Connor scoffed. “You can’t keep her in a glass box. I pushed her and that’s what helped her. If not, she’d still be battling her demons and she might not be there with you. Since she told you everything, I’m guessing she told you if you weren’t in the picture, she wouldn’t have walked out my door.”
My hand gripped the railing on the wraparound porch and my head dropped. Hearing her say that had hurt more than anything else she’d told me. “She did,” I said, confirming it.
“Pushing her brought us together, and yeah, it may have ultimately sent her back to you, but it gave us a connection you’ll never understand and you’ll never have with her. I’m not blind, I know she’s completely in love with you. As soon as she says your name those eyes of hers light up and it felt like a punch to my gut every time. But just remember what she said to me. Remember that I do want your girl, and that when you mess up, I’ll be ready to take her from you.”
“Not gonna happen,” I growled, and straightened. “I’ve had enough of other guys trying to take her from me. So hear me when I say that Cassidy. Is. Mine. She came back to me. She’s not going anywhere, and neither am I. I hate what she just told me, I hate that she feels anything for you at all, but I will fight to keep her and make her forget about you for the rest of my life.”
Connor stayed silent.
“I’m putting a ring on her finger. I’m marrying her. And I’m gonna have a family with her here on my ranch. I don’t want to hear from you ever again, and when I say I, note that Cassidy will tell me if you call her, you understand?”
“Yeah, I got you.”
“Good-bye, Detective Green.” Without waiting for a response I ended the call and stormed back into the house.
Cassidy was on her knees, butt on her feet, and looking at me like she had earlier, like she was seeing the sun for the first time and afraid it was going to be taken away from her. I understood the look now; she hadn’t known then and didn’t know now how I was going to react to the Connor thing. Without saying a word, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her through the empty house into the kitchen. Her eyes didn’t leave mine and her hand shakily came up to brush across my cheeks, down my jaw, and across my lips.
“Gage,” she whispered.
“You’re mine,” I informed her, in case she hadn’t figured that shit out yet. I set her butt on the edge of the counter and gripped the sides of her underwear to pull them down, letting my hands trail back up the insides of her thighs.
She nodded. “Forever.” Her voice was breathy as her arms went back onto the large granite island in the center of the kitchen and her head fell back.
“I talked to Connor.”
“Figured that.”
Her head was still dropped back, so I let the hand that had been supporting her back slide up until it cupped her neck and forced her to look at me. “Are you mad about that?”
“No, I had a feeling something like that, or worse, was going to happen. But I’m confu—oh!” She gasped when I slid two fingers in, and had to work hard to keep her eyes open and on mine. “Confused. Aren’t you mad, why are you—oh God—um, why are you doing this?”
I smiled widely and leaned forward to suck on that spot she loved behind her ear before telling her, “Always told you I wanted to claim you, darlin’.” Cassidy burst out laughing, but the movement it caused, and where my fingers currently were, made the sound cut off, and she moaned deeply. “Plus, we gotta break in all the rooms of our home.”
She was biting her bottom lip and grinning, her honey eyes bright. “Then I have a request, since this is my room.”
“Anything,” I promised, but she gripped my wrist and pulled my hand away from her. “Anything but that.”
Laughing huskily, her hands went to the button on my jeans and she looked up at me from under her lashes before leaning toward my ear. “I want my turn. Lie down, Gage.”
I kept my eyes on her as I stepped out of my pants and hopped onto the island with her, lying down and letting my legs hang off the end. Before I could pick her up to place her on me, one hand was grabbing my base and her mouth and tongue were teasing the tip for torturous seconds before she took as much of me in as she could.
“Shit, Cassidy.” I groaned and raked my hands down my face before looking down at her, only to find her looking up at me again from under her eyelashes. Where the hell did this girl come from? I couldn’t take my eyes off what she was doing and cursed the fact that I was getting worked up way too fast and this would all be over too soon. Her hand, mouth, and tongue were working together perfectly and I felt like a damn middle schooler again.
When I knew I didn’t have more than a minute left, I put the slightest pressure on her ponytail and she looked up, quickly releasing me with a satisfied grin as she crawled over and sank down on me. Her mouth opened but nothing more than a breathy sound of pleasure came out as her eyelids fluttered shut and she started riding me. On our kitchen island. In our house. On the ranch. Hell. Yeah.
It didn’t last long, but thankfully I was able to hold off until she got off first. We lay there, with her draped on top of me placing kisses over my chest, and I couldn’t think of anything better than right now. But then again, I thought that every time Cassidy and I were together.
“We need to thoroughly sanitize this island before I cook in here,” she said between kisses, and I laughed as I pulled her up to kiss her.
“Does that mean you like the house?”
“You really built this?” Her eyes were wide with amazement as she looked down at me.
“Dad and I have been building it for quite a few years now. The second I met you, I knew I wanted to finish building it for you. Even when I thought you were with Tyler, you were always who I pictured when I was here working on it, or when I was working on plans in Austin. We expanded the kitchen a bit, put the huge island in here, and I haven’t even shown you the master bathroom yet.”
Cassidy’s mouth formed a perfect O. “Is there a tub?” she whispered, like she was afraid there wouldn’t be.
I grinned and tugged on her long hair. “A big one.”
“Really?!” She squealed and kissed me hard. “Oh, I can’t wait to use it.”
I couldn’t wait for her to see it. She was already dreaming of soaking in it; she was going to go into shock when she saw that monster.
“I love the wraparound,” she said dreamily.
“You know, that was the last thing we built. Only added it because that night on the hill you said you wanted to live on a ranch one day and just sit on the porch during the evenings. It was so hard not to tell you right then about the house, but I was going to take you the next day before everything happened with Tyler. Now I’m kinda glad you didn’t see it before it was finished.”
She didn’t say anything, just looked at me with those whiskey eyes, and I knew without her saying the words that she loved me. It was pouring off her, and God, I loved her too.
“Now all that’s left is to go pick out furniture and make it our home.”
Cassidy’s face fell. “What about all the furniture from the town home?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t pay for that furniture. Dad did, ’cause he was trying to help me get out of the apartment. So now that Amanda’s getting out of the dorms next year and moving into an apartment, she gets all that stuff.” Amanda went to A & M, the traitor, and though I wasn’t thrilled she was gonna live with a couple roommates off campus, I’d moved into an apartment my junior year too, so it was only fair.
“Gage, is th—” She stopped suddenly and looked down at my chest.
“What, darlin’?”
“Is this really going to be our home? Here on the ranch?”
My heart skipped a beat. I could have sworn she’d want this. “Uh, that was the plan. I built on the ranch for a reason. I’d always planned on living here with my family. And you, Cassidy, you’re my future. I want a family with you.”