by Vivian Wood
“Your surprise is… the furniture is gone?” she asked, giving Sawyer a skeptical look.
“My surprise is, there’s nothing left except a bed upstairs,” he said with a wink. “Because I figure we’re going to need it before you redecorate.”
“Redecorate… to live here?” she asked, puzzled.
“Unless you want to keep living with your parents until the house is built,” he said, a dimple flashing in his cheek as he smirked. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not that patient.”
She flushed. “You are bad right now.”
“You have no idea,” he said, reaching out to brush a fingertip over her new ring. “I don’t want to see you in anything but this for a full day.”
“Sawyer!” she said.
Too late… he grabbed her by the waist, threw her over his shoulder, and headed for the stairs.
27
Sawyer wasn’t joking about the furniture. Upstairs in the master bedroom, there was nothing but a lamp, a side table, and a bed.
A big, freshly made bed.
Remy had about three seconds to take this in as Sawyer carried her over to the bed, setting her down only long enough to strip off his boots, shuck his shirt.
Reaching up, Remy ran her fingertips across the bare expanse of his muscular chest, her body warming with hunger for Sawyer.
Make that… her future husband.
“Why are you still dressed?” Sawyer asked, pulling her to the edge of the bed.
“We’ve got all the time in the world,” Remy said.
“Speak for yourself.”
He knelt to pull off her cowboy boots, his muscular torso rippling as he moved. She watched his shoulders jump and flex as he cast her boots aside, biting her lip.
Sawyer didn’t pause, pulling her tank top up over her head, unbuttoning her shorts and pulling them down.
“Pushy, pushy,” she chided.
“I want you naked,” he said, unbuttoning and stripping off his own jeans.
He wore nothing but tight boxer briefs below, emphasizing his massive cock. Sawyer moved her back against the pillows, sprawling out beside her.
Remy watched him, curious to see what he’d do. To her surprise, he moved back a few inches, just taking her in.
“What are you doing?” she asked, feeling a little burst of shyness.
“Do you have any idea how fucking beautiful you are, Remy?”
Sawyer’s gaze connected with hers, searing her.
She had to remind herself that this was Sawyer — there was nothing for her to fear. She was safe with him, could tell him anything.
“You make me feel beautiful,” she said, finding her voice after a moment.
A slow, grateful smile spread over his face. “Come here.”
He pulled her close, pressing soft kisses to her lips. Feather-light, teasing, exciting. He ran a hand down her shoulder, then reached up to brush back a wisp of hair that had escaped her ponytail.
“Am I a mess?” she asked with a soft smile.
“Always,” he joked.
She made a sound of protest, but he just grinned.
“Never. You’re perfect,” he assured her. “Actually, less is more…”
He slid a hand behind her to unhook her bra, pulling the straps down her arms. Then he skimmed her panties down her legs, watching her the whole time with heated eyes.
“Fuck, you’re so hot,” he said, cupping one of her breasts, brushing his fingertips over the top of one of her thighs. “god damn, Remy.”
He moved to kiss her, long and slow, pinching her nipple just hard enough to excite her. She moaned, feeling the delicious warmth spreading low in her body.
But when he trailed his fingers down to the juncture of her thighs, she stopped him. “Wait.”
“Wait?” he asked, cocking a brow. A single thick fingertip caressed her slit, making her eyes flutter shut for a moment. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said, coming back to herself, gripping his wrist. “I want to explore you this time.”
Naked lust slid across Sawyer’s face. “Is that right?”
Remy pressed him onto his back with gentle hands. “That’s right.”
His smirk vanished when Remy stripped off his boxer briefs, kissing her way down his chest. She teased him mercilessly, flicking her tongue over the grooves at his hips, bringing her lips down to almost brush them over the most sensitive spot at the crown of his cock.
When she finally took him in her hand, he groaned.
He was so long and thick, she could barely close her fist around him. She slid her hand up and down his length a few times, reached low to cup his balls, brushed the tip of her nose against the plum head of his cock.
“You’re killing me, love.”
She turned her gaze up to his face, stroking him slowly. “Say it again.”
“Say what?” he asked, cracking an eye open.
“Love.”
“Remy, I love—” he started, his words cut off when she took him in her mouth, reveling in the salty taste of him. “Fuuuuuuuck.”
She shifted to kneel beside him, taking him deep in her throat, easing all the way back up, shivering when she saw his hands begin to shake.
“God damn, Remy,” he said, looking down at her as she slowly worked herself up and down his cock. “You feel too good, I’m not going to last.”
His whole body was already tense and rigid, his hand sliding into her hair as he gently guided her head as she bobbed up and down.
Far too soon, he was pulling her away, dragging her up to his lips. She straddled his hips, grasping his cock and bringing it flush with her body, hungry for him, ready to feel him move inside her.
He tsked at her, letting her stroke him for just a moment, pressing the thick head of his cock against her entrance…
Before pulling away.
Remy growled as he flipped her over onto her back, cupping her breasts and pinching her nipples until she squirmed beneath him.
“Sawyer, please,” she begged.
“Not until I taste you,” he said, spreading her knees wide and moving down, down…
The first touch of his hot tongue against her flesh nearly killed her. Remy cried out, her back arching up off the bed. Sawyer slid his hands around to cup both her ass cheeks, teasing her with long, slow licks until she was sure she would burn alive, nothing left of her but a pillar of ash.
He increased his pace, that clever tongue moving faster and harder, alternating by sucking gently on her clit.
“Sawyer, yes!” she said, her fingers gripping his hair, her hips working against his lips. “Yes, yes!”
When he moved his hand to slide two thick fingers deep inside her, sucking hard at her aching clit, she burst, clenching and shaking as he rode out her orgasm with gentle kisses.
She practically had to tear his mouth away from her flesh, feeling suddenly oh so sensitive. But she wasn’t done with him yet…
“Fuck me, Sawyer,” she whispered. “Please, please…”
He descended on her then, grasping his cock and pushing her back, plunging deep inside her in one hard thrust.
“Yes!” she said, raking her nails across his back, loving the way he stretched her, the weight of him over her body.
But Sawyer wasn’t satisfied with that, rolling them both over so that she was on top, stretched and aching in a new way.
“Fuck, it’s so good,” she groaned, taking the lead. She sat up, finding the perfect angle as she raised and lowered her hips, thrusting and grinding.
“Damn, Remy. You are so fucking perfect,” Sawyer groaned.
“You’re going to make me come again,” Remy said in a hushed whisper, feeling a fine sheen of sweat break out over her body as she moved, taking him as deep and hard as she could. She was on fire for him, her whole body so sensitive and alive, wanting more and more.
With a soft growl, Sawyer lifted her up off his body and turned her over onto her knees, moving behind her. He splayed a hand across her back, pressin
g her face and chest down toward the bed as he grasped his cock and drove into her deep from behind.
Remy cried out, clutching at the sheets as he penetrated her, so deep and tight that it was almost unbearable.
“Fuck!” Sawyer gritted out.
He moved his hands to her hips, gripping hard, shifting her hips higher, higher…
“OH!” Remy shouted as he hit the spot, that place deep inside her that made her damned knees go weak.
“That’s it,” Sawyer said, his voice gone to grit. “Come for me, love.”
He thrust over and over, hitting that same spot, making her whole body tense and tighten and heat until she came with a cry, her tight channel clutching at his cock.
“Fuck, Remy!” Sawyer said, his movements turning rough as he went over the edge. “Fuck!”
His last thrusts were brutal and blissful, filling her with a rush of heat as he came. He slowed, his touch gentling as he withdrew and collapsed onto his side, pulling her against his sweat-slicked flesh.
She twisted to kiss him, breathless, her entire body feeling like a live wire. They lay tangled together, struggling for breath, Sawyer taking Remy’s hand and lacing their fingers together.
She lay like that, drifting, enjoying the strange new sensation of Sawyer’s ring on her finger, the feel of him next to her.
“Remy?” Sawyer said after a long while.
“Mmm?” she asked, not even opening her eyes.
“I love you.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “I love you, too.”
He was silent a beat.
“You’re not going to sneak out in the middle of the night, are you?” he asked, sounding amused.
Remy laughed. “The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.”
“Just saying… it’s kind of what you do…”
She opened her eyes and turned to him, giving him a knowing look.
“Sawyer, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me from here on out. Tonight, and every night.”
His grin warmed her to her very core.
“I love you, Remy.”
“I love you, Sawyer.”
After a final kiss, she snuggled down in his arms, happier than she could ever remember being. For Remy at least, it seemed that fairy tales really did come true…
28
Exactly One Year Later
Sawyer stood in the sprawling back yard of Roman Ranch, surveying the scene with great satisfaction. His home had never looked better than it did right now, on the morning of his impending nuptials.
The main house had been beautifully renovated. The rickety porch replaced, the whole house painted a sunny yellow color. All Remy’s doing, of course — she had a lot of opinions about how the renovations should be done, and they’d all turned out to be spot-on.
The guest quarters and cottages were complete too, just in time for the arrival of relatives from all over the South. As it turned out, Remy’s family was a heck of a lot bigger than Sawyer had known.
In the newly landscaped yard between the main house and the bunkhouse, amongst the blooming crocuses and blossoming trees, Sawyer and his brothers had built a huge white gazebo.
Sawyer liked the idea that he and Remy were going to christen the gazebo today with their wedding ceremony, the first of a lifetime’s worth of special events that would be held there.
Right now, there were dozens of people running around in all directions through the back yard, doing last-minute preparations. Three hundred guests would begin to descend in an hour, putting the wedding planner and caterer to the test.
“Daddy!”
Sawyer turned to find Shiloh climbing down the front porch steps, using the new hand rails to help himself navigate. Sawyer couldn’t help but grin at Shiloh, who was shirtless but wearing tuxedo pants.
“Hey buddy,” he said, walking over to scoop Shiloh up. “Did you escape while Grandma wasn’t looking?”
Shiloh cracked up, throwing his arms around Sawyer’s neck. “Yeah.”
“Are you ready to carry the rings today?”
“Yeah!” Shiloh said, laying his head against Sawyer’s shoulder.
“You seem tired, kid.”
“Mmm-mm, not tired.”
“Okay,” Sawyer said, rolling his eyes. “Guess you got that stubbornness from me.”
“Shiloh!”
Remy’s mother Eulah stuck her head out the front door of the main house, scowling until she spotted Shiloh in Sawyer’s arms. She was dressed to the nines, a royal blue dress with puffy sleeves and shimmering beads everywhere. She was also barefoot, and carrying Shiloh’s shirt and suit jacket.
“He was just looking for me,” Sawyer said, climbing the stairs so Eulah didn’t have to come down in her stocking feet. “I think he’s about ten minutes away from n-a-p-t-i-m-e.”
“I know he’s bored upstairs,” Eulah said. “All the bridesmaids fussing over Remy, makeup and dress pins everywhere.”
“How about I take him to Walker for a bit?”
Shiloh raised his head. “I looooove Uncle Walker.”
Sawyer patted his back. “I know you do, buddy.”
“He’s the coolest,” Shiloh mumbled, laying his head down again.
“That would be nice,” Eulah said. She started to turn away, then paused and eyed Sawyer. “You all set for today?”
Sawyer grinned. “Are you asking if I’m gonna run away and leave your daughter at the altar?”
Eulah flushed.
“No, just… checking in.”
“It’s all good. I’ve never been so sure about anything as I am about your daughter.”
Eulah immediately teared up, and Sawyer waved her off. “Go on upstairs, save that for the ceremony.”
He headed back down the steps, rubbing Shiloh’s back in soft circles, feeling his son’s breathing start to even out. He was going to be out like a light in a few minutes.
Sawyer walked through the side yard between the bunk house and the main house, figuring Walker or Colt would be near at hand. Along with Micah, they were going to be standing up with him soon…
So he hoped they were helping with the setup, not drinking whiskey in the barn.
When he walked around to the front yard, he stopped dead in his tracks. Pulling up right in the middle of the gravel drive was his father’s shiny, bright red Mustang.
The doors opened, and The Colonel and Marilee climbed out, shading their eyes against the morning sun. The Colonel was in full Navy dress whites, Marilee in a skintight baby blue dress and her usual impractical stiletto heels.
Remy, he thought instantly. She invited him.
His fiancee had been insistent that they invite Sawyer’s father, but Sawyer had put his foot down.
Or at least he’d thought so…
Sawyer’s grip on his son tightened, an automatic reaction to seeing The Colonel. Aside from church socials, Sawyer didn’t see his father at all.
That was just the way he liked it, too.
Still, as he stood and watched his father and Marilee walk toward him, Sawyer felt a bright burst of anger flare in his chest.
“Mornin’,” The Colonel said, casual as you please.
“Hi Sawyer!” Marilee said, patting her bright blonde hair.
“You have a lot of nerve, showing up here today,” Sawyer said, keeping his voice low and cool so as to not disturb Shiloh.
“We got an invitation,” The Colonel said, straightening the left sleeve of his dress uniform.
“From the woman who you threatened, bribed, and blackmailed to keep my son away from me, no less,” Sawyer gritted out.
The Colonel glanced at Marilee. “Go ahead inside, hon.”
Marilee glanced between The Colonel and Sawyer, gave Sawyer a brief smile, then tottered toward the main house. She was in for a rude awakening when she saw the renovations that Remy had done. Taking the cold and impersonal rooms of Marilee’s design, turning them into warm, elegant spaces.
Sawyer turned back to his father. He opene
d his mouth, ready to flay The Colonel’s flesh from his bones, but his father held up a hand to stop him before he could get started.
“Let me talk, just for a second,” The Colonel said. His back was as ramrod-straight as ever, but his tone seemed… softer. Just a little.
For a moment, Sawyer thought about following Marilee to the house, ignoring his father’s presence. After all, he had much bigger things to worry about today, like marrying the love of his life.
But some little part of him wanted to hear what his father would say. What defense could there possibly be?
“Fine,” he said, gently swaying with Sawyer in his arms.
“I thought I was doing what was best for you,” The Colonel said. “I thought… I thought that the girl—”
“She has a name,” Sawyer corrected sharply.
The Colonel cleared his throat. “Fine. Remy. I thought… you had a lot of potential, upward mobility in the Navy. You could go anywhere, do anything…”
“You’re saying you tried to pay her to get rid of my child… what, because it would have been in my best interests?” Sawyer asked, affronted.
“I never got to leave Catahoula,” The Colonel said, glancing off toward the fields. “I mean, I served, of course. But I was forced into an arranged marriage with your mother at nineteen. And then, before I could move her away, start over somewhere new… my father died, and I inherited everything. I didn’t have brothers to help me. It was just me, and whole lot of responsibility.”
“Doesn’t really explain why you did something so heinous.”
“I just… you’re my firstborn son. I wanted more for you than what I had. I wanted you to travel the world, live wherever you wanted. Have all the experiences I never got to have.”
“Why call me home from D.C., then?” Sawyer asked.
“Me and Marilee are leaving town soon. For a little while, at least. Going to Rome and Paris and Prague, all of that. I couldn’t very well leave the ranch here unattended. I assumed you three would decide to sell it.”
Sawyer watched his father for a moment. So proud, so stubborn. The same traits Sawyer himself often struggled with, only his father lacked the emotional capacity and self-acceptance to actually speak his feelings aloud.