Page 17 of Redbird

He tucks me into bed. I listen while he showers, fighting to keep my eyes open.

Then his warm body is under the sheets. Against mine.

We both sleep soundly through the night.

CHAPTER SIX

GERARD

The next week that passes is bliss. She’s off her birth control and all I can think about is the possibility of her being pregnant soon. The possibility of another child with the woman I love. The next stage in building the legacy of Sovereign Mountain Ranch.

I wake early Monday morning, as I always do. The curtains are drawn back and pale, summer sun filters in.

My wife is naked, one knee on the windowsill. Her nose is pressed to the glass. Sunlight dapples her skin and makes her hair glow deep red. My eyes rove over the curve of her spine. Down her tapered waist and the swell of her full hips, dotted with freckles.

“Come here,” I say, pushing myself up to sit against the headboard.

She turns, tucking her hands behind her back. A little smile ghosts her lips.

“Why?” she says.

I cock my head. She shakes hers and those brilliant eyes glitter.

“I see you didn’t learn anything last night,” I say.

She relents, climbing into bed. I bring my hand down on her ass as a reminder not to be a brat. I don’t like it, I never have. She gets a window to buck me here and there, but not often. And it always comes with a correction to remind her where we stand.

I pull her into my lap. There’s nothing between my hard cock and her bare pussy but the thin sheet.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” she says, lifting her hands and stretching like a cat. Pushing her breasts a little closer.

I put my hand between her thighs and part her with my fingers. She’s wet, more than usual. Deep inside me, something purrs at the thought she could be ovulating.

“Just you,” I say.

She laughs and turns to climb down, but I hold her in place.

“When is your period due?” I ask.

Even after all this time, she still blushes at the question. “A few weeks, maybe more. I can check.”

I shake my head. “Judging by how you’ve been acting, I’d say we should start trying.”

“How am I acting?” Her brows arch.

I flip her around and crack my hand across her ass. “Rubbing your pussy on me. Walking around our room naked. You know what you’re fucking doing.”

Instead of getting shy like she usually does, she hops off the bed and shakes her hair back. Giving me a full view of her breathtaking body as she pads into the bathroom. I hear the shower run and I get up to dress for chores.

For a second, after I’ve got my clothes, hat, and boots on, I linger on the other side of the door.

Tempted by the faint pomegranate scent of my wife.

But I’m going to be late, so I leave and move down the hall. Cash’s door is open and his boots are gone from beneath his bed. I head downstairs and find him on the front porch. Squatted down with his little cowboy hat pushed low over his eyes. He’s looking at something on the ground.

I lean over.

“What’s that, son?” I ask.

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