One of my favorite CD’s is Duets, in which Emmy Lou Harris sings–what else– duets with a variety of male vocalists. And of all the songs, a Johnny Rodriguez hit, We Believe in Happy Endings, caught my ear the most. When I was writing Downstroke, about a country rock star. I listened to this all the time and realized it had its own story to tell. So here, for you, the story of Haley and Tyler, who needed to find their own Happy Ending.
Want to watch Johnny R sing the song? Here’s the link.
Rated - Adult - Appropriate for 18 years and older only.
Genre - Contemporary
Heat Level - Sensual
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We Believe in Happy Endings
Neither of them could even remember how the argument started. One minute they’d been lying in bed, naked, breathing erratically after an orgasm that had shaken them both, the next they’d begun discussing their fantasies and after that it all went to hell.
Haley wrapped Tyler’s ratty old bathrobe more tightly around her, nestled deeper into the rocking chair on the back porch, and sipped from the steaming cup of coffee she’d just poured, trying to make sense of things. The night was warm for early spring just a tiny nip in the air, and the stars hung like crystal diamonds in the sky. The soft breeze carried the sweet smell of fresh cut hay mingled with the familiar scent of cattle and horses.
This and early morning were the two times of day she loved best. She always had such a feeling of peace, looking at what she and Tyler accomplished. Everyone thought they were crazy to give up their jobs in the city and sink every dime they had into a broken down ranch. But five years later they had a successful operation to show for it. The Silver Spur had developed a good reputation for producing quality goods.
And now, just when they were about to take the next step in their lives, this argument had erupted. The words they’d thrown at each other were so raw, so hurtful, she couldn’t begin to know how they’d get past them. She was only glad that Jody and Tucker were spending the night at her sister’s. Otherwise the shouting would have really upset them. She and Tyler always made it a point never to show anger with each other in front of the kids. That was for the privacy of their bedroom.
And always, up until now, the anger was quick and short-lived, burning out like a stubby fuse and soothed with sweet words and hot sex. Tonight they’d had the hot sex first and then the burning fuse, so now what?
She took another sip of the rich, strong brew and tried to remember all the bits and pieces of their conversation. They were lying side by side, a little tipsy on bourbon and Coke, savoring a night at home without the kids. They didn’t have to be quiet or swallow the screams the bubbled up when they carried each other to climax.
Then Tyler lifted the hand he was holding, brought it to his lips and kissed it, and said. “Do you ever have fantasies you never tell me about, darlin’?”
Fantasies? Holy hell. Of course she did. Even after eight years of marriage to a man who rocked her world she still had secret fantasies. Didn’t every woman?
Not that Tyler wasn’t inventive and accommodating sexually. Still…
But before she could try to fish one out of her mind he said, “I do. Lots of them.”
Then she didn’t know whether to be excited or hurt. Wasn’t she enough for him? Had he been harboring these secret thoughts for a long time? Damn! Why was she suddenly feeling so insecure? Was it because she’d expected the same thing from Tyler if she told him about the erotic rolling around in the hiding places in her head?
“So…what are you thinking? Two women instead of one?”
The words were out before she could shut her mouth.
Tyler sat up abruptly and looked at her with a totally shocked expression on his face.
“Where the hell did that come from?”
She shrugged, pulling the sheet up over her breasts. “I don’t know. Isn't that what men usually mean when they say they want something new and different?”
“Not this man, Haley. And I’d like to think you know that.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Shit. I can’t even believe you said that.”
“Okay, okay.” She scooted slightly away from him. “So what did you have in mind?”
“Well,” he began, “I kind of thought I’d like to try some of the kinky things I’ve heard about. Maybe tying you to the bed or getting some handcuffs.” He grinned. “Even a little spanking on that sweet ass of yours.”
“Things you've heard? And just where have you heard them?”
“Oh, I was just having a beer with Pete the other night and he was telling me–“
“Pete?” She leaped out of bed, dragging the sheet with her. “you discussed our sex life with Pete?”
“Haley, wait.” He leaped out of bed, realized he was naked and dug in a drawer for a pair of boxers. “Honey, it wasn’t like that at all.”
“Oh, no?” She glared at him. “Exactly what was it like? Two buddies knocking back a few beers and telling each other dirty stories about their wives?”
“Haley. Honey.” He moved toward her but she back away.
“Don’t you even come near me. Don’t touch me. Have you been feeding people all our intimate details all this time?”
“No, damn it.” He stopped and closed his hands into fists. “I haven’t.”
She looked at his hands. “You planning to hit me, Ty? Is that what’s next?”
It had just deteriorated from there. Words flew, Hurtful, damaging words that far exceeded the original topic. Finally Tyler yanked on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, kicked his feet into his boots and stormed out of the house. As soon as she heard the front door slam and the engine turn over in his truck she dropped the sheet and opened the closet door. She meant to get the robe the kids–with Ty’s help–had given her for her birthday but somehow it was his old robe that ended up in her hands and wrapped around her body.
Now she lifted the lapel and rubbed it against her face then buried her nose in his familiar scent. It flowed through her body, soothing her jangled nerves. Somehow centering her. This was Tyler, she reminded herself. The love of her life. The man she’d sworn to be with forever. The man she trusted more than an other human being.
She took another sip of coffee and thought about what had set her off. Was it what he wanted to do or the fact he’d been discussing their sex life with Pete? If it was the latter she needed to remind herself that she and her best friend, Ellie, often discussed fantasies they had. Things they were too timid to share with their husbands no matter how good the relationship. She just hadn’t ever thought about men doing the same thing.
So maybe he had his own fantasies that he was afraid to mention to her. Just like she was.
Hmmm.
Or was it what he actually wanted to do? Was that what had made her so mad? And why had it? It was no more than some of the things she and Ellie had discussed and even looked up on the Internet. They’d discovered that others enjoyed this in a whole spectrum of degrees. For some bondage was an integral part of their relationship while for others they took the parts that appealed to them as a way to spice up their sex lives.
Truth be told, she pictures they’d seen and postings they’d read had set her mind to whirling. Given time she night even have brought it up to Tyler. Asked him what he thought.
So why had she flown off the handle the way she had earlier? It seemed as if another person had invaded her body and was spewing words out of her mouth. Not that Tyler hadn’t done the same thing. The things he’d said had been just as bad. Just as hurtful. How would they ever get past this mess?
Setting her cup down on the little table beside her she made her way toward the barn, her old flip flops slapping on the gravel. Whenever she felt disturbed about anything she always headed for the horses. Somehow hanging out with her mare, Twilight, always seemed to calm her.
The mare was standing in her stall and trotted over when Haley leaned on the stall door.
“So what do you think, girl?” She rubbed Twilight’s nose. “Think Tyler and I can find our way out of this?”
In the distance she heard the sound of his truck pulling into the parking area next to house. Heard the slamming of the cab door. Where had he gone? What would he do now?
She turned away from the stall and sat down on a short bench against the wall. Her shoulder brushed something in the dark. When she reached over she realized it was a piece of coiled rope hanging on a nail. Without even thinking about it she lifted it off, tossed it so it would unravel and wound one end around her wrist, tying it off. The roughness of the rope against her soft skin sent prickles through her that were not unpleasant.
Hmmm. Interesting.
She wondered how she’d feel if both of her wrists were bound? If she was helpless before Tyler? His to do with as he wished?
The thought kicked up her pulse and set up a throbbing between her legs. She felt the wetness on the inside of her thighs, evidence of her instant arousal.
Well!
“Figuring on getting started on this all by yourself?”
The deep timbre of Tyler’s voice startled her so much she dropped the rope. She was glad it was dark in the barn so her embarrassment wouldn’t be evident.
“Um, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I was trying to be quiet. I knew you’d come out here. You always run to Twilight when you’re upset.”
“I didn’t know where you’d gone. Or if you were coming back.”
“I didn’t get very far before I realized how stupid I was acting. And I’ll always come back to you, darlin’.”
Now he was standing in front of her, his big body outlined by the moonlight shining in through the wide opening door to the barn. She wished she could see his face. She wished he’d reach out and touch her. She wished she could peel her tongue off the roof of her mouth and say something.
“Haley?” As it always did his voice sent shivers through her.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry, darlin’. For everything.”
“I’m sorry, too.” The words came out in a rush. I said terrible things to you. Things I didn’t mean.”
He put his hands beneath her elbows and lifted her from the bench. “I don’t even know what came over me.”
She gave a nervous giggle. “Me, either. It was like someone else took over my body.”
He slid his hands up to cup her face. “I love you, Haley. You’re everything to me.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered, just as his mouth came down on hers.
It wasn’t a tentative kiss. Far from it. Tyler was re-staking his claim, letting her know better than words that she was his in all things and in all ways.
She dropped her hands from the robe, letting it fall open, as shed welcomed his tongue into her mouth and let her own small one glide over it. Just the taste of him inflamed her senses and she pressed her body against his. Even through the fabric of his jeans she could feel the thickness of his heavy erection.
His tongue was still dancing around the inside of her mouth when she felt something tugging on her wrist and realized he’d grabbed the rope and was pulling it behind her.
“What–?”
“Shh,” he soothed. “I saw you testing the feel of this around your wrist. Curiosity’s good, darlin’. How about seeing how it feels with both wrists bound up?”
Her heart rate kicked up at least twenty degrees and more liquid trickled from her sex. Her breasts felt swollen and tender. Impulsively she bit Tyler’s bottom lip.
He chuckled, a low, sexy sound. “That arouse you, Haley? When I first thought about it I figured it would. You’re a little wildcat, sugar, who I believe has an inner desire to be tamed. Right?”
“Only by you, Tyler,” she breathed.
“Then let’s see what happens, Okay?”
She nodded wordlessly. She could still barely see him in the dark and somehow that made it all seem more erotic.
In what seemed like seconds he had both hands bound behind her back, the robe gaping open, her body exposed to him. She heard his indrawn breath as he ran his hands lightly over the dips and swells of her body, pausing to tweak her nipples and slide his fingers into the wet heat of her sex.
“Spread your legs, darlin’.” His voice had a commanding tone to it now.
She widened her stance as best she could and still keep her balance.
Tyler bent his head to take first one nipple in his mouth then the other sucking them until they were swollen and taut.
“I think I probably owe you a good spanking for misbehaving earlier,” he told her in a hoarse voice, “but that can wait until next to me. Right now the sight of you with your hands tied up and my old robe hanging open has me so hot I’ve got to be inside you or explode.”
She sensed as much as saw his movements as he stripped off his clothes. His cock was fully erect and swollen with need. Lifting her with his hands at her waist he slowly lowered her onto his shaft.
“Legs wide, Haley, and wrapped around my waist. Now.”
She loved the tone of command in his voice. It gave a whole new dimension to their intimacy and aroused her more than she’d have thought possible.
She tightened her legs around him and sank fully onto his erection, taking him all the way inside her. A sigh of satisfaction whispered from her lips. Somehow not being able top touch him, to be completely at his mercy, intensified every sensation racing through her.
He shifted so he could back her against the wall, moving slowly so he was still held tightly inside her. Gripping her hard so she wouldn’t fall he pumped into her, his mouth seeking hers, his tongue licking her lips before plunging inside.
“Ohhh,” she whimpered as he thrust harder and deeper.
The climax when it broke over them was so intense she wondered if she might shatter. She could feel Tyler’s heart pounding against her, heard the ragged edge of his breath. Felt his arms tight around her holding her in place.
Finally, when the aftershocks subsided, he kissed her again then helped her lower her legs to the floor before unfastening the rope.
“I love you,” he repeated, his hands again cupping her cheeks. “Let’s never fight again.”
“Everything between us will always be great. I promise.”
She nipped his chin. “Maybe you still ought to give me that spanking,” she teased. “Because I was such a bad girl.”
“And then we’ll make love again,” he murmured. “Because I believe in happy endings.”
“Me, too,” she told him, and folded herself into his arms. “Always.”
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Desiree Holt’s writing is flavored with the rich experiences of her life, including a long stretch in the music business representing every kind of artist from country singer to heavy metal rock bands. For several years she also ran her own public relations agency handling any client that interested her, many of whom might recognize themselves in the pages of her stories. She is twice a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award, a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio as well as twice a CAPA Award for best BDSM book of the year, winner of two Holt Medallion Awards of Merit, and is published by five different houses. Romance Junkies said of her work: “Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last.”
You can find her at www.desireeholt.com and www.desireeholttellsall.com
