by Becky McGraw
"Well, I hope when I come to Bowie, you'll be able to squeeze out some time to show me the sights."
"Darlin', when you come to Bowie, my time is yours. You just tell me what you want to see or do."
She smiled at him, nudged his shoulder with hers then said in a low intimate tone, "I like the sound of that."
She looked back at Cassie then asked, "So, I should probably go ahead and schedule my vacation?"
"That'll put you there in the thick of things."
"Sounds like it's gonna be the best vacation I've had in years," Sabrina said with a smile at Cole, then added picking up the menu that was written on a paper bag and studying it, "I've never been here before, what's good Cassie?"
"Everything's good..." she moaned picking up her own menu.
They laughed and ate, then Sabrina had to leave and Cole quickly got up to walk her to her car. Luke and Cassie stayed at the table and ordered a cherry cobbler to share, which they lingered over to give them some privacy. Finally Cole came back inside grinning widely and walked back to their table. "That woman is something," he said and plopped back down in his chair with a breathy sigh.
"Glad you got to say a proper goodbye to her after all." Cassie grinned and shoved the last spoonful of the rich cobbler into her mouth. Luke grumbled and grabbed the spoon from her to scrape the sides of the tinfoil bowl. "Sure put you in a better mood. I might not have to shove you out of the truck before we get to Bowie, after all."
With a raised brow, Cole gave her a look that said he'd welcome her trying, and then smiled again. Luke paid the check and they all walked back to the truck to get on the road to her new old home.
Two days later, Cole made the final turn of their trip up the long dirt drive to the Double B. Excitement mixed with melancholy surged up inside of her. This was the beginning of her new life and a fresh start for the Double B, but at the same time it was the end of the Double B as it had been for fifty years.
Her grandfather, and then her father had built up the successful cattle operation on the ranch through their sweat and tears. The new equine venture she planned would add a nuance to that operation they'd never had before, and she was determined to make it just as big a success.
Luke squeezed the hand he was holding and kissed Cassie's hair, then whispered intimately near her ear, "Welcome home, baby." It was hard to believe how much his life had changed in so little time. The joy he felt inside was hard to contain.
As Cole pulled them to a stop in front of the big rambling farm house, Luke felt like the sun looked brighter, the sky more vivid and the colors of the landscape more vibrant than they'd been in years. It was like someone had replaced his old TV set with a brand new hi-definition plasma...but this was real, and it was because Cassie was back in Bowie and his life for good.
The front door of the house swung open and Imelda came out first waving at them excitedly, a big smile on her face, then he saw Carl Bellamy come out behind her using a walker to steady his steps.
Cassie squealed beside Luke and leaned over him to open the door. He slid out, before she could push him out, and watched as she hurried in a loping gait across the yard. When she reached them she was swallowed up in Imelda's considerable bosom, as they hugged tightly. Carl stayed up on the porch, and she ran up to him there and he let the walker go to grab her in a fierce hug. Luke swallowed down the against the emotion that boiled up inside of him. It looked like Cassie finally being home for good made everyone feel like their home was complete again.
Luke shut the door, then walked across the yard to join their happy group. Imelda immediately pulled him down and kissed both cheeks and then hugged his waist, then Carl patted him on the back when he went up on the porch to throw his arm around Cassie's shoulders.
"Oh, my god, daddy -- ya'll come in the kitchen and let's get some tea. Luke and I have something to tell you," she said with excitement making her blue eyes sparkle. Her wavy blonde ponytail danced at the back of her head, because she couldn't seem to keep her feet still.
She grabbed Luke's hand and led him past her daddy and the group migrated inside to the kitchen, where they all took places at the kitchen table and Imelda and Cassie made them all glasses of iced tea. Cole came inside but he told them he had to go to the station and check on things, but he'd be back later. He said he'd called Elmer, one of his deputies, to come and pick him up.
Luke sat next to Cassie, and he hoped she was going to tell them about their engagement and Titan, but he sure hoped she didn't bring up him and Cole buying the cattle herd again. He had some things to work out on that front, but he wasn't going to tell her or Carl that and worry them. He slid his arm around the back of her chair when she sat down and put a tall glass of iced tea in front of him, then her.
"What's the news, baby girl?" Her dad was smiling, but his eyes were a little concerned, Luke noticed.
"Luke asked me to marry him, and I accepted."
Imelda yelled, "Thank the good Lord!" at the same time her father hooted and said, "About damned time!"
She held up her hands and settled them down, "There's more...he bought me an amazing stallion as a wedding present." Love shone brightly from her sky-blue eyes when she looked up into his then she leaned up to give him a tender kiss. He'd give every penny he had to see that look in her eyes. Everything else would work itself out one way or another. If he had Cassie, and she was happy, that's all that mattered to him.
"Wow, that's something, darlin'," her dad said and then looked at Luke with questions in his eyes.
Luke couldn't answer those questions right this minute, and he felt guilt riding him. He'd made promises to buy that herd, and he would do it...even if he had to mortgage his house, the only thing he owned free and clear, to the hilt. But that would be kind of difficult since he didn't have a job now. He'd have to think of something else...maybe a business loan on his part of the herd.
Cassie and Cole had happily discussed the herd venture the entire trip from Amarillo, where they'd spent the night last night, to Bowie today. Every word they spoke sent a knife of guilt plunging into his gut. Mostly, he'd stayed out of the conversation, because he couldn't even work himself up to mildly interested in talking about it.
Cassie looked over at him and he must've been frowning, because she asked, "Everything alright, darlin'?"
He forced a smile on his face and leaned down to give her a kiss. "Just fine, sugar...I'm a little tired, how bout you?"
"Oh, oh...is your side hurting?" she asked with concern and stood up beside his chair.
Carl Bellamy studied them intently and then suggested, "Why don't you go get Luke settled upstairs, honey, then come back down here and talk to me."
"Sure thing, daddy. C'mon darlin'," she said then grabbed Luke's arm to encourage him to stand.
"My side isn't hurting, Cassie. I'm just a little worn out from the trip," he said so she'd stop worrying about him. The stitches on his side itched and pulled now, and his rib was a little sore, but other than that, he was fine.
"Then you can take a little nap, and I'll wake you up for supper," she insisted. Luke agreed, not because he wanted a nap, but because he didn't want to talk about the herd, which he felt would be the next topic on the agenda. He'd go take that nap, and consider possible solutions to his problem. Since they didn't have cell phone towers out here, making calls was out of the question.
"Sounds good, honey. Lead the way." She took his arm and led him up the stairs and to her bedroom, then pulled back the covers and patted the mattress.
"There you go...need help getting your boots off?"
He chuckled and gave her a grin. "No, but if you're volunteering to help me undress, I'm as weak as a lamb, and would welcome your help," he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
She laughed and then swatted him in the arm. "You're a mess, Luke Matthews. If I went along with it, you'd have me in bed with you all day long."
"Damn straight," he agreed and pulled her to him to kiss her long and deep. She moaned
and pressed herself to him tightly, her hands roving over his back and starting spot fires wherever she touched.
His own hands had moved down to cup her butt and pull her against his growing erection. God, he'd never get enough of her. Luke tried to waltz her to the bed, but she pulled away from him and told him breathlessly, with desire sparkling in her eyes, "We'll have to pick up here later, sugar. I've got to go see what my daddy wanted."
He groaned and dropped his head to his chest trying to get the sexual storm brewing inside of him under control. He nodded and she said she was sorry and with one final kiss on his cheek, she left him there with his dick in his hands. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep now. He was keyed up on two fronts now. A shower would probably help, he thought, so he went downstairs to get his duffle bag out of the truck.
When he came back inside, he heard Cassie and Carl talking at the table in the kitchen, but their voices were too low to hear what they were saying. He wasn't going to walk closer and eavesdrop, because he might not like what he heard. Her daddy wanted to talk to her privately for a reason, and Luke feared he knew what the subject was. With a curse under his breath, Luke climbed the stairs and went to the bathroom.
"I know daddy--it was not what I wanted or expected him to do," Cassie told her father seriously. "I guess he was desperate to keep me in Bowie, and that was his solution." If she was a cartoon character, Cassie knew steam would be billowing out of her ears right now, she was so mad and put out with Luke.
Her daddy chuckled, then said, "Men do some pretty crazy things when they're in love."
Cassie harrumphed then crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm going to turn the tables on him. I want to buy the percentage of the herd for him as a wedding gift. I'm going to talk to Cole."
"I have a better idea, sugar. The herd is yours anyway...when I pass on, the Double B and everything on it is yours."
Panic surged up inside of her, and she leaned forward with tears in her eyes, "Don't you dare say that--I don't want to hear it!"
"Settle down, Cassie Bee. I'm not planning to kick the bucket anytime soon. But I'm not young anymore...and we have to talk about it sooner or later."
"Later," she spat. "Not now. I'm buying that herd for him...it's the principal of it, daddy," she said firmly her tone brooking no argument.
Carl Bellamy shook his head then said, "You are as stubborn as your mama was, darlin'."
"I take that as a compliment," she told him with a amused twist of her lips.
"It was meant as one, sugar. Your mama was one fine woman, and you're just like her. So much it hurts my heart to look at you sometimes. I can sure understand why Luke did what he did."
"Whatever his reasons, I need you to get your lawyer to draw up the papers, and I'll cut you a check for the cost of Luke's stake in the herd...then I'm going to give it to him and chew his butt out good for lying to me."
"I'll call him right now," Carl said then positioned his walker and pushed to his feet.
"When are you two getting hitched anyway?"
"As soon as possible. I thought we might have a big Bar-B-Que and invite all the neighbors and town people. Maybe a month from now?
Her daddy laughed, "You and Imelda better get to planning."
She smiled, "I've been planning since he asked me, after I woke up from my dead faint."
"You fainted?" he hooted incredulously.
"Yep, passed right out," she responded with a grin.
Her daddy howled with laughter, then grabbed the handles of his walker, "Can't wait to see what you do for an encore at the wedding."
***
Two days later, her daddy presented her with the paperwork to transfer the herd to Cole and Luke, and a 99-year lease on the ground they needed to work them. She wrote her daddy a sizable check for Luke's portion, then stuffed the papers into her purse.
She'd arranged with Luke for them to go to dinner at the steakhouse in town tonight, so she could give him his 'gift'. She'd just told him that she felt like celebrating their engagement, since they were back home, and he'd agreed. Cole had gone to the lawyer's office to sign the papers and pay for his portion earlier, before her daddy had gotten the paperwork. It was all set now.
There was a bounce in her step as she went up the stairs to find Luke, well as much of a bounce as she could have with the cast that was still on her ankle. He'd been working in the barn with Bud, and he was getting cleaned up for their 'date'. She walked into her bedroom and her mouth went dry, when she found him naked and drying himself off.
Desire surged through Cassie and she knew her plans had just got delayed a little, which didn't disappoint her at all looking at the incredible man she loved. "Well, don't you look good enough to eat," she said saucily and closed the door behind her locking it. He gave her a sexy smile and dropped the towel he was holding to the floor, just as she dropped her purse and started unbuttoning her blouse.
Cassie walked over to him and had the blouse and her bra off by the time she got there. His eyes latched onto her breasts and his gaze was hot as it traveled over her. She stopped in front of him to lightly trace her fingers over his shoulders and chest, while she licked the remaining water droplets from his skin. Her attention started at his chest, then she moved across his stomach and down his abs, then lower.
"Mmmm...you taste so good...just like sugar," she said and licked a stray droplet from his hip.
A groan rumbled deep in his chest and he put his hands on either side of her head, trying to pull her back up to him. Cassie shook loose and dropped to her knees in front of him and took him in her hand, stroking him as she looked up into his heated whiskey-colored eyes. She licked her lips, and his gaze followed her tongue then he hardened in her hand. Smiling up at him Cassie bent to lick a droplet from the head of his cock. His body jerked then a fine tremor passed through him.
Cassie smiled up at him again then holding his eyes, she swirled her tongue slowly around the head and then slid her tongue down the vein running underneath and back up, before she took him into her mouth. Luke growled and tangled his fingers in her hair. Then she felt him shiver as she began to work her mouth around him in rhythm with her hand.
Running her other hand up his thigh, she stroked his dewy skin then moved to gently cup his testicles. His fingers tightened in her hair and he pulled her closer to him. She took him deeper inside and sucked at the same time she gently squeezed his sack. A throaty low-pitched moan escaped him and she saw his breathing was short and shallow. She sucked harder and moved her hand faster at the base of his cock.
He tried to pull her away from him and he said in a low desperate voice, "Move darlin', I'm real close..."
She shook her head, then slid her hand to his ass to hold him close, while she continued moving her mouth over him until she heard him roar his climax, and she felt warm spurts of his essence against the back of her throat. She held him until he finished and then slid her mouth off of him with a pop and licked her lips. "Yep, sweet as sugar," she said in a low sensuous tone.
"Good god, darlin', you almost killed me," he growled and pulled her up to him to claim her mouth in a rough kiss.
Her breasts pressed against his still damp chest, and the soft hair there teased her nipples into erect points that sent waves of desire washing through her. Luke put his hands on her bottom and lifted her up against his still steely hardness, then took kissing her to another level, as he devoured her mouth. After a few moments, she was the one breathing frantically, desperate for him to be inside of her. She lifted her uninjured leg to wrap it around his calf and whimpered.
Luke held her to him and walked her backwards until the back of her legs touched the bed. He gently laid her down, then came down beside her never breaking from feasting on her mouth. Cassie moaned when he pressed his erection against her thigh, and wiggled her hips to ease the ache building in her core. The friction against him had her panting and gasping as she reached down to unzip her shorts with a trembling hand.
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