Gus give her the biggest smile, her eyes dancing with merriment. “Indeed I am.” Gus slowly got out of her rocker and walked over to Dev, handing her the file. Turning, she walked back and sat down. “Go ahead, Dev, open it up. See what’s inside there for you.”
Brows moving down, Dev unfolded the file in her lap. There was a color photo of some land. It was flat and covered with lush green grass. In the background was a stand of tall, elegant Douglas firs. Confused, she looked at Gus. “What is this, Miss Gus?”
“Do you like what you see, Dev?”
“Well…er…yes, it’s beautiful. But what is it? I don’t understand.”
“If you like it well enough, then Sloan is going to build a house on it for you and him. Plus, of course, your two dogs.” She grinned a little. “That is, once he asks you to marry him.”
The room grew very quiet with anticipation.
Dev gasped, jerking a look over at Sloan.
“I think it’s time I gave you a set of rings, Dev,” Sloan said, handing her a small dark blue velvet case, placing it in her hand. “I have to make this official. Will you marry me? Be my best friend? My lover? My wife? Forever?”
Her heart melted over his huskily spoken words filled with so much barely held emotion. She swallowed, gripping the ring box between her hands. “You know I will, Sloan!” Dev lifted her wounded arm just enough to embrace him and accept his chaste kiss. Tears jammed in her eyes as the room exploded with cheering, hoots, hollers and clapping. Sloan’s mouth slid gently across hers and she felt incredible love contained within it. As he eased away, he rasped, “Take a look at the rings, sugar. See if you approve of them.”
Gus cackled and slapped her knee. “Hurry up! I’ve been dyin’ to see ’em myself, Dev.”
A grin crossed Dev’s lips and she opened the box. The engagement ring was studded with small dark green stones that sparkled in the overhead light. Next to it was a thicker gold ring that had leaves embossed around it. “Oh,” she whispered, touching them delicately, “these are beautiful, Sloan.”
“Good,” he said, relieved. He picked the engagement ring from the box. “These are small faceted emeralds for you, Dev.” He met and held her moist eyes as he slipped it on her ring finger. “Thanks to Talon, who went with me to the jewelry store in town—he’s got a lot of knowledge about gemstones. I didn’t know what to look for, but he did.” Giving her a loose smile filled with love, he added thickly, “When Talon asked the jeweler to show us his emeralds, I knew right then and there they exactly matched the color of your eyes.” His fingers tightened around her hand. “I’m glad you like them.”
Dev sniffed, holding up her hand, showing everyone the engagement ring. “Thank you, everyone…” She got up and walked over to Talon, leaned down and chastely kissed his cheek. “Especially you…thank you,” she choked out.
Talon patted her shoulder. “It was a labor of love, Dev. I enjoyed helping Sloan pick the stones out for you. He’s great at horseshoeing but awful when it comes to gemstones.”
Everyone laughed.
She gave the cowboy a warm look, then took Cat’s hand and squeezed it. “You two are something else. I don’t know what I did to have you come into my life, but I’m so grateful you’re both here for Sloan and I. Thank you…”
“You’re a part of our family,” Cat said, tears in her eyes. “The Holts, McPhersons and Hunters just attract strays like us, absorb and love us. Welcome to our family.”
Dev hugged Cat fiercely and wiped her eyes.
Sloan handed Dev the file when she sat down next to him.
“Good, we got the serious stuff outta the way!” Gus crowed, jabbing her finger at the file. “Now, Dev, take a look at that piece of land in that photo. Sloan came to me a month ago, wanting to buy a five-acre parcel off us here at the Bar H. Since we’ve just bought the Circle R, a ten-thousand-acre ranch east of us, I was fine in selling him this parcel.” She pointed toward the west. “After dinner? I think we should all take a couple of trucks, drive down to that piece of land and let you walk it? I think seeing it in person is better than any photo, don’t you think?”
Dev could barely hold on to her emotions. “O-of course, Miss Gus.” Tears ran freely down her face. “I’m sorry,” she whispered brokenly, dabbing her eyes. “Just so much has happened.”
Everyone gave her sympathetic looks of understanding.
Miss Gus nodded and said gently, “Well, from now on, Dev, only good things are gonna happen to you. Mark my words!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“IT’S SO PEACEFUL and beautiful out here,” Dev whispered, tightening her arm around Sloan’s waist. It was almost sunset and everyone had trooped out to the newly bought parcel after dinner. After walking the land, Miss Gus and her family, plus Sandy Holt-Reynolds’s family, had left them alone to appreciate the land. Bella sat near Dev’s leg.
Sloan leaned over, pressing a kiss to her hair. “It is. How are you holding up?” He searched her face as she gazed up at him. He was concerned because so much had been piled on Dev at one time. Miss Gus was gung ho to show Dev the land he’d just bought for them. Sloan had wanted to wait. Anyone who had been shot had a lot to work through, and he knew Dev hadn’t even started that life-churning process.
“Exhausted, if you want the truth,” she admitted wearily. “But happy.” Dev gestured to the five acres of green grass where their house would eventually be built. “It just seems like a dream, all of it.” Holding up her hands, she eyed him tenderly. “Except for this, the ring and you.”
Understanding, Sloan turned and brought her against him, taking Dev’s offered mouth, caressing her with all the love he held for her in that kiss. Her lips were opening to him, lush with promise, and he felt her move sensuously against his hips. His woman was a total turn-on. All Dev had to do was look at him with that pixie-like smile, the deviltry shining in her green eyes, and he was lost. Hopelessly, but happily lost. As he left her wet lips, he stared deeply into her large, exhausted-looking eyes. “Come on, let’s get you home. You’ve had one heck of a day, sugar.”
Nodding, she allowed Sloan to tuck her beneath his right arm and guide her back to the truck. Bella led the way, her big yellow tail waving from side to side like a proud flag.
“How’s your arm doing? Is the pain coming back yet?” Sloan asked, opening the door for her.
“It’s cranky,” Dev admitted, climbing in. She gestured and Bella leaped in, making herself comfortable on the floor between her legs. “I need to take my pain pill.”
Sloan shut the door and climbed in the driver’s side. Her purse was between them and he dug into it, finding the bottle. Opening it, he handed her a tablet and then leaned over, retrieving a bottle of water from the door. “Take it now.”
Dev gave him a look of thanks, making quick work of it. “You’re a big mother hen, Rankin.”
He drove the truck down the wide dirt road and slipped her hand into his on the seat. “But you love me, anyway?” He slanted her a teasing glance, his mouth pulling into a grin.
Rallying, Dev whispered, “Oh, very much…”
“Do you like the plot of land I’ve bought for us, Dev?”
“Yes.” She shook her head and gave him a wry look as they slowly drove by the main Bar H ranch house. Everyone was inside for the evening. “You knew.”
“Knew what?” He released her hand and pulled up at the stop sign. Turning right, he drove them toward Jackson Hole.
“That I loved you. You had to. Why else would you have bought that land, Sloan?”
“I was hedging my bets, sugar. I wasn’t positive you loved me like I loved you, but everything was there in plain sight. I was just hoping I was reading it right.”
As Dev tipped her head back on the seat, Bella laid her head across her thigh. She rested her hand on her dog’s warm fur. “I knew, too, but I was afraid to admit it, Sloan.” She rolled her head to the left, catching his momentary glance. “I thought it was too soon.” Sighing, she stared up
at the ceiling. “But after getting kidnapped by Gordon, I was wishing with my life that I’d let you know before it happened.” She reached out slowly with her left hand, resting it on his hard jean-clad thigh. “It was my biggest regret of all, Sloan. I thought Gordon was going to kill me and I’d die without you knowing that I love you.” She swallowed hard. “I had so many regrets.”
“Well, sugar, it didn’t happen.” Sloan patted her hand. “Why don’t you close your eyes? See if you can catch a quick nap before we get home?”
Home. That word sounded so good to Dev. It was easy to allow her lashes to fall shut. She felt as if she were on a whirling carousel and there was no way to get off or stop it. Just the roughened warmth of Sloan’s hand over hers comforted her and allowed her to fall into a quick slumber.
*
DEV WAS TOUCHED beyond words when Sloan led her back into his apartment. Mouse was delirious with joy at seeing them. Sloan let him out of his crate and he went over and licked Bella hello, wagging his tail. Making sure he had a bath started for Dev, Sloan then took Mouse outside to do his business. Bella remained behind with Dev, lying just outside the bathroom door.
Just sinking into the very warm water made Dev groan with utter pleasure. Every bone in her body hurt. She had so many purple and blue bruises. After arriving by helicopter at the hospital, Jordana had taken care of her in ER. She’d cleaned out the bullet wound and put a nice new waterproof dressing around it. Giving her a shot of antibiotics and pills to take for the next seven days, she had teased Dev about her many colorful bruises. Jordana could make an iceberg smile, Dev decided, grateful for her warmth and maternal care. It was exactly what she’d needed at the time.
Dev washed herself with fragrant lilac soap, filling the bathroom with a scented, steamy haze. Later, Dev stepped out and toweled off. Sloan’s dark blue terry-cloth robe hung on her, and it felt wonderful because she could smell his scent lingering in the fabric. Slipping on clean socks and shoes, she pulled out a dark red tee and a clean set of cream-colored slacks.
Sloan came back with Mouse while she was washing her hair, albeit awkwardly, at the kitchen sink. He walked over, running his hand down her curved back.
“Let me help you.” He guided her hands to the sink and finished shampooing her hair.
Dev absorbed his body next to hers, leaning against Sloan as his fingers wreaked magic across her sensitive scalp, sending sweet shafts of pleasure tingling down her head, past her neck and flooding the rest of her body. Sloan carefully rinsed her thick black hair beneath the warm water of the faucet and she closed her eyes, hungrily absorbing his touch. How badly she needed this. Needed him.
“There,” Sloan murmured, pleased, placing a towel around her hair as she straightened up. “You’re clean from head to toe, sugar.” He took the towel from her hands, gently beginning the process of drying her hair.
“My arm isn’t up for being above my head yet.” She sighed, giving him a loving look. His face was rugged and weathered. Yet Dev knew she would never tire of the dancing glint in Sloan’s amused blue eyes. His chiseled mouth was crooked.
“Don’t push the river, Dev. You need to rest.”
“I know,” she uttered, wrapping her hands over his hips while he continued to dry her damp strands. “I feel like I could collapse into a heap. That dinner with Miss Gus and everyone was huge, and it tasted so good.”
“Come on over to the couch. I’ll get the comb and brush from your vanity and I’ll work these snarls out and tame them.”
Dev sat down on the couch. She watched Sloan walk with his casual, easygoing gait, knowing there was a warrior hidden beneath that facade. He’d come for her yesterday, and he’d helped to rescue her. Her heart thudding with a fierce love for him, Dev settled against Sloan, her back to him as he began to gently unknot her damp hair with the comb.
“When I first saw your hair,” he rasped after he finished, moving locks across her shoulders as he pulled Dev into his arms, “I thought you might be part raven. I saw blue highlights dancing across the waves of it.”
Dev snuggled into his arms, brow against his jaw, surrendering completely to him. “I love ravens,” she murmured, closing her eyes, never more safe than right now.
Caressing her smooth, silky hair across her shoulders, Sloan leaned back into the corner. “You’re slurring your words, sugar. Do you want me to carry you into the bedroom? Tuck you in?” He smiled as his mouth moved in small kisses across her pale cheek.
“Mmm, no…” Dev protested, resting her palm against his chest. “I just want to be quiet. Not move… Just be with you, Sloan…”
“You got it,” he promised her thickly, sliding his hand across her hip and down her leg. “Go to sleep. I’ll hold you safe…”
Dev woke up sometime during the night from a bad dream. She found herself naked in bed with Sloan, the covers across her shoulders, lying as close as she could get to him. Rubbing her eyes, she felt Sloan awaken. It wasn’t a jerking motion, but she felt him instantly go on guard and become alert.
“Sorry,” she mumbled against his chest. “I was having a bad dream.”
Sloan curved his arm around her, drawing her fully against him. Sliding her leg over his, she made a happy sound in her throat, the terror in the dream fading away.
“I want to be here whenever you have bad dreams, Dev,” he said, feathering light kisses from her cheek down her slender neck to her shoulder. “And in time, they’ll fade. You’ll have another, happier focus, sugar.”
Nodding, she moaned as he nipped her shoulder with his teeth. Tiny, rasping shivers scattered like dappled sunlight throughout her. She felt her breasts tightening, his chest hair tangled and teasing her hardening nipples. Sloan eased away just enough to allow him to continue to lick and then press kisses along her sensitive collarbone. This was what she needed: Sloan. Loving him. Drowning herself in him, having him within her, heart to heart. She moaned and lay on her back, his arm supporting her so that he could continue to lavish her with his mouth and tongue.
Heat began to simmer and then turn boiling in her lower body as he leaned over, cupping her breast. His hand was calloused and streaks of pleasure radiated outward, making her tense and want more from Sloan. It hurt to raise her arm very much, but Dev slid her hand across his nape, drawing his mouth down upon her begging nipple. Her breath caught. How badly she wanted Sloan. He did not disappoint—his lips tugged upon the nipple, making her arch wantonly against him. Just the warm steel of his erection pressing into her belly made her moan with anticipation. Wild spasms of fire rippled throughout her and Dev leaned into him, begging silently for him to continue to ravish her. Slipping her fingers into his short, dark hair, she smiled and tipped her head, soft sounds caught in her exposed throat.
Her world grew hotter as he languidly glided his fingers down her tense, curved thigh, opening her for sensual exploration. Breathing going ragged, Dev arched into his hand as he trailed his fingers down through her wet folds. His mouth captured the other nipple and she writhed in his arms, the scalding heat of his mouth and fingers teasing her entrance, making her cry out. It was a cry pleading for more. Much more.
*
AS HE LIFTED his head, Sloan’s eyes squinted through the darkness while he studied her. Dev was turning into his wild woman whom he loved so much. She was artless, her body humming with the pleasure he was giving her. She was the center of his heart’s universe. Pleasing her, feeling her tremble, demand, pant and cry out his name, her short nails digging spasmodically into his chest, was all he desired. Easing his finger into her, capturing that sweet spot within her, he heard her gasp, suddenly pushing hungrily against his hand, wanting.
“You’re so wet,” he growled, feeling her begin to pant, feeling her walls begin to contract. Dev was responsive, so easy to please, and Sloan drove her toward that proverbial cliff that she was swiftly approaching. She had gone through so much in such a short period of time that all he wanted to do was make her forget about all of it. He wanted Dev
to enter a realm of roiling, red-hot pleasure instead. Sloan tugged at her nipple, suckling her strongly. Instantly, she keened, hips jerking upward, desperate for more of what he was lavishing her with. In seconds, she orgasmed, her walls contracting powerfully around his finger, her cry of sheer satisfaction reverberating through both of them.
Sloan milked her, pushed her right over the edge of that cliff of ecstasy, her cries turning into wispy mews of utter pleasure. Easing out of her, he lay down, pulling her on top of him. Her eyes were drowsy, her lips parted. She was breathing raggedly, consumed by ecstasy. Gripping her hips, he urged her legs across him, guiding her wet, hot core down upon his thick, awaiting erection. Sucking in a sharp breath, Sloan clenched his teeth as he glided her across him, her honeyed fluids inciting him, her woman’s heat driving him crazy with need of her. He wanted to be in her and he watched her eyes barely open and focus on him.
“Ride me,” he rasped harshly. “All the way, sugar…” Her lips moved into a faint smile, the satiation gleaming in her eyes as she pressed her hips down upon him. Every stroke of her body, that fluid silkiness sliding tantalizingly against his erection, making him groan and arch against her, ate rapidly away at Sloan’s mind. Dev’s long, curved thighs sweetly held him right where she wanted him and he luxuriated in her gliding fluidly back and forth on him, teasing him until he couldn’t take it anymore. And just as he gripped her hips to arch into her, she beat him to it. In moments, her woman’s scalding heat surrounded him, and she took him deep, without mercy, moving swiftly back and forth, making him growl with gratification.
Dev leaned forward, dragging her nipples teasingly across his powerful chest, nipping his jaw, placing hungry kisses across his mouth. She drew him all the way into her. He groaned, his fingers digging into her hips as she rode him hard and with the focus of a hunter. She wanted him to come and could feel how rigid and swollen within her he had become. As she established that swift, deep rhythm, Dev felt herself starting to fly apart in the process once again. Her fingers dug into Sloan’s chest as suddenly her body contracted violently. She cried out, frozen in place with intense pleasure radiating outward throughout her lower body as the orgasm rapidly swept through her.
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