Winter Harvest (20 page)

All the tension left her body, leaving her warm and fuzzy. Did he get it at last? She grabbed his hand, brought it to her lips, and kissed each finger.

"I think that's the kindest thing you've ever said to me."

"There's more." He grinned and grabbed her hand in a strong hold. "I was willing to give you up because Andrew played on my insecurities. That promise was the stupidest thing I've ever done, and it was all a lie. When your father demanded I marry you, I saw it as a way to have what I didn't know I wanted.
You.
Your father knew that."

"Huh?"

"He knew I loved you before I did. How?"

"I don't know." Victoria shrugged. "He knew
I
wanted
you,
so maybe he pushed for it because of me."

"No. He knew I loved you and didn't trust me to let it happen because he could tell I was afraid I'd ruin your life. Andrew hammered me about it constantly. Damn, I'm such an idiot. I almost lost you."

Victoria squirmed. Could she trust Traye not to pull away again? What about Evan? She couldn't hurt him just to have a relationship with Traye. It might go nowhere. Yet she couldn't walk away from the man she had loved all her life. She looked at Traye.

"Am I too late?" he asked, his heart in his eyes. "Are you going to choose Evan? Just say the word, and I'll take you back to him and move on. Without you, I have no reason to stay."

"I don't know." She placed a hand on his chest.

He took it and gently kissed her palm, but didn't say anything.

She bit her lip. "Evan is a great guy, and I don't want to hurt him… but I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled and leaned in to give her a soft kiss.

The electric current between them still existed. She couldn't stop her growing grin. "For real? Am I dreaming?"

"No dream, sweetheart. I only wish I'd seen it sooner. It's why Robert threw me off the farm."

"To make you see I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you?"

"Yeah, I think so. He knew that if he forced me to leave my home, I'd see the light. And if I didn't, I wasn't worth it. Damn. He's smart."

"He'd never let you leave for good. Dad thinks of you like a son. His kicking you out did get my attention, though."

"Yet you're still with Evan. Is he your first choice?"

How could she walk away from Traye? She really liked Evan, but she didn't love him. He deserved better. One day, he'd find a girl who adored him. Evan deserved it.

She shook her head. "I can't pick him. God help me, but I can't."

Traye's smile lit up his eyes. He picked her up, sat down, and settled her on his lap. He took her face in his hands and brought her lips to his for one mind-frying kiss. She feasted on him, licking and sucking and rolling her tongue with his. His mouth left hers to trail feather light kisses down her neck to her bare shoulder. She threw back her head and moaned.

Cool air hit her back as he unzipped her dress. He nibbled his way down her cleavage, and she arched her back, begging for his mouth to engulf her. He freed her breasts from her lacy bra and devoured one nipple while he rolled and tugged the other one. She tangled her hands in his shaggy hair and brought him closer.

Her moans and whimpers made him suck harder. She pulled his head up. After tugging her arms out of her dress and tossing her bra onto the floor, she kissed him again, so hard their teeth clashed. When his buttons took too long for her to undo with her fumbling fingers, he broke the kiss. With a grin, he knocked her hands away, then grabbed both sides of his shirt and ripped it open. Buttons flew in every direction.

"I'll never need this dress shirt again, anyway."

Laughter bubbled up her throat as he pulled off the shirt and tossed it aside. All his work on the farm had produced the most amazing muscles. She rubbed her hands across his bare skin in feather light strokes. Her lips met his chest, and she ran her tongue over his skin. He jumped and sucked in his breath with each kiss and nip.

He pushed her away and guided her to her feet. Her dress slid off to pool around her feet. Removing her remaining clothes, she kept her eyes riveted on his aroused body as he shucked his jeans and briefs. He took her hand and led her to his bed.

She crawled onto it and knelt in the middle of the mattress. Seconds later, he crawled up beside her, leaned in for a slow kiss, and probed her folds. Her knees grew weak and she pulled away, tugging at his arms until they both fell onto the bed. Their breathing heavy, they rolled against each other. Traye tossed Victoria onto her back and entered her in one fluid motion. They had no problem finding their rhythm. She met him thrust for thrust until they both climbed the mountain and leapt off together in sexual bliss.

He remained on top of her until their breathing slowed. Rising up onto his elbows, he met her eyes, and they studied one another for a few seconds. Then he rolled off her and brought her with him to rest at his side.

He didn't leave, and the world didn't come to an end.

"I love you, Victoria. I promise you I won't go anywhere ever again, unless you, and only you, kick me out."

"Never." She kissed his jaw.

"So you'll marry me now?"

"Yes." The air left her lungs as he hugged her hard. "We'll have to tell Dad about Andrew, though. The poor guy needs major therapy."

"Yeah, I know. Andrew won't be happy."

"He'll get over it." She gazed at him and ran her nails over his warm skin.

He shivered. "Or not."

"Liza will probably leave him, not that I care. Getting rid of her is icing on the cake."

"Down, girl."

"He's been a creep, but he deserves better." Loving the feel of Traye's warm skin against hers, Victoria snuggled closer to him. "A nice girl to steer him in the right direction and make him feel loved again."

"Hmm. What about Evan?"

"Yeah, Evan. I feel so bad, but I think he'll be okay. He called this, you know?"

"Called what?" He leaned away and looked at her. "Us?"

She nodded. "After dinner the night I first brought him home, he told me you loved me and said he didn't want to be a rebound. I did like him and at the time was determined to move on. He also told me Andrew put you down, like he wanted you under his thumb. I didn't get it then, but I do now. Andrew's main fear has come true. When you and I marry, I'll get half the farm, and you and I will live there. I just find it so sad that he's felt so unloved all these months. Dad does love him, though, and so did Mom. We
all
love him."

"I'm not sure he'll ever feel loved again. His rage has eaten him up inside. Tessie would feel so bad if she knew, but she's partly to blame."

"I know."

"You and I waited a long time for this." He brought her close again. "And I, for one, don't want to waste the night discussing Andrew."

"I agree."

"Tonight is ours. We'll deal with him tomorrow."

She hoped Abbey wouldn't kill her for not coming back to the dance and taking care of Evan. For the first time she was glad that Ron, the arrogant jerk, would be there for him. She had waited years for this, and she planned to enjoy every second before they had to deal with reality.

Chapter Sixteen

Victoria pulled on a pair of Traye's sweat pants with a smile tugging at her lips. The night of the snowstorm came rushing back to her. This time if Andrew blew through the front door, he wouldn't come between them. In fact, her brother didn't stand a chance. She and Traye had talked all night, and the more Andrew's name had come up, the more they'd figured it all out.

They were a team now.

She couldn't believe she'd missed how troubled Andrew had become. His anger issues were evident, but she'd had no idea how deep his pain ran. How could he have ever believed their mother loved Traye more than she did him? His jealousy over Traye must have eaten away at him for years. Victoria refused to let him become between her and Traye again, but she also couldn't let him believe he didn't mean anything to her or her father.

After a night of lovemaking and commitments, she and Traye showered together, then got ready to head to the main house to tell her father the truth. Maybe he'd already figured it out. Andrew needed special love and guidance from their father, and he also needed to know their dad would never leave him out of the farm. Andrew would have to accept Traye as one of them, however, and learn to work side by side with him, or their new plan wouldn't work.

Traye encircled her waist with his arms and pulled her back into him. She leaned her head back against his chest.

"Even drowning in sweats, you're beautiful -- and all mine," he murmured.

She smiled. "I'll be lucky not to walk out of them."

"That'd be great."

"Maybe I should just slip my dress back on."

"Sounds good to me." His hand dove inside the sweats.

She stumbled away from him. "Hey, now. We have to get back to the main house. We'll have time for that later."

"Oh, fine. I guess we have the rest of our lives."

Stepping out of the sweats, she yanked off his tee shirt and dodged his hands while she put on her dress. "Traye, stop."

"Okay, okay." He put up his hands. "Do you think Robert will be mad?"

"I doubt it." She slipped on her shoes and headed for the door. "No time like the present to find out."

She didn't wait for an answer, but just walked out. Traye followed her. They drove to the main house and parked out front. Both of them sat there for a few minutes, staring at the house.

"I wonder how the party went?" Remorse returned to dull Victoria's happiness at being back in Traye's arms again. She shook her head. "Poor Evan."

"Ah, feeling guilty?"

"I feel awful leaving him like I did."

"I didn't give you much choice. Don't you think he would have come to get you if your father hadn't taken care of him?"

"I just hope he was nice about it."

"No time like the present to find out." He reached over and squeezed her thigh. "Let's get this over with. If Andrew smarts off, I'm going to punch him."

"I'd like to hit him, too, but we have to understand the torment he must be feeling. To think Mom didn't love him?" She gripped Traye's hand. "I don't get how he could possibly think that, but I feel for him."

"I know, but he sure played me." Traye shrugged." I guess part of it is my fault. I let him do it to me, after all. I was too afraid to want what I felt I didn't deserve." He leaned over and gave her a light kiss, then deepened the kiss before pulling away. "We'd better go in before I get carried away. You have amazing power over me."

"Took you long enough." She pushed him away and jumped out of the truck.

He came around the vehicle, grabbed her hand, and led her toward the house. Before they got there, however, her father opened the door. They stopped short.

"It's about time you two showed up. I had to almost tie Andrew to a chair to keep him here. I need to speak to all three of you."

"Okay." Victoria dropped Traye's hand, walked up to her father, and kissed him on the cheek. "We're sorry for ruining the party, Dad."

"The guests didn't let it stop them. They danced, ate, and had a ball. Abbey didn't seem too happy, though. I made Liza and Andrew help clean up, but there's still a lot left to do."

"I bet Abbey didn't enjoy that."

"Her boy Ron helped, too."

Victoria ran a hand through her hair. "Really?"

"He's different, but somehow they work."

"Hmm. Maybe he's really into her, since he stayed to help."

"Could be."

"What about Evan?"

"Well, my dear daughter, you were right about him. He has good character. Andrew and I had a bit of a blowout, and Evan stuck by me, calmed me down, and made sure I was all right."

"Are you okay?"

"Fine. If you two didn't belong together, I'd be okay with Evan. Traye, why are you standing way over there?"

Victoria turned around. Traye stood stiff and silent, off to one side. She reached out her hand, and he stepped forward to take it. Did he think she'd changed her mind?"

"Are you two together where you belong?"

"Yes, sir." Traye gave him a curt nod.

Robert looked from Traye to Victoria. "You're getting married?"

"Yes. Someday soon. Do you think Evan will understand?" Victoria bit her lip and swallowed her guilt.

Her father nodded. "I think he will. He knows you and Traye are meant for one another. I think he suspected it all along. He's a real gentleman."

Victoria let out a relived sigh. "He's very smart."

"Let's go in and talk to Andrew. He's waiting in the office." Robert held out his hand to Traye. When Traye took it, Robert hauled him in for a hug. "Welcome home, son. I've missed you."

"As I did you, sir."

Tears pricked Victoria's eyes. Traye had wanted to be part of their family for so long, and now finally he was one of them. They walked in with Robert's arm still around Traye. As they entered the office, Andrew glared at them.

"Sit down, you two," her father said.

Victoria sat between Traye and Andrew to prevent a fist fight. They hadn't spoken a word to one another. She didn't know if Traye would ever trust Andrew again. Hell, she didn't know if she would, even if she did understand where his mind had been. Traye was Andrew's partner now, and Andrew would have to learn to live with it. They were brothers, after all, even if they didn't carry the same genes. All she wanted now was to see the two men grow close again.

Robert steepled his fingers. "I'm so happy to have you back home, Traye. I hope you understand why I sent you away. It was a gamble, but it paid off. I was hoping that if I could get you to realize what you could lose, and Victoria wasn't able to see you all the time, it'd bring you two back together."

"That's not quite how it went down, Dad." Victoria glanced at Andrew out of the corner of her eye.

Robert leaned back in his chair. "Really? How did it happen?"

"Andrew also gambled. And he lost." Victoria looked over at her brother, who stiffened beside her. "He's been trying to pry Traye and me apart for years."