The day Rhett rescued Maria was the scariest day of his life. He barely knew her, yet felt like it was his job to save her. That fate intervened in his life putting him on that plane that day. As hard as this past year has been, he wouldn't change anything about it. It's been an uphill battle but they've taken it easy, just one day at a time. When he brought her back home to Texas, he didn't have any intentions with her other than getting her as far away from that desert as possible. He knew he loved her and wanted to do anything he could to protect her. But that also meant putting his feelings aside and making sure she could heal.

There was a long period of time where Maria didn't want to leave the house. She was terrified that they were going to find her and come back for her. And whenever Rhett would convince her to leave, she was always looking over her shoulder. It was hard, really hard not being able to protect her against her own demons. He couldn't imagine the hell she went through that day. Or what she was reliving every time she closed her eyes at night. Those nightmares are the one thing that killed him the most. In the beginning, he spent his nights sleeping on the floor next to her bed.

Once she finally agreed to start talking to someone, bits of the old Maria started coming back out. It's been a month since her last nightmare and she's finally starting to trust going out in public again. Which is why he's standing here like an idiot in front of his bathroom mirror with two different ties in his hand. If anything, they have grown closer than he ever thought imaginable in the past year, but tonight is their first official date. How backward is that?

Rhett shakes out both ties in his hand, one red paisley and the other a navy blue. His heart has been racing all day and he can't tame the excitement flowing through him. The sun shining so strongly through the window reinforces his thoughts that today is a good day. A day he's been patiently waiting over a year for and he would have waited a lifetime if that's what Maria had needed. But fortunately for him, he doesn't need to wait any longer.

His breath catches in his throat when she appears in the bathroom door with the sun forming a glow around her body. She's got on a long gauzy white dress which only highlights the bronze hue to her skin. A lot of her therapy has been spent with the horses on the ranch. Funnily enough, the one horse she has connected with the most and claimed as her own is named Angel.

He knows how much she hated her stage name, but now? With her standing in front of him, she's the epitome of an angel. His angel. She walks over to him with the biggest grin on her face and places her soft gentle hands over his own.

"Skip the tie. I like my Cowboy a little more rugged than that." She removes the ties from his hands and tosses them on the cluttered bathroom counter. Leaning up, she undoes the top button on his shirt and whispers into his ear, "Let's skip dinner and go straight to dessert." She nibbles on his earlobe and Rhett releases a groan.

His hands form fists at his side and he uses everything in his power to stop from grabbing her waist and thrusting her into his hardened dick. Fuck it's been way too long. Jerking himself off in the shower every time he's wanted more has been really hard. But the last thing he wanted to do was pressure her.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Maybe we should just get going?"

She takes a step away from him and runs her hands down his chest and lightly settles them on the top of his jeans. There's a sinister look in her eyes and she replies, "I guess we can just go out if that's what you want." She slowly moves her hand down and just grazes him before taking her hand away and turning away."

Before she can get very far, Rhett grabs her arm and whips her body back around. "I'm more than happy to do whatever you want right now. I'm barely holding on by a thread though. So if you don't want to do anything, that's fine. But please just don't touch me there again."

"Or what?"

He points to the shower behind him. "Or I'm going to have to hop in there and take care of this before we can go on our date." He's straining against his tight jeans and the only thing on his mind right now is relieving all of the pressure.

She has been ready, more than ready for months now. It wasn't her idea to hold back and take things slow that was all Rhett and she loves him for being so concerned for her while she's been working toward becoming her old self again. Not the woman he met in Vegas but who she truly was before she got mixed up in all of that undercover bullshit. She doesn't regret a minute of it because it led her to the love of her life, but she does wish things hadn't gone done quite the same way as they did.

"Rhett, I promise I'm ready."

He hesitates still far enough away from her to drive her crazy. "Are you sure?"

"Can you please just get naked and fuck me? I have the sexiest boyfriend in a cowboy hat and I want to feel all of him."

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

He pulls her to him and wraps his arms around her. Leaning down, he kisses her on one cheek, and then the other. He continues working his way around her face. Her nose. The corner of her mouth. Up her jaw. Until he lands on her favorite place right behind her ear. Her body shudders within his grasp and he can't wait to feel her fall apart in his arms.

"I won't fuck you. I will never fuck you. What we have is so much more than that. And I will remind you as many times as I have to in as many different ways as I have to so you'll never want to fuck ever again. Even if that reminder takes the rest of our lives."

Her words come out breathlessly as she says, "I think I'll need to be reminded often. I tend to be forgetful."

"Well, darlin' looks like I have my work cut out for me."

"I think we should get started right now." She steps out of his grip and he almost reaches back for her but she shakes her head. She slides one thin strap down her arm and then the other. Rhett gasps when her dress slides down her body and to the floor leaving her completely bare in front of him. She might not be playing fair today, but she wasn't going to let anything stop her from getting what she wants and she's craving his body.

Leaning up on her tiptoes, she wraps her arms around her neck and smiles. She kisses him on the lips and says, "I love you, Rhett Walker."

"I love you too Maria Walker."

She smiles hearing his name roll off his tongue attached to her own name. With everything that happened last year, she needed to go into hiding so that anyone from her father's organization still in the wind couldn't find her. After they found her, the house she was in was raided. They found her father, along with Charles, and a few other thugs. Apparently, they were dumb enough to bring her to their safe house in Las Vegas with enough information to put all of them away and the locations of quite a few other high-ranking men in the organization. By bringing her there, they put the cuffs on their own wrists.

When they gave her a new identity, they also created a marriage license for her and Rhett. According to their license, they've been married for five years and Maria was born and raised in Texas.

The minute she stepped off the plane with Rhett a year ago, when he brought her back in Texas it was like she could finally breathe again. She felt like she was home and right where she belonged. When she was kidnapped he might have rescued her at the time, but ultimately, they rescued each other. Neither one of them knew how much they needed the other at the time, but they've both healed in ways that can't be explained. Maria found her forever in Texas with Rhett and she's never letting it go.