Page 92 of Lost and Lassoed

“Wanting used to scare me so much, because I didn’t think I had the space to want anything more than what I’ve got. But wanting a future with you is the easiest thing in the world. And I want it all, with you.” A kiss on the forehead.

Okay, maybe cry a little.

Gus caught one of my tears with his thumb against mycheek. “What do you say, Teddy baby? Do you want to do life with me?”

I nodded eagerly, but no words came out.

Gus chuckled. “Have I finally figured out how to get you to shut up?” he said. “Just gotta tell you that I’m madly in love with you, and I’ll get a little peace?”

“Asshole,” I breathed. “I love you.” Gus’s emerald eyes sparkled, and I was overwhelmed by how extraordinary this moment felt, but in the most ordinary way. It was just us, the sky, and the crickets.

Our beginning.

Epilogue

Gus

The ring on Teddy’s finger glinted in the bathroom mirror as she put her earrings in. We’d found it when we went to Jackson in August to get her sewing machine fixed—in a little vintage jewelry shop. It was simple—just a gold band with an emerald between two small diamonds. We’d gone in on a whim—we didn’t even know what the store was until we walked in, and when Teddy saw the ring, hidden in the back of a display case, she asked to try it on.

She tried to put it on her middle finger at first, but it didn’t fit. After she’d tried her pointer finger, I took the ring from her, got down on one knee, and proposed to her with it on the spot.

When you know, you know.

The ring slid onto her ring finger perfectly, and it had been there ever since—except for when we told Riley. I talked to her solo first—told her that I loved Teddy, and asked her if she was okay with her being part of our family.

My six-year-old looked at me like I was the dumbest man alive as she said, “She already is” with total confidence. I toldher she was right about that. Teddy joined us then. She had made the embroidery piece she was working on throughoutthe summer—now complete with the rock (fucking) jasmine—into a pillow, and gave it to Riley, who squealed with delight.

Then we sat on the porch as a family of three for the first time and watched the sun go down.

Afterward, I’d asked her if she wanted something bigger or newer—I’d get her whatever fucking ring she wanted. She said this one was perfect because it matched my eyes.

Teddy met my gaze in the mirror. “You look beautiful,” I said. Cam was getting married today—December first. Why anyone would want to get married in December in Wyoming, I don’t know, but Cam did. Teddy was wearing an emerald-green dress. It had long sleeves and hugged her perfect fucking body until it ended in the middle of her calves.

Her copper hair was down, and she’d had curlers on top of her head all morning to make it fall in large, loose waves down her back.

“You don’t look too shabby either,” she said with my favorite feline grin. “That suit is really working for you.”

“Yeah? Is it working for you, too?”

“Definitely,” she said as she put her other earring in. I stepped close to her, our bodies almost touching, and moved her hair over to one side of her neck. I liked having access to her neck—like those fucking vampires she read about all the time.

I could still see one of the marks I’d given her last night, and pride blossomed in my chest. I kissed it and then made my way up her neck. I wrapped my arms around her waist and tugged her to me. My cock was already hard, and I knewshe felt it because she let out one of those little noises that I loved.

“August.” I think she was trying to be stern, but her voice was breathy.

“Theodora,” I said, and then bit her neck.

“We have to be at the chapel in thirty minutes,” she said. “We can’t be late.” I dragged my hands up her torso and back down, I put them on the front of her stomach. Teddy wasn’t on birth control anymore, and I was fucking determined to get her pregnant as soon as possible, which she was on board with. We talked about it a lot. When I thought about her having our baby—a little person that was half me and half her, a sibling for Riley—I was like a man possessed. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. All I wanted was her.

“Please,” I growled as I rubbed her stomach with one hand and started to lift her dress with the other. “I want you to be full of me while you wear this dress.” My hips rolled and Teddy pushed her ass back into my cock. Fucking tease. “I want every man in the room to be able to smell me on you.”

“So territorial!” she said with a laugh.

I put my hands on her waist and flipped her so she was facing me. When I brought my mouth down on hers, she gasped again. I bent her as far back over the vanity as she would go and pushed my hips against hers.

“How do you want me to take you, Teddy baby?” I asked.

“Right here,” she said against my mouth. “I want you right here.” Her hands were at my belt. She unbuckled it at top speed and then pushed my pants down my thighs along with my briefs. I lifted her dress up around her waist—I didn’t scrunch it, I folded it up, Teddy was particular about her clothes—and pulled her white thong down her legs.

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