by Brook Wilder
With a curse, he shoved open the door, ready to storm in, but he froze in the doorway. Wide-eyed, Tex took in the scene before him, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
Lori had one leg raised, trying to prop it behind her head and the other was twisted underneath her. She was bent like a pretzel, an angry, red-faced pretzel, as Robbie tried to help her get into the complicated pose.
“Just breathe,” Robbie said, his voice soft and annoying calm. “Remember to breathe. Breathing is good for the baby.”
“I am trying to breathe,” Lori yelled, shooting the older man an irritated glare as she huffed and puffed. “It’s impossible to breathe twisted up like this. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be stuck like this forever.”
“Nonsense,” Robbie said; then he leaned forward and pressed a spot on the bottom of Lori’s foot and she collapse in a pile of limbs.
She laid there like that for a long moment, just sucking in deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, they landed on Tex and she let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank God you’re back.” Her voice was rife with gratitude and it also shone in the hazel light of her eyes. “I can’t take any more of this torture.”
“It’s not torture. It’s yoga,” Robbie said, rolling his eyes at Lori. “And it’s good for the baby.”
“It’s not good for the baby if it kills me first,” Lori said caustically before pushing to her feet. Robbie stooped to roll up the yoga mat and Lori stuck her tongue out at his back before shooting a mischievous grin at Tex.
He just stood there, staring at her, struck by how gorgeous she was. How strong and resilient. Anyone else would still be curled up in a corner, sobbing their eyes out. Even though Lori was more emotional those days, she had bounced right back to living her life.
He’d asked her about it, the morning after they had arrived at the safe house, when he found her making breakfast as if her whole world hadn’t just collapsed. She’d told him that she wasn’t about to let Gears control her life anymore.
And the thing was, she didn’t even realize it. How strong she was, how remarkable a person. She had no clue. And that made him lo…
Whoa there, slow down.
Tex swallowed hard as the thought hit him all at once. As Lori tilted her head, giving him a concerned look, he realized he still hadn’t said a word.
“Is everything all right, cowboy?” she asked.
“Y-yeah, everything’s just peachy,” Tex stuttered.
He was still shocked at his own thoughts. But he shook his head, trying to focus his attention back on Lori instead of… that other thing.
“Where were you?” Lori asked, missing his mistake.
Tex shrugged the question off as she drew close for a kiss. He didn’t want Robbie to overhear his answer. But from the knowing look the older man sent him, he’d already guessed. He really was creepy sometimes.
“Come on, I want to show you something.”
He pulled her behind him as he headed for the kitchen, grateful when Robbie resumed with his yoga. The older man was still chanting as Tex drew her to a halt beside the table.
“What is it?” Lori asked, her brows furrowed.
She obviously thought it was bad news. He didn’t blame her one bit, especially after the shit week she’d had.
Slowly, he reached behind him and pulled out the pamphlet that he had stashed in his back pocket. He handed it to her, barely biting back a grin.
Lori took it, glancing at it as her worry melted into confusion.
“I don’t understand,” she said, looking at the mountain landscape and the cottage nested at its base. “What is this?”
Tex shrugged again but excitement flowed through his veins.
“You said you wanted snow.” He opened the pamphlet up that showed the small Colorado town. “I thought Mountain View Springs sounded like a nice place to live.”
“Oh, it’s…it’s…” Lori couldn’t finish the sentence as her eyes welled with tears.
Suddenly unsure, Tex wrapped his arms around her, partly to comfort her and partly because he couldn’t stand to see her cry.
“Was it something I said? Did I do something?”
“No. No, nothing like that, I just…” She took a deep, hitching breath, and when she looked up at him the most beautiful emotion was shining from her hazel eyes. “I just can’t believe that you would… I can’t believe I got so lucky. That I found you.”
She couldn’t get the rest of the words out; her tears were choking her. He stole the rest of them with a kiss.
“Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”
Chapter 9
Tex counted the same package for the third time before finally getting it right. He marked the weight in the little book on the table beside him before reaching for another.
“Behind you, Robbie,” Tex muttered, reaching for another brown paper-wrapped package.
Robbie gave him a troubled look. Again. Before the man started muttering to himself again. It had been like this all morning and it was starting to put Tex on edge.
Again, Tex measured and weighted out the drugs into equal piles before wrapping each individually for shipment and, again, he was interrupted by Robbie’s worried muttering.
“What?” Tex snapped, shooting the man a narrow-eyed questioning look. “What is it? What’s bothering you?”
Robbie just shook his head.
“It’s nothing. Probably. Probably nothing.”
The other man’s words trailed off into more whispered nonsense. Tex could only make out every third or fourth word.
Trouble. Coming. Lori. Trouble. Bad.
Tex rolled his eyes, looking back down at the shipment, trying to ignore the other man’s rambling and focus on the task at hand. It made it even more difficult because his thoughts kept sliding back to Lori. To what was going to happen next.
She’d asked him what they were going to do? They both knew they couldn’t stay at the safe house forever. But he hadn’t had an answer for her. Hell, he didn’t even know where to start.
That little town in Colorado seemed like a dream to him. It had become like a totem in his mind, like if they could just get there then everything would be fine. But he was smart enough, or cynical enough, to know that that wasn’t how the real world worked. No, the real world ran on one thing and one thing only, money.
Worry made a little line form between his eyebrows. The only way he knew how to make money was with the gang. He’d spent practically his whole adult life in the Devil’s Martyrs. What job could he get when he left?
Tex shuddered at the thought, doubt warring with determination. He had meant every single word he’d said to Lori. They would both go straight. Start a new, clean life to give their baby the chance neither of them had.
But how? That was the question he wrestled with as he measured out another package. The only life he’d ever known was the drug life. What other skills did he have? What else could he do?
“You are more than you think you are,” Robbie’s slightly dazed voice broke into his thoughts.
Tex looked over at the man in surprise. Robbie was chewing and staring at a piece of paper. When Tex realized what it was, he let out a soft laugh, mostly at himself. It was a god damned fortune from a fortune cookie. Suddenly, the older man shot a grin at Tex.
“It’s true you know. Don’t underestimate yourself.”
Tex just shook his head, fighting the shiver that wanted to sweep down his spine at that knowing look in Robbie’s eyes. Sometimes the man just seemed to know more than he should, things that didn’t make any sense.
Tex was so distracted thinking about Robbie’s odd habits that it took him a moment to realize that the man was muttering and twitching again.
“Alright,” Tex said, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned to face the bearded drug dealer and his troubled look. “Just tell me. What is it?”
Robbie paused, giving Tex a long, shadowed look as if he was wrestling with himself, trying to decide what to say.<
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“Something…something bad is coming. I just can’t quite put my finger on it,” Robbie finally said, drawing out his words with another sigh. Then he titled his head to the side, studying Tex. “You love her, don’t you?”
Tex was caught off guard by the man’s words. It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. As if he could somehow look deep inside Tex and see the emotions that he hadn’t even been ready to see for himself.
He still wasn’t ready. He tried to shrug off Robbie’s words.
“What do I know about love?”
“Everybody knows love,” Robbie said, and his expression was so serious, so earnest, that Tex didn’t argue.
“I… guess. Maybe, but…”
“No guessing about it,” Robbie interrupted with a sharp shake of his head. Then he leaned forward, his gaze so intense that Tex had to fight the urge to lean away from him. “You have to remember, Tex, love gives us strength. Love makes us strong, even in the darkest of times. You remember that.”
Tex just nodded. He didn’t know what the hell to say to that. But he did know one thing: he needed to find Lori.
“I – uh – I have to go Robbie. Can you finish this up by yourself?”
“Of course.” Robbie winked at him. “Go get your girl.”
Baffled, Tex turned and walked out of the garage they’d been working in and headed for the old farmhouse. His mind was still caught on Robbie’s words. How the hell did he do that? How could he possibly know…?
Tex shook it off. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was finding Lori. As he looked through the living room and kitchen, it was a need in his veins that pushed him on. He realized that it had only been a few hours since the last time he’d seen her, but… he missed her.
He thought of Robbie’s words again and it hit him, all of a sudden, with enough force to knock the breath from his lungs. It was true. He loved her.
And he couldn’t see her anywhere.
“Lori?” he called out, cocking his head as a muffled answer reached him from beyond the closed door of the room they’d been staying in. “Lori, you in there?”
He pushed open the door and came to a stop in the doorway. Tex bit back a grin as he saw her. She was lying stretched out on her back on the bed, and she was completely nude. Tex sucked a sharp breath in as instant desire hit him.
It was always like that, whenever they came within five feet of each other. A fire that was always banked, just waiting for the moment to flare to life once more. Need was like a furnace burning wild and hot inside him, and he took a step forward, happy to explore more of the delightful picture she painted.
But he stopped again as he noticed the ruler she held in her hand. Lori had it against her stomach, twisting her neck to try and read the numbers on the side of the thing.
“What are you doing?” Tex asked after a moment, choking back a laugh.
She shrugged, an embarrassed flush tinting her cheeks, but she still grinned at him
“I think it’s growing,” Lori answered, her grin growing at Tex’s smile.
“She.”
“What?” Lori asked, shooting him a confused look.
“She’s growing,” Tex repeated, his smile swelling at Lori’s narrow-eyed glance.
“You’re so sure it’s a girl. It could be a boy you know.”
Tex shook his head.
“It’s a girl.”
“Alright, Mr.-I’m-so-smart-I-know-if-my-baby-is going-to-be-a-boy-or-a-girl-before-the- doctors-even-tell-me. How do you know?”
Tex bit back his grin, shrugging as he drew close to her. He slipped one hand down the bared skin of her middle, skimming over her ribcage and stomach. He climbed on to the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her body, so much smaller than his. He loved the way she shuddered, but she was obviously still waiting for an answer.
“I just do.” He couldn’t hold back the grin any longer. “Must be because I’m so smart.”
“Smart ass, maybe.” Lori snorted.
Their eyes met and they both lost themselves to laughter. Before Tex even realized what was happening, the words were falling out of his mouth with a will of their own.
“I love you, Lori.”
Her eyes widened as her laughter choked off and she looked as surprised as he felt. A million thoughts ran through his head. If he should take it back, tell her he didn’t mean it. But he did. He meant every single word.
Suddenly, her hazel gaze softened into a sweet blue-green and he could see the heat that was always there between them. But something else as well, something warm and soft. Something that felt like coming home.
“I would give my life for you, for our baby. You’re my family now. I…” He paused, fighting for the words to explain. “I never thought I would find someone like you. I never thought I would feel this way for anyone. After Kayla…”
Lori cupped one of his cheeks with her soft, delicate hand, and that light touch was enough to send his body into to overdrive. But it was the look in her eyes that held him captive.
“I get it, cowboy. I… didn’t expect this, either. Not any of it. But… I’m glad I found you, Tex. I’m glad that you’re here. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She bit her lower lip, drawing his attention. “I love you, too, Tex. More than I ever thought I’d love anyone.”
“I’ve never known a life outside of the gang, but I’m excited to start a new one. With you,” He ran one hand down Lori’s side, resting it across her stomach, “and her.”
Lori placed both of her hands on top of his and the sweetness of the gesture stole his breath and made his chest ache.
“I never knew what family was, until I met you.” Lori’s eyelids fluttered closed on her words and, when she opened them again, there was so much love shining from their depths that Tex couldn’t speak.
There was nothing else they needed to say. He didn’t have the words, anyway. He didn’t know how to tell her how deep his feelings were, how astounded he was by his reaction to her. All he could do was show her. With his touch, with his kiss, with every part of his body, he could show her.
He flipped her underneath him and Lori let out a breathless laugh, but Tex barely noticed. He was focused on worshipping her with his fingers, trailing them slowly down her body until he reached that sweet spot between her thighs.
Lori let out a moan of pleasure and Tex had to bite back a pained groan of his own at how wet and ready she already was for him. It was like her body was made for his. The way she responded to him was pure magic.
He lost himself in her as he trailed kisses across her cheek and the sensitive curve of her neck. He didn’t stop, pushing her higher and higher as his fingers teased in and out of her center. Tex moved across her body, praising every inch of her with his mouth, soft kisses followed by sharp nips that drew a startled gasp from her.
He lathed her nipples, drawing each one into her mouth, tugging until he could feel her inner muscles start to tight on his fingers. He kept her like that, right on the sharp edge of ecstasy.
Tex was trembling, he wanted her so badly. It was like a fire inside him, spurring him on. He tore off his own clothes as quickly as he could and barely paused before sinking deep into her welcoming center.
They both gasped, their moans of pleasure mixing together, but neither of them heard. They were both lost. Tex hitched his hips, reveling in the incredible feel of her. Like paradise and home, heaven and hell, all wrapped up into one little blonde package.
She thought she was the lucky one, he marveled as she surrounded him. In that moment, as their bodies moved together in perfect harmony, he knew he was truly the lucky one.
He bit his lip, trying to hold back, but there was no stopping his climax as he felt Lori shudder beneath him. Her orgasm pushed him over the edge as his own tore through his body. He flew over the edge and he never wanted to come back to earth again.
Chapter 10
Lori watched Tex with heavy lidded eyes. He slid from the bed, str
etching languorously like some sort of big, predatory cat before walking around the bedroom retrieving his clothes. She grinned lazily as she watched him look everywhere for one of his socks. He’d thrown it behind him and it had gotten stuck on the corner of the dresser that was pushed up against the opposite wall.
She wriggled deeper into the bed, her gaze still tracking him as pleasure radiated through her body. Her thoughts turned back to his declaration of love and Lori felt a thrill tingle down her spine all over again.
It all felt like a dream to her. Or like she was living in some sort of messed-up fairy tale where the white knight swoops in and rescues the damsel-in-distress from the dragon. Only, in her case, the dragon was an obsessed member of a notorious gang and her white knight was a cowboy with a motorcycle, and probably less that white himself.