Lucy hugged her father tight, holding him against her body and feeling him, smelling his familiar scent, knowing it might be a long while before she saw him again. He held her tight in turn and touched her hair, before setting her aside and gruffly saying, “Dochter.”

Then she was in her mother’s arms for a quick but bone-crushing hug. Kathryn set her quickly aside, but gripped Lucy’s shoulder and said, “You will bring your sister and her child back to us for a visit, yes?”

“Yes,” Lucy agreed obediently, knowing any other answer would mean a light smack at the very least.

There was a time when, for Kathryn Miller, being gossiped about in the community was everything horrible. Apparently, the loss of both daughters was far worse than neighborly condemnation. Lucy took a deep breath and set off away from the house. She wished now that she kept at least one set of city clothes. But she’d believed that she was returning to the farm for good and she wouldn’t have been able to keep them anyway.

She hadn’t talked to her parents about her plans once she reached the edge of the property and they hadn’t thought to discuss any with her. They had no idea how long-distance travel worked, and she hadn’t wanted to alarm them. The moment she hit the main road, a few hours outside the community, she would hitchhike into a bigger center and then travel by bus into the city. Her father had given her a little money.

Lucy walked for about an hour when she saw a cloud of dust in the distance. She frowned and stopped, shading her eyes. She was still on Amish land, so it was strange to see a motorized vehicle. Yet the speed in which this one was travelling told her it definitely wasn’t a horse and buggy. As it approached, faster and faster, she stepped off to the side of the road, recognizing it as a truck, similar to Mack’s.

It drove by her in a blur of black metal and tinted windows. Then it stopped so fast it went skidding in the rocks and dirt, sending a huge billowing cloud of dust up into the hot summer air. Lucy’s mouth fell open in shock. Which was a bad idea. She immediately choked on the warm dust that made its way into her mouth. She bent over double, coughing, tears pricking her eyes. She heard a door open and then boots crunching across gravel as someone ran toward her.

Was she about to get kidnapped from her own damn community? She just couldn’t win no matter where she was! She tried to force herself to straighten up and take on a fists-in-the-air fighting pose, like her sister would, but the hacking coughs didn’t seem to want to let up just yet.

A hulking shadow flew out of the billowing dust. She put her arm up and tried to lurch away while still hacking and spitting out dirt. He grabbed her wrist and pounded her on the back. Her eyes popped open. Was her would-be kidnapper helping her?

“Lucy,” he growled.

“M-Mack?” she gasped around a mouthful of dust.

“Yeah, baby, it’s me.”

He helped her straighten and then pulled her against his chest before she had a chance to recover. Her eyes were still streaming. She blinked a few times and rubbed her face against his solid chest. Yup, felt like him. She took a few deep breaths and then inhaled, breathing him in. Also smelled like him. So incredibly masculine and good!

She placed her palms against his chest, felt his solid muscles beneath her hands and the reassuring beat of his heart and then shoved him away as hard as she could. He wasn’t expecting her attack, though he probably should’ve considering he’d almost ran over her and then choked her with a dust devil. She managed to dislodge him, and he stumbled back a few steps.

“What’s wrong with you!” she snapped hoarsely, coughing again. “Are you trying to kill me?”

He stared at her for a moment and then grinned, taking in her ire, the bag she was carrying and the road she was walking that led to the main highway. “Came back for you, darlin’, aren’t you happy to see me?”

She glared at him, hands on hips and tried not to let her lips twitch. She was completely over the moon to see him, but the man should suffer a little bit at least. “Well, you can just turn yourself back around, Mr. Hudson. That is about the least romantic pickup I have ever experienced in my life. I want a damn do-over if you expect me to go anywhere with you. A horse and carriage at least.”

His eyes swept over her, taking in her smock and bonnet. She recognized the heated lust for what it was. It was same look that blazed in his eyes the first time he kissed her and every time he’d touched her since. “See you brought me another bonnet for my collection,” he nodded toward her head.

“You think you’ll be touching me after everything you’ve put me through, Mr. Hudson?” she said, trying to sound imperious, hands on hips. She knew her voice sounded breathless though, because her heart was pumping in anticipation. She had minutes if not seconds before those big, rough hands were running all over her. She could hardly wait.

“You’ll be getting in that truck, Lucy, my love,” he growled, his voice sending shivers right through to her lady bits. “One way or another.”

“Oh, I will, will I?” she asked, eyebrow arched. Then she dropped her bag, turned and ran straight into the nearest cornfield, screeching with laughter. He lunged after her, catching her before she could take ten steps, arms wrapping around her waist.

He held her against him, his arms crushing her body into his. He dropped his head into her neck and nuzzled her ear from behind, licking her tattoo. “Lucy,” he murmured, his voice a husky whisper in her ear.

She shivered in his tight hold and tilted her head, giving him easier access. She stared straight ahead at the rows of corn, waving in the slight breeze. Her hair wafted around their heads and she brought her arms up to clasp his.

“Mack,” she whispered back.

“You ready to come home, baby?” he asked gently, his teeth grazing the edge of her ear.

Her breath caught, and goosebumps rippled across her skin, her nipples peaked. She nodded. “Yeah,” she said, tilting her head to look at him. “I missed you.”

His big shoulders blocked the sun, shadowing both of them. He nodded and looked down at her seriously. “I was waiting for you to wake up from wherever you went after you were hurt. Wanted to make sure you were ready before I came out here.”

She touched his jaw, running her fingers over the blond stubble before meeting his intense blue eyes. “I’m awake now, Mack. And I’m ready to go home with you.”

He dropped his forehead to hers. “Okay, baby,” he murmured, his deep voice penetrating right through her. “Once I take you from here, there’s no coming back. I’m not kidding around. You belong to me forever. I won’t let you go again.”

Instead of speaking Lucy stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his. It wasn’t the most passionate kiss they’d ever shared, but it was the most loving. It was full of the promise of a beginning. It was the understanding that this was it. That they would leave together and start their lives.

Lucy broke the kiss and swept him with a look, mischief shining in her eyes. “Deal. But I get to work at the diner still if Dalton will take me back. And I get girls’ nights out whenever I want them, and I get to go see Jane and Vlad on Saturdays and Tawny and Abel on Sundays.”

He laughed, swept her off her feet and strode toward his truck. “You think you get to negotiate with me? How about I spank that ass until you just agree to whatever I want?”

“No fair, you know I like it when you do that!” she accused, smacking him on the chest.

He chuckled and opened the door to the truck, setting her sideways on the driver’s seat. She tried to crawl across toward the passenger seat, but he jerked her back, turning her in his arms and smashing his lips down on hers in a heated kiss that sent her heart soaring. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up against him, pressing her breasts into her chest, savouring the feel of his big, solid body against hers once more.

“Mack,” she moaned into his mouth, tears of longing pricking her eyes.

“I know, baby,” he groaned against her. “Been too long.”

He dropped her ass back on the seat and reached down for the hem of her skirt, jerking it up. His big palms ran from her knees all the way up the outside of her thighs to her hips and then stopped. His light eyes met her melting caramel ones and he gave her a heated look that promised she was about to get fucked hard, right there on the side of a gravel road.

“No panties?”

She grinned. “I guess I’m a reformed ex-Amish girl,” she panted.

He growled, gripped her hips and jerked her forward slamming the cradle of her thighs against his jean-clad legs. He shoved her dress the rest of the way up, baring her completely to his gaze. His icy blue eyes seemed to blaze with fire. He reached in between their bodies and unzipped his pants, pulling his rock-hard cock free from the confines of denims and underwear. She had seconds to admire the smoothness of that move before he bent his knees and rocked his body into her, slamming himself home.

She shrieked, filling the truck cab with her cries and arched back as her body was suddenly and violently full. She gasped at the intrusion and reached for something, anything, accidentally hitting the horn and setting off a horrible, blaring sound. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes met his. They both laughed, then fell silent as the feel of him inside her body hit her once more. Deep tingles of pleasure started in her belly and gradually sizzled outward until she was writhing underneath him, silently begging him to get the show on the road.

“Awe fuck, Luce, this isn’t going to take long,” he groaned, staring down at her.

She reached over her head and gripped the edge of the console with both hands, thrusting her hips against his, forcing his cock even deeper into her pussy. “Don’t care,” she panted. “Do me fast and dirty, Mack!”

He grabbed her by the neck, held her fast and kissed her hard. “I am so in love with you, baby,” he growled against her.

She looked back up at him, her eyes shining. “And I’m so in love with you, Mack. Now please, please finish!”