17. Ricky

SEVENTEEN

Ricky

My heart hammers against my ribs and I swear to God I’m going to have a heart attack.

The gun in Kirby Rohr’s hand is pointed at Caro’s chest and it feels like it’s pointed at my own chest. I can’t breathe. Can’t move, can’t blink.

What the hell am I supposed to do now? She’s taunting the guy who’s pointing a gun at her and I want to turn her pert little ass over my knee and spank it red with my handprints.

What the hell is she thinking?

But I don’t have time to go into what’s running through her beautiful head. I can see from here that his finger is rocking on the damn trigger and I’m seconds away from losing the best thing in my life.

And that ain’t happening. I’ll kill this fucker with my bare hands first.

Or I’ll let him shoot me. Anything to save the woman I love.

I’m an idiot. I know it. But it’s all crystal-clear to me now. I’d do any damn thing necessary to keep her and Christopher alive and well. To give her everything she wants and make her smile every day, the sunshine and heat in her eyes warming me from the inside out.

I need her. Need her love.

I nod to one of my men and he nods back, heading for the back door. I hold back until he’s in place with another one of my men. Then I take a deep breath and step into the barn.

“Ricky!” Her soft cry makes me feel weak but I keep moving towards the woman who vaguely looks like my girl. Keep moving until I’m between Caro and the man who’s sweating bullets and glaring at me.

“You need to get the hell out of here. The police are on their way.”

He snorts. “You’re lying. Just trying to get your girlfriend out of here without losing again. Like I did.”

Fury rages inside my belly but I push it down, knowing that I need to keep a clear head to keep Caro safe. That’s all that matters now.

I shake my head, wincing slightly when his trigger finger pulses again. “I’m afraid not. They’re coming. And they’re gonna take you away forever, buddy. You’re never gonna see daylight as a free man again!”

He snorts but I see the sweat beading on his forehead. “Why the hell did you have to get involved in this, man? You’re not part of this!” His hand shakes and I move slightly when he tries to point the trigger around me. Caro moves her sister so that they’re both behind me.

“I am involved. You shot my woman. You made her lose my child! This is absolutely my business. Now get the hell off my land, asshole! I’m about to lose my patience.”

“What are you going to do about it,” he snorts.

Behind him, I see the subtle movement and the rope whips through the air and catches the asshole mid-word. It wraps around him and then my guy pulls hard. The rope tightens and then both my guys and I are on him. I pull my fist back and slam it into his face, satisfaction blooming when I hear the crunch of his bones. Blood spurts out of his nose and he screams like a fucking girl. All three of us get ahold of him and I kick the gun away when it falls on the ground. The rope tightens and the guy falls to the ground where we hog-tie the son of a bitch and I stand up to wrap my arms around Caro.

“Are you alright, baby girl?”

She shoves hard at me and growls under her breath. “Are you kidding me? What the hell were you thinking? You could have been hurt!”

I hold her away from me and growl like a fucking tiger. “Are you fucking kidding me? Dammit, woman! If I ever see you being held at gunpoint again, I’m gonna kill the son of a bitch with my bare hands!” I kick at the bastard on the ground and mutter an expletive when he moans. “And then I’m gonna spank your bare ass until it’s red! You are giving me fucking gray hairs, woman!”

“Don’t yell at me!” she hollers and then she bursts into tears. “You scared me,” she whimpers as I gather her into my arms and cradle her head gently. I kiss her face softly, feeling the salt of her tears on my lips.

“I scared her,” I whisper softly, a smile curving my lips as she hiccups a sob. “You fucking terrified me. I cannot take any more surprises today. So you’re gonna come home with me and I’m going to fuck you until you’re screaming my name and then I’m going to give you the ring I bought for you as soon as I met you.”

She backs away and stares at me, her gray eyes so wide that she looks like one of those manga characters. She hiccups, her sobs dying down. “What?”

I smile and delicately trace the trail of tears on her pale cheeks with my thumbs, wiping them away and cupping her sweet face. “Baby, I knew as soon as I met you that you were the one. Hell, I told my grandmother that I was going to marry you that night.”

“You did not,” she scoffs, her gray eyes sparkling.

“I did. She told me that she was glad I’d finally stopped being an idiot.”

“Now that I can picture!” She throws her head back and laughs and then we’re pulled apart when the sheriff shows up and sighs loudly. His dark eyes stare at the dirty, dusty floor and the bastard who’s muttering and crying.

“Well, you just couldn’t wait for me to take care of this, could you?”

I shrug. “What do you want from me? The guy pointed a gun at my woman.”

Caro slaps me. “Hey! I’m not property!”

I nuzzle into her neck and grin. “I’m gonna have “my property” tattooed on your ass.”

“Doubt it.”

“Maybe not. But I’m gonna put my ring on your finger and then we can get started on our family as soon as possible. I’m gonna bury myself so deep in you that you’re never gonna get rid of me,” I whisper in her ear, grinning when I see her quiver.

“You keep saying that but you haven’t asked me a damn thing, Ricky Rowe. Don’t you think that I deserve that?”

“You do. And I will.” I glance around at our interested audience of my guys, the sheriff, a couple of his deputies and the guy glaring at me as he’s lifted from the ground and handcuffed. “Just not right here and now.”

Angel clears her throat and Jace and the woman with him start backing away. “And with that, I think we’re all gonna clear out.”

Caro turns back to her sister. “What about you? Where are you going?”

She grins and hugs her sister, her eyes so like Caro’s staring at me over her sister’s shoulder. “I’ll always find someplace, sis. I’ve got this. You just be happy.”

She points her finger at me as she turns away. “Don’t fuck this up.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

She salutes me with two fingers and then nods to Jace. “Can you guys give me a ride to a hotel?”

They all turn away and I’m left with the woman that I can’t live without.

She pokes me in the chest as the room clears out, the last guy closing the door. “You still shouldn’t have called my boss. That’s my job, my business.”

I shrug my shoulders and pull her into me. “I’d like to say that I’m sorry, Caro, but I’m not. Your safety is more important than anything on this earth to me. If I have to piss you off sometimes to keep you happy and healthy… and safe, then I will.”

She rolls her eyes but there’s no judgement to her. “Fine. Then I’ll try not to kick your ass when you do it.”

I set her away from me and hold out my hand. She eyes me and then takes it. “Deal.”

“Deal.”

Her gray eyes swim with easy tears and my lips quirk. “You know you’re never getting away from me, right?”

She laughs lightly. “I love you too, Ricky Rowe. So damn much.”

I tug her to me and wiggle my brows. “You ever made love in a barn, sweetheart?”

“Can you promise me that nobody’s gonna come busting in here?” Her smile is devastating to my heart. It leaps in my chest and leaves me breathless.

“No. I can’t.”

She stands up on her tiptoes and whispers against my lips. “Then you better get a move on, Ricky. Cause I’m going crazy right now and I fucking need you in me right this second.”

I breathe in the sweet, seductive, familiar scent of her and I finally…finally feel at peace. This is what I’ve been looking for. She’s my home, my peace, my happiness. All the things I need all rolled up into one sassy, sexy little package.

“I can do that,” I breathe and then I seal her lips with mine and everything else fades away. The future is ours.

I tug her into me and then lift her up, her soft legs wrapping around my waist as I jog, blind, as I kiss her, until I finally bump into a wall. I lift my head. Her gray eyes are soft and dark and deep with longing and I know mine must look just like that.

Because she’s everything to me.

“I love you, Caro. Forever. Will you marry me?”

She smiles and it’s misty and water-logged but she laughs and throws back her head. “This is the moment, huh?”

“Yeah.” I grasp her cheeks as I lean my hips into her to hold her up. I groan when her hips rock into me, lighting the fuse on the desire that’s never far away when she’s around.

She leans into me, her lips seeking mine. “Then yeah, I will.” And her lips touch mine, her tongue teasing and taunting me, wrapping around mine.

My hands rove her curves and in seconds we’re lost in each other and ignoring every damn thing other than the hunger fueled by lust and love. The want flares like a five-alarm fire and roars over us, consuming us as I drag her down to the straw and we lose ourselves in the feel of hands and tongue and teeth until I’m balls-deep inside her and gritting my teeth to keep from coming in seconds.

Her walls squeeze me and I come apart right behind her release, feeling the flutter and staring right in the shimmering starlight of her eyes. “I love you,” I grit out as she wails my name.

“Yes, yes, yes, Ricky! Don’t stop!”

Yeah, never. I will want this woman until the day I die. I grunt and fall across her, smirking when she shudders and shoves at me.

“Lord, you’re heavy.”

I close my eyes and sigh, tugging her closer. “You’re a testy woman but I love you.”

“Good.”

Then she closes her eyes and her breathing settles, slows. And I close my eyes, smiling. My nose runs along her throat, smelling the familiar scent of her and sucking it into my lungs. My core.

Home. Her smell reminds me that I’m home. Now and forever, as long as I’ve got this woman and whatever family we’re lucky to have, I’m a rich man.

I kiss the top of her head and tug her closer, smiling when she squeaks and then settles in my arms. My eyes close and I let myself finally relax.

The future is looking damn bright and she’s my sun, lighting my whole world.

My skin warms and my heart thaws in my chest. And I close my eyes and sleep better than I’ve slept since she left me. Even if it is in scratchy, itchy straw.