Texas Heroes: Volume 1 (79 page)

Touching her chin gently, he tilted it up. “It’s personal, Lacey. It’s important.
You’re
important. I played it wrong, and you paid. I thought that if we could have some time together before I told you, maybe I wouldn’t have to lose you again. But I was wrong to do that. Selfish as hell. I just…”

Dev saw the tears shimmering in her eyes and knew he had to say it, had to try, even if he lost big. “I don’t deserve you, but I love you. More than my life, more than my honor, more than any hope of justice.”

Lacey’s fingers covered her lips as tears spilled over her lashes. He’d sell his soul to know what she was thinking, but whatever it was, he had to give her a way to find her peace with both families. If he could do that, then even if he lost her, she could go forward and build her new life. But he wasn’t conceding her yet.

“I want us to get past this, to see if there’s a chance for us. I don’t need revenge—I need you. What’s been done to me can’t be changed. I am who I am because of what I went through. If the man I am could be good enough for the princess, then everything that has happened would be worthwhile.”

“I’m not a princess,” she whispered.

“You are to me.” Dev clasped both of her hands in his, holding them against his chest. “Is there a place for me in this new life of yours, Lacey?”

Heart in his throat, he waited for her answer.

Her fingers gripped his. “I’ve waited all my life for you, Dev. Since I was sixteen years old, every man I’ve known has been measured against you.”

Deep inside Dev, a dark ache eased and hope flickered.

Then her eyes turned sad. “But I still have a lot to figure out and maybe you don’t want—” She started to move away.

“I want,” Dev growled, pulling her tightly into his body with shocking suddenness. “You have no idea how I want.”

He covered her mouth with a kiss so hot, so possessive, that Lacey melted against him. Her thoughts evaporated in the heat and sweetness that suffused her every pore. Soon she was twining her arms around him, trying to get closer, feeling again the hunger of their night to remember, the night of magic.

Dev lifted her into his arms and strode toward the bedroom. He ended a scorching kiss, his voice fierce. “I want
you
. The real Lacey, not her money, not her fancy address. The girl who climbed down a trellis with me, and the woman she’s become.” Those brilliant green eyes singed down to her soul.

For a moment, time seemed to stop, and she savored it, realizing that her whole life had just changed, her whole world just shifted. Part of her wanted the world to freeze so that she could live in this moment forever.

Part of her was eager to see what came next.

Then Dev lowered her to lavender silk, holding her close as he followed her down, settling his hard body over hers, his eyes naked as they’d once been in a moonlit gazebo.

“I love you, Dev.” She’d waited a lifetime to say the words.

So close
. Dev shuddered as the realization battered. He’d come so close to losing her, yet by some miracle he’d escaped with a second chance.

“I love you, too.” His throat seized. “You, Lacey, the real you. For always.”

“We’re going to make it this time, aren’t we?” Her eyes were huge and luminous as moonlight shifted over their bodies.

His answer was a vow dragged up from the bedrock of his soul. “If I have to battle the devil himself, nothing is ever going to part us again. No one, Lacey. Believe that. I’m so damn grateful that—” He didn’t have the words he needed to tell her how deep inside him she lived.

Lacey brushed her fingers over his beloved face, her once-empty heart full to bursting. “I believe you. Oh, Dev…I need you so. I’ve missed you for so long.”

She pressed herself against him and for a moment, they simply clung.

Bereft of words, Dev decided to let his body speak for him, his touch tell her that she was…everything. With more care than ever, Dev bent to savor her, the taste of her, the silk of her skin. He couldn’t get enough. Would never get enough of her.

And Lacey gave herself up to the man who’d given her the dream, who had seen past the surface down to her most vulnerable self—and loved her anyway.

She shivered as his mouth branded her skin. She’d been so hollowed out. So lost. Now she had so much.

A family, brothers and sister.

A man to love, the man of her dreams.

Then Dev’s magical hands and restless mouth deprived her of thought. Gentleness vanished beneath a warrior’s possession, a sorcerer’s touch. Madness seized them both, fierce in its wonder.

With a sigh of relief, Lacey let go of decorum, cast away polite manners. The princess climbed down the trellis from her prison.

Waiting below was a daredevil knight on a black charger, his green eyes hot with power and passion.

The real Lacey jumped, knowing that Dev would always catch her.

Epilogue

Morning Star, Texas

Two weeks later

F
rom the front of the old country church, Dev watched Lacey walk down the aisle first, Maddie following her as matron of honor at Mitch and Perrie’s wedding.

Lacey caught his eye and winked, and Dev winked back, his heart soaring. He would never get tired of this new Lacey who laughed so freely, who was learning to tease and play. When she slid her tongue across those lush lips while staring straight at him, it was all Dev could do not to stride across the church and grab her right now—and to blazes with anyone who might protest.

Then she reached the front and took her place as Perrie’s bridesmaid, her brothers blocking his view. Dev shifted to the left, to find her still watching him.

She winked again, her eyes full of promise.

Dev grinned.

Then Boone stirred in front of him, and Dev turned his head to watch Maddie come down the aisle. She only had eyes for Boone, a secret smile playing between the two of them. Only last night, they had shared the news that they would be parents in seven months. A new life to heal the pain of the past, the blood of Dalton and Jenny uniting in joy and celebration this time around.

Then Perrie appeared in the doorway, a vision in Jenny Gallagher’s wedding gown, her eyes fixed on Mitch and glowing with love. Davey proudly held her arm, all set to give her away. Mitch went very still, his dark eyes fastened on her and the small blond boy who already called him Dad.

Dev stood as groomsman behind Mitch and Boone, thinking how much life could change. A year ago, he’d never heard of any of the Gallaghers. Now one man and wife had come together from the ashes of tragedy and heartache; after today there would be two couples.

Dev intended to make it three as soon as possible.

Only one shadow remained—Lacey’s relationship with the DeMilles. She would never fully heal until she dealt with them. Dev felt a faint tug of nerves, hoping that his surprise didn’t blow up in his face.

Then the ceremony started, and Dev forced himself to concentrate.

Lacey stroked Davey’s hair at the reception on the lawn of Boone and Maddie’s two-story dream of a house. She’d loved it on sight, this place of her roots. “You were very dignified, Davey. And you look so handsome in your suit.”

The five-year-old grinned, then motioned her to lean down. “I was kinda nervous, Aunt Lacey. Don’t tell anybody, okay?”

Aunt Lacey
. She couldn’t get over how wonderful it sounded. “Okay,” Lacey stage-whispered back, hugging him. She couldn’t wait for Christina to meet him. Then he scampered off to find his adored Mitch, and she looked around to see where Dev had gone.

Maddie appeared at her elbow, touching her lightly on the back. Lacey glanced over as Mitch and Perrie walked up to her other side, Davey in tow, and Boone moved toward them across the grass. They arranged themselves around her silently in a protective flank, expectation buzzing through the air.

Then Dev appeared before her, looking serious. She frowned slightly, wondering. He leaned close and murmured, “Do you trust me, sweetheart?”

“Yes, of course. Dev, is something wrong?”

Dev stepped away from in front of her. Lacey saw her parents approaching, looking uncertain in a way she’d never seen them before.

Lacey watched her mother’s eyes fill with tears she’d thought she would never see Margaret DeMille shed. She saw her father, looking much older, study Dev for a long moment.

The silence felt stilted. Awkward.

Her mother spoke up first. “Darling, we’re so sorry. It was misplaced pride that kept us silent. You were ours from the first moment, you were a treasure we never thought to find. We didn’t want anyone to have a claim on you, but we should have told you. You have to know that you’ve been a joy to us for all these years, and if you leave us now—” Her mother choked up.

Charles DeMille took over. Voice slightly hoarse, he looked straight at Lacey. “Princess, what I did to keep you and Devlin apart was because I thought I knew what was best for you.” He cleared his throat. “I told Devlin that he was nothing, that he would never be good enough for my daughter. I was wrong. I know that now.”

He glanced at Dev. “I will have to live with the knowledge of what I did to the Marlowes in the name of keeping a business going. That won’t be easy, but neither will what he has offered be easy for him. He doesn’t want our past battles to tear you apart, so he’s informed us that he is not going to pursue the matter.” Charles shook his head. “The man cares enough for you to give up his chance for justice in order to spare you. If I ever needed proof of how wrong I was about him…”

Her father’s shoulders settled into resignation. “I still intend to do what I can to make it up to his family, but the only price he has asked is that we not make you choose between your two families. He seems to think that you still need us in your life, that you can forgive us.” He paused, then looked at her, bereft of his usual certainty. “Is he right?”

“Oh, Daddy…” Stunned and shaky, Lacey looked up at Dev, leaning into his side, feeling his support and strength. After what her father had done to him, Dev deserved better.

“Lacey, it’s all right,” Dev murmured, his green eyes soft and concerned. “I’ll be all right. You need this.”

It was true—she couldn’t live in this state of armed truce. It was the shadow that hung over all that was so good in her life now.

She looked around her at the new faces she already loved: big-hearted Maddie, strong, gentle Boone, solemn, steady Mitch, sweet Perrie and adorable Davey. They all smiled at her as if giving her their blessing.

She faced her parents and took an uneven breath. “Dev’s right. I don’t want it to be this way. I don’t want to let the past cloud the future anymore.” She swallowed hard. “I love you both very much. If you can accept my new family, I’d like us to start again and build a new future, all together.”

With a cry, her mother reached out. Lacey moved into their arms, hugging them both, feeling peace sweep over her.

Then from the porch of the two-story white house both Dalton and Jenny had loved, Lacey heard a song begin to play. When she realized what it was, she turned back to Dev.

He grinned, and memories of a night she’d never forget washed over her.