Chapter 42

Zach stopped and looked into her eyes, his gaze holding hers. "But after yesterday and the last few hours, I know that feeling's still there for both of us. You didn't say it but I feel like you still love me too. So here's my idea." His grip on her hand tightened. "Marry me, Maddie. Marry me and we'll run the ranch together. The money I was using to buy the place can go toward adding more stock or whatever else we decide needs doing around here." He lifted her hand to his lips, turned it over and kissed her palm. "What do you say?"
"M-Marry you?" She was stunned.
During the long, erotic hours of the previous night she had wanted this so badly but by morning uncertainty had crept in. Now here it was, the thing she'd hardly dared hope for.
"Maddie?" Zach's voice had a slight tremor of uncertainty. "I love you, Maddie Mae. You fill my heart. I'll never forgive myself for hurting you but if you marry me I promise to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. So will you? Be my wife?"
Laughter bubbled up from inside her and she launched herself into Zach's lap, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Yes, I'll marry you. Yes, yes, yes. I love you, Zachary Brennan. Just try to get away now."
Relief washed over Zach's face and his mouth sought Maddie's. This kiss quickly turned passionate and Zach lifted Maddie and set her gently away from him.
"We're not done yet."
He reached over to his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box, opening it to reveal an antique engagement ring in an old-fashioned setting. It gleamed and sparkled as it caught the light from the fire.
Maddie put her hand to her mouth. "Ohmigod, Zach. It's beautiful. It's absolutely gorgeous."
He took her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. "You can have a brand new one if you want but this was my mother's and before her my grandmother's. It would really make me proud for you to wear it."
Maddie looked at the ring but she could hardly see for the tears filling her eyes.
"Oh, Zach. Of course I'll wear it. Why would I want another one when this one is so special?"
Zach pulled her back into his arms, kissing her again with a desperation born of ten years of need. "I'll never let you go again, Maddie. I love you so much."
He held her on his lap, rocking her and smoothing her hair, her skin, trailing kisses over her face, until he suddenly lifted his head.
"Hey, Maddie. Look."
"What? What is it?"
"There." He turned her to face the big picture window. "Look outside. The ice is melting and it's snowing."
"Ohmigod, it is." She jumped up, shrieking in excitement and ran to the window. "Snow. Real snow. Zach, we almost never have snow in the Hill Country. When we do it doesn't last. But look at it. It's actually piling up in drifts. You know, I've had the strangest feeling since yesterday that some unseen hand was controlling what was happening to us. Did you feel it too?"
He kissed her, just a brief touch of lips. "It's magic, Maddie. We've been touched by magic. That's what I feel."
"Magic? Oh, yes. Definitely. Our whole lives will be touched by whatever magic has taken hold of us." She turned to him with an impish grin. "Can we go out and play in the snow? Oh, please?"
He laughed with her. "Let's make sure the ice beneath it has melted enough before we do. We can check it out later in the morning."
"But can we just go out in it now and feel it? Please, please, please?"
He couldn't stop chuckling at her excitement. "Okay. But just for a minute."
He lifted her in his arms, opened the front door and carried her out to the porch.
"It's an omen," she told him, reaching out to catch the flakes blowing onto the porch. "A good omen. A sign for us for the future."
"Whatever you say, darlin'. But let's get back inside before we freeze to death."
"I'll go finish making that coffee," Maddie told him.
"After," he said.
She frowned. "After what?"
"After we seal the deal, of course."
He had them both stripped and naked in a matter of seconds and lying on the big thick cushions, the firelight warming their bodies. Despite his orgasm in the shower, Zach's cock was thick and hard and ready again. When he touched his fingers to Maddie's cunt, he found her slick and wet.
"I need to finish off what we started in the shower," he grinned.
They were both too aroused for foreplay. Zach managed to remember a condom, Then he spread her legs wide and slid into her waiting pussy like two halves fitting together as a whole.
"Look at me," he whispered as his hips began to roll and thrust.
In only seconds they were both riding the crest, then tumbling over together, bodies shuddering together, heartbeats crashing, pulses racing.
"I love you, Maddie," he cried, as his body convulsed and his cock pulsed inside her.
"I love you, Zach." Her inner muscles clenched around him and she bathed him in her liquid heat.
Afterwards they lay in each other's arms, sweat-slicked and panting, touching each other with gentle caresses.
At last Zach rolled to the side. "Okay, now I need that coffee, woman. And I'd better check the hands again."
"I wish I'd hear from my sisters again." Maddie pulled on her sweats and headed for the kitchen. "It makes me nervous not being in contact with them."
"Get your cell phone and try them," Zach told her. "Even if the land lines are down you might get a signal from the cell tower."
It took three or four tries and Maddie finally had to go out on the porch to make the calls but she managed to reach both Jenna and Liza. When she came back into the house she was grinning from ear to ear.
Zach had filled two coffee mugs and he handed done to her. "Good news, I take it."
Maddie nodded. "It seems they've managed to work out problems from the last ten years too. And neither of them will be home until tomorrow."
"That's Christmas Eve," Zach reminded her. "Maddie, I don't even have a present for you."
She held out her left hand, admiring the sparkle of the ring. "I've got the only presents I want. This ring and you."
"Did you tell your sisters about us."
She nodded. "I wanted to wait until they got home but I couldn't hold back. They're very excited for us. And they indicated they may have some news of their own."
"Then how about hanging up the rest of the decorations and digging in the freezer to see what we can come up with for a special dinner? I'll even help cook."
Maddie set her mug down and threw her arms around him. "I love you, Zachary Brennan. And I'll love you for the rest of my life."


End of Part Two: A Touch of Magic