InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (59 page)

            Tia’s lips
parted slightly and her eyes rolled back as he slipped his hand beneath the
fabric and stroked a nipple with the pad of his thumb. He separated the fabric
and unhooked the clasp of her bra, gently kneading the flesh and taking one of
the hardened nubs between his lips. He felt her moan resonating in her chest,
and pulled away just long enough to tug his shirt over his head so that he
could press against her body.

            “I missed
you,” she smiled as she nuzzled his neck and raked her fingernails gently down
his bare back.

            “Prove it,” he
murmured back, sliding his hand down to undo the button on her jeans. She
lifted her hips to shrug out of them, and he quickly slipped out of his own,
tossing the clothing to the floor and stretching out beside her.

            She took his
hand and kissed each of his fingertips, taking the middle finger into her warm
mouth before moving it between her legs and pressing his hand against the heat
of her mound. He moved his hand upward until he found the velvet folds, his own
growl vibrating in his throat as he slid into her drenched opening. “I’ll take
that dare,” she smiled, reaching down and wrapping her hand around his urgency,
gently stroking the tip with one finger.

            “You know,” he
said with a half-smile, “Every single time I tell myself I’m going to take it
slow, make it last, tease you until you beg for mercy; but then you’re naked
and I lose all control and want to ravage you like a beast. You have me under a
spell, love, and I can’t keep my head.”

            “I don’t want
you to keep your head, baby,” she said as she tightened her grip on him, “I
want to bury it deep inside me.”

            “Bloody hell,”
he croaked, sliding his slick finger out of her and rubbing small circles while
bringing his lips to hers. He reveled in every gasp that he took into his mouth
and the way she swayed her hips as he brought her closer to climax and when her
hips shot upward and he felt the shudder through her entire body, he dipped his
finger into her again and felt her tighten around him. “You are an incredibly
sexy woman, Tia Hastings. I can’t wait to make you my wife.” 

            She swung her
leg over and straddled him, raising up and then sliding onto him, her back
arching and a groan escaping her as she took the full length of him. She began
to rock slowly, rising and falling as he ran his hands up her stomach and over
her breasts. Finally, he could take no more, and he pushed his hands beneath
her, flipping her over and driving deep in one swift motion. Her mouth made an
‘O’ of surprise, and she cried out as he pushed faster, bringing them both to
the edge and then tumbling over.    

            She pulled him
to her, taking his full weight and nuzzling his neck. “I can’t wait to be your
wife,” she whispered.

            “This place is
amazing, Dyl,” Tia said as they walked through the many rooms of the incredible
house. It was a huge space, but the layout made it feel intimate. Several
bedrooms were in a separate wing of the house; complete with a second kitchen
and its own entrance from the outside, so they could still live in relative
privacy when the rest of the guys showed up for rehearsals. Every room was
homey and filled with comfortable furnishings, and the kitchen absolutely took
Tia’s breath away. She looked forward to cooking for the two of them and for
InHap when they came in late July. “I really think I will love it here.”

            “Come on, I
want to introduce you to Denny and Alicia,” Dylan said after showing her the
gardens and the secluded pool area that would be great for hosting summer
parties. “They’re the caretakers of the place, and they run the ranch. Alicia’s
an amazing cook, and Denny has the greenest thumb I’ve ever seen, as well as
being something of a horse whisperer.”

            Dylan grabbed
a backpack and they walked down the winding, wooded driveway, then past a
pasture where four majestic horses and two foals, still shaky on their spindly
legs, were grazing on the spring grass. “Oh, look at the babies!” Tia
exclaimed, running for the fence and jumping onto the bottom rung of wood to
get a better look. “They’re beautiful, Dyl; are they yours?”

            “Ours,” he
answered, smiling. “I thought you’d like them. The gray one is Murphy; he’s a
bit ornery and thinks he owns the place, the brown one with the white markings
is Angel; she’s a sweet gentle soul. The brown one with the black patch on his
nose is Brutus, and the black one is Shadow. I haven’t met the foals yet…you
can name them once you’ve had a chance to get to know them.”

            Dylan dropped
the backpack and unzipped the top, pulling out some apples and making a
snickering noise in the direction of the majestic creatures. They were already
on their way over, but they quickened their steps when they saw the treats
Dylan held up for their inspection. He handed two of them to Tia, who happily
fed them to Angel and Shadow. “Aren’t you a beauty,” she said as she let them
sniff her hands and then rubbed between their eyes. “Are those your babies?”
Angel snorted an answer, then nuzzled Dylan’s arm.

            “Hey there!” A
man’s voice rang out. Tia looked up to see a man perhaps in his fifties
complete with cowboy hat and boots striding out of the barn. “Bout time you
showed your face around here again. They’ve missed ya,” he tossed his head
toward the horses, “and frankly, so have we.” He turned his head and called out
for Alicia over his shoulder.

            “Great to see
you, Denny,” Dylan said, pulling the man into an embrace. “It’s always good to
be home; especially this trip.” He turned to Tia. “I want to introduce you to
my fiancé, Tia. She’ll be moving in here in a couple months; after the
honeymoon. Where are the boys?” he asked, looking around.

            “Jake took
them in to the vet for their shots. They should be back soon.”

            “We’ve got
dogs?” Tia asked excitedly.

            “Two,” Dylan
answered, “Jasper and Murphy.”

            “Don’t tell
them they’re dogs, though,” Denny added. “It’ll hurt their feelings. Well I
have to say, it’ll be great to have a lady of the house,” Denny said, wiping
his dusty hands on his even dustier jeans before extending his hand to Tia.
“Pleased to meet ya, ma’am.”

            “Tia, please,
and I’m glad to meet you, too.” She heard another excited greeting, and saw a
heavy-set woman jogging toward them. She wrapped Dylan in a warm hug and kissed
his cheek.

            “It does my
heart good to see you, Dylan,” she said with a huge smile. “I’ve been reading
the papers and seeing you on TV...” she turned to Tia, “…and this is the lovely
Tia. Best wishes to you both on your engagement; and I’ll tell you, it’ll be so
nice to have another woman around this place.”

            “Tia, meet
Alicia. She’s my mum away from home, and they’re both part of my family.”

            The woman
pulled Tia into a breathtaking squeeze. “I’ve been hoping for a long time that
Dylan would find the right woman,” she said warmly, “he’s a great catch, but
I’m sure you know that already.”

            “I certainly
do.”

            “Now you know
I’ve stocked the place,” Alicia said to Dylan, “but I’m cooking up a fabulous
supper—homemade fried chicken with all the fixins’, and I’m hoping you’ll join
us.”

            Tia hadn’t
thought about it, but as soon as food was mentioned, her stomach growled in
response. She smiled at Dylan and gave him a slight nod.

            “I’m going to
take Tia for a ride to see the rest of the place,” he said, “and then we’d be
happy to. We’ve got some catching up to do.” He turned to Denny. “Can you help
me saddle up Angel and Murphy?”

            “You bet.”
Denny let out a shrill whistle, and the horses headed for the barn.

            The property
was incredible, and Tia couldn’t believe that she’d be living in such a
magnificent place. They meandered through some forest trails, and galloped
across open spaces with the mountains rising up behind them. There was a large
pond down a hill from the back of the house, and they scared up two herons as
they approached on horseback. They left the horses to graze, and walked across
a curved wooden bridge to a gazebo that sat on an island in the middle of the
pond. Dylan reached into a cooler that was already sitting there and pulled out
a bottle of champagne. “Alicia’s the best,” he said as he popped the cork and
poured two glasses. “She knew I’d bring you here.”

            “I’m really
blown away by the whole thing,” Tia said. “I can’t even believe that I’m going
to be living here. It’s just amazingly beautiful; and so private. I can see why
you chose this place.”

            “It’s going to
be more amazing once you’re here. I’ll really have something to come home to
then.”

            She heard the
barking before the dogs came into sight. From the top of the hill, a Golden
Retriever and a chocolate Lab mix came bounding down the hill, tails wagging
and back ends practically dragging on the ground as they put on the speed to
rush over to see Dylan. “There’s my boys!” he said happily, and they skittered
across the bridge into the gazebo wriggling uncontrollably and wagging their
tails as Dylan scratched them all over. “Jasper,” he said, touching the Golden,
“Murphy,” he said, pulling his face from the Lab’s tongue, “this is Tia. Your new
momma. Put on your manners and say hello.”

            “Hi, babies,”
Tia said, putting out her hand for an introductory sniff. Dylan snapped his
fingers and they both sat and offered her a paw. She took one in each hand, and
scratched them both behind the ears. “I love dogs,” she said with a smile. “I
think I just might like it here.”

            “Wait until
you try Alicia’s homemade fried chicken. You’ll never want to leave.”

            They ate in
Alicia’s homey kitchen, Tia smiling as they traded stories and the couple gave
her the rundown of the place. After the meal, Denny and Dylan went into an
office to discuss ranch business, and Alicia and Tia donned their jackets and
sat on the front porch to watch the sunset over the mountains.

            “How long have
you been here?” Tia asked.

            “Oh, going on
thirty years, I guess,” Alicia answered.

            “Then you were
here even before Dylan?”

            “Oh, yes.” She
cocked her head at Tia. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”

            “Tell me
what?”

            “I figured as
much. That’s the kind of guy he is. You’re one lucky lady, Tia, I’ll tell you
that; although I think you already know.”

            “I definitely
do.”

            “This place
was Denny’s dream. We’d just been married a couple years when the property went
up for sale. His whole family went in on it—his parents and two brothers—and
started the ranch. They each built here, and ran the ranch together. For a long
time it was a huge success; we’d have folks paying to have a real dude ranch
experience, we bred horses, farmed a bit…it was a great life. You probably saw
the cabins on your ride.” Tia nodded. “One after the other, his brothers moved
on and Denny bought them out, and then his parents passed on and it was the two
of us; until Denny had his accident.”

            “What
happened?”

            “He was
working on a tractor, and it fell on his leg, shattering his femur. Long story
short, he had to have a number of extensive surgeries; he has a metal rod in
his leg now.”

            “Oh, wow.”

            “He was out of
commission for almost a year. The medical bills were astronomical, and there
was physical therapy…he couldn’t ride or work the land. We hired people to come
in, but that just about eliminated our profits, and we were in a hole that we
couldn’t get out of. We sold off the horses and the farm equipment, but it
wasn’t nearly enough with all the bills coming in. It was the hardest thing in
the world for him to do; we held on as long as we could; but we had to put the
ranch up for sale. The real estate market wasn’t so good at the time, so we
were forced into a really low asking price; much less than we thought the place
was worth. We were an eyelash away from bankruptcy, and Denny was falling into
a depression. Then, lucky for us, Dylan came along. He’d apparently been
looking for some acreage in the general area; it was his assistant who came to
see us first; a lovely little spit of a woman.”

            “Jessa,” Tia
smiled.

            “That’s her.
Is she still around? She was such a nice girl.”

            “Oh yeah,
she’s the best.”

            “She said she
was sure that her ‘client’ would love the place, and she gave us some earnest
money right away and set up a meeting. We had no idea who he was at the time;
we didn’t follow music or movies too much, and I don’t go in for those tattler
magazines. We just thought he was a nice young man. Our hearts were breaking at
the thought of giving up our dream, but we didn’t have much of a choice at the
time. He came by twice to check the place out; once with Jessa, and once with a
team of folks; architects, builders, and the like. Then he asked to speak with
us. We sat down right here with some lemonade, and he asked us point blank why
we were selling for such a low price. I kind of broke down and told him the
whole story; told him it broke our hearts to leave the place; told him about
the dude ranch business…he absorbed it all, and told us he’d stop back in a couple
days. When he came back, he made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.