Chapter Twenty-Eight - Westin

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

WESTIN

She doesn't safeword me, not even when she goes limp in my arms. Her cries turn to moans as she hits her breaking point. Her tears taste like defeat.

The good kind, the sweet kind.

This isn't about our bodies. No, this is about the barrier she keeps up between us. Maybe it's about the barrier I keep up too. Her heart is so soft, her mind so beautiful, but she protects it behind a wall. I know all about building walls, and I know how hard they are to break down.

Touching her body isn't enough. I need to touch her heart.

I want her to touch mine too.

My hips stutter, and I realize I can't hold back. Her eyes are rolling, but she won't safeword me. She's so fucking stubborn, she's going to force me into making that choice.

If she was mine, I'd push her all night. But I can't leave marks.

So, I thrust deep and come, filling her up for the second time tonight. What's done is done. She gives a soft moan and sinks onto her belly. My body eases over hers, still hungry for her bare skin against mine.

She whimpers. I brush her hair back and kiss her temple .

"Are you hungry, darling?" I whisper.

"Yes, sir." Her lips barely move.

I ease my cock from her pussy, and she lets out a groan when I slip the plug from her ass. I lift her, draping her arm around my neck, and carry her to the bathroom just down the hall. It's spacious with a large tub, big enough for both of us. I turn on the water and set her on the sink.

She lifts her eyes to mine.

"That was…."

I brush her hair back and pull it free from the braid. "You were perfect," I tell her.

She bites her lip. "I was loud," she whispers.

"Of course you were," I say. "You were getting put through my mattress. I'd be disappointed if you weren't."

She smiles weakly. I tilt her chin up and kiss her mouth. When I pull back, she looks a little more grounded.

"Go use the toilet," I say. "Do you need me to lift you?"

She shakes her head hard. "Can you leave?"

"You want me to leave so you can pee?" I ask, unable to keep from smiling.

She nods. I shake my head.

"No. Get used to me never leaving you alone," I say.

She blushes, but she goes to do as she's told. I wash my face with cold water, mostly so she doesn't feel like she's in my spotlight. The toilet flushes, and she's pushing me out of the way so she can wash her hands. I grip her waist and nuzzle my nose against her neck.

She smells like my wife.

I help her into the tub so I can wash her hair. It's soft like silk in my fingers. She moans as I work shampoo into her scalp. This is less about her needing to be clean and more about giving her physical closeness while she unwinds.

She eases into my body as I run warm water through her hair to clear the suds. When I'm done, I turn her around and pull her into my lap to rub her hair dry.

"How do you feel?" I ask .

She nods. "Really good. There's this…never mind."

Her chin dips, but I lift it. "Tell me."

"There's this…knot that I always have in my chest. Maybe it's anxiety, maybe just from being all tensed up, but I don't feel it tonight. Maybe I don't feel it when I'm with you at all."

She doesn't want to look me in the eyes. I hold her against my chest so she can hear how my heart is beating for her tonight.

"I have you," I say quietly. "And I'm not letting you go home."

She goes rigid and pulls back. I said the wrong thing. I should have just locked her in my bedroom, but I know that would break her heart.

"I have to go back," she says. "Carter Farms is mine, and I'm getting it back."

I shake my head. "No."

Fire blazes in her eyes. "You can't tell me shit, Westin."

I want to laugh, but she's dead serious. Instead, I do something incredibly reckless and decide to tell her the truth, maybe because I'm at the end of my fucking rope.

She's my wife, not his.

She shouldn't be in his house. She should be in my bed where she belongs.

"We're going to kill them," I say.

Her entire body goes stiff. Her lips tremble. "What?"

"Sovereign is going to kill the Garrison brothers," I say. "We've planned on it for a while now. It was just never the right time, but I think it'll be soon."

She mouths silently, then she shakes her head.

"No, no, he can't do that," she says. "They're the only thing keeping my farm safe. He can't do that."

I grip her waist, keeping her in my lap.

"His family has feuded with theirs for decades," I say. "Abel Garrison, your dead father-in-law, tried to rape Sovereign's mother. He evicted their family when they fought back. And Clint fucked Sovereign's fiancée, back when they were young, right before he got in a car wreck that killed her. "

She rears back, shocked.

The clock in the hall ticks. Her throat bobs. I see the gears working in her head.

"I understand why he might want revenge," she whispers. "But please, let me talk to him."

"No," I say. "No, I have this handled. I won't have you begging anyone but me for mercy or for the lives of the Garrison brothers. They're not worth your breath."

"No," she says, her nails digging into my chest. "But my land is worth everything."

She jerks herself from my grasp and steps from the tub. I follow her, water dripping on the floor as she heads back to the bedroom. Her hands shake. She starts tearing up the room, looking for her clothes.

"Diane," I say.

She ignores me.

"Diane Carter," I say. "I will tie you to my bed if I have to."

She freezes, glancing up. I mean it, and she can tell. Tears rush into her eyes, and she sinks down onto the bed, cradling her hands.

"It's all I have of her," she whispers.

I kneel before her. She's rubbing her knuckles so hard, I have to grip her wrists to get her to stop. Her hands were warm when I fucked her. Now, they're ice cold.

God, I'd do anything to keep her from feeling like this ever again.

This isn't just about land or a family cemetery for her. This is her last lifeline to the woman who raised her, and she's clinging to it with both hands.

I know her heart aches, but if she wants her farm, she has to trust me.

"Darling," I say, weaving my fingers through hers. "I swear to God, I will not kill the Garrison brothers. Your farm will be safe."

Her chin trembles, and she inhales sharply, blinking back tears. She's distraught enough that she clearly didn't catch the only thing I promised was that I, personally, wouldn't kill Thomas and Avery.

"Really?" she whispers .

I kiss her hands. "Really."

She sniffs, her shoulders easing. I feel guilty for twisting the truth, but it doesn't matter, because I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her through this alive.

The Garrisons will end up six feet under. Carter Farms will go to her; I'll make sure it's her name on the deed if it's the last thing I do.

Maybe I'm a bastard, but I'm the bastard she's got. I won't kill the Garrison brothers. I'll keep my promise in a technical sense.

Sovereign will pull the trigger.

It's his blood to spill, not mine.

All I can do is make sure he does it soon. Her arms slip around my neck. She kisses my mouth, and I feel her fingers on my upper back, tracing the raised brand.

"Take me home, gunslinger," she whispers.

That word has always haunted me, but from her lips, it tastes like sweet, whiskey-laced tea. So, I do as she asks, and I watch her while she puts her clothes on. We drive through the darkness, and I walk her up the hill to the empty house.

When I return, I take Rocky from the barn and ride out into the dark. At the crest of the hill, I dismount and let him graze nearby in the moonlight. Far away, I see the light from her barn glitter.

I stay up watching it all night.