Cowboy

by Alexandria Hunt

  I thanked her for the information, went home and packed up my overnight bag. I drove all day, only stopping for gas and Red Bulls, by the time I got to the city, my nerves were wired and my head was full of Alex.

  I found her quickly, parked, and watched her for a few moments. She was still so beautiful; she glowed as if lit with her own inner light. She was wiping down behind the counter, and when her co-worker left, I took my chance.

  I was utterly crushed by her anger, her screaming and her demands that I had to leave. I was confused, I’d expected to forgive her, and she’d ended up pissed at me.

  I wanted to find Andrew and tear his head off when she told me she was forced by him. I felt white-hot anger and could barely write the hotel’s address before I left. I wanted to punch something, preferably Andrew’s smug city boy face, to watch him crumble as he begged Alex’s forgiveness.

  All I could do was come back to the hotel and hope she’d make it. I hopped in the shower and was drying off when I heard a tentative knock.

  Alex

  My hand was shaking as I knocked on the door of room 2019 in the Hyatt downtown. It was right on the water and I wondered what the view from Ryder’s room would be like. I heard him say, “Just a minute,” as he shuffled around inside.

  He opened the door wearing just his jeans, his naked chest was right at my eye level and I swallowed hard, drinking in the sight. My god I loved his body.

  I looked at his face, he seemed sad and tense and his hair was mussed up. I resisted the urge to reach up and run my hands through it. “Are you going to let me in?” I asked.

  “Oh, yes, come in,” he said, stepping aside to let me walk in. I kept my coat hugged tightly around me, unsure of when I would tell him about his child.

  “So, you said you needed to talk, so talk.” I tried to soften my voice, but I was still suspicious.

  “I’ve thought about it a hundred times since I left your shop, Alex. I messed up, I jumped the gun and somehow I didn’t realize he had been forcing you. I came here expecting to forgive you, but now it’s me begging your forgiveness,” he said, his eyes hooded with emotion.

  “Ryder, I never would have done that to you, not with Andrew, not with anyone. When you didn’t return my calls, it crushed me, it broke my heart. And when Brittany was at your house...”

  “Wait! What do you mean Brittany was at my house?” Fire flared behind his eyes and I could tell his surprise was genuine.

  “When I drove home after Mom’s, Brittany answered your door and chased me off. She told me you two were getting back together, that she’d never sign the papers.”

  Pain and anger and recognition flooded his face. “That’s why you left town. Oh Alex, I thought you left me to be with Andrew. I didn’t even know Brittany could get in. I must have left it open in case you forgot the key. That bitch…I can’t believe it, I’m sorry.”

  My heart snapped free and soared at the news. “So you’re not with her?” I managed to croak out.

  “God, no! In fact, she signed the papers a while ago. I’m divorced. I came here to see you, to see if you were okay, to see if I could get you out of my veins Alex. I can’t stop thinking about you, your face, your beautiful laugh, your lips, your legs...”

  He held his arms open and I walked towards him, stopping just before I entered his embrace. Tears streamed down my face, replenishing, uplifting tears of joy this time that cleansed me of all the rage and hurt I’d been feeling.

  “I have to tell you something,” I said quietly and looked up at him from under thick lashes, trembling in fear that he would freak out about the baby.

  He put his arms down and I could see the confusion in his eyes. I unbuttoned my long jacket and pulled it off, letting it slip to the floor. I wasn’t obviously pregnant yet, but I’d had worn a tight wrap dress to emphasize my swelling belly. He stared at it, and then looked up into my eyes. I could see the question there, imploring me to answer.

  “Yes, it’s yours. I haven’t been with anyone else since you. It’s ours.”

  He dropped to his knees, looked up at me with wonder in his eyes and a grin on his face. I saw the crinkles on either side of his eyes, he wore his joy openly.

  “Can I... can I touch it?” he asked quietly, his hands poised on either side of my belly.

  “Of course you can… it’s your baby. It’s been kicking like crazy ever since you showed up again,” I said and laughed, I couldn’t help myself.

  His gently placed his hands on either side of my stomach and cupped it gently, staring at it, then looking up at me. “Darlin’, we’re having a baby!”

  “I know,” I said with a laugh and pulled him up to me for a kiss. His lips were soft, almost tentative, he slid his tongue in softly and gently held me close. I bit his lower lip, and grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling his face closer. I swirled my tongue around his, tasting him, needing him to fill me with his love.

  He pulled back at my sudden desire and looked me up and down again. “Are you sure we can do this? I wouldn’t want to hurt the baby.”

  “Yes we can... and if you don’t take me to the bed and have your way with me, you might be the one who’s getting hurt.” I smiled.

  He picked me up and carried me across the room to the bed in three long strides. He set me down on it and gave me a cocky grin as he said, “As you wish, ma’am.”

  I smiled and grabbed his belt, helping him out of his jeans, his cock popped out as if eager to see me.

  “I’m going to need some help out of my dress,” I said. “Even though I’ve got months to go, I’m already having trouble with simple things, like untying this stupid contraption.”

  He laughed and quickly had me naked, laid out before him, my fuller breasts moving up and down with the motion of my breath, quickening as I became aroused.

  My nipples had darkened and seemed bigger to me, I hoped Ryder still liked them. The gentle swell of my stomach proudly cradled his baby inside of me and he looked at it as if I were a sacred artifact.

  He leaned over and kissed the smooth plane between my pubic hair and my upper thigh. I sighed and shivered at his touch, my body had thirsted for this for so long that it felt like cool rain falling on the cracked desert of my flesh.

  He trailed his kisses up to my belly, softly caressing it with his hands and lips. He cupped my breasts in his hands, smiled and said, “They’re bigger.”

  “You like that?” I laughed. “Of course you would, you’re a boob man.”

  “I’m an Alex boob man, darlin’.” He grinned and continued on his exploration of my body. I adjusted a little to the side, my stomach shifting with me and seeming to pop out ever farther. He seemed mesmerized by it, by what we had done, by the magic of creation, a new life to be born from our love.

  I looked at him, my eyes shining with pride, and felt the sudden need to feel his lips on mine again, reaffirming our love and our connection.

  I pulled him up and he wrapped his arms around me. We basked in the warmth of one another, we’d each thought the other lost to us, but now we were found.

  My pussy throbbed, hormones and desire making me almost moan with pleasure at his slightest touch. He caught on to this — my high state of arousal — and his eye glimmered with deep delight and satisfaction.

  “I want to taste you,” he said in a hoarse voice and licked down my collarbone, sucking one nipple, then the other, kissing the belly that housed his child, and tentatively traveling to my dripping pussy. He gently slipped his tongue up and down, swirling around, and then pulling back, hesitant and uncertain. I tipped my pelvis forward, pushing myself towards his face out of frustration.

  “I need you to devour me, not lick me,” I said in a husky lust-filled voice that even surprised me. I wanted him so bad.

  “I don’t want to hurt you… or the baby,” he said and looked up at me for reassurance.

  “I don’t want to have to say it again... you won’t hurt either of us... I’m dying here, please...” I gasped suddenly, my
voice cut short as he plunged his tongue into my wetness. He found my clit immediately and began working it, harder this time; flicking and sucking until I fell back and moaned, grabbed his hair in my hands, grinding myself against his face.

  I could feel familiar pressure building; my weeks of hormonal frustrations and pining for Ryder were ready to be released, bursting forth with an expulsion of emotion. I shuddered and contracted, my legs tightening around his head as I finally came. My moans and cries turned to sobs, I finished, pushed him off and rolled onto my side, curled up and shaking with the tears that needed to be shed.

  “Alex, baby, I’m sorry... I’m so sorry,” he told me, his voice choking with concern. He rubbed my back, coaxing me to turn towards him. He curled around me, enveloping me with his powerful arms; I buried my face in his chest and started to calm down.

  “It’s so stupid Ryder, there’s nothing to be sorry for, we were both foolish. I think I just needed to get it out,” I said and felt my lower lip quivering. “I wasn’t expecting this crazy response though… promise you’ll never turn your back on me again. I couldn’t go through this and survive once more.”

  “I promise, I was such a god damned fool and I swear to you I’ll never leave you again. You’re mine, darlin’, and this baby here. We’re a family and nothing you can do will ever break that bond,” he said, his eyes bright with the intensity of his love.

  “What if I demanded you go get me pickles and ice cream at four in the morning?” I smiled and dried the last of my tears.

  He laughed and let his fingers massage my body a little lower. “Of course I’d do that for you, your wish is my command.”

  “You’d come right back though, right?” I asked and grabbed him, stroking the thick shaft of his hard cock.

  “I told you Alex, I’ll always find you,” he said, rolled onto his back and let me continue, as he was unable to keep talking. I licked my hand and grasped his cock harder, stroking it lovingly. I sat up, lifted my leg and settled myself on top of him, straddling him as well as I could with the soft swell of my belly resting on his flat abs.

  I looked down at my growing body and felt embarrassed of my new flesh. Ryder noticed this, cupped my heavy breasts and said, “God you are beautiful, you still don’t know how good you look, do you?”

  “Yeah, good for a hippo I guess,” I replied, only half serious.

  “I’d love you no matter what Alex, you don’t get that, do you? Your body is going to get bigger, you will change and stretch, our baby will take up more room than you could imagine now. I’ll still love you, all of you,” he said and pinched my nipples one by one. I remembered he had gone through this with Brittany one time already, only it hadn’t been his child.

  “I never saw Brittany like this, in case you’re wondering.”

  “I just know what hell she went through with all the changes. You’re different though, you have a natural grace and a beauty that shines out, no matter how much room our little guy needs to grow.” He rubbed my belly and looked up at me, smiling. “I love you Alex, and I want you to be my wife.” It wasn’t the proposal I had always fantasized about, but it would do.

  “Are you asking me to marry you? While I’m naked? On top of you? With my giant baby belly resting on yours?” I smiled down at him.

  “Well, I reckon I am,” he replied and smiled back at me.

  “Well, I reckon I’ll say yes then,” I said. “Now where’s my ring?”

  He grabbed my wrists and said, “I do have one, I’ll give it to you when you least expect it. I wasn’t sure if you’d still be thinking of me when I got here though.”

  “Has there been a single minute I wasn’t thinking about you?” I felt his hardness press against my ass and remembered why I was riding my cowboy.

  I wriggled a hand free, reached down and pulled him inside of me, impaling myself on his shaft. My wetness lubricated me, and soon I was sliding and slipping along the length of him, every nerve on fire as my swollen heat clenched tight around his thick cock.

  I slowed for a moment, hovering on the peak, and then fell forward and stared into his eyes. He pumped his hips upwards, still driving himself into me as I stayed still, enjoying the throbbing shaft inside of me.

  I looked at him and said, “I love you so much Ryder, God how I love you,” and came crashing down into the most intense orgasm yet.

  He thrust upwards one final time and released his pent up come, shooting it deep inside of me.

  I relaxed on top of him, my little belly making him smile. He ran his hands down my back, resting on my ass, massaging slowly, lifting me off of him to lie beside him.

  “I love you too, Alex,” he said and traced a path of fire along my skin. “I’ll never leave you again.”

  We entwined our limbs, his hand rested possessively on my curving stomach, and playfully argued baby names and wedding dates until sleep carried us away.

  Ryder

  I’m a father; I mean I’m going to be a father. My entire body felt lighter, I was full of the good news and I couldn’t wait to tell everyone I knew. I wanted to climb to the top of the water tower and scream it for the entire town to know, I was going to be a father and this time the baby was definitely mine.

  I glanced at Alex for the hundredth time that day and felt my chest swell with pride, love and the strongest caveman urge to protect her and my child at all costs.

  She had fallen asleep on my shoulder as I drove us home, her hair tumbled around her beautiful face and her hand rested on her tiny little belly even in her sleep. I wished I could stop the truck and slip into her dream with her, find out what was on her mind, to tell her how much I loved her even when she wasn’t with me.

  We’d left her car at a lot in the city for sale, she had decided she needed a truck now that Red Valley was going to be her permanent home, our permanent home. I sighed like a smitten teenager and marveled again at her beauty, her quiet confidence and her growing body… and the fact that she was finally mine. No stupid errors of judgement or miscommunications would ever come between us again, this was it, we were in it for the long haul one hundred and ten percent.

  We pulled up to our place later in the evening. I’d driven the entire way and left Alex to nap, pee or eat… it seemed like being pregnant had set her into a repetitive cycle of the three activities.

  I loved it though, seeing her devour a giant cheeseburger and then eyeball my French fries for more. I realized that she could gain a hundred pounds and I’d still love her as much as I did today. I was in love with her, not her body or her hair or her perfect breasts even.

  She was my everything, anything else was just the wrapping.

  I carried her belongings into the house and turned to help her to the couch. She looked exhausted but satisfied, smiling and chatting as I made us a quick dinner. I set the table and called her over, held the chair out for her and watched as she settled in to eat.

  I smiled as she stared at the plate with the little velvet box set out next to it. It slowly dawned on her that this was it; this was the moment we’d both been waiting for all this time. A symbol of our commitment and a public declaration of our love.

  “Is this what I think it is?” She asked in a quiet voice, as if she were speaking in a church.

  “I know I already asked you, but I want to make it official, darlin’,” I said and got down on one knee in front of her. I took the box off the table, snapped it open and stared up at her, suddenly nervous that she’d say no. “Alex, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  My heart stopped as she stared at the ring, not answering me for what seemed like an hour. In reality I think about thirty seconds went by as she processed everything that was happening, but goddamn, those were the thirty longest seconds of my life.

  “Yes! Of course I will,” she finally exclaimed. Tears brightened her eyes as I took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. It was the perfect fit.

  “This is my grandma’s set,” I told her and watch
ed her face light up as she gazed at her finger with the diamonds glittering on it. “I wanted to give you the promise ring before my divorce was through, but it didn’t work out that way. It’s yours too, though, if you want it.”

  She nodded and smiled, opened her arms and pulled me against her. I leaned up and kissed her, her hair spilling all around me like a fragrant curtain, her lips tasting like the cherries she’d eaten earlier.

  We kissed and sealed our fate, our future. She was going to become Mrs. Ryder Harris and I was going to take care of her for the rest of our lives.

  Epilogue

  Alex

  We got married at a quickie ceremony in the courthouse. It was a small affair because I was too embarrassed to make a big deal of things while I was so obviously pregnant.

  I didn’t want a shotgun wedding, having my dad walk me down the aisle with my giant preggo belly wobbling in my gown. We planned big to celebrate our union after the baby was born so I could fit into something other than a muumuu and I could really celebrate with our guests.

  Both of our parents had been there, Lee had helped me get ready and cried like the mother of the bride when I’d finally said, “I do.” We went to celebrate at a local restaurant, it was very understated and exactly what I’d wanted.

  I finally had a place to call home, somebody to call husband, and a baby to wonder over in amazement, I didn’t need a fancy ceremony to prove my happiness to anyone.

  Today was one of those perfect days. We were relaxing at home, the spring air was refreshing and the sunshine had dried out the yard and my garden patch. I was busy digging and planning while Ryder rested on the deck with our little boy. Ryder had planned on helping me, but I needed to work outside, to stretch my limbs and shake off the grey skies of winter.

  Besides, as much as I loved the little guy, it was nice to get a break from just being Mom all day and be myself for a short time even. Ryder was an amazing dad though, and he often took over so I would have time for a long bath or lunch with Lee.