“So can I.” She hesitated. “Ren? Are you sore, too?”
He laughed. “A little.” He turned his head and looked down at her. “I enjoyed getting that way, Meredith,” he said when she looked guilty. “And we have all our lives to make up for lost time.”
She smiled tenderly. “Okay.”
He drew her close, pillowing her head on his shoulder. “I forgot to ask if you wanted me to use something.”
“Use something?”
“Birth control,” he said drowsily. “So that I didn’t make you pregnant.”
She drew in a long, delighted breath. “My goodness!”
He lifted his head to look into her eyes. She was beaming. Radiant. He chuckled softly. “Okay. I guess you’re old enough.”
“I’m definitely old enough,” she said pertly. “Besides, if we have enough kids, the family ranch won’t go on the market the minute we die.”
He burst out laughing. “No. I guess that’s a valid reason to have kids.”
“Of course it is.”
“You haven’t really lived, sweetheart,” he said after a minute. “You’ve been a virtual prisoner at Graylings. Don’t you want to see some of the world before you’re tied down with kids?”
“I am seeing the world,” she returned. “We’re in a very foreign country, and we’ll see several more on the way home.” She sat up, proud in her nudity, loving the way his hands explored her. “I’m a homebody,” she added gently. “I have no great desire to travel or found a business empire or even become a famous artist. I just want to live on the ranch with you and make a home for you. A real home,” she added quietly.
He ground his teeth together, trying not to show what he was feeling. He’d been an outsider most of his life. He loved Randall, but they’d never truly been a family, not with Ren ignoring their mother all of these years. Meredith had changed all that, brightened the dark corners of his life, made him happy. He couldn’t remember ever being really happy before, not even when he thought he loved Angie.
“I’m sorry, I guess I’m being pushy...” Her voice trailed off, her confidence waning when he didn’t answer her.
He drew her back down into his arms and turned, so that he was propped over her. “I’ve never had a real home,” he said huskily. “Delsey tried to make one for me at Skyhorn, but it was a shaky one, at best.” He smoothed back her disheveled blond hair. “I love the way you look right now,” he whispered huskily. “Disheveled and disturbed, because of me.”
She smiled up at him, tracing his stubborn chin. “You disheveled me,” she said.
“Emphatically,” he mused. He traced her swollen breasts, lingering on the taut little mauve peaks. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Inside and out.”
“That’s nice flattery,” she teased.
“It’s not.” He bent to kiss her breasts. “I want to make a home with you. I want babies. I just want to be sure that you won’t regret not having some freedom, too.”
“Freedom is just a word.” She sighed. “People who are truly free don’t want roots or commitment.” She smiled. “I want a real life, one with roots and stability and babies. That’s freedom to me.”
His fingers tangled in her long hair. “I can be difficult.”
“So can I,” she returned. She linked her arms around his neck. Her expression became serious. “I love you so much, Ren,” she whispered, surprised at the emotion she saw in his eyes as she spoke. “More than anything in the world.”
Ruddy color stained his high cheekbones. His jaw tensed as he looked at her, sketched her with his eyes, delighting in her beauty, in the tenderness she radiated. He leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m not sure I’ve ever said the words to anyone,” he whispered huskily. “But I...feel them, when I look at you, when I hold you.” He drew her against him, enfolding her so close that she could feel every inch of him against her. “Is that enough for you?”
She felt the joy rise up in her like a fountain overflowing. She laughed softly and clung to him, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh, Ren! Yes, it’s enough. It’s more than enough!”
He felt the moisture and lifted his head. “Why are you crying?”
“I was afraid you only wanted to sleep with me,” she blurted out.
He gave her a sardonic look. “No man is crazy enough to marry a woman just for one night in her bed,” he mused. “Especially not a virgin.”
She stared at him. “Oh.”
“You don’t know beans about men. I love it.” He grinned. He bent and kissed her hungrily. “Why do you think I was so out of bounds with you the night of the party?” he asked. “I knew that I’d die for you. I was fighting what I felt, because I was afraid. After that business with Angie, I got gun-shy. You seemed too good to be true.”