CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Tyler
The world feels like it’s stopped spinning. My boots pound into the earth even as I heave deeply, trying to breathe. Fuck! I’ve spent the last six months working tirelessly to fix the Double H, praying that Maisie would return one day. But now that she’s here, it’s all gone haywire.
Because everything the female yelled was true. How could I have taken her virginity without telling her who I truly was? How could I have lied about my identity? Why did I pretend I was a know-nothing ranch hand, when all along, I was the enemy next door?
And now look what’s happened. The little lass is everything I want in the world, yet she wants nothing to do with me. Even worse, she’s carrying my child, that curvy body firm and round. Oh god. My heart feels torn from my chest, breathing erratic and choppy. I’m so fucked.
But words come to my mind then.
You’ve gotta try, the voice urges. There’s so much at stake, you can’t give up now.
And my subconscious is right. I can’t give up. Maisie’s my woman, we’re bound together before the eyes of the law, and she’s carrying my child. I won’t give up, I can’t give up.
So making my way to my truck, I shake my head furiously. She came back, and that has to mean something. I know the female’s hurt, but hurt and rage are the flip side of love. All I need to do is prove my adoration and loyalty.
Suddenly, an idea strikes. Fumbling through my glove box I finally find what I’m searching for before striding back to the house. Fuck me, but where is she? The kitchen’s quiet, the lamps in the living room dim. But I know she’s here. There’s a sweet perfume in the air, her unmistakable musk.
Bolting up the stairs, I bang down the door to the guest bedroom, ready to shout her head off. But the sight of the female stops me. Maisie’s dressed in a sheer pink thing, something that I picked out for her a long ago. Before, she was a goddess, beautiful and enticing. But now, the lacy outfit is deadly seductive because heavily pregnant, her tits are huge, straining the fabric, and her stomach protrudes, lifting the hem up so that I can see tiny pink panties underneath. Oh shit, oh shit. My crotch goes hard, pole poking stiffly.
“Here,” I grunt like an animal, unable to drag my eyes from the vee between her thighs. “Take it.”
A small hand reaches for the envelope.
“What is this?” she asks, turning it over in her hands. But I can’t answer, captivated by that heady female succulence, the big tits and steamy cunt. Fuck, I can feel the heat from her pussy from five feet away, that cavern beckoning to my dick.
But Maisie’s not having it.
“Tyler, what is this?” she repeats louder, eyebrows drawn.
I jerk back to attention.
“The harvest proceeds,” I manage to get out. “I set it aside for you.”
Slowly, she opens the envelope, gasping as the contents come into sight. Oh yeah, it’s stacks of bills, greenbacks galore, rubber banded and held together tightly.
“I saved it for you,” is my agonized whisper, hands clenching by my sides, aching to touch her. “It’s all yours.”
Maisie takes a deep breath.
“Thank you,” she says slowly. “I’ll use the money to pay some of my outstanding bills. I think I owe the electric company something, as well as the vet over in town. He treated Betsy without charging me, putting it all on credit. I imagine he’ll be happy to finally get something for his services.”
But I interrupt then, voice rough.
“I paid off everything, baby. You have no outstanding bills anymore. You don’t owe nobody nothin’.”
Her indrawn gasp is music to my ears.
“Tyler,” she breathes, and I feel like the luckiest man in the world as my name falls from the lips of an angel.
I shake my head roughly again.
“Look, I know it’s nothing in comparison to what I did, and I know you’ll never be able to forget what happened. But I swear,” comes my raspy voice. “Everything I felt for you was real, Maisie. Every single thing.”
She shakes her head slowly, not looking in my eyes.
“But how do I believe that Tyler? I mean, everything you’ve told me so far is based on lies.”
I shake my head furiously then.
“Not everything,” I rasp urgently. “Not everything. Sure, I made up that ranch hand stuff, but a lot of other things are real. My love for the land. I love this land, I love farming and ranching. I love the sky, the wind, the goddamn heat in summer. I love the winter even, when the ground won’t sprout a thing. All of that is true.”
But Maisie’s not having it, turning her face away again.
Oh shit. I have to step up my game. She’s not listening, and panic swells in my chest.
“Maisie,” I say roughly. “My feelings towards you were always real. Every time I touched your body, every kiss, every stroke, every caress, that was all real. You have to believe me.”
Taking a deep breath, I continue.
“Yes, my brothers wanted me to steal your property. They wanted me to take the deed to your home, but I haven’t. I’ve been here, but I haven’t taken anything, not legally.”
She turned wide eyes to me then, lips trembling softly.
“You haven’t?”
My head shakes furiously again.
“Naw honey. I can’t just walk in and say, “This is all mine because she’s my wife.” The law won’t allow it, we’re not in the Dark Ages anymore. My brothers were planning something else. They figured that by marrying you, the game would change. I’d make you fall in love, and then you’d sign away your property rights. But I haven’t,” I added roughly. “And I won’t. You won’t ever have to sign anything to me. This is all yours,” I say, arms outstretched. “Forever.”
Maisie takes a deep breath then.
“I wasn’t sure how land rights worked,” she says softly. “I thought for some reason, my stuff automatically became yours. At least fifty percent.”
“Naw honey, like I said, this ain’t the Dark Ages anymore.”
She nods slowly, still looking down.
“And I won’t ever have to give you anything?” she repeats slowly. “Not now, not ever?”
“Never,” I confirm. “The Double H will always be yours as proof of my loyalty and commitment. And because honey,” I say roughly. “I love you. I can’t forget what I did, so please let me make it up to you,” the words burst from my chest, pleading. “Please baby.”
Maisie takes a deep breath, still not meeting my eyes.
“I don’t know Tyler. This is a lot to process. We’ve been on a rollercoaster, and I have to wrap my head around it.”
“Of course, of course,” are my words. “Just think about it okay?”
She nods her head.
“Yes of course, I will. But Tyler,” she asks again. “We have to start slow, okay? We can’t just go back to being Maisie and Tyler again. We have to be the new “us,” if there’s even a new “us”. Do you understand?”
And I nod my head gratefully. Because suddenly, the door’s opened a crack, a sliver of light showing. My best girl is gonna give me chance, which is already far more than what I deserve.
“Absolutely,” I promise fervently. “Absolutely.”
She nods slowly, her brown curly hair dropping in front of that sweet face. But then, she lifts her chin, caramel eyes direct.
“And you’ll never lie to me again. Do you promise?”
I can’t resist then. Stepping forward, I take her face between my big palms.
“I promise,” I breathe against her lips, inhaling the sweetness that’s my girl. “Never again.”
And then Maisie leans forward for a kiss. Shit, I’m not a romantic guy. I don’t ever watch that rom-com shit, Sleepless in Seattle or whatever. But when my best girl leaned forward to kiss me, it was straight out of a movie. In slow motion, the beauty stretched onto her tiptoes, lips arching my way, and I couldn’t resist. Her pout was so luscious and perfect that I took everything she had to offer.
Our liplock was a shower of sparks, a fireworks display going into full-gear. The feel of that lush, pregnant body against my rock-hard body made my dick zoom into high, pressing insistently into her waist, even as my hands circled her waist, squeezing that heavenly rump.
The brunette wiggled then, backing away slightly with a pant.
“I guess being pregnant doesn’t turn you off,” she murmured mischievously, looking down at the tent in my pants.
“Naw honey,” I growled, blue eyes on fire, trailing all over her big tits and the shadowy vee between her thighs. “I couldn’t be happier that you’re having my kid. It’s so fucking amazing, I never thought I’d have children,” is my grunt. “But with you, it’s perfect.”
“Oh good Tyler,” she breathes. “Because I have a surprise for you.”
Oh shit, more surprises? Taking a deep breath, I look into those sweet brown eyes.
“It better be that you’re ready to take it off and get down,” I growl, nodding at the flimsy negligee. “Because sweetheart, I don’t think I can wait anymore. I’m gonna burst just standing here.”
The brunette giggles then, her entire body swaying left and right, making me ache even more. But the show’s not over yet. Because leaning forwards, she places both hands on my shoulders and reaches up to whisper in my ear.
“Tyler,” comes the breathy whisper. “There’s not one baby. There’s two.”
I can’t move. Holy fucking shit. I’m gonna be a daddy to two kids? What the hell, what the hell? I’m not prepared! This is fucking ludicrous, but at the same time the best gift anyone can give.
I grab her by those narrow shoulders, looking deep into the caramel depths.
“Are you sure?” is my rough growl, wrenched from deep inside. “Are you sure?”
Maisie tilts her head back then and laughs before stroking my face with a soft hand.
“It’s a hundred percent certain, Tyler,” she says softly, expression warm and loving. “We’re having a boy and a girl, fraternal twins. They’re healthy and happy, just waiting to come into the world.”
And I fall to my knees then, pressing my head reverently against that huge, swollen tummy. Oh god, my children are in here. Maisie’s given me the best gift of all, and I almost threw it away. Like a dumb fuck, I was carried away by my brothers’ schemes, by blind, greedy ambition. But instead, I’ve learned that there are much more important things to life, like love, happiness, truth and joy.
And I owe it all to my best girl. Emotions squeezing my throat closed, I kiss her tummy fervently, worshiping that round mound.
“I want the two of them to know,” I manage on a choked breath, “that their daddy loves their mommy so much that he was able to make two babies in one go. That’s how much he loves her.”
Maisie goes still for a moment, but then her soft hand strokes through my hair, tender and slow.
“Yes Tyler,” she says. “And we will work it out. I know we will. For the sake of our children, we’ll make things happen. You and me, plus the two babies, we’re a family now.”
I rest my forehead against that big belly again, silently thanking my lucky stars. Because it almost didn’t happen. All this almost slipped through my fingers.
Because I’ve made mistakes. There are some big ones out there that are my fault alone, and Maisie didn’t deserve it. The beautiful brunette didn’t deserve the lies, and the truth of the matter is that there’s no excuse. I’m a grown man and I don’t need to hide behind “but this” and “but that.” I take full responsibility for my actions.
But what’s done is done, and I can only use the future to atone. Because I want to make it up to her. Every word that I’ve spoken is true, and Maisie is my one and only now. Fuck my brothers. Fuck their dreams of taking over the world, of driving small farmers out of business. That’s not the way to a happy life, and they’ll never succeed, in business or elsewhere.
Because I’ve learned my lesson. After the narrowest of escapes, I made it out alive. Sure, we began under a shadow of misconceptions. My sweet female thought I was an injured ranch hand, alone and dying in her barn. Little did she know that I’m a member of the family next door, rich as fuck and ruthless as shit.
But I won’t do it anymore. I won’t be that cunning, lying manipulator. I won’t let the darkness and sin overtake me, I won’t let my brothers sow evil into the world. It’s gotta end, somewhere, somehow, and I’m ready to say that the buck stops here, right now.
So taking a deep breath, I kiss Maisie’s belly reverently again, big hands skimming over her roundness before dipping down and sliding through those nether lips, swollen and puffy as always. Shit, she’s wet, even juicier than I remember, and immediately my dick jerks, spurting a bit.
Plus, it seems that the little girl wants it too.
“Oh!” my wife cries, tilting her perfect profile back, eyes already falling shut. “Oh god, Tyler!”
And I grunt, pleased. All’s right with the world, or at least all will be. My name is on her lips, her name is on mine, and we’ll forge a path together. Because sure we’ve messed up, we’ve fucked up in this crazy cowboy game. But there are no games anymore. This is real life … and a real love for the ages.