by Jewel, Bella
“But you have no choice. He’s yours—”
“He’s not mine.”
“But—”
“She lied.” He smirked. “Again.”
“What—what do you mean?”
“I mean she lied when she told the school I had crabs and lied again when she told you Nate was mine. I haven’t been with her since I was seventeen. I’m twenty-nine now. That means Nate would have to be…”
“Twelve.”
“Exactly.” Ryder smiled. “And I just asked him before his mother could bullshit how old he was. Guess what he answered.”
“Well, if he’s that old, he looks mighty young for his age.” I squinted. “I don’t know kids. Animals yes but children aren’t my speciality.”
“He’s seven, Ves. A full five years on top of me ever going near that woman.”
The relief flooding through me played silly buggers with my legs and they wobbled. “You mean—”
“The only kid in our lives is the one we cook together, if and when we decide we want to add more to our zoo other than just dogs, cats, and a pig or two.”
“Oh, thank God.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “This…crap, this is the best news I’ve ever heard.”
“Even better than hearing that I love you?”
“Okay, second best.”
“Damn right.” He kissed my cheek. “Now, if any other disgruntled lovers try to scare you off with illegitimate babies or other heinous lies can you please run toward me instead of away, so I can fix it?”
I leaned back. “Wait…just how many other disgruntled lovers am I expecting here?”
His eyes twinkled. “Uh oh, are we about to have the conversation where we admit how many people we’ve been with? Isn’t that opening a can of worms?” He scrunched up his handsome face. “As far as I’m concerned, you were a born again virgin when we met and no one else had the privilege of having you.”
The idea of leaving the past in the past was the right thing, even though I did want to know. But then it would just torture me if he’d been with a lot. It was best not to know. Curiosity would kill the cat in that respect.
He groaned. “You want to know, don’t you?”
All my adult reasoning went poof.
Yes.
I froze. “Not if you don’t want—”
“Fine, now that I’m thinking about ghosts of lovers past, all I can see is massive numbers of men who I need to kill.” His face fell. “It’s not massive numbers, right?”
“We really opened Pandora’s box, huh?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yep. But I guess if we’re gonna open it all the way, we should do it together.”
“What? Like blurt our previous lover tally at the same time?”
“Exactly.” His face darkened. “That way, we won’t be swayed to lie depending on what the other person said.”
This could backfire so bad.
My sexual history was one big dry spell. There’d been Owen who earned my virginity, John who lasted two months before his failed sex skills annoyed me, and me, myself, and I. Oh, and wait, there’d been Scott at university but he didn’t count as he’d only been one night.
You can’t lie.
Okay, fine. I was twenty-four.
Three men was low right?
Nerves ricocheted down my spine.
I bundled up all the sincerity and love I had for him. “I want to pre-caveat this by saying that whatever number we admit, you’re the only one I’ve ever felt myself with. You’re the only one I think about, dream about, and want every hour of every day.”
He swallowed, looking slightly ill. “I was just about to say the same thing. Sex was just sex before you. What we have is fun and pleasure and freedom all mixed up in one kickass fucking bliss.”
I smiled softly. “In that case, let’s go. On the count of three.” I took a deep breath. “One, two…”
“Three.”
“Three.”
Ryder blinked. “Wait, are we counting down or admitting a number?”
I groaned. “Why was this not simple?”
He pressed his forehead against mine. “Wait…three. That’s your tally?”
I hesitated. “And three is yours?”
His face split into a relieved grin. “We’re the same?”
“You’re my fourth,” I said. “I’m yours, too?”
He nodded. “Lucky and last fourth. Who said third time was the charm?”
We fell into each other’s arms. I’d never been so jelly legged or heart full. “Thank God that’s over and done with.” Everything else fell away. Knowing he hadn’t been promiscuous gave me an even more concrete conclusion that what we had had been worth searching and waiting for. However, even if he’d been a manwhore, I doubted I would’ve been able to stop loving him.
But having his tally equal mine was much nicer. I wasn’t going to lie.
After squeezing the living daylights out of each other, Ryder murmured, “Seeing as we were so rudely interrupted before. How about we finish what we started?” He backed me once again against the tree, his fingers tickling my knee as he bent to scoop up my hem.
Instantly, my body picked up where we left off, tingling for him.
My head fell back as I let my legs spread a little. “I wouldn’t be opposed to more outdoor sex.”
He shuddered, taking his time climbing my trembling thigh. “I think we need to return to basics and remember exactly why we fell in love with each other in the first place.”
Something Michelle said itched the back of my mind.
I stiffened.
What did she mean about loving and not being gentle?
Ryder sensed my sudden hesitation. His fingers paused. “Are you okay?”
I bit my lip, wishing I could ignore it but knowing if I didn’t bring it up now I would never have the guts and always wonder. Dropping my gaze, I whispered, “She said you were really gentle with her. That being gentle meant you loved her more than you love me because we get it on in random places and sometimes do it rough.”
Ryder frowned. “She never knew me, Ves. Hell, I didn’t know me back then.” He nuzzled into my neck. “I’ll let you into a little secret—the same secret I told her after she tried to kiss me. Up until you, I’ve kept my desires on the down low. I’ve never been this free with anyone. When I take you hard, or if we role play, or have a quickie in places we shouldn’t, it turns me on so damn much and makes me fall even harder. The fact we aren’t gentle means I love you more than I’ve loved anyone because I’m relaxed and happy with you.”
Cupping my face, he brushed my lips with his. “And for the record, the only people I’ve ever loved are Rupe, Hippo, and my parents. And about a thousand dogs but I’m sure you can understand.”
“I can understand.” I returned his soft kiss. “I think if we had to give away pieces of our hearts to every animal that’s ever touched us, we would’ve gone through a billion by now.”
“And that is why we’re so bloody perfect for each other.” He kissed me harder. “Because we share that connection and understand it.” His kiss turned deeper, his tongue slipping into my mouth.
As we fought to get closer, his fingers once again returned to their task of pushing aside my underwear and finding how wet I was from our tete-a-tete in the corridor.
“Christ, Ves, I’m never going to get enough of you.”
His finger slid to hook inside me.
I shivered in bliss. “I’ll never get enough of you.”
Kissing madly, touching wildly, we somehow managed to get his belt unbuckled and jeans pushed down to free his cock.
The moment he fisted my hair, consumed my lips, and thrust into me, I was one hundred percent complete.
I was exactly where I was meant to be.
With exactly the person I was meant to be with.
We were done searching.
We were home.
We were two compatible people making love against a tree.
> A girl with a boy on a river bank.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ryder
THE WEEK WENT BY QUICKLY, and Vesper spent most of her time at my house when she wasn’t working.
One morning, on her day off, I received a phone call to collect a badly mistreated Cocker Spaniel and Vesper decided to come with me to collect. Having her there while I did what I did made my heart swell almost painfully. Her tears at finding the creature in filth and faeces with no love or happiness made me so grateful that I’d fallen for a girl who felt the same way I did. I didn’t have to hide or justify what I needed to do with my money.
Our life was perfect.
She was perfect.
Even Rupert had accepted Vesper, and I had a sneaking position he had more than a small amount of interest in Polly. On Thursday, Rupe and I went to collect Ves from work after a long surgery and Polly was closing up. Instead of leaving her alone, Rupert ordered her to come with us and we ended up double dating at a Tex Mex downtown.
Watching them together made me nervous. If Polly and him ever fell out, would it sway Vesper against me? I just had to hope that I’d somehow inched into first position in Vesper’s life because I’d literally die if she ever left me.
Dramatic, sure. The truth, absolutely.
However, our perfect world shattered on Friday when Scar decided he’d held on long enough and was happy to go to his next adventure. Ves and I were on the floor, taking turns cuddling him while watching TV. We’d shared pieces of salami from our pauper’s dinner of sliced meat and cheese and at one point he raised his head, licked my hand, then Vesper’s, and heaved the deepest sigh I’d ever heard.
Looking at each other, we linked our hands on his head, holding back our tears as the muscular killing machine traded his scarred body for a celestial one and left us.
The rest of the night, we stayed vigil with Hippo, letting him know we’d miss him and would honour him always. At dawn, we took him to the river and buried him beneath the weeping willow where he’d forever be free and happy, protected on my land.
When Sunday rolled around, Vesper went with me to visit Michelle, Nate, and the Chiweenies. We were both on edge but not because of the lies or attempt at breaking us up by Michelle but because we missed Corn and Chip. The grief of Scar’s death hadn’t left us but some happiness was given when we found how happy our other two rescues were.
The two dogs sprawled in a kiddie paddling pool with Nate throwing tennis balls, yapping and playing fetch in the sun. In the lounge sat matching name bowls and colourful leads, and I knew they’d found their forever home.
And when Michelle cornered me on our way out and actually apologised for what she’d done then physically hugged Vesper with an apology, I left wishing her well and hoping she either found a perfect man or could patch up with the guy who was Nate’s true father.
When we got back that night, Rupert brought up the one subject I’d been trying to avoid.
Vesper and her irresponsibility with money.
I’d confided in him about her generosity having an adverse reaction on her life and he listened like a big brother but consoled like a lawyer. He’d told me that the only way to stop her being too generous was to take over.
I didn’t know what he meant by that, and I wasn’t about to take charge of her finances like some dictator, but after a few more beers, and a couple more heart to hearts before he had to leave, I confessed just how much I fucking loved this girl. He told me that by taking control, he meant marrying her.
If I had my ring on her finger, then I was fully within my rights as her husband to keep her housed, fed, and clothed just like I kept so many other worthy creatures. Meanwhile, she could use the profits from her business and give back to everything she loved.
Not to mention, I would donate heavily to whatever charities that struck her heart.
In return, I would hopefully gain a wife and that was bloody priceless.
I thought it was the best goddamn idea anyone ever had.
It just left asking the terrifying question.
Chapter Forty
Vesper
Epilogue
RYDER HAD BEEN CAGEY FOR days.
He’d brought in a Dorgi for a check-up yesterday morning and apart from a few distracted text messages, he hadn’t been in touch.
If I was honest, his silence was starting to freak me out. We never went a night without talking or some serious sexting.
Even Polly had been distracted and not answering me in complete sentences all day.
I’d stepped into a twilight zone and couldn’t find my way out of it.
Driving myself home, I nursed a small amount of self-pity and decided to confront just how much I loved him and how much I missed him when we weren’t together.
We’d been together for three months and every night apart was a wasted night in my mind. The lease on my crappy apartment was due to expire next weekend and as much as I needed to renew it so I had somewhere to live, I desperately wanted Ryder to offer me to move in with him.
The house was almost finished, and the renovation had come along fantastically. When I wasn’t operating on small critters, or helping Ryder feed and clean out countless of dogs, I was up a ladder with a paintbrush, dancing along to some rock n’ roll while Ryder barked commands about my painting technique being all wrong.
Those late nights, by the time we crawled into bed with paint in our hair and dust on our skin, were some of the best of my life.
Polly was a frequent visitor and Rupert Skyped often now he was back on the road.
We’d even advertised for a full time vet to join Tales of Tails and struck gold last week with an experienced woman called Stefani who’d been overseas working at a wild cat rehabilitation centre in Madagascar. She was from Thorn River and needed to return because her parents were sick.
She would start next week and Polly and I were beyond ready to share the workload and even offered to sell one third of the company and make her a co-owner if she enjoyed working with us.
Everything was looking up.
Yet Ryder and I hadn’t taken any further step in our relationship.
Nursing my sudden loneliness and silent phone, I parked and climbed up the steps to my second-floor apartment.
Fumbling for my keys, I let myself in and slammed to a stop.
I’ve been robbed.
Holy crap!
I moved forward in a daze, eyeing the space on the threadbare carpet where my hand-me-down couch used to rest, mourning the loss of my TV, and hating the fact the robbers had even taken my lemon daisy curtains.
Who does such a thing?
Then horror struck.
There was no welcome bell from Barb’s collar; no marmalade fur as Visa tore around the corner to say hello.
Just emptiness.
No…
“Visa, Barb?” Racing through my furnitureless apartment, I froze in an equally empty bedroom. My chest of drawers, my small array of clothes hanging in the wardrobe—
Everything was gone.
Including my beloved Chinese Crested and opinionated pussy.
Police.
Have to call the police!
Darting past the bathroom, a box caught my eye. The box of tampons.
They’d taken everything but those? What sort of criminals were these?
My eyes shot to the mirror where my reflection was blurred from mint swirls. Someone had deliberately defaced my mirror with a toothpaste explosion.
The penmanship was awful, but the message was clear:
If you want to see your pussy and pooch again come to this address.
My lips went from frown to upside down.
That address.
It was home.
Chapter Forty-One
Ryder
Epilogue
“SHE’S PROBABLY CURSING MY VERY existence right about now.”
Polly giggled, hugging Visa while I hugged Barb. For some reason, the damn cat still hadn
’t warmed to me. Maybe it was all the dog hair I was constantly covered in, or perhaps it was because she knew that her mistress loved me as much as she loved her and was jealous.
Stupid cat.
I planned on distracting her with catnip again tonight, so Vesper and I could be wicked together without claws in my ass.
Headlights appeared in my driveway.
Unlike a few months ago when scruffy bushes and skeletal trees were the welcome party, now nice trellising and new baby shrubs guided the way.
I was proud of the way this old girl had transformed. David and his crew had followed my vision, and I’d saved yet another run down lady and made her magnificent once again.
It also didn’t hurt that each room was functional with soft furnishings and paint rather than crumbling walls and boarded-up windows.
I’d wanted to move Vesper into my place for months, but I’d promised myself that until the project was complete, it wouldn’t be the homecoming I wanted.
This house had grown on me. The river on the property and the barn with the dogs, it all meant so much and I hoped to God Vesper felt the same way I did, because I had no intention of ever moving.
“I’ll leave you to do the explaining.” Polly shot me a smile and vanished into the lounge where Hippo sat with a bow around her neck and the ring I’d bought especially for tonight.
Putting Barb down, I prepared for my big moment.
Holy Jesus, this is really happening.
I waited by the front door as Vesper parked her shitty car and shot up the steps to the veranda.
First I’ll give her a house, then I’ll give her a car.
Slowly but surely I would dote on her and buy her all the things she refused to buy herself.
I took a deep breath. I wasn’t just asking her to be my flatmate, best friend, lover, and wife. I was asking her to be my partner in doggy protection and allow me to help her donations while protecting her from any more financial disabilities.
My parents gave me this wealth for this exact purpose. I had no doubt at all.