a part of Sadie’s life?” I murmur, blissed out from the gentle pressure his braiding is putting on my scalp.
“Yeah, I think so. I want Sadie to know her mum, but I have to see where Abi’s at before I let her near Sadie. I’m not running the risk of her bailing again. I don’t want to put Sadie through that. Abi has to be all in, or not at all.” He finishes the braid and gives it a little tug. “It’s a lot to think about and not top of my priority list.”
“It’s not?”
“No. Abi’s going to wait until I get in touch with her and Sadie’s being taken care of by Violet at the moment. My main concern right now is you. ”
I sit back and stare down at him. He drops his hands from my shoulders down to my hips, then slightly lower, to the bare expanse of my thighs.
I shiver as he brushes his fingertips up the outside of my legs, until he reaches the hem of my skirt which is right up around my ass. I’m essentially sitting in his lap wearing just a pair of lace underwear.
His head is tilted back against the rock and he gazes up at me, his blue eyes filled with love and adoration.
“You don’t have to be concerned about me,” I whisper, then I take a deep breath and lay my heart out for him. “I love you. I want to be with you, wherever that is. But … I really, really want it to be here.”
Dallas surges forward in a movement so fast I almost topple off his lap, but his strong arms are around me, holding me to him as his mouth crashes down onto mine.
I release a startled gasp and he uses the opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth. He lets out a low groan and his hands fall to my hips again, now I’m not in danger of falling off him.
Where his touch before was a gentle caress, this time it’s burning with desire. His calloused hands are firm on my thighs as he tugs me forward. His kisses slip from my mouth and trail along my jaw until he’s nipping at my pulse point.
I moan and shiver.
“Are you cold?” he asks, his mouth still pressed against my skin.
“No. Yes. Don’t know. Probably just the wet clothes,” I mutter, unable to even fully comprehend his question with his tongue on my neck .
He glances up at me, his eyes flashing dark with lust. “Should probably take them off.”
“Yes, please,” I breathe as his mouth reconnects with my neck and I slide my fingers into his hair.
He reaches up and pulls the shirt apart at the front, untucking it from where it’s held in place by my skirt. He pulls back and watches as the shirt gives way to reveal the same white lace bra I wore the first night we were together. He lets out a satisfied sigh.
“I’ve had to wait so long to see this again,” he says, tracing the edge of the lace with one fingertip.
I lean in and nibble on his earlobe, then drag my tongue down his neck. “Your shirt’s a little damp too,” I whisper, then undo each button in swift succession, exposing the hard planes of his chest and stomach. As I reach the last button, I spread the sides apart and trace a line from the hollow of his throat to the line of hair disappearing beneath his belt buckle.
He shivers at my touch. “This isn’t exactly how our first date was supposed to go,” he says, his voice a breathless pant.
“Maybe this is better,” I reply, shooting him a little smirk.
“It’s better,” he says. “God, I can’t believe you’re mine.”
“All yours,” I whisper against his mouth, leaning in for a slow, languid kiss. “Do you want the rest of my clothes off?”
He moans. “I can’t decide.” He sits back to take in the sight of me. I must be a mess with tangled hair and smudged make up. My shirt is hanging off my shoulders, my skirt around my waist. “This whole look is so fucking hot.” He tugs on the hem of the skirt. “But fuck, I want to see that full set again.”
I laugh and roll my hips forward until I feel the press of his dick on the inside of my thigh. “Well, we have forever, so I’m more than happy to remain clothed for now, and later, you can spend as long as you like admiring what’s underneath.”
“Fuck.” He presses his forehead against mine, holding me in place with a hand on the back of my neck. “I don’t know what my favourite part of that sentence was.”
“I do,” I whisper. “The forever part.”
“You’re right. We do have forever, and that’s the best part.”
With no further preamble he slips a hand between us and drags it across the lace covering my pussy. I jerk at the sudden contact, the desire that’s been slowly spooling in me rushing to the single place his fingers touch.
“What do you need, princess?” He mutters against me. “I’ll give you anything you want.”
“I want to feel you inside me. Right now.” I press a kiss against his mouth.
“I’m not exactly prepared for this eventuality,” he says, brushing against me again. He hooks his finger around my underwear and pushes it to the side. Sensation explodes as he touches my bare skin, then slides a finger inside me. I bear down with a guttural moan. Another finger joins the first.
“I’m on the pill, but I understand if you don’t want to.” I bite my lip and grind down harder. I reach clumsily for the front of his jeans, releasing his belt, then the button and zipper. I reach inside and wrap my fingers around his dick.
Dallas makes a sound in the back of his throat, then lifts his ass to shimmy his jeans down out of my way.
“This is a shit time for this conversation,” he grits out as I pump my fist around his length to the same tempo I’m now riding his hand. His eyes are fixed on the point his fingers meet my body. “But if something happens, are you with me?”
“I’m always with you, cowboy,” I whisper. “Family, remember. Forever.” I brace my free hand against his neck, brushing my thumb against his jaw as his gaze locks with mine. “But we don’t have to, I can get you off just as good like this.” Then I lift my hand to my mouth, drag my tongue across it and return it to his shaft, sliding it firmly over his head.
“Family.” He repeats, timing the words with the thrust of his hand. His blazing eyes haven’t left mine. “Forever.”
He withdraws his fingers and I almost keel over from the loss, but he scoops his hands under my ass and lifts me so I’m lined up directly over him.
He lowers me down and we groan simultaneously as we connect, then again when he bottoms out inside me, my ass resting against his thighs.
“I’m not going to last,” he mutters into my neck. “I’m sorry.” One hand reaches up and wraps itself around the braid that’s somehow still half formed in my hair. He gently pulls back, forcing me to lift my hips, arch my back, and present my tits to his face. He leans forward and sucks a nipple into his mouth, his tongue tracing over the pattern of the lace.
I gasp. “It’s okay. Neither am I if you keep that up.”
“Good, because I want you to come with me.”
Then he somehow thrusts his hips straight up. He fucks up into me over and over, until I’m seeing stars. One hand is wrapped in my hair, the other roaming between my nipples and my clit, toying with each and sending white hot pleasure spearing through my body as he alternates soft brushes with firm pressure and the occasional pinch. With his hands and his cock, he builds me up, until I’m trembling and the tension is coiled so tight I don’t know how it’ll ever unravel.
“Now, princess. Come now.”
His command, and his thumb pressing against my clit, is all it takes as he slams into me one more time. I grind down onto him, riding the wave of my orgasm while the world fractures around me. He presses his face into my neck as shudders wrack his body.
We shatter together, clinging to each other, body against body as we come down from the high.
“I love you, Katie,” he says into my cleavage and I can’t help myself, I tip my head back and laugh.
“Me, cowboy, or my tits?”
“Fuck, both.” He glances up at me, a sheepish smile on his gorgeous lips. Then he drops his eyes back down and licks his lips. “We should get you home and dry.”
“And ready for later?” I smirk at him and he laughs, then sobers quickly.
“We should also let Olivia and Flynn know you’re okay. They’ll be worried about you.”
I sigh and lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder. His arms immediately come around me. “Did I completely freak them out?”
“Little bit,” he says and guilt stabs through me. “But they aren’t going to be upset with you. Max should probably watch his back, but you don’t have anything to worry about.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “Come on. Let’s go home.”