I scowled. What is wrong with you? You can barely talk to her. We hadn’t even had sex yet and already I was thinking about her carrying my babies. But good Christ, something about the sweet girl beside me brought out the caveman in me.
Riley closed her eyes as we headed for the runway, a flat-ish field near the cabin we were stopping at to deliver food and fuel.
Seeing her scared like that was a punch in the chest. “Hold on,” I said, trying to gentle my voice. “This one’s bumpy.”
She scrunched her face up, squeezing her eyes tighter. As we touched the ground, her hand shot out again, like it had the first time—like she had when we landed at the general store earlier that day and the two stops after that—seeking comfort from me. I liked that she did that. Liked it more than was reasonable.
I know you’ll keep me safe.
Her words from earlier had been on repeat in my head as well. And hell, if it was possible, I’d fly the damn plane with her in my lap. There was nothing I wanted more than her soft warmth wrapped around me, holding her tight, making sure she never felt scared again.
We bumped and jerked as we taxied down the field, and Riley’s fingernails dug into my skin, adding more tiny crescent moons to the others she’d given me today. I liked that, too. I liked that she marked me while she used me to ground herself, that I’d be able to look down and see those marks for days to come and know that she’d sought me out when she needed me.
We stopped, and she finally opened her eyes, her entire body relaxing.
“Okay, darlin’?” The endearment had been slipping out more often, but still my face predictably heated. I blushed easily, and it was pissing me off.
She released a long breath and nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. I wanted to kiss her. “Yes, I’m fine. But I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”
“You will.” I hoped so, anyway. She hadn’t wanted to be left behind, and I hated the idea of being apart from her.
Tucker walked out of his workshop by the house and strode toward us. I climbed out, then came around and opened Riley’s door. Helping her get unbuckled, I gripped her soft, rounded hips and lifted her out.
I turned back to Tuck and his step faltered when he spotted Riley beside me.
Riley’s hand slid into mine and I had to hide my surprise, the pleasure of her seeking reassurance from me spreading warmth through my chest again. I curled my fingers around hers as Tuck reached us.
“Cash,” he said before his gaze slid to Riley. “And who’s this? You get me a present?”
Tucker’s gaze was moving over Riley in a way I didn’t like. Not at all. Tuck was handsome, joked around, smiled a lot, and had experience with women.
Once a year he paid for one to come from the city to stay with him for a month. To scratch that itch, he’d told me once. I flew them to him and back out again.
When his smile widened at Riley, I had to bite back the angry growl trying to crawl up my throat.
I caught and held his eyes. “Tucker, this is Riley. My wife.”
Tuck’s head jerked back, his eyes getting wide. “Wife?”
Riley stepped forward, and I tightened my hold on her hand as she held the other out for Tuck. He took it, and she graced him with one of her beautiful smiles.
“Nice to meet you, Tucker.”
Jealousy gripped me, and I tugged her back, pulling her in close to me.
“Call me Tuck,” he said, grinning. “How the hell did a big, ugly bastard like you find a beautiful woman like this?” Tucker asked me good-naturedly.
I wasn’t feeling very good-natured myself, not when he turned that grin back on Riley. I ignored his question and opened the cargo door to start unloading his supplies, pulling Riley with me.
“We met online,” she said.
“Never knew you had it in you,” Tuck said to me.
I ignored him again.
“How long have you been married?”
“Not quite a week,” Riley said.
Tuck chuckled. “Ah, so you’ll be in the honeymoon phase? Can’t keep your hands off each other, huh? Good thing I set up the mezzanine in the barn for you, Cash. You can be as noisy as you like out there and I won’t hear a thing.”
I did growl at that. “Not staying,” I bit out. I had planned to, I always did. But I didn’t want Riley around Tucker. I didn’t like this feeling inside me. I didn’t like the way he could talk and I couldn’t. I didn’t want him talking to her, and I didn’t want him looking at her.
“Of course you are,” Tuck said. “It’s gonna be dark in another hour and I made supper. Got a nice bit of venison roasting.”
I opened my mouth to tell him thanks but no, thanks, when Riley tugged on my hand. “Please, Cash. I don’t think I could get back in that plane again today. And you must be tired?”
Her wide, pleading eyes cut off my refusal. We’d been flying all day, and she needed a break. I couldn’t bear to do something to make her unhappy, so I gritted my teeth and nodded.
She released a relieved breath, squeezed my hand, and curled into my side. “Thank you.”
Tuck clapped his hands. “Now that that’s sorted, let’s have a drink and some food.”
I collected our bags and headed for the barn, and I kept Riley tucked against me the whole way.
Riley threw her head back, laughing at something Tucker said. I couldn’t look away, my heart thundering in my chest. My wife was beautiful. When she smiled, laughed, her whole face lit up. She’d had a little bit of Tucker’s apple pie moonshine and her cheeks were flushed. Somehow that made her even more beautiful, when I didn’t think that was possible.
Tuck would never touch her, I knew that, but there was no missing the way he was looking at her. He appreciated how lovely she was, was enjoying being in her company. I could only assume that Tuck was lonely like I’d been. He liked people, was good with them like Riley was, and I could tell they were both enjoying the chance to talk. It wasn’t like I was much company for her.
“More?” Tuck said, holding up a mason jar of moonshine. “It’s the Smith family secret recipe.”
Riley’s head tilted to the side. “You’re a Smith?”
“Yup. Cash and I are cousins, though distant. Same with Beau and Hank. There are Smiths all over the area. We’re obviously not a very adventurous bunch. We seem to put down roots and then hang in for the long haul.”
“You don’t get lonely?” Riley asked, her head tilting to the side.
Tucker’s throat worked, but he grinned wide. “Nah, suits me this way.” He took a sip of his drink. “So you two met online, huh?”
“We did.”
Tucker glanced at me. “Guess that means you finally caved, followed Beau’s advice, and got satellite internet and a computer?”
I shook my head. “Just the internet, for Riley.”
Riley frowned and turned to me. “You don’t have a laptop?”
I shook my head.
“Then how did you email me?”
“Landon.”
Riley frowned. “So you flew all the way to the general store to message me?”
I shook my head again. “He’d call. I’d tell him how to reply.”