The Wanted Virgin (Cowboys & Virgins Book 3) (5 page)

T
race pushes
my hair out of my face and looks at me. We’ve been in bed all day. We even ate breakfast here. I didn’t feel much like moving. My body aches deliciously, and I’m savoring the feeling of being well loved.

I’ve never been so cherished in my entire life. I’ve never felt like I meant so much to someone. That’s how Trace makes me feel. Nothing else seems to matter to him but me. He’s gotten lost in this little world we’ve made together. I don’t care how fast this is, I’m holding on to the only sweetness I’ve ever known and never letting go.

“I don’t wanna push you to do anything you don’t want to, baby doll, but after what we’ve shared in the last twenty-four hours, I hoped you’d be ready to open up to me a little more,” he says softly, his hand sliding down my side to rest on my hip. I’m facing him, having just woken up once again.

We kept falling asleep after bouts of sex. One time I’d even woken with him inside me. I was already coming before I knew what was happening. Then he made me cum again to make up for missing part of the orgasm. Trace seemed just as deprived of attention as I was, but I think his was a case of never wanting it and now that he does, he can’t seem to get enough.

“It's not terrible, really,” I half lie. It wasn’t like I was beaten every day or something. More neglected than anything. But being here with Trace makes me feel like it was worse than I knew. If this is how the rest of the world lives, I had it pretty bad.

Trace’s hand tightens on my hip. “You’re the sweetest, most lovable person I’ve ever met in my life, Addison. In fact, I think you’d put up with a lot of shit because you couldn’t help yourself. If I’ve learned anything about you, it’s that your softness and sweetness go all the way through you.”

My eyes water at his sweet words. No one has ever said such nice things about me before. Part of me knows he’s right. No matter how my father behaved towards me, I never lashed out, and it wasn’t because I feared him. It was because I knew what it felt like to be treated that way, and I didn’t have it in me to do it to another person. Even if that person deserved it. It breaks my heart thinking about hurting someone else.

“That’s why you ended up here, baby doll. And I’ll make sure you never have to deal with any shit. Ever. I’ll take such good care of you, you’ll never have to worry about a thing.” His hand on my hip starts stroking me back and forth.

“I lived with my father my whole life. I don’t ever remember having a mom,” I tell him. My father never talked about her either. Not a word, and I’d gone digging a few times to try to find something, but never could. Maybe she ran from him, too.

“I mainly stayed in the house and looked after things there. My father normally ignored me. He wasn’t there most of the time, and I tried to pretend I wasn’t either, because when he got worked up or had a bad day in the fields, I tended to get the brunt of that anger,” I admit.

“He touch you?” Trace’s words are hard, his eyes flashing with anger.

“Sometimes. A shove or a slap here and there.” He closes his eyes at my words, which are clearly causing him pain. When they open, he moves his hand from my hip to the little cut I still have on my forehead.

“I’ll never understand how anyone could hurt someone as precious as you,” he says as he rubs his finger across the mark. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. Nothing hurts when I’m with him.

“I just turned eighteen and I was planning on leaving. Where I was planning to go, I have no idea. Heck, I don’t know anything about anything. All my schooling has been online. I don’t even know where I am, or how long I drove when I took off,” I confess.

“What made you finally run? Something pushed you to take off like that.”

“He was giving me over to someone else. To marry. I knew then I’d never be free if I didn’t run. I’d just go from being under my father’s control to someone else’s. I’d never ever met this man and my father said he was coming to pick me up. Like I was one of the cows or something.”

Trace cups my cheek. “You wanna be here, baby doll?” I can see the concern on his face, and I know what he’s thinking.

“I choose to be here. I don’t want to be anywhere else.” I see a little bit of the tension leave his body. “All I ever wanted was a real family. To fall in love and have my own little fairy tale, like some of the books I've read. I think you’re right. I ended up here for a reason. I was supposed to find you.” I lean over and kiss him.

His hand tangles in my hair as he deepens the kiss until I’m breathless.

“What town are you from?” he asks.

“Clear Creek. Is that close?” I question, still wondering how far I made it.

“Real close. So close I’m shocked I’ve never seen or heard of you.”

“Told you. I didn’t really leave the house much. Less so in the last few years.” As I got older, my father started getting more controlling.

“I need a name, baby doll.”

“Winston.”

Trace is out of the bed before I even know what’s happening, pulling his clothes on. I sit up in bed, watching him move about the room.

“What are you doing?” I can hear the worry in my own voice.

“You’ll not spend one more fucking day worrying about anything,” he says, tugging a shirt over his head and then finding his jeans.

“What are you going to do?” I move to the side of the bed, looking for something to wear, but the dress I made looks unwearable at this point.

“I’m going to pay your father a visit.”

“What!” I jump from the bed and run towards him, wrapping my arms around his body.

“Calm down. It’s better this way. I’ll go over and set things straight. He’ll never think about looking for you when I’m done having words—and other things—with him.”

My heart starts to race. Panic is setting in.

“Baby doll, calm down. I promise you, it will be fine. I do this and it’s done and over. You don’t ever have to think about him or worry that someone is coming to take you from here. I promise, he’ll know what will happen if he comes on our land looking for you.”

“Our land?”

“Yeah, our land. You want your fairy tale, you’re about to get it. Trust me.”

“I trust you,” I say instantly.

“Of course you do because you’re all sweetness and love.” He leans down, placing another kiss on my lips. “I won’t be gone long. I’ll be back before the sun is down,” he tells me as he walks over to the dresser, pulls out a shirt, and slides it over my head before I follow him downstairs and to the front door. Boxes, the stuff he ordered, were delivered and now litter the living room floor.

“Lock the door behind me and go through some of your stuff. See what you do and don’t like.”

“I love you,” I say, because that’s all I can think about.

“I love you, too.” He leans down, placing another kiss to my lips. This one is hard and intense, almost like he’s branding me before he leaves. I flip the lock behind him and go to the window and watch him drive away.

I sit down on the sofa, not sure what to do, so I do what he told me to. I start going through all the boxes, pulling out piles and piles of clothes. It’s like he thought of everything—from dresses, to shirts and shorts, to jeans and so many shoes I don’t even know how I could wear them all.

I jump when I hear a knock at the door.

“Trace, it’s Ty.” I hear a man’s deep voice, and I know it’s Trace’s brother.

“You’ll scare her. Let me talk,” I hear a woman say.

“Maybe we should come back. Trace’s truck is gone.”

“Well, I think she’s in there. You heard what Steven said. Trace has a girl in there, and I wanna see,” the woman says.

“You’ve been hanging out with Dolly too much. You’re just as nosy as she is now,” Ty laughs.

I open the door to see them both standing on the porch. They turn their heads to look at me. The woman is a little bit taller than me, with blonde hair and a baby held on her hip. A smile spreads on her face.

“I’m MJ,” the woman says instantly, “Trace’s sister-in-law, and this is Ty, my husband. And of course, we have TJ, Ty Junior, here.”

Ty and TJ both look like Trace. There is no missing they’re related. Ty nods at me.

“I’m Addison,” I tell them. MJ reaches out to shake my hand. Then she changes her mind and pulls me into a hug, her baby bump coming between us. TJ giggles.

“Sorry, I’m just excited. I love how this family is growing, and I knew if Trace had a girl in his house, it was serous. It’s serious, right?” she asks.

“Wow,” Ty says, drawing our attention. He’s looking over my head and into the house. I turn to see what he’s looking at. “This place is a mess. Well, a mess for Trace at least.”

I didn’t think it was that bad, but it did look like a box bomb went off in the living room, and the kitchen still hasn’t been cleaned from the breakfast Trace made this morning.

“Oh my God, it is! This is so serious. He can’t even be bothered to clean, and messes drive Trace crazy.” MJ says something about Trace I didn’t know. I like the idea that I make him forget something. That he’s more worried about me than cleaning up some mess.

“Do you want to come in?” I ask, and MJ beams.

“We’d love to,” she says, pushing past me and into the house. She takes a seat on the sofa.

Ty is still standing in the doorway. “Put some pants on, or my brother is going to kill me if he’s anything like me. And I have a feeling he is.” I look down at my bare legs before grabbing one of the boxes from the coffee table.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell them, dashing upstairs. I hear MJ’s laughter as I make my way to the bedroom.

“Oh, we aren't going anywhere,” she says, and I feel myself smile.

I
stare
up at the house my little doll grew up in and wonder how so much sweetness and warmth could come from a place like this. The old farmhouse looks like it was built over a hundred years ago and hasn’t been updated once in all that time.

Winston was passing his daughter off to another man. I have a feeling it was more to do with money than anything. The thought makes my stomach turn and my blood boil. How could a father do that to his little girl?

I take a calming breath, trying to get my emotions under control. I think about my sweet girl to soothe myself. The image of waking up to her this morning enters my mind and peace falls over me. I can’t walk in here and kill this man for two reasons. One, he’s my girl’s father, and two, I promised her she could trust me. I’m not breaking my word to her because it’s clear she needs to be able to put stock in it. I told her I’d be home before the sun went down, and I’m going to make sure I’m there and not in a jail cell.

The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can go home to her. I focus as I push myself off from the side of my truck and make my way up the worn stairs. They creak and groan under my weight. Before I can make it to the door, it flies open and Winston shows himself.

He looks worse than his house, and I try to recall the last time I saw him. His hair is gray and his skin is weathered from years of being out in the sun without his hat. He looks shorter than I recall, or maybe I’m just bigger. I don’t run much into farmers anymore as I don’t really farm. I just deal with the oil and whoever they hire to work the rigs.

“You’re one of the Jennings boys,” he says, pushing the screen door open. I clench my fist at my side to stop myself from hauling off and punching him.

“Trace,” I clip and push past him, going straight for the stairs and taking them two at a time. I make my way down the hallway, pushing open each door as I do, looking for her room.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I hear the old man yell from downstairs. I ignore him and push open the last door at the end of the hallway. The room is so small with almost nothing in it. At first I think it’s simple, but it’s more than that, it’s almost fucking bare. I walk over to the closet and open the doors. A few dresses hang in it, and like everything else in the house, they’re worn and frayed.

“I’m going to call the cops!” Winston yells when he finally gets to the bedroom.

“For what?” I challenge, taking a step towards him. He must sense the danger now because he takes a step back.

“Trespassing.”

“Try again. This whole farm is mine.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve owned this farm for years.”

“Until you took a loan out on it. A loan you haven’t been making payments on.” One I bought out from the bank. All it took was one call. One of the plus sides to oil is you never have to worry about money.

“No, there’s a misunderstanding. The bank is getting their money. I talked to Mr. Luck the other day. I just need a few more days and I’ll be paying in full. I’m waiting for a sale to go through. I got set back a few days with the deal.”

That’s what breaks me. My fist flies, hitting him right in the jaw and sending him flying back. He hits the floor hard, and the burn in my fist feels good.

“Yeah, I know what you were trying to fucking sell.” I walk towards him, towering over his limp body. He’s lying on the floor and holding the side of his face.

“You have her, don’t you? She’s min—”

I land a hard kick to his side, stopping him from trying to voice any claim to her. Then I lean down, getting close to him.

“You listen, and you listen good. Call the cops, but no one is going to believe your word over mine. Besides, you wouldn’t make it to pressing charges. I’d be damn sure of that. The only reason you’re breathing right now is because of her. I don’t think her heart could take knowing I killed you, something I very much want to do,” I snarl. As cold as it sounds, ending his life means nothing to me. Some animals just need to be put down.

“If you go trying to throw me in jail, taking me away from her, I’ll have a change of heart and finish what I’m itching to do. Nod if you understand me.”

He nods, keeping his mouth shut.

“Now you’re going to get your shit and get the fuck out of here. Come noon tomorrow, this house won’t be standing. You’ve got until then.” I stand up. “I’d make sure wherever you go, it isn’t inside the state of Texas.” With that, I turn and leave.

I came in wanting to get her stuff, but there isn’t anything worth taking. She doesn’t need something from here. I’ll give her everything she ever needs and wipe away all reminders of the life she had here. I want to wash away this place from her memory so it’s never a thought in her mind.

I slide into my truck and head back towards home. The anger still weighs down on me. I wanted to do more to him. The thought of him slapping her around makes me clench the steering wheel, and I hear it groan under my hold. I know there’s only one thing that is going to cool me and it’s her. I need her sweetness back on me.

“Shit,” I mutter when I see Ty’s truck parked outside the house. I park my truck and dash in the front door, stopping in my tracks when I see my baby doll holding little Ty Junior. Warmth spreads in my chest. Her face lights up when she sees me, and she hands the toddler back to MJ. Then she runs at me like she always does, jumping into my arms.

I catch her as she buries her face in my neck.

“Tell me everything’s okay,” she pleads.

“Where are you, baby doll?” I ask.

“In your arms.”

“Then yeah, everything is perfect.” She leans back to look at me. “Don’t ever think about him or that place again. We’re done with it. It’s all over.”

“Your brother and MJ are here. They brought their son. He’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Ty said I can babysit him anytime I want.” Her face lights up, thoughts of her father already out of her mind.

“I’m sure he did.” I look over her shoulder at Ty, who’s got a shit-eating grin on his face. Ty loves his son, but he also likes his alone-time with his wife. I’ve gone over and babysat for them a few times before, too.

“We can leave him tonight if you like,” Ty says.

“No,” I reply instantly, and MJ rolls her eyes.

“Leave them alone, Ty. They’re like newlyweds over here,” MJ says.

“Not yet, but what’s the waiting period in Texas?” I ask.

“Three days,” Ty answers. I knew he’d know. I’m not sure he waited even those three days. I have a feeling Ty might have bribed a judge to marry them without waiting. I would have to get the name of whoever it was.

Or maybe I could take her somewhere and marry her. I have a feeling my baby doll hasn’t seen a lot, and I’m going to make sure she sees everything her heart desires.

“You going to marry me, baby doll?”

Her eyes fill with tears as she nods. I lean in, taking her lips in a kiss. I ignore my family as I carry her up the stairs, still kissing her. I hear a faint goodbye from MJ, and Addison laughs. When I get to the bedroom, I lay her down, not taking my lips from hers.

When I finally pull my mouth from hers, I look down and see she’s a little dazed.

“This is your home now. Our home. You can come and go as you please and do any damn thing you want. Or have whatever you want. You ask me to do something and I’ll do it. The only time I’ll ever tell you no is when I think you could get hurt.” She nods and smiles up at me. “Also, I have a feeling I’m going to be a jealous bastard, so you might have to deal with that.”

“Sounds perfect to me. More than perfect.” She wraps her arms around my neck, snuggling against me.

“I’m about to show you how perfect I think you are, baby doll. How perfect you are for me.”