Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,103
still a work in progress, but he hoped he was getting better at dodging manure.
Bodie went by with Violet and wore a dumb look on his face that was a mixture of sheer happiness and utter terror.
Ridge probably wore the same expression on more than one occasion. He did for sure when he glanced down at Addie as they danced and a gap in her bodice allowed him to see the rising swell of her lush breasts.
God in heaven! He’d be lucky to make it home before he lost every shred of sanity.
As soon as the music ended, he pulled her out of the lantern light for a long kiss, his hands splayed across her back. She returned the kiss with equal passion, her fingers tangling in his hair. The music, the laughter, the crowd forgotten for the moment.
When he let her up for air, he whispered in her ear, “You make me crazy with wanting.”
She gazed up, her eyes staring into his, an arm around his neck. “I love you, my darling. There is no one else for me from now to eternity and even beyond, because my love is too large for just one life. You satisfy, thrill me, complete me in every way.”
Twenty-Eight
Addie leaned close. “Let’s go outside for some fresh air, dear.”
“I’d follow you blindly through a pasture of giant red ant beds.” He kissed her neck, took her hand, and went outside. He gazed up at the stars. “It’s a beautiful night.”
Now that Addie had him to herself, she didn’t wish to talk about the stars, the fall air floating on the breeze, or the prospect of rain. She stared up at him and cupped his jaw. “I think I’ll remember this moment for the rest of my life.”
“Better believe it.” His voice was husky.
She didn’t know if he pulled her or she fell into his arms by herself. Before she knew it, her lips were on those of her sensitive gunfighter’s, and the kiss was another scorcher. Addie’s heart fluttered, an insatiable hunger curling along her spine and sweeping upward. His touch left a delicious heat that made her blood race hot through her veins.
Somehow, someway, Ridge had taken all her broken pieces and put her back together far better than she ever had been.
When they broke apart, a smoldering flame burned in his beautiful amber eyes. “I told myself it didn’t matter that you hadn’t spoken the words, but I lied. I wanted to hear you say them to really know for sure.”
She chewed her bottom lip. “I was waiting for the perfect time, only it never came. Maybe there’s no such thing as perfect.”
“You’re a smart lady.”
“You are my forever love, Ridge,” she whispered and closed the scant inches between their mouths. Trembling, she poured out all the love she felt for him.
He ran his hands down the sides of her body. Heat flared hotter with each touch, and Addie knew for certain the power of love. Their kind would never fade or dull with time.
The noisy dance filled the night behind them, but they were lost in each other.
When he raised his head, emotion darkened his eyes. He lifted her hand and pressed his lips gently to the delicate underside of her wrist. “I didn’t know what I was getting when I told Luke Legend I’d marry you.”
“Or me with you.” Addie inhaled a deep breath of the fragrant night air and toyed with the ends of Ridge’s hair. “I only prayed that you wouldn’t be mean like Ezekiel.”
“You don’t have to worry there.”
“I know. I saw your kindness and caring first thing. Even before I met you.”
“Yes, that night in Fort Worth when you were beating the living daylights out of that drunk with your shoe.” Ridge laughed. “I knew right then you’d be a feisty woman. I just didn’t know you’d be mine.” He nibbled on the curve of her neck.
Ridge kept her in the circle of his arms. “Do you need something, son?”
“I missed you and thought you might’ve left for home without me.” The gangly kid’s face flushed to have to admit his insecurity.
“We just came outside to get some air.” Addie touched his shoulder, sudden anger at Bodie’s kin rising. The way they mistreated him were the cause of this. “We wouldn’t leave without telling you. How are you liking your first dance here?”