A cool fall breeze blew through the open windows, and dry leaves danced and scraped outside on the porch. Huck slid back into bed with me, my soft curves molding perfectly around his rough-hewn edges and coiled muscle.
He looked down at me with as close to a silly grin as a man like him was able to muster. "You are too much, Belle," he said, kissing my forehead.
"Oh?" I asked. "Is that a good thing?"
"It's the very best thing. I completely misjudged you. You came off all prim, proper, and polished when I first met you. But now I know that you're wild. Feral. And I'm just the man to tame you. Or die trying."
He gave me a squeeze and let his fingertip wander down my collarbone and gently down my breast to where it found my erect nipple, dragging it with his rough finger until I gasped when it sprung free.
I kissed him frantically, my body desperate to be had by him again. I could feel him starting to swell against the side of my leg, and he rolled across and on top of me, kissing me back.
Just as things were heading unmistakably in the direction I needed them to go, however, his phone started buzzing on the nightstand.
He paused and looked at it, then back at me. "Sorry, baby, but nobody ever calls me unless it's important. Don't go anywhere."
I pretended to pout as he walked naked into the other room, wrapping the cotton sheets of the bed around my waist. My skin was still flushed from him having taken me in every position either of us could imagine. We'd been in bed all day, but hadn't slept a wink. We were addicted to each other.
I'd never in my life realized what ecstasy it was to completely belong to someone in every way. Huck wasn't just my lover. He was the air I breathed and his touch nourished my soul. We were made of the same intangible thing and whatever it was, it needed the love of the other to sustain itself.
It was almost overwhelming to think of sometimes. My love and desire for him scared the hell out of me. It upped the stakes in my life. There was so much to lose now and yet … It was worth the risk to be with him.
"Belle," he said, walking back into the room. "Bad news. Something's happening at the bar. They need me." He leaned down and kissed me hard on the mouth. "Come with me. We can go get dinner afterward. Eat it out by the lake … you remember the lake, right?" He winked at me.
"It's too cold for eating by the lake," I said, grinning at him. "How about you just have me for dinner? In front of a roaring fire? Naked?"
"Oh, darlin'," he said. "You know just how to move me. I can't think of anything better."
I touched his face as he slid the back of his knuckles across my naked breasts. "I love you," I whispered. "Please. One more time before we have to go."
Huck shook his head, "It's so hard to tell you no, Belle. I want you in the worst way, but it sounds like it's a real emergency down there. But I promise … tonight. All night if you want to."
I nodded, begrudgingly. "Okay. It's hard to compete with that damn bar."
Huck laughed, "Oh God, there's no competition. I'd sell it tomorrow if it wasn't for Rick having such nostalgia for it. I just want to run away into the mountains with you and never look back. Live off the land, hunt for our dinner, make love to your luscious body all night and for the rest of my days."
I kissed him again. "That sounds perfect."
He stared into my eyes for a long moment.
"What?" I asked. "What's that look for?"
"Dammit," he said, kneeling in front of me. "You're so beautiful … I can't wait a second longer."
"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes wide at what I thought might be coming.
He reached into the pocket of the jeans he'd slipped on while he'd been in the living room on the phone. When he brought his hand back, there was a box in it. A small one.
The kind that holds engagement rings.
My hand flew to my mouth and tears stung my eyes.
"Belle Grace Delford," Huck said, his voice shaking. "I have never, in all my life, loved anyone the way I love you. As much as I tried to avoid it, I loved you and wanted you from the very second I saw you. It was pure magnetism, what we had. And have. I want to be the man that can somehow make you happy the rest of your days on this God-blessed Earth of ours. I want to protect you, provide for you, and make love to you and only you for the rest of my life. I want to put our babies inside you and watch them grow up while sitting next to you on a wraparound porch on the land my own momma raised me on. It's the stuff my wildest dreams are made of. Except, it's not a dream. Somehow this is my life. And I plan on showing you every day how grateful I am for it. And for you. I love you, Belle. More than anyone has ever loved anyone else. Marry me."
I was sobbing by then. He opened up the box and showed me the diamond. It was beautiful, perfect. Just what I'd always wanted. Somehow he'd known.
"Yes!" I cried out. "I want to marry you more than I've ever wanted anything!"
He slipped the ring on my shaking hand and then I fell into his arms, crying into his shoulder as he held me.
"Baby," he whispered into my hair. "You're the sun that I've been waiting to shine my whole life. You finally showed up. I love you forever."
We kissed then and our kisses turned into more. The love he made to me was the most beautiful and tender thing I'd ever experienced. My soul was on fire under the fading light of a Montana afternoon as he released himself inside of me, crying out from the pleasure. My legs were wrapped around him so tightly and I felt his come pumping into me, a feeling that made me delirious with joy.
"I want this to be the time," he said as he slowly stopped thrusting into me, both of us panting from the exertion of the best sex we'd yet to have. "That we conceive our first baby. This moment. Because I have never loved you more than I do right now."
I laughed through tears of joy, "That sounds perfect to me. All I want is to carry your babies."
He held me for a long time as the breeze came in through the half open windows of our room.
"Shit," I said, sitting up straight, suddenly remembering he needed to be at the bar. "You need to go! The bar needs you!"
Huck laughed, pulling me down on top of him. "That was a ruse. I mean, we still need to go, but I was going to get you there and propose to you in front of everyone. And then we were going to have our engagement party right then, with the whole town. Everyone is there waiting for us. They're going to be so pissed I already asked you. But looking at you in this light, it about broke my heart how incredibly beautiful you are. I couldn't wait. I'm not a patient man."
I laughed, kissing his nose. "Well … Just ask me again when we get there. No one has to know. This can always be our secret."
His large hands ran down my sides. "But all I want to do is stay here and fuck you."
I playfully smacked him. "We need to go see our friends! We have the rest of our lives for you to do that. Trust me. I plan on wearing your ass out."
Sure enough, twenty minutes later we walked into a full bar. Everyone from Whitmer seemed to be there including all the waitresses, Grizz, Bo, Albert, and of course all of the Calloway boys. Rick was behind the bar slinging shots of bourbon and uncapping beers like a mad man. He had a huge grin on his face as we walked in.
"There you are!" Rick called out. "You already asked her, didn't you?"
Huck and I looked at each other with mock surprise.
"What do you mean?" we both asked at the same time and Rick laughed.
"You're so full of shit. Belle is glowing, you're grinning like a possum in the sunshine. Oh, and she's wearing the damn ring, numb nuts!"
I looked down at my hand. Sure enough, I'd forgotten to take it off. We'd just been excited; we didn't know what to do with ourselves.
"Okay, yes," Huck admitted. "I couldn't wait. I asked her at the house."
"And she said yes?" Hayes said as he came in from the back room, a tray with a huge cake on it in his arms. "I bet Hunt $20 she wouldn't. Damn." Hayes winked at me. "Just kidding. I'm so glad to have a new sis, Belle! We need some estrogen in this family. It's been a while since we've had a lady ruling the roost."
I threw my arms around my future brother-in-law. "Thanks, Hayes. You know I love you. I guess you finally solved the mystery." I squeezed him tight.