Anything for a Cowboy

Aeryn went very still, and the breath whooshed from her lungs. She started shaking, and couldn't stop.

"You can't be! Men don't fall in love with women like me."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I'm too loud, too independent, too snarky, too nerdy, too crazy in bed. I'm good for a few rounds in the sack, but no one wants a woman like me long term."

It took her a second to orient herself when he violently spun her around.

"Who the hell told you that? I'll kill 'em!"

Angry, he was angry.

"It doesn't matter." she said at last.

"It does." he said stubbornly. "Because whatever it is that you've been through is ruining my chances."

"Of what?!"

Without breaking his hold on the rope, Wyatt, to her utter shock, dropped to one knee.

He took one of her hands in his, and with the other, he swiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Does this answer your question?"

"Yeah." she replied. "It does."

"Look in my eyes, Aeryn, and ask yourself. Would I be on my knees right now if I didn't love you?"

"No..." she said shakily. "You wouldn't."

He turned her hand over in his, as he had that first night, and placed a kiss in the center of her palm.

"Aeryn Salma, will you marry me?"

Aeryn couldn't help sobbing now, even as he closed her fingers around his kiss.

"Yes, you arrogant son of a bitch!" she said, freeing her arms from the rope. Dropping to her knees, she threw her arms around him, knocking him back onto the porch.

She pressed her lips against his, and let all she felt flow into the kiss.

"Thank God!" he said at last, and then he grinned wickedly. Aeryn knew that look, and it made her nipples tighten beneath her tank top. She could only laugh when he got to his feet and hefted her over his shoulder.

"Let's celebrate!" he said jovially.

"Wait a minute!" she said, beating at his back. "What about my bags?"

"Later, if I'm gonna be your husband, I got certain rights. You ran away, Aeryn, and now you gotta pay."

Aeryn didn't know if it was the blood rushing to her head or sheer happiness, but she laughed her ass off all the way to the bedroom.

A month later, at the Destry ranch, Wyatt and Aeryn tied the knot amidst the whoops of cowboys and the hazing of relatives.

They danced, and sang, and wolfed down South Western and Asian foods. Wyatt promised Aeryn's parents' a ton of grandkids, and Aeryn promised Wyatt's mom she'd keep her crazy son in line. Irene cried, and poor Robby caught the bouquet in which Aeryn had deliberately hid a baseball, making it easier to aim.

At the end of the night, when Wyatt and Aeryn were wiped out from dancing, they waved to the crowd, mounted Boxer, and rode off into the sunset.

The End