Page 12 of The Rancher’s Wedding Betrayal (Billionaires of Evergreen, Texas #17)
YOUR NOSIEST SOCIETY columnist is back! Did you miss me, my gossippy little lambs?
I do so hope you did because boy, do I have the freshest cup of tea to serve on this fine Saturday morning...
Well, maybe it's not so fine if you're one of the countless women in San Antonio who harbored ill-advised hopes of nabbing billionaire rancher Hunter Ferguson (and if you are, my deepest condolences).
I’m sorry ladies, but you have to remember a very important rule: home is where the heart is, and in his case, the heart was really close to home (you know what they say about keeping your loved ones within arm’s reach! *wink wink*)
Yes, our favorite silver-eyed rancher is officially marrying none other than his former stepsister Evelline Ramirez today.
And get this—she might become his stepsister again while also being his bride since their parents (June Ramirez and Boris Ferguson) have plans to remarry as well!
These rich people and their relationship carousels, I swear. Marry, don’t marry, then marry again. Couple, un-couple, re-couple. It’s enough to make this gossip columnist’s head spin!
But that’s not the only juicy tidbit about this power couple. Evelline Ramirez may sound familiar because her name was splashed across headlines a couple of months ago in that high-profile corporate espionage case.
I know it sounds sexy when we say it like that, but once you receive documents titled The People of Texas vs. Your Name Here? Yeah, not so sexy anymore, right?
And yes, that’s exactly what happened with our bride-to-be, but guess what? Billionaire former-stepbrother-turned-husband-to-be bought her old company, Thompson & Wright, de-classified everything, sicced the city’s top auditors on the books, and voilà.
Hidden truth revealed, and our former-stepsister-turned-wife-to-be’s name is now crystal clear. It’s now People ot Texas vs her former bosses (karma bites hard, ouch!).
And speaking of even more karma...
I’m sure we’re all familiar with dear Janelle Kemp, Hunter’s once-beloved cousin. Sadly, this one leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth, and that is saying a lot, for someone like moi.
But seriously, it’s just so not cool when blood turns against blood, you know?
While Ms. Kemp has been made to sign an NDA tighter than this columnist’s favorite skinny jeans, according to our most trusted sources (and you know my sources are impeccable, darlings), she tried to get rid of dear Evelline not once but TWICE so she could remain the sole heir of her cousin’s ten-digit fortune.
Yeah, that backfired, obvs.
She’s now unofficially persona non grata in San Antonio’s elite circles, and about to face a case of blackmail from a certain Matthew Braxton, who apparently has some rather.
.. compromising videos she used to manipulate him.
More deets about this next time, but my little birdies tell me Matt has found redemption and employment at a prestigious ranch in Montana, safely away from all the Ferguson family drama.
Until our next tea-spilling sesh, little lambs! In the meantime, yours truly shall be lurking in the shadows of the wedding reception, champagne in hand, hunting for more delicious gossip to serve piping hot!
XOXO,
Ms. Tea for Tat
THE ANTIQUE GRANDFATHER clock in the hallway chimed midnight as her husband pushed open their bedroom door, Eve still cradled in his arms.
Husband.
How surreal it still sounded to her ears, even after everything.
Hunter set her down gently, his hands lingering at her waist.
“Having second thoughts, Mrs. Ferguson?”
“No.” It embarrassed Eve to hear herself sound so shy and breathless. "N-No second thoughts at all." But that was just how it was. She loved him that much, and he...
He loved her just as much, with the way her husband was now looking at her like she was the most precious thing.
Her breath caught as he turned her slowly around, and his fingers found the row of tiny pearl buttons running down her spine. “Nervous, my love?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Eve was torn between rolling her eyes and choking out a laugh. How so very like Hunter. Did she really think this part of him would change?
Butterflies fluttered their wings inside of her stomach as she felt his knuckles brushing against her bare skin.
Each undone button felt like a promise fulfilled, eight years in the making, and when the last of it finally yielded, and she felt the gown fall gently from her body before pooling around her feet. ..
"Turn around, wife."
The possessiveness of his tone had Eve gulping before obeying her command, and oh, the way he was staring at her now...
She was down to a lace corset and delicate thigh-high stockings, and her heart slammed against her chest as he took a step forward.
"What do you want me to be tonight?"
Eve's eyes widened at the question.
"Gentle...or rough?"
Oh, how so like of him to ask this, too!
He knew it would kill her, to be given this kind of choice—
"R-Rough."
—and still end up making the wrong one.
"I can't hear you, Mrs. Ferguson."
Yeargh.
"Gentle or rough?"
She glared at him. "You alrea— ah!"
He had ripped her corset from her body in one swift motion, and she should have seen it coming! She should have known— ah!
The delicate triangle of lace covering her womanhood was now gone, and in a blink of an eye, she was up against the wall, her husband guilding her legs around her waist while her hands instinctively held on to the massive breadth of his shoulders.
"Y-You—"
His lips curved in a smirk as her gaze collided with his, and oh, how she wanted to kiss and slap it off at the same time.
"Love me," Hunter finished for her. "That's what you wanted to say, didn't you?"
Unbelievable!
"No," she couldn't help snarling down at him. "What I really wanted to saaaaay—"
Her words ended in a moan, with Hunter having already bent down to take one nipple into his mouth, and oh, the way he was suckling on it so, so very hard...
Her nails scraped his back, another moan spilling past her lips as he began grinding his hardness against her already swollen folds.
He was still fully clothed, she was naked, and she...she didn't even care.
How...how could he make her feel so out of control like this?
She felt him reach down between their bodies, and her heart felt as if it was about to burst out of her chest. She felt his erection spring free, and her head fell back against the wall. Anytime now, anytime, any... aaaaaah .
It was so...so like him to enter her without warning, her husband claiming her virginity in one smooth forceful thrust that had her blindly reaching for his hair.
"Evelline..."
It was just her name that he had gritted out. Just her name, and yet it seemed to encompass a thousand words in three syllables.
I love you.
I want you.
I adore you.
"You're driving me crazy," her husband rasped out as he began to move. "You feel so good..."
She wished she could tell him it was the same for her.
But she could barely think as it was, much less answer.
She could only tighten her grip on his hair, with how his every thrust reached deeper and deeper into her.
Oh, please.
Please, oh please.
She didn't even know when her silent pleas had turned into actual words.
Didn't know when she had started begging him for real.
"P-Please d-don't stop..."
Because his every thrust was driving her higher and higher.
Her body tightening more and more.
Until finally, oh finally...
"Hunter!"
All she could do was sob his name out as she shattered around him, and a moment later, her husband had followed her over the edge, his large, powerful body shuddering against her as he slammed into her again and again, pouring everything inside of her until she was beyond full, and his seed began trickling down her thighs.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she slowly resurfaced. But even with her eyes closed, she knew they were already in bed, and she could feel her husband gazing down at her, his fingers gently stroking her hair.
"I love you, Evelline Ferguson. I don't know why God chose you for me. But I'll never stop thanking Him. And I'll never stop loving you."
The End