Angel Creek (35 page)

“I know,” she said placidly, the words muffled because her face was against his chest. “As stubborn as you.”

“I meant it about Angel Creek. It stays yours. You need it, sweetheart. I didn't understand before.” He kissed her hair. “As new owner of the Double C, you're one of the richest women in the state.”

She lifted her head and gave him a blinding smile. “No,” she said.

“Of course you are. I know how much the ranch is worth, damn it.”

“I don't want the Double C.”

“A deal's a deal.”

“Not until I say 'I do' it isn't. I won't take the Double C. You need it just the way I need Angel Creek.” Her hands crept up his back. “This doesn't have to be a surrender, you know. Why can't it be a partnership?”

“Hell, I don't care,” he said impatiently. “Just as long as you marry me.”

She felt surprisingly peaceful. “It doesn't matter whose name is on the papers as long as I can still come here,” she said, and with a start she realized that it was true. Angel Creek was hers even if the title had Lucas's name on it. She trusted him, and because she did she wouldn't have to fight to maintain her independence. The respect he gave her as a person was a measure of her true independence, and that was all she'd ever wanted. Marrying him couldn't change that at all.

“That's what I realized about the Double C,” he admitted. “The name didn't matter. Having you mattered, and the land would still be there. But we'll do it however you want,” he said, tilting her face up for a hard kiss. “It can be your legacy to our kids, if you want.”

Her entire body rippled with pleasure at the thought of the hours of lovemaking that would be necessary to get those kids. Lucas absorbed the movement, his own body responding.

“We'll fight a lot,” he said, thinking of it with anticipation. He could barely wait.

“That's almost certain.”

“And make love when the fighting's over.”

She drew back to give him a long, green look. “That remains to be seen.”

“No,” he said, lifting her in his arms. “It doesn't.” He strode down the steps and over to the creek bank, where the crystal water of Angel Creek swirled and glittered just as it had before, but with a certain giddiness to it, as if it were glad to be back. With a deep shout of laughter he tossed her into the water, then jumped in himself. It was cold, but they didn't care. Shrieking with laughter like a child, Dee jumped on his back and forced him underwater again, and they grappled together until the laughter died and something else came into his deep blue eyes.

He pulled her up on the bank and covered her there, shoving her skirt up and stripping her wet drawers away, then unbuttoning his pants and tugging them down only as far as was necessary, because he couldn't wait a minute longer. He linked them with a hard, single thrust, groaning as the tight heat of her body enveloped him. This was nothing less than paradise.

Dee's legs embraced him, then loosened. She pushed at his shoulder, and he rolled, taking her with him. She sat up and pushed her wet hair out of her eyes, and he caught his breath at the look of ecstasy on her face. It was the same exalted expression he'd seen there one dawn, and he had put it there. With the bright sky behind her and her eyes as green as emeralds, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and she was his.

“We're getting married tomorrow,” he said.

She leaned forward to kiss him, her mouth tender. “Whatever you say, darling,” she purred.

He wasn't fooled for a minute.

K
YLE AND
T
ILLIE
B
ELLAMY EVENTUALLY SOLD THE
B
AR
B and moved back east. Dee received one letter from Tillie saying that they were happy and were considering a move to New Orleans. She never heard from Tillie again.

Luis and Olivia Fronteras traveled for two years, then to her parents' delight returned to Prosper and bought land just west of the Bar B. Though Wilson Millican was never certain just how his son-in-law supported Olivia, they always seemed to have money and he didn't think he should inquire too closely. Olivia was happier than he'd ever seen her, and that was all he asked. He never would have imagined his sedate daughter as having a streak of adventure in her, but he had to admit it suited her. Then, in swift procession, Olivia presented her husband with three daughters. She couldn't have made him happier,
because Luis was always delighted to be surrounded by females.

Lucas and Dee Cochran had five children. Three boys came first, hell-raisers just like he had predicted. The next two were girls, and by the time the oldest one was a year old Lucas was worrying. His baby girls were so much like their mother that he knew he wouldn't draw an easy breath for the rest of his life.

He and Dee fought and yelled and made up. The house rang with noise and passion. He wouldn't have had it any other way.

LINDA HOWARD
is the award-winning author whose
New York Times
bestsellers include
Open Season, Mr. Perfect, All the Queen's Men, Now You See Her, Kill and Tell,
and
Son of the Morning.
She lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.