Taking a step away from the bed, he undid the buttons on his vest first, then his shirt. When both were done he removed them at the same time and tossed them onto a chair in the corner of the room. My eyes trailed over his tanned body and lingered on the long muscles; my fingers twitched with want but he was standing too far away. He leaned forward, cupped my cheek to kiss me softly, and walked over to all the windows, shutting the blinds and curtains at the same time his other hand went to the button on his pants. With pants undone, but still on, he crawled onto the bed and on top of me, unsnapping and pulling away my strapless bra before lowering me to the bed.

His head bent low and latched on to one breast, teasing the nipple relentlessly before moving to the other and doing the same. When he was satisfied with how worked up he’d gotten me, he kissed me long and hard as he pulled my lacy white boy-cut underwear off and placed a knee between my thighs.

“Beautiful,” he mumbled, and brought my arms above my head, pinning them down onto the pillow.

Leaning up, he kissed my Ursa Major tattoo, and I was able to sneak in a kiss to his abdomen before he slid back down and smirked at me, then slid all the way down. No matter how many times I’d had every part of this with Gage, every time felt better than the last and like I’d been denied his touch for years. A breathy moan left me when he swiped his tongue against me and a shudder rippled through my body. One hand lay flat on my lower stomach as the other went to help with his mouth and I thought I’d die right there on the bed. My body tightened but I held off as long as I could before the heat in my stomach exploded, making it even more intense and limb numbing, and I gave myself over to what I knew would only be the first of many orgasms tonight.

Without wasting any more time, I brought his face back to mine and used my free hand, with the help of my toes, to push down his slacks and dark boxer-briefs. He finally kicked them both off and positioned himself between my legs, kissing up my chest and throat to my lips. Grabbing his length, I wrapped my legs around his back and guided him to me, gasping out in raw pleasure when he pushed himself inside me.

“Cassidy,” he groaned, and pressed his lips to the dip in my neck as he slowly started moving.

Our bodies, as always, moved together in perfect synchronization, and I was once again so thankful I’d never done this with anyone but Gage. He had been the only one for me from day one; there had never been anyone who had made me feel the way Gage did. My bond with Tyler and my connection with Connor would never hold a flame to what this was. This was raw and passionate, it was pure and unconditional, and it was tender and full of an understanding I never expected to have.

Gage propped himself up on one elbow and cupped my cheek with one hand as his pace quickened; my legs left his back only for my thighs to squeeze his hips and my heels to dig into the bed. My hands urged him to move faster and I felt that familiar heat intensify as my body began tightening around him again. His breaths were coming harder and faster, and I begged him not to stop. The hand on the bed clenched the sheet, his forehead hit mine, and the muscles in his jaw worked as he tried to hold off a little longer. My head fell away from his and my mouth opened, but no sound left as I climaxed for long, incredible seconds before crashing down just moments before he did.

We lay there holding each other, still connected, and waiting for our breathing to even out. His lips were pressed to the top of my head while mine were pressed to his chest; the only words we could seem to form were I love you.

Chapter Nineteen

GAGE

WE’D JUST FINISHED herding the last of the cattle into a different section of the ranch, and God, this day couldn’t have been longer. Cass hadn’t been feeling that great when I left her that morning, and I hated leaving her when she was sick, but the move couldn’t wait. There was a huge storm coming in that was supposed to be there all week, and it’s too hard to move the cattle during a storm—point made when the storm came halfway through the day. It was almost the middle of October, and it was already cooling down, but the cold front that came with this storm was wicked, and swear to God the cattle just decided to plop their happy asses on the ground. Not like we weren’t expecting them to prepare for the storm, but this storm was why they needed to move in the first place; there were too many creeks running through the part of the ranch they were in, and where they were going was elevated. So when they’d all lain down in groups, I’d groaned and tried to prepare myself for a long afternoon.

It’d ended up taking an extra three hours to get them all in, and by that point I was snapping at some of the ranch hands whom I’d known practically my entire life. I apologized as much as my pissed-off self would allow when we got all the horses back to the stable, hopped in my truck, and drove back home. I had a sick wife who needed taking care of, and she’d expected me home hours ago. Driving up, I hated not seeing Cassidy standing there with Sky—not like I really expected her to be there tonight, but it showed just how bad she was feelin’.

Since our “honeymoon,” which was really just an amazing week in our home of uninterrupted time with a naked Cassidy, she’d started her own routine with our lives, and damn, I loved it. Every morning I got my hug in bed; she’d tell me to come back after I finished feeding all the other animals, and she’d have breakfast waiting for me; more often than not, breakfast led to a whole lot else that resulted in our having to sanitize different surfaces of the kitchen again. Then she and Sky would walk me out and stand on the porch until I was gone. Some days I’d come back for lunch if I wasn’t busy, but every night she and Sky were waiting on the porch as I drove up. Seeing her waiting with a big smile on her face in the house I built got me every time. I was a lucky man, and I thanked God for giving her to me every damn day.

Sky jumped up from where she’d been lying near the steps on the wraparound, and I barely scratched her ears as I raced into the house. The scent of food caught me off guard and I slowly made my way back to the kitchen. Cass should have been in bed. Rounding the corner, I was relieved but also worried that Mama was standing there making soup.

“How is she?”

She looked up and smiled. “Sleeping. She’ll be fine though. Just the flu.”

I nodded. “Thanks for comin’ to check on her, Mama.”

“Of course, of course. Dinner’s in the oven, should be done in just a few minutes. And I just need to put the last of this in the pot for her soup. Why don’t you go take a shower? I’ll be outta here in ten or so minutes.”

“All right, thanks again.” I kissed her cheek and crept down the hall. Sky had followed me inside and was now stretched out along Cassidy’s side, with her head on Cassidy’s stomach. Cass was completely out; her face was ghostly white and a thin sheen of sweat clung to her. Kissing her warm forehead, I turned and headed for the bathroom to take a quick shower.

CASSIDY

I WOKE UP with a start, and it only took a few seconds before I realized why. My stomach rolled and I raced to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet in time. I groaned and slid down to the cool floor of our bathroom. It felt so good right there, I was going to stay there forever. I curled up onto my side, pressed my cheek onto the tile floor, and hoped my stomach would stay calm the rest of the night.

Gage had woken me up some time ago and fed me a cup of soup. It’d stayed down for an hour and he’d let me go back to sleep, but apparently I still wasn’t ready for food. My stomach rolled thinking about dinner and I took calming breaths through my mouth until the uneasiness passed.

I didn’t know how long I’d been lying there, but I was still awake when I felt something on my leg. Figuring it was my imagination and not wanting to take my arms from my sensitive stomach, I wiggled my leg and curled back up into a ball. Not a minute later I felt it again and I sat up to look, wishing I’d turned on the light in my race in here. I had to blink my eyes a few times to focus on whatever the large lump was on my leg, and only when its tail curled up above its body did everything become clear.

“Gage!”

GAGE

MY BODY SHOT upright and I was out of bed before I realized that Cassidy wasn’t in bed and had screamed my name. I was already in the hall heading to the living room when a short, pained cry came from the master bathroom. I turned around and burst through the door as soon as I reached it. She was in the bathtub and it took me a second to notice she was fully clothed and there was no water in there. I took two large steps toward her and her hands shot out.

“No, stop!”

I froze.

“It—it’s right there.” Her hand was shaking uncontrollably as she pointed down.

I looked down but only saw the floor. Taking a step back, I flipped on the lights and had to blink a few times before I could look at the dark tile, and there, not two feet from the bathtub, was a scorpion. I laughed and looked up at a freaked Cassidy.

“Hang on, darlin’, I’ll get him.” I jogged into the closet, grabbed the first shoe I found, and went back to smash the shit out of that ugly thing. “That isn’t the first one you’ve ever seen, is it?”

She didn’t answer and I decided it probably was and felt like an ass for laughing. I’d grown up in the country, where scorpions were a common thing; she’d grown up in a country club neighborhood in a rich city in California. I’m sure she’d never once had to worry about these things.

When I had it cleaned up and thrown away and the shoe wiped off, I looked up and noticed she was still violently shaking; her cheeks were wet, eyes were huge, and lips were chalky white and trembling. She didn’t look like she had earlier from being sick; she looked freakin’ terrified. God, I was such a dick. I lowered my voice and spoke in a soothing tone. “Cass, it’s okay, he’s gone. Come on, let me take you to bed.”

Her head started shaking quickly back and forth when I got to the edge of the tub, and she was still staring at where the scorpion had been.

“Cassidy, it’s okay. You need to calm down or you’re gonna force yourself to go into shock. Breathe, babe.” When she didn’t make any move I exhaled loudly and put my arms under hers; it was when I started to lift and her hands slipped from the side of her calf that I saw the trickle of blood coming from a small red circle. “What the hell? Shit, Cass, were you stung?!”