His Marriage to Remember

Seven



As Bria stood at the stove, stirring a pot of beef stock, she couldn’t help wondering why Sam had thought about building the gazebo now. It had been the better part of three years since she mentioned that spot down by the creek would be a nice place to have one.

Sighing, she walked into the pantry to get several potatoes, then, placing them in the sink, took some carrots from the crisper in the bottom of the refrigerator to rinse them. She wasn’t at all proud of herself for becoming angry with Sam when he took her down to the creek to show her where he was planning to build the gazebo. He had only been trying to do what he thought would make her happy. And she truly did appreciate the gesture. But she had never asked for anything of him but his time. Why couldn’t he see that just being with him was more important to her than anything else?

When she heard him walk across the back porch, she took a deep breath and turned to face the door. She owed him an apology. For the past couple of days, he had been the husband she always dreamed of and it wasn’t his fault that she still harbored resentment from trying to explain what she needed from him over the past couple of years. He hadn’t gotten her meaning all those times. It was unfair for her to expect him to understand it now.

“Sam, I’m—”

“Bria, I didn’t mean to—”

They both stopped for a moment to stare at each other.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I thought the gazebo would make you happy. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said, breaking the uneasy silence. He moved the hand she hadn’t noticed him holding behind his back and held out a beautiful bouquet of colorful wildflowers. “Since you won’t hear of me driving yet, I couldn’t go up to Stephenville to a flower shop. But I thought you might like these.”

The sincerity in his voice and the hopeful look on his face caused tears to fill her eyes. “Sam, you don’t have to apologize,” she said, shaking her head as she took the flowers. “It’s my problem. I shouldn’t have—”

“Let’s just forget it,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “I know how difficult it’s been on you since the accident and how much stress you’ve been under.”

His understanding caused her to feel even worse and she couldn’t stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. “It was my…fault, Sam. I shouldn’t have—”

He pulled her close and held her to his broad chest. “Please don’t cry, sweetheart.”

She knew he hated seeing her cry, and just knowing that she was making him uncomfortable caused her tears to fall even faster. Sam was a good man and the love of her life. It had taken every ounce of strength she possessed to leave him the first time. How would she ever be able to do it a second time? Did she even want to try?

She knew she couldn’t return to the way things had been before she left him, but she wasn’t certain she could face a future without him, either. It was something she was going to have to give serious thought to, but it would have to wait until her perspective was restored. She was certain that being in his arms again was clouding her judgment and something as important as the decision of whether or not to stay with him in order to give their relationship another chance needed to be made with a clear head.

“I—I’m sorry,” she said, sniffing back the last of her tears. “I didn’t mean to start sobbing. I know it makes you uncomfortable.”

Releasing her, he put a bit of space between them, then gently framed her face with his hands. “It’s all right, Bria.” He gave her a smile filled with such understanding it was all she could do not to burst into tears all over again. “I couldn’t care less about my comfort. All I want is for you to be happy.”

Before she could respond, he stepped back and, taking the flowers from her, walked over to one of the cabinets and opened it. “Where’s the green vase you used to keep up here?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” she said evasively. She couldn’t tell him that it was in Dallas with the rest of her things. “Just get one of the large iced-tea glasses and put the flowers in that.”

“We’ll have to get you another vase,” he said, filling a glass with water and putting the flowers in it. He sat it in the middle of the table, then turning, nodded toward the stove. “What can I do to help get supper ready?”

Bria barely managed to keep her mouth from dropping open. Sam hadn’t offered to help her in the kitchen since they were first married. Then after he hired Rosa to do most of the cooking, Bria didn’t often have the opportunity to cook, let alone have him help her. It was just one more thing that she had missed during the past three years.

“I was getting ready to peel a few potatoes and carrots for the stew I’m going to make,” she said, walking over to finish rinsing the vegetables she had put into the sink earlier. “Would you like to take care of that while I cut up an onion or two?”

“Hand me a knife,” he said, smiling.

“By the way, I called Rosa and gave her another week off with pay,” Bria said conversationally. She really hadn’t had a choice. As sweet as she was and as much as Bria loved her, the older woman was also a chatterbox and would no doubt end up telling Sam things he needed to remember on his own.

Sam gave her a smile that caused her knees to wobble. “Good idea. I don’t have to watch where I touch you or how much I kiss you with no one else around.”

“You’re hopeless,” she said, feeling a little breathless.

“I can’t help it if you make me hotter than a two-dollar pistol on a Saturday night,” he said, grinning.

As they worked side by side to make the stew, Bria spent the majority of her time waging a battle within herself as she tried to decide what to do. Sam was unaware of how things between them had deteriorated after she had the miscarriage. Until he remembered all that had taken place leading up to her filing for divorce, she really couldn’t discuss the problems in their marriage with him to see if they could work things out.

The sound of the knife Sam had been using to peel potatoes dropping to the countertop and his graphic curse drew Bria out of her disturbing introspection. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s just a little cut,” he said, turning on the faucet to run water over the laceration. The sight of blood dripping steadily from his thumb told her it was more serious than he was letting on.

“Let me see,” she said, reaching for a towel to blot away some of the blood.

He hesitated a moment, then to her surprise held out his hand for her to assess the wound. Normally he would take care of a cut on the hand himself by wrapping it with something to stop the bleeding, then go on with whatever he had been doing.

“I think you’re going to need a couple of stitches,” she said, examining his thumb.

At first he shook his head, then pausing for a moment, he shocked her when he nodded. “It probably wouldn’t hurt for you to drive me over to the walk-in clinic in Beaver Dam.”

Quickly shutting off the stove and grabbing her purse, Bria drove Sam to the clinic. She still had a hard time believing that he willingly took her advice about going to the doctor. It was something that he never would have done before his accident. Normally, he was the type of man who resisted medical attention of any kind unless he was unconscious or so ill that he couldn’t function. She had only seen him that way once before—when he suffered the concussion almost two weeks ago.

Two hours later as they walked out of the clinic with Sam sporting four stitches in the fleshy part of his right thumb, she pointed toward the roadhouse down the street. “It’s getting late. Would you like to get something to eat at the Broken Spoke before we start home?”

He shook his head. “I think I’d just like to go home.” Grinning, he took her hand in his as they walked across the clinic parking lot toward her SUV. “I’d rather be alone with you than spend the evening in a roomful of hot-to-trot cowboys watching you like they want to make you their next meal.”

Bria’s pulse sped up at the heated look in his dark blue eyes. “Don’t you think that’s a bit of an exaggeration?”

“Not at all, sweetheart.” He opened the driver’s door for her, then helped her into the Explorer. “I’ve seen the way those guys look at you and I don’t feel like sharing the view.” He gave her a kiss that curled her toes inside her cross trainers. “Tonight, that’s for my eyes only.”

When he walked back around the SUV and got into the passenger seat, neither had a lot to say as she drove the twenty miles back to the ranch. All Bria could think about was what would happen once they got home. She had seen that look in Sam’s eyes too many times not to know that he wanted her. And heaven help her, she wanted him just as much.

But she wasn’t sure she was ready to commit herself to giving them another chance. It would be so easy to give in to the overwhelming temptation of forgetting about the divorce and make love with Sam. But nothing had been resolved between them. Could she live with the heartache and regret if things didn’t work out? Was she prepared to go back to being the wife who only saw her husband a few times a month when he stopped by on the way to the next rodeo?

She didn’t have any answers and until she did, it would be unfair to both of them for her to throw caution to the wind. That would only set up both of them for the devastation of going through another breakup.

It had nearly destroyed her to leave him the first time. She knew for certain she wouldn’t be able to survive a second time.

* * *

Sam sat in the family room impatiently waiting for Bria to finish washing the supper dishes. He had spent the entire afternoon trying to think of something that would make her happy and never suspected that cutting his thumb would give him an idea that was sure to please her.

Earlier, when they walked out of the clinic and he had looked down the street at the Broken Spoke, he knew that taking Bria dancing was the answer. The first time he ever saw her had been at a party for the riders and personnel after a rodeo in Amarillo. She had been line dancing with her sister, Mariah, and some of their friends, and from the moment he laid eyes on her, Sam knew Bria was the one for him.

He supposed they could have danced after having supper at the roadhouse in Beaver Dam, but having a roomful of men ogling his wife wasn’t part of his plan for the evening, nor did he want to waste a half hour for the drive back home. That’s why he had declined eating at the Broken Spoke in favor of coming home to be alone with Bria. And now that he had her favorite CD queued up on the player, the chairs moved out of the way and a couple of candles lit, he couldn’t wait for her to join him in his impromptu dance hall.

When he heard Bria walking toward the family room, Sam picked up the remote for the CD player and turned it on. As the first notes of the romantic country tune began, he stood up and turned to watch her walk into the room.

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and each day they were together he fell just a little bit harder, wanted her just a bit more than he had the day before. He took a deep breath. His plan to win her back had to work. He didn’t even want to think about the living hell he would go through if he couldn’t.

“What’s this?” she asked, looking around at the candles and at the furniture he had moved.

Sam walked over to her, then leading her back to the area he had cleared, he took her hands in his and raised them to his shoulders. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he drew her close. “I want to dance with my wife.”

To his satisfaction, she smiled and began swaying with him in time to the music. “What made you decide we need to dance?” she murmured against his shoulder.

“You like to dance and I like to do things that make you happy,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

He heard her catch her breath a second before she leaned back to look up at him. The uncertainty in the depths of her green eyes caused a knot to form in his stomach. Without a second thought he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. He wanted to wipe away whatever indecision and doubts she had about staying with him, wanted to remind her that they belonged together.

When he deepened the kiss, Bria’s soft sigh as she pressed herself closer caused his heart to pound against his rib cage and a spark to ignite in his lower belly. Her response and the fact that it had been months since he’d made love to her sent his temperature soaring. But his need for her could wait. Tonight was all about her, all about making her realize that no matter what problems they had experienced in the past, what they had together was worth saving.

He would have tried to remind her of all that three months ago when she left him, but he had been out on the road for over a week and when he returned, she hadn’t given him the chance. She was so upset and so intent on leaving, he knew she wouldn’t have heard a word he said, anyway. And anything he did at that point, any gesture he made to show her how much he cared, she would have viewed as manipulation. Then later, when she might have been more receptive to listening to him, it had come down to a matter of pride. He had never groveled for anything in his life, even before he’d come to the Last Chance Ranch, and although it had damn near killed him to watch her walk away, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to beg her to stay.

But tonight nothing was going to stop him from showing her exactly how much he needed her, how much he cared.

Ending the kiss, he smiled down at her. “Do you remember the night we met, sweetheart?”

“How could I forget?” she asked breathlessly. “You bribed the band to play nothing but slow songs for the last half of the party.”

“That’s because I wanted to hold you like I’m doing now.” He grinned. “If I remember correctly, you weren’t complaining.”

Her smile sent a shaft of need straight to the region south of his belt buckle. “No, I don’t suppose I was.”

“I was the envy of every guy in the room that night, too,” he whispered close to her ear. He felt her body tremble and knew she was remembering the magic that had surrounded them that evening. “And whenever we go out anywhere together, I still am.”

They fell silent for several moments as the dreamy love song surrounded them and Sam had to fight to keep his body in check. He wanted her more with each passing second and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to hide it. But he was waiting for an indication from her that her desire for him was just as strong.

When the song ended and Bria gazed up at him, his heart stuttered. “Sam, will you please kiss me the way you did that night?”

“Sweetheart, I thought you’d never ask,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers.

As soon as their lips met, his body tightened and the need to possess her became more than he could fight. He wanted to make her his once again, needed to show her that together they were part of something much larger than themselves.

Coaxing her to open for him, he tightened his arms around her and slipped his tongue inside to stroke and tease. Her response was everything he hoped for when she clutched at his shirt and sagged against him.

Without a second thought, he tugged her light green tank top from the waistband of her jeans and slid his hand up along her slender ribs to the underside of her breast. Her smooth skin beneath his palm felt like the finest satin and he longed to touch every inch of her. As he moved his hand to cover her breast, he pressed his lower body to hers and allowed her to feel what she did to him and how much she made him want her. To his satisfaction, instead of trying to put distance between them, she moaned softly and tried to move closer.

Easing away from the kiss, Sam gazed down at the passion in her emerald eyes and the blush of desire on her creamy cheeks. She was his woman, his other half, and he needed to show her how vital she was in his life.

“Let’s go upstairs, sweetheart.”

She stared at him for several long seconds before she finally spoke. “There’s something we should talk about first.”

“Do you want me, Bria?”

He watched her close her eyes as if she was waging a battle within herself a moment before opening them to slowly nod. “Yes, Sam. I want you. But I really need to tell you—”

“There’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow,” he said, placing his index finger to her lips. He knew she wanted to discuss her leaving and their pending divorce, but there would be plenty of time for that later, after he had shown her how good they still were together. “Tonight is all about us and what we have together.”

Before she could comment, he blew out the candles he had lit earlier, then putting his arm around her shoulders, he guided her toward the stairs. Neither spoke as they climbed the steps and walked down the upstairs hall toward the master suite. Words were unnecessary. It was time to show her that what they shared was precious and worth whatever it took to save it.

* * *

When Sam opened the door to the master suite, Bria knew she was taking a big risk. He couldn’t remember and they hadn’t discussed the breakup of their marriage or what she needed from him as her husband. But she could no longer ignore what her heart had tried to tell her from the moment she had watched the bull run him down. Sam was her soul mate, the man she had pledged her life to, and if there was any possibility of them working things out, she had to try again.

Maybe the time he had to take off from work had shown him how good their lives could be if he was home more. Maybe now he would understand what she meant when she told him it was the simple things that made her happiest, that just being with him was enough for her.

A shiver of anticipation shot through her when Sam led her over to the bed, then switching on the lamp on the bedside table, turned to face her. The look in his heated blue gaze stole her breath as he bent to remove her cross trainers and his boots and socks.

“I don’t want to miss a single moment of loving you,” he said, his low drawl causing a tingling sensation to start in the most feminine part of her. He stepped forward and, cupping her face with his hands, kissed her so tenderly Bria felt as if she might melt into a puddle at his feet. “And when I get finished, I’m going to start all over again.”

Her heart sped up. The promise in his words and his intense expression left no doubt in her mind that he meant everything he said. Heaven help her, that was exactly what she wanted him to do.

Sliding his hands over her shoulders, then down her arms to catch her hands in his, he smiled. “I think we’re a little overdressed for what I have in mind, Mrs. Rafferty.”

“What do you think will remedy the problem?” she asked, returning his smile.

“I was thinking that you might be more comfortable without this,” he said, catching the hem of her tank top in his hands.

She didn’t have to think twice about raising her arms and allowing him to whisk it away. His gaze caught and held hers when he reached to release the front clasp of her bra, then parting the scrap of silk and lace, he slid the straps down her arms and tossed it aside. The first touch of his palms cupping her, the contrast of his work-hardened calluses against her softer skin, sent waves of heat flowing from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. But when he teased her nipples with the pads of his thumbs, Bria closed her eyes and savored his touch and the delicious longing that he was building inside her.

Unable to remain passive a moment longer, she reached for the top snap on his chambray shirt. “This looks like it might feel better off than on.”

Opening the metal closure, she trailed her finger through the light sprinkling of hair on his chest to the next snap and the next, treating him to the same sweet torture he had put her through. She felt him shudder and, glancing up, watched him clench his teeth when she reached the snap just above his belt buckle.

“Does that feel good, Sam?”

“If it felt any better, you’d have to bury me,” he said, chuckling as he quickly tugged the tail of his shirt from the waistband of his jeans. “But believe me, sweetheart. I’d be going out of this world a happy man.”

Smiling, she pushed the garment from his wide shoulders, then down his arms to join her tank top and bra at their feet. She loved his body, loved the wide angles and thick pads of muscle. Tracing the lines of his taut abdomen, she made her way to the line of dark brown hair arrowing down from his navel to disappear into his low-slung jeans.

His sharp intake of breath when she worked the button loose at the top of the denim band was her reward and, encouraged, Bria toyed with the tab at the top of his fly. “Would you like me to continue?” she asked, glancing up at him.

He nodded. “If you don’t, I just might lose what little mind I have left.”

Slowly, carefully, she lowered the zipper over the bulge straining at his boxer briefs. “You seem to have a little problem, Mr. Rafferty.”

The sound of his low chuckle sent a shiver of excitement straight up her spine. “Little? You’re lucky I’m not an insecure man, sweetheart.”

“Little might have been the wrong word,” she agreed, smiling back.

When she touched the hard ridge, Sam’s grin quickly faded and a groan rumbled up from deep in his chest. He quickly brushed her hands away and, shoving his jeans and boxer briefs down his muscular thighs, kicked them toward the growing pile of their clothing.

Bria’s breath caught at the magnificent sight of her husband. Sam was the embodiment of the perfect man, at least the perfect man for her. With wide shoulders, well-defined muscles and narrow hips, he had the physique of an athlete. Her gaze drifted lower and her heart skipped several beats. Although they had been together for five years and married for three, the sight of his full arousal never failed to send her pulse racing and an empty ache to form deep in her lower belly.

Stepping forward, he didn’t say a word as he reached for the waistband of her jeans and quickly released the button and lowered the zipper. Slowly sliding his hands along her hips, he pushed the denim and her panties down her legs until she stepped out of them.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice hoarse as he took her into his arms.

The moment his hair-roughened flesh met her softer feminine skin, the entire length of Bria’s body felt as if it had touched an electric current. Closing her eyes, she reveled in their differences and the unique contrast of man to woman.

“Sweetheart, I think we’d better lie down while we still have the strength to get into bed,” he whispered as he nibbled kisses from below her ear to her shoulder.

Not sure her legs would support her much longer, she reached to pull back the comforter and got into bed. He quickly stretched out beside her and pulled her back into his arms.

“Your body feels so damn good against mine,” he said, his voice low and intimate. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to make this last as long as I’d like, Bria.”

She couldn’t have agreed more. “Please make love to me, Sam,” she begged.

“Not until I’m sure you’re ready for me,” he answered, sending a wave of goose bumps shimmering across her overly sensitized skin.

He moved one of his hands from her back along her side to the swell of her hip. His gentle caress as he slid his palm down to the apex of her thighs was thrilling and sent heat moving through her veins. But when he captured her lips with his as he excited her with his touch, Bria felt as if she might go mad from the longing Sam created.

Needing to explore his body as he explored hers, when she found him to tease and arouse, the emptiness within her grew to an almost unbearable ache. She wanted him, needed him to join their bodies.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I’m not going to be able to last if you keep that up,” he said, sounding as if he had run a marathon.

“P-please, Sam,” she said, amazed at the desperation she heard in her own voice. “I need you. Now.”

When he eased her to her back, then parted her thighs with his knee, she held her breath as she waited for him to make them one. Capturing her gaze with his, he gave her a smile that left no doubt what he meant. “Show me where you want me.”

Without hesitation she guided Sam to her, then closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him as he pressed forward and sank himself deep inside her. The feeling of being filled by him was exquisite and she wanted it to last forever.

“Sweetheart, open your eyes.”

When she did as he commanded, she felt branded by the passion and desire she detected in his dark blue gaze. She belonged with Sam. He had claimed her body and soul and she knew in that moment, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

As he continued to hold her gaze with his, he slowly began to rock against her and she readily moved with him as the delicious sensations within her began to build. She loved Sam, had never stopped loving him and although they still had issues to work through, she owed it to both of them to try to resolve things between them.

Lost in the magic they created together, all too soon she found herself poised to find the release they both sought. Sam apparently sensed her readiness and increased the rhythm and depth of his thrusts, sending her over the edge.

Heat streaked throughout her entire being and Bria hung on to Sam to keep from being lost. Her body gently caressing his must have triggered his release, because she felt the slight swelling of him within her a moment before he shuddered and she felt the warmth of him filling her with his essence.

As he collapsed on top of her, she relished the weight of his larger body covering hers and, wrapping her arms around him, held him tightly to her. She experienced a moment of panic at the thought that they hadn’t used protection, but only briefly. They had both wanted a baby for some time and although they still had problems they needed to work on in their marriage, she could never regret a child born out of the love they shared.

When Sam regained his strength, he tried to roll to her side, but she held him close. She didn’t want to lose the connection, the feeling of being one with him.

“Bria, sweetheart, I’m too heavy for you,” he said, rolling them both onto their sides to face each other.

“I just like feeling close to you,” she said, kissing him until they both gasped for breath.

His throaty laughter as he pressed his lower body closer and him becoming aroused once again sent a delightful tingling sensation over every one of her nerve endings. “Oh, you’ll be feeling close to me again soon.” He smiled. “Real soon, sweetheart.”