Epilogue
Warrick
T wo-and-a-half months later….
“Hell in a handbasket, this heat is killing me,” Frankie grumbled, swiping his hat off and wiping his forehead.
He wasn’t wrong.
Even though it was heading to six, the last time I checked it was 117° F; one of the hottest temps in Montana in decades . I couldn’t wait for this day to end and go home because Zoe was coming back tonight.
For months, she’d been in Washington, DC, attending funerals, sorting out things with her old job, giving statement after statement, testimony after testimony about how she had discovered the clinic scam—and to her surprise, her discovery had started a chain reaction.
More clinics across the country had gotten under scrutiny, and five more sham clinics had been found—all tied to Drayton Conglomerate.
In two months, half a million investors had jumped ship, and the company was sinking faster than the Titanic. And that was without the charges of attempted murder, intimidation and coercion, vandalism, attempted human trafficking, and there was even political bribery—some mayor or governor, she’d said.
“Santos,” Isaac called over to our newly readmitted member, who had been cleared from the hospital. “How is the south fence?”
“Fixed, barbed, and electrified,” Santos shouted back. “The cameras are up too and have the link to all of our phones. We’ll see if anyone or anything else tries to come through there just like fucking Drayton Jr.”
When the FBI had forced Drayton Jr. to talk—his father had escaped to Russia…or was it Switzerland? Some country with no extradition—he’d admitted he’d used that pasture to enter our lands because that pasture was connected to O’Hara’s land. I would have flown Jake up a pole if I’d learned he’d allowed the man to use his lands, but O’Hara had been at his bar all night, and that added trespassing to his long laundry list of crimes.
Speaking of Drayton Jr.'s cronies, Benson had cut a deal to testify against him for lesser jail time, but he would still be in for at least 15 years. I’d suspected that Drayton Sr. had been the one holding up the Processing Plant—I’d been wrong; it had been Benson.
Apparently, he didn’t want the plant because he wanted that land for himself, so every time the proposal hit the Chamber desk, he pushed it back. But now, the all-clear had been given, and the land was being prepared for the Plant.
I was so glad to have Santos back, and I was deeply gratified that he had not broken a bone, shattered a rib, or gotten gored as I’d thought. He rode his horse back over to me and looked over the land, teeming with new calves and their mamas.
“Your biologist in Texas?—”
“Biochemist,” I corrected him. “Rhys would take offense to being called something so pedestrian.” I laughed.
“Well, he sent up some good stuff,” Santos added. “These calves are healthier than you and I put together.”
I nodded. “And about that, he was supposed to come up here sometime this fall or winter to see if this ranch can be added to his brand and his partner’s conglomerate. The calves should be bigger then, and he can see his handiwork.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I plucked it out.
I’m in Helena, coming up.
My heart sped up. “Hey, guys. It’s time to pack it up!”
Frankie grinned at me. “How close is the new Missus Donovan?”
“Helena close,” I replied. “And I’d be fucked if I were up here while she’s coming home.”
Steering my horse down the hillock, I headed to the house, undressed the horse in quick time, and headed to the house for the quickest shower of my life—but didn’t make it on time. Zoe was in my room, her duffel bag dropped at the foot of my bed.
She looked up, a smile flirting on her lips. “How is it that you are dirty and sweaty and smelling of horses, and I still find you the sexiest man alive?”
I pulled her from the bed and had her against the wall. “Funny you said that—” My eyes held hers while my tone dropped. “—because I was about to say that about you.”
Zoe pulled my head down for a hard kiss, and my tongue swept between her lips, danced against hers. My palms slid down to cup her ass. I squeezed and kneaded those perfect globes as my tongue swept through her mouth. A soft moan left her mouth, and I knew she had missed me as much as I missed and wanted her.
I cupped her face and kissed her softly this time, a slow, sensual gliding of lips over lips, a light stroking of my tongue. I was hard and ready for her. “Are you a good girl, Zoe?”
She opened her eyes and blinked at me slowly. “My nickname is Goody Two Shoes.”
“I think there’s a bad girl in you,” I said while popping her jeans button and skimming over her panties. “I think when I get you going, you’re very naughty.”
“How naughty do you want me?” She arched into my hand.
I stripped her pants off and cupped her pussy. “Begging me naughty, wet and wild naughty, not leaving my bed for three days naughty.”
With that, I slid one digit into her wet hole, slowly, but nice and deep. She moaned and gripped my arms, her tight, slick muscles clenched down hard. “Good girls don’t get fingerfucked up against a wall, naughty girls do.”
She bit her lip, and her eyes rolled back into her head while her slender fingers wove into my hair, urging me on. “Do naughty girls get fucked against a wall too?”
My chest puffed with possessiveness and lust. “Yes, they do.”
My dick was harder than an iron bar listening to those little frantic breaths and cries. Pre-cum leaked from my throbbing tip and stained my boxers. I screwed another finger inside her and curled both, seeking her g-spot. The moment I found it, she gave a strangled cry.
“Bad, bad girl,” I whispered. “You want it, don’t you? I’m gonna take your sweet pussy with my cock, and you’re going to scream so loud the trees will fall on the mountaintops.”
I had her on the edge, and slipping my fingers out, I pulled my pants, plucked a condom from my wallet, and dropped my pants. Plucking her shirt up and popping her bra, I suited up and wrapped her legs around my waist.
I fucked into her with one stroke, not even trying to take it easy. I took her harder and faster, grinding down against her clit with each thrust. Trapping her hands over her head, I sucked a tight nipple into my mouth and sped up the intensity. Her body undulated on mine, her body tight around me.
The more I sucked, the wetter she got; it seemed that her nipples were hardwired right to her swollen clit. The sex was too good to stop. I didn’t go slow or easy…I wasn’t soft or gentle.
With her up against the wall, I fucked her hard, lifting her up and slamming her back down the length of my erection as I drove as deep as I could inside of her. This was no soft, tender coupling; it was wild and animalistic. She arched her back to meet my rapid thrusts. I grabbed her ass and hauled her tighter, harder, against my groin.
“I’m losing control,” I growled in her ear.
Zoe tipped her head up, and I looked into her darkened eyes, and I knew what I saw in her eyes was the same emotion I feel in my heart for her every day. Her eyes clenched closed as her body let go, crying out in ecstasy as she climaxed. I came harder than I had in years. My body shuddered against her until we were both completely and utterly spent.
After pulling out, I wrapped my arms around her as her breath puffed against my skin. She was so close I could feel her heartbeat pounding against mine, and her hands were gentle and tender, caressing the back of my neck.
“You’re mine, Zoe,” I told her, my possessiveness coming through. “I got you here and I’m not letting you go again.”
She rubbed her cheek against mine, and I savored the sweet, caring moment. “That’s good because I closed off my life in New York,” she whispered. “I’m here for as long as you’ll have me.”
I pulled away and stared at her in shock. “What?”
“I’m here with you,” she said. “I told my parents, too, and they want to meet you one day. If that is something?—”
I kissed her and dragged it out until I was breathless. “Of course I want to meet your folks, baby. Maybe for Thanksgiving this year?”
“Are you saying we’ve got a four-month leeway to see if we don’t kill each other?” She laughed.
“I’m thinking it’s more of a I want to have four months alone with you until we pull other people into our lives ,” he replied, pulling away. “Do you want to shower with me?”
“I’d love to,” she replied.
The bright summer moon gave cheerful light as we all sat at the dinner table on the porch. I dug into my meal, the roasted beef succulent and the vegetables fresh and crunchy.
“So, are you two going to be…something?” Santos asked.
“I already know they are something,” Frankie said. “Why else did I take the major payout months ago? I think the better question is, are we gonna get a September bride this year?”
I balled up a paper napkin and threw it at him. “Be quiet.”
“Did I rub a nerve?”
“You always rub my nerves,” I told him. “But you’re a good cowboy, so I think I want to keep you around for a while.”
“Good, 'cause I ain’t ready to go back to Texas anytime soon,” he replied, ruffling his hair.
The door to the kitchen opened, and Marie stepped out. The look on her face almost wiped the cheerful mood from me. “Marie? Is something wrong?”
“Warrick, I need you to follow me, please,” she said, making me even more worried.
Isaac and Zoe eyed me, but they didn’t follow me as I went with Marie to the front part of the house. As I pushed the door open, the first thing I saw was a beat-up Jeep with rain-splattered mud on the wheels. Who was there?
Someone came from around the back, and the lights from the front of the house landed on them. I grabbed the nearby post, my blood banging in my head like a drum. I shook my head once, twice, three times. I had to be dreaming—I had to be.
There was no way my brother Dallas was standing there, looking older than the 39-year-old he was. He looked tired and stressed, and gray was at his temples. Dallas hefted his duffel bag over his shoulder.
“You’re not happy to see me, are you, brother?” He lifted his gray-blue eyes, hesitant and wary. If I was honest with myself, afraid and exhausted as well. “After all the shit I pulled, I wouldn’t blame you. Should I stay…or should I go?”
THE END