Page 34 of Rekindled Heart

“What are you going to do about it,” he snorts.

Behind him, I see the subtle movement and the rope whips through the air and catches the asshole mid-word. It wraps around him and then my guy pulls hard. The rope tightens and then both my guys and I are on him. I pull my fist back and slam it into his face, satisfaction blooming when I hear the crunch ofhis bones. Blood spurts out of his nose and he screams like a fucking girl. All three of us get ahold of him and I kick the gun away when it falls on the ground. The rope tightens and the guy falls to the ground where we hog-tie the son of a bitch and I stand up to wrap my arms around Caro.

“Are you alright, baby girl?”

She shoves hard at me and growls under her breath. “Are you kidding me? What the hell were you thinking? You could have been hurt!”

I hold her away from me and growl like a fucking tiger. “Are you fucking kidding me? Dammit, woman! If I ever see you being held at gunpoint again, I’m gonna kill the son of a bitch with my bare hands!” I kick at the bastard on the ground and mutter an expletive when he moans. “And then I’m gonna spank your bare ass until it’s red! You are giving me fucking gray hairs, woman!”

“Don’t yell at me!” she hollers and then she bursts into tears. “You scared me,” she whimpers as I gather her into my arms and cradle her head gently. I kiss her face softly, feeling the salt of her tears on my lips.

“I scared her,” I whisper softly, a smile curving my lips as she hiccups a sob. “You fucking terrified me. I cannot take any more surprises today. So you’re gonna come home with me and I’m going to fuck you until you’re screaming my name and then I’m going to give you the ring I bought for you as soon as I met you.”

She backs away and stares at me, her gray eyes so wide that she looks like one of those manga characters. She hiccups, her sobs dying down. “What?”

I smile and delicately trace the trail of tears on her pale cheeks with my thumbs, wiping them away and cupping her sweet face. “Baby, I knew as soon as I met you that you were the one. Hell, I told my grandmother that I was going to marry you that night.”

“You did not,” she scoffs, her gray eyes sparkling.

“I did. She told me that she was glad I’d finally stopped being an idiot.”

“Now that I can picture!” She throws her head back and laughs and then we’re pulled apart when the sheriff shows up and sighs loudly. His dark eyes stare at the dirty, dusty floor and the bastard who’s muttering and crying.

“Well, you just couldn’t wait for me to take care of this, could you?”

I shrug. “What do you want from me? The guy pointed a gun at my woman.”

Caro slaps me. “Hey! I’m not property!”

I nuzzle into her neck and grin. “I’m gonna have “my property” tattooed on your ass.”

“Doubt it.”

“Maybe not. But I’m gonna put my ring on your finger and then we can get started on our family as soon as possible. I’m gonna bury myself so deep in you that you’re never gonna get rid of me,” I whisper in her ear, grinning when I see her quiver.

“You keep saying that but you haven’t asked me a damn thing, Ricky Rowe. Don’t you think that I deserve that?”

“You do. And I will.” I glance around at our interested audience of my guys, the sheriff, a couple of his deputies and the guy glaring at me as he’s lifted from the ground and handcuffed. “Just not right here and now.”

Angel clears her throat and Jace and the woman with him start backing away. “And with that, I think we’re all gonna clear out.”

Caro turns back to her sister. “What about you? Where are you going?”

She grins and hugs her sister, her eyes so like Caro’s staring at me over her sister’s shoulder. “I’ll always find someplace, sis. I’ve got this. You just be happy.”

She points her finger at me as she turns away. “Don’t fuck this up.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

She salutes me with two fingers and then nods to Jace. “Can you guys give me a ride to a hotel?”

They all turn away and I’m left with the woman that I can’t live without.

She pokes me in the chest as the room clears out, the last guy closing the door. “You still shouldn’t have called my boss. That’s my job, my business.”

I shrug my shoulders and pull her into me. “I’d like to say that I’m sorry, Caro, but I’m not. Your safety is more important than anything on this earth to me. If I have to piss you off sometimes to keep you happy and healthy… and safe, then I will.”

She rolls her eyes but there’s no judgement to her. “Fine. Then I’ll try not to kick your ass when you do it.”