Page 24 of Rekindled Heart

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 isthat 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. Thewomanly 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.