ONE MONTH LATER
My eyes lazily open, and I blink when I feel the warm wetness between my thighs. Looking over, I see the empty side of the bed and realize Kiera didn’t wait for me to wake up to start our morning tradition.
Smirking, I rest both arms behind my head and arch my back as I feel her mouth consume every inch of me. Fuck. She’s so goddamn good at this. Her hand is wrapped around the base of my shaft, rotating up and down as her tongue licks circles around my tip. She knows that drives me fucking insane.
“Baby…” I groan desperately. Arching my hips, she gets the hint and speeds up. She’s a master at getting me off in minutes due to the quickies we squeeze in between our work schedules. Speaking of which, today is a special day, and there’s a lot to do for my plan to properly work. “Get on your knees,” I demand, reaching for her.
She finally brings her head up, gasping for air. The corners of my mouth tick up in a pleased grin, and I notice how breathtaking she is.
“Turn around,” I tell her, getting to my knees so I can take her from behind. She happily obeys and sticks her plump ass out for me as she arches her back low to the mattress. “Fuck, this view is perfection,” I say, talking about her backside. I give it a little slap, and she moans. She has no idea what’s in store for her—right now and later.
I stroke my cock a couple of times before positioning myself at her entrance and thrusting inside her. I love it when she’s at this angle because it allows me to be so damn deep and it gets her off within minutes. Feeling her bare makes me lose it usually after she does, but it doesn’t stop us from going back at it shortly after. We’re completely insatiable for each other, never able to really feed that hunger for long before we’re both starving for more. Every day I get to wake up next to the love of my life is another day I won’t waste without making love to her.
“Jackson…” she whimpers, widening her hips and pulling me impossibly deeper inside her.
I squeeze her hips tightly, moving her back and forth on my dick. The fading bruises on her waist are from the countless times of giving in to her demands to go harder and faster.
“What do you need, baby?” I ask, grabbing her ass cheeks and opening her wider.
“Harder,” she begs. I smile wide. My girl likes it rough, and it’s my pleasure to give her whatever she wants.
Instead of holding her hips and bruising her all over again, I have another plan.
“Straighten your legs,” I tell her. “So I can straddle you from behind.”
Kiera does exactly that, her pussy putting my cock in a deathly vise grip between her clenched cheeks. I cover her body with mine, wrapping a hand around her throat and pulling her head back until my lips touch her ear. My other hand lies flat on the bed next to her shoulder, holding me up just enough to slide in and out of her.
“Wanna know how many times I’ve jerked off to the image of your luscious ass?”
“Hmm?” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “A billion?” she teases.
“Pretty fucking close.” I chuckle.
Slowly, I pull back, and without warning, I push inside her in one hard thrust. I repeat the motion, tightening my grip on her throat. “I want to fill you up, sweetheart. Put all my babies inside you then fuck your tight cunt again with more.”
Kiera shivers underneath me and gasps. “Yes…please.”
I thrust—no, ram inside her over and over, plunging my hips against her as hard as I can until she’s clasping my dick so tight it sends us both over the edge in a sweaty, heated daze.
Rolling over, I pull Kiera to my chest as we both gasp for air. After several minutes, Kiera looks up at me with a frown.
“What’s wrong?” I furrow my brows, brushing my fingers lightly over her shoulder.
“Are you concerned that I haven’t gotten pregnant yet?” Her question catches me off guard, and I’m not sure how to answer. I don’t know much about what it takes to knock a girl up besides the obvious, but considering I’ve spent half my life trying not to get a girl knocked up, I haven’t a clue what the average timeframe is.
“Well, it’s only been a few months. Don’t these things take time usually?” I try to offer some kind of comfort.
She shrugs, lowering her eyes. “Sometimes, yeah. But we do it like…every day. Sometimes twice. You’d think if I were capable of even getting pregnant it would’ve happened by now. Maybe my eggs are all dried up, and my window of opportunity has come and gone. I’m an old lady.”
I hate the sadness in her voice and want to offer any kind of encouragement I can. Rolling her over so she’s on her back and I’m halfway on top of her, I tilt her chin up so she looks into my eyes.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to knock you up. Day and night of hardcore fucking if I have to.” I grin, and that gets a laugh out of her.
“Oh, what a sacrifice,” she taunts, wrapping her legs around my thighs.
“Yeah, but for you, I’ll do it.” I wink. “Seriously, sweetheart.” I lean down to kiss her gorgeous pink lips. “Don’t worry, okay? It’ll happen when it’s supposed to.”
“How do you know?” she asks with doubt in her tone.
“Because I just have a feeling, okay? Trust me.”
She groans, rolling her eyes at the way I waggle my brows at her. “The last time I trusted you, it took over fifteen years.” She deadpans, but I see the slightest smirk on her lips.
“I’m never going to live that down.”
“Oh hell no. Never ever.” She wraps her arms around my waist and slides her hands down to squeeze my butt. “I’m just glad you finally came to your senses.”
“Ya know…” I give her a look. “I’m getting an awful a lot of blame here when you could’ve at any time told me how you felt. So I think you deserve half the blame too.” I dip down to her neck and inhale her sweet scent. “You were single for a long time before…” I linger, not wanting to say his name aloud. “So…what made you just stand around and keep quiet?”
Kiera narrows her eyes at me as if she doesn’t appreciate being put on the spot. “For starters…” Her tone lowers, sounding accusatory, and it makes me laugh. “I appreciate the upheld tradition of a man asking a woman out, so for the most part, I was just waiting and hoping you were getting my signals. However, when you started dating all the single women in town, I figured you weren’t asking me out because you didn’t think of me that way.” She pauses, thinking for a moment. “Also, you’d make random comments that made me believe you just didn’t see me as anything more than a friend, so instead of making a fool of myself, I kept my feelings buried.”
“I’ll be the first to admit I was a selfish dumbass who pushed you away anytime I felt you getting too close. I still believe you deserve better than me, but now that I’ve had you, I’m not ever letting you go. You had your chance to find a rich lawyer, so you’ll just have to settle for me now,” I tease, plucking her bottom lip with my thumb.
Kiera places both palms on my cheeks and forces me to look up at her. “Being with anyone else besides you would’ve been settling,” she tells me sweetly. “This is exactly the life I wanted, Jackson Bishop. I love working with horses. I love living here. I love your family. I love that I’m still close to my parents. I love everything about you and me. There is absolutely no settling, and if I have to remind you of that for the rest of our lives, I will. Do you understand me now?”
Fuck, she’s adorable when she gets all serious. Gets me hard all over again.
“I do, baby. You’ve never given me a reason to doubt you. I just wanted to be able to give you the world.”
She squishes my face, pulling me in for a kiss. “You already have. I love you.”
“I wove you too,” I mutter between my smooshed lips.
It makes her giggle. She drops her hands and wraps her arms around my neck. “We should get ready for work.” She sticks her bottom lip out and pouts. “Though I’d much rather stay in this warm bed with you all day.”
“Hmm…I could make that happen.” I wink, rolling to my back and taking her with me until she’s on top.
“Sorry, Cowboy. Horses need to be fed.” She gives me one more peck before crawling off me, and as soon as her feet touch the floor, I’m off the bed and racing her to the shower. “Dammit, Jackson!” she squeals when I wrap my arms around her waist, pick her up, and set her down behind me.
I’m in the shower seconds before she is, but it doesn’t even matter because I have her pinned to the wall as soon as she gets in.
“You’re relentless.” She laughs against my mouth as I kiss her.
I help her wash her body and rinse her hair, and she does the same for me. It’s more than just being together naked. I cherish these moments, and it still feels like a dream that she’s mine.
“So do you have a busy schedule today?” I ask as she finishes getting ready.
“Sorta.” She bites down on her lower lip. “I have a new horse arriving today, some paperwork to get done, and I have an accountant meeting later.”
“Well if you can squeeze me in for dinner, I’ll wait for you.” I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her close, then kiss her on the nose.
“Why? You wanna feast on me for dessert?”
“How’d you even know?” I smirk.
“I’ve known you all my life, Jackson Joseph Bishop. I know all your tells,” she says matter-of-factly.
“Guess so.” I hold back a grin, knowing there’s one secret she won’t see coming.
Once she leaves, I put my plan into action.
“Don’t forget. You need to pick her up at exactly five,” I remind Colton.
“For the hundredth time, I know.” I hear him groan into the phone. “After I’m done with all my shit, I pick her up at six and bring her over.”
I grunt. “I’m going to junk punch you.”
“Oh c’mon, I’m just messin’ with you. You know I won’t let you down.”
“I know.”
We give each other a lot of shit, but truthfully, he’s a good friend. After the whole incident with Trent and Nicole last month, he picked up a lot of my slack while I took some time off to be with Kiera. She was pretty distraught, and no matter how much I tried to get her to open up and talk, she kept saying she wasn’t ready. I didn’t want to push her, so I just continued to be there in any way she’d let me.
After Trent’s death, Nicole was arrested and plead guilty to being his accomplice. After the police went through her phone and text messages, we learned she helped him with the barn fire as well. That day of the incident she tried to convince me that Trent’s plan was the next day when all along she knew it was happening right then. Luckily, she’ll be paying for that for a long time behind bars.
Shaking my head and trying to clear my thoughts, I can’t focus for shit while doing my daily tasks, but I know I have to get them done, so I push away the distractions of what’s to come tonight. Though I never in a million years thought this would be my life, I’m not going to let the opportunity pass me by.
At exactly five, I’m already showered and changed and ready for Colton to bring Kiera home. The moment I hear his truck pull up, I head to the door to greet them.
“What the hell?” I hear Kiera cursing at Colton. It makes me laugh as soon as I see him carrying her over his shoulder.
“Here she is, boss.” Colton sets her down on the steps and winks.
“Jackson, what are you doing?”
“Okay, well to be fair, I didn’t tell him to bring you here all caveman style.” I shrug, reaching for her and bringing her mouth to mine.
“It was the only way she’d listen.” Colton shrugs, then tips his hat. “Later.”
I take Kiera’s hand and lead her into the house. “You gonna tell me what the hell is goin’ on?”
“No, ma’am,” I smirk, bringing her to the shower. “You have thirty minutes. Get cleaned up. Wear jeans and boots.”
“John, is that you?” Kiera snaps her fingers in front of my face, giggling. “Because I know my Jackson enough to know this isn’t his forte.”
“I take offense to that.” I swat her ass. “Now move it, woman.”
Forty-five minutes later, she finally comes out of the bedroom dressed with her face and hair done. I smile, taking all of her in. “Did you dress up for me?” I tease, pulling her in for a kiss. “Fuck, you smell good.” I bring my lips to her neck and feather kisses toward her ear. “Screw it. Let’s get to dessert now.”
Chuckling, she manages to push me off her, then demands I tell her what’s happening.
“I made us a light dinner because I fully plan to feast on you later.”
“You made dinner?” She nearly gasps.
“You really know how to kick a man down, don’t you?” I lead her to the dining table where I have a Caesar salad and steaks waiting.
“Truth or dare?” I ask her when we’re halfway through our meal.
Kiera narrows her eyes, tilting one side of her mouth up in suspicion. “Truth.”
“What color panties are you wearing right now?”
“Panties? You only told me to wear jeans and boots?”
“Kiera Young, don’t make me come over there and make you pay the consequences.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” She arches a brow.
“Afraid you wouldn’t be able to beat the champ at my epic chicken dance?”
“Considering you were wasted and naked, I don’t think anyone could.”
“Good. Now answer me.”
She stabs a piece of her steak and shoves it into her mouth. “Ud.”
“What?” I burst out laughing as she tries to speak with a mouthful. It makes her laugh, and soon we’re both chuckling while she tries swallowing down her food. “That was very ladylike.”
“I think thirty-plus years is enough time to show you the real me,” she teases. “I said red. My panties are red. Happy now?”
I stab the last piece of my own steak and smile. “Sure am.”
An hour later, we’re in San Angelo at a rodeo bar I haven’t been to in years. She has no idea, though, because I made her wear a blindfold.
“This is ridiculous,” she whines, holding her hands out in front of her.
I cup her face. “Trust me?”
Her shoulders relax, and she sighs. “Yes, of course.”
“Good. Then just let me lead you.”
I’m getting looks left and right as I guide Kiera through the busy bar scene. “Why’s it so loud in here?” she shouts, thinking I’m next to her, and it makes me laugh.
“Truth or dare?” I whisper in her ear when I’m behind her. My hands are on her hips, holding her back to my chest.
Kiera turns her head toward my voice. “Are you freaking kidding me right now?”
Chuckling, I squeeze her tighter. “C’mon, baby. Play along.”
Her shoulders sink, and she audibly sighs. “Fine. Dare, I guess.”
“Perfect answer.”
“I’m regretting it already.” She groans.
“No, ma’am. Are you ready?”
“I don’t know. Am I?”
I undo her blindfold and slide it down her face.
She immediately shakes her head. “No! No way! That’s not fair.”
Spinning around, she puts her hands on her hips and scowls.
“Kiera Young, I dare you to ride that mechanical bull.”
She closes her eyes as her head falls back. “You’re the worst!”
Laughing, I grab her hand and drag her up to the guy operating it. “Put it on the fastest speed you have.”
Kiera smacks my arm and yells in protest. “You tryin’ to kill me?”
“Oh, c’mon babe. You’re a top-rated, multi-award-winning horse trainer. Surely you can ride the bull for a lousy eight seconds.” I wink, but she doesn’t find the humor in it.
She steps onto the mat, then turns around to point a finger at me. “You better not record me, or your balls will feel hell later.”
I hold my hands up, showing her I’m phone free. “Don’t worry. Everyone’s already here anyway.”
She starts scanning the crowd, and when her eyes lock on Emily, River, Mila, and her cousin, Addie, she tries holding back a smile. “I’m gonna get you back so much worse, Jackson Bishop!” Her threat is adorable.
The operator waits until she’s climbed up and situated herself. She holds tightly with one hand while leaving one arm down.
I cup my hands around my mouth and shout, “You got this, Pippi!” She takes her free hand and flips me off.
I watch as the operator presses the button, and soon, the bull is moving. Kiera waves her arm in the air as she squeezes her legs to the sides, holding on as tightly as she can. Within seconds, the bull is turned up another level, and Kiera goes flying with a scream.
We all clap and cheer as she gets to her feet and adjusts her jeans. The girls are screaming wildly, so Kiera gives the crowd a little bow before she walks off the mat and comes charging for me.
“I hate you so much right now.”
I wrap my arms around her and kiss her sassy mouth. “You killed it! I even got to see those red lacy panties I love so much.”
She pushes against me and laughs.
The girls rush over, and Kiera glares at them. “You’re all on my shit list!” she teases, letting the girls hug her anyway.
“Hey, Jackson lured us here with free margaritas,” River explains.
“Yeah, he’s sure good at that,” Kiera says, locking eyes with me. Even though Emily and Mila are pregnant, they didn’t want to miss out.
“Was that a sneak peek into what it looks like when you’re on top of Jackson?” Addie blurts out, making Kiera blush. “Gives a whole new meaning to riding a cowboy…”
“Okay, she’s had enough margaritas for all of us…” Emily takes the glass out of Addie’s hand and gives it to River.
“Alright, well you enjoy ladies. I’m taking my woman out for dessert.”
“You wanna explain to me why we drove an hour so I could ride a mechanical bull?” Kiera asks when I drive us out of the parking lot. I try to hide my smirk but fail miserably.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
I see her studying me out of the corner of my eye but don’t give in. Eventually, I get her off the topic, and we discuss a few of the horses she’s training. Once we’re back in Eldorado, I tell her to put the blindfold back on.
“You can’t be serious.” She groans.
“Kiera.”
She grinds her teeth. “Fine. But if you make me do something even more outrageous, I will castrate you.”
“You’d only be punishing yourself,” I taunt.
I drive us out as far as I can to our spot. Part of the reason I had to kill time and brought her to that bar was so Colton could get everything set up for me. Plus, I really wanted to see her ride that bull.
“Okay, baby. Take my hands and jump down,” I direct after I open her door.
Her nose wrinkles. “It smells like a campfire.”
I smile as I take her hand and then walk us up the short path. I had Colton start a bonfire and set up Tiki torches around the area, and now that it’s pitch-black, the flames light up everything perfectly.
“Okay, turn around and face me.” I place my hands on her arms. “Stand here.”
“Is this where you reenact your naked chicken dance for me?”
“You wish.”
She smirks.
I shift around her body, so her back is to me now. The fire and torches are behind me, and soon she’ll know exactly what’s happening. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad nervous, and although my palms are sweaty, I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.
“Kiera…” I whisper in her ear, wrapping one hand around her waist. “Truth or dare?”
The corner of her mouth ticks up slightly. “I have a feeling it won’t matter what I choose at this point…”
“Still gotta pick one, sweetheart.” I graze my lips under her ear.
“Okay. Fine.” She sighs. “Truth,” she says just like I knew she would. I smile at how well I know my girl.
“Will you marry me?” I whisper just loud enough for her to hear.
“What?” she asks slowly.
I reach inside my pocket and bend on one knee. “Turn around.”
Kiera pulls the blindfold off, and when she spins toward me, her eyes widen, her jaw drops, and she nearly crumbles to the ground. I take her hand while she covers her mouth with the other hand.
“Kiera Georgina Young…” I start, and she immediately shakes her head at me. I know she hates when I use her middle name. It was something I often teased her about when we were little kids. “I know you haven’t been ready to talk about what happened last month, but I just need you to know that I was ready to take a bullet for you the second I saw he had you. I had never been more terrified in my entire life, and you know me better than anyone to know that I don’t scare easily. I thought I was going to lose you. I felt so helpless at that moment, and when it was finally over, I knew I didn’t want to waste any more time without you as my wife. I was ready to propose to you the next day, but we needed time to heal, so I didn’t want to rush anything. However, today seemed like the perfect day to finally ask you because this day over fifteen years ago was the night I knew I was in love with you. Playing truth or dare with you had always been my favorite game even if I pretended it was stupid back then. I looked forward to spending any time I could with you, and I love that even after all these years, we can still laugh, tease, and taunt each other. I can’t imagine not having you in my life, baby. I love you doesn’t sound adequate enough for how I feel, but I love you more than anything in the world. You’d make me the luckiest man in the universe if you’d be my wife.”
“I-I can’t believe this,” she whispers with tears in her eyes.
“You know what happens if you don’t answer the question…” I tease, smiling.
She nods frantically. “Yes, yes, yes!” She wraps her arms around my neck, tackling me to the ground. I hold her face in my hands and kiss the fuck out of her, then kiss her cheeks and tears away.
“Give me your hand,” I tell her once we’re both sitting up. “Your left hand.” I chuckle when she nervously gives me the right.
I slide the ring on, and she gasps. “Jackson, it’s beautiful.” She slides it around her finger. “I can’t believe you did this…” I can tell she’s in shock, and it makes me so damn happy she had no idea this was coming today. “It’s so perfect.”
“It’s a double halo split shank ring with a full carat diamond.”
Kiera looks at me as if I’d grown a third eye.
“Well, that’s what I was told anyway.”
“You could’ve given me a Ring Pop for all I care, and I would’ve been happy.” She kisses me again.
“Only the best for my girl,” I tell her proudly.
“This is more than I could've ever imagined.” Kiera looks at me again. “Seriously…” She pokes me in the chest. “Are you really John? Blink twice if you’re being switched against your will.”
“Har har, you’re so funny.” I roll my body over hers until she’s pressed to the ground.
“Did you really fall in love with me on this exact date?” she asks, looking up into my eyes.
“You bet your ass I did. Even if you did burn my clothes and make me run back home naked.”
Kiera’s head falls back slightly as she laughs the memory. “Yeah, shrinkage is a bitch.”
“Feisty, sassy, and sexy—I knew at only fifteen you were the one.”
“Yeah? How’d you know?”
I roll off her and pull her up until we’re both on our feet. “Let’s sit,” I say, leading her to the hay bales. Once we’re able to warm up near the fire, I angle my body and look at her, grabbing her hand in mine. “I might not have known what it was back then, but I knew I felt something that wasn’t like anything I’d ever felt before. As I got older, I continued to deny it; my own insecurities kept me from telling you, but now that we’re here, I can confidently say it was that night that stayed with me after all this time.”
“We have shared so many memories,” Kiera says softly.
“Hundreds,” I confirm. “And I wanted to make another memory out here that will stay with us forever.”
She’s smiling wide and looks so damn happy. “We’ll be ninety years old telling our great-grandchildren.”
I chuckle, nodding in agreement. “And when they ask me how I knew you were the one and how we continued to love each other after all those years, I’ll tell them this…” I clear my throat, inhaling deeply. “It’s never felt this good before. Because it’s never been this right before. I’ve never felt so desperate to be with someone before you. I’ve never wanted anything more with anyone because I knew I could never give myself to anyone but you. It’s because it was always you who had my heart, Kiera. Those feelings I felt were locked up and safeguarded, and I wasn’t willing to let them out for anyone other than you.”
Kiera’s crying by the time I finish, and I pull her close and kiss her cheeks.
“You’re a beautiful man, Jackson Bishop. Inside and out. You’re the exact person you always said you weren’t, but I knew. You never cease to amaze me, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Reaching behind one of the hay bales, I grab the cooler Colton left for me.
“What’s that?” Kiera asks.
I open it up and take out a bottle of whipped cream and Mama’s famous apple pie. “I did promise you dessert after all.” I flash her a look that tells her exactly what I mean.
“You thought of everything.”
I hold Kiera in my arms, and we make love on the blanket I told Colton to leave out. It’s slow and sweet, and we share a connection I never knew existed until her.
“I love you,” I whisper as we lie under the stars. She’s pinned to my side with her arm draped over my chest. “I promise to give you the best life possible.” I place a kiss on her forehead, and she smiles, knowing I never break my promises.