Romance: Cowboy Way of Love (3 page)

Peony laughed. “Flattery
will get you everywhere, Mr. Shipman.” She grew serious. “But spill
the beans. Tell me your darkest secrets.”

“
When I was fourteen,”
Hunter said, “I ran away from home. I decided I had had enough of
ranch life. I was going to see the bright lights and big city for
myself.”

“
How far did you get?”
Peony asked.

“
San Diego, California,”
Hunter replied. “My parents were pissed.” He shook his head. “This
is where I should probably tell you about my horrible sense of
direction. I’d started off for New York.”

Peony laughed again. This
time, her humor came from a place deep inside her. Hunter enjoyed
watching the way the joy shook her body. Everything jiggled, just a
little: her breasts, her belly, her thighs. Small tears formed in
the corners of Peony’s eyes. She didn’t bother wiping them
away.

“
And after you got home?”
she asked.

“
I was grounded for a long
time,” Hunter said. “We’re talking extra chores for a year, a year
and a half.” He shrugged. “But it worked. I never really left home
again after that. Of all the boys, I’m the one who
stayed.”

“
And you’ve grown the
ranch quite a bit.” Peony observed. “Petunia was telling me about
it.” The exact words her sister had used the words had been
multi-million dollar outfit, but Peony didn’t feel the need to
mention that now.

“
I’ve been lucky,” Hunter
said. “And blessed. There’s not much more a man could want than
what I have right now.”

“
What would you add to
that mix?”

His gaze was frank and
direct. “You.” Hunter nudged Wally even closer, close enough that
he could lean over and kiss Peony.

It was a surprise, but not
an unwelcome one. Hunter found Peony’s lips to be warm and
welcoming; they parted at his slightest touch.

“
I’m sorry,” he said, when
he pulled away. “I’ve wanted to do that from the first moment I saw
you.”

“
Don’t be sorry,” she
said, leaning toward him for another kiss. “There’s a few things
I’ve wanted to do myself.”

His blond eyebrow arched
upward. “Such as?”

Peony laughed. “Nothing I
know how to do on horseback,” she said. “How do we get down from
here?”

Hunter slid out of Wally’s
saddle and walked around to stand on LouLou’s left side. “Swing
your leg over,” he said, “and I’ll help you down.” He turned his
attention to LouLou. “You’re going to stand perfectly still,
understand?”

LouLou complied, and a few
seconds later, Peony found herself standing in Hunter’s embrace.
“Wow, Cowboy,” she said, reaching up with one hand to let her
finger tips trace over his cheek, “You’re even cuter up
close.”

Hunter laughed. “I’m more
of a rancher than a cowboy,” he said. “Even though I’ve got the
hat.”

Peony snuggled in close.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to the wild,
wild west.” Her kiss was intense, and her wandering hands were very
knowledgeable. Within a few seconds, Hunter found himself fully
erect inside his jeans.

“
Wow,” he said, shifting
awkwardly in his boots. “I’ve never had kissing do that to me
before.”

Peony smiled and undid
Hunter’s belt buckle. His zipper, which had been straining to
contain the desire behind it, practically unzipped itself,
revealing the white underwear he wore beneath.

“
You are single,” Peony
exclaimed with delight.

“
Of course I am,” Hunter
said. “We wouldn’t be doing this otherwise.” He looked down,
confused. “But how can you tell that from looking at my
drawers?”

Peony laughed. “Because no
woman you’d think was worth having would let you walk around in
these sad looking briefs,” she said, gently hooking her fingers in
the elastic waistband of his shorts. “They have got to go.” She
tugged his shorts downward, setting his swollen cock free. “Now,
this is nice,” she purred.

Hunter smiled. “I’m glad
you think so.” His eyes widened as he saw Peony wrap her dark
fingers around his pink shaft; the contrast in their skin tones
sent an electric jolt running through his body. “Oh,
wow.”

Something in Peony’s
affect shifted; in the moment, Hunter saw his lover return to the
languid woman he’d been watching exercise that morning. Her
movements were slow and dreamy as she stroked the length of his
throbbing cock; it was with the gentlest of caresses that she
stroked the tip, her thumb beat a tender drumbeat on the
underside.

He tried pushing his hips
forward into her grasp, but she retreated from his advance; her
touch became lighter the more Hunter sought it.

“
Oh,” Hunter breathed,
shaking as he tried to will himself still so she would touch him.
“Oh, please…”

Peony rewarded his
supplication by wrapping both hands around his shaft and squeezing.
The embrace wasn’t tight, but it was tight enough to bring Hunter
up onto his toes. He could feel his balls gathering up beneath him
– a sensation he hadn’t really experienced since he was a teenager,
when just the thought of a girl was enough to send him
off.

Peony slid her fingers
back and forth, stroking his tender flesh expertly. Just when he
thought he couldn’t take anything else – that all of his dreams had
been realized – Peony bent her head and flicked her warm, wide, wet
tongue over the throbbing end of his cock.

There were no words.
Hunter’s groan was pure need; birds took wing from nearby trees at
the sound. Peony smiled and moved forward, opening her lips to
slowly embrace Hunter, inch by inch by inch.

Her mouth was so hot and
so tight and so completely unexpected that Hunter couldn’t bear it.
“Darling,” he warned. “You need to stop right now because I’m going
to lose it.”

Peony, instead of
stopping, redoubled her efforts. She started to suck on his length
while using her fingers to caress Hunter’s aching balls. He didn’t
dare look at her, because he knew the sight of her lush form knelt
down in front of him would be the final straw…and then he looked at
Peony, because he couldn’t help it. With one last hopeless moan, he
let his hips slide forward as far as they would go, and whimpered,
“Please, please.”

She grabbed him by the
hips and pulled him closer as he came. Hunter closed his eyes and
was still almost blinded by the starbursts of pleasure exploding
across his vision. He was shaking after, when Peony pulled away,
gently kissing the tip of his cock before pulling his shorts back
up.

“
You all right,
Cowboy?”

“
Better than all right,”
he said. He reached down and helped Peony back to her feet, and
then he kissed her. “You’re absolutely amazing.”

She smiled. “I try my
best.” They were staring at each other, just about to kiss once
again, when Peony’s cell phone rang.

“
Shit!” she exclaimed,
rummaging in her pocket. “That’s Poppy.” She read the text message
and cursed. “The rehearsal dinner’s starting in twenty minutes,”
she said. “We’d better be there or our ass is grass!”

It was clear that Poppy
was feeling no pain by the time Peony and Hunter arrived. She
seemed to have completely recovered from her horseback riding
accident and has appointed herself the emcee of the evening’s
festivities.

“
Champagne toast!” Poppy
announced, raising her glass. “Let’s drink to Petunia and Seth
having a very happy life together.” She shot a drunken glance at
her sister, and a mischievous drunken giggle escaped her lips.
“With lots and lots of babies! Cowboy babies!”

Everyone laughed, and Mama
Rosa stepped up, smoothing over the moment and stopping her
daughter from making any more proclamations. “Okay, everyone,
champagne toast!” She waved a hand, deploying a handful of her
grandchildren through the room, bottles in hand, to fill everyone’s
glass.

When the young man reached
Peony’s spot, she shielded her glass with her hand, and said, “No
thanks, darling. I’m good.”

Poppy saw this. “You don’t
want any champagne?” she demanded. “What’s the matter with you? You
love champagne.”

“
I’m good,” Peony
repeated. She raised her flute, giving her sister a good view of
the more-than-half-full glass. “See?”

“
That ain’t champagne,”
Poppy said. “Drink that up, so we can fill your glass proper for
the toast.”

“
Poppy, leave it be,”
Peony said.

“
Leave what be?” Poppy
demanded. “Your sister’s getting married. That’s something you
celebrate unless…” the drunk woman’s eyes narrowed as she thought,
and then popped wide open. “Oh my God!” she shrieked. “You’re
pregnant!”

The room went silent.
Hunter could feel the eyes of every member of his family staring at
Peony. Her family was pretty wide-eyed too, but it was his family’s
reaction that worried him the most. He wanted them to love her as
much as he already did, and a scene like this wasn’t the way to
make that happen.

He stood up and put his
hand on Peony’s shoulder. “We do have some news to share with all
y’all, but tonight is Seth’s night. And of course, Petunia’s.”
Hunter raised his glass and looked Mama Rosa right in the eye. “To
True Love!”

Mama Rosa raised her glass
and echoed the cry. Hunter could hear his own mother joining in the
toast. Someone started tapping their silverware against the glass,
loudly clamoring for a kiss. Hunter took advantage of the moment to
ask Peony, “Do you want to get out of here?”

In one smooth, decided
motion, Peony pushed her chair back and stood up. “Do I?” Her
fingers slid smoothly into his own, and she started walking toward
the door. “Let’s go, Cowboy.”

They were out of the room
and safely in the cab of Hunter’s pickup before anyone knew they
were gone. Peony slid all the way over so she was close against
Hunter’s side. He draped one arm around her shoulders, squeezing
her gently as he drove.

“
My sister is an idiot!”
Peony proclaimed. “Why that girl just can’t keep her big mouth
shut, I just don’t know.” She closed her eyes. “I wasn’t ready for
my family to know about any of this.”

“
She’d had quite a bit to
drink…” Hunter began.

“
She’s always had quite a
bit to drink,” Peony laughed, bitterly. “That damn woman’s an
alcoholic. She’s drinking all the time. You’ll see.” She turned her
head up to look at Hunter. “And you. The way you said that.” She
patted her stomach. “Everybody in that room is going to think this
is your baby!”

“
If we’re together,
Peony,” Hunter said, keeping his eyes carefully facing forward and
speaking slowly,” boyfriend and girlfriend, or if you want, husband
and wife, that is my baby in there, through and through, one
hundred percent.”

Peony, who had caught her
breath when Hunter said “wife”, exhaled slowly. “Did you just ask
me to marry you?”

Hunter smiled. “Not the
way I should have, probably, but yeah.” He squeezed Peony’s
shoulders. “If you let me, I’ll ask you again later.”

“
You know this child is
not going to look like you,” Peony said. She rubbed her hands over
her stomach. “Not at all. Not even a little bit.”

“
Tell me this,” Hunter
said. They’d reached the ranch house; he put the truck in park and
shut it off. “Do I look like my father? At all? Even a little
bit?”

Peony studied his visage
intently. He could feel her studying gaze, taking in the curves of
his forehead and the way his eyebrows angled over his eyes. She
studied his nose and the way that he smiled and for a very long
while, his chin. “No, “she finally pronounced. “You look like your
mother.”

“
So will our little one,”
Hunter said. “That’s how these things go.”

“
People will talk,” Peony
said. She rolled her eyes. “Poppy will be impossible.”

Hunter opened the truck
door, slid out and held up his hand to help Peony down. “So what?”
he asked. “I don’t care what anyone says. I know what’s
true.”

Peony slid down into
Hunter’s waiting arms. “Tell me what’s true, Cowboy?”

He kissed her first, slow
and sexy. “It’s true that you’re beautiful.” He let his hands slide
down over her curves, a slow journey that stopped at Peony’s
generous hips. “Every inch of you.”

She kissed him back and
smiled. “What else is true?”

Hunter grew serious. The
energy between them changed as they stood, arm in arm, face to
face, and Hunter looked Peony right in the eye. “It’s true I’ll do
my best for you. In every way I can, I’m going to treat you
right.”

Peony flung her arms
around Hunter’s neck and pulled him to her for another kiss. This
one was demanding, intense and joyous. “Yes,” she said, after. “I
will be your wife. We will be your family.”

They moved slowly this
time, savoring every minute. Peony smiled as she undid Hunter’s
bolo tie, shaking her head at the silver and turquoise slide.
“Nobody wears these in Virginia.”

“
We’re not in Virginia,”
Hunter said, carefully undoing the zipper on the back of Peony’s
dress. “Everything can be different here.”