by Laura Kaye
“There,” he said. “All done.” He rose and slid the crib into place against the wall, then settled the mattress inside.
“It’s coming together so nicely,” she said, looking up at the mobile with its hanging fireman’s helmet, Dalmatian, fire hydrant, and fire truck. “Such a cute room.”
“I have an idea.” Caden disappeared for a moment and returned with the stuffed bear she’d gotten him all those months ago. “I think this guy should go in here. The baby’s very first bear. A gift from his mom and his dad.”
“Have I told you lately how sweet you are?” she asked as he placed it in the crib.
He gave her a sheepish smile and knelt in between Makenna’s thighs. “Our son deserves everything.” He pressed a kiss to her belly—she wasn’t very big yet, but there was no mistaking that she was pregnant. “And so do you.”
She rubbed her hand over her short hair. “We all do,” she said. “And we have it.”
Leaning closer, Caden cupped her cheek and kissed her, a slow press of lips and a soft slide of tongues. “You taste fucking delicious,” he said.
“I do?” she whispered, her arms wrapping around his neck.
He nodded and deepened the kiss. Then he tracked kisses from her cheek to her jaw to her ear.
“Watching you being all handy and domestic is really hot,” she said, smiling.
He chuffed out a laugh against her neck. “Like that, do you?”
“A lot.” She nodded.
“Any time you want me to hammer, drill, or screw, you just let me know,” he said.
Makenna laughed. “I want those all the time, Caden. Don’t you know?”
A mischievous grin on his face, he rose and pulled her up with him. Kissing her again, he walked them out of the nursery and into their bedroom. Boxes of her stuff lined one wall—slowly, but surely, they were getting her settled in. “Tell me what you want.” His dark eyes blazed at her.
“You,” she said, pulling her shirt over her head. “Just you.”
He kissed her shoulder, the swell of her breast, her nipple through her bra. “You have me,” he said. “You always have.” He unclasped her bra and flicked his tongue over one nipple than the other.
Before long, they were both naked and Caden was pressing her back onto the bed. He dropped to his knees and pushed her thighs apart. The look on his face was pure masculine hunger as he leaned in. He kissed her thighs, her hip bone, the skin just above her pubic hair, driving her crazy and making her need him even more. And then he pressed a firm kiss against her clit, and Makenna couldn’t help but thrust her hips.
“You want me to put my mouth on you here?” he asked, his breath ghosting over her most sensitive skin.
“God, yes,” she said, looking down her body at him. He was so fucking sexy, his big shoulders filling up the space between her thighs, that harsh face peering at her with such intensity.
“Say it,” he said. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to make me come with your mouth,” she rasped.
“Fuck, yes,” he said, and then he was on her. Licking, sucking, relentless, driving her out of her mind. He penetrated her with one thick finger, then with another, his fingers moving inside her as he sucked hard on her clit and flicked it with his tongue. His lip piercing pressed against her flesh, a feeling that always drove her wild.
Makenna cried out and grasped his head, holding him to her, pressing him down. “God, I’m going to come already.”
He growled his approval and sucked her harder, faster.
She held her breath as her orgasm washed over her in wave after wave. “Holy shit,” she rasped.
“Again,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eye, his pierced eyebrow arched. He angled his fingers inside her and hit a place that sent her flying.
“Jesus,” she rasped. “That’s so freaking good.”
As he worked his fingers deep inside, he flicked his tongue over her clit hard and fast. He reached his other hand up her body and grasped her breast, his fingers stroking and squeezing her sensitive nipple. Makenna’s body wound back up fast, arousal and lust and love lancing through her for this man. This gorgeous, sweet, damaged man. Her Caden.
“So good, so good, so good,” she said, her hips moving, her heart racing.
“Come on my tongue, Makenna,” Caden gritted out. “I want it.”
The need and arousal in his tone shoved her closer to the edge. And then he angled his fingers to stroke that spot inside her again and again.
She came on a scream, her body shaking and the room spinning. Turned out that pregnant sex had some fun benefits—she found it easier to have multiple orgasms and they were so much more intense. Makenna reached her hands out to Caden.
He crawled up over her and pushed her up against the pillows until he could settle between her parted legs. “Love you so fucking much,” he said, taking himself in hand. He leaned down and kissed her, an urgent kiss filled with heat and love and need, and then his cock was right there and sliding deep.
“Love you, too,” Makenna moaned, arching beneath him. Hearing him say that would never get old. Finding him in that elevator had been such a gift.
Arms braced on either side of her shoulders, Caden’s hips moved in a slow, grinding rhythm. His gaze dropped down to where he disappeared inside her. “Looks so fucking hot,” he rasped. “Feels so good inside you.”
She ran her hands down his strong sides to his ass, his muscles clenching beneath her grip. “Harder,” she whispered, needing more of him, needing all of him.
“Don’t wanna hurt you,” he said.
“You won’t,” she said. “Need you so much.”
“Jesus,” he said, coming down all the way on top of her. His hands slid beneath her ass, tilting her hips, and then his hips were flying—hard, fast, delicious. Every impact ground against her clit until Makenna was panting and digging her fingers into his shoulders. “You own me, Red. Do you know that?” he whispered against her ear. “There isn’t a part of me that isn’t yours completely.”
The words squeezed her heart and made her soul fly. “I feel the same way, Caden. You’re everything to me.”
“Fuck,” he growled, his hips moving faster. “It’s too good.”
She wrapped her legs around his hips and dug her heels into his ass. “Come in me. I want to feel it.”
He circled his hips, the new sensation suddenly pushing her closer to orgasm. “Oh, God.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t stop,” she whispered. “Don’t stop.”
“You gonna come for me again?” he asked, kissing her ear.
All she could do was moan as sensation twisted faster and faster low in her belly.
“Aw, so fucking tight,” he rasped.
And then she was crying out and coming, her body gripping his.
“Yes, Makenna, yes. I’m coming. Coming so fucking hard,” he said, his voice low and gritty. His cock pulsed inside her as his hips slowed and jerked.
When their bodies calmed, he eased from inside her and rolled them over until she was laying half on top of him, his arm around her shoulder and holding her close.
“I never thought I would have all this, Makenna,” he said, kissing her forehead. “It’s more than I ever hoped for.” He tilted her chin up so he could look her in the eyes, eyes that were lighter and more unburdened than she’d ever seen them. Since they’d moved in together, he’d told her everything he’d done to get himself healthier while they’d been apart. And she was so proud of him, proud that he’d had the courage to look all that darkness in the face and still manage to find the light. “You’re more than I ever hoped for.”
She stroked her hand over his scar, her chest so full of love for this man she wasn’t sure how she contained it inside her. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life making you happy.”
He pressed her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “You know what, Red? You already do.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
&n
bsp; 5 Months Later
“Oh, Makenna, he’s healthy and beautiful and just perfect,” Dr. Lyons said as their son made his entrance into the world. The baby cried, and the sound crawled right into Caden’s heart and made it fuller than it’d ever been in his whole life. How had he gotten so lucky?
“Good job, Makenna,” Caden said, pressing a kiss to her damp cheek. “You did it. I’m so proud of you.”
“He’s here,” Makenna said, clutching Caden’s hand. “He’s really here.”
The doctor laid the baby on Makenna’s belly and clipped off the umbilical cord while a nurse dried him off and put a striped cap on his little head. And, God, he was so little. Little and beautiful and amazing.
“Would you like to do the honors?” the doctor asked Caden, holding the scissors out to him.
“Yeah?” Caden asked, smiling. Makenna grinned and nodded, and Caden cut the cord, bringing his son fully into the world.
Finished rubbing him down, the nurse covered the baby with a blanket and lifted him higher so Makenna could hold him in her arms. Seeing Makenna hold their son for the first time was something he would never forget. He shook his head as he looked at the two of them, just so filled with awe. This…this was his family. Leaning over, he stroked her hair. “He’s beautiful.”
“He really is,” she said, her voice shaky. “Hi, Sean, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Caden gently cupped his hand around Sean’s little head. Sean David James Grayson. It was a big name for such a little guy, but they’d both fallen in love with it as a way to recognize the important people in their lives—his brother, the paramedic who’d saved Caden, and Makenna’s family. Wherever they were, Caden hoped his mom and brother would be proud.
The nurse gave the three of them wrist bands and took the baby’s footprint and weighed him, and then asked, “Would you like to try to feed him, Makenna?”
“Yes,” she said, her face lighting up. It took a couple of tries, but Sean caught on pretty fast. And the wonder on Makenna’s face was so fucking sweet that it made Caden’s chest ache.
Caden held the boy’s tiny hand, the little fingers curling around one of Caden’s. And it gave him the best idea. Because today he was making this family official. He had the ring and the approval of her father and brothers—even Ian, who finally seemed to have warmed up to the idea of Makenna being with Caden—and now was the perfect time.
After a while, the baby pulled away and fussed, and Makenna nuzzled him, cooing and talking until the boy calmed down. For long moments, she and his son just stared at one another as she spoke quietly to him. Watching them, Caden had never felt happier or more grateful in his whole life.
“Your turn to hold him,” she said, smiling up at him.
Caden’s heart tripped into a sprint. Sean’s little body barely filled the crook of Caden’s arm. He was so little, so vulnerable, so beautiful, with a head of silky brown hair peeking out from beneath the cap and blue eyes that Caden hoped stayed that color. Part him and part her.
When the baby started to cry, Caden shook him gently in his arms and walked in a slow circle by the bed. “You and me are going to be good friends, little man. I’m going to teach you everything. I love you,” he said, “you and your mom both.”
The baby’s little arm escaped from the blanket, and when Caden had his back to Makenna, he slipped the ring from his pocket and put it in the baby’s palm. Sean’s fingers closed tightly around it. “You can do the honors for me,” he whispered, then he turned to Makenna, nervousness suddenly racing through him. “He’s perfect, Makenna,” Caden said, laying the baby on her chest again. “And I think he has a gift for you.”
She gave Caden a questioning smile and grasped Sean’s hand. The diamond glinted and Makenna gasped as she slipped it from his little grasp. “Oh, Caden.”
Heart in his throat, he went to one knee beside her hospital bed and took her left hand in his. “Makenna James, you are everything I want and need in this world. I love you with all my heart, and I promise to devote myself to loving you and taking care of you and building a wonderful life for you and Sean. For the three of us together, as a family. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, and I would be the happiest man in the world if you would agree to be my wife. Makenna, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said. “Oh, Caden, Yes.”
Caden took the ring and slid it on her finger. Finding where he belonged in this world—and that it was with her—was a gift bigger and more meaningful than he’d ever imagined possible. He rose and kissed her, softly, sweetly, with so much love.
“I’m the luckiest man who ever lived. Thanks to you.” He kissed Makenna again, then kissed Sean’s head. “And you, too.”
Makenna smiled even as her baby blues filled with happy tears. “I love you, Caden. So much.”
Caden smiled back, his heart so damn full. “Aw, Red. I love you, too. Forever.”
Chapter One
One year ago this week, Caden Grayson had gotten trapped in a pitch-black elevator. And between the darkness and the tightness and the way it triggered memories of the most terrifying moments of his life, it had been his worst nightmare come true.
And his utter salvation.
Because he hadn’t been alone in that elevator.
No. Not by a long shot. Makenna James had been trapped in there with him. And it seemed impossible to him that she’d been a stranger in that moment, because now she was the person who knew him best in the world. Maybe even better than he knew himself.
Certainly, she’d changed everything about his life and what he thought it would be. Which was why he found himself staring at his own reflection with a bit of wonder. Because he was wearing a classic black-and-white tuxedo, and today was his wedding day.
Stepping out of the bedroom he shared with Makenna, he almost walked into Makenna’s brothers. Wearing tuxedos of their own, Patrick, Ian, and Collin James all looked at him at once, eagerness on their faces.
“Can we get him yet?” Patrick asked, glancing at the closed door on one side of the hallway.
Grinning, Caden checked the time on his cell phone. “Yeah. I guess it’s about that time.”
The three James men immediately made for the door. Quietly, they all walked into the fireman-themed room with its red, yellow, and light blue color scheme. Caden and Makenna’s son’s room. Caden’s son. Sometimes, the goodness of that stole Caden’s breath. He had a son.
Peering into the crib, Caden felt like he shared the awe he felt with Makenna’s brothers. Because they were all looking at Sean Grayson like he was the most amazing thing they’d ever seen. Three-month-old Sean lay on his back, his pudgy little limbs totally at ease, his face slack in sleep. A shock of dark brown hair stuck up in every direction from his little head. Caden didn’t have a lot of experience with loving families, but all the James men—including Makenna’s father—doted on the boy to no end. Jokingly fought with each other to get to do it, actually. Caden wouldn’t have had it any other way. He wanted Sean to have everything that Caden had been denied for so long. And much, much more.
Caden reached in a hand to rub Sean’s chest and belly. The baby’s eyes flew open and he immediately stretched in a motion that was half excitement, half startle. But then Sean realized he had an audience, and the little guy graced them with one of the smiles he was giving more and more often and cooed and waved his arms. To a round of laughter and smiles, Caden picked the little man up, kissed his soft head, and marveled for maybe the millionth time at the little life he held in his hands. The life he’d made with Makenna.
It didn’t take long for the four of them to change Sean’s diaper, feed him a bottle Makenna had left for them, and get the baby changed so that he was wearing a long-sleeved onesie that made him appear to be wearing a tiny tux of his own.
“We clean up good,” Caden said to Sean, lifting him into his arms. “We are going to knock your mom’s socks off.” In truth, it was the other way around—Caden’s chest w
as tight with the anticipation of seeing Makenna walking up the aisle. To him.
As Ian and Collin left the room, Patrick put a hand on Caden’s arm. The two men had gotten close since Makenna’s car accident seven months before had scared the hell out of them all. “You’re really good with him, Caden. And you’re really great for both of them. Just want you to know that. I hope you do.”
The words of acceptance and approval hit Caden right in the chest. He wasn’t used to receiving them, and maybe never would be. But he appreciated the hell out of them. He extended a hand to his soon-to-be brother-in-law. “Thanks, man. That means a lot.”
Downstairs, they found Makenna’s father, Mike James, and Caden’s captain at the firehouse, Joe Flaherty, shooting the shit.
Both men rose as they entered the living room, Mike coming right over to take his grandson. “Let me see this little guy. Did you have a good nap?” he asked Sean.
“He did. The kid sleeps like a champ,” Caden said.
“That’s because he’s such a good boy,” Mike cooed against Sean’s cheek. “And because he knows he has a great mom and dad who will always look out for him.”
Caden clapped Mike on the back, the words making it too hard to respond. How the hell had he gotten so lucky as to find Makenna and her family? Because family was something he’d thought he might never have again. And despite the rocky times that Caden and Makenna had weathered, her family had embraced him with both arms and the big heart that every member of the James clan seemed to have—even Ian, who hadn’t been as accepting at first.
A big smile on his face, Joe turned to Caden and held out his hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a tux before.”
“I know,” Caden said, laughing. “I barely recognize myself.”
Joe clasped Caden’s hand tight. “Well, I recognize you. You’re exactly the man I’ve always known you to be, Caden. And I’m damn proud of you.”