by K. C. Crowne
“Well, there’s a healthy baby in here, alright. They weren’t wrong about that. Do you see what I see here Dr. Anderson?”
Ryan nodded his head, a look of wonder on his face.
“What?” I asked. “What do you see?”
Ryan looked at me and smiled brightly. “Carly, we’re having twins.”
Epilogue
RYAN
Seven months later…
Carly screamed out in pain, her eyes going wide as she pushed. The birthing room was a commotion of doctors and nurses, and even with all my training and the fact that I could deliver a baby in my sleep, I felt totally useless.
My love was in good hands, and I was there for her all the way.
“Alright,” I said, her hand gripping mine. “I want you to squeeze as hard as you can. I don’t care if you think you’re going to hurt me – I can take it.”
Another contraction hit, Carly letting out a cry of pain as it did. She squeezed my hand hard, impressing the hell out of me with how strongly she did it.
“Alright!” the doctor said. “We’ve got the head of girl number one!”
Girl number one. We’d discussed waiting and seeing, but curiosity got the better of us and we cracked at around month five. We were going to have two girls. I couldn’t wait.
“Push, baby,” I encouraged her, clasping her hand with both of mine. “Just push.”
She did, grunting hard, an expression of pure intensity on her face.
And then it happened. The first of our two girls was born.
A cry filled the room and, still holding Carly’s hand, I peeked over to get a look at her.
She was perfect.
“Is she OK?” Carly asked.
“Ten fingers, ten toes, and one powerful set of lungs,” the doctor called out. “But we’re only halfway there.”
“Alright, beautiful,” I said, keeping her hands in mine. “You ready to do this one more time?”
“About as ready as I’m going to be!”
Girl number two was ready to join her sister. The next half hour passed in a wild blur of movement and commotion.
When it was all done, another baby girl had joined us. The delivering doctor handed me the EZ clamp to cut the cords, and I snipped one after another.
I’d witnessed so many births over the years, helped bring so many lives into the world. But never in a million years could I have guessed how it would feel to be there for the birth of my own children.
It was like nothing else I’d ever known. Once the girls were cleaned up and given a clean bill of health by the staff, one was handed to me and the other to Carly. The world melted away as I rocked the precious little girl in my arms, her eyes closed and her tiny hands in tiny little fists.
“Hey, babe?” Carly asked, her eyes on the twin in her arms.
“Yeah?”
“You still cool with the names we picked out?”
“Sure am. But I totally forgot we’d have to decide which is which.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” She glanced away, as if giving the matter some thought. “This is Lily. No doubt about it.”
I glanced down at the precious girl in my arms. “And this is Rose. I’m sure as it gets.”
Then I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her tiny forehead.
More time passed, the nurses checking the girls over and making certain that they were in good shape. Once that was all taken care of, we decided to pass along word to all the friends and family in the waiting room that both births had gone off without a hitch.
“Let’s get in a bit of rest while we can,” I said. “Because once the family’s in here we’re going to get caught up in a whirlwind.”
“Good call.”
So, we rested. Carly and I were led to a small recovery room, the late morning sun steaming in on golden beams. The window was open, the fall air just brisk enough. Carly looked so beautiful with her babies that I could hardly believe that it was all real, that this was my life now.
When we were ready, we gave word that visiting hours were on.
Our friends and family didn’t wait a moment before pouring into the room. Mom and Dad and Grace and Allie and Adam were there, each one fawning over the babies. Before too long, they were out of our arms, being passed from one doting family member to another.
I took Carly’s hand and held it tight, and we shared a look of warmth and love that made it clear we were both ready for the lives we had ahead.
“I love you, babe,” I said, leaning in to give her a kiss.
“And I love you too, handsome.”
The End
Did you enjoy Ryan and Carly’s love story? Great news! You can take part in their happily ever after two years into the future HERE.
I’ve got some awesome news! You can pre-order the next story in this series about Hayden. It’s available for a limited time launch price of $.99. The price will go up to $3.99! Check it out here.
Meanwhile, have you read the other books in my bestselling Doctors of Denver Series? You can check out a sneak peek of Triplets for The Millionaire on the next page (this is Patrick’s story).
Triplets for The Millionaire (Preview)
Now an Amazon Top 25 Bestseller!!
A FULLY standalone romance from the Doctors of Denver Series.
The bad boy millionaire walked away from an avalanche lucky to be alive...
But his eyesight is left jeopardized.
I've trained my entire life for this.
But, one thing I'm NOT prepared for...
Is the intense desire I have for the sexiest man I've ever treated.
Patrick is everything I never realized I wanted...
Irish.
Gorgeous.
Filthy rich.
And world famous.
This is wrong in so so many ways.
And lines are being crossed like never before.
The most apparent of those lines…
Are the two red lines on the pregnancy test I'm holding.
Now, I can't help but wonder...
Will he ever change his mind about not wanting children?
Prologue
He placed his lips on my collarbone, covering it in kisses, then moving up along the slope of my neck.
My skin broke out into goosebumps, and I slipped my hands under the warm fabric of his parka, along the broad V of his upper back.
His hands started at my shoulders and traveled down to my breasts.
He squeezed them firmly, teasing my nipples and causing them to harden with arousal. His hand smoothed over my stomach, coming to a stop at the button and zipper of my pants.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he opened the button and slowly dragged down the zipper.
“Bein’ adventurous.”
Part of me wanted to protest, but the greater part of me didn’t give a damn.
He didn’t give me a chance to think too much. He slipped his hand into my jeans, under the waistband of my panties, and over the patch of neatly trimmed hair above my pussy, traveling slowly. Between that and the smirk on his face, I realized he was letting me stew in the tension. I grabbed his wrist and tried to guide his hand between my thighs, but he froze, not letting me do it.
“Good things come to those who wait, love.” He spoke into my ear from just a few inches away, his accent and the warmth of his breath driving me wild.
I let go of his wrist and he kept moving down, sliding his middle finger between my soaked lips, the tip stopping over my clit.
“You’ve been looking forward to this, haven’t you?” he murmured. “I can feel it.”
This man had me right where he wanted me. I was so aroused that all I could do was nod in hopes that he would give me what I so desperately craved.
He smirked and slid his fingertip over my clit; hot waves of pleasure flowed through my body, my knees going weak and forcing me to lean back against the car for support. His lips still on my neck, he made slow, tight circles around m
y most sensitive part.
“Oh my God.” The words poured out of my mouth in a low moan, the sensation so intense that I managed to forget the little fact that I was in a parking garage.
He slid his middle finger down further. Then he glided into me, my walls gripping his finger as he penetrated.
I felt him curl his finger in a come-hither motion, the curve allowing him to hit my G-spot just right as his thumb teased my clit.
I ground myself into his hand, wringing out the maximum amount of pleasure possible. It felt so damn good, so fucking incredible.
He knew exactly what he was doing. The curl of his finger inside me and the slow circles of his thumb over my clit were timed precisely, working in perfect synchronization. His left hand stayed on the small of my back, holding me upright as he brought me closer and closer to orgasm.
My hands reached under his parka, coming to a stop on his broad, round shoulders. Even through his shirt I could feel that he was built powerfully, his muscles solid as stone.
“You gonna come for me?” he asked hoarsely, sensing I was right on the verge. “Do it – now.”
Part of me wanted to resist him, to not give in so easily to his command. But it was impossible. The pleasure was so intense that holding back even for a moment seemed ridiculous.
The orgasm broke, and my juices flowed over his hand as every muscle in my body tightened. Sharp gasps flew out of my mouth.
The orgasm rose and peaked, holding for several delicious moments of unparalleled delight before fading.
I sucked in one deep breath and then another, my knees shaking underneath me.
“That was intense.” I ran my hand through my hair, wiping the beads of sweat off my forehead.
“It was nothin’ compared to what else I want to do to you,” he teased.
His words and his gaze and the hard length of his cock against my thigh was enough to get me good and ready for whatever was next.
Chapter 1
Patrick
Alright – come on, little guy. Almost got you right where I want you.
I stalked through the forest, silent and swift as the expert hunter I was. I had my prey in my sights.
The little guy in question was a kit fox – the smallest of all fox breeds native to the States. He was long and sand-colored, about the size of a Labrador in the middle of being a puppy and a fully-grown hound. Hell, the fox didn’t actually look too dissimilar from a puppy, with his big eyes and pink tongue that he let hang out of his mouth when he needed to catch a breath.
And I was thankful that catching a breath was finally on his to-do list. I’d been chasing the little bugger through the snow-dusted forests of Colorado for the last hour, and I was ready to go in for the kill.
I took a slow, deep breath of my own, making sure I was good and steady. It was late afternoon, the sun streaming in angled beams through the bare branches of the trees above. We were in the dead of winter with snow still on the ground. The temperature had risen slightly above freezing for the day, so the snow was melting into clear pools that gathered in the dips of the forest floor.
My prey had his eye on one of those clear pools. He stepped gingerly toward one of the puddles on black paws – paws that had caught my attention and made me certain he was just the prey I’d been waiting for. When he reached the edge of the pool, he lowered his furry, angular head and began lapping up the water with quick flicks of his tongue.
Doesn’t get any more perfect that this, I thought. I raised my arm, my eye to the sights. He drank still, ready for me to make my move. After pulling in one slow breath and holding it in my lungs to get my sights straight, I lined up the shot.
Stay just like that, I thought. Don’t move a muscle.
The shot was so damn perfect that it took all the restraint I had not to smirk and let my cheek rise enough to put my sight at an angle. I kept my composure and slowly, slowly, pulled the trigger.
Click-click-click.
The shutter of my camera snapped once, twice, three times. I took one photo after another, catching the kit fox in action. He drank more of the water, and I made damn certain to get some photos of him with his tongue out, his black paws curled up under his sleek body.
In the middle of a beautiful shot, I heard a snap-crack in the near-distance. The fox quickly lifted his head from the shimmering water, his eyes in the direction of the noise. I was too much of a professional to get distracted. I kept my sights on the fox, snapping again and again, catching him in the act of running to safety.
As I watched him run, my visioned blurred. The fox turned into a brown, fuzzy mass in my sights, my vision so unclear I couldn’t even make out his black paws.
“Fuckin’ hell.” I rose, letting go of my camera so it dropped to my chest and hung from its neck strap. I pulled off my gloves, the cold air biting my skin, and rubbed my eyes.
I knew it wouldn’t help. It’d been months since my eyes had gone wonky like that, and I knew the only thing that would fix them was time. The scene around me was a blurry mess of white and green, and I turned to sit on the trunk of the fallen Aspen tree I’d been using for cover.
Minutes passed, however, and my vision didn’t clear. I blinked and blinked, trying to focus my eyes. Come on, come on, I thought. If I die in the middle of some forest stumblin’ around blind…
The moment the thought finished, I blinked one more time and my vision returned. Slowly but surely, the blurriness faded as if someone were turning down a dial. Things became clearer, and soon I could make out all the details of the forest scene around me, down to the drops of melted snow hanging off the ends of the branches.
I stood and pulled the zipper of my Canada Goose parka shut, bracing myself against the cold. I blinked a few more times to make sure my vision was clear, a pleased smile forming on my lips when I realized I was set. Before I could even think about deciding what to do next, my phone buzzed from the inner pocket of my parka. I unzipped enough to reach in and pull it out. The notification on the screen was a text from Finn, my brother.
Mind picking up some pizzas?
I grinned, pulling off my right glove with my teeth and firing back a response.
Only if you remembered supreme this time.
As if I’d forget ; ) now get your ass back here – the kids are missing you.
I sent a thumbs-up emoji before tucking my phone back into my parka pocket, zipping up again, and replacing my glove. The woods around me were gorgeous; I could’ve spent all damn day gazing at the Rocky Mountain scenery. The sky was clear enough for me to see the slate-gray peaks of the mountains in the distance, and all I could think about was scaling them and taking some shots from their peaks.
My stomach growled, letting me know what it thought of the pizza situation, and the Cliff Bars I’d been eating since starting my trip that morning were wearing off. Something hot and cheesy sounded grand. After replacing the lens cap on my camera, I began my trudge back down the slope of the mountain.
About twenty minutes later, I reached the bottom, and with the temperature dropping and the melted snow refreezing for the night, I had to step carefully. By the time I was down, the blue sky had vanished, and the clouds had become dark and gray.
Once in the F-150 I’d rented for my stay, I turned over the engine, cranked the heat, and turned on the radio. The local country station blasted out of the speakers, putting a big grin on my face. I wasn’t all that much of a fan of the genre, but it had started to grate on me less as time passed.
As I drove, my thoughts turned to the blur in my eyes that had happened for the first time in a long while. It’d first started years ago; around the time I was in the States when Da had his stroke. I wasn’t the type of man to be afraid of anything – you couldn’t be in my line of work if you were – but the thought of something happening to my vision was enough to get my mind thinking good and clear. After all, I’d have no career if my eyesight was somehow damaged.
After thirty minutes of driving, I reached the D
enver suburbs where my brother, Finn, lived with his wife, Kenna, and their twins, Sam and Sophie. Though calling them “suburbs” wasn’t quite right. The area was the perfect blend of urban and rural, roads that branched off into secluded estates leading back into little town centers that reminded me of the hamlets that dotted rural Ireland where Finn and I had grown up. And if they wanted some big-city action, Denver was a short drive away.
I followed the GPS to Gio’s, their preferred pizza place. After a quick stop, I was back in the car with four large pizzas on the seat next to me, the delicious scents filling the air.
Ten minutes later I was on the winding road that led to Finn and Kenna’s house. Tree branches canopied the way, the forest eventually opening to reveal a huge, three-story chateau-style home, the mountains in the distance giving it the perfect quality of picturesque, like some gorgeous Swiss ski lodge.
“You did damn good for yourself, brother,” I said aloud to myself. “Got to hand it to ya.”
I pulled into the circle driveway in front of the house, killing the engine and hopping out of the truck. And the day caught up with me. My muscles ached and I was ready for a good night’s sleep. I grabbed the pizzas and started up the front steps leading to the arched double doors, which opened as I approached.
“There you are.” Finn, my older brother, stepped outside and approached. He was dressed in a black, cashmere, V-neck sweater and gray slacks and black slippers, looking every bit the dad relaxing at home. “And about fuckin’ time – we’re starvin’ in here.” He flashed me a smirk as he busted my balls, as big brother’s do.