Welcome To My World (Hell Yeah!) (21 page)

CHAPTER TWELVE

“If you’re coming in with me, hurry up.” Cassie held the bathroom door open. Sassy and Patience were adapting well but they still trailed every move she made. The other animals had accepted them so it looked like they were well on their way to becoming one big happy family.

The dachshund and the tabby wandered into the bathroom and she shut the door. Getting clean now was an absolute dream. After the renovation, the shower was huge, eight feet wide, five feet deep with a bench and fourteen shower heads. Not only could Cassie roll her whole chair in with plenty of room left over, but there was room for Bowie and one of the camels if he was a mind to give it a bath.

Cassie sighed and smiled to herself as she soaped up and rinsed off. She had made a decision, it was time for her to tell Bowie how she felt about him. Holding in the words was growing almost impossible. He might not say it back, but he had shown her he loved her in a thousand ways. But she needed to say the words. Her love was a gift and she needed to give it to him.

The waffles were in the warmer, so she didn’t linger. Cassie wanted to be out and dressed when Bowie returned. As soon as she dried off and redressed, she heard a noise. It took her a bit to figure out it was her cell phone. Scooting through the bathroom door she raced around the bed and grabbed her phone. The ID said Private Caller. “Hello?”

“Cassie?”

She didn’t recognize the voice. “Yes, this is Cassie.”

“Hey, how are you doing this morning? This is Destry.”

Cassie brightened. “Oh, hey, Destry! I’m well. It was so good to see you last night.”

“It was good, I agree. I should have contacted you sooner.”

She heard him clear his throat.

“Is something wrong, Destry?”

“No, I mean...”

He said something that Cassie didn’t understand.

“What did you say?”

“Hell, I need to tell you something.”

“Okay.” This couldn’t be good.

“Bowie Malone is a good guy and I’m glad to see you two are together, but I have got to ask if you know who he is.”

“Know who he is?” Cassie was confused. “Yes, I have known him for quite a while. He’s a wonderful man who has a good business, does amazing charity work, has great friends and loves animals.”
Plus, he sees something in me no one else ever has
, she added silently.

“I don’t doubt any of that, I’ve had positive dealings with him myself and the McCoys consider him to be family.”

“So, what do you mean?” Cassie felt nervous and unsure. She had no idea what Destry was going to say. Was Bowie married? She had seen no indication of a wife. Was he in trouble?

“Cassie…” Destry seemed to be struggling for words. “Bowie Malone is the person who shot you when you were a little girl. It’s his fault you are the way you are.”

All she could do was gasp. There was no air in her lungs. How could this be? If she hadn’t been sitting down, she would have fallen. “How do you know?”

“I remembered the name. Everyone called him Travis back then and I know him now as Bowie Malone. I had never heard anyone call him Bowie Travis before now. But when I heard Jessie talk about how the baby was named after him, it hit me. So, I called Dad and asked.”

“My God,” was all she could say.

“So, I take it you didn’t know and he sure hasn’t confessed.”

“I don’t think he knows.” Cassie exclaimed. “He’s never said a word. Surely he would have said something.”

Destry tried to sound comforting. “Maybe he doesn’t know. He was really young and his folks tried to protect him. In fact, they moved not too long after the incident.”

Cassie just stammered, she didn’t know what to think. “Well, I don’t know…”

“Look, I didn’t intend to upset you. I just thought you ought to know.”

“No, I’m glad you did.” She brushed her hair out of her eyes and a few tears off her cheeks. “Can I think about this and get back with you?”

“You don’t owe me anything, Cassie,” Destry spoke evenly. “I just had to tell you, I thought I owed you that much. What you do with the information is entirely up to you.”

Once she laid the phone down, she placed her head in her hands and trembled. She didn’t know what to think. Everything they had said and done raced through her mind. Could she forgive him? Could she live with it?

Yes.

The answer was an unequivocal ‘yes.’

Just like she’d told her grandmother years ago, she had already forgiven the boy who did this to her. And now to find out that boy was the man she loved didn’t change anything.

And he didn’t know, he couldn’t. Bowie had never let on, their meeting was accidental and their relationship had progressed normally. The only thing bothering her was how to break the news to him.

Despite her resolution, Cassie was a bit off her game. She headed to the kitchen and noticed that Bowie was late, almost an hour later than he said he would be. He was busy, and she could understand that. So, she left the waffles where they were and proceeded to go about her day, working on her potions and baking a cake for supper. The mundane chores made her feel better.

After another hour, she tossed the waffles and decided to make a stir fry in case he came in for lunch. Something must have come up.

The kitchen was a dream to work in now that she could reach the counters. Everything was easily accessible. Chopping up vegetables, browning some beef, adding the spices, it wasn’t long before she had a savory concoction. Lastly, she put on rice and then sat at the table to work on her website.

Cassie lost track of time, so when Bowie came in the back door, she jumped. Seeing him, after what she’d just learned, was a little odd. Part of her paused to analyze how she felt about him and the accident; resentment, anger, suspicion, mistrust? No, she felt none of those things. All she could detect in her heart and mind was joy at his presence, interest in his well-being and an overwhelming love and need to be with him.

“Hey, you missed my waffles. Is something wrong?”

Bowie murmured under his breath, “I’m sorry, cupcake.” He kissed her briefly. “I got to worrying about something and forgot. Forgive me?”

“Sure, of course. I have lunch ready and cake.” She offered with an up-lilt in her voice.

“Sounds wonderful, let me wash up.” He disappeared.

Was something bothering him? Cassie got down their plates. Heck, knowing what she knew, her imagination might be going wild.

Bowie’s mind was a hodgepodge of emotions. Getting confirmation of his role in Cassie’s tragic past had made more of an impact on him than he realized. Walking to his desk, he opened the top drawer and slipped the newspaper clipping inside. There was no doubt he was going to have to deal with this, but right now he had a more important chore on his mind.

Rings.

In the next few days, Bowie was going to pop the question and ask Cassie to marry him.

“Bowie!”

Cassie’s voice rang through the house. A wave of longing and dread ripped through him. What if he fucked this up? Maybe he should just tell her all of this right now. It was odd, Bowie had faced a lot of dangers in his life, but this was the one time he was truly scared.

*  *  *

“Let me see your hand, Cassie-for-short.”

They were watching movies, snuggled up together on the couch, watching
The Silence of the Lambs
. She placed her hand in his and immediately clamped down on his fingers as Buffalo Bill followed Jodie Foster’s movement in the dark while he was wearing night vision goggles. As he was about to touch Jodie’s hair, Cassie jumped a bit and hid her head in Bowie’s chest.

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen this movie.” He had been making a concerted effort to improve Cassie’s cinematic repertoire. It had worried him that she had never seen
The Shining
or
It
or
3 Men and a Baby
or
The Godfather
—movies he’d always loved.

“I watch the History Channel and QVC,” she spoke into his shirt. “Stuff like this scares me when I’m by myself.”

“You’re not by yourself anymore.” He took her hand in his and started playing with a ring she wore on her right ring finger. Surely it would be the same size as her wedding ring finger. Slipping the ring off, he put it on his little finger and it came right to the first knuckle. Gotcha! Now he could measure for the jeweler.

Without thinking he slung his leg on the couch and pushed her over so she would be more on top of him. The jostle made her wince and she let out a small murmur of pain.

“God, I’m sorry, Cassie.” He immediately went still. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s okay.” She patted his stomach. “Just moved the wrong way, it doesn’t happen often.”

Still, hurting her, hurt him. “Tell me about the operation you mentioned on the way to Galveston.” Bowie pulled her hair away from her face so he could see her better.

She took her finger and drew a heart shape on his chest. “My family fought over it.”

“Why? If it’s money, that’s no object. I’d pay any amount, any time to help you, I want you to know that.”

Cassie stiffened. She didn’t want to talk about this with Bowie. Not telling him about his involvement felt like lying to her. “Money wasn’t really the issue.”

It was now. Being self-employed, she didn’t have very good health insurance.

“What was the issue?” He tipped her chin up so she would look at him.

Hell, she didn’t know what to say. But she did. “Cause it could go either way.”

“What do you mean?”

“The doctors never claimed they could make me walk perfectly again, but they could remove the bullet fragment that’s pressing on my spine. But...”

Cassie felt him tremble beneath her, so she hugged him hard.

“But what?”

“Well, one of two things could happen. Best case, I could be pain free, which would be wonderful. I could get better, walk a little maybe with braces.”

“Worst case?” Bowie prepared himself. He would never ask her to put her life on the line.

“Worst case is that I lose all sensation below that vertebrae, be truly paralyzed, no more feeling at all below the waist.”

Every word she spoke caused Bowie untold sorrow. This was all his fault. “If it means you not having pain, Cassie, how can you say no?”

“Because, I couldn’t have pleasure either. And you wouldn’t…”

“Wouldn’t what, doll?” He kissed a tear from her cheek.

“You wouldn’t want me anymore.”

He took her face in his palm, so she couldn’t look away. “I would always want you! Sex is not why I’m with you!”

Cassie’s heart swelled with love. “But it sure does make being together fun.” Trying to show him how much she wanted him, she moved her hand down to his crotch and cupped the bulge that she found there. “I don’t think I can give this up, I don’t think I can give you up.”

“There are many ways to make love, Miss Cassie. And nobody is talking about giving anybody up.” He wasn’t through with this argument but her insistent rubbing on his dick was making it hard to concentrate.

“Can we talk about it later?” she asked.

“Anything you say, baby.” Bowie eased out from under her and stood up, slipping his arms beneath her and picking her up like she was made of spun glass.

“Bowie, don’t worry about what happened earlier. I want you, all of you, I’ll let you know if I feel the first twinge of pain.” She kissed his cheek. “But please, please treat me like you would any other woman.”

Any other woman? She didn’t understand. “That’s impossible. I’ve never cared for any other woman the way I care for you.”

Carrying Cassie to the ground floor bedroom he’d had renovated until an elevator could be installed, he placed her right in the middle of the king size bed. “You are so beautiful.” Skimming her dress over her head, he grazed his mouth across her bra, the lace did very little to hide her puffy areola or the swollen distended pink of her nipple. “I can’t take my eyes off of you. You’re like a precious gift. To know I can touch you, kiss you, make love to you is incredible. What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“Maybe it was just meant to be,” she said. Maybe all of it—the accident, their chance meeting, the miracle that he could be drawn to her—maybe it was all just meant to be.

“I’m a lucky man,” he moaned as he unhooked her bra and captured both full breasts in his palms, his thumbs rubbing across her nipples. “You look so good, feel so good,” he moaned as he massaged her bare tits.

“You know what we need?” she asked as he bent to her breast and began to suckle.

He didn’t remove his mouth, just said, “Hmmm?” with her nipple still in his mouth.

Cassie kneaded her fingers through his hair. “We need one of those sex swings.”  

Bowie stopped mid suck. “What did you say?” His cock just went from hard to concrete.

“I’ve seen pictures of this swing thing, it sorta looks like a hammock with all of these ropes and stirrups but I’d love to hang there while you…”

“Fuck!” He slung off his clothes, left and right. “I’ll buy you a whole damn playground if you want it. Hell, I’ll build another wing on the house.” Bowie was urgent now, needing her with desperation unlike any he’d ever experienced. “If you want to try something new, let’s do this.”

He pulled two pillows down and stacked them up. “Lie across these, face down. It will put your little ass in the air and I can take you from behind without putting pressure on you. Okay?”

Sex swing, my God. How blessed could a man be?

Cassie let him help arrange her over the pillows. No longer did she feel any embarrassment, all she felt was love and a constant ache to be with him however she could.

“Do you want me?” he asked with a growl as he went to his knees on the bed behind her.

“God, yes,” she moaned. With one swift, sure bucking of his hips, he impaled her.

Ecstasy arced through her body like live electricity and Cassie grabbed hold of the headboard and held on tight as Bowie thrust hard, demanding, pushing, pounding. “Ohmygod, ohmygod,” she chanted as he thrust into her pussy again and again. She could hear their flesh slapping together. And when he reached beneath her to play with her clit, she felt her world burst into flames at the exact moment he exploded inside of her. Cassie felt herself spiraling out of control and she clamped down on him as hard as she could, loving the pulsing of his cock and the rush of wetness as he surged within her. The aftershocks seemed to go on and on as he stroked her back, kissed her neck and told her how precious she was.

Afterward, Cassie didn’t remember getting under the covers or Bowie cleaning her up. All she knew was that she was happy, warm, safe, contented.

*  *  *

Some days just start out bad and get worse as they continue. Those were the days when Bowie just wished he could close his eyes and wake up in his bed and start over. The first rattle out of the box, he overslept and missed a conference call with the big boss at the oil rig and his general manager. Second, somehow the pot-belly pig had gotten locked in the barn and had eaten an entire bag of corn and George had to take him to the vet while Bowie was left to mend fences with the oil folks. Worse, he missed lunch with Cassie, which put him in a stormy mood and then his phone rang. “Hello?”