Architect's Angel (Culpepper Cowboys Book 16) Read online

  She got her wish as they made their way across the room to the bed, shedding clothes as they went. Winter clothes were about the least sexy thing that a person could wear, but as their boots came off and then their jeans and socks, it was more like unwrapping a Christmas present than anything else.

  The best present of all came when they reached the bed and rolled onto it. The slide of skin against skin was amazing, better than anything Tabby could have asked for. She tilted her head back and sighed wantonly as Arch kissed his way from her neck to her breasts. They’d fooled around in high school, but this was better than anything they’d been brave enough to do back then. She intended to enjoy every minute of it.

  Except that within seconds, her body had reached a fevered pitch. It was all well and good to want to enjoy a long, slow lovemaking, but she wanted Arch inside of her even more than that. She wanted her husband to be one with her, after so many years of fighting to stay apart.

  “Arch,” she moaned, stroking her hands down his sides and caressing his backside. “I want you.”

  He made the most delicious sound of agreement and repositioned himself between her legs, bellies touching, his mouth inches from hers. “I’ve wanted you for more than fifteen years.”

  “I’m yours,” she said, swiveling her hips.

  He took up her invitation and moved so that he could plunge inside of her. Tabby let out a cry of passionate approval as he sank himself home. It was better than anything she’d ever experienced, and even better still when he started to move. She moved with him, the two of them finding a rhythm that made them both senseless with pleasure. After waiting so long, she couldn’t get enough of him, and when her orgasm burst through her, she was almost disappointed. Almost. There would be plenty more where that came from.

  Before she was finished sparkling like a Christmas star, Arch tensed, then came apart in her arms. That was as good as coming herself. She hugged him tightly with her arms and legs as he spent his passion, then sagged heavily on top of her. Even that was wonderful. They were together at last. Nothing would keep them apart now.

  Several hours and more than a little hanky-panky later, Tabby and Arch were awakened by the sound of blasts. Tabby blinked herself out of the warm, lazy sleep she and Arch had fallen into to find flashes of color outside the water tower’s porthole windows.

  “What is it?” Arch asked, sleep slurring his voice.

  It took Tabby’s tired, sated brain a second to connect the dots. “Fireworks!” She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. “It must be midnight.”

  “New Years,” Arch added, sitting up himself.

  The fireworks continued to boom and flash outside. Tabby and Arch got up, wrapping themselves in the bedspread and a throw blanket that had been on the foot of the bed. They rushed to the portholes, peering out until they found one that faced the center of town.

  “Look!” Tabby pointed out the window.

  “No way!” Arch answered.

  The five-story glass Paradise Space Flight Building was lit up with a lights display like Tabby had never seen. A combination of lasers and fixed lights danced across the side of the building like a movie screen. At the top was a glittering ball…which was already making its way down the wall.

  “We’re almost there,” Tabby said, suddenly filled with excitement.

  Sure enough, numbers began counting down on the side of the building. 10…9…8…7…

  Arch looped an arm around Tabby’s waist, drawing her closer as they watched the old year about to vanish and the new one appear.

  “6…5…4…” they counted together. “3…2…1.”

  A fury of fireworks exploded outside, lighting up the night sky, as “Happy New Year!” flashed across the side of the building.

  Arch turned Tabby to face him, drawing her into his arms for a perfect, midnight kiss. “Happy New Year, fabulous wife of mine,” he said.

  “And Happy New Year to you too, awesome husband,” she answered.

  “This is just the beginning of something amazing,” he promised her.

  She threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. She believed him completely.

  Well, that’s it for me! I hope you enjoyed Architect’s Angel, my final Culpepper Cowboys book. Kirsten Osbourne will be continuing the series for at least one more book. There’s another Culpepper baby to be born, after all, and Sammy has a story of her own!

  But if you’re dying to know more about Haskell, Wyoming, Paradise Space Flight, and people like Casey Flint, Melody Clutterbuck, and Howard Franklin Haskell IV, you’re going to love my new series, Nerds of Paradise! In fact, the first book in the series, Opposites Attract—which tells the story of Casey Flint as she tries to save her family’s historic ranch, and Scott Martin, the new employee at Paradise Space Flight with dreams of building an entirely off-grid dream house—is available for pre-order at the special introductory price of 99 cents (for a very limited time only) now! Click here to pre-order!

  And if you’d like to learn more about the historic town of Haskell, how it was founded, and the ancestors of many of the characters in the Nerds of Paradise series, check out The Brides of Paradise Ranch, beginning with His Perfect Bride!

  Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.

  About the Author

  I hope you have enjoyed Architect’s Angel. If you’d like to be the first to learn about when new books in the series come out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it! For a complete list of works by Merry Farmer with links, please visit http://wp.me/P5ttjb-14F.

  Merry Farmer is an award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn't have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have topped the Amazon and iBooks charts and have been named finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.

  Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.

  @MerryFarmer20

  merryfarmerauthor

  merryfarmer.net

  [email protected]

  Acknowledgments

  Writing a series in tandem with another writer can be a huge challenge, but Kirsten Osbourne and I were born for it. The two of us get up to all sorts of shenanigans on paper and on those rare occasions when we can get together in real life. But I owe a huge debt of gratitude to her for coming up with this crazy idea. We’ve had so much fun checking in with each other and giggling over the hijinks these characters have gotten into! Thanks also to my excellent beta-readers Julie Tague, and Jolene Stewart. And a big, big thanks to my editors, Cissie Patterson and Carly Cole, for doing an outstanding job, as always, and for leaving hilarious comments throughout the manuscript.

  And a special thank you to the Pioneer Hearts group! Do you love Western Historical Romance? Wanna come play with us? Become a member at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pioneerhearts/

  Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.