AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Slowly, I turn back around to face Darcy. A spark of hope lights up her eyes, and I can tell that maybe, just maybe, she’ll hear me out.MaybeI did something right.
“What are you going to do?” she asks, still confused. The question is genuine, but I can also tell it’s a challenge.She wants to know if I’ll hurt her again. I brace myself for what I have to tell her, unsure if she’ll listen to me this time or not.
“I’ll go, if that’s what you want. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you. And I know I’ve hurt you, Darcy. I’ll regret that until the day I die.”
I take a step toward her, testing her willingness to hear me out. Darcy remains postured on the bed, quiet and staring at me.
“I messed up. What you said about me coming here on false pretenses is nothing but the truth. But there’s more to it than that. When I saw you, and how good and generous and beautiful you are – I didn’t stand a chance, Darcy. I stayed that first week partially because I was trying to figure out how to get the farm, yes. But really, and I can only admit this now, it’s because I was starting to have feelings for you.”
Screw my pride. I stride back to the bed and kneel in front of Darcy so that I’m looking up into her face.
“I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you, but I did. Iam. I’m completely in love with you and if you send me away, I don’t know what I’ll do without you.” Again, I don’t touch my wife, but in our closeness I can hear her heart pounding and I can sense her tenseness.
“But what about your brothers? They’ll never forgive you for what you did.”
“Fuck my brothers!” I state with fire. “They’re nothing but trash and honestly, they’ve never been my family. I was sent away because I was different from the rest of them, and that’s even more clear now.Youare the only person I’ve ever felt so close to, who taught me what the word “kin” can really mean.”
I take both of Darcy’s hands in mine, no longer able to tolerate the physical distance between us. “Darcy, I swear to you, I will never hurt you again, I will never let my family hurt you, and I will never try to take this land from you or our baby.”
Darcy looks from my eager face to the deed next to her on the bed, and back again, as if groping with an internal debate. I release her hands and she picks up the deed again, her fingers trembling. She re-reads the document, as if searching for the same promises on the flimsy piece of paper. Finally, she puts it down again and stands up. I stand along with her.
“Rock.” She looks at me straight on, no hint of where this is going in either her face or eyes. “I don’t know what’s next. And while I want to trust you, I’m going to need time.”
I nod my head earnestly. “I can give you time.”
“But I don’t want you to go,” she continues. A flicker of hope starts to build in my chest. “We have a lot to figure out, including me learning more about you. And not just the stuff about your family, but I mean aboutyou. What you care about, what you like to do.” Darcy takes my left hand in hers and fiddles with my fingers. “After all, a wife ought to know more about her husband.”
“You really want me to stay, Darcy?” I can barely conceal the hope burgeoning in my chest.
“I do, Rock. I really do.” She picks up my other hand and places both of them on her swollen belly. “We’ve got a lot to work on, you and me. For our sakes and for the sake of this child.”
“I promise I’ll do whatever it takes, Darcy. I mean it,” I say in a throaty voice.And I do.
“I know Rock, I believe you. Because the whole truth is, I’ve never stopped loving you. You hurt me real bad, yes, but I never stopped wanting you. And when I found out I was pregnant, I never felt so alone in my life. I wanted you there, with me, to be brave for me because it’s been so hard without you.” Darcy starts to cry softly and as if by instinct, I scoop her into my arms.
“You’re not alone any more Darcy. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, baby. I adore you, and I’m here for you always.”
“I love you too, Ranger, I mean Rock.” Darcy sobs into my chest. “And I want you to stay my husband.”
“I love you, too, Darcy. You are my wife, and that’s that.”
I pull her head from my chest and take her face into both of my hands. Then I kiss her as if I could never have enough of her, my mouth conveying my deep longing and need. Darcy returns the kiss with equal passion and fire, each of us apologizing for the hurt and pain. Our mouths press into each other urgently, as if this kiss alone can mend our broken hearts.
When we finally step back from one another, we pant a little.
“Well, first things first, I guess,” Darcy ventures breathlessly. “How in the world did you get a name like Rock? Or even Ranger?”
We laugh together and I scoop my wife up and place her gently on the bed. “No Darcy, there are other things we need to take care of first.”
With that we fall into a frenzy of kissing, touching, and healing. Our story has been an impossible one, but in our passionate embrace, we are renewing our promises to work through it all.
EPILOGUE
DARCY
Outside the window, the first songbirds begin chirping their morning melody, a delicate lilt signaling the start of another beautiful day.
Inside our cozy little farmhouse, Rock is teasing me awake with kisses and the pressure of his hard cock against my womanhood. Giggling, I oblige and part my legs, letting Rock slip himself fully inside of me. He starts thrusting, gently at first but then with more urgency. Just as we’re building to a beautiful crescendo, the baby begins to wail from his crib in the next room.
