Broken (Brody Brothers Book 4) Read online

  “There can’t be that much difference.”

  “Trust me, there is. But I can guarantee you Miss Opal here will be the spoiled princess of the ranch barns. She’s already got a home waiting for her with our new ranch manager, Caleb Garrett, who’s been around working dogs all his life. He’s already building her a great dog run in his backyard.”

  That wasn’t good enough. “She might be great with cattle, but what about playtime? What about having a family who’ll love her?”

  “She can’t be around toddlers or children, baby.”

  She looked down at the sweet doggo happily exposing her belly, her tongue lolling out one side of her mouth. “This is not a dangerous animal, Des. Look at her.”

  “She’s not dangerous in the normal sense, but she is a trained herder. Kids running around playing and being noisy would be nothing more to her than weird-looking sheep or cattle that she has to keep in place. That means she’d herd them by nipping and barking and basically terrifying the shit out of them. I don’t know of any parent who’d want that, just like I don’t know how to undo Opal’s training.” He smiled when she made a disappointed sound. “But I also know her puppies can easily be trained to be family pets. What do you think about that?”

  “Her puppies?” Winnie glanced over at the squirming potatoes, and had to smile when one of them did a barrel roll, little legs stiff in the air, then blinked bluish eyes at her, with one clearly darker than the other. “How old are they?”

  “We think two weeks or so, since their eyes opened just a few days ago. Another week and they’re going to be all over the place. By five weeks, they’ll be weaned and devouring their weight in both soft food and kibble. At six weeks, they’ll be vaccinated, and by ten weeks we’ll have them fixed, microchipped and ready for their new homes.”

  “So fast?”

  “You might think that’s fast, but it’s not nearly fast enough for my niece, Hannah.”

  “Why?” Then the light went on. “She’s been promised a puppy?”

  “Yep. She was heartbroken when her daddy wouldn’t let her have Opal, so in desperation to stop her crying, Ry promised her she could have the pick of the litter. Hannah chose the only girl, which is oddly perfect. Hannah was the first girl in the Brody line to be born in over seventy years, so now that little white and buff-colored one that’s currently chewing on her own foot will grow up with Hannah as her constant companion.”

  Awww. “I’m so glad Hannah’s going to get a puppy.”

  “Fin’s also got an eye on that freckled one that seems to want to fight all his littermates even though he hasn’t fully figured out how to walk yet,” he added, pointing to one of the fuzzy potatoes with a set of whappy paws that wouldn’t quit. “Fin’s already calling him Bonkers and figures he’ll be the perfect companion for his son Donovan and the baby Lilah’s about to have. Then there’s the little explorer I was telling you about.” Reaching over, he scooped up the puppy with black ears and matching black circles around his eyes. “I’m telling you, this pup is part panda. Look at that face.”

  “That should be his name. Panda.” Enchanted, Winnie reached over to give the wriggly little puppy gentle scritches while Opal gave her baby a sniff, just to make sure he was minding his manners. “Are you thinking of giving him a home?”

  “He’s yours, Winsome. If you want him.”

  Her pulse paused between beats. “What?”

  “I can just see you as a little girl, all alone in a brutal world, wanting something in your life that you could love.” As he spoke he handed her the puppy, which squeaked at the new set of unfamiliar hands before snuffling her with enthusiasm. Her heart turned to goo as she stared, enraptured, at the adorable ball of tricolored fuzz with the panda-like face. “You should’ve been able to have that, but that heartless fuckwit took it away from you. Worse, he took your dream of having a dog and turned it into the kind of nightmare that makes you cry to this very day, and that just shits me. I know this won’t erase that memory, but I sure as hell hope it gives you some of that joy you should’ve had back then, and so richly deserve now.”

  “You’re…” She had to swallow, because her throat was so clenched in a kind of joyous anguish, she could barely speak. “You’re giving me a puppy?”

  “What I’m doing is making sure Panda, my favorite, finds the best home where he’ll be spoiled rotten. I can’t think of anyplace better than with you.”

  “Des.” The sound of her breath hitching was what alerted her to the fact that she was crying, and for a second she couldn’t figure out why. Without a doubt, this was one of the happiest moments of her life; as far back as she could remember, no one had ever bothered to give her such a wonderful gift. At least, no one until Des had come along. Now, not only did she have Des to thank for the A/C he’d insisted on installing in a building that wasn’t even his so she would be more comfortable, she also had this sweet little ball of life. But more than having a childhood dream come true, she now had something even more precious to treasure—the knowledge that Des cared enough about her to learn what would make her happy, then giving it to her without hesitation.

  No one had ever done that for her. No one.

  How beautiful his soul was. How beautiful his heart.

  No wonder she felt so much for him.

  No.

  It was more than that.

  No wonder she…

  Loved him.

  “You keep crying like that, baby girl, you’re going to drown poor Panda.”

  “It’s so weird that I’m crying.” She tried to mop up her face one-handed, because she wasn’t ready to part with little baby Panda just yet. He was too precious. “I’ve never been happier.”

  “People cry happy tears all the time.”

  “No. Not me.” She shook her head while tears dripped off her chin. “Never me. I’ve heard about people crying out of happiness before, but I’ve never done it. I’ve never even come close to it. I thought it was just some weird urban myth, but… oh, my God, it exists. You’ve given me happy tears, and now I just want to spin around the room like a crazy person. Thank you for that. I promise I’ll never forget this moment, this feeling. This…you.”

  “Baby, this is just the beginning.” Allowing her one last cuddle, he took Panda from her and put him back with his littermates. Then he captured her hands in his and drew her to her feet. “I’m addicted to giving you happy memories you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life, you know that? I fuckin’ love that you want to carry them in your heart, so it makes me want to give you more. Every moment of every day, I want to make your life a dream come true.”

  “You do.” She framed his face in her hands and kissed him, and once she started, she didn’t want to stop. “I want to do the same with you.”

  “You do.”

  That wasn’t good enough. “You’re a man who literally has everything, so there’s nothing I can give you to show you how happy you make me.”

  “Woman, you don’t have to give me a damn thing.”

  “I want to.” She kissed him again, growing drunk on the taste of him. “I want to give myself to you. I want to give you all the happiness inside me so you know just how wonderful you make me feel. I want to just…” At a loss for words, she gave up and pulled him down into another kiss to show him exactly what he made her feel.

  Apparently he got the message, if the way his arms came around her was any indication. Her feet left the floor, and she had a sensation of movement, but she didn’t open her eyes until he set her back down on something softer than expected. Startled, she opened her eyes and found they were in some kind of maze of haybales, with Des grinning down at her.

  “Time for your first roll in the hay,” he announced with no small amount of anticipation.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Des wasn’t sure when the world had become so brilliant and bright, but he sure as hell knew who was responsible for it.

  Winsome.

  “Love how I can feel how
much you want me when you touch me.” Lust pounded through his veins like a drug. He was addicted to it, to her, but it was an addiction he was more than happy to take on. Never had he known just how goddamn fulfilling it could be to have another human being actually want him—to be with him, to have his touch. Her need for him radiated from her like the sun’s rays, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

  “That’s how you affect me.” Her breath trembled, and he loved the sound of it. “You get within ten feet of me and I start to shake. I can’t explain it.”

  “That’s arousal, baby girl, and you’re not alone in that feeling. Arousing you arouses me, until I can’t think of anything else but being inside you. Wrap your legs around me,” he instructed, and his breath shuddered when she did what she was told. “That’s my good girl. You want me, Winsome?”

  “Yes.” Her response was gratifyingly immediate, though she threw an anxious glance toward the open doorway leading to where Opal and her puppies were. “I’m just not sure—”

  “It’s okay.” He kissed her hard, unable to resist her made-for-sex mouth. Someday he’d have to teach her what else she could do with that mouth. “We’re back here in a maze of haybales and animal feed bags. No one’s going to come in.”

  “But—”

  “Winsome, know this—I don’t share. That means I will never allow anyone’s eyes to light on you, ever. Every inch of your body, this wondrous perfection you’ve chosen to share with me, is mine and mine alone to enjoy with my eyes and hands and cock. You get me?”

  A faint shudder moved through her. “So…I’m exclusively yours?”

  Just hearing her say it made him so hard he almost moaned out load. “Damn straight. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

  The silence that followed his question pissed him off no end. “I don’t have a problem with it if it works both ways. If you demand exclusive rights to me, then it’s fair that I get to do the same with you. No woman gets to see you or have their hands on you. Just me.”

  Hell’s bells. This was a curve he hadn’t expected. “You saying you want to own me? Is that what you want?”

  “All I want is what’s fair. I told you, I’ll never allow anyone to make me feel like a thing, especially someone else’s thing. You want to own something? Go buy it. You want to own me? Then there has to be an understanding that you’ll get owned by me in exchange. That’s the deal.”

  “Damn, woman.” He dug his hands into her hair, wondering if he’d ever get tired of the feel of it. Probably not. “Look at you. Since when did you get to be such a hard-nosed negotiator?”

  “I’m not negotiating.” Her voice was small but steady, showing that strength beneath the sweetness that had kept her alive during her time in hell. “Being owned… That’s never going to happen again. At least, not without knowing I can be on equal footing. I won’t give my own power away like it’s not precious. It is.”

  That made him pause. “You think I wouldn’t take care of you?”

  “I think I won’t put myself into the same category as little Panda—a coddled and pampered pet, but not truly thought of as an equal.” She shook her head until her curls bounced. “I’m not going to let that happen. It’s got to be a two-way street.”

  “So you’re demanding to be on the same footing as me.”

  Her chin inched up. Defiant. Proud. So fucking beautiful it made him ache. “I am.”

  “And how you’re wanting that to happen is to insist on exclusivity, yeah? A for-real, monogamous relationship, with both of us allowed to be territorial and jealous and crazy-ass possessive about each other?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Because you want us to be a couple. Officially.”

  He heard her swallow. “If you want to own me, then I’m going to have to insist on owning you. As of now I’m yours and you’re mine. I won’t settle for anything less.”

  “Done deal.” With a grin, he sealed it with a kiss before backing up just enough to look down at her. “When I’m fucking you, look at me like you are now and tell me that you’re mine, understand? I want you fucking screaming it for all the world to hear.”

  “Make me,” she breathed, and the excitement building in her tone nearly broke him in two. “Make me scream, my Des.”

  My Des.

  Damn.

  Who knew just a couple of words could shake him to the core?

  “I’m a big fan of this slit you put in this skirt.” Boldly he slid his hands beneath the soft material, curled around the wisp of underwear and pulled it off. Once it was gone, he wrapped her legs around his hips once more. When he cupped a hand over her sex, he watched her eyes darken with lust, her eyelids going to half-mast in a sultry, fuck-me-now expression that stole his breath. Holy hell, his woman was sexy. “The moment I saw you on that little baby stage thing wearing this outfit, I couldn’t wait to see if that skirt slit gave me easy access to fuck you.”

  “That wasn’t what it was designed for.”

  “Hell, yes it was, and every man who sees his woman in it is going to thank you for it. Now spread for me, baby girl,” he went on, smiling against her lips as the hand cupping her went to work on discovering just how wet she was for him. “I’m going to tease that sweet clit of yours so hard you’re going to be coming in less than two minutes. Time me.”

  “I’m not going to—ooh.” The broken whimper that escaped her when he stroked the hard nub of nerves made his dick harden all the more. “Oh. Oh, Des. Right there. Yes.”

  “Tell me you’re mine.” He bit at her lower lip while mercilessly keeping up with a hard, stroking rhythm. “Say it.”

  “I’m yours.” Her eyes closed, and her hips began to pump like he was already inside her. “Oh, yes. God, yes. I’m yours.”

  “Say the words, you’re mine.”

  “You’re mine.” She was panting now, lost in bliss. Then, to his surprise, her eyes opened and she looked right at him. “You’re mine, Des. You’re mine. And I’m yours.”

  A shudder went through him, and all at once he was close, so fucking close, to coming right there. Feverishly he kept at her with one hand, while with the other he wrestled with his belt and the fastenings of his jeans, his mind reeling at how completely helpless he was when it came to controlling himself when he was with this woman. Control was everything to him since he’d been robbed of it most of his fucked-up life. Control was what held him together. But with her, he didn’t even remember what control was. All he knew was that he had to be inside her. Now and always, he had to be inside her.

  Her moans came sharp and fast with every breath, and it took all his concentration to keep himself from rubbing his rock-hard cock against her to alleviate some of the throbbing pressure. Instead, he managed to fish out his wallet, again one-handed, and dug out a condom. Using his teeth, he ripped the small packet open and got it in place just as her voice changed. Her sharp moans were rising through the octaves in tandem with the urgent moves of her writhing body, telling him she was more than ready.

  Thank fuck.

  Barely taking the time to shove his clothes out of the way, he entered her with a powerful thrust, adjusting his hand so he could keep working her clit. As the sensation of his body merging into the hot tightness of hers engulfed him, her breathing choked off on a squeak. Then her head flung back on a cry of ecstasy, and the blissed-out triumph of it shattered what little control he had. Wildly he thrust into the slick depths gloving him, gripping her hips hard to better seat himself as far as he could into her tight pussy. But no matter how fiercely he plunged into her, or how exquisite the building pleasure was, he couldn’t get close enough.

  How was it possible to be inside her, and still not be close enough? It was like his brain had succumbed to a driven kind of madness to become a part of her, and he was too lost in that delirious quest to hold any part of himself back. He didn’t want to hold back—a definite first for him. His Winsome deserved all he had to give.

  His Winsome.

  His.


  And she wanted him to be hers.

  A wild shudder hit him, a powerful rumbling that threatened to shake his world apart. Then the tension in him snapped, and an explosion of excruciating pleasure swallowed him whole. For the first time in his life, he lost touch with where he was or even who he was. All that mattered was his woman.

  Winsome.

  Even after the euphoria of coming his goddamn brains had out ebbed, that world-shaking feeling lingered. He wasn’t sure what the hell to make of that, but it helped when her arms came around his shoulders to hold him like she had zero intention of ever letting go.

  “I can never get enough of you.” Her voice was no louder than a whisper, with her mouth pressed against his ear, but the words reverberated through him in ways he couldn’t begin to comprehend. “No matter how close we are, or how often I have you inside me, I just can’t stop needing you. Is this normal?”

  “Fuck normal. It’s what we are. It’s our normal.” For a moment he closed his eyes and let the rightness of the moment sink into every part of him. After a lifetime of knowing he hadn’t been wanted—first by his mother and the man he’d adored as his father, then by a biological father and his murderous lunatic of a wife—being wanted by Winnie was everything.

  Everything.

  “By the way, I think it took about three minutes. Maybe four.”

  That brought his eyes open to look down into her flushed, glowing face, and wondered how the world didn’t fall at her feet every damn time she walked down the street. “What?”

  “You said you could make me come in less than two minutes. I think it took longer than that. Not a complaint,” she added with a laugh that sounded as satiated as he felt. “Just an observation. In fact, three or four minutes isn’t bad.”

  “Baby girl, that’s a challenge if I’ve ever heard one. I’m not going to be happy until I get you off in the first minute…then the fifth. And the tenth. And maybe even more.”

  Her eyes widened. “Even more?”