Destry (16 page)

“Does anyone else still think she is like five years old?” Brax asked with a smirk.

Austin grunted in reply, “Yep, so this is freaking me the fuck out.”

“I still remember her first steps and her first words,” I said nostalgically. “And when she broke her arm. She was lucky she was the baby of the house. Remember her demands?” We all laughed as memories flooded us before the reality of being orphans hit us and silence fell amongst us.

Being the oldest, I always felt a sense of responsibility being forced on me. I was so young when Mom died, and then when Dad passed, I had to take on the role of man of the house. I could have either gone down two paths. I could have completely let it destroy me or I could have stood up and been the man the three most important people in my life needed.

“You did right by us, Destry. Don’t think any other way,” Austin said softly, picking up on the thoughts swamping me.

“I hope so.”

My head whipped around when I heard the screen door close. Amelia walked towards us and leaned down to kiss Austin on the cheek, and then repeated the action with Braxton. Her eyes never met mine. She quickly said goodbye to them and walked off down the steps. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was going to fix this.

“Amelia, wait!” I called and went after her.

I grabbed her arm to stop her, but she instantly ripped out of my hold and spat, “Don't touch me.” Her words were a big slap in the face. Not long ago, she was crying out for my hands on her, now she was that hurt by me, she couldn’t stand it.

“I just want to know what is going on,” I told her honestly. Only I didn’t just want to know what was wrong with Ellie, I wanted to know about her. Amelia turned and kept walking. I ran my hands through my hair and yelled out, “Amelia, stop! Talk to me.”

She pulled up to a stop between the barn door and her car. She spun around to face me with something close to a snarl, “Oh, so now I’m good enough? You’ve decided you’re talking to me, now?”

“I— I mean. I just— it’s not like that, Amelia. You hurt me,” I stuttered. She unnerved me. Threw me of balance… she brought me undone. I caught movement from the corner of my eye when the boys got up and went inside to give us some privacy.

“Oh, it’s not? You’re the one who wouldn’t give me the time of day to explain to you what had happened. You made your mind up about me before you let me get a word in,” she roared at me. I stood stock still, stunned at the way she’d just completely blown her top.

“You had a fiancé,” I pointed out. That was all I had; I was a ball of mixed emotion.

“If you’d bothered to give me the time of day or a Goddamn second to explain to you, you’d know I had left him! When I crashed my car, I was driving as far away from him as I could get after I walked in on my ‘fiancé’ and my sister fucking each other’s brains out on my Goddamn sheets!” she screamed at me. Her breathing had picked up from pure anger and frustration.

“Fuck!” I cursed. I was such a fucking tool. She wasn’t cheating on me. My Goddamn ego had gotten in the way. I had screwed this up in the most epic way possible. “I’m sorry. I was hurt and I didn’t want… I don’t know what I wanted. I just know I didn’t want you to be able to hurt me like that.”

She gritted her teeth and glared at me, “You’re just like every other cocky cowboy I’ve ever met. Ignorant, full of shit and fucking blind. I was in love with you, but you couldn’t even see it.” She took a deep breath and my heart stopped.

She was in love with me? Holy fuck! She was in love with me. My heart started racing behind my ribs and I took a step toward her backing her up against the barn wall.

“Now, leave me be. Get back on your high fucking horse and ride off into the sunset. I’ll find my own freaking happily ever after.” Her words said one thing but her body said a whole other. She hadn’t been wearing a bra, and despite the warm breeze, her nipples were clearly hard. Her breathing was coming in fast bursts, making her chest rise and fall, drawing my attention to the pink flush of heat that was slowly traveling up her neck.

“You’re in love with me?” I asked, wanting to hear her say it again.

“Don’t be smart. It’s not cute,” she grouched.

“Amelia,” I asked seriously. “Are you in love with me?” I stepped a little closer, barely leaving a millimeter between us. My dick was now so hard I could hammer nails and her hands were clenched into fists beside her. She was either going to deck me, or she was trying not to touch me. I’d take either or both, so long as I knew the truth.

“Yes, I love you, you idiot!” Without a second thought, I closed the gap between us and pinned her flush against the wall, crashing my mouth down on hers. I kissed the ever-loving breath out of both of us. Her hands came up to my chest and rather than pushing me away, she fisted my shirt and pulled me impossibly closer. I brought my hands up to the wall either side of her head; she made a sexy little sound in the back of her throat, which broke my tightly reigned in composure. I growled into her mouth and moved my hands down, picking her up under her luscious ass. Her legs came up and wrapped around my waist effortlessly as I stumbled through the barn doors in a frenzy of tongues, teeth and lips. God, I’d missed the taste of her cherry flavored lips.

The moment I had her inside, I pushed us against the barn door and let lose. My hands were everywhere on her, unable to get my fill. I pulled her tiny tank off, causing us to pull away for a second. “I need you, ‘Melia.” I groaned when she pulled at the top button of my jeans.

She looked up from my crotch through hooded, lust-filled eyes and pulled my head down to her mouth. “You’ve got no idea,” she breathed against my lips, nipping my chin slightly as she peppered small kisses along my jaw. Reaching up, she pulled my shirt up and over my head. Dropping it behind us, she trailed her delicate fingers down my chest painfully slow. My dick started to throb with need when she stopped at my partly opened jeans and looked back up at me licking her lips.

“‘Melia,” I growled when she dropped to her knees, pulled down the zipper, and then tugged them part way down my thighs. My cock strained toward her thanks to my lack of boxer briefs. Without any hesitation, she took me fully into her mouth. My head spun and I reached out for the wall in front of me to stop from falling to the ground at the intense pleasure rushing over me. One of my hands landed on her head, as she started moving back and forth, the occasional hum from her throat running right to my spine.

“Holy fuck,” I groaned when she swallowed, taking me right to the back of her throat. My knees locked up when she did it again. I was so close to losing it down her throat; I grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up. “You’re gonna make me blow, darlin’,” I explained and stepped out of my boots and jeans while tearing her yoga pant things off her and throwing them somewhere to the side.

I pulled one of the thick picnic blankets down from the shelves beside us and flicked it out before laying her down, tracing over her body with my tongue, teeth and hands. Not an inch of her body was untouched. Writhing under me, she cried out when I lined myself up and rubbed the head of my cock against her sensitive clit. “Destry, please,” she begged, moving her hips in an effort to hurry me up.

I took a shuddering breath and planted myself balls deep. Amelia arched her back, her eyes rolling back in her head while she moaned long and loud. The sound of my own groans echoed around us. I pulled my hips back until I was almost completely unsheathed and pushed back in recreating that feeling over and over, until I couldn’t go slow any longer. I picked up my pace and pounded into her, both of us calling out as we neared the end of the tether. She bit down on my shoulder as she screamed out. Dragging me down with her, our sweat slicked bodies moved together. I moved my hips faster when the all too familiar tingle started up my spine and my balls drew up tight. “Fucking hell, “I cursed loudly and came deep inside her with a roar.

Before I could collapse on top of her, I rolled to the side dragging her with me, where I tucked her up beside me and we caught our breaths. I needed to make my feeling clear, lay it all out for her. I ran my hand slowly in circles across her lower back, relishing in the feeling of her skin against mine. Knowing I’d been damn close to losing the best thing that’d crashed into my life, I held her tightly, unwilling to let her go.

"So we just officially christened the barn," my voice was deep and content. I had been searching years for this exact moment. I still held her in my arms, her breathing echoing out of her chest after what was possibly the craziest, intense sex session I’d had.

"Well, I didn't think that would be happening when I turned up." She buried her face in my chest and I closed my eyes under the intense feelings swarming me.

"I love you, ‘Melia. I knew there was something about you the moment I saw you, but I was a stubborn ass. I want you in my life; I want you and all your past. I promise I won’t be so reactive in the future. The past few weeks have been hell without you."

"You're all I have now, Destry. You're all I want," she told me quietly.

"What do you mean, ‘I'm all you have, darlin’?" I asked, slightly confused.

"I left them... my family. You don't understand the life I was stuck in before I met you. Always told what to wear and how to act, told who I was supposed to marry. My parents expected me to stay with my bastard ex-finance and be the perfect Stepford Wife, even after he slept with my sister and got her pregnant," she rushed out.

Anger at the way she’d been treated and how she’d been brought up spread through me. I sucked in a breath. "Are you fuckin’ kidding me?"

"No. I told them to go to hell and they cut me off. I want nothing to do with those toxic people. You're it for me. You're my everything. You, Brax, Austin and Ellie, you're my family now."

I caressed her back and took a moment for the anger to dissipate. "You're my everything too, darlin’ and you're perfect the way you are. Those people never deserved you. Maybe I don’t either, but I’ll spend every waking moment making sure you know how special you are." I dropped a kiss on her forehead and ran my hand in lazy circles on her back. "I'll never let anyone make you feel that way ever again. There's not a goddamn thing about you that I don't love, ‘Melia. I was wrong about you being a city girl. This is where you belong. You’re a country girl through and through. You fit here, darlin’. You fit me."

She pulled her face away from my chest. Her satisfied eyes smiled at me in pure contentment. "And I promise no more secrets. If we are going to do this, everything has to be shared, no secrets, no fears, no regrets."

Destry and I cleaned up, our eyes never leaving each other and our hands touching each other whenever possible. I was so damn in love with this man. Grabbing my hand tightly in his, Destry pulled me out of the barn and we walked hand in hand toward the house.

“You done drinking up a storm, cowboy?” I asked, the question hanging on my lips.

He stopped walking and pulled me into his chest, my hand landing on his muscled stomach. “You gonna move in with me?” he asked with a small smile and a need flickering in his gray-blue eyes.

I stared up at him and laughed. “Well, my place was about to get crowded anyways. Ellie decided she wants to move in there.”

I watched him closely as I announced the news. I knew how much he adored his little sister, and this would be massive for him to get his head around. His eyes widened and I heard the hitch in his voice as he spoke, “When was this decided?”

I stood on my tiptoes and grazed his lips with mine, offering him comfort. “She will be safe, and it’s time for her to have her own space. She is a young woman, but she will always be your little girl.”

“You do realize I’ll be over there all the time.”

“She knows that.”

He looked at me in a way I’d never seen before. His eyes flashed with recognition and something else, maybe hope, maybe new beginnings. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me even closer to his chest. “Ellie can have your place, as long as you come and live in sin with me.”

“Mhmm, how am I meant to reject an offer like that, cowboy?” I mumbled against his mouth when I bought his face back to mine. “I think I like your particular flavor of sin,” I told him with a smirk.

He palmed my ass and pulled our bodies flush, grinding his hips into mine. “Cherry,” he laughed. “Cherry’s the only flavor I need.”

“Let’s get inside and get this done so I can show you how many times I can sin in a night.” I pulled him up the stairs towards the house, loving his throaty chuckle as we went. The house was unusually quiet; there was always noise in this house. For a moment, I thought everyone had left; that was until we stepped into the living room and were met with three sets of curious eyes staring expectantly at us.