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Three months later
THE FULL MOON LIGHTS up the meadow and shines on the surface of the river. It’s a perfect night. And my heart is lodged in my throat. I feel like a puddin’ foot horse, unsure and awkward. But I don’t want to be all hat and no cowboy—it’s time I man up and make Ruby my wife.
“Dusty, this is beautiful. I can’t believe you did all this.”
I’ve set up overturned crates covered in white tea lights and those strings of battery-operated fairy lights in a circle around a little bistro table. “You’ve been working harder than anyone to get our grand opening ready. We’re going to have a real nice season going into the holidays.”
It was her idea to make the ranch a winter getaway too. We got it all set up for some holiday magic starting in a week. Reservations are filling up. We still have a lot to do, but we can accommodate guests while we do the rest of the upgrades. All thanks to Ruby and the way she has of taking my big ideas and finding ways to make them practical and doable. We’re a damn fine team.
“This is all very romantic, cowboy.”
“I was hoping you would think so.” She’s either going to make me the happiest man in the world, or I’m about to be chewing gravel. Either way, it’s time.
I lead her to the table and pull out her chair, get her seated, and pour some of that wine she likes so much. It’s not even fancy, though she deserves fancy. It’s from a local winery, and she insists it’s the best and I’m inclined to believe her.
And then I get down on one knee.
Her eyes get saucer big, and her fingers fly to her mouth.
“I want to make some promises to you, tonight.” She nods, mute for a change. “I promise to love and take care of you for the rest of my life. I want to be the person you come to with your hopes and dreams, so I can help you achieve them the way you help me achieve mine.
“I never thought I could feel like this, and every time I think I love you as much as a man is capable, you open up another suite of rooms in my heart, so I can love you some more.
“I want you to be happy, that’s the most important thing in the world. And if you’re happy the way things are and you don’t want to change them, I’ll abide. But from this moment on, I want you to know that you’re it for me. I want you forever, and I want to marry you. Tomorrow if you want, but if you want a big wedding then I’ll abide that too.”
Her pretty eyes are welling up with tears, and while I hope they’re the happy kind, her tears still slay me. I pull out a ring, hoping to distract her some.
“Oh my God. Dusty!”
It’s a pretty spectacular ring. “It was my momma’s. Aunt Charlotte’s been keeping it safe for me all these years. I didn’t even know she had it until the day you flew back to LA.” The pretty crinkle between her eyebrows means I’m not making sense. “Aunt Charlotte told me you’d gone and that before I decided what to do about it, I should take a look at the ring she’d been safekeeping for me to give to the woman I love someday. I knew when I saw it that it was only ever going on your hand and that I needed you to come back here.”
“You’ve been thinking about it all this time?”
“I would have put it on your finger that day, but I didn’t think you were ready. Especially after I found out you’d been evicted. I figured you needed to be sure you were here with me because you wanted to be and not that you didn’t have any other choice. So I waited. And it’s been killing me.”
She slides to her knees so we’re both on the ground. My girl never wants me to put her on a pedestal, she likes being at my side instead. “You are the love of my life, cowboy. You’ve shown me how to believe in something again, and every day you show me how to lead with kindness first and the rest will follow. I’m a better person because I met you. And I will marry you tomorrow, if you like.”
My heart just busts open and I reach for her and pull her close. Too tight likely, but she’s not complaining. “You just made me the happiest big ox on the planet.”
“I’d like to make you happier.”
I kiss her hair, the side of her face, her nose. “Not possible.”
“I want to make a baby.”
––––––––
I WANT DUSTY TO UNWRAP me like a present. All my senses are sharpened by my arousal. I can hear his heavy breathing and my own thundering heartbeat, and the quiet sounds of the forest as the soft breeze blows through the tall trees around us.
“Are you sure?”
Oh yeah. “I want your baby. I want to be pregnant.”
“You know that turns me on more than anything. The thought of you. Fuck. Round and perfect. Everyone knowing you’re mine.”
I kiss him hard. The primal urge to mate so strong, stronger now that we’re engaged. I start undoing his buttons.
“I brought condoms, angel. If you think we should wait...”
“I don’t want to wait. I want to start forever tonight. Now.”
“You’re my fantasy. You know that, right? I can’t wait to be inside you, nothing between us. I’m going to fill you up, angel.” He undresses me, and his eyes explore my body, running over my breasts and down my stomach before settling between my thighs.
"Do you like what you see?" I ask, my face as innocent as I can manage, even though I don't feel very innocent at this moment. There’s not a lot we haven’t done, but this feels like a first time in some ways.
He nods. "Fuck, yes. You know I do.”
Dusty undresses quickly but slows down when he sees the look in my eyes. He sends me an evil grin and slowly, too slowly, pulls the waistband of his briefs down his thighs, finally revealing his perfect, beautiful cock.
My mouth waters. My pussy clenches. I never get tired of looking at him. His shaft is thick and pink, and the head is engorged and already dripping. His balls are tight against his body, full and ready to give us a baby.
Oh my God. A baby.
Fascinated, I slowly reach out and run my finger across the tip of his cock, collecting the precum on my finger. His cock jumps when I touch it. I bring my finger to my mouth and suck, tasting him like it’s the first time. "You taste good, Dusty." Like some powerful aphrodisiac.
“You taste better.” He pulls my legs apart and crouches between them. He runs his tongue along my lips, then up to my clit over and over until my world explodes in light and color.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God!" I instinctively grab the back of his head to keep him close to me.
“That’s right. Come for me. Get ready for my big cowboy cock.”
Seconds later, he’s inside me, thrusting with wild abandon, driving me to another orgasm. He holds onto my hips hard as he fucks me with more force until I am whimpering for another release. He’s bottoming out, deeper than he’s ever gone before. With every stroke, he throbs and my pussy tightens around him.
"Give me another.”
“I can’t.”
“You fucking will."
I moan in response, and he grinds into me until I flood his cock, my juices saturating the blanket below us.
“I can feel you dripping down my balls, my dirty little angel. You’re so hot for my cum, aren’t you? You want it so bad.”
I lose all control, calling out his name in ecstasy as wave after wave wracks my body with pleasure.
He cradles me against him, knowing that I’m most vulnerable after I come. "You want our baby, sweetheart? You want to be the mother of my child?" I’m so wrung out I can only nod in response. He growls and primal instinct takes over. Long deep strokes bring his cum flooding into me. I can feel it surging. He keeps thrusting, unable to stop until his cock goes soft.
He wraps his arms around me protectively, and I start to fall asleep, warm in his arms. He whispers his love for me as I begin dreaming about the baby I hope we just made.