Cowboy Husband

He raises an eyebrow. “That’s not Wyatt’s ring.”

“No it’s not.” I press my lips together, because I’m not going to lie, but I’m not going to explain.

“You have something you want to tell me?”

I’m saved from answering by the loud sound of an engine in the street. It’s so loud that both my dad and I glance out the window to see where it’s coming from. What it is is the most beautiful sports car I’ve ever seen. Sleek and low to the ground in a dusky silver color, it seems to prowl across the ground. No one we know is near wealthy enough to own a car like that, which means there’s only one person who could be driving it.

The car parks and Wilcox gets out, buttoning his suit jacket and taking his sunglasses off as if he’s modeling in a commercial for the car. I can hear people in the other room wondering who he is and why he’s heading straight for our house, because everyone here knows each other.

I quickly head to the front door because I have to get to him first. I realize that we didn’t talk about how we were going to break this to my family, whether or not we just say that we’re dating or that we admit we’re married. Or if we even tell them anything right now. I manage to open the door right as he steps up to it. “Is the fact that you like to make an entrance something I should know about you?”

“One should always make an entrance, darling,” he says in an intentionally affected accent. “Impress them from the beginning and they’re putty in your hands.”

I can’t stop myself from smirking, even though I can hear more people coming inside, wondering about the handsome stranger. “I’ll remember that.”

“Good.” He looks me up and down, and I blush. I dressed with him in mind, because after our encounter at my apartment, I wanted to. I wanted him to look at me exactly the way he’s looking at me now. It’s not his favorite color, but close—a flowing, A-line turquoise dress, paired with one of the highest pairs of high heels that I own. He doesn’t have to say anything, I can feel the approval and the appreciation radiating off of him, and it’s the most natural thing in the world when he pulls me against him and claims my lips. He bends me back so that I’m relying completely on him to hold me up, and because he’s putting us on display. “Show off,” I murmur against his lips.

“Always,” he murmurs back.

A throat clears behind us, and Will sets me upright on my feet. My father is watching with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face, though I know him well enough to know that look is more for show. Will is the one who takes the first step. “You must be Sandy’s father,” he says, extending his hand. “I can see the resemblance.” My mother approaches and he reaches out to her as well, still keeping one hand around my waist. “And you must be her mother. You have a lovely home.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” my mother says. “But I can’t say I know who you are.”

Will is beaming, and I know that he’s going to drop the bomb, and I can’t stop it. I realize that I don’t want to stop it. “That’s all right,” he says. “My name is Wilcox Herrington, but you can call me Will. I’m Sandy’s husband.”

8

“WHAT?” My sister’s voice comes from the back door. “You’re married?”

I press my lips together and whisper to Will, “We probably should have talked about how to deliver the news.”

His fingers tighten on my waist. “Yes. It occurs to me in hindsight that might have been a little abrupt.”

Laura comes to stand in front of me, her eyes glued to my hand and the diamond that sits there. “You got married.”

I swallow. “Yes, I did.”

My mother is looking back and forth between us, worried. And at the back door, I now see Wyatt, whose face is pure thunder. I’ve only seen him angry like this a couple of times, and my own anger rises to meet his. He has no right to be angry about this.

“I’m sorry,” Will says, turning to my parents. “That was a little bit abrupt. Sandy and I hadn’t really talked about how to break the news. I know it must be a bit of a shock.”

“You could say that,” my father says. But he’s holding back a grin.

“I’ve already interrupted the party enough,” Will says to my mother. “Is there something I can help you with?”

My mother shakes her head, clearly still baffled. “No, that’s all right.”

“Well,” my Dad says, “let’s get you a drink. You can tell me a little bit about yourself.”

I catch his eye. “Are you angry?”

He laughs. “I wish I could keep up with the speed of my daughters’ lives, but if you’re happy then I’m happy.” He goes back to the kitchen, and Will kisses me on the cheek before following him.

“How could you do this?” Laura asks. “You get married out of nowhere and decide to announce it at my engagement party?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t know he would do that. And Laura,” I say quietly so the rest of the gathered party can hear, “I don’t think you can lecture me about surprises when you’re now engaged to my ex-fiancé. Who you ran away with.”

She goes pale, and then a sneer appears on her face. “It’s not my fault that he’s happier with me.”

“No, it’s not,” I say, carefully guarding my tone. I’m about to snap. “And believe me, I hope the two of you are happy. But I deserve to be happy too.”

Laura storms away, dragging the furious Wyatt back out of the house. My mother shakes her head in wonder. “A head’s up would have been nice.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to break the news over the phone, and I didn’t know if you’d approve.”

She takes my hand and examines the ring that she missed before. “I’m not sure that I do, but I’m going to go in there with him and your father, and we’ll talk. I’ll let you know what we think.” She gives me a wink as she heads toward the kitchen. “But you know what’s best for you, and your father and I would never step in the way of that.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She disappears into the kitchen where I can see my father and Will talking. He glances towards me and smiles, and I smile back. I remember the first time my parents interrogated Wyatt. I was so nervous I thought I was going to pass out. I’m not nervous at all now—there’s nothing to be nervous about. Will is a good man, and I don’t have any doubt he’ll charm my parents.

I wander out into the backyard, and this time the looks I’m getting aren’t ones of poorly veiled pity, but of shock and confusion, some of admiration. I left my drink in the kitchen, so I get another one from the buffet table and a plate of finger food and wander further into the garden. My parents have a beautiful yard, and my mother’s passion is her garden. I used to find it so peaceful out here on summer evenings as a teenager, and a little bit of that peace comes seeping back as I find my favorite stone bench. From here, the party looks tranquil, even though I can see from the clusters of people and the glances my way that the bomb we dropped will be the talk of the town for the foreseeable future.

I watch the guests, letting my mind wander, when Wyatt appears beside me out of nowhere. He’s still angry, an ugly expression on his face. “So you’re a gold-digging whore now?”

The words hit me like a slap in the face. “Excuse me?”

“It’s been what, three weeks since we broke up and now you’re married to some rich sugar daddy.”

Anger surges up through my veins, hot and sweet. “Are you seriously angry, Wyatt? Because you don’t have a leg to stand on here.”

“I think I do—”

“No. You don’t. First, we didn’t break up. You left me.” I try to hide the way my voice breaks a little, the scar still too fresh, but I press on. “You left me. You’d been sleeping with my sister for who knows how long while we were supposed to be getting married. You cheated on me and broke my heart, so you can’t say anything about the fact that I’m now with someone else.” I shrug. “You can’t have it both ways, and you chose. That’s it.”

“Is that why you c

ame to this party, so you could throw your rich jackass in my face?” He puffs himself up, like somehow looking bigger will scare me, or make me take back what I said.

“No. I came so I could give you this.” I reach into the pocket of my dress and grab the box containing his ring.

I hold it out to him and he laughs. “You think I want that back?”

“Well it’s not right that I keep it, and frankly, I don’t want any reminders of you.”

Wyatt laughs even harder. “Do whatever you want with it, bitch. It’s fake.”

My heart skips a beat. “What?”

“It’s not a real diamond. You think I would shell out for a real diamond? For you?” He laughs again. “Now that I know what a slut you are I’m even happier that I didn’t.”

That anger that I’ve felt for him these past few weeks cools into pure, frozen rage. Everything about our relationship was a lie. Every single thing. How could I have ever been in love with him? How could I have thought that this was forever? “Wyatt, I need you to walk away from me right now.” I grit my teeth. “Right. Now.” If he’s near me for even a second longer I think I’m going to become violent.

Wyatt senses the weakness and pounces. “It doesn’t matter anyway; he can have you. He’ll always be having my sloppy seconds while I get the sister who isn’t a wet rag and still has a tight pussy.”

Will strides out from between two of the trees in the garden, and I don’t know how long he’s been standing there. From the look on his face, it was long enough. The relief when he slips his arm around my waist is so acute that I could cry. He’s there to back me up, just like he said he would be. His presence is strengthening—he won’t let me do anything I’ll regret, and I know he’ll support me. I turn my head into his chest, and the warmth of his body is soothing.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Will says, voice deadly smooth and quiet. “You must be Wyatt. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m the rich jackass.”

Wyatt sneers, “Don’t listen to anything that bitch says about me. She’s just jealous that she wasn’t enough to keep me happy.”

There’s a small sound that comes from Will, somewhere between a laugh and a growl. “I heard you say enough to make my own judgement about to you. Let me make myself clear, you will never speak to my wife like that again.”

Wyatt makes a face and looks at me. “So the rich prick fights your battles now too?”

With Will beside me, I feel calmer, and my voice comes back to me. “You seem really upset by the fact that he’s rich. But besides that, he’s my husband. We fight our battles together.” The words feel right as I say them, and the way Wyatt goes purple in the face only makes it better.

Will turns his body toward me, wrapping both arms around me. I lay my head against his chest, and I like it. I can hear the steady beat of his heart under my ear. “I’m not sure what idiocy made you think it was a good idea to leave Sandy,” Will says, “but I have to thank you. Your loss made me a very, very happy man.” He grins as he looks down at me. “And of course, as you’ve seen, I am extremely rich.”

Wyatt is gaping now. He looks to me. “You’re going to let him talk to me that way?”

“Why shouldn’t I, Wyatt? What have you done to deserve anything else?”

“I was your fiancé. You should respect me.”

The laugh bubbles up, loud and free. “A fiancé who proposed to me with a fake ring, cheated on me with my sister, left me, and now is calling me a slut. You deserve nothing but respect, Wyatt.” I layer on the sarcasm in my voice. “With all due respect, Wyatt—which is none—fuck off.”

“I think your new fiancée … what did you call her … the one with the tight pussy, is waiting for you.”

Wyatt lunges for us, and Will shoves me out of the way as he takes a solid punch to the face. He doesn’t go down, barely losing his balance. He dodges Wyatt’s next blow, catching him by the wrist, and they go down together. It’s a flurry of arms and legs, but Will has the reach, and has Wyatt’s arms behind his back, face down in the grass before I can take a second breath. Guests from the party started to run after Wyatt threw the first punch, and now there’s a ring of people around the fight, even though it’s already over.

“Wyatt!” Laura practically screams as she pushes through the crowd. “Get off him!” She shoves Will, and he stands, releasing Wyatt. The man on the ground is wise enough not to try to attack again. I see my father approach, and one of his friends pulls him aside as he approaches. Laura helps Wyatt up. “Let’s go get you some ice.” She turns to look at me, and she’s bright red with rage and embarrassment.

I shrug. “He threw the first punch.”

She stiffens, and even though I can tell she wants to say more, she doesn’t. She chases after Wyatt, who’s prowling toward the house like a wounded animal. My father looks at Will. “I hear you took a punch?”

He nods. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

A small smile comes across my father’s face. “I knew I liked you.”

I pull Will against me as my father walks away. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I thought I would kill him when he was talking to you.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. I’m not up for a jailhouse relationship.”

He chuckles, running a hand through my hair.

“It seems like your conversation with my parents went well?”

Will nods. “I think so. They’re lovely. Your mother wants to have dinner with just the four of us sometime soon.”

“That sounds nice.”

Everyone is drifting back toward the house, and we’re left alone in the garden. I look up at Will, the skin of his cheekbone red and swelling, and I want him. Now. “No one has ever done that, you know,” I say. “No one has ever stood up for me like that.”

“You stood up for yourself. I was just a little back up.”

“It was more than that,” I say. “I think I get why women like the knight in shining armor fantasy right now.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

I weave my fingers through his hand. “Really. Come with me.”

In the back of the property is a little cottage. It’s mostly used for storage and my mother’s gardening things, but right now it offers the one thing I need: privacy. I push Will inside, and pull him down to my level to kiss me. He doesn’t object, backing me against the door and kissing me hard.

“So what you’re telling me,” he says in between kissing me, “is that I should let people punch me more often?”

I reach for his belt. “If you’re defending my honor, yeah.”

He chuckles as I pull out his cock, which is already rock hard. “I’d say this is a pretty good reward.” Will lifts me up onto the workbench, his hands stroking my legs as he lifts my skirt. He pulls out a condom and I stop him before he puts it on.

“Wait.”

The look on his face is so priceless that I laugh. “You won’t need it.”

“And why is that?”

“Because,” I say, pulling him closer with my legs. Guiding his cock so it’s at the entrance of my pussy, just over my panties, I meet his eyes. “You’re going to start here, but you’re not going to finish there.” I lick my lips so he knows exactly what I’m saying to him.

“Hell, baby. I didn’t think you could make me any harder, but you just proved me wrong.” Will takes the thin fabric of my panties, and tears it apart, wasting no time easing into me. I moan. His cock is hot and hard and somehow feels so much bigger without the condom. “You really are my filthy wife, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” I grin. “I certainly wouldn’t have done this with anyone else. But you need to stop stealing my underwear.”

He wiggles his hips, and his cock sends shivers of fullness and pleasure through me. “What if I like knowing that you’re not wearing any.”

“All you need to know right now is that I want you to fuck me.”

“Yes, Mrs. Herrington.” Will lifts one of my legs s

o that it’s over his shoulder, and I have to bite my lip to keep from screaming, because suddenly it feels like he’s everywhere. This isn’t sex, it’s not making love, it’s fucking. Raw and real and so damn good. The workbench rattles as he slams into me, and I know that anyone walking near the cottage is going to get an earful. The thought makes me even wetter. They already got a show with the fight, and they’re going to get another one now, because I can’t keep myself quiet.

I’m begging him to fuck me and he does, hard and fast and deep, and every stroke makes fireworks burst behind my eyes. I’m not going to last long. Will reaches in between us, teasing my clit and adding to the fire inside. My knuckles are white, gripping the edge of the workbench, and his lips slam onto mine just in time. Will thrusts in a final time and he sends me over the edge. I scream into his mouth, the sound muffled, but nothing else is. The orgasm is a rocket of pleasure spiraling into sparkles and waves and gone just as fast. It’s dripping down my legs and onto the ground. We’re both breathing hard, and he releases my lips. “I definitely need to get punched more often,” he says.

Taking a step back, he slips out of me, and I rearrange my skirt before sinking to my knees. He didn’t let me touch him this afternoon, and I want to make it up to him. I wrap my arms around his hips, and use my hands on his ass to bring him closer. It seems easier to take him deep now, the desire to make him feel what I’ve been feeling relaxing me. I taste myself on his cock, and it makes it feel even more intimate. Will curses as I take him as deep as I can, and if my mouth weren’t full of him, I would smile. His hands come to rest in my hair, but I don’t let him take control. I take him in again and again, swallowing him so that I’m stroking him with my throat.

Under my hands, the muscles in his ass go tight. “I’m close,” he says, voice tight.

I don’t let up, keeping the rhythm of my mouth steady, and I use my tongue, tracing him as I suck along his length. He tries to warn me, but he can’t speak. He lets out a sound that’s not quite speech, and he comes. That salty taste floods my mouth, and I swallow him whole. His cock jerks as he spills himself, and I take everything he has to give. I don’t know any better way to show him that I’m willing to give this a shot, than by accepting him like this, giving him pleasure because I’m choosing to and not because he asked.