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  “Yes, love?” he breathed intimately, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She instantly felt her traitorous body responding while her mind shouted silently to stop!. Her body went up in flames as his hands began to explore.

  “You lied to me,” she breathed, arching into his touch. She wanted to be mad, but the sensation of his skin on hers was too much.

  “Never, sweetheart. You touched me first.”

  “You were coughing or choking!”

  “I might have been pretending just a bit,” he admitted tenderly, pushing her hair back from her forehead. “I’d do just about anything to get you to touch me… just so I could do the same to you.”

  “You sneaky thing,” she chuckled.

  “Absolutely,” he agreed. “I would do anything to be in your arms, loving you.”

  His hands burned across her body, making it feel like it was coming alive. The sense of peace earlier paled in sensation of what she felt now. This was heaven. The pleasure, the heat, the sense of completion and oneness when he claimed her, was beyond any imagining.

  “I want you to be mine forever,” he breathed, capturing her cries of pleasure that were dragged from her body at his touch. “My friend, my love, my perfect little bride. You came into my life and I can’t imagine waking up another day without you.”

  Epilogue

  Texas 1905

  “Listen, old man, get away from that thing!” Colleen shouted to Daniel as he fidgeted with her new sweeper. She admired his stubborn expression and knew that he was itching to get his way. Gone was the thick, black, wavy hair that she remembered running her fingers through. It had been replaced over the years by salt and pepper strands of gray. His tan face that had once crinkled at the corners of his eyes, was now worn and haggard. They had been married forever and a day it seemed, and she had not regretted a moment. He was always good to her, even now as he splurged and bought her a carpet sweeper. He didn’t want her beating the rugs outside anymore since she fell and bruised herself badly.

  “You are no spring chick anymore either,” he grumbled with a grin and proceeded to fumble with the wheels on the side. She knew that smile, he was as fascinated with the modern machinery as she was. “Why don’t you sit down and read the paper while I try it?”

  “How about you sit down, my little bride, and let me finish putting it together?” he admonished. “I’m not that old you know!”

  “Vain, silly man,” she clucked and walked away. They had stayed in the house and renovated it over the years. He had added a bathroom as well as several rooms. Their family had grown quite significantly, from the two of them to a family of seven. Maria and Joel’s house was just over the rise. Though Joel had passed away last year, Maria still made the walk daily between the houses for exercise. In fact, she was expected any time now.

  Crackling open the newspaper with a flourish, she sat down in the rocker that Daniel had made her with the birth of their first son, Daniel Jr. The next son was named Jamie, named after her brother. Then came Sarah, after her sister, Grayson, Joel (of course), and the twin girls, Hope and Faith. The chair was well worn, as was her body. She had been blessed to live to a ripe age of eighty-nine and, according to Daniel, She was still as fiery as ever.

  “Listen to this, Daniel!” she yelled in surprise.

  “You all right?”

  “Oh yes, but you will never believe this! Here, listen! The United States Court of Claims has ruled in favor of the Cherokee Tribe’s claim against the United States. Each Tribe’s eligible individuals and families are to contact the Department of the Interior, a Mr. Miller, for any distribution of funds, if applicable.”

  “So, they won the case?”

  “Yes!”

  “Will you file?”

  “No. I was blessed to live with the People, but I am not of them. I think Maria should, though. She is due her fair share.”

  Just then, the sweeper roared to life. Daniel proudly scooted it across the room in a taunting fashion towards her. He even had the nerve to stick out his tongue, causing her to giggle. There had been so many moments together, so many memories. He held her while she cried over the rolls posted in the newspaper, showing that her family had actually made it to Oklahoma. They had shared many laughs over the years, through good times and bad.

  “I still love you, you know that?”

  “I don’t know how sometimes,” he grinned and turned the vacuum off. “You impressed with your new toy?”

  “Ha! It’s a tool, you dunderhead. If you only understood women! Eighty-nine years old and still learning…” she trailed off as he pulled her from the rocker and spanked her bottom through her dress.

  “You’ve got a foul mouth on you woman, you know that? I’ll show you what I have learned about women in the last Sixty-six years,” he leered and winked at her. Colleen laughed aloud as he raced behind her to the bedroom they had shared for so long. As she removed her dress, the years faded away. Here was her handsome lieutenant and she a young woman in a buckskin dress, gazing at him lovingly.

  “I adore you.”

  “And I you,” he said tenderly, taking her wrinkled hands in his. “You are still my perfect bride.”

  “Always and forever.”

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you for taking the time to read A Perfect Bride. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Doesn’t have to be much, just a simple rating and a few kind words work wonders <3 Your thoughts, opinions and feedback are much appreciated.

  Sincerely,

  Ginny

  About the Author

  Ginny Sterling is a Texas transplant living in Kentucky. She spends her free time (Ha!) writing, quilting, and spending time with her husband and two children. Ginny can be reached on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or via email at [email protected]

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  A Perfect Bride, Copyright © 2018 by Ginny Sterling

  These books are works of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of these books may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without express written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Thank you for supporting the author’s rights.

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