Chapter 54 #2
His mouth found mine with a tenderness that slowly transformed into something deeper, more consuming.
The warm summer breeze swirled around us, carrying the sweet scent of wildflowers and sun-warmed grass.
His gloved hands cradled my face with a gentleness that belied their strength, the leather warm against my skin as his thumbs traced the line of my cheekbones.
I melted into him, my hands finding their way to his chest, feeling his heartbeat strong and steady beneath my fingertips. The world narrowed to just this moment, the heat of his body against mine, the soft rustle of grass beneath our boots, the distant nickering of the horses.
His kiss tasted of promise and possibility, of mornings yet to come and evenings yet to share.
When his arms wrapped fully around me, lifting me slightly off the ground, I felt weightless yet anchored all at once.
This was what belonging felt like, this perfect fusion of passion and tenderness, of desire and trust.
The kiss deepened as he ripped off his gloves and tangled his hand in my hair, releasing it from its messy bun so that it cascaded down around my shoulders.
The contrast of his rough fingers against my neck sent shivers cascading down my spine.
I could feel his smile against my lips as he registered my response, the quiet sound of satisfaction rumbling from deep in his chest.
When we finally broke apart, breathless and flushed, he rested his forehead against mine. His eyes, dark with emotion, held mine with such intensity that I felt seen in a way I never had before. Fully, completely, with all my flaws and strengths laid bare and cherished equally.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for you,” he whispered against my lips. “Even when I was too stubborn to know it.”
Then in the whisper of the breeze, I was sure I could hear the gentle whinny of a horse and hoped it was Ariel giving me her approval, too.
Gunner
As we walked into the house, hand in hand, everyone was there waiting expectantly. Wilder the idiot was bouncing on the balls of his feet, like he was waiting for me to reveal the secret to eternal life.
“Hey, you two,” Lily said, her eyebrows almost disappearing into her hairline.
“Have a good ride?” Nash asked, heaving Billy over his shoulder making the little guy giggle as he hung upside down.
“Did you do the thing, Uncle G?”
Trust Bertie to be the only one to spit it out.
“I did the thing and asked Miss. Cassidy to live in my new house with me.”
“And?” Wilder asked. “Am I going to be the only single pringle in the house?”
‘You were the only damn single pringle anyway,” Nash scoffed, dropping Billy and catching him by the ankles in one slick movement making him chuckle even louder.
“And you know what, I'm more than fine with that,” he muttered. “All that googly-eye shit. I don’t need someone to knock me on my ass to stop me adopting stray cats and journaling.”
I just chuckled. “It’ll happen one day,” I grinned at Cassidy, “believe me.”
Wilder turned to me, one brow raised. “Maybe. But I feel sorry for the poor woman who catches me, I’m a lot of cowboy to handle.” He paused. “And a whole lot more underneath.”
“Someone shut him up,” Nash groaned and addressed Cassidy and me. “What’s happening before the house is built?”
Cassidy wrapped her arm around my waist at the front, her right hand still in mine, cocooning me in her love. With her tucked against me it felt like there wasn’t anything we couldn’t achieve together.
“She’s moving in here.” I looked at each of them in turn. “If that’s okay with all of you?”
“It’s going to be so good,” Lily cried excitedly. “Wine Wednesday will be so much better now we can both just stumble up to bed when we’ve had enough.”
“Hey,” Bertie yelled, “did you ask Miss. Cassidy to marry you or not?”
“Munchkin,” Nash warned.
“But I thought that’s what the horse ride was for?” Pouting my niece crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought I was going to be a flower girl again. Like I was for you and Momma.”
I ruffled her hair. “One day short stuff, but when I do ask Miss. Cassidy, to marry me I’ll be asking her during something better than a horse ride.”
She looked at me wide-eyed, an expression of total horror. “What the heck is better than a horse ride you fool!”
“Bertie!”
“Munchkin!”
“Way to go Bertie girl, he is a fool.”
“You sure you want to be a part of this family one day?” I asked Cassidy, brushing her hair from her sun-kissed face. “It’s a bit crazy at times.”
She took a breath before a serene smile appeared on her face. “Absolutely, you fool.”
I took her mouth in mine for a slow kiss, letting every ounce of my love for her feed into it.
Telling her silently that ours was going to be a love of the ages.
We would live on this ranch with our family, bring up our children here and we would be happy.
There would be ups and downs, tears of sorrow and joy, happiness and sadness but the foundation of it all would be love.
She would have the love of a stubborn man who almost didn’t get the sweet because of his stupid misconceptions of her.
Cassidy Turner was more than I deserved yet I still had her.
I believed she was a gift from another beautiful woman who I’d loved, the one who was giving me life for a second time, and I would always be grateful.
“Okay,” Wilder said above the noise of my incredible family. “Who else thinks Gunner is a fool, or is it just me and Bertie?”
I thought about smacking him around the back of the head, but he was right, I was and was thankful I’d woken up just in time.