“It is. Why do you think I set this all up? Why do you think I brought Angel and Belle here? This is the life and home I want. With you.”
“Then why are you still standing five feet away.” He held out his arms. “Come here before I tackle hug you to the ground. I need you.”
She flew into his arms. Her lips met his in a greedy kiss that nearly buckled his knees. Her legs wrapped around his waist and he slid his hands down her back to her hips.
Ella’s hands came up to cup his face. She broke the kiss and stared into his eyes. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I can’t sleep without you,” he admitted, seeing the dark smudges under her eyes as well.
“Take me to bed, cowboy. Make love to me. I need you wrapped around me.”
Gabe walked out the barn doors with her kissing her way from his ear and down his neck. “The house is too damn far,” he grumbled.
“I’ll build a cottage out by the stables.”
“Our love shack.”
She bit into his earlobe. “Yes,” she said, her voice all breathy. “My new office too, so I’ll never be too far away from you.”
Shivers ran down his spine. He squeezed her ass, raising her up the length of him and back down even as he walked the too long distance to the house. She sighed with pleasure and he desperately tried to reel in the urge to take her against the nearest tree. “You’re killing me.”
“You’re going too slow.” She clamped her legs tighter around his waist and grinded against him.
Gabe tried not to stumble, but the woman distracted him from walking to what he really wanted to do. Bury himself deep inside her heat.
Finally, he reached the front door, pushed it open, and kicked it closed with the back of his boot. He walked through the living room where Blake stood drinking a can of soda. Gabe didn’t say anything, just kept walking down the hall to his room, Ella kissing his neck, her legs around his waist, completely oblivious to his brother’s presence.
Before he kicked his bedroom door shut and made love to Ella the rest of the night, Blake’s amused words made him smile. “Lucky bastard. I guess she’s staying for dinner.”
Epilogue
Ella used her key to open the front door and stepped into the dark house, exhausted and so happy to be home. She hated all the times she left Gabe, but it had been necessary to put her company and her life in order. She had sold the penthouse and bought a quaint loft that suited her and Gabe’s taste for when she needed to be in New York. Her uncle didn’t take long to accept her offer of a lawyer in exchange for pleading guilty to all his heinous crimes. He’d spend the rest of his life in jail.
She’d found something infinitely better than living in the past. She’d found a future with the man she loved right here at Wolf Ranch.
Over the last two weeks, she’d made it back to the ranch once. For a day. Gabe grew as impatient as she to make their living arrangement permanent. They filled those days apart with work and hours talking on the phone together, sharing their lives in a way that might not have happened if she stayed with him day after day.
She’d reached a turning point in her hectic schedule. Finally, she’d flip her long stays in New York with her short visits to Montana, and she couldn’t be happier.
Used to sneaking into the house late at night, she found her way to the bedroom and Gabe without turning on the lights. She stripped her clothes at the end of the bed and dropped them one by one to the floor. Gabe lay on his stomach. She slid under the covers beside him and leaned down and kissed his shoulder, up his neck, to his ear, and whispered the same thing she always said to him. “I’m home.”
His arm snaked out and wrapped around her, she landed on his chest when he rolled over.
“What time is it?”
“Just after one in the morning.”
“I called you hours ago.”
“I was on a plane.”
“I missed you.” He buried his face in her neck and inhaled her scent like he always did.
She smiled and held him close. “I missed you more.”
“Happy birthday,” he said, kissing his way down her neck to her breast, taking her hard nipple into his mouth.
“It is now.” She gave herself over to making love to Gabe. His big hands swept up her back and down. He rolled her underneath him, his mouth on her breast. His hand swept down her side and thigh, pushing it out to make more room for his big body, though he remained at her side, brushing his fingers up the inside of her leg to the very center of her. His fingers smoothed over her soft folds; one dipped deep and pushed into her slick core, making her moan.
Neither of them wanted slow and sweet. They’d missed each other too much. Gabe took care of the condom, settled between her thighs, and thrust into her again and again. She raked her fingers down his back, over his hips, to his ass, and pulled him into her, deep. She loved the way he moved against her, creating that sweet friction, grinding against her until the heat pooled in her belly, the fire burned and flashed, sparking every nerve in her body.
Lost in his warmth, his body stretched over hers, his face buried in her neck, she held him close and sighed. He slid to her side, threw one leg over hers, along with his arm, and held her close, his face at her shoulder on the pillow.
“Promise me you’ll be here in the morning.”
“I don’t have to be back in New York for two weeks, and then only for two days.”
“Really?”
“Happy birthday to me, I’m staying with you. Right where I want to be.”
Gabe rose up on his elbow and stared down at her. “You mean that?”
She reached up and cupped his face. “More than I can tell you with simple words. Besides, with two hundred pounds on top of me, where would I go?”
He kissed her. Soft and sweet, then lay beside her again, but didn’t move off her. “This works perfectly with my plans.”
“What plans?”
“Birthday surprise.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see. I’m taking you somewhere later.” He nuzzled her neck and squeezed her to his big body. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
“I keep telling you to get a dog to keep you company.”
“You want a dog,” he mumbled.
“You’d love a dog, too.”
She felt his smile against her arm. She settled her hands on his warm skin over her middle and fell asleep.
Gabe helped Ella up into the truck seat, trying to hide his nervous excitement.
“You were really going to fly to New York to be with me tonight?” she asked for the fourth time that day.
“No way I let you spend your birthday alone.” He gave her a quick kiss, closed the door, went around the truck, and slid behind the wheel. He drove them off the ranch and onto Wolf Road.
“I got your message. You were right. I was out to dinner with my friends.”
“I saw the pictures on the Web.”
“Checking up on me?”
“Making sure you were smiling and happy, not sad and missing Lela.”
“I do miss her. I can’t wait for the thaw so we can bury her properly.”
“We’ll do it soon, sweetheart. I promise. We’ll bring her home.”
“I can’t believe you dragged me out of the house in the middle of that call. Where are you taking me? It’s nearly dark.”
“You’ll see.” He smiled and checked the road. They were just about where he wanted to be. “Did you hear that? I think the trailer gate is loose. Let me pull over and check it.”
Gabe walked back behind the trailer and waited for Ella to get impatient and come check to see what was taking him so long. It didn’t take long, but his gut tied in knots and his hands shook. Nervous, he hoped she liked her surprise. He hoped she said yes.
The minute she cleared the trailer and saw him on bended knee holding up a ring, she covered her mouth with both hands and let the shimmering tears fall.
“I found you on a deserted stretch of road. The se
cond I saw you, I knew there was something about you I couldn’t live without. I love you Ella Wolf, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
With each passing sentence she’d closed the distance and stood over him now, staring down at him, a soft smile on her face, her clasped hands pressed to her heart.
“Yes. Absolutely, yes.”
Gabe slid the ring on her finger, shot up, wrapped his arms around her, and spun her around, his lips locked with hers. His heart soared and felt so full it might burst from his chest. The relief washed through him and made him laugh.
“I love you,” he said, his forehead pressed to hers.
“I love you too. I can’t wait to be your wife.”
“Good, because we aren’t waiting long.” He didn’t really need the promise that she’d stay with him always, but he wanted it.
A soft bark came from the back of the trailer.
“What is that?”
“Your birthday present.”
“You got me a dog.”
He smiled and brushed his nose against hers. “You wanted a dog.”
She giggled, unable to disagree.
Gabe set her on her feet and took her hand, pressing it to his chest so she could see the ring. Two round diamonds in the center at each of her knuckles with a round emerald on either side where the diamonds met in the middle, making a diamond shape out of the sparkling stones.
“I had this made for you. The diamonds are for you and me. The emeralds for you and your sister. Green stones that are very similar, but different enough if you really look, like your and Lela’s eyes.”
The tears came again. “It’s beautiful and perfect. I love it.”
“You’re beautiful and perfect and I love you.” He held her close, taking in the moment. “Want to see your puppy?”
“Yes!”
Gabe reluctantly let her go and opened the trailer door. The furball rushed out and leaped into Ella’s arms, licking her face.
“He’s potty trained and about four months old, so he’s got some manners.”
“I love him.”
“Good, because it’s you and me and Bentley.”
Ella laughed, trying not to drop the black and white border collie. “Bentley?”
“I like it. It suits us.” He gave her another soft kiss. “Come on. Mom planned a birthday dinner with the family. We promised, remember? We’ll announce our short engagement.”
“How short?”
“We’re getting married before our honeymoon trip to Bora Bora.”
The trip she planned with Lela, but he’d make just as memorable when they went as husband and wife.
Eyes glistening with tears for missing Lela mixed with her happiness, she leaned up and kissed him, then pressed her forehead to his. “Perfect.”
He took the puppy and walked to the truck and set him inside. He closed the door and walked Ella around the front, but stopped before going to the passenger side of the truck. He held her hand and stared up at the starry sky. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“I love it here.”
He heard the truth in her words. She leaned into him, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her in front of him, staring up at the brilliant sky.
“Did you get everything you wanted for your birthday?”
“You’re all I ever wanted.”
Continue reading for a sneak peek at the second book in New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ryan’s thrilling Montana Men series
WHEN IT’S RIGHT
Gillian’s turbulent life has never been easy, but nothing prepared her for the moment of violence that sends her and her little brother running from San Francisco to their grandfather’s ranch in Montana. She learned long ago not to trust anyone, but she’ll do anything to keep her brother safe and give him the happy childhood she never had.
When she meets Blake Bowden, a strong, silent, gorgeous cowboy who teaches her about the ranch and rescued horses—animals who have been through hell and back, just as she has—Gillian begins to feel happy and at ease for the first time. But in her world happiness has always been fleeting, and she’s not sure she can believe in it or the man who has quickly found his way into her heart.
Blake has everything he’s ever wanted: a partnership on a ranch that allows him to spend his day in the saddle training racehorses. His life is good, steady, uncomplicated . . . until the most beautiful, haunted looking woman arrives at Three Peaks Ranch. If he wants to keep his ideal life, his partner’s granddaughter is entirely off limits, but Gillian awakens a protective instinct in Blake that he can’t ignore . . . and ignites a passion he shouldn’t feel.
As Gillian heals and finds her way back into the world, Blake knows that he’s found the one thing that he never knew he was missing. And when danger comes close, he will do anything he must to keep Gillian safe . . . even if it means risking his life’s dream.
COMING MARCH 2015
Chapter 1
San Francisco, California
“Help me!”
Home late from her shift washing dishes at the Jade Palace, Gillian pounded up the two flights of stairs as fast as her legs allowed. She hit the landing and turned right, racing down the hallway past her apartment’s open door to Mrs. Wicks’s unit at the end of the hall. She’d heard the screams from outside. Not the first time she’d answered that call, but so help her God, if her father touched one hair on Justin’s head, she’d kill him.
“I’m calling the police,” the babysitter, Mrs. Wicks, threatened loud enough for her voice to carry down the hall.
“Damnit, woman, he’s my blood,” Gillian’s father bellowed.
Gillian rushed into the apartment and spotted Justin with his arm cradled in his hand and pressed to his chest, tears shimmering in his eyes but otherwise appearing unharmed. She looked her father up and down, assessing the situation in a glance and the odds on talking him down from whatever ludicrous idea had taken root in his shadowed mind. Dressed in the same clothes he’d left in four days ago, his hair an oily mass hanging lank to his shoulders, he reeked of whiskey, cigarette and pot smoke, and acrid body odor. The wild look in his bloodshot eyes told her he hadn’t slept in a good long while. Riding a meth high, he’d probably binged for days. Soon he’d lose all sense of reality and need more of the drug, which wouldn’t give him the high he needed, since he’d overloaded his system. He’d crash, his body shutting down and putting him into a deep sleep for a day, or two, or three before he woke up miserable, needing more of what put him in this psychotic state in the first place.
Frustrated and angry, but resigned to this same worn-out routine, she shored up her resolve to get through this night, like she’d done too many times in the past, trapped raising a child with little money and even fewer choices. None of them good.
Her father paced, his movements jerky. He scratched at his arm, his legs, the back of his neck with his grime-filled nails. He slapped at his thigh, then bit at the tips of his fingers. A hint at how far he’d fallen down the rabbit hole. Not good.
“Dad, come on. Let’s go home. I’ll make you something to eat,” she coaxed, keeping her voice calm.
A powder keg of roiling rage, he could blow any second. You never knew what would set him off.
Justin cowered in the corner of the couch, his eyes wide and watchful. He didn’t move, afraid of drawing her father’s attention. Even at six, he knew the rules of this twisted game.
Mrs. Wicks moved into the kitchen, leaving Gillian to handle getting her father out of there and back to their place. She’d done it before. Usually, he’d come looking for her, but she’d been held up at work, and he’d found little Justin alone. Gillian never left Justin with him if she could help it, especially over the last year, when her father spent more time strung out and paranoid on meth than comfortably numb with booze and pot, like he’d been every day of her life.
The last two weeks had been hell. Gillian’s patience had worn thin days ago. If she could
hold on, get her father out of Mrs. Wicks’s apartment and into theirs, she could take Justin and crash somewhere else for a few days until her father came down and leveled off.
Then, joy, they could start this whole thing over again.
I wish Justin and I were anywhere else.
Inside, the pressure built. How good it would feel to open her mouth and unleash a string of curses, insults, and blame for what her father put her and Justin through day in and day out. She hated him for spending his life drowning in a bottle and doing drugs, his life going up in smoke. Her life went up with it. Justin’s too. She wanted it to end. One way or another, just end.
Her father swatted at some imaginary bird, or butterfly, or dragon for all she knew. Only he saw the tormenting hallucinations. If he was this far gone, he was even more volatile and dangerous than usual.
“Dad, come on. I’ll make you a burger and get you a beer.”
“We have to go.” His words came out rushed. He swatted at the air again, this time spinning around to the right before he stopped and turned the other way again, tracking his imaginary flying devils, waving his arms over his head to swat them away.
She shook her head, frustrated and tired of dealing with him. This. Everything. She wanted to run away, but where would she go? It was all she could do now to keep a roof over Justin’s head and food in his belly with the diminishing help her father supplied. Out on the streets, or in a shelter, they’d be vulnerable to even more horrors. What kind of life would that be for Justin? Better than this one? Maybe. Maybe not. Still, she needed to find a way to give Justin better than she’d had growing up with a volatile drunk who could barely keep a bartending job and supplemented his income selling drugs to support his own habits.
“We have to go. We have to go. We have to go,” her father chanted, getting agitated, hitting the side of his head with one hand and scratching at his leg and the imaginary bugs crawling under his skin with the other.
Fed up, she stepped toward him to grab his arm and lead him back to their place. He jumped out of her reach and laughed. The sound held no humor but a touch of hysteria in the odd shriek. Her father pointed at her, shaking his head side to side. “No. No. No. No. No.” Again, his ominous giggle sent a chill up her spine.
At Wolf Ranch Page 29