“No one did. I’m great at hidin’ shit like that. But, I wanna get to my point. I wanna step down back in Calgary. I wanna come here, to transfer, to be here for her. I . . .” Cowboy looks off in the direction of Destiny’s room. “I don’t wanna miss any more precious time with her. Not when she’s growin’ like a weed and I can barely keep up. For fuck’s sake, I missed her first steps, baby.”
Both of our eyes go wide when he calls me baby. It’s been so long since . . . since he’s spoken to me this way. Tears form in my eyes and slowly slip out, coating my cheeks. “She’d love for you to be here.” I say with a smile.
I realize I’m still touching him, so I slowly pull away, figuring that’s what he wants me to do . . . but he grabs my hand. My heartbeat intensifies while we stare into each other’s eyes. “I shoulda told you this shit back then, but late is better than never, right? I don’t wanna keep fightin’ this, Tala, not when we have the biggest fight of our lives right in front of us.”
God.
Am I hallucinating, or is this my reality right now?
Chapter Seven
Give people time. Give people space. Don’t beg anyone to stay. Let them roam. What’s meant for you will always be yours.
~ Reyna Biddy
Cowboy
“I was pissed at you and I walked out on you, but I never walked out on her. I’m sorry for what I did. I . . . I think I might’ve needed time. I dunno, but what I do know is I’m not gonna keep fightin’ this anymore. Not when . . . not when he could be tryin’ to take her away from us. I never said this back then, Tala, but I . . . I still . . .” Somehow, I’m losing track of my thoughts as I stare at her, surveying her thin, pointy nose and her full cheeks. The same nose and cheeks Destiny has.
Tala broke my fuckin’ heart and there’s no denying that, but time heals all things, or at least I think it’s a sayin’. “I still do too,” she pipes up. I lean my face into her hand, loving the way her soft palm feels against the bristles of my few day-old stubble.
The way she looks at me makes me want to devour her, to rip her to fuckin’ shreds and remind her body what it’s like to be with me. I can be anything she wants, a soft lover or a filthy one. Fuck, she’s my guilty pleasure.
Fuck it.
Wrapping a hand around the back of her head, I dip my mouth down to hers, breathing her in like she’s air. She’s tense at first and then relaxes into my touch. I hoist her up with my other arm and she wraps her legs around my torso.
She’s keeping up the pace, sensual yet starved. Our tongues collide like two rushing bodies of water, in synchronization, yet dangerous. “Cowboy,” she moans my name against my mouth.
I glance down into her dark eyes and see the need, the desire. God dammit, it’s been too damn long for both of us.
I slide her cut off her back and then mine, tossing them both on the back of the couch, then shred her shirt and off comes mine. In a matter of minutes, we’re both naked, heading into her bedroom. I shut the door behind us and waste no time filling her, ramming my cock inside her tight heat. She’s tighter than I remember, but then again, it’s been quite some time.
“Dammit, Tala.” I hiss, grinding my cock deeper inside her, I suck her nipple into my mouth. She arches her back to meet my thrusts with shaking legs.
“God, I missed you.” She says, sounding a bit choked up, I look up and see she’s crying. Tears sliding down her cheek in an effortless stream. Releasing her nipple, I kiss away the tears.
“Sssh, none of that. There’s no need for it, baby. I’m here. I’m here, and I’m not goin’ anywhere. I’m ready for us to be a family. I won’t fuck this up. I promise.” Little does she know the sincerity of my words.
“I never told you this, but I loved you, Cowboy, I still do. I was just too damn afraid to say anything to you. I was scared you wouldn’t feel the same way.” Here she is crying again, so I do the same and wipe away her tears, pressing my lips to her cheeks as I slow down my pace.
“What a silly thing to be scared about,” I say, meeting my lips with hers again. I show her how much she means to me, devouring her mouth while rocking myself inside her. Putting a hand back, I hike her leg higher up on my hip, needing to nestle myself deeper inside her. “I don’t want us to be separated again, Tala. I’m serious. I want us to be a family.” I reiterate what I want from her, needing some sort of confirmation.
“You’re really prepared to give up being Prez to be with us?”
Looking back down into her eyes, I nod. “There’s no place I’d rather be. This situation with Stoney showin’ up has only confirmed it. Maybe it was the wake-up call I needed to realize what’s important to me.”
“I don’t want you to give up your title, Cowboy. I feel like it’s not right.”
“Tala, I want this. I want us, woman, so for fuck’s sake, let us be happy. Stop overthinking and just accept what I want.” I laugh in the middle, finding amusement out of her stubbornness. “And god, can we stop talking shop while I’m fucking you?”
She smirks with a nod, crushing her lips back against mine, her walls tighten around me and I know she’s close. My cock is begging to release inside her, to fill her walls with my seed. It’s been so long since I’ve marked her, and for the first time ever, I’m marking her as mine.
When I do it, I’m gonna fuckin’ do it right.
Tilting my hips, I increase my pace and my balls tighten, ready to unleash my load.
I grab her by the back of her head, rooting my hand deep in her hair. “You’re mine, Tala. My woman. My ol’ lady. Mine. My fuckin’ partner. The mother of my fuckin’ kids. My rock and, my fuckin’ Prez. Tell me you want this, for the love of God tell me you want this shit ‘cause I don’t know if I can handle it if you don’t.” She has no idea how much I’m prayin’ one of these swimmers will implant inside her. I want her stomach rounded with my children as soon as possible. Fuck, when she was pregnant with Destiny, I couldn’t keep my hands off her.
Tala wraps her arms around me, “Everything you said and more,” she confirms, kissing my lips delicately as I release myself deep within her.
I’m no fool. This is a first step, but I have a good feelin’ this is gonna be a fresh start for the two of us.
Chapter Eight
Some things are destined to be—it just takes us a couple of tries to get there
~ J.R. Ward
Boss
An ear curdling shriek makes me practically jump out of bed. Well, I’m not the only one. Cowboy jolts out of bed too as our door busts open. Destiny running in, in her pajamas, with the biggest smile on her face. She jumps right on her bed, “I’m three! I’m three!”
She looks right at me, turning her back to Cowboy as he rushes into the bathroom and wraps a towel around himself.
“Mommy, were you and Daddy having bubble time?”
Bubble time means bath time. It’s the only way I can get her to agree to a bath most nights, telling her I’ll make sure there are tons of bubbles.