Maverick (Star Valley Book 3) (33 page)

Leah spread her legs wide for him, sun beating down on her bare skin. She was no longer embarrassed or ashamed of her battered body. Austin (and Snake River) had healed her soul to the point where it didn’t upset her to be seen anymore. Not by him. The pieces that were still missing, the ones that had been taken from her, would heal as well, in time. Everything would heal as long as she had him.

As long as they had each other.

She could never forget he’d lost the baby, too. Their pain was a shared one but it was their
love
that bound them together.

Leah’s fingers dug into the dirt as Austin’s entered her, gently with no sense of urgency. They had forever, after all. First one finger dipped in, then a second. He wet her clit and stroked it slowly as he ducked his head and drew a nipple into his mouth. Soon every swollen nub on Leah’s body thrummed and tightened in the cool breeze as he squeezed and licked and pinched and rubbed them into hard points, each one in turn.

She needed no words of encouragement or explanation as he moved over her, positioning himself at her throbbing entrance. She wrapped her legs around his waist and lifted her hips, taking him inside all the way. The only sound was a gasp that escaped her lips as he pushed in deep and stretched her wide.

A tear dropped onto the hollow of her throat and she realized they were both silently crying. That was okay. There would be a lot of tears, she was certain. There was no point in holding them back. Her own slid from the corners of her eyes and dropped onto the grass underneath her.

She put her hand on his chest, felt his heart, felt her own. They weren’t hollow anymore, at least.

She finished quietly, legs and arms wrapped around him. She knew he felt it, though, because he slowed a little, in obvious deference to her.

When she was done, he thrust a few more times until he emptied himself inside her but she didn’t release him even though they were both done. They lay together in silence, nothing but their breath between them. Leah ran her fingers through his hair and drew his head down to her lips. “We start here,” she whispered.

‡

A
ustin stood in
front of his family and his closest friends, with Walker at his side. Candace stood just feet away, holding onto her bouquet of yellow roses. Willow had scattered the path with petals, happy once again to reprise her role as Flower Girl. She was far too young to understand what had happened or her role in it. She only knew there had been a baby but now there wasn’t. It seemed cruel to explain anything else.

He kept one eye out for uninvited guests, knowing his brothers were doing the same. Court had braved the storm in pursuit of their trespasser, but Palmer Conroy had been long gone by the time he’d crested the ridge that night. No one had seen hide nor hair of him in town or on their land. A complaint had been filed, and Palmer was, once again, wanted for questioning.

Austin half hoped the man was already in Colorado or Texas or Oklahoma by now. If the man never stepped foot in Wyoming again, that’d be just fine with the Barlows.

Palmer didn’t appear but Leah did and a hush fell over the small, assembled crowd. She wore a blue dress that matched her eyes and a smile that matched her soul. Austin didn’t think any woman could look more beautiful. There was no music but the morning birds but that had been the way she’d wanted it.

Austin had promised her it wouldn’t rain, despite the clouds overhead. It provided a nice bit of shade from the summer sun and the grass stayed dry as a bone as she walked between the rows of chairs to stand with him.

Tears pooled in her eyes but Austin was used to it at this point. Leah’s tears had a thousand different meanings. He’d spend the rest of his life learning every damn one of them and never get tired of it.

Walker produced the rings when asked, opening the dove gray velvet box with ease. Leah had found a jeweler in Jackson Hole that would let her use her own design. The box held two of them—His and Hers—side-by-side gold bands that looked like tiny braided reatas. When he slipped the smaller ring onto her finger, it fit perfectly against his mother’s gold engagement ring. His own eyes stung a bit as Leah gently slid on his. She was so totally, and completely a Barlow, yet hadn’t lost a bit of herself. She stood barefoot in the grass smiling up at him and he had to lean a bit farther to kiss her, but he didn’t mind at all.

*

For their honeymoon,
such as it was, they stepped off the plane in Denver and checked into their hotel before Austin informed her he had a surprise planned. They walked downtown, taking in the charm of the city’s center until they turned a corner and came to their destination.

“We’re here,” he announced, as they stepped over the curb.

Leah gazed around them, trying to guess which storefront might be the right one. Her eyes skipped over western wear, antiques, a law firm, and a tax consulted but halted at a large set of steel double doors shaded by a gray awning.

Forever Families
.

She pulled him to a stop on the sidewalk. “Austin,” she said, eyes wide.

“Nothing’s decided,” he said calmly in a tone totally at odds with her racing heart.

Leah shook her head. “We can’t adopt.”

“Of course we can. If we want to.”

“We don’t have the money, Austin. It’s expen—”

He grinned at her and squeezed her hand. “We have
some
money. I still have my award money. And we’ll have more when the Folly really starts to pay off. We’ll have so much more. And they’re not going to give us a kid
today,
” he reminded her. “But we can get more information, find out what’s involved. We can’t adopt a whole football team, true, but we can adopt
one
baby. One baby that we’ll love with everything in us. I don’t care how much it costs. That’s what the money’s
for
.
For family
.”

The odds of Leah getting pregnant the first time had been dismally low. The doctors had been clear that the damage to her uterus during the fall and subsequent miscarriage coupled with the almost nonexistent supply of viable eggs made it next to impossible for a second miracle.

One had been enough, though, Austin thought. They’d make their own miracles from now on. “There’re a lot of ways to have a family, Leah.”

“I know. I know! I just…I…You want to do this? Really?” Before he even answered, Leah felt a familiar tug inside her and held herself perfectly still.

Hope.

That’s what she felt.

She resisted the urge to tamp it down, to tell herself that she was an unlucky person, that no good would come of trying to pursue more happiness than she’d already been given. Her breath came quickly anyway, and she felt lightheaded.

He leaned down and cupped her face with his free hand. “It’s a gamble, Leah, remember? When you want something this much? But I’m all in.
I am all in
. What about you?”

She nodded, though, and squeezed his hand in return. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m all in.”

Under the hot summer sun, Austin held the door as they stepped into their future, hand in hand.

THE END

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Phoenix Snow came into the world already at a disadvantage and not just because of her name. She’s the short, plain daughter of a supermodel, but she’s learned to make the best of it. Instead of being in front of the camera, she’s behind it. A fashion photographer in L.A., she’s happy enough just to photograph beautiful people if she can’t be one.

She has a great eye and she never misses a shot. That photo of her fiancé with his hand up a runway model’s skirt is particularly sharp. It cuts to the bone, in fact. Before she’s even aware of what she’s doing, she’s applied for a job as a wildlife photographer for a magazine and hopped on a plane to Star Valley, Wyoming to get as far away from L.A. as possible.

For Phoenix, the Tetons are a happy, hazy memory of summers spent with her grandfather, August Snow, world famous wildlife photographer. He’s gone now, but he left Phoenix his quaint little cabin, nestled in the bend of the great Snake River. It’s the perfect place to hide out and lick her wounds.

Well, it would be, if it had a roof. Or indoor plumbing. Or a working fireplace. She’d settle for a soft bed at this point. But no amount of hardship will make her turn back, not even when Latin lothario Gabriel Vasquez heats up her sheets every night, but tells her to get the hell out of dodge every morning.

As the Twister for the Barlow family, Gabe’s job is to break in new horses, but it’s been just as fun teaching Phoenix a thing or two about how to ride cowboys. He enjoys bedding down with his little city girl, but as far as he’s concerned she isn’t cut out for Wyoming and should just go back home where she belongs. He’s been burned before by a high-class woman who claimed to be ready for the ranch and the ride, a woman who turned out to be anything but.

Gabe’s not making that mistake again, but he’ll enjoy Phoenix while she’s here. God knows he can’t resist the challenge she presents. It’s painfully obvious that Phoenix Snow hasn’t been under the hand of a strong, savvy male before, but she’ll learn to respond to Gabe’s every touch soon enough, like any nervous, untrusting filly does for a good, skilled cowboy—at least for as long as she’s in Star Valley.

Coming Fall 2016!