A Bride for Liam Brand

by Joanna Sims

  Kate climbed behind the wheel of one of her ranch trucks, and he climbed into the passenger side. Today, she was steering their relationship, and from the happiness he saw in her eyes when she saw him, he was looking forward to where she was taking them, literally and figuratively.

  Using one of the many dirt road veins that crisscrossed the massive ranch, Kate drove them to a hill that overlooked the barn and the homestead. She parked and they got out of the truck. Hand in hand, she led him over to a peak of the hill. Liam was surprised to see how flat the top of the hill was—it appeared to have been graded sometime in the past.

  “What do you think of this view of the ranch?” she asked him.

  Honestly, Liam didn’t think any piece of land could rival Sugar Creek land, but this view was mighty close. Even though it wasn’t the highest hill on the property, it gave a person a bird’s-eye view of the pastures and barn, and in the distance, those beautiful, craggy Montana mountains.

  “It’s hard to beat,” he admitted.

  Kate gave a slight nod. “It’s going to be tough, you leaving Sugar Creek. Have you given much thought to that?”

  He turned his body toward her. “That’s all I’ve been thinking about since the day I fell in love with you, Kate.”

  He’d thought to live out his days on Sugar Creek. It had never occurred to him that he might fall in love with a woman with her own spread, a spread that was her bread, her butter, and her heart and soul. The Triple K was Kate King, and he knew that if he wanted to be with her, he would have to be the one to leave his home.

  “It’ll be an adjustment,” he added. “But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love you, Kate. I love Callie. Whatever is best for the two of you is going to be best for me.”

  She squeezed his hand at his words.

  “Ten years ago, I was going to build a new home on this site.”

  “I thought it looked like it had been graded and leveled.”

  She nodded.

  “I had an architect draw up plans for my dream home. I had the financing and permits in place. Then one thing after another happened with the barn—I ended up replacing the entire roof—and all of my dreams for building a new home got derailed.”

  She turned to face him. “What do you think about us building a new home up here together. We could either add on to my plans or scrap ’em and design our perfect home together. Either way, we’ll have enough space for your children.”

  Liam looked around, imagining a home on this hill. Imagining a home with Kate as his wife, Callie as his daughter and enough room for his children to visit or to live permanently.

  “What do you think?” she prodded him impatiently.

  Liam looked down into her expectant face. “I think this feels like home.”

  They embraced on that hilltop, their future as a family sealed with a kiss. Then, they stood side by side, arm in arm, both quietly imaging the house that would be built on the land where they stood.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been so...” Kate paused, seemingly to find the right word. “Distant.”

  He didn’t dispute her claim. She had been distant.

  “I had some stuff to work through I guess.”

  “I’m just glad you’re back.”

  Once again she turned to face him. “I am back, Liam. I’m back for good. I’m back forever, if you’ll have me.”

  Was he mistaken, or did this sound like a proposal coming from his independent, commitment-phobic lady?

  “What are you driving at, Kate?”

  “I’m sorry that I didn’t get here as fast as you did. You’ve always been so certain about me—about us. I just had to take a slightly longer route, that’s all. But I know what I want, Liam. I’m not fuzzy about it. I’m not confused about it. I just know what I want for me and for Callie.”

  He waited for her to continue.

  “Will you marry me, Liam? I don’t want a big ceremony. I don’t want a dress or even an engagement ring. I just want to start our lives together.”

  He kissed her, long and deep. “I want that too.”

  “Then let’s go to the courthouse and just do it.”

  This was something he hadn’t thought about. He had a big family, and even though he hadn’t shared the news of the engagement with them yet, they would be mighty hurt if they couldn’t be there for the ceremony.

  “That’s not going to sit well with my family.”

  Kate frowned. “I know. I thought about that. But shouldn’t our family come first? The sooner we get married, the sooner we can start with the adoption.”

  She had him there. When push came to shove, the family he was building with Kate had to come first. And he couldn’t disagree with her logic—once they were married, they could go full steam ahead with the adoption.

  “When?” he asked her.

  “We could get the license this week. We’ll have to tell Callie, of course, but I think she’ll be happy. She’s always been such a romantic.”

  “I can meet you in Bozeman tomorrow around noon.”

  A light touched his love’s eyes, and it warmed his heart to see it.

  “We’re getting married.” Kate flung her arms around him with an enthusiasm that he had never experienced with her before.

  “I love you, Kate King.” Liam hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek. “It seems like I’ve waited a lifetime for you.”

  “I love you.” She rested her head over his heart, holding on to him as tightly as he was holding on to her. “God only knows how much.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  They were married on a rainy Wednesday morning by Judge Harlow at the Bozeman city hall. They did it quietly and alone, without any fanfare or fuss. They had debated bringing Callie with them, but ultimately decided that they would celebrate the union at Sugar Creek Ranch with both of their families, and a handful of close friends, sometime over the following several weeks. The ceremony, as it were, would be just quick, painless and just for them.

  And since this was for them, they wanted to dress how they lived—casual and ready for the barn. They did put on clean, new jeans, with shined-up boots. But they weren’t fancy people, so their outfits for the wedding weren’t fancy either. Holding hands, the newly married couple burst out of city hall and into the rain. A fat drop of rain splatted on Kate’s nose before she had a chance to put her cowgirl hat back on.

  Liam swung her around and into his arms. Right there, on the city hall sidewalk, in the rain, Liam Brand kissed her for the second time as her husband.

  “It’s raining!” Kate laughed, not really caring that she was getting wet.

  Liam picked her up and spun around. “Frankly, Mrs. Brand, I don’t give a damn!”

  They kissed again before racing to Liam’s truck. Inside the cab, they were dripping on the seats, their shirts and the thighs of their jeans soaked to the skin. But they were laughing. Kate couldn’t have known—how could she have known?—just how happy she was going to be to say that she was Mrs. Liam Brand.

  “Happy?” Liam asked her, rainwater dripping down his neck.

  “Yes,” she said with a happy, relieved sigh. “You?”

  “This is, hands down, one of the happiest days of my life.”

  It was the nature of their lives that they had to part ways after the ceremony. She had a horsemanship clinic scheduled at the Triple K later on that afternoon, and Liam’s schedule only allowed him to take a half day off.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” he promised her with a kiss.

  “It’s our wedding night,” she mused. She’d never made love to a husband before.

  “Trust me.” His eyes lingered on her lips. “I’m not going to miss it.”

  “You’d better not.” She hopped out of the truck and said right before she shut the door, “I’ll hunt you down if you do!”

  *
* *

  All day, Kate’s mind would drift back to the moment that she said “I do” to Liam Brand. She was married. It was unconventional, perhaps, and a little bit secretive. But she liked it that way. The only regret she had was for their children—Callie, Sarah and Cole still needed to be informed of the marriage, and she suspected that it was going to be a bumpy ride on Liam’s end. And, yes, they still needed to tell their friends and Liam’s large, extended family. Those were adults, and they could handle the disappointment. Or not.

  Normally, she loved her horsemanship clinics. Today, she just wanted to get to the wedding night with Liam.

  “Nice work everyone!” Kate was standing in the center of the covered round pen. “I’ll see you next time!”

  One by one, her clients bade her farewell. Some boarded on her property and didn’t have far to go. Others had trailered their horses in, and she would make herself available in case of any loading issues. Kate was overseeing the last horse loading into the last trailer when Callie joined her.

  “Hi, Mommy.”

  “Hi, kiddo.” Kate gave her daughter a quick side-hug before she refocused her attention on the large, bay gelding loading on the trailer. “Give me just a minute, okay, Callie?”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  Callie knew to stand out of the way while she worked with the skittish horse. It took some doing, but they finally coaxed the gelding into the trailer with some sweet feed; the owner closed the doors of the trailer and shook her hand.

  “We’ll see you next month.”

  Once the last client was heading down the drive, Kate turned her attention back to daughter.

  “What’s up, kiddo?” Kate put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders as they walked together.

  “Tony asked me to come for a visit.”

  “In California?”

  “Yes.” Callie nodded. “He lives in San Diego with his mom and his dad.”

  Kate’s stomach clenched. Whenever she thought of entrusting Callie to someone else, it made her feel tense and sick in the stomach. She recognized that this wasn’t a sustainable position, not for someone like Callie who had a dream of her life that extended beyond the Triple K. Understanding this didn’t make it any easier.

  “When?”

  “I—I don’t know. Whenever I—I can make i-it, I—I think.”

  “I’ll need to talk to Tony’s parents,” Kate warned.

  “Okay.”

  “And we need to think about you visiting when I can fly out there with you. You can’t fly alone.”

  “I—I know.”

  “I’m not saying yes.” Kate tried to moderate Callie’s expectations.

  “B-but, you aren’t saying no.”

  Damn, but she did have a point. “I’m not saying no.”

  That sent Callie running off toward the house shouting that she had to call Tony right away. Liam had changed her—he really had. Would she have so easily entertained the idea of Callie visiting Tony before her time with Liam? It was hard to imagine. Things had changed for her; she didn’t feel like she had to have such a death grip on all things in her life in order to keep things from unraveling. It seemed that God had sent her the exact right man, at the right time in her life, to help her through a time of transition with her daughter. Thankfully, God had sent her Liam.

  * * *

  That night, they went through the motions—they sat down for dinner with Callie, cleared the table, washed the dishes and then watched TV together until Callie finally went off to bed. Like two teenagers, they rushed down the hall, careful to be quiet as they sneaked past Callie’s door, until they reached the master bedroom. Kate closed the door behind them and locked it.

  “It’s about damn time.” Liam pulled her into his arms to kiss her the moment they were safe behind a locked door.

  Kate returned his kiss with the same force, the same passion, her arms around his lean waist, her fingers massaging the long muscles of his back.

  “Hello, Mrs. Brand.”

  “Hmm.” Kate leaned back against his arms and smiled up at him. “That sounds right.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  They opened the blinds so the light from the nearly full moon would shine into the room after they turned off the bedside lamp. Not wanting to wait a minute longer to consummate their marriage, they both stripped out of their clothing without any fanfare. Liam was hard and ready to go. He grabbed her hand and led her to the bed; she resisted.

  “I’ve been working all day. I’m dirty.”

  Liam nuzzled her neck. “I like dirty.”

  She laughed louder than she intended to. “Shh.”

  “Let’s get into bed.” He started to walk forward, walking her backward toward the bed.

  “No.” Kate put the brakes on. “You’re going to want to kiss me down there, and I’ve been working all day. I’ve got to get into the shower.”

  “Want company?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  He kept right on kissing her on the neck, on the breasts, his hands roaming her body, the feel of his erection, so hard and ready for her.

  “Come on.” Kate spun out of his arms. “Shower first.”

  She got the shower running, turning the hot water on full blast, and they both climbed into the tub and pulled the shower curtain closed.

  “You’ll have to whisper. There’s an echo in here,” Kate said quietly.

  He was back to kissing her neck, licking the water off her skin as the water ran over their bodies. Unable to resist, she wrapped her hand around his hard shaft, loving the sound of Liam groaning with pleasure. It made her feel powerful.

  Liam spun her around, his back to the water, wrapped her up in his arms, one hand covering a breast, the other hand between her thighs. His finger found that most sensitive part of her body and worried the little nub until her knees began to buckle and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from making too much noise.

  “I need to get cleaned up,” Kate said in a breathy voice. “I can’t wait any longer, Liam.”

  Liam took charge, as he often did, and she let him. He soaped up his hands and cleaned her body, his slippery hands touching her everywhere. Her husband saved washing between her thighs for last.

  “Oh, God.” Kate had to hold on to him it felt so good.

  “That was loud.” He chuckled under his breath.

  “Well, what do you expect with what you’re doing to me?” she whispered and then gasped when she felt his finger inside her.

  “I’m clean enough,” she said urgently.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Take me to bed, Liam!” Kate whispered the demand.

  With a quiet laugh, Liam let the water rinse the rest of the soap from her body, shut off the water, stepped out of the tub and grabbed a towel. When he tried to dry her off, she pulled the towel out of his hands and ran into the bedroom.

  Along the way, she dried herself off as best she could, but parts of her body were still damp when she yanked back the covers and climbed on top of the cool, cotton sheet.

  “Hurry up!” she whispered harshly.

  In the soft light of the moon, Liam walked into the bedroom, tall, lean, muscular. This was her man. This was her husband. And she was so in love with him.

  Liam’s body was still damp as he climbed into bed beside her.

  “I’m glad to be here with you, baby.” Her husband leaned over her and kissed her nipple.

  “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Are you cold?” he asked.

  “No,” she said urgently. “Horny.”

  “I can help you with that, Mrs. Brand.” Liam ran his hand down over her breast, along her stomach and across her thigh. “You know where I want to start, right?”

  “Yes.” She nodded, letting her thighs fall farther apart.

  H
is hands cupping her bottom, Liam knelt between her thighs and covered her with his mouth. He always treated her like the best dessert a man could have—licking her, kissing her, until she was squirming and writhing and digging her fingernails into his skin.

  “Baby? Can you come like this?”

  “I don’t know,” she gasped, wishing he hadn’t stopped. “I don’t think so. I just... I just get too tense. I worry about you... I worry...”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’m loving this. You’re mine. You were made with me in mind. Just relax, baby, and enjoy it.”

  “Stop talking!”

  Liam loved her with his mouth until all she could feel was the sensation of his tongue and his lips at the center of her being. That’s when she let herself go. This was her husband loving her. She trusted him. Kate felt herself starting to orgasm; she held on to Liam, biting her lip to stop herself from crying out. She was panting and sweaty and so sensitive between her legs that she could hardly stand it.

  “Yes, baby,” Liam murmured.

  “Please.” Kate reached for him. “Please.”

  Her husband kissed his way up her body until they were chest to chest; then he reached between their bodies and guided himself inside. He caught her moan of pleasure in his mouth as he kissed her.

  “I love you,” she gasped. “God, I love you.”

  “I love you, baby.” Liam used his body to tease her, stroking long and slow, making her wiggle beneath him and beg him for more. Beg him to go deeper, go faster, love her harder. But her husband had other plans for her. He set the rhythm, took his time, driving her mad until he felt her tensing around him.

  “There it is,” Liam said in a silky, sexy voice. “I feel you coming for me.”

  All Kate could do was cling to her husband, bite down on his shoulder to keep silent as an intense second orgasm sent sparks firing from the center of her body outward.

  He held her, was there for her, until she relaxed into his embrace. That’s when he gave it to her deeper, faster, and loved her harder. It was wild and intense the way Liam loved her that night. It was a first for them, and certainly a first for her. It was if he wanted to consume her, heart, mind, body and soul.