Chapter 21 Claire
Claire
My eyes fluttered open, and the first thing I felt wasn't grief, but excitement. I never thought the day would come when that happened, and I especially hadn’t expected it to be so soon.
Mama’s funeral was only five days ago, and while the heartbreak was still there, its sharpness had dulled into an ache. I suspected that everything going on with Golden Circle and Cavendish was the reason; it gave me something to do instead of wallowing in misery.
It didn’t mean I didn’t feel guilty about it, though.
Today, we were having a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on the new stables, and we were also going to announce to the town that Golden Bridle and Circle M were merging. I was nervous, but excited, carrying a kind of restless energy that had me springing out of bed.
“Where do you think you’re goin’?” Beau’s voice was that sexy, sleepy rumble that gave me goosebumps as he snagged my hand and pulled me to him.
I fell halfway on top of him with a light laugh, running my fingers through his hair. “I guess nowhere.”
His t-shirt that I slept in rode up past my waist as he slid his hands up my sides. The cool air of his bedroom was quickly replaced by the heat of his hands as they bracketed my ribs, his thumbs swiping back and forth lazily. “Think I’m ready to continue my groveling now,” he said, his voice low.
A low thrum of need ran through me. I bit my lip, my brows raised a fraction. “That right?”
He nodded, eyes locked on my mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”
I swung a leg over his hips and lowered myself until we were flush. His hardening dick pressed up against me, and I shuddered on top of him. The only thing between us was the thin material of our underwear. God, I had missed this. Missed him.
“Let's hear it then,” I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs.
My lips parted with a breathy sigh as he thrusted up against me. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
I lowered my top half until our chests were touching, my lips a breath away from his. “That all you got?”
His hands slid down, sinking into my panties. He cupped my ass in his large hands and dragged me along his cock slow and hard. Our breathy moans rang out through his room. “I won’t ever do it again,” he groaned, his head falling back into the pillows.
Another drag, and I was panting, moving on my own. “That’s more like it.”
“Fuck, Claire.” My name on his lips had me whimpering. He looked heaven-sent beneath me: gorgeous eyes dark with need, cheeks flushed, lips parted. I loved him so much it hurt.
He ripped my shirt off, grabbed my face, and kissed me hard. It wasn’t gentle and loving like his kisses had been lately. This kiss was brutal, hungry, full of pent-up need. I moaned into his mouth, grinding against him faster while I chased after the pleasure burning low in my belly.
“Beau,” I cried out, my hips faltering.
He cupped my breasts, tweaking my nipples. My eyes rolled shut, my jaw dropping on a low moan. Thank God, the house was empty because there was no way I’d be able to keep quiet with how long it’d been.
“That’s it. Keep grindin’ that sexy little body on me. Use my cock and come for me, baby.”
“Oh God,” I cried out, my head falling back to the ceiling as my orgasm tore through me.
Beau tossed me off of him and pulled my panties down in one swift movement.
His head was between my legs a second later, his warm, wet mouth latching onto my clit.
My back bowed off the bed, my toes curling in the sheets, as he pulled whimpering moans from me.
My pussy ached for him, desperate to be filled, to have that connection with him again.
My fingers tangled in his hair, and I pulled him away. “I need you,” I panted.
He looked up at me, his eyes blazing with devotion, his lips slick with my wetness. “You have me, Claire. Every fuckin’ bit of me belongs to you.”
“Prove it.”
He crawled up my body, getting rid of his boxers. He knelt between my spread legs and gripped his cock, running it along my entrance. “You want me to prove it?”
“Yes,” I hissed as he tapped the head of his cock against my sensitive clit.
“Say pretty please.”
“You’re the one who’s supposed to be groveling, not me.” I was breathless, half-crazed, and on the brink of giving him whatever he wanted if it meant I’d have him again.
He shot me a wicked grin. “But hearing you beg for it makes me so fuckin’ hard.”
“Please.” I reached for him, pulling his body down on top of mine. “Please, fuck me, Beau. Show me you belong to me.”
His lips met mine as he slid into me in one blissful thrust, groaning low and deep as he bottomed out. The stretch was so good, so right. He was relentless as he fucked me, pouring every ounce of love and need and desperation he felt for me into every brutal roll of his hips.
He reached between us, placing his hand on my lower stomach, and pressed down.
I nearly shot off the bed, crying out as he brushed against my G-spot.
My walls tightened around him, my orgasm right there.
My nails raked down his back, and I gripped his ass, pulling him into me harder. “Don’t stop,” I whimpered.
“Fuck, I’m gonna come,” he groaned into my neck, voice cracking. “You’re so goddamn tight. I can’t hold it.” There was something satisfying about that, about knowing how weak he was for me. It only turned me on more.
“Give it to me,” I moaned in his ear, locking my ankles.
Two thrusts later, he was there, moaning my name as he drove in deep. His cock jerked as he came, sparking my own orgasm seconds later.
We were a tangle of limbs and heavy breaths after. I could feel his heart pounding against my chest, just like I was sure he could feel mine. I held him close, not wanting to burst our little love bubble yet, and kissed his temple as our breathing steadied.
He rose onto his elbows, looking down at me. “Point proven?”
I brushed his short hair off his damp forehead. “Point proven.”
He kissed me hard, and when his eyes met mine again, there was a glimmer in them that melted me. “I love you.” And I knew he meant those words with every piece of himself.
I grinned. “I love you, too.”
He pulled out and stood, staring between my legs. He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, shaking his head. “Somethin’ about seeing my cum drip out of you is so fuckin’ hot.”
Jesus Christ, the mouth on this man. I blushed. Hard. I got up before he got any ideas. “We need to get ready for the ceremony.” I walked past him to the bathroom, and he swatted my ass, making me jump and laugh. I smacked his hand away as he reached for me. “I’m serious, Beau.”
He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me up against him. “You’re crazy if you think I’m gonna have you strut by lookin’ like that and not cop a feel.”
I rolled my eyes and pried myself away from him, grinning. “You’re going to have to multitask and cop a feel in the shower, or we’ll be late to our own ceremony.”
He followed me into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him with a feral grin. “I can get on board with that.”
My hands curled around the podium that sat next to the property line between Golden Bridle and Circle M.
Most of the town was gathered in my backyard, a sight I never expected to see.
But what meant the most was seeing mine and Beau’s families in the front row.
Even Mount, which surprised Beau as much as it did me.
He tried to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal, but I knew it meant a lot to him.
“Hey, everybody. Thank you so much for coming out today,” I said into the microphone, getting everyone’s attention.
I looked down at the notes I’d prepared and swallowed roughly, trying to steady my breathing.
For someone who used to race in front of hundreds of people, I sure did hate public speaking.
I scanned the crowd, and Beau was off to the side, arms crossed over his chest. He gave me a small nod, somehow knowing I needed the push.
“Most of you know this is a momentous occasion for Golden Bridle. But you may not know that the ranch has struggled for many years. There were times I nearly lost the ranch my parents loved so dearly, times I wanted to give up on it myself. So when the opportunity to partner with Cavendish Equestrian Academy came, I had to jump at it.”
I let the silence stretch, grounding myself in the moment, in the history we were making for Wild Creek.
“I won’t pretend it’s been easy, but something kept pushing me forward.
My dad always said the land was in our blood, but it's more than that. It’s legacy, family,”—I locked eyes with Beau—“and love. Not the kind of love you see in the movies, but the kind of love that endures. That weathers every storm. That grows despite generations of rivalry.”
Some people started exchanging glances, looking apprehensive.
“While I won this partnership with Cavendish Academy, I didn’t do it alone. Golden Bridle is on its way to thriving because of one man alone, a rival I never expected to be there for me.”
“We do read the Whispers, you know,” Delilah said loudly from the front of the crowd, smirking. There was a soft hum of laughter that I couldn’t help but join.
“So none of you should be shocked then that the man I’m talking about is Beau McLeod.
Beau has been here day in and day out, supporting me through the trials of this partnership in so many ways it’d take me all day to get through the list. And then he turned around and supported my family when my mom passed two weeks ago.
He’s been an unwavering pillar of support when he had no reason to be, for people he had no allegiance to. ”
I swallowed back the knot in my throat and forced the doubt away. “Recently, Beau and I discovered paperwork drafted and signed for the merger of Golden Bridle and Circle M between our grandfathers in the seventies. Yes. That merger.”
People gasped and others stared in stunned shock with their jaws dropped. People turned to stare at Beau, and he just gave them a knowing grin as if to say, Yes, it’s true.
When the commotion died, I continued, “After a lot of reflection, Beau and I have decided to honor their wishes and merge the two ranches under the name of Golden Circle Ranch.”
There was a flurry of questions, people asking both our families if they knew about it.
It was understandably a difficult idea to grasp, considering our families had been at each other’s throats for the last fifty years, so I knew the town would react like this.
I just hoped they could get on board because we were doing it with or without their approval.
What I hadn’t prepared for was Sterling Hollis to shove his way through the crowd like a bulldozer, fists clenched at his sides.
He looked so out of place in his stark, cream-colored suit that matched his mustache and a turquoise bolo tie.
He screamed money and privilege, the kind that wasn’t welcome in Wild Creek.
“You don’t have the authority to do this!” he yelled, silencing the crowd. “You haven’t cleared this through the town council. There are zoning policies, property line ordinances. There is an approval process you have to go through, young lady.”
“The contract that Beau and I signed last night and got filed this morning by my sister—who is an acquisitions lawyer—says otherwise.”
His face went red, forehead vein bulging. “You can’t just announce something like this like it’s a goddamn weekend barn dance!”
I leaned closer to the microphone to make sure he heard me. “Well, I just did, so…” I raised my brows at him in a silent challenge. Colt laughed, and when Sterling shot him a glare, he covered it up with the shittiest fake cough I’d ever heard.
Sterling turned around, facing the town.
“This is reckless! She just wants to restructure the town council and is manipulating you with her sob story. Don’t fall for it!
” With us now owning such a large piece of land, we landed ourselves on the town council and in a position to oppose him in meetings.
Beau strode through the crowd with lethal confidence, stopping in front of Sterling. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring down his nose. “You done yet, Hollis? Or do I need to haul your ass off our land?”
“You and your little girlfriend are trying to ruin this town,” Sterling snarled, jabbing a finger in Beau’s chest. I wrenched my jaw, protective rage roaring through me. Sterling might’ve been old, but that didn’t mean shit to me if he laid a hand on my man again.
“We aren’t ruining it. We’re protecting it.” Beau leaned in. “From you and your greedy family who want to buy up every company in this town to control everyone.”
I couldn’t see his face, but given the smug grin on Beau’s, Sterling was furious. He looked around for support, and got none, only disapproving glares. “This ain’t over.”
“Not expectin’ it to be,” Beau replied, eyes sparking with defiance. Pride swelled in my chest until I was practically bursting at the seams with it. I wanted to kiss the hell out of him.
Sterling shot me a glare over his shoulder. “You’ll be hearing from me, missy.”
“Looking forward to it.”
And with that, Sterling stormed off through the crowd, muttering to himself and saying God knew what. Someone started a slow clap that quickly became a roar of applause, making me smile.
Beau helped me off the platform, grinning ear to ear. “So proud of you,” he murmured just loud enough for me to hear.
I gripped his shirt collar in my hands and hauled his lips to mine, earning a few whistles and whoops that made us laugh into the kiss. I knew a storm was coming, but with Beau, our families, and our town by my side, I could face anything.
I looked up into the eyes of the man I loved, wondering how someone I hated just two months ago was now a vital piece of me; I guess love was funny like that, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Because for the first time in years, I didn’t feel like I was in this alone.
I had help, support, someone who cared just as much as I did.
I didn’t know what the future held for us, but I didn’t dread it anymore like I used to.
Beau grabbed a pair of bolt cutters, offering one handle to me so we could cut down the fence between our properties together. And when it came tumbling down, he looked over at me with his beautiful smile and love in his eyes, and said, “Now let’s build somethin’ they can’t tear apart.”