Rowdy’s hands were fisted in my hair, our earlier hard sex in the shower having demolished the polished updo Sarah had created for me before the wedding.
“Sierra!” Rowdy tugged on my hair, trying to pull my mouth away from him. “I’m going to come, baby.”
I doubled my efforts, swallowing him down again, and I felt his whole body go rigid just before he filled my mouth with his hot release. I swallowed it down and kept sucking until he let go of my hair and collapsed back on the bed. With a wicked grin, I sat back on my heels, letting him slip from my mouth with a pop.
“Jesus,” Rowdy gasped, still out of breath. “That was fucking phenomenal. I think you’re trying to kill me, but what a way to go.”
I laughed as I got to my feet, using his legs to push myself up. I bent over and kissed his flat stomach, marveling that I was now married to a man who had the chiseled body of a greek god.
“I have a present for you,” I told him as I walked toward the dresser to get the packet of papers Marcus had given me earlier in the day.
“Oh, honey, that was the best present you could have given me.”
“I think this one might be a little bit better.”
“I doubt it, but we’ll see.” I watched from the end of the bed as Rowdy sat back up and moved so that his back was against the headboard.
I crawled up the bed toward him and knelt between his splayed legs, just as naked as he was and not caring the least little bit. I handed him the envelope and watched his brows furrow.
“What’s this?”
“My wedding gift to you,” I told him honestly. “It’s what I talked to Marcus and Reagan about that day when I asked to meet with them alone.”
Rowdy opened the envelope and pulled the folded papers out of it. When he unfolded them I watched his face change from curiosity to shock.
“The house and land are in your name. The only stipulation is that if you ever want to sell, you give Nicole the first option to buy,” I told him. “The paperwork on the sale went through before we were married, so the property and the house belong completely to you no matter what happens.”
“Why?”
“At first, I wanted to give you something that was just yours to make up for the fact that you were giving up your freedom to protect Lexi and I,” I bit my lip trying to form what I wanted to say, but finally shook my head. “Now, it’s not so much a thank you as it is a gift that I knew would make you happy. I truly want to make you happy.”
Rowdy was staring at me, his eyes dark and intense. He tossed the papers onto the bed beside his leg and reached out to pull me up to him, my legs falling to the side as I straddled his.
“You make me happy. Our girls make me happy. The smiles on your faces tonight are burned into my brain as one of the happiest moments of my life,” he told me earnestly. “I am happy. Happier than I’ve ever been. Happier than I ever thought I could be. You and Lexi fit with me and Leia so well, I can’t imagine a life without the two of you in it. I know it’s soon and I know it’s crazy, but I love you Sierra Lincoln and I will with all my heart for the rest of my days.”
I tried to hold it back, but a sob escaped as I leaned in to kiss my husband. I felt it. I knew they were there, but I just couldn’t let the words out. Instead, I showed him.
15.
ROWDY
“There’s a storm in the forecast,” I told Sierra as I leaned in to kiss her hello. “It’s that season, so it could be bad.”
“Yeah,” Sierra looked up at me worriedly. “I’ve never had to deal with tornado season really. Last year, it was mild, or so Nicole said when I saw her earlier. I didn’t even know that there were tornado sirens in town until I heard them testing them one day.”
“Freak you out a little bit?”
“I thought we were being invaded!” Sierra laughed. “I was at the apartment and I threw the door open to see what was going on. Everyone was rushing out of their apartments for a tornado drill. Scared the shit out of me.”
“Well, you guys know how to get into the shelter. If you hear the sirens, go straight there. I’ll need to let the horses out so they can run if they need to.”
“You just let them out? What if they get hurt?”
“They know by instinct what to do, babe. They’ll hurt themselves if they’re locked up and a tornado drops down.” I walked over to the fridge and popped open a beer, “What's for dinner?”
In the month that we’d been married, Sierra had amazed Leia and I with her cooking skills. She could make a meal out of anything and I was glad to see that she was teaching Leia the skills she had already taught Lexi along with new recipes for both girls to learn.
“I thought we’d ride out and have a picnic since the weather was so nice, but maybe we should just stay inside.”
“Let’s have a picnic, just a little closer to the house. The girls can work on their riding in the corral and you and I can snuggle up on the blanket while I tell you
