12. Ricky

TWELVE

Ricky

It’s a quiet night at the ranch. All the men are bunked up except a few trusted men that I have patrolling the edges of our land. I’ve notified Sebastian and he’s keeping an eye on that side of our border. I notified the sheriff and he’s also trying to find out who the other parties are and how bad the trouble is that might be coming our way.

Christopher yawns and rubs his gray eyes and Caro smiles at him. “How about we go ahead and get you ready for bed?”

“I want to go see Harold,” he grumbles sleepily.

Caro sneaks a peek at me but says nothing. Guess this one is on me.

I kneel down in front of Christopher’s stiff little body. “Hey, buddy. We can do that tomorrow. But it’s kinda windy tonight and there are storms forecast. It’s better if we stay inside tonight and go see him tomorrow.”

Caro picks him up and he wraps an arm around her neck. Her forehead rests on his and my heart stills at that beautiful picture.

That right there is what I want more than anything. I want Caro as my wife and I want to be able to help her put Christopher to bed every night. I want to teach him how to ride on Harold when I haven’t even told Caro that I bought Harold for Christopher when she was here before. I knew that there was something special in the air at that time.

Sure, her disappearance was a little bump in the road and I’m still fighting the anger at that choice and what it cost us. Our family.

But I also almost lost Caro. And that thought is more terrifying than giving my heart to her. I want her. Forever.

She walks out of the room, cuddling her sleepy son and I wish more than anything that Christopher would call me Daddy and tell me good night in that sleepy little voice.

I want to teach him to play football and help him learn to drive in my pick-up.

I want him to have my name just like his mama.

Can I convince Caro that I mean all this? That I want to marry her and make us a family?

I don’t know. She’s a stubborn woman. But I intend to do my best to convince her and use everything I’ve got in my arsenal to do it.

My phone rings and I pick it up. “Hey, Sebastian. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Just checking in. Did you ask her to marry you yet?”

“It’s a little soon for that,” I say wryly. “I don’t want her running, screaming, into the night. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna do my best to convince her.”

He chuckles. “Yeah. Been there. Done that.” He pauses for a second and then sighs. “I haven’t seen any strangers yet but I’ve got the guys keeping an eye open. Several of my men have volunteered to do overnights for a while to keep an eye on things.”

“Tell them thanks from me. I’m sure that this is going to come to a head soon. My gut is twisted in knots and I just… I feel it. It’s coming soon.”

“Yeah. I feel it too. I asked Misty to go away for a while and she almost kneed me in the groin,” he grumbles. “Woman’s gonna drive me nuts.”

I stifle a laugh. Misty is a pistol that’s for sure. I have a feeling my girl is gonna be as big a headache. But that doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. I’m gonna enjoy every minute of the ride, like a cowboy on an angry bull. Sometimes you gotta love a challenge.

I hear a door close quietly and I say, “I’ve gotta go. But let me know if you see or hear anything unusual.”

“You got it, cuz.” I hang up my phone as Caro tiptoes into the room.

“I’m sorry. Did I interrupt you?”

I shake my head. “No. I was done.” I watch her silently and she bounces from foot to foot nervously. I hold my hand out and use the other to pat the couch beside me. “Come sit next to me, baby girl.”

She eyes me and I can hear the soft sound of her breaths in the silent room. She thinks for a couple of seconds that feel like minutes. And then she slowly, tentatively moves towards me. I wait patiently, holding my hand out. Finally, she slips her small hand in mine.

I drag her gently down beside me, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wants to.

But she doesn’t. Instead, she sinks into the cushions beside me and sighs prettily.

I reach over and touch her cheek, warmth radiating up my palm and all the way to where my heart beats in my chest. This is what I’ve needed for all this time. I fought it briefly but this is where she belongs. Where she’s always belonged.

“Caro,” I whisper, my husky voice a soft breath in her ear as I lean towards her. We still have things left unsaid. Still have so much to do and say. But one thing that’s not going to change is that she’s mine. And no other fucker is going to take her away from me.

She whimpers breathlessly and leans towards me. My lips skate across the sensitive, soft skin of her ear. “Baby girl,” I mumble. And then I pick her up and settle her on my lap. She shivers and her eyes open, stare, the pupils blown wide.

Then my lips take hers and it’s like she never left. Like we’ve been dancing around what was happening for ages and the next stage of the dance is here.

My hips jump up into hers and her head falls back, her long curls falling across my fingers where they’re digging into her wide hips. My fingers clench, tighten, until I know that I’m leaving bruises but she doesn’t care. Her breath pants across my lips, all peppermint and fresh.

“Ricky,” she whimpers and her hips roll into mine, her body moving closer until you couldn’t fit a piece of paper between us. I pull back and glance at her flushed cheeks, satisfaction rippling through me. Her eyes open again, dazed and dark with longing.

“If we do this, baby girl, there’s no fucking going back. You’re it for me and I need you to know that. This is it. You’re mine.”

“And you’re mine,” she mumbles under her breath, making me grin at the fierce desire in her darkened charcoal gaze.

“I’ve always been yours, baby girl. And I always will be.” She practically leaps at me and her lips slam into mine. It’s desperate, almost angry. Our teeth crack against each other.

My lips claim hers, licking along her seam hungrily, until she opens her mouth and then I take her. My tongue duels wildly with hers. She moans and presses into me. I grasp her hips and then flip her over until she’s underneath me. My body presses her into the couch. Her hands drift all across my chest and shoulders, tugging at my clothes until I pull my shirt over my head and she gasps. Her eyes flare with firelight and desire, intoxicating me until it feels like I’m so drunk I can’t think. The womanly floral smell of her surrounds me, burning the last bit of sanity I have left.

There’s only us and this moment, this perfect moment. My hand traces gently down her hips and she raises up, her lips seeking mine as I pull at her shirt and rip it off her body, moaning when I see her for the first time in what feels like a million lost years.

“Ricky, please.” My lips quirk at her soft, husky plea.

“I will always do my best to please you, baby girl. It’s my goal, my pleasure.”

And then my hands rip her jeans off, tugging and pulling wildly until she’s dragged even closer, her pussy so close to me that my dick pulses wildly in my jeans. I hiss out a breath and shift, hoping for some relief.

I can’t do this too fast. I’m a big man and she’s so damn tiny. I cannot hurt her. It would kill me.

I rip her bra off and then push her chest to the couch. “You stay right there, baby girl. Do not move.

She settles, her darkened, shimmering gaze fixed on me. I pull and tug at the last of her clothing until I finally have her bare. Her head cocks and she studies me closely.

“I feel like you’re overdressed, Ricky,” she groans. I shake my head.

“Oh, baby girl. If I take these jeans off I’m gonna be inside that hot, tight little pussy in about three seconds flat. That’s not gonna work for me. You’re gonna come on my tongue first before you get this.” I grasp my dick rudely.

But she doesn’t flush. Doesn’t look away. She licks her rosy, red lips and eyes my dick like it’s the best gift she’s ever had.

“Get those pretty eyes up here, baby girl. I want to see every thought in your head while I make you come.” Her eyes lock on mine as I turn her on the couch and slip to the floor, moving until her rounded thighs are wrapped around me and I brush my hands up and down her thick thighs, pushing her wide open.

Panting, eyes wild, she keeps her silvery dark gaze on me as my head leans down and I breathe her in. Breathe in her smell, the scent of her like manna to me.

“So fucking pretty,” I breathe out and then suck in a sharp breath, my head dipping down until I’m mere centimeters away from the sweet, juicy cunt that’s been driving me wild for what feels like forever. I reach out a finger and trace her glistening slit. She sucks in a breath and her hips jump.

But I brace her hips with my arm until she’s locked in place. “So fucking pretty…and mine,” I growl and then my first tentative lick turns into long, rough licks up and down her lower lips. She moans roughly but doesn’t look away.

I run my finger up her pussy and find her clit with my finger as I thrust my tongue deep inside her pussy. Fucking her with my tongue as she groans and her hips roll crazily. Her fingers tangle in my hair, tugging and pulling until it stings.

But I don’t fucking care. She could rip every hair on my head out and I’d still be lost in that damned pussy. Her slick heat pools on my lips and I groan, digging deeper with my tongue until I’m buried in her taste, her sweet musky scent.

“Oh my god, Ricky. I’m gonna come. Don’t stop, please don’t stop!”

I lick her up and down roughly, my finger wedging into her pussy, fucking her as my thumb pushes on that little button that drives her crazy.

Her hips push up and she wails, coming apart on my mouth, my teeth and tongue licking and nibbling, drinking up her honey like the sweet treat it is.

But that’s not enough. It will never be enough. I push another finger inside her tight heat and fuck her roughly, my tongue tracing up until it taps at her clit. She sucks in a breath, moaning and twisting on the couch, her moans rasping brokenly.

“Ricky, please.”

She freezes, her soft hips pushed up into my face until I can barely breathe. All I feel is her wrapped around me, buried in every pore of my body.

Then with a strangled scream as she grabs a pillow and pushes it into her face, she comes apart on my mouth, drenching me with her juices. I lap at them, desperate to catch every drop.

I lift up and wipe my mouth off, lifting the pillow off of her stunned face. Her cheeks are red and her eyes blown wide, panting breathlessly.

“Wow,” she breathes.

I stand up and grab my belt buckle, undoing it. “Oh…I’m not done with you yet, baby girl. Not by a long shot.”