Page 20 of Brand Me, Cowboy's Second Chance

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for me," I explain, holding her gaze so she can see my sincerity. "I turned them down, Anny. My heart wasn't in it the way I thought it would be. Because they might've been offering a contract... but you being here is offering me a life. After all these years of chasing the dream, I finally realized I was running in the wrong direction the whole time."

“Are you sure?”

"I don't want touchdowns," I say. "I want lazy Tuesday mornings. I want to fix fences with you. I want to lose to you at the cornhole and pretend I didn't. I want your damn greenhouse plants all over my truck seat. I want to kiss you in this barn when we're wrinkled and old and still in love."

Tears spill down her cheeks. She doesn't wipe them away. "I waited for you once," she whispers. "And it nearly broke me."

I step closer. "I'm not asking you to wait anymore. I'm asking you to build the rest of this life with me. Right here and now. I want to start today."

She stares up at me like I'm her whole world. I don't take the responsibility lightly. It's everything to me. I'll spend my whole life proving that to her.

Then Anny moves, and it's fast. She lands right into my arms. She wraps herself around me like she's trying to memorize the feel of every inch. Like she's afraid I'll disappear, but I never will. I hold her tighter than I ever have.

Her voice is a whisper. "Don't let go."

"There's not a chance in hell."

Because this time, when she falls, I'm going to be right here to catch her.

CHAPTER14

ANNY

Fallon tookme back to his place and we sealed our new promises in my favorite way… naked. He thought he could make it about me, but that wasn’t what I had in mind. He barely had the door closed before I dropped to my knees in front of him and showed Fallon how much I love him.

Afterwards, the man was dead to the world for hours.

Now I’m done with my work day. I let myself back into his house and find Fallon in the shower. He doesn't hear me over the rush of water, giving me a moment to appreciate the view. Steam billows around his massive frame. Water cascades down the sculpted planes of his back, over the curve of his ass, and down his thick thighs corded with muscle. My mouth goes dry at the sight.

Fallon looks like he was carved from marble. But marble doesn't have scars and Fallon sure as hell does. Each one tells a story of the years we were apart, and I'm suddenly desperate to learn them all.

I strip silently, leaving my clothes in a pile on the tile floor. When I slide the glass door open, he turns. Surprise flickers across his features before it melts into hunger.

"Room for one more?" I ask, already stepping in.

His reply is to pull me against him. His skin is slick and hot against mine. The contrast of the cool tile at my back and his burning body pressed to my front sends a shiver through me.

"Done with work already? Lucky me." He murmurs against my neck and his teeth grazing the sensitive spot below my ear.

I arch into him. My fingers trace the water droplets racing down his chest. I guide his hand between my legs. His eyes darken as his fingers explore me, finding me already slick and ready. "Tell me you’re mine" he commands, circling slowly.

"I'm yours, Fallon."

“Say it again.” With a growl, he lifts me.

“I’m yours.”

My legs wrap around his waist as he presses me harder against the wall. Water streams between our bodies, making everything hot and frictionless as he positions himself. He pushes into me with one powerful thrust.

I cry out, clinging to his shoulders as he fills me completely. He stays still for a moment, his forehead pressed to mine, our breath mingling in the steam. Then he begins to move, each stroke deliberate and deep.

The shower drowns out my moans as he takes me against the wall. His pace builds from measured to relentless. One of his hands grips my hip. The other tangles in my wet hair and he tilts my head back to expose my throat to his mouth.

I've never felt so claimed, so utterly possessed. And when he whispers, "Come for me, Anny," against my lips, I shatter around him. It triggers his own release.

We stay locked together. Our bodies tremble until the water runs cool around us. There’s no doubt that Fallon is exactly where I’m meant to be.

CHAPTER15

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