Allie raised her head to look at him, but he knew she couldn't see him yet. Not until their eyes adjusted better. "You didn't dream of me?" He could hear the disappointment in her tone. He leaned over, finding her mouth unerringly, and kissed her slowly, tenderly.
"You've always been my dream, Allison. Always. But one I never thought would come true. You were what I held onto in those dark times." His lips curved slightly. "I didn't keep track of that hair ribbon all these years for no reason, you know." He gave a strand of her hair a playful tug. "I figured…by now, you'd have found someone else. I came back for you, Allie. You were already gone by then. I came back because I wanted—" He broke off, remembering how hard it had been for him to wait for his eighteenth birthday. When they could do nothing but answer his questions. When they could impose no more punishment. When he was beyond their control, and could no longer be taken into their custody.
But by then, it had been nearly three long years since he'd run. And a lot had happened in those three years. Allie had been adopted out. They wouldn't tell him who had taken her or where they'd gone. He'd never felt as alone as he did then. Hadn't realized how much he'd counted on being with her again.
"You wanted?" she prompted.
"I…wanted to marry you then."
Allie rose up on her elbow, looking down at him, her eyes shooting sparks of angry fire in the darkness. "Then why did I have to convince you now?"
"I guess I had time to grow up some. To realize that my dream…might not be such a good vision for you. For your future."
"Brandon Gabriel, that makes me so all-fired mad I can't see straight!"
"Allie—"
"Don't you Allie me! And don't you ever say your dreams aren't good! Especially if it's the same one I'm having," she added.
He smiled in the darkness. "Why's that?"
"Because, Mr. Gabriel, I don't have bad dreams. I have faith. And I know this place is going to work. The boys are going to help and learn, and be safe. And the cattle are going to multiply and get fat, and Jay is going to be happy." Her expression softened at the prospect.
"What about you?"
"I'm going to see that it happens like it should."
She was determined. Brandon had forgotten just how much he loved that about her. She was going to make it happen, and she was including him in the powerful magic of her vision.
Brandon shook his head. "No, I mean, what about your happiness, Allie? What do you want from it?"
She lowered her mouth to his, brushing a light kiss over his lips. "I'm looking at it, Bran. When I look in your eyes, I finally see contentment, love…and…happiness." She kissed him again, long and slow. "Yes. Definitely. The happiness is finally there."
For most of his life, Brandon had assumed he had no heart. Now, he knew that wasn't true at all. It was going to shatter. He could feel it, inside the wall of flesh and bone and muscle that had kept it intact all these years. He'd throttled back any emotion and feelings for so long that he'd actually believed they didn't exist inside him anymore. But all it took was a few hours with Allie Taylor to disabuse him of that notion. And Jay. Jay, who wanted to claim him as his father…Jay, who accepted him unconditionally, like Allie.
He moved his right hand upward, but Allie gently caught his wrist before he could cup her cheek. She shook her head in a gentle reminder, and he finally lowered it to the bed with an exasperated sigh.
"Soon enough," she whispered. Her eyes were warm with laughter, and that elicited a smile from him. She leaned a little farther over him, and her hair trailed across his bare skin.
He groaned. "Make love to me, Allie."
The laughter faded, to be replaced by uncertainty. "I'm not sure…I mean – Brandon, I don't know what to do." Her arm dipped, rubbing across his hot shaft.
"God," he swore tightly. He reached to push back a strand of her silky hair, using it as an excuse to touch her cheek. She was warm with embarrassment, but he pretended not to notice.
He ached like he hadn't had a woman in months…or years, even. He wanted Allie like he'd never wanted another woman in his life. And she was telling him she didn't know what to do.
"Sit across me," he managed to grind out. She brushed the tip of him again, and his fingers tightened in the silky curtain of her hair.
In the darkness, he felt her grin against his hand. He released her as she moved to comply, very carefully. She sat on her knees, straddling him, her moist valley tantalizingly scant inches above him.
Brandon closed his eyes.
"Now what?" Allie asked.
He arched his hips up to her, brushing against her heat, and felt her shudder. "We fit this way just like we do if I'm on top," he grated. He guided them together.
"Like this?" Allie teased, lowering herself downward.