by Laura Sutton
She smiled at her mother, a real smile, and said, “I think I look pretty just the way I am. Thank you, though, mother. Wish me luck.”
Gwynn leaned down and kissed her mother’s makeup-caked cheek then headed out of the house. She had a meeting to attend.
The meeting had gone very well. She met with both her stepfather and the woman who would edit her book. They were planning on a full release in six to eight months, and Gwynn had an advance payment check for ten thousand dollars and a very good contract that would pay her very well should the book take off, and her stepfather was sure it would. He also sent her on her way with the promise that she would start the second book right away, and she would.
It had been a wonderful day. She should feel elated. All her dreams had come true, but she just felt empty. Her mother would be pleased. A ten-thousand-dollar advance isn’t something to turn your nose up to, but she would probably still be negative, question why the advance wasn’t higher or why the book would take so long to be released.
No, the two people she wanted to tell wouldn’t be at home waiting for her.
Maybe she could call them?
She needed to write her next book. Maybe they hadn’t rented out the carriage house yet.
Would they want to hear from her? She would like to think they would, but her heart would be shattered if she heard anything but happiness in their voices.
She turned onto her mother’s tree-lined street, her house in a very well-established neighborhood in the River Oaks part of Houston, and in her driveway was a big truck.
Gwynn’s heart began to pound as she pulled up next to the dust-covered Ford F-250. She knew that truck.
That was Dean’s truck!
Why were they here, though? Why not just call her?
She parked and rushed into her mother’s house, the worst thoughts playing in her head. One of them was hurt or sick and they were here in Houston to go to a hospital.
She stopped in her tracks when at her mother’s table, drinking iced tea, were both Jason and Dean, looking as hearty and handsome as she’d left them.
Jason had obviously just told her mother a joke and was probably flattering and flirting with her, because she was laughing and blushing in that way her mother did around all handsome men.
Her mother turned to her and smiled.
“Gwynn! Honey, you’re home!” her mother called out, not leaving her seat, but both of her cowboys stood when she entered the room—the true gentlemen they were.
“These two men are friends of yours, they said. From West Texas?” she asked, her curiosity piqued, because how could her plain, fat daughter have such handsome male friends?
“We are a bit more than just her friends, ma’am,” Jason told her mother as they both moved around the table to stand in front of her.
She couldn’t believe they were here. Was she dreaming?
“Wh—what are you two doing here?” she asked breathlessly, unable to think and barely able to speak seeing the two of them after missing them both so much.
“Well, beautiful,” Dean began, moving in front of her and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The touch comforting in it’s propriety.
“We missed you,” Jason added, moving to her side and taking her right hand in his and bringing it up to his mouth for a kiss.
“Did you miss us?” he asked, his voice sexy but unsure. How could this perfect specimen of a man be unsure? she wondered.
“Yes, I missed both of you so much!” Her eyes filled with tears, because even though it had only been a week, it had felt like months, months with part of her soul missing, her soul still there on the Mariposa ranch with Jason and Dean—her cowboys.
She looked between both of them as their smiles grew, and she couldn’t help but smile back.
“Well, Gwynn, we wanted to ask you,” Jason began, but Dean cut him off.
“If you would come back to the ranch and live there with us, permanently.”
She couldn’t believe it. They wanted her. Forever.
“You mean like forever?” she asked, her brain still not fully functional with the shock and emotions coursing through her system.
“Yes, baby girl. Forever,” Jason replied, his green eyes shining with happiness.
“Yeah, see, we love you, and we were stupid for not telling you before you left,” Dean continued. He looked so happy, and she couldn’t believe it.
They loved her. The way she loved them.
“And we hope you love us,” Jason whispered, his eyes imploring and questioning.
She started nodding. Nodding, crying, and smiling through her tears.
“I do! I do. I love you both so much!” And then they kissed her, first Dean—a sweet, short kiss—then Jason.
“What do you mean you love them both, Gwynndolyn?” Her mother’s piercing voice broke through, and Gwynn flushed all the blood in her body, running to her face. She had completely forgotten her mother was there.
“Well, mother… see… I… we…” She was floundering, but Jason smiled and squeezed her hand and turned to her mother and laid on the charm.
“See, Mrs. Ryan, it’s unusual, we know. But we do both love your daughter. We love and respect her and think she is amazing. You raised a remarkable woman, and while we know it might make some people uncomfortable, it is true love, he said with a smile no one in their right mind could ignore.
“I don’t know…” her mother began, but he was winning her over. Gwynn could tell.
“We promise to always treat her well, and she will never want for anything,” Jason continued, and Dean winked at her. This was Jason’s forte—sweet, dashing words.
“Do you really love them, Gwynndolyn?” her mother asked, and for the first time since childhood, she felt like her mother might worry and care.
“I do, Momma,” she told her, using the version of “mother” she hadn’t used since she was twelve, when her mother had first outright called her fat.
“Well, as long as you’re happy, I suppose,” her mother relented.
“Oh, she will be, ma’am. We promise,” Dean said and smiled down at Gwynn.
She smiled back. She was happy, and she was going home.
Epilogue
Gwynn smiled at the last two people in line—a little girl and a woman, probably her mother. It had been a long day. Her book, The Universe Within, had been out for about six weeks, and it was a hit. This was her fifth and final book signing for a while. She still had to do a few talk shows, but for a couple of reasons, she would take a few months off. For one, she needed to finish the third book in the series. The second book was already with the editors, and the release for that one was planned for late the following year.
“Who am I making this out to?” She smiled at the woman and the little girl, probably about ten with thick glasses and a messy braid.
“For me! I’m Sandra, and I love your book. It’s my favorite.” The little girl beamed up at her, and Gwynn smiled back and then smiled at her mom.
“Do you read a lot?” she asked, signing the book.
“Oh, she sure does!” the mother laughed, answering for her. “In fact, I have to tell her every night to put the book down and go to bed, or she’s too tired for school the next day,” the mother said, lovingly caressing the girl’s messy brown hair and smiling indulgently.
“Well, your mom’s right. Reading is fun, but school is important!” she said, handing the book back to the girl.
“When I grow up, I want to write stories just like you!” the girl told Gwynn adoringly, and Gwynn blushed.
“I have no doubt you will, but that means you have to do well in school—read the boring things and the fun things as well.” She smiled a knowing smile up at the mother. She had been that little girl, reading by the light of a flashlight and was then too tired to make the bus the next morning. She had driven her mother crazy, she knew.
“I will! I promise!” The girl smiled and waved as they exited the bookstore.
&nb
sp; Gwynn waved and then stood and groaned, rubbing her back. She had definitely been sitting in that chair way too long, she thought.
“I thought I told you, you need to stand up and move a little every half hour. Especially now,” said an amused voice from behind her. She turned and smiled as Jason moved in behind her, his arms wrapping around her and rubbing her stomach.
She brought her hands up to cover his, and the baby moved, making her gasp a little.
“Did you feel that?" she asked.
She turned to look up at him. She had been feeling the baby for a few weeks, but Jason and Dean couldn’t quite feel her yet.
Yes, her. She was convinced it was a girl. Dean was sure it was a boy, and Jason said he didn’t care as long as it had her eyes.
“Feel what?” Dean asked from the door of the bookstore. “The car is out front, but let's hurry because I’m double-parked, and I hear that’s a crime punishable by death here in New York City.” Dean held the door open for her to slip through.
“The baby was moving again. In fact… Oh! Here, feel!” She grabbed both their hands and pressed them into the side of her rounded stomach. She was only about twenty weeks along, and the baby was making her presence known a lot lately.
Dean’s brown eyes sparkled, and his face split into a huge grin, and she looked down at their three hands on her belly—with their matching wedding rings—and she smiled.
“I felt her!” Jason cried happily.
“Come on, let’s get in the car and head back to the hotel. This is our last night in New York, and I want to make love to you one more time in that giant bed in our suite,” Dean said, pulling her to the car, his voice dark and needy, making her body clench.
The drive to the hotel was quiet. Jason called David quickly to check on things at the ranch. The three of them didn’t usually travel all together. The last time had been right after their small wedding ceremony—a short honeymoon to San Antonio—but a four-day, all-expenses-paid trip to New York City from her publisher was just too good to pass up. With the baby coming, who knew when they would get a fun holiday just the three of them again.
They pulled into the hotel and handed the car off to the valet, then they headed up to their room—a huge four-room suite that overlooked Central Park. It was the fanciest hotel room Gwynn had ever seen.
She looked out over the city, watching the cars and the people rush from here to there in the waning light of dusk, and she rubbed her belly. She once thought this was where she wanted to be—in the hustle and bustle of the publishing capital of the world. But life had taught her that she didn’t want or need the noise. What she needed was her family.
Jason, Dean, and soon, their child.
“Hey, whatcha thinking about, beautiful?” Dean asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his large, warm frame. His hands rubbed her arms where they rested on her belly.
“Nothing much, just how much I miss the ranch,” she told him honestly.
“Really? I thought you were enjoying New York?” he said.
“I am, but I love the ranch—our home—more, and I can’t wait to get back there.”
She turned her head and looked up at him, and he kissed her, his tongue sneaking inside her mouth for a quick taste.
God, the man could kiss.
“Where’s Jason?” she asked.
“I’m here!” he called, coming out of the bedroom.
“And what does my lady require?” he asked playfully as he came around in front of her and kissed her, stealing her breath and making her heart pound and her panties wet.
“I want my two cowboys to take me to bed,” she told them both with a smile, and she headed for the bedroom. The giant king-size bed called to her.
She pulled her dress over her head, a comfortable dark blue dress made of a stretchy jersey material that hugged her breasts and her belly. The first time she wore it, Dean told her she looked like one of those fertility goddesses, with her full breasts and pregnant belly.
She lay on the bed in only her bra and panties and waited for her two sexy men.
She wasn’t as shy as she had been a year or so ago when they first made love. Now she liked to watch them take their clothes off. She loved to watch their muscles, honed from hard work on the ranch, clench and flex under their skin.
Soon they were both naked—maybe a little too soon if Gwynn thought about it—and both laying on either side of her. Jason was kissing her, his tongue lazily exploring her mouth while his hands roamed over her body, making her skin feel like it was on fire.
Behind her, Dean was kissing and nibbling at the skin of her neck, his deft fingers unhooking her bra, and in a very well-practiced dance, Jason pulled the garment from her body and then Dean’s hands were on her breasts, gently caressing and cupping them, her pregnancy making them very sensitive and even larger than before.
It had worried Gwynn that the changes happening to her body because of her pregnancy might change how much Jason and Dean wanted her. Maybe they wouldn’t be attracted to her anymore, but the opposite was true. As their child grew within her, they wanted her more.
“Oh!” she gasped into Jason’s mouth as his large calloused fingers slid inside her panties, playing with the folds between her legs.
“Oh, baby girl, you’re already so wet for us. I love it,” he whispered, his voice rough and dripping with sex. Gwynn groaned and grew wetter at his words.
“Please hurry, I… I need both of you inside me, cumming inside me.”
She moaned, arching into Jason’s fingers as they explored her pussy and rubbed her ass, still covered in the silk of her panties over Dean’s hard cock.
She felt more than she heard Dean’s chuckle against her throat. Then came the cool air along her back as he rolled away, and then she heard the cap of a container of lube opening.
By now, her body knew what that sound meant, how much pleasure it was about to experience, and the walls of her pussy clenched around Jason’s fingers, his mouth now sucking and nibbling on her breasts.
He laughed a little. “I think our girl is excited,” he told Dean, pulling his head away from her breasts to look into her eyes.
His beautiful eyes were heavy-lidded and almost completely black from his arousal. Only a small sliver of emerald green was visible.
“Good, because I love fucking this perfect ass,” Dean said, then he slid her panties down and off her body, and she was finally naked, pressed in between them—Jason and Dean, her cowboys. Her husbands.
She cupped Jason's face with her hands and brought her lips to his in a kiss that was both reverent and hot.
“I love you,” she whispered into his mouth.
“And I love you,” he replied instantly, and she knew it was true.
She turned her head, seeking Dean’s lips, which he gave to her readily, slipping his tongue in her mouth to play with hers.
“I love you,” she whispered to him, and he smiled.
“I love you, beautiful. So much.” He said, and she groaned and pushed her ass back into him as he slid one thick finger inside her ass first, and then a second, preparing her for his cock.