The Circle Eight: Tobias (26 page)

Rebecca almost told her. Almost. But where would the fun in that be? “Thank you for being the last person I said goodbye to.” She kissed her sister’s cheek. “You should clean up before you go inside or Eva will have a fit.”
 

“I don’t care. She is used to my dirtiness and I’m hungry. I missed dinner and supper is hours away.” Cat waved as she headed to the house. The youngest Graham sister was different from all of them. Wild, unbroken and she wore trousers. Whatever happened between her and James would happen again. Sometimes Cat needed to have a challenge and James Gibson was definitely one.
 

Rebecca turned to find Tobias standing outside the barn with their horses saddled and ready. She managed a small smile and handed her bag to his outstretched hand. After he hung it on the saddle, he leaned down with his hands intertwined to help boost her into the saddle.
 

She wanted to pull him into her arms and apologize, tell him she didn’t mean to treat him as if he didn’t matter. He was the most important thing in the world to her next to her career.
 

Instead she put her boot in his hands and mounted Ocho. The horse shook his head as if telling her he knew she was upset. The horse had no patience for anyone else’s problems. He was something of a selfish cad.
 

Tobias threw himself up in the saddle and waited. His gaze settled on the horizon, not looking at her or the Circle Eight.
 

“Ready?”
 

“Yep.” He kneed his horse into motion and Rebecca followed.
 

They rode in an awkward silence for what seemed like hours, although it was probably twenty minutes. Rebecca watched his back as he rode. The wide shoulders shifted with the movement of the horse, only accentuating his natural horsemanship. His long legs hugged the horse’s belly, his scuffed boots tucked into the stirrups. His hat was low on his forehead and he looked unwilling to do anything but ride for Briar Creek.
 

Rebecca, however, needed to let her heart out of its cage.
 

“Tobias.”
 

“What?” He didn’t turn or slow down.
 

“Please look at me.”
 

He pulled the horse to a stop, sighed and looked down at the saddle horn. “What?” he repeated.
 

She steered Ocho around until she was at Tobias’s side, facing behind him. She grabbed his hand.
 

“I need to apologize.”
 

His head snapped up. “That’s ridiculous.”
 

“No, it’s not.” She rested his hand on her heart. “You told me so much, bared your soul. For years, my heart was empty because I built a cage around it.”
 

He blinked. “Because I abandoned you.”
 

“No, because I made choices that caused me pain. I was so afraid of being hurt again that I closed myself off from everyone. Being a healer meant I could come and go quickly. No involvement and no chance of being hurt.” She cleared the lump in her throat. “When I saw you again after five years, everything tumbled around me. I tried so hard to keep the cage up around my heart, but you worked your way through.”
 

Tobias swallowed before he spoke. “I did? I thought I disgusted you.”
 

She shook her head. “No, you scared me. I had never gotten over my feelings for you, even if they began as a silly girl’s dream of a prince.” She could almost laugh about it now. “You told me what was inside you, now I’m telling you what’s inside me. It’s love, Tobias Gibson. Love for you, no matter what.”
 

“You love me?” Amazement echoed in his voice.
 

“I do. Very much. I see the other half of who I want to be in you. Ever since that first kiss so long ago in your cabin. You branded me for life.” She smiled through the welling tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry I was so afraid to tell you.”
 

He plucked her from her saddle and wrapped his arms around her. She turned to straddle him, her legs on either side of him. His scent surrounded her, enveloped her, made her feel safe, protected, loved.
 

“Sweet Jesus, I can’t believe it.” He pressed his face into her shoulder. “You gave me a third chance.”
 

She kissed the side of his neck. “I will give you a million chances. Don’t give up on me.”
 

He snorted but it sounded almost like a sob. “If anyone should be given up on, it’s me. I made a mess of everything. I lost everything that day in the jail. You gave me back my life.”
 

She hugged him harder, tears now running freely down her face. “You gave me back my heart.”
 

Raw emotion washed over her and she held on with all she was worth. Rebecca had never understood the relationships between her siblings and their spouses until now. She thought she knew what love was, but she was so very wrong.
 

It wasn’t a fluffy, pretty cloud to catch and admire. It was an elemental connection between two hearts and souls, the essence of life. He pulled her as close as he could, but it wasn’t close enough for her.
 

“Will you marry me?” She leaned back to look at him.
 

His face was wet with tears, likely a mixture of hers and his. “You ain’t supposed to do the asking.”
 

“I never do what I’m supposed to do. Haven’t you learned that by now?” She grinned with all the joy coursing through her.
 

“You wouldn’t be the woman I love if you followed the rules.” He grinned back, his beautiful brown eyes alight with happiness.
 

“What’s your answer, Gibson?” She poked his shoulder. “Yes or no?”
 

He kissed her with care, softer than a flower petal. His lips skimmed hers, raising every small hair on her body. She moaned as tingles raced across her skin.
 

“I might have to think about it.”
 

She punched his arm. “Shut up.”
 

He sucked on her earlobe until she grew cross-eyed. “You need to stop kissing me unless you’re going to marry me.”
 

He paused and leaned back, his smile wide. “Yes, I reckon I’ll marry you Doc. Now we need to get off this horse.”
 

Rebecca extracted herself from his embrace and jumped to the ground. Her body hummed with arousal. She watched him throw his leg over the saddle, her gaze straying to the bulge in his trousers.
 

“Now what?” He glanced around at the unlikely spot. There wasn’t much to speak of except some tall grass.
 

She needed to make new memories with her now-fiancée. “The grass will do nicely.” Rebecca lay back, the thick foliage making a comfortable bed beneath her.
 

Tobias stared at her, his gaze moving up and down her body, then back again. She didn’t blush or stammer. Instead she felt empowered. This man loved her and she loved him. They were going to make love for the first time in their lives.
 

“C’mere cowboy.”
 

He shook himself and whipped off his hat, tossing it behind him. “I’m all yours, Becca.”
 

His lips found hers as their bodies rubbed together, making her nipples ache and her pussy throb. She needed skin, not clothing, so she started pulling at his shirt, eager to touch him as a woman touches a man.
 

Their clothes were shed in less than a minute, in between kisses and a few moments of awkward laughter. When his body lay on top of hers, warm flesh against warm flesh, she melted into a puddle of heat.
 

It was a wonder married people ever left their beds.
 

She ran her hands up and down his back, memorizing the dips and valleys, the cords of muscle and sinew like a dance of beautiful humanity. He kissed his way down her throat to her collarbone, where he sipped from her skin, licking and tasting until he reached her breasts.
 

The first moment his tongue touched her nipple, she arched her back, pushing herself farther into his mouth. Pleasure she’d never known ricocheted around inside her. She spread her legs, eager to feel the thick length of his member against her throbbing pussy. Rebecca wasn’t a virgin, but she was as inexperienced as one. Her second introduction to the act of copulation was far better than the first.
 

He rubbed his cock against her wetness, teasing both of them. Her body hungered for more, to find that sweet ecstasy she found with his hand the last time they’d been intimate. Nothing compared to this. Nothing.
 

He slid into her slowly, their foreheads touching. Her breath mingled with his and she pulled him deep inside her body from top to bottom. They became one being, one heart, one soul.
 

Rebecca pulled at his back, urging him to move. He thrust at a steady pace, but it wasn’t enough. Soon she was pushing up as he pushed in, their rhythm as old as time itself. A coil wound inside her, tighter and tighter, pulling her forward. She held onto him, her breath caught somewhere between unwilling and unable to function.
 

She exploded around him, squeezing and clenching. Stars burst in her eyes, wrenching a cry from deep within her soul. The tall grass held her as she floated amongst the stars. Tobias’s fingers dug into her hips and he too found his release, calling her name with all the love in his heart.
 

Rebecca didn’t know she was crying until Tobias frowned and caught a tear with his finger. She smiled at him. “That, Mr. Gibson, is joy.”
 

James left Will to do his business in the chamber pot that his brother had discovered beneath the bed. It had fascinated him so James decided to let him use it. James could clean it out afterward. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to take care of someone else’s piss.
 

He closed the door and turned to find the blonde hellion, her hands on her fists, and scowl on her face.
 

“What in the hell are you doing here?” she hissed.
 

“Nice mouth. Does your brother know you cuss?” He couldn’t stop the jolt of awareness that slammed into him at the sight of Cat Graham.
 

“Of course he does. They all do. Who do you think I heard cussing all my life?” She stuck her chin in the air. “After you were rude to me the last time, I didn’t expect to see you again.”
 

“Life doesn’t always give us what we want.” James, to his chagrin, wanted to kiss her. She was dirty, stank and was covered in muck, but his body urged him to taste those pink lips.
 

What a fool he was.
 

“Why are you here again? I saw Rebecca leave already.”
 

“I don’t owe you an explanation,
Catherine
. Your brothers know I’m here. That ought to be good enough.” He tried to push past her but she moved to block his path, then growled. “It’s been a long day and the last thing I need is a pushy female. Move.”
 

She whipped a pistol from her hip and pressed it into his chin. James was more than surprised by her speed and her balls.
 

“Are you sure you ain’t a man?”
 

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second before they narrowed again. “Are you telling me I’m not woman enough?”
 

“No, but you smell, act, dress and move like a man. What am I supposed to think?” He tried to move the pistol but she shoved it harder into his flesh. No doubt he’d have another bruise. This one he didn’t want to have to explain to anyone. “Back up before I make you.”
 

She snorted. “I have four brothers, James. What makes you think your threats will work?”
 

He had tried to be a gentleman, but she wouldn’t let him. James had no other recourse. He yanked her into his arms and kissed her. Her lips were softer than anything he’d ever touched. At first he meant to punish her, but it turned into something completely different.
 

James set her away from him, breathing heavy. Their gazes met and clashed. Her blue eyes were wide with shock and confusion. He tipped his hat and forced himself to walk away. She was trouble walking and he wanted no part of her.
 

Now if only his body would stop disagreeing with him.
 

Tobias couldn’t stop grinning. He had himself a fiancée and his brothers would be closer than ever before. Life was quite different from what it had been six months ago. He had much to be thankful for, not the least of which was the woman riding beside him.
 

Rebecca’s hair was mussed, and a strand of grass clung to the end of her braid. That made him smile even wider. She looked well-loved and damned if he wasn’t proud of that. They had shared everything with each other, and at the end of it, they were to be married. Who would have thought such a miracle would occur?
 

He escorted her to the clinic and helped her down, sliding her length against his until his cock sat up and begged for more. She tsked at him.
 

“We both have work to do.”
 

“This would be more fun.” He waggled his eyebrows and she laughed.
 

“True, but savoring the minutes until we can enjoy ourselves…that can be fun too.” She kissed him quick then ran up the steps before he could grab her for a lengthier smooch.
 

He had the rest of his life to explore her mouth with his own, but he wanted to kiss her now. “I guess we have to wait, eh, boys?” The geldings blinked at him and he mounted his own, heading for the livery.
 

The sun set a short time later, leaving the livery cloaked in orange shadows as the last gasp of the sun melted into the horizon. He had checked on Waldeck, who was snoring away, and groomed Ocho and his own gelding.