Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
“There may have been a sighting,” he says in the cautious tone he uses when he doesn’t want me getting excited. He has contacts around the globe that are constantly on the lookout.
I squint at the grainy image of a bearded man on his phone. “It’s hard to tell,” I say, even as a lump forms in my throat. Could this be him? Could this be Vale? Is the nightmare finally over?
“I’ll follow up on it and send you a text message if there’s good news. Are you going to tell Lauren about this?”
I shake my head, because this is the fourth time in two years that Ridge has brought me a grainy picture with the hope that we have found one of the bravest men I’ve ever known. With each disappointment I’ve found myself sobbing and grieving him all over again. I can’t imagine doing that to Lauren.
“What if we do find him? What are you going to say to her then?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
Chapter 11
Lauren
I wake up feeling the warmest I’ve felt in years. I glance over to see Bronco staring down at me. His expression is one of contentment and pure delight.
“What is it?” I ask, reaching to pat my hair. I hope I don’t have a major case of bedhead.
Last night, I tried to go to my room, the guest room where I’ve been staying, but he grabbed my arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked in that deep, rumbly voice that always makes my insides flutter.
That’s how I ended up sleeping in his bed. Well, sleeping is the wrong word. We made love so many times I lost count. Every inch of me has been kissed, caressed, and touched by Bronco. His lovemaking isn’t just gentle, it’s thorough. So very thorough.
“It makes me happy to wake up next to you,” Bronco says, that soft smile still on his face.
I fight a yawn and glance toward the sheer curtains. Underneath the covers, I flex my toes but my leg feels amazing this morning. “It’s still dark out.”
“You stay here. I’m going to take a shower and get started on some chores.” He presses a gentle kiss to my forehead before getting out of bed. I watch the way he strides across the room, so confident in his body.
I lean up on one elbow, wondering if I could entice him back to bed. “My leg feels a lot better. It doesn’t even hurt anymore, and it’s no longer swollen.”
“Still take it easy today,” he says, completely oblivious to what I’m doing. “Besides, it’s early even by cowboy standards. Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time for breakfast.”
I snuggle back into the warm blankets that smell like Bronco. I think about the way last night he kept touching me. We did everything. Well, almost everything. There was one thing I wanted to do that we never quite got around to.
Now seems like as good a time as any, I decide before I walk into the bathroom. Through the steamy glass, I watch the water running down my big, strong man. I give myself a moment to appreciate his bulging biceps and thick thighs before I join him in the shower stall.
He finishes rinsing the shampoo from his hair and opens his mesmerizing blue eyes. “What are you—?”
I don’t let him finish the question before I’m dropping the towel and kneeling on it. Instantly, I’m eye level with his cock, which hardens considerably the longer I stare at it.
He threads his fingers through my hair, pulling it away from my face. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to—”
Once again, I don’t let him finish his sentence. Instead, I lean forward, pressing gentle kisses along his cock to everywhere but the tip. When I finally run my tongue along it, he makes a soft groan like I’ve put him in heaven.
I work him until he’s moaning and muttering swear words under his breath. I can tell the moment he’s close because he tries to pull away. But I just grip him tighter, nails digging into the sinewy flesh of his ass then he’s coming down my throat with a roar.
Afterwards, he pulls me into his arms and takes me again against the shower wall, holding me close and murmuring sweet words against my hair.
It’s hours later before we’re in his truck. Menace is in the back seat, chewing contentedly on a rawhide bone while I’m plastered against Bronco. We spent the morning in his house. He never even made it out to do his chores.
Now we’re on our way to the retirement community. I have my usual work to catch up on, and Bronco is needed for some more pipe work. When we walk into the reception hand-in-hand, I’m not prepared for our audience.