by Levine, Nina
“You would hate it if I was the kind of woman who did that.”
“Not when I’m trying to get my dick sucked, I wouldn’t.”
She bit her lip, smiling at me. Hooking a leg over mine, she ground herself against me. “I’m all about sucking dick, but sometimes a girl just needs that dick inside her. That’s what I’m feeling tonight. You think you can make that happen?”
“Jesus,” I rasped and thrust inside her. “I’m a man of many talents, but saying no to you is not one of them.”
She fought my grip on her hands, and when I let them go she put her arms around me, hands to my back, nails all but fucking piercing my skin. Both her legs wrapped around my body as she angled herself to allow me to go deeper. “God, yes!” she cried out, closing her eyes and taking every hard thrust of my cock.
I didn’t go easy on her. By the time I’d fucked our need out of us, Birdie was a hot, panting mess, screaming for release, completely worn out. I had her arms flat to the bed, and her legs bent up and back, gripped tightly in my hands while I pounded into her with unrelenting force.
I came hard, buried so fucking far inside her and feeling the kind of pleasure only Birdie could give, that I struggled to let her go. When I had her like this, I never wanted to let go.
“I’m glad your superpower isn’t saying no to me,” she said, her voice a low, sexy murmur.
I moved off her to lie on the bed. Repositioning us so she was pulled in close, resting her head on my chest, I said, “I need to work on it. One of these days, you’re gonna suck my dick when I demand it.”
Her body shook gently with laughter and she lifted her face to look at me. “You do know it’s not my superpower either, right? I mean, look at us; you came for me and I surrendered. I couldn’t say no to you if I tried.”
“Trust me, Angel, you say no plenty.”
“There are some things I can’t or wouldn’t say no to,” she said, her voice teasing, her eyes sparkling with the kind of mischief I was drawn to.
I rolled, slanting my body so it was half over hers. Brushing my lips over hers, I demanded, “What things?”
Threading her fingers in my hair, she laid a sexy smile on me. “Things I’m hoping you’ll ask soon. Things that come with a diamond ring.”
I stared down at her as this moment settled between us. It wasn’t how I’d planned for it to happen, but that didn’t matter. Not when Birdie was looking up at me with the kind of love that reached deep into my soul and promised eternity to me.
Running my finger over her lips, I said, “What if there’s no diamond ring?”
Her smile stayed fixed to her lips. “A ruby will do. Or an emerald. I’m not fussy.”
“You fucking are.”
“Am not.”
“Baby, you’re one of the fussiest women I know.”
Her smile turned to a pout. “Fine. I’ll accept a sapphire, but that’s my last offer.”
I chuckled. “How soon are we talking here?”
“For you to ask me?”
“Yeah.”
“Well honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t forced it upon me already.”
“You ever think maybe I’m giving you some time here?”
“Come on, Winter, we both know you’re not a man who’s about taking his time. Why are you making me wait so long?”
A grin slowly spread across my face and I dipped my lips to hers again. Enjoying the fuck out of this kiss, I made it last. And when I finally let her lips go, I said, “I think I like making you wait for shit. For once, I’m going to take my sweet time with you.”
Hands to my chest, she said, “You’re being serious, aren’t you?”
“Why the rush, Birdie? We’ve got the rest of our lives to make this happen.”
Her features turned serious as she grasped my face. “We do, but I can’t go another day without your ring on my finger; without the world knowing you’re mine and only mine; without knowing our hearts will be tied together forever. I love you so damn much that it physically hurts, and I want to be your wife in a way I’ve never wanted anything.”
I took all that in and then I moved off the bed and went to the dresser. For once, I’d planned on giving her time and space to wrap her head around us being back together. I hadn’t wanted to rush her, but fuck, it turned out she wanted to be rushed. Pulling the dresser drawer open, I retrieved the blue box I’d placed there a long time ago. When I stood in front of her a moment later, I pulled her to a sitting position on the edge of the bed. With her eyes locked firmly on mine, I knelt in front of her. “This wasn’t how I planned this, but as we’ve established, I can’t say no to you.” I opened the box to reveal the diamond ring I’d never had the chance to give her years ago. The surprise and happiness in her eyes hit me everywhere. “Just so you’re aware, as far as I’m concerned, our hearts are already tied together forever; I don’t need this ring to prove that. And if the world doesn’t already know I’m yours, I’m doing something fucking wrong.” I paused as I took her hand. “Marry me, Angel.”
Before I knew it, she’d moved to take hold of my face and kiss me, her arms and legs wrapping around me. “Yes, yes, yes!”
She latched onto me so damn tightly and with such enthusiasm, I ended up falling backwards to the floor, taking her with me. Birdie barely acknowledged it, continuing to kiss the hell out of me while showering me with yeses.
When we finally came up for air, I pushed us up and pulled her onto my lap. “I hope you’re ready for me now.”
She cocked her head. “In what way?”
My arms circled her and I drew her close. “In every way. I’m done with giving you time and space. If you thought I was pushy before, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Her smile clutched my heart. “I’m ready for you, Winter Morrison. Make me yours and only yours.”
Birdie Beaumont had been mine from the day I set eyes on her. Even when she thought she wasn’t mine, she was. And I intended to spend every day for the rest of my life showing her just how mine she was.
Epilogue
Winter
* * *
One Year Later
* * *
“Come on, Winter, dance with me!” Birdie held her hand out while blasting me with one of her smiles I was helpless to resist.
Max laughed beside me as the live band we sat watching played a song that was made for my woman. It was written in the joy on her face and in the sway of her hips just how fucking much this song was hers.
Actually, it was ours.
Birdie decided that a year ago at our wedding reception. I’d been kicking back having a quiet drink with Max, watching her dance with the girls. When the band started playing this song, her eyes had lit up and she’d dragged me onto the dance floor. I wasn’t the kind of guy who danced, but I could never resist Birdie and the pull I felt to her. And when Darius Rucker sang about his hands on his woman, it got my woman in the mood for my hands, which got me in the mood for that too.
Not that I ever needed to be persuaded to put my hands on Birdie.
Fuck. No.
I drained my glass of ginger beer as she lifted her hands to her hair and moved her hips with the sexy confidence that slayed me. Shoving my chair back, I eyed my brother. “Get me another drink if you’re having one.”
I barely took in his nod; my attention was back on Birdie and I was cutting a path to her.
“I’m the luckiest bastard here tonight,” I murmured as my hands slid around her waist.
Her flirtatious smile my words elicited was killer. Fuck me. “It’s your lucky night, baby,” she said, bringing her lips to mine, and her hands to my hair. Fuck I loved those hands in my hair.
“It’s my lucky night every night, Angel.”
“That is true, but tonight even more so.”
I ran my hands down over her ass as I danced with her. “Tell me more.”
“I think I’ll keep it a surprise.”
“Fuck, your surprises kill me.”
She continued threading her fingers through my hair. If she kept that up, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t find us a dark spot and demand she wrap those lips of hers around my dick. It wouldn’t be the first time. It wouldn’t be the last. Not with a wife like mine.
Pressing another kiss to my mouth, she said softly, “I like seeing you this relaxed. It doesn’t happen enough lately.”
Guilt sliced through me at her words. She was right; I was wound tight these days. Club shit saw to that. The last year, since Birdie and I had moved to Melbourne and I’d established the Storm chapter down there, had been long and hard. That our relationship had survived this year—hell, that it had thrived in fucking spite of it—told me we could survive anything. But still, I wanted more for us. Better for us. Birdie deserved that.
“No, it doesn’t,” I said roughly, “But I’m working to make that happen.”
She smiled. “I know.”
Two simple words that meant the fucking world to me. And a smile that said so much more than any words ever could. My woman had my back just as much as I had hers. And she trusted me in ways no one ever had. That was what got me through my days and had me coming home each night ready for her hands, her body, and her love. I couldn’t have done any of the shit I did if she wasn’t by my side.
The song lasted another minute or so in which Birdie put her hands all the fuck over me, driving my dick wild, and my need for her through the fucking roof. When it ended, and I realised she was settling in to keep that shit up, I leaned in close and growled, “My dick can’t last another song, Angel. Come and sit your ass next to me for a bit to give me a break.”
I should have known her grin meant she had no intention of easing up on me. She did follow me to the table where Max sat, but instead of sitting next to me, she planted her ass on my lap, which meant my dick had no fucking hope. Not with that ass wiggling all over me, and her tits so close to my face.
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
Max looked at Birdie and shook his head as he grinned. “Give up now, brother. She seems hell bent on driving you crazy tonight.”
“Hey,” Birdie chastised him, “I thought you were on my side, Maxxi.”
He arched a brow. “Maxxi?”
I chuckled. “I think it’s time we cut her supply. She’s clearly drunk too much tonight.”
“Yeah,” Max agreed, teasing, “Far too much. I refuse to get her any more.”
Birdie wiggled around some more before looping her arms tightly around my neck and bending her face to mine. “Smart ass,” she said in that sexy voice of hers. She brushed a kiss over my lips before sliding off my lap. “I’ll be back, but while I’m gone, perhaps you could get me some more water. That is, unless you really are cutting me off.”
“I’m fucking impressed with you guys,” Max said as I watched Birdie make her way to the bathroom. “I don’t know many couples who would be this dedicated.”
I turned to him. “I can’t understand anyone who wouldn’t be this dedicated, brother.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I agree. But still.”
He wasn’t wrong. When I’d given up alcohol three months ago, I’d heard it all. I’d been told it was overkill. “You can get her pregnant without quitting the booze, mate” had played on repeat for the first month or so. Then, when I’d ignored them, they’d realised how fucking serious I was about what Birdie and I were doing, and they’d pulled their heads in.
There was no way I wouldn’t do everything in my power to make our dream of a family come true. If that required me to stop drinking, so fucking be it. Hell, Birdie had me on a concoction of vitamins or supplements or some shit, right alongside the no-alcohol-and-regular-sleep-plus-healthy-food routine she followed. Sometimes I strayed, but as best I fucking could, I didn’t.
I hadn’t been there for her the last time she’d fallen pregnant. I hadn’t even really been there for her before she fell pregnant. She’d been right when she said war had driven us apart. This time, I was right by her side; mind, body, and fucking soul.
Leaving Max, I headed to the bar and got some water for Birdie. When I rejoined him, he said, “Is she mentally ready for this?”
“Fuck, are any of us?” I could have told him everything we’d done to mentally prepare for IVF, but at the end of the day, I didn’t believe I could be prepared for anything in life until I’d already been through it once. Until I had the lay of the land and some insight into the battle ahead. Hell, war had taught me that. And then it had kept on serving up the lessons. Every fucking tour brought new challenges. I imagined an IVF cycle would be like a tour of duty—hell on our reserves—and all we could do was prepare and hope for the best, never giving up, battling together to the end.
“Good point,” he agreed. “Fuck, I hope this is a success for you two.”
“If it’s not, we keep going until it is.”
“Simple as that?”
The journey wasn’t fucking simple as that, but the decision was. We keep going until we have our family. However that comes about.
Birdie’s hand slid across my shoulders as she positioned herself on my lap again. Blessing me with a smile, she said, “Thank you for the water.”
I placed my arm around her before lifting my glass between the three of us. “To Dad.”
Max raised his glass. “To Dad.” He looked at Birdie. “And to family. May yours grow soon.”
She clinked our glasses. “I love you, Maxxi. Here’s to you and your happiness. May you find it with a woman who loves you like you love her.”
He drank some of his whisky. “I’m not convinced of this Maxxi shit, B.”
Birdie laughed. “It’s okay, I promise not to call you that when you’re trying to pick up. It’ll be Max all the way then.”
“Maybe it could be Max all the way, all the time,” he suggested with a look that told her he’d fucking prefer that.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like if you were my brother, I’d call you Maxxi. And since I really do consider you my brother now, it fits.”
He stared at her for a beat. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Can’t fucking argue with that.”
My chest filled with warmth. The three of us had come so fucking far in the year since Dad’s death. The old man would have been proud to witness it.
Max had tried like fuck to save his marriage, but six months in, he’d had to acknowledge defeat. As much as I didn’t like Melissa or believe she loved him how he deserved, I hated watching my brother struggle through his decision to divorce her. If anyone was the poster boy for fighting for a marriage, it was Max. Hell, he’d gone above and fucking beyond in his efforts, but at the end of the day, Melissa had ravaged him and he’d had to walk away to save himself and his children from the wreck of their marriage.
Together, we’d managed to save the homes Mum and Dad had left us, and kept them in the family. Melissa had cleaned him out financially, but I would have gone to the ends of the earth to save both him and those homes from her. Max now lived in Dad’s house, and six months into single life, he’d started dating again. I called him regularly, but Birdie had taken him under her wing and checked in on him a few times a week via Facetime. She told me she needed to see his eyes to know he was really okay and not just faking it on the phone. I loved her even more for loving my brother. It turned out Dad had been right all along—Max and I needed the love of a good woman.
But then, that was how Birdie lived her life. She loved her way through it, and we all reaped the rewards of her love.
Max’s attention drifted and a moment later, he stood and excused himself, heading for a dark-haired woman who stood at the bar alone.
Birdie’s fingers ghosted across my neck as she brought her mouth to my ear. “Has anyone ever told you how sexy you are?”
I gripped her waist with one hand while moving my other one to her thigh. “My wife tells me all the time, but she hasn’t told me today.”
Her gaze dropped to where my hand teased the hem of her dress.
She knew my mind well, so she knew exactly what thoughts were running through it. “She’s slacking on her job.”
“Yeah, she is.” One finger slid under the hem. Birdie’s sharp intake of breath caused my dick to strain against my jeans. “I fucking love her, though. Even if she forgets to tell me shit like that.” Another finger caressed her thigh and disappeared under her dress.
Her eyes came to mine, and my heart constricted at what I saw in them. “We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?” I barely heard her because she spoke so softly, but I felt every syllable of what she’d asked.
“Yes.” My answer was firm. Adamant. In-fucking-flexible. There was no way we weren’t going to be okay. I would make absolutely sure of that.
She nodded slowly as she took a deep breath. “Yes, we will be. I was just having a moment. Ignore me.”
“I’ll never ignore you, Angel. You have as many fucking moments as you need; I’ll be standing by your side through all of them.”
Her eyes searched mine. “You’re preparing for war, aren’t you?”
“Not anymore; I’m past preparing. I’m fucking ready now, and baby, war is my specialty, so you have nothing to worry about. Even if this cycle doesn’t go our way, and even if the next one doesn’t, and the one after that, I’ve got you. I’ve got us.”
And I did, because she had me.
She’d always had me, even when she went about it the wrong way. My woman loved me like no other, and in return, I loved her like my life depended on it. Because it did. Without Birdie, I had nothing. And so, I would love her, fight for her, battle wars with her, and protect her forever. And I would do the same for our children. Love, fight, battle, protect: the Morrison way. The only fucking way.
NEXT BOOK IN THIS SERIES
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Thank you for reading Hurricane Hearts! I hope you loved Winter & Birdie’s story. Turn the page to read three bonus chapters!