Blood & Rust (Lock & Key #4) (67 page)

“Huh? Why? I thought we were going to—”

“Surprise, part two.”

“
SURPRISE
!”

Rae, Penny, and I had organized the engagement party along with Tania’s Aunt Charlotte who lived on the farm with her husband, Mac. We’d set up the party in one of the old barns that was no longer being used but had withstood the purges of time and Dakota weather.

All the One-Eyed Jacks were there, as well as Catch and Nina. Tania hugged and kissed every single person and showed off her ring.

“How are you doing, groom-to-be?” Boner held Thunder in his arms.

The kid stared up at me while he viciously chewed on a bright red pacifier, one fist curled tightly in Boner’s T-shirt.

“Feels great, man. How’s this little guy? He must be the quietest, most no-fuss baby ever.”

“He is.”

We both aimed our attention at Thunder. He had his mother’s luminous hazel eyes and his father’s black hair and darker skin. He was gorgeous. Thunder blinked at us, realizing he had our full attention. Those huge eyes of his glittered, swallowing us whole. A gurgle, a smile, and his pacifier popped out of his mouth. He wiggled in Boner’s hold.

“He’s something,” I mumbled.

“I know.” Boner kissed the side of Thunder’s face.

“You getting the urge?” I asked.

“What?” Boner offered the pacifier back to Thunder, and he gobbled it between his teeth and lips.

“To procreate.”

Boner’s eyes darted to Jill, who was crouched between Becca and little Jake, her arms around their waists, as Grace took a photo of them.

“I’ve got it bad, bro, so fucking bad,” said Boner, his brow furrowed. “Jill doesn’t know it yet though. I can’t tell her. I mean, shit, her uterus needs a break.”

I laughed, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Somehow, brother, I don’t think your old lady would deny you anything. Especially that.” I picked up the thick cotton cloth on Boner’s shoulder and wiped at the dribble running down the side of Thunder’s chin.

“Hey, congratulations.” Wes stood at my side, a slanted smile on his face.

“Wes.” I took him in my arms and hugged him hard.

“You deserve to be happy.”

“You think?” I asked.

“I know you do. I got a present for you. Tania thought it was a great idea.”

I leaned into him. “Does this have something to do with my guitar case disappearing this past week?”

“Yeah.” Wes turned to Jake. “Buddy, bring it over.”

Grace’s nephew struggled with my guitar case in his grip and pushed it at Wes. Wes turned it around. On the front of the case was a hand-painted One-Eyed Jack skull in drippy gothic glory. Its glimmering starlight eye was painted in a wide range of purples, silvers, and light blues.

I stilled. “You did this?” I asked Wes.

“Lock helped me with the basic design, but I took off from there.”

“That’s incredible, Wes,” Boner said.

Thunder gurgled his approval.

I gripped Wes’s neck. “You’re so talented, and this is beyond words beautiful. Thank you. Means a lot to me. A hell of a lot.”

He only pressed his lips together and nodded stiffly. I pulled him close and kissed the side of his face.

“You still coming to our first game on Friday?” he asked, a hand pressing in on my back. “We’ve got a hell of a starting lineup this year.”

“Wesley, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The engagement party went on all afternoon. As the sun set, Tania brought me into the main house and showed me her old bedroom, a room she’d loved, a room she’d had to say good-bye to when her dad had died and she and her mom, brother, and sister had moved into town. Tania’s old room was now Charlotte’s knitting and hobby room.

Tania stood at the window. Reds and oranges streaked the huge open sky, the fields gleaming in their glory.

“I loved this view. I used to decorate this window shelf with my little figurines, put my handmade stained glass up here.” Her fingers traced down a strip of stained glass with a yellow sun and blue moon on it. “Look at that. Aunt Charlotte kept it. This one’s mine.” She pressed her face against the windowpane. “I swear, I can still smell my mother’s kuchen baking in the kitchen.”

I came up behind her and lifted her wrap skirt, moving her boy-short panties out of the way.

“What are you—”

“I’m gonna make you come while you’re reminiscing and feeling all that sweet girlie nostalgia. Hands on the window.”

Those long fingers of hers splayed on the window, my ring on her hand making a sound against the glass. I palmed her gorgeous ass, bringing it closer to me, and dipped into her wet heat.
Very wet.

I bent over her back, my lips at her ear. “You ever fool around with anyone in here?”

“No, I was a good girl and a little too young for that at the time.”

I unbuckled my jeans with my left hand, my right toying with her clit. “Good.”

“But I got started early and played with myself a lot.” She took in a breath. “Lots of fantasizing about my dream man.”

I grabbed her hips, sliding my cock inside her, and she let out a low moan.

I ground into her deeper. “Play with this.”

“Fuck yes,” she breathed. “Yes, yes…”

Our breaths fogged the window, and I felt that throb of her around me.

“Fuck your real-life dream man, baby,” I whispered, nipping the back of her neck.

She thrust back against me.

“I love you,” she breathed. “I love you, Markus. So damned much.”

The pale skin of her neck glowed in the warm rays of the setting sun.

“Can’t get enough of you, Scarlett. Love being inside you, feeling you come on me.” I picked up my pace, my hand sinking over her pussy. “Can’t fucking get enough.”

She ground back into me. “I hope you never get enough.”

Three weeks later, I took Tania on the back of my bike, and we headed for the Pacific Ocean.

I’d had Lenore surprise her with a simple flowing white dress that she’d designed and made for Tania, and Jill had given Tania a lariat style necklace with golden crystals and citrine stones, the color of sunflowers. The long necklace fell perfectly between her braless tits in that loose, slinky made-for-the-beach halter dress.

I bought my woman a single sunflower for a bouquet, and Scarlett and I got married on a beach with the waves crashing on the shore, seagulls calling overhead, the wind joining our promises and blowing them toward that big blue sky.

We kissed as husband and wife and stood there, just the two of us, hand in hand, watching the ocean on the same spot where, years ago and for the very first time, I’d been called forth from the grave, like Lazarus.

Resurrected.

“I know you guys are from South Dakota. That where you grew up, too?” I asked.

“No, I’m originally from Colorado,” Dig said, his tongue sliding across his lower lip. “The mountains.”

“Wow. I’d like to see the Rocky Mountains one day. I’ve always lived by the beach, just a little further south from here. You like it out there? In South Dakota, I mean.”

“I do. Very much.”

“Oh, yeah? I couldn’t be landlocked. No fucking way.”

His body visibly tensed next to mine.

“I mean…well, I don’t know,” I muttered.

Dig stared at me. Hard. His strange almost golden brown eyes drilled into me, and my pulse sprang.

“What
do
you know?” He brought two of his ringed fingers to the sides of his head and tapped. “You’re landlocked inside. Inside. And that’s a shit place to be.” He pointed his two fingers at my face. “I can see it in your eyes.”