His Dangerous Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch - Spicy Version Book 2) (14 page)

The bed creaked as Luke climbed between her legs. The naked flesh of his sides rubbed against her thighs as he slid himself on top of and between her.

“Dear Lord, you’re naked,” she panted.

The hard spear of him settled against all the things that counted between her legs as he growled, “Yep,” against the back of her ear.

Forget exhaustion. Forget sorrow and regrets. She wiggled her hips and backside against him, aching to be filled. He rewarded her with an intake of breath and a groan that sizzled along her skin. She wanted to be naked too, for her clothes to disappear so she could feel his skin, hot and tender against hers. But not as much as she wanted to feel him insi—

All thought left her with a wanton moan as he thrust inside of her. He felt so good and so tight sheathed in her that she had a hard time catching her breath. She’d forgotten how big he was and how his size and power made her feel as though she were being stretched to the limit in all the best ways. She tilted her hips up into his thrusts, rocking back against him with each one and crying out with the pleasure they brought.

Mad as their coupling was, the coil of pleasure pulled tighter and tighter inside of her with his thrusts. He paused long enough to shift their position, drawing her hips up off the bed so that he could plunge deeper. He reached to twine his fingers through hers as she balanced on her arms, closing her eyes and losing herself to the sensation of him around her, inside of her. His heat, his weight, his thrusts were all divine.

The urgent tension inside of her squeezed so tight that she couldn’t stand it anymore. She rolled her weight to one arm, twisted his hand in hers so that she held it from behind, then brought it under her and around the folds of her skirt. As soon as his fingers made contact with the hot, hard nub between her legs, she cried out with the goodness of it.

Luke, ever the fast learner, caught on and brushed against it as he continued to thrust into her with increasing urgency. His masculine grunts of pleasure pitched higher and higher as he came closer to finding release. Eden beat him to it. She gasped as the coil inside of her broke free into vibrant pulses of pleasure. Her whole body sang in reaction, her limbs going weak as pleasure carried her away, and with it, a happiness more potent than anything she’d known.

A moment later, before her orgasm had ridden itself out, Luke reached his climax. He let out a long, loud groan as his body tensed and released, his life and his heat surging into her. The force of their combined expansion left them both limp and spent, in a heavy tangle of arms and legs, dress and bedclothes, on top of the bed. But Eden didn’t mind. She was more than happy to lay there panting as all energy left her.

At length, Luke shifted, rolling to the side and drawing into his arms. “Well, shoot. I was hoping to get your clothes all the way off before I got to the point where I couldn’t stop myself.”

Eden giggled. She reached for the fastenings of her skirt. “Sweetheart, we’ve got all the time in the world to be naked together.” She proved her point by shimmying out of her skirt, then undoing and tossing aside her bodice, corset, and chemise.

Luke hummed in appreciation. He started to move to pull back the bedclothes, but stopped and fixed her with a serious stare. “You sure it was all right to do it that way? You know, behind-like.”

Lord, how she loved him. She loved his sweetness and his innocence, and she loved his strength and his command. She was the luckiest woman alive to have stumbled into his arms. No, not stumbled, taken a chance. He was her second chance.

“Honey,” she drawled, flickering an eyebrow at him with a look that she was much too tired to follow up on. “I’ve seen some books. There are all sorts of ways to do it, front, back, and sideways. We’ll have to work our way through each one.”

He laughed as they crawled under the covers and settled for sleep. “Doesn’t sound much like work to me.”

Really, it didn’t. In fact, she had a feeling the two of them would enjoy getting into mischief of all sorts of kinds—in bed and out—for the rest of their days.

Epilogue

“Boy, you two didn’t waste much time, did you?” Cody stepped up onto the porch of Luke and Eden’s completed house, Travis following, as Eden and Luke sat on the wicker bench watching the sunset. The air had a late-autumn nip in it, but Eden barely felt it. She had a thick shawl wrapped around her shoulders and Luke snuggled up to her side.

“What are you talking about?” Luke asked. The satisfied grin he wore belied the fact that he knew just what rumors had reached Cody’s ears. He reached across to rub Eden’s stomach.

Cody snorted and shook his head at the two of them. “Word every which way around here is that it’s a good thing they built so many rooms in this house, because you’re gonna need them before next spring.”

“Really?” Luke grinned at Eden. She, in turn, winked at him over her shoulder.

“Did I forget to tell you, sweetie?” she teased him. “I’m in the family way.”

“You don’t say,” Luke played along, all pretend innocence. “How’d that happen?”

“Well, it probably has something to do with the way—”

“Don’t.” Travis held up both hands to stop them. He held a folded piece of paper in one. “There are some things I don’t need to know.”

Eden giggled and snuggled closer to Luke. As far as she was concerned, life couldn’t possibly be better. She knew full well how she’d ended up with child, and so did Luke. Like she’d thought all along, he was a fast learner. Especially since they practiced frequently.

“What’s that you’ve got?” Luke nodded to the paper in Travis’s hand.

Travis and Cody both turned serious. Cody sank to sit in the rocking chair across from the bench, and Travis leaned against the porch railing and stared at the paper. It was a clipping from a newspaper.

He glance up at Eden with an uncertain look, then said, “Theophilus Gunn’s been keeping an eye out for any mention of—” He cleared his throat. “—Of anything having to do with a certain gang back East.”

Eden sat straighter, her heart beating double-time. Luke gripped her shoulder to keep her steady. “Did he find anything?”

Travis nodded and handed the newspaper clipping over to her.

“I don’t understand how that man knows everything,” Cody muttered. “It’s like he’s got a sixth sense or something.”

“He doesn’t have a sixth sense,” Travis scoffed. “He’s just observant.”

“How’d he know about what happened out there on the drive anyhow?” Cody asked.

“I told him,” Luke answered with a shrug.

“You what?”

Eden ignored the exchange. Luke had told her about his conversation with Mr. Gunn weeks ago.

“Gunn has a way of being there when you need someone to talk to,” Luke said.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Travis agreed.

“You just find yourself telling him things, and then he gives you all the advice you’ll ever need.”

Travis hummed. Cody shook his head, baffled. Eden was too busy scanning the newspaper clipping to pay them much mind.

“Braden was arrested,” she said softly.

“Honey, I’m sorry.” Luke pulled her closer and hugged her from the side.

Eden barely noticed that too. “No, there’s more.” She read and reread the article—short though it was—to make sure she read it right. “Bert turned him in.”

“What?” Luke leaned into her, reading the article over her shoulder. “Well I’ll be,” he murmured as he read.

“Seems one of your brothers, at least, refused to return to a life of crime,” Travis said. Evidently, he’d read the article too.

Eden let out a breath and relaxed against the bench and Luke’s arm. She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer of thanks. “At least two of us got away.” And maybe more. The article didn’t say anything about her cousins—even though she’d scanned the entire page for mention of Ted—but at least it hadn’t mentioned them being arrested either.

“This is good news,” Luke said, giving Eden a squeeze.

“It is.” She smiled up at him, adding a light kiss for good measure.

“But one thing.” Luke’s expression dropped to a scowl.

“What?” She arched a brow.

“This doesn’t mean we’re naming our baby any name that starts with a ‘B.’”

Eden laughed out loud. “
Hell
no,” she agreed. They shared another kiss.

“And guess what?” Cody burst in.

Eden snuggled closer to Luke as he tightened his arms around her. “What?”

“Mr. Garrett, Mrs. Piedmont, and Mrs. Evans have finally agreed to send for a bride for me.”

Cody finished his announcement, and Travis hid his face in his hand and shook his head.

After everything she’d learned about Cody in the last few months, Eden was inclined to agree with Travis’s assessment of the situation. All she said aloud, though, was “Really?”

“Yep,” Cody answered with pride. “Apparently, a Miss Wendy Weatherford will be coming out on the train in three weeks.” He sent a smug look to Travis.

“Do you know her?” Luke asked Eden.

Eden furrowed her brow and shrugged. “No. She must be new at Hurst Home.”

“She’s a seamstress,” Cody added.

Travis peeked up from where he was still hiding his face in his palm. “Well, at least the town needs a seamstress.”

Cody sniffed and scowled. To Luke and Eden, he said, “Travis doesn’t think I’m ready for marriage.”

“You’re not,” Travis said.

“He thinks I lack maturity and commitment,” Cody went on, ignoring him.

“You do.” Travis shook his head.

Eden glanced to Luke. She could see her own thoughts on the matter reflected in his expression. Travis was right. Cody was in for a shock. But neither of them were about to tell him that.

“Well,” Eden said as diplomatically as possible. “I wish you as much happiness as Luke and I have found.”

Cody grinned like a cat and stood. “That’s exactly what I’m hoping for. Come on, Travis. Let’s go check out the house Howard said I could have.” He pointed to the mostly-finished building next door to Luke and Eden’s house. “We’re gonna be neighbors.”

Without waiting for a reaction, Cody tugged on Travis’s sleeve, and the two of them clamored off the porch to take a look at what would be Cody’s house. Travis sent Luke and Eden a wary look as they left.

“I wonder how that’ll work out,” Luke said, resting his cheek against the top of Eden’s head.

“I have no idea.” She chuckled, then scanned the article Mr. Gunn had clipped for them. With a sigh, she added, “At least I know they’re alive.”

“That’s something,” Luke agreed.

Eden twisted to hug him. She loved the way they fit so well together, loved that they could enjoy these peaceful moments together, man and wife. “All I can do is pray that they get second chances, just like I did.”

“You and me both,” he said. She let out a breath and closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Eden Chance, and I will until the day I die and beyond.”

“And I love you that much and more.”

It was all she needed to say, all she’d ever needed.

*          *          *

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Haskell, Wyoming a little better and falling in love with Eden and Luke in
His Dangerous Bride
. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. There’s much more Haskell to come, sooner than you might think. After all, Cody asked for Josephine, Virginia, and Charlie to send for a bride for him. Wendy certainly is…surprising, and between you and me, it’s a good thing that Travis is there at the train station when she arrives. Just sayin’. You can read all about it in
His Bewildering Bride
, coming soon!
Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer
.

About the Author

I hope you have enjoyed
His Dangerous Bride
. If you’d like to be the first to learn about when the new series comes out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here:
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And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it! For a complete list of works by Merry Farmer with links, please visit
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Merry Farmer is an award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn't have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have topped the Amazon and iBooks charts and have been named finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.

You can email her at
[email protected]
or follow her on Twitter @merryfarmer20.

Merry also has a blog,
http://merryfarmer.net
,

and a Facebook page,
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Acknowledgements

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my awesome beta-readers, Caroline Lee, Margaret Breashears, and Jolene Stewart, for their suggestions and advice. And a big, big thanks to my editor, Cissie Patterson, for doing an outstanding job, as always, and for leaving hilarious comments throughout the manuscript. Also, a big round of applause for my marketing and promo team, Sara Benedict and Jessica Valliere.

And a special thank you to the Pioneer Hearts group! Do you love Western Historical Romance? Wanna come play with us? Become a member at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pioneerhearts/

Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer
.