Shannon released a deep sigh when Lucas rolled off her. That had been incredible!

His arm was still around her shoulders, so she shifted slightly to find a more comfortable position, then allowed herself to slowly unclench the muscles in her legs. Who knew making love would be so…so athletic? The soles of her feet had flexed so hard, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk anytime soon.

Not that she felt like walking now, that is. Not with her husband pressed up against her, all warm and slick with sweat.

Mrs. Lucas Ryan. She was married now. Well and truly married, thanks to what they just did. She was a wife, and if they kept this up, she’d be a mother soon enough.

That thought didn’t distract her the way it normally would’ve. No, she was too busy focusing on the wonder of being a wife. Cora had hinted that making love would feel nice, assuming it was done properly, but this—?

Nice didn’t begin to cover it.

There’d been some pain, yes, but not nearly as much as she’d dreaded, especially after he’d made her feel so good. Who knew a tongue could be so useful? Certainly not Shannon, in all of her years of imagining and daydreaming.

Lucas shifted beside her, his arm tightening around her, until she was pressed full-length against him. In the darkness it was only a little embarrassing, but she still hesitated before inching her cheek to his shoulder. They were newlyweds. Surely it was still too early to show such affection?

But then, she’d been ready to show him affection within moments of meeting him. She’d met his eyes across the station platform and had just known he was the man for her. He was tall—not overly, but just enough she’d had to look up into his eyes—and handsome, although his features were unremarkable on their own merits. Light brown hair with a touch of curl, golden-brown eyes, a firm jaw and a wide mouth, and his features came together to form the man of her dreams.

Up until that moment, Shannon had thought her dream of becoming a mother would forever be the strongest she’d know. She hadn’t spared a moment’s thought for the father of those hypothetical children…but when he’d taken her hand in his, and began to trace little circles on her skin with his callused thumb, she’d suddenly been able to think about little else.

This was the man who’d father her children, and in that moment, she very, very much wanted to get started.

Lucas had made her warm all over, and his touch was special. What they’d just shared had proved it. Even as his breathing deepened and she lay her free palm gently on his chest to feel his heartbeat, Shannon knew the truth.

She’d made the right decision.

Her only hesitation was the way he’d stared at her birthmark. Oh, she was used to that; the stares and whispers had followed her her whole life. But Lucas hadn’t said anything about it. In fact, he hadn’t stared at it for too long either, which was a surprise. She had expected him to at least mention it, or ask her why she hadn’t mentioned it.

Or rail against her for lying to him in her letters.

Or accuse her of being hideous and hand her a ticket for the next train back to Texas.

But instead, he’d just smiled at her, as if he didn’t notice it at all, and that’s what was bothering Shannon now, curled up beside him in the darkness.

How could he not notice it? It’s all anyone saw when they looked at her—all she saw when she looked in the mirror. He had to have noticed it, but was just too polite to say anything.

Or…

Or was just biding his time. Maybe Mr. Lucas Ryan would still take drastic action against her for lying to him. She’d married him, yes, but she didn’t really know anything about him. They’d shared something beautiful, but from Cora’s stories, Shannon knew men didn’t always need to engage their hearts when they engaged their bodies.

She’d always taken that to mean men could make love without being in love, and that was as it should be, right? After all, Lucas had just met her that day too. It would be silly to bemoan the fact they weren’t in love yet, when they barely knew one another.

And silly to think she knew him well enough to be absolutely sure of his reaction to her lies.

She sighed again, taking wicked delight in the utterly foreign feel of a man’s skin under her cheek. Love hadn’t been a requirement for this marriage, and plenty of marriages began this way. Her mother had always told her children that if they were lucky, they’d make sound matches, which would grow into love. But that sort of growth required trust, and what Shannon had done—omitting such a flaw—had to hurt whatever chance she’d had of gaining her new husband’s trust.

And his love.

“You’re thinking awfully hard over there.”

She jerked in surprise when Lucas spoke, and felt him chuckle beneath her hand.

“Sorry,” he said, although he didn’t sound sorry. In fact, he sounded as if he was smiling.

The realization made her defensive. “I thought you were asleep!”

Shannon moved to pull her hand off his chest, but he captured it and began rubbing those intoxicating circles on her palm again.

“And I figured you’d be asleep. After all, you should be exhausted. Days on a train, then you hop off and marry some stranger, who whisks you back to his house for debauchery.”

Thank goodness it was dark, so he wouldn’t see her blushing like a tomato. “Well, first he took me and my sister to dinner at a very nice restaurant.”

“Ah, yes,” Lucas said solemnly, still holding his hand in hers. “That should count for something.”

“Yes.” She cleared her throat, deciding maybe she didn’t mind this holding-and-talking too much. Were they cuddling? Is that what they were doing? “I thought it very gentlemanly.”

“It was, especially considering how badly your new husband wanted to skip ahead to the debauching.”

He pulled her closer to him with that comment, and she couldn’t help giggling at his suggestive tone. The darkness and the intimacy of what they’d just shared was somehow freeing.

“I’ll confess I might have been looking forward to that part a little as well.”

At her whispered confession, she felt him tense beneath her, and his fingers stilled their caress. “Really?”

She wondered if she’d said the wrong thing. “Is that so...unusual?”

“I…” He took a breath deep enough to shift her cheek against his skin. “I don’t know. I’ve never been married. But I assumed…” He trailed off, but his thumb resumed its caress. After a minute of silence, the palm of his other hand stroked down her backside, sending thoroughly wicked shivers through her. “You really were looking forward to this?”

How to answer? How to confess she’d felt the connection between them immediately, and that his touch had sent warmth through her belly and lower, even at their first meeting?

Instead, she took the careful path. “I told you in my letters I wanted children.”

“Yes, you mentioned that was your dream.”

“It was. I mean, it is,” she quickly corrected. “I want children more than anything else.”

“Why?” Maybe he felt her stiffen at his question, because he tightened his hold on her. “I mean, I know most women want children, but why would you want them more than anything else?”

Shannon wasn’t sure how much to tell him. “Children love you unconditionally.” They didn’t care what their mother looked like; they’d love her because of who she was.

“That’s true,” he agreed, sounding pensive. “I loved my mother very much.”

She knew from his letters that his mother had recently died. “I’m sorry you lost her.”

“I am too. She was the one who pushed me to marry, so I wish she were still here to meet you.”

“Really? You’re only—” She bit down on her words, not sure if she might insult him.

But he chuckled. “Twenty-two. I was hoping for a few more years running wild, I’ll admit.”

The darkness made it easier for her to ask, “Then why marry?”

“Well…” His palm skimmed her backside once more. “The perks are nice.”

Something about his flippant answer seemed false, and Shannon felt as if he was closing himself off against her. She stifled her sigh, knowing she’d done the very same to him, and rolled away, pulling her hand out of his as she went.

It made sense he’d keep secrets from her. After all, she’d kept a secret from him, and it was a big one. What did his reasoning for marrying matter?

But for some reason, deep down, Shannon knew it did matter. It mattered, not just to her, but to their future together.

“Hard day?”

Shannon’s question jerked Lucas’s attention to her, where she was sitting across the dinner table from him. “Huh?” he asked, then winced.

Not real articulate, are you?

“You haven’t said much. I hope the food is alright?”

When he realized his wife—of two weeks!—was actually nervous about something, Lucas could’ve kicked himself. He should’ve made more of an effort to be charming and engaging. He hated to think she was still acting reserved around him.

“No! I mean, yes, the food’s great.” He took a big bite of the bread to prove his point. “This is delicious,” he said around the mouthful, all the while knowing his mother would roll over in her grave to see him with such poor manners. “I love fresh bread.”

Shannon blushed slightly, but didn’t appear as if he’d convinced her. Her sister, however, interrupted his awkward attempts to reassure his wife.

“See?” She lifted an eyebrow and pointed at Shannon with a fork. “I told you he’d like it.” When her sister merely ducked her head, Cora turned to Lucas, who was still chewing like a dolt. “Shannon makes the best bread, but won’t admit it. Me? I’m all thumbs in the kitchen, but I can clean, at least. By the way, I moved that ugly vase out to the hall table.” Before Lucas could process what she was saying, Cora smiled widely at her sister. “And Shannon is nice enough to let me help cook sometimes.”

Shannon snorted slightly and finally raised her hand to pick up her fork. “If I don’t give you a job, you take it upon yourself to ‘help’, and the results are disastrous.”

She didn’t look at her sister as she teased, but Lucas thought he could see a hint of a smile on his wife’s lovely face.

“Sugar and salt look exactly the same. If you can’t be bothered to label things properly, I can’t be responsible for an honest mistake.”

This time, Lucas was sure Shannon was smiling at her sister’s banter, although she kept her attention on the chicken and gravy in front of her. “Anyone with a grain of sense would know to taste them if they’re unlabeled.”

“Really? How do I know it’s not arsenic?”

Now Shannon met her sister’s eyes, one beautifully sculpted brow raised speculatively. “Arsenic? Why would I keep arsenic in my kitchen?”

“To poison me when I start tasting things, obviously.”

The two sisters held each other’s gazes for a long moment, before dissolving into giggles. It made Lucas’s heart lighter to hear them, and he took another bite of his wife’s dinner. He hadn’t lied; it was good.

But he’d been distracted since he sat down, and knew it. He’d been vaguely aware of the two women bantering back and forth a bit as he’d stared down at his food, thinking about what he’d learned that day. But then they’d lapsed into silence, and he winced again to realize it had probably been due to the fact he hadn’t participated.

He’d been married two weeks now, and dinners between the three of them were common. Much more fun than the solitary meals he’d eaten since his mother died, or the quiet meals he’d shared with the men in the bunk house. Occasionally, he and Blake had gone into Black Aces for meals, but they’d been nowhere near as delicious as Shannon’s. She hadn’t lied in her letters when she’d told him she could cook.

Meanwhile, Cora’s offerings to the meals had been barely palatable, and he admired that she could admit it. The few paintings of hers he’d seen had convinced him this new sister-in-law of his should stick with her art and stay out of the kitchen as much as possible. He’d been surprised when Shannon had asked if her sister could stay with them, but was pleased now. Cora brought laughter to Sunset Valley and had saved things from being too awkward between Lucas and Shannon.

And things were awkward, much to his chagrin. Sure, that was probably to be expected, what with the whole “mail-order bride” thing. But…he’d had high hopes after feeling the attraction between them. After knowing how well they fit together.

Unfortunately, after that first day, Lucas was beginning to suspect they only “fit” together in bed. Their nights since their wedding had been…well, she’d been pretty much everything Lucas could’ve hoped for in a bed partner. That spark he’d felt between the two of them at the train station had caught, and he was pretty confident he’d have his heir by springtime.

The only problem was that as uninhibited and loving as Shannon was in bed with him, she was the complete opposite during the day. Granted, he was out working with the men most of the day, but when he’d see her in the mornings, or at dinner, she was shy. Almost nervous. He’d catch her looking at him as if she didn’t know what to make of him, or as if she was waiting for him to do something she wouldn’t like.

It didn’t sit right with him, but he didn’t know what to do about it. Didn’t know how to convince his wife to open up to him and discuss her concerns. That’s what husbands and wives were supposed to do, wasn’t it?

“Lucas?”

Oh shoot, his thoughts had wandered off again. He wasn’t sure what the women had been talking about after the laughter had ended, but he’d missed it. “Sorry. What?”

He caught the hesitant look Shannon sent to her sister. Cora made a little shooing motion, but then pretended a lot of interest in her almost-empty plate when she saw him looking. His eyes flicked back to his wife, and he raised a brow in question.

Despite his curiosity, he couldn’t help but admire the way her body moved when she took a deep breath and straightened. He’d been appreciating that body an awful lot, but was at a loss for how to talk her into letting him appreciate her heart and mind too.

“I just asked if everything was okay?” She kept her gaze on him, but he saw her picking at the tablecloth. She was still nervous?

He sighed. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“You rode out today with Mr. Blake I noticed.”

She’d noticed? He wasn’t sure if he should take that for a good sign or not. Did she worry about him, the way a proper wife would?

“He had something he figured I should see.”

His mood darkened when he thought about the almost-hidden traces of campsites and fires his foreman had shown him. Someone was out there, on his property, sticking close enough to the house to keep an eye on all of them. And Lucas had a pretty good idea who it was.

“What was it?”

His first instinct was to explain it to her. How many evenings had he and Mother sat across from one another, discussing ranch issues? She’d helped him talk through the problems until he understood the best solution. But she’d been a rancher’s wife for far longer than Shannon had, and had understood all of the dangers and troubles.

Shannon was not only new to the cattle-ranching world, but new to Montana. She was still getting used to taking over a new household—apparently Mother hadn’t bothered to label the salt and the sugar?—and a new husband. She was nervous enough around him and didn’t need anything else to worry about.

So he just smiled as convincingly as possible, and said, “Nothing much. Nothing to worry about.”

When her face fell, he knew he’d said something wrong.

The rest of the meal was quiet and awkward. Lucas watched his wife from behind lowered lashes. She didn’t take another bite after he’d upset her. Of course, he still didn’t know how he’d upset her, but knew it was his fault, somehow.

Cora tried her best to keep conversation going, but even she eventually gave up. She helped clear the table, then excused herself to her room, as she did most nights. Lucas did catch her sending her sister a good glare before she left, and he wondered about it. Did Cora know what was bothering Shannon?

Maybe he should go after her, ask her to explain what he’d done wrong, and how to make it right. At the same time, Lucas was surprised his wife’s good graces mattered so much to him. He didn’t remember his father ever discussing issues with Mother, or worrying about his wife’s opinion of him. But for some reason, Lucas did. Maybe it was his mother’s influence, after all.

His musings were interrupted—yet again—by Shannon. She plucked the empty plate out of his hand, and turned to dunk it into the wash basin.

When had he joined her in the kitchen?

He grimaced. Between this worry of the unknown observer and his wife’s poor opinion, he was getting too damn distracted.

He watched her elbows saw in and out as she scrubbed at the plate, and he sighed again. Her opinion did matter to him, and not just because he enjoyed her company in bed. He wanted to enjoy her company—and have her enjoy his company—out of bed too.

Still, he figured he could use their attraction to his advantage. He crossed the kitchen and slipped his arms around her waist.

She stiffened but didn’t push him away. He took that to be a good sign. After a few heartbeats, he experimented with pulling her closer, and she seemed to close the gap between them willingly.

With her backside pressed against him like that, his breath stirred the tendrils of hair at the base of her neck that had escaped her bun. He loved her hair, loved to comb it through his fingers after they made love, but before she fell asleep. Now though, he had to keep himself from nuzzling her skin. Instead, he clasped his hands in front of her and tried to remember to talk to her.

“Dinner was delicious.” There. Compliments were a good way to start.

Unfortunately, she didn’t say anything in return. So he dropped a kiss to her ear. “I’m sorry I was so distracted, honey. Blake and I had—”

No. He didn’t want to burden her with his worries.

He kissed her ear again, then the skin right below it where he knew she was particularly sensitive. “I should leave my work outside though, when I come home. Just focus on you.”

Another kiss, and she still didn’t respond. What else did she want to hear?

“I promise—”

He hadn’t been sure what he’d been about to say, just that he was willing to promise a hell of a lot to get her to open up to him. But she interrupted him.

“Lucas?”

“Yeah, honey?” Another kiss, and when she moaned slightly and relaxed against him, he felt a surge of hope. “Why don’t you talk to me?” he prompted.

She made a sexy little noise and tilted her head to one side, giving him better access. “About what?”

Hell if he knew. He just trailed kisses down her neck and murmured in between: “About your day. About what you were thinking about.” About why you haven’t talked—really talked—to me since you married me.

“Are you sure?”

He almost missed her whispered question, and it made him pause. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because…” When she took a deep breath, he felt it throughout his whole body. “You don’t seem that interested in talking.” Her backside shifted slightly against the very interested part of him, and he knew what she meant.

Chagrined, he pulled back slightly, but didn’t relax his hold on her. “You do that to me, honey.”

She snorted. It didn’t sound like a laugh, more like she didn’t believe him. Or didn’t approve of his claim.

“What? What do you want me to say?” Dammit, he hadn’t meant for those words to come out so harsh, but he was frustrated. She was rebuffing all of his attempts.

“The truth.”

The truth? “I am—”

“No.” She turned in his arms, and despite the stiffness of her posture—was she trying to hold herself away from him?—she didn’t look angry. Not the way Mother used to get sometimes when he didn’t take her advice, at least. No, Shannon looked… exasperated? “You’re telling me things you think I want to hear.”

He clamped down on his first instinct to deny it, to tell her he was speaking the truth. But… she was right. He was trying to ingratiate himself by saying things he thought would make her happy.

He shifted his hands to her hips and narrowed his eyes as he tried to read her face. “What do you want me to say then?”

She was still holding the dish towel she’d used to dry her hands when he’d reached for her, but now she placed one hand on his arm. “Why did you marry me, Lucas?”

The question was surprising enough to make him rear back. “Because you answered my ad and sounded like a good match. I thought you agreed we were a good fit and—” He frowned, wondering if she was already regretting this marriage.

“No, I mean…” She patted his forearm slightly, as if trying to reassure him. Reassure him? “Why did you marry at all?”

When his brows dipped down in confusion, she glanced away, but continued. “I asked you that on our wedding night, if you remember. You…didn’t respond.”

He remembered. He’d given her a flippant answer then, and stopped himself from repeating the same mistake now, just before she continued.

“I’m still curious though. You’re young and have a successful ranch. You mentioned you didn’t expect to marry so soon, and you obviously have resources…” She met his eyes once more. “You didn’t need to get married, but you did. Just because your mother told you to?”

There wasn’t anything accusing in her words, but Lucas felt uncomfortable anyhow. As if he’d been caught in a lie. As if he were still a little boy.

His jaw hardened, and he pulled away from her.

“Lucas?”

The pleading tone in her voice tugged at something in his chest.

“Talk to me. Please.”

He turned slightly, but couldn’t bring himself to leave the room completely. “I married you the same reason you married me. Babies.”

“You want a child?”

Now she sounded surprised. And why wouldn’t she? It was a silly answer from such a young man, he knew.

“More than one, hopefully.”

Silence from her, then from the corner of his eye he saw her toss down the dish towel. “You’re still not being honest with me, are you?”

“What? Yes I am!” Lucas ran his hand through his hair as he stepped even farther away, not understanding what it was she wanted from him. “I told you I wanted kids, that’s why I got married.”

She stared at him for long enough he became uncomfortable, so he crossed to the counter where the second loaf of bread sat. He knew it was supposed to be for breakfast tomorrow, but he began to pick at the crust anyway.

“What?” Lucas muttered, irritated over how he could feel so petulant.

“I’ve sat across from you every evening at dinner for two weeks, Lucas. Breakfast too, but you don’t talk as much then. You’re well-spoken, and funny, and smart. You’ve let me see a lot of you, and I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you, but…”

He kept picking at the bread, waiting for her to continue.

Eventually she did. “You told me your mother pushed you to marry. Did she want grandchildren?”

Lucas snorted. “What kind of mother doesn’t?” But he knew he had to tell her something. “But you’re right, it was more than that.” He took a breath. “I need an heir.”

“You’re awfully young to be worried about dying and passing your ranch on to someone, aren’t you? My father was almost thirty when my oldest brother was born.”

“No, I…” Damn, how to explain it? “If I have an heir, things will…be better.”

He’d hoped his vagueness would satisfy her, and he wouldn’t need to worry her any further. No such luck.

“What things?”

Lucas sighed. “My neighbor is causing some trouble, but once I have an heir, I think he’ll lay off.” It had been what his mother had claimed, at least, and he’d thought it was a pretty convincing argument.

“Is he less likely to harass a man who has children?”

“He’s less likely to try to take over Sunset Valley if he realizes he doesn’t have claim to it anymore.”

Aw, shoot. He hadn’t meant to say so much, but it had just sort of slipped out. Was she going to worry now, knowing one of their neighbors was trying to run them off his own land?

But Shannon didn’t say anything. He heard her moving around behind him and the sound of dinner dishes being put away. It was a good five minutes before he felt her warmth beside him, and he didn’t have to even look up to know she was there.

She reached around him and pulled the bread he was destroying out of his reach, carefully tucking it into a towel and knotting it up so the loaf wouldn’t get too hard overnight. He knew from the last two weeks she’d cut up the bread tomorrow and fry it in egg and milk and sugar, and he found himself looking forward to it already. When had she become such a huge part of his life? When had he come to value her so much?

Instead of walking away when she was finished with that simple task, she turned to face him and caught him staring at her rear end.

Whoops.

Lucas crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned one hip against the counter, wondering if he could convince her to head upstairs so he could show her just how much he appreciated her.

But the look on her face convinced him to keep his mouth shut. She wasn’t done talking about the whole needing-an-heir thing. He watched her open her mouth, then shut it again, and drop her eyes to her hands on the counter.

“Lucas, I…”

He sighed. He’d done that to her, made her feel so nervous. How? When he’d tried so hard to keep her from having anything to worry about. What could make her feel so uncomfortable around him?

He reached out and grabbed one of her hands, twining his fingers through hers. “I’m sorry, Shannon.” He didn’t know exactly what he was apologizing for, but he was sorry she didn’t feel comfortable enough around him to talk to him.

His gesture must’ve given her strength, because she met his eyes once more. “I feel as if you’re not telling me everything, Lucas. I’m your wife. Surely you can tell me who this man is, and why he’s causing you—us—so much trouble?”

She wanted to know more?

With a swiftness that might’ve knocked his head back, Lucas realized the truth. Here he’d been, moping about how his wife wasn’t sharing her thoughts and feelings with him, when he was the one who’d been keeping things from her. Sure, he’d done it because he cared about her and wanted to keep her from worrying, but was that a good enough reason? Maybe she was as disappointed in the way things had been going between them as he was!

So he moved toward the small desk in the corner where his mother had written out her recipes and the household accounts, tugging Shannon along by the hand. When he settled himself in the chair, he pulled her down too. Her startled squeak told him she hadn’t expected to land on her husband’s lap, but he only grinned.

Lifting his hand, he brushed the backs of his fingers down her left cheek. She flinched and turned away slightly, and he wondered if her birthmark was more sensitive or something for her to respond that way. Still, with her chin turned like that, he had a view of her gorgeous neck.

She really was lovely, wasn’t she?

“My father wasn’t a real nice man, and his old partner isn’t either. My father and Pierce used to work all of this land together, but they split it into two separate ranches right after my parents’ marriage. They’d agreed they’d each inherit the other’s land if one of them died.”

Shannon didn’t say anything, but didn’t have to; when she turned back to him slowly, he could read the interest in her eyes.

“And that seemed like it’d be fine, for the first years, but eventually I came along, and Dad raised me to take over his ranch. When he died, the trouble started.”

“What kind of trouble?” Her arm snaked around his shoulders, and she began to rub the muscles at the base of his neck.

It felt all kinds of good, after the hours in the saddle that day, but Lucas resisted the urge to groan. He did tilt his head forward slightly, to give her better access.

“It was slow at first. Missing calves, ruined fences, cattle with indistinct brands. The sheriff in town is pretty useless, and the issues have gotten worse over the last few years, to the point where it’s obvious Pierce is trying to ruin Sunset Valley. When I lose all my money, he’ll buy up the property.”

“You’re sure it’s your father’s partner? This Mr. Pierce?”

Beyond a doubt. “Yeah. He’s offered to buy me out at least eight times. I stopped counting, but every time we meet in town, he’s bragging about how this land is supposed to be his, and how my father didn’t have any right to leave it to me.”

Her fingers stilled briefly, then resumed their kneading. “But that’s… You’re your father’s son. Of course the land should come to you.”

Lucas snorted. “I know. And to my son or daughter after me.” He tightened his hold on her waist and placed one hand on her stomach. “That’s why I needed to get married. So I could be sure Pierce knew he wasn’t getting the land.” No matter what happens to me. “I need a son or daughter, as soon as possible.”

He loved the way her cheeks pinked until they matched her birthmark, and how she bit her lower lip. Did she realize how enticing she was when she did that? Probably not.

“I want children as soon as possible too,” she whispered.

“Well, alright then.” Lucas began to stand, still holding her, but when she tightened her hold on him, he stopped.

“But I still don’t understand why you believe having children would solve this, Lucas. Mr. Pierce’s offers to purchase won’t end just because you have an heir.”

Oh, damn.

His wife was apparently smarter than he’d given her credit for, and Lucas knew she’d worry if she knew the whole truth. Yeah, Joseph Pierce wasn’t going to stop trying to buy the Ryan land if Lucas had an heir, but purchasing the land wasn’t all Pierce had tried.

There had been a number of mysterious accidents around the ranch over the last year, and Lucas had barely escaped unscathed from two of them. Hay bales didn’t just fall out of the hayloft on their own, and his cinch strap had definitely been cut during the spring. Pierce was trying to have Lucas killed, so the ranch would revert back to him.

In fact, Pierce had even hired a gunslinger to ensure it happened.

Two-Grins Baker had been seen in town with Pierce several times in the last months, and Lucas knew he was the one who had been camping on his land, watching. Waiting.

It was pretty damn terrifying to know one of the fastest guns-for-hire in the west was after his blood, but Lucas had sent a telegram the week before he’d married Shannon, and hoped he’d soon have his own protection. His own protector.

With a gunslinger by his side, and an heir in his wife’s womb, Pierce would have to realize he’d never get the land. It would all go to Mrs. Lucas Ryan, and their son or daughter.

Whom Shannon might even now be carrying.

So he shifted his hold until his free arm was under her legs, then stood, holding her. Her squeal was even louder this time, and she wrapped both arms around his neck.

“What are you doing, Lucas?”

Distracting you.

“Ensuring we both get what we want, honey.” He kissed her and was heartened by the way she melted against him. “After all, it’s pretty hard to focus when you’re sitting there looking so kissable.” He trailed his lips across her left cheek to her ear. “So touchable,” he whispered.

“Oh…” She was flustered, judging from her breathy reaction.

“After all, we both want babies. Better get started, Mrs. Ryan.”

“Well, alright then,” she smiled, parroting one of his favorite phrases. “Let’s go make a baby, Mr. Ryan.”

And they were both laughing as he carried her up the stairs.

This is what marriage should be.