“I sunk two in a row,” she said. A few moments later, Cab was naked. He lay down on the pile of covers and wrapped himself in a sleeping bag.
“I sunk the rest.” He reached for her.
Rose only held off for the time it took to shimmy out of her panties, then came to him in the sleeping bag with her socks still on.
“I said all of them.” Cab tugged at her socks with his toes and Rose laughed, but allowed him to take them off, too. She knew how he felt; like he couldn’t get enough of her, couldn’t get close enough to her. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.
More.
“I can’t wait to feel you inside of me,” Rose whispered as she lay down beside him, loving the way her breasts felt when they rubbed against his skin.
“You don’t have to,” he said, pulling her on top of him. “You can have me whenever and however you want.”
“Really?” She sat atop him and wriggled a little, closing her eyes at the way his hardness pressed against her. When he reached up to cup her breasts again, she moaned.
“Like that?” he asked.
“Mmm-hmmm.”
“Like this?” He half sat up to take first one, then the other nipple into his mouth again.
“Yes.”
“Good thing you warned me earlier you planned to jump me today.” He fished a condom out of his jeans pocket. Leaning back, he took a moment to put it on. Rose shifted to allow him the space to do so, then resumed her seat with enthusiasm. She edged around until he was positioned exactly right. Her hands planted on top of his chest, she eased herself onto him, pushing back to sink him deep within her.
Cab let out a ragged breath.
“You like that?” she whispered.
“You know it.”
She began to rock her hips. “How about that?”
He slid his hands over her back and down to her ass. “Excellent.” Now he helped establish the rhythm, rocking her on top of him, gripping her hips to ease himself in and out.
Rose gave up control to him. She loved it when he made love to her, loved it when he possessed her.
Trusted him to give her every inch of pleasure imaginable.
As she rocked above him, Cab captured her wrists and held them by her hips so that her breasts pushed forward and swayed with every move. He moved in and out of her with deep, strong strokes, and her body swung with him, her senses on fire.
She knew he was watching her. Knew he adored every curve of her body. She pushed against him as he pushed into her, met him stroke for stroke. She felt so safe with Cab that she could abandon her inhibitions. Constrained by the confines of the tree house, they might choose a sensible position like this one, but safe in their cozy cabin in the future she could imagine all kinds of games they might play.
Those imaginings left her raw with desire and she increased her pace, rising and falling faster. When she went over the edge and cried aloud, Cab grunted beneath her and bucked against her hips. She rode her climax as long as she could, allowing her moans of pleasure to fill the air. When she was done, she collapsed forward and Cab caught her in his arms.
He kissed her long and hard, pulled away and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Rose. You know that, right?”
Rose nodded.
She did know that. And she loved him back.
Cab found himself shaking when he reached for his pants and pulled the small velvet box from the pocket. It wasn’t the cold, although now that they’d stopped making love to each other the chill in the air was sharpening again.
He knew he was taking a chance. It was much too soon. Rose had been through a lot these past months, and she’d only broken up with Jason recently.
Still, what he’d learned the night of the shootout was that he never wanted to be away from her, and he didn’t want to wait one more day than he had to before he made her his wife.
He pushed himself up to a seated position, cuddled her into his lap, and arranged the sleeping bags around them to keep her warm. “Rose, I made you a promise that I would back off and let you have some time. I told you I’d give you room to find yourself before I pushed back into your life. I lied. I don’t want to back off. I don’t want to give you space. I don’t want to leave you alone.” He kissed her again. “I love you. I want to spend my life with you. Take all the time you need to answer because I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here, wherever you are. I won’t boss you around. I won’t tell you what to do, but I’ll be here. Waiting for you. Rose, will you marry me?”
“Yes.” She threw arms around his neck, rained kisses down on his cheeks, forehead and chin. “I thought you’d never ask. I’ve been waiting for weeks!”
“Weeks?” he said when he could breathe again.
“Ever since that night—you know,” she said. “I realized I know what I want—and it’s all right here. Right in front of me.”
Relief overwhelmed him and he wrapped his arms around her, cradling her against his chest. If only they could stay here, safe and together in this small house she’d built with her own hands. Cab promised himself he would disassemble it board by board and rebuild it on the Cruz ranch. His wife would have her private space.
“Will you let me in your new tree house when we’re married? Once in a while?” He traced a finger down her jaw and lifted her chin to kiss her again.
“Sometimes,” Rose said, kissing him back. “When I want some.” She giggled when he tipped her over onto her back.
“When you want some, huh? How often will that be?” Cab settled himself between her legs and directed his attention to her breasts again. Maybe she’d get some right now.
“All the time.” She grew serious. “But if we get married, where will you want to live?”
“In the cabin with you if you want,” Cab said, propping himself up on one elbow. “I talked to Ethan about that, too. With Jamie and Rob injured, he could use some help, and the truth is I’m sick of being the only one of us who doesn’t live on that ranch. When we outgrow the cabin, we could build our own place just like Rob and Morgan. I have some money saved. Might as well invest in the ranch as in anything else. With you working with Autumn… just makes sense. What do you think?” He watched her expression with interest.
“Sounds like heaven,” she said. “It sounds perfect, Cab.”
“You’re perfect.” Cab traced kisses over her porcelain skin. “I hope you think this is perfect, too.” He popped open the velvet case and held it up to her.