In the End (Lifetime #3)

by Ariadne Wayne

  “Are you gonna be their other dad too?”

  This kid. “No. Just yours.” I leaned over and ruffled his hair, but he still clung to Matt. When he said nothing, I smiled again. “Any more questions?”

  “Can I go now? I don’t want to miss out on shopping with Mum. She always gets us a treat.”

  I met Matt’s eyes, the amusement in them obvious.

  “Sure thing,” he said.

  My heart ached as Finn threw his arms around Matt’s neck and kissed him on the cheek before disappearing out the door.

  “Well?” Matt asked.

  I shrugged. “I think that went about as well as could be expected. He didn’t seem too upset once he realised he didn’t have to live with me.”

  Matt gripped my shoulder. “He handled it better than I did. Want to go and get a coffee?”

  “Do you have anything stronger?”

  He chuckled. “That could be arranged. Come on.”

  We walked back down the hallway to find Ella standing in the kitchen. “Finn’s gone out to the car. How did it go?”

  “Great.” Matt beamed.

  She let out a loud breath. “Good. I won’t be long, just need a few things.”

  Matt wrapped his arms around her and pecked her on the lips. “See you soon.”

  She nodded, giving me a small smile as she went out the back door.

  Matt watched out the window as she left.

  “Let’s get that drink,” he said, smiling as he turned toward me.

  He crossed the kitchen and opened a top cupboard, pulling out a bottle of amber liquid. Taking two glasses, he scooped some ice from the ice-maker in the door of the fridge and poured the liquid over them.

  “Bourbon?”

  Matt laughed. “Sure is. I don’t indulge often, but this might just help settle the nerves.”

  I grinned as Matt handed me a drink. “That’s the best idea I think you’ve ever had.”

  We sat at the dining room table, Matt with a glass of his own. “Was it really that easy?”

  “Are you worried?”

  Matt shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seemed a little too easy. Not that I’m unhappy about that. Whenever we told him, it’d be difficult.”

  “Apparently more difficult for us than him.” I chuckled. “You know, I’m happy I have you back. I know I’m probably still not your favourite person, but that we can sit here having a drink together means a lot.”

  He looked down at his drink. “Yeah, to me too.”

  “We can only get better at this. Surely.” I held my glass up to toast.

  He grinned as he clinked his glass with mine. “I think we’re doing okay. It’s not like we can work through all this overnight.”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes, Matt.”

  “I know.” He took a sip of his drink, licking his lips.

  “Are we alright?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and me?”

  He shrugged. “We seem to be doing okay. We’re drinking together, right?”

  I put down my glass. “Yes, we are. Nothing like the old days, though.”

  Matt shook his head. “That’s probably a good thing. How many nights did we get ourselves into trouble drinking too much?”

  “Too many.”

  He studied me closely. “Got a girlfriend?”

  “Why? You interested?”

  Matt laughed. “Call it curiosity. It’s not like we see each other every day like we used to.”

  “No girlfriend. It just all seemed so hard. I’m a changed man, Matt. Finn saw to that.”

  He had a grin on him bigger than I’d seen in a long time. Even after the past couple of years, he’d always been slightly reserved with me. Now, that had disappeared. “I’m glad to hear it. Not that you have no girlfriend, but that you’ve changed.”

  “He’s worth it. I knew I had to be a better person.”

  Until today, knowing I was Finn’s father and not telling him had hung over me. Now I had a real chance of taking the next step to get to know my boy and spend more time with him.

  I couldn’t wait.

  Chapter 2

  MATT

  “Daddy?”

  The voice was so quiet. He’d stopped calling me Daddy and switched to Dad ages ago. Him reverting rang alarm bells for me. I guessed Finn wanted to attract my attention, not Ella’s. As far as his mother was concerned, he was asleep.

  I reached his bedroom door, and poked my head in. “Yes, bud?”

  He sat up, and I approached the bed. Even in the dim light coming from the hallway, I saw the fear in his eyes.

  “Are you okay?” I sat down. Finn threw his arms around my neck. I closed my eyes as I hugged my little boy tight, his hot tears spilling onto my skin.

  “What’s going on?” I whispered.

  He clung on, and I just held him. Something told me he hadn’t brushed off our little announcement earlier quite as easily as he’d made out.

  “Do you love Georgia and Zach more now?” I could just make out the words from the sad, soft voice.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Because I have Sam as a dad too?”

  I rubbed his back, and pulled his arms from around my neck so I could look at him. His lips wobbled. I’d never seen him so bereft.

  “Did you know that I was there when you were born? I loved you the second I saw you. You were all small and wrinkly,” I said. He smiled, and my heart leapt at the sight. Finn had been mine from the moment he’d come out. I was the one who’d watched him enter the world, held him, loved him.

  “I love you so much, Finn. You and your brother and sister. Sam might be your dad, but so am I, and I’ll always be here.”

  He nodded, wrapping his arms around my neck again and holding tight. I sat in the quiet with my boy in my arms. Nothing mattered in that moment but him, but us. Ella and Sam might be his biological parents, but he was my son.

  It took about ten more minutes, but when he went limp, I knew he’d fallen asleep. I laid him gently down on his bed, watching for a moment. The next few days, I’d take him everywhere with me when he wasn’t at school. Make him see what an important part of my life he was.

  I bent and kissed him on the forehead, stroking his hair. Finn, Georgia, and Zach—I loved them all equally. It hurt to see Finn confused. But that would have happened no matter when we told him.

  Remembering the day he was born was bittersweet. I’d tried to talk to Sam, tell him he had a son, but Sam had been so full of pain that he’d lashed out before I could tell him. From that day I’d sworn to be Finn’s father, to love him and protect him, no matter what. I’d keep that promise until the day I died.

  I crept out of the room, turning in the doorway and taking another look at him. The light from the hallway fell over his bed, his dark brown hair flopping over one eye as it so often did. He had Ella’s deep blue eyes, and Sam’s lopsided smile. This was where he belonged, my little farm boy. Being among the sheep and the cows with grass beneath his feet and the fresh air—that was Finn. That was Georgia, and that was Zach too.

  In the hallway, I took slow steps toward the kitchen. Ella appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Coffee?” she asked.

  “Sounds good, babe.”

  “Is everything okay? I thought Finn was asleep.”

  I smiled. “Little monkey was pretending. He was worried that I wouldn’t love him with Sam around.”

  Her brows knitted together. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

  We both needed a distraction.

  Raising my hand to my gorgeous wife’s neck, I gripped her hair. She gasped as I pulled her against me.

  “Matt,” she whispered.

  “Forget the coffee. Let’s go to bed.” I dipped my head, grazing the other side of her neck with my teeth, taking in that honey scent that had always done it for me. If anything, my need for this woman grew each day. It never flat-lined, and it would never diminish. She drove me as crazy as she had the
first time I’d laid eyes on her.

  She let out a moan, so soft I barely heard it, but it inflamed me, and I ran my other hand down her back. I had to get her into bed or I’d go nuts. I needed to bury myself in her as deep as I could.

  My family was my heart, and the four other souls who lived under this roof were the most important people in the world to me. I’d never tire of telling them how much I loved them.

  There was this thing called the seven-year itch. It meant that after seven years, your relationship was supposed to lose some of its shine. Not for Ella and I.

  Over the years, my want and need for her had run deeper and deeper. Most nights my wife and I took pleasure in each other, and she still drove me as crazy as she had when we were first together. I’ve loved her for most of my adult life.

  Our room lit up with the gentle glow of her bedside lamp, and I stripped off, tugging on only a pair of pyjama pants. Ella liked sleeping with me with no shirt on, and our bed usually got too hot in the night to be fully dressed anyway.

  She sighed as we climbed into bed. As she usually did, she pulled on my old shirt. It was a bit thin in places, but she’d worn it to bed most nights since she was pregnant with Finn. I’d have preferred her naked, but it did make unbuttoning it fun.

  “You okay?” I asked as I pulled her into my arms.

  “Worried about Finn, and I’m sure I found a stretch mark today I didn’t know about before.” Lately Ella had become more self-conscious, but the way she looked had always done it for me. Her curves were breath-taking.

  “Finn will be fine, and you’re gorgeous, so what difference does it make?”

  She frowned.

  “Ella, you’re as beautiful as you were the day I first saw you.”

  “So are you. That’s why I worry.”

  “About what?”

  She let out a breath. “We went to the supermarket today, and you know that checkout operator who makes eyes at you when we’re in there together? We got her.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Kate. She looks at you like you’re the second coming.”

  I laughed. “Babe, I wouldn’t notice if she stripped off and pole danced at the checkout. I only ever have eyes for you. You know that.”

  Ella huffed. “I don’t know. She’s very good-looking. She had the nerve to ask where you were.”

  “And you said?”

  “That you were at home tied up in the bedroom, waiting for me to come home.”

  I chuckled. “It’s not too far from the truth. I was waiting.” Stroking her cheek, I pecked her lips. “I think you’re reading too much into it. I don’t even know who you’re talking about. It’s only ever you.”

  Running my hand down her neck, I plucked the first button on the shirt open. Her breath quickened as I reached the second.

  “Ella, I know you struggle with how you look sometimes. You have this image in your head that your body’s changed, and I’m not going to love it. But I love you.”

  The third button came away, and I pushed the shirt back onto her shoulders.

  “You’re the only girl I want to perv on.”

  A smile spread across her lips as I brushed my hand over her exposed breast. Her nipple stood to attention as I caressed her with my fingers, all the while keeping eye contact with her. “I know. It’s just hard.”

  “I’m hard.” I laughed, pressing my forehead to hers. “I’m hard as soon as you climb into this bed and I can smell you, imagine your skin against mine, know what it’s like to be inside you. That’s my heaven.”

  “Matt,” she whispered. I loved how after all this time I could make her melt.

  I bent, taking her hard nipple into my mouth as I slowly unbuttoned the rest of her shirt. Sliding my hand around her waist, I pulled her in tight against me until she wriggled and moaned.

  “You’re all mine, Ella Carver, as I’m all yours. Always.”

  She closed her eyes, gasping as I kissed my way over her belly, over the stretchmarks that worried her so much. They were a sign that she’d carried my children, and I loved our children as much as I loved her.

  As usual, she wore no panties, and she bucked her hips at the sensation of my tongue on her clit. The scent of her arousal filled my nostrils, urging me on.

  “Matt.” She groaned again, reaching down to rake her fingers through my short hair. I never tired of her reaction, loved that only I could bring this out in her.

  I couldn’t wait any longer, flipping onto my back and beckoning her to straddle me. My brunette beauty complied, her eyes flashing with the lust I loved seeing in them. All it ever did was make me harder.

  She wriggled, sliding onto me, and I closed my eyes as her warmth engulfed me, overwhelmed me.

  “I like you like this,” she said, leaning over.

  Taking her breasts in my hands, I gently sucked on each nipple as she rocked her hips. Each jolt left me aching for more. Would we ever get enough of each other?

  “I like you like this.” I thrust my hips up to meet her, pushing her back into a seated position, and linking our fingers. “The hottest girl I ever saw.”

  Ella blushed, the tone of her cheeks matching the blush of her nipples. I let go of one of her hands and slipped my thumb down to her clit. I sped up rubbing the nub, the pressure building in her expression as her brow twitched. Nothing beat watching her come. She closed her eyes, throwing her head back, and cried out something garbled.

  “You alright there?” I teased.

  “Better than alright.” Her husky tone told me just how close she was, and with one more thrust of her hips she let go, falling forward and meeting my lips, her tongue pressing against mine as she moaned.

  Her rocking back and forth, being inside the most beautiful woman I knew, her orgasm—it was too much. All the pressure inside me released and I came, my hand wrapped around her neck, pulling her down hard on me.

  The kiss slowed, and she tried to move, but I held her in place astride me.

  “What are you doing?” She laughed.

  “Looking at you.”

  She sighed, so much love in her eyes, all for me.

  “You’re a masterpiece. How lucky am I to have you?”

  “Stop it.”

  “I can’t. Because you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  Tears welled in her eyes.

  “Never ever doubt my love for you.”

  She shook her head, and I let her go so she could lie down on top of me, her arms around my neck.

  “I love you, Ella.”

  Slipping off me, she rolled to my side.

  “I love how safe you make me feel,” she said, curling around me.

  “I love how happy you make me. I’ll never want for anything when I have you.” I kissed the top of her head.

  She sighed contentedly. “I’m the same way with you. Our life just makes me so happy.”

  “Me too. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I took a deep breath. “The only thing I’d like better is if you weren’t so hard on yourself. You should know by now I’ll never stray. You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  Her eyes welled, and I held her tight. “I know, and I do trust you. It’s the other girls I don’t trust.”

  I grinned. “The only one I ever wanted was you.” Her lips were warm and welcoming as I sunk into a kiss.

  “To think when we first met, I didn’t think you liked me much.” Her smile radiated to her eyes.

  “How wrong you were.” I stroked her cheek, and brushed her lips with mine. “I had such a serious case of lust. Still do. Difference is now I get to act on it.”

  She giggled, nuzzling my neck.

  “Keep that up and I’ll act on it again.”

  “Promises, promises, dear husband.”

  Chapter 3

  NATASHA

  I was running late again.

  This was a common thread in my life. Late to wake up to the bad things in my life, lat
e to arrive, late to pick up my daughter from school. I had to be there as close to three as possible, but it wasn’t likely I’d make it on time today. I’d left work half an hour early to get some groceries on the way, and then the bus had been late.

  The bell had already rung by the time I came running down the street, struggling with the plastic bags of food. I shouldn’t have bought so much, but as usual, it never looked as much in the basket as it really was.

  In the distance, I saw Paige on the slide. She stood out from the other children—I’d know her anywhere. Paige and I had been through so much together. She knew I’d be there, no matter what. Eventually.

  “Paige,” I called as I drew closer.

  Her head shot up, a wide smile appearing on her face. She ran toward me, her backpack bouncing as she threw herself into my arms. “Mummy.”

  “Let’s get going, sweet pea. We’ve got a bus to catch.” I turned. A can of baked beans hit the concrete and rolled toward the gutter. Before I had time to react, it was joined by another. The bag they’d been in had given up any pretence of holding anything and split, spilling the contents all over the footpath.

  “Shit.”

  I placed the other four bags on the ground and ran my fingers through my hair. The only way out of this was to redistribute the weight across the already heavy bags.

  “Paige, give me your schoolbag. I need something to put these in.”

  I squatted, leaning to pick up the rogue cans of baked beans.

  The sun disappeared as a shadow fell over me. Slowly I stood, coming face to face with an incredibly hot guy, a smile all over his face. “Want a hand?”

  But incredibly hot guys were usually incredibly bad news. “Thanks. I’m sure I can sort it.”

  Paige handed me her bag, and I dropped the split bag’s contents into it. Still the stranger didn’t move away. I stood and took a second look. The man was tall, with dark hair, blue eyes, and the start of a beard.

  “Are you sure you don’t need some help?” The guy who made me catch my breath offered.

  “I’m sure we’ll be fine.” One day I’d have enough cash to buy a car, and this wouldn’t be an issue.

  “I can give you a lift home if you want. It looks like a lot for you two to carry. I heard you say you have to catch the bus.”