20. Conner

Conner kissed the top of Beth's head as he held her close to him. She fit his body perfectly as though she was made for him.

"You are so incredible," he said.

"Thank you," she said.

"You do everything so right," Conner said. "How did you learn to suck cock like that?"

Beth squirmed a little in embarrassment and said, "Part of it was that you taught me. You told me what you like."

"What was the other part?" Conner asked.

"I know how to read. I read romance books and magazines, and I've even read some stories on a few websites," Beth confessed.

"You naughty girl," Conner teased. "I never would have thought that a prim and proper woman such as yourself would avail yourself to such tawdry content."

"A girl has to do something when she's facing the rest of her life alone. I read some stories, got out pinky, and took care of my own needs."

"Pinky?" he asked.

"Yep. He's about seven inches long, and four and a half inches around. He's made of medical-grade silicone and has all the ridges that a penis has," Beth said.

"I guess ole pinky falls a little short compared to me," Conner teased.

"A lot short in many different ways." Beth laughed.

"I'm afraid that he's going to be jealous while I'm around."

Beth sucked in a huge breath after he said those words.

"You might just have to retire him for good. I doubt if you could donate him to the needy, but you could put him on the top shelf of your closet and remember the good ole days with him," Conner said.

"What are you saying?" Beth asked.

"I'm suggesting that I might stick around. What do you think?"

"Taryn would love that," Beth said.

"I know she would. What would you think, though," he asked.

She pulled away from him, turned over, and faced him. Beth braced her head with one hand and traced his face with the other.

"I've never stopped loving you. I was intensely, incredibly, deeply in love with you the day that you disappeared. My heart and my soul shattered into a million pieces when I found out what happened. All of these years, I've carried my love for you in my heart," Beth said. "So, in answer to your question, you sticking around would fulfill all of the dreams I've had over the last eleven years."

"I'll take that as a yes, you would like me to stay." Conner grinned.

"Yes," she whispered.

He lightly touched her face and then pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"I love you, too."

Beth searched his face questioningly. "Is it a real, true love or is it a memory – residual love from the past. You and I have changed so much over the last eleven years. The memory of what we once had, while sweet, couldn't be enough for us now."

Conner held her hand and kissed it. "I assure you that I am deeply, completely, absolutely in love with you."

He wiped the tear that fell from her eye.

"I can't believe it," she said.

"You should," he replied.

He leaned over and kissed her deeply. They wrapped their arms around each other and made love. It was a slow sensual session that spoke of a love past and love renewed. They brought each other to a peak, exploding at the same time.

Once their hearts had stopped racing and their breathing returned to normal, he said, "Girl, if we keep this up, I'm not going be able to ride bulls, broncs, or Zephyr."

"Boy, if we keep this up, I'm not going to be able to walk."

He laughed and pulled her tight against him. It didn't take her long to fall asleep. Conner smiled to himself and kissed the top of her head. She felt so right in his arms. Beth made him whole – Beth and Taryn. He had never known that there was such a huge piece of him missing. Now that he was complete, he wondered how he had ever existed.

With the exciting thought of them being a family, he fell into a deep sleep. Beth was singing in the kitchen while she made breakfast the next morning. He had forgotten just how terrible a singer she was.

"Mom, why are you torturing me like that? I've been a good girl," Taryn called as she walked into the kitchen.

"I'm happy," Beth said.

"Then why are you trying to make my eardrums explode?"

"You are exaggerating. My singing isn't that bad," Beth said.

"Yes, it is," Conner said, walking up behind Taryn. "This time I'm siding with our daughter. "Your singing could be categorized as a weapon of mass destruction."

Beth groaned, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "I don't care what you think. I like to sing when I'm happy, so I shall sing when I'm happy."

"Oh, no," Taryn said. She looked up at Conner and asked, "Do you want to know what the best part of breakfast is?"

"What's that?"

"She can't sing with her mouth full," Taryn said.

"Laugh it up, you two. Keep it up, and I'll just add a pinch of ghost pepper to your food."

"That's better than your singing. The pain doesn't last as long," Taryn teased.

Beth stuck out her bottom lip and pretended to be sad.

"Let's quit teasing your mother," Conner said. "A happy mother makes a happy house."

"True. I haven't seen her happy enough to sing in a long time, so I guess if you want to sing, you can."

"No. You've already hurt my feel-goods."

As they ate, Conner welcomed the feeling of contentment and satisfaction. They were a family. He was going to make it official as soon as he could make it to the jewelry store to get a ring.

"How about if Taryn and I go to the grounds this morning, and you can hang out and relax for a while," Conner said.

"Actually, I'll go to the store and catch up to you guys later."

Taryn hugged her mom. She was delighted when she saw Conner hug Beth and kiss her, a little more than just a peck.

On the drive over, Taryn asked, "Do you love Mom?"

"Yes, I do," he said.

"Good. I know that she sure loves you. You should have heard the way she's always talked about you. It made her both happy and sad at the same time."

"I'm going to do my best to make her happy, now, although I'm pretty sure I'll make her angry and sad."

Taryn nodded wisely. "I understand. Mom and I love each other, but sometimes we make each other mad and sad."

They took care of the horses and headed to the rides. "Aren't you getting tired of this by now? We've gone on all the rides and toured the fairgrounds at least three times."

"How can you get tired of fun?" Taryn asked. "Besides, I have to stock up on rides and games, because they'll be gone in a couple of days and everything will go back to normal."

"I've never thought of it that way."

They hung out together, laughing, talking, riding rides, and playing games.

"That was fun, but now I'm ready to have more fun kicking butt," Taryn said.

"Who taught you to talk that way?"

"What? There is nothing wrong with saying butt. We all have one and it's better than saying a…"

"Okay. Point made." Conner laughed.

They got to the corral and Conner grabbed Taryn's arm. "Stop. Don't say anything."

He got out his camera and started taking pictures. Kelly was messing around with Taryn's saddle blanket. After he had several pictures, he stormed over to the rodeo queen.

"What in the hell do you think you are doing?" he asked.

Kelly looked startled. All of the color drained from her face. "I… I was… I was just admiring her blanket."

The rodeo manager had heard Conner's yell and rushed over. "What's going on?"

Conner showed the manager the pictures from his phone. He picked up Taryn's blanket. It was covered in burrs.

"What were you doing?" he asked.

"I just thought that if she left the rodeo, neither of them would come around, and I could have Conner to myself," she said.

By this time, a group of people had gathered around, watching the scene.

"This is outrageous," the manager said. "Your conduct is despicable. You do not deserve the title of rodeo queen. You are not to set foot near my rodeo ever again."

He waved his arm. "Gideon, bring over security."

"Wait. I'm sorry. I didn't think she would get seriously hurt. I just figured she would get bucked off and they would go away."

She turned to Conner, grabbed his arm, and said, "I'm in love with you. I just want to be with you."

Conner breathed hard to control the rage that was pulsating through him.

"You tried to hurt my daughter. As far as I'm concerned, you should be very thankful that there is a crowd of witnesses here. If you had actually managed to hurt her, I would rip you to pieces in front of everyone."

Two armed security officers arrived. "This woman is to gather her gear, hook her truck up to her trailer, and be escorted off the premises immediately," the manager said. "If she fights in any way, I want her arrested for trespassing and assault on a minor."

"Yes, sir," one of them said. "Let's go," they told Kelly.

Beth rushed up just as Kelly was leaving. "What's wrong?" she asked breathlessly.

Conner quickly explained the situation.

"You can press charges against her, ma'am," the rodeo manager said. "She will lose her crown and will never be allowed to be a part of my rodeo again. Word will get out. Her career is done."

Beth looked at Taryn, who shook her head.

"As long as she never comes near my daughter again, I won't press charges. I suspect that what she's about to go through is going to be worse than three hots and a cot."

Conner wrapped his arms around them both. "We still have about an hour," he said. "I feel like throwing darts at balloons and baseballs at bottles."

They laughed and walked off together as a family.