SHOOTOUT SAVE (The Renegades Series Book 6)

by Melody Heck Gatto

  His eyes darkened and his features changed from surprise to desire. With a growl, his strong hands grasped the backs of her thighs and hiked her onto his hips. His lips met with hers, and he spoke against her mouth. “Who am I to say no to that?”

  She tore off the t-shirt she was wearing and tossed it to the floor, pushing her naked breasts in his face. Pregnancy hormones had done wonders for the girls, making them newly plump. Without a word, he did just as she wanted and took one of her swollen breasts in his mouth, tugging playfully at her nipple. Every suckle and swirl of his tongue felt amazing and more intense than ever before. She arched her back to press into his erection, then began to grind against him.

  “You want it bad, huh? Hell, you’re even sexier when you’re this hot for it.” Kaden slid all the breakfast supplies to the side and set her on the counter. His mouth connected with hers as he pulled off her underwear and tossed them to the floor.

  She grabbed at his shorts, and Kaden helped by sliding them down the rest of the way. Having his hard body between her legs made her heart thud in her chest. The air was cool hitting her girly parts, but not for long as he teased her opening with the head of his dick. Her whole body tingled, she wanted him so bad. Throwing her head back, she shut her eyes and arched into him, needing him inside her.

  Kaden slowed his movements until he was completely stopped.

  Opening her eyes, she questioned what was wrong. “Kaden?”

  “Ali, the French toast is burning.”

  Frustration started to take over the tingling, and she didn’t want that. She wanted him, and she wanted him now.

  “Kaden.” She called for his attention to her. Alison pointed at her obviously naked body perched up on the counter top. “Turn off the burner for now. We can start breakfast over.”

  Kaden did what she asked and turned all his attention back to her. He must like an assertive woman, because he’s harder now then he was before. She rocked towards his hips, helping him fill her fully. As if he needed any help. At this point in her pregnancy, this was exactly what she needed.

  She didn’t want foreplay or teasing; she just wanted him. Alison braced herself against the counter while tightening her legs around his waist. Kaden let out a moan as she forced more of him inside her. She loved everything about his muscular physique. Having him between her legs made her insides quiver with anticipation and need.

  “Is this okay, Ali? You want it like this, doll?” Kaden asked, lust dripping from his words.

  Every molecule of her body was focused on him. Desire made her whimpers turn into pleas as her body craved him. “Kaden, I want it, please.”

  His hot lips covered hers as he said, “I’ll give you anything you need, baby.” Then he tangled his tongue with hers while pounding hard into her. One hand held her hips tight to his and the other fondled one of her breasts as they became one.

  Her eyes fluttered shut and fireworks exploded behind her eyelids as he thrust hard inside her. Alison’s body shook while she rode out her massive orgasm, grinding against him until they were both fully spent.

  Kaden let out a heavy breath. She opened her eyes just as he kissed her on her head. He was still inside her, and her muscles were contracting against him, making for some amazing after-effects. His mouth took over hers for a soft, tender kiss, then she leaned her forehead against his.

  “Now I really do want breakfast,” Alison said with a little laugh.

  “Like I said, Ali. I’ll do anything you want.” He gave her a last quick kiss before lifting her off the counter and pulling up his shorts.

  She grabbed her clothes and excused herself to the bathroom. After getting cleaned up and brushing her hair, which was a tangled mess from their spur of the moment and very hot sex session, she returned to find a plate of fresh French toast being handed to her.

  “I reheated your coffee as well.” Kaden pointed to the mug on the table. “Have a seat. Butter and syrup are already out.” He finished cooking his pieces and joined her at the table. Digging into his own food, he watched her for a few minutes. “So, that—I want sex now—is a pregnancy thing?” Kaden asked playfully, before shoving a large bite into his mouth.

  “Yeah, I guess. I mean, it is. But I can’t blame it all on pregnancy. Kaden, your hard body gets me every time.” She bit her bottom lip as her eyes ran over his chest and shoulders. She shoved a bite of French toast into her mouth before she felt the need to jump him again.

  “I’m sure I can find a way to deal with it.” He made an exaggerated sigh and weird face. Popping another piece of his breakfast into his mouth, he pointed his empty fork at her and spoke with a mouthful. “Speaking of that…”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could protest her now old complaint about getting married for the baby, he swallowed his bite and cut her off.

  “I know you don’t want to get married just for the sake of our son.” The edges of his mouth turned up into a grin at the words.

  It tugged at her heart strings that he loved saying “our son.”

  “So I have another proposal for you.”

  “Okay, I’m all ears.” She took the last bite of her breakfast and finished chewing, then propped her chin on her hand, curious as to what his new proposition would be.

  “I think you should move in with me.”

  “Come again?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Kaden

  The expression on her face was not the one he had expected. It was more a look of shock than excitement. He wasn’t looking for an argument; he just really wanted her with him. Moving in is a good compromise, isn’t it? But those wide eyes and gaping mouth said otherwise.

  Against his better judgement, he said it again. “Move in with me.” She was silent, as if she were trying to come up with why it was a bad idea. “Ali, give me one good reason why not.”

  “Kaden, I just don’t know. Are we ready for that?”

  That was her excuse? “Ali, I think we’ve been together long enough. We’ve been together for almost a year now. People have moved in together after less time than that.” Then there’s that little thing about us having a baby…

  “No.” She shook her head and put her hand up in protest. “No, I don’t think that is a good idea at all.”

  “Why not?” Frustration ran through him. Why did she refuse to make this easy on him? She protested a lot but without reason. He ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath before speaking. “Look at us. Last night… this morning… It was nice. Wasn’t it? I have plenty of room here. If you moved in, I would be able to take care of you like I’m supposed to and like I want to.”

  “I don’t need you to—”

  He abruptly cut her off mid-sentence, knowing what she was going to say next. “Don’t need me to take care of you? That’s it, right? You know damn well that Hailee played that card, and she missed out on all that time with Dom. Weren’t you the one who tried to talk her out of her hard-headedness?”

  Her eyes widened and her face dropped in defeat, as if she knew she had no good rebuttal. “Yes.”

  “Yes. Even you could see that she was self-sabotaging her happiness by thinking if she was to be with Dominic like she wanted to be, that she had to give up herself and let him take care of her. You know all that talk about him keeping her in the kitchen. You don’t think I’d do that to you, do you?”

  Dom had never intended to keep Hailee “in the kitchen” as she put it. He wasn’t a Neanderthal that would expect her to stay barefoot and pregnant. Hailee highly exaggerated, and began to believe her crazy thoughts. Now that was all worked out, she had her own career and her art gallery, and Dom had his hockey. And they were happy.

  “No, absolutely not. But—”

  “But what, Ali? Don’t you want to be with me?” Kaden got up and went to the sink. Facing away from Alison, he took a few deep breaths. They both confessed how they felt last night, so he knew that wasn’t true, but he was all out of arguments. Never in his life ha
d he felt so emotionally drained like he did at this moment.

  How many times do I need to put my heart out there just to be stepped on?

  “Ali, please. It’s not like I know what I’m doing here. I’m winging it and apparently failing miserably.”

  “Are you really asking because of me? And not just for the baby?” Ali’s voice squeaked, still sitting at the table.

  Kaden spun around to see her bottom lip tremble and her eyes glisten with unshed tears. Was she serious? After all this, why would she ask that? “Of course, Ali. How can you even question that?”

  “I figured that you felt some sort of sense of duty because of the baby. And that’s why you were asking me to marry you.” Her eyes lowered to the table, and she pushed a tiny speck around her plate in the remaining syrup.

  That stupid bullshit about me not wanting to marry is rearing its ugly head yet again. “Sense of duty? Please…” Does she really think that little of me? After everything? “Ali, I was going to ask you to move in with me before you found out you were pregnant.”

  “So you don’t keep asking me to marry you out of some messed up sense of responsibility?” Her eyes searched his. Kaden didn’t get the feeling that she really believed what she was saying. She was scared, just like he was that night at the Cupcakery. “Because I know from experience that never works out.”

  What have I done to make her say that?

  He shook his head slowly. “What do you mean?”

  “You know the situation with my parents.” Alison huffed, impatient. “They hadn’t known each other long when Mom got pregnant. They went into a marriage for one reason and one reason only. Unplanned pregnancy. In other words, me.”

  “Ali—”

  “Look, I’m not saying I wasn’t wanted or loved, at least by my mom.” Her eyes misted. “But my father felt trapped in that marriage, in the family he didn’t want. And when he left…” She hesitated, biting her lip. “You have no idea how much that hurt me. I can’t put this baby through that. If this is just you trying to do the right thing…”

  Everything suddenly came into super clear focus. All of Alison’s fears exposed to him, and it hit him like a punch to the gut that all his actions so far had only helped convince her that her fears were grounded. He had to show her that their situation was nothing like her parents’. That he was nothing like her father. He was here for the long haul and he would show her that every day of their lives from now on.

  “No. Absolutely not. I know we never said that we were exclusive. But to me, we always were. Ali, I love you. And, I know that I didn’t step up when you told me the news. I was dealing with my own things and should’ve included you instead of excluding you. So maybe I don’t have the right to want you the way that I do. But I can’t help it. I’ve wanted you and only you since the day we met. So, no, I’m asking you to be with me, and only me, because I can’t bear the thought of being without you. I want to marry you because I love you.”

  Alison crossed the kitchen and stopped in front of him. “You love me?” she asked in almost a whisper. Her watery eyes now glistened hopefully.

  “I do. I love you so much. I want you to be mine. I want you forever.” Something told him she needed to hear those words from him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” Kaden ran the knuckle of his forefinger along her jawline. Her skin was soft and smooth. “I’ll admit I was terrified when you told me the news. I thought that I needed time to adjust. And the next day I got the news about my mom… ” Everything he said sounded like an excuse. When Alison’s face fell and she glanced down at the floor, he knew that’s what she heard too.

  “Hey,” he said softly, nudging her chin back up so she was looking at him. Her big blue eyes screamed caution. “I know those are all excuses. Turns out that I didn’t need time; I just needed you. No matter what else happened, I know that I want you. Alison, it’s always been you.” He pushed a rogue strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

  “I know you want to be a good dad, and you will be, whether I live here or not.”

  His jaw tightened. He was tired of this “I am woman, let me do it myself” crap. It was getting old. “Ali, if you need me to prove myself to you, I will.”

  She shook her head. Her nose scrunched up a bit. “That’s not what I need.”

  Taking a deep breath, he tried not to show his frustration. “Ali, you think we’re good together. Right?”

  She nodded slowly.

  “I know that you don’t need me to take care of you, but I want to. If you live here, I can make sure you have whatever you need. Food. Vitamins. Milk.” That at least got a smile out of her, which helped melt some of his frustration away. “Don’t pull a Hailee, thinking if you move in with me you’d be here to cook and clean. I do that myself now, and plan on continuing to do that for myself. I’m a big boy. Hell, if I wanted someone to do it for me, I’d hire someone.”

  “True.”

  “I just think… You’re having my baby. Our baby. And I would like us to do this together. All of it. Ali, what do you say?”

  “Kaden, I just don’t know. What about my place? I mean, it’s right above my shop. The bigger I get, the more convenient that will be.”

  Now she was the one making excuses. “And how long do you plan on washing dogs? Six months? Eight months? And are you still going to give skating lessons? How long into the pregnancy do you plan to do that? You’d be closer to the rink here than at your place. And I’d always be willing to help out with on-ice instruction.”

  Alison shook her head in defeat. “I see what you’re doing there.”

  “Well, all you’re giving me is excuses. I’m giving you solutions. Honestly, I think this is best. It’s what I want.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Why do you still doubt me? If being here with me last night wasn’t enough to convince you how much you mean to me, then this might. Let me show you something.” He hadn’t planned on showing her the room yet. It wasn’t at all ready, but this was as good a time as any.

  “Kaden, wait…” Ali protested as he pulled her down the hall to Dom’s old room. She scrunched her face up in confusion when they reached the closed door. “What? Am I going to be sleeping in Dom’s room?”

  Shaking his head, Kaden chuckled. “No. The only place you’ll be sleeping is beside me.” He pulled her tight to his side and flashed his best flirty grin. “I want you to see this.” He held her securely as he opened the door, afraid she’d run away—and he needed her to see this.

  “Kaden, it’s just Dom’s old room.” She rolled her eyes, unimpressed.

  Taking in a deep breath, he held it as the door swung open.

  She stared into the room. “What—What is all this?”

  His stomach was filled with butterflies as his secret was finally on display. Boxes of baby things filled the room. A Pack-n-Play, various sizes of diapers, and a hockey mobile, were just a few of the items he’d picked up during his shopping sprees.

  “Kaden?” Her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open, but no other words came out.

  “Just some things for the baby.”

  “Some things?” Letting go of him, Alison walked slowly into the bedroom. She didn’t speak as she looked around. Kaden opened the closet. Inside hung the baby Renegades jersey he’d bought, various Renegades onesies and soft baby sleepers. Alison followed him to the open closet, and she looked through the neatly hung baby clothes. Her eyes softened as her fingers ran over the Renegades logo on the little baby items. Her voice was quiet and sweet. “Kaden…”

  Her attention was quickly drawn to the corner of the room. “Wait. That’s the crib I wanted. It was too expensive for me to buy yet… and I… but… How did you—” A tear rolled down her cheek as she ran her fingers over the smooth edges of the crib.

  His chest warmed at her response. “Do you even have to ask?” That’s just the reaction he was hoping to get out of her. Surprise and excitement. The look on her face made all of thi
s worth it.

  “Hailee…”

  “There’s more to it than that. I was at the baby store to see what I could find. If you can’t tell, I’ve gone a bit overboard with the shopping. Well, I saw you looking at cribs. I saw you looking at this one, specifically.”

  “You were there? But I didn’t see you.”

  “Technically I was there. Yes. But once I saw you, I… well… I left so you wouldn’t see me. I wasn’t sure how you would react to my being there, since we really hadn’t talked after our awkward miscommunication. I decided giving you space was better. But when I saw your face light up at that crib… Later, I checked in with Hailee to see which one you had chosen.”

  Her sweet grin was slanted and her eyes glistened with delight. “And you bought it.”

  “And I bought it. Now, does this look like I’m only doing this out of… what did you say? Oh yeah, out of a messed up sense of responsibility?”

  She glanced around the room, her face filled with pink. “No.”

  “This could be his nursery. We would paint it, of course. Any color of your choice. I bought that baby mobile, but you get whatever you want for him. Ali, what do you say? Will you move in with me?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Alison

  Alison had worked hard to get where she was in life. Running her own business, a side business, and affording her own place that was conveniently right above her salon. She loved what she did and wasn’t going to give that up. Up until now, Kaden had been supportive of that.

  In her heart, she knew that wouldn’t change. Her stubborn self couldn’t help but say the words though. “But I’m keeping my loft. And I’m still working. My jobs are my babies, well, until I have our baby. But still. They’re mine, and I’m not giving them up.”

  With a shake of his head and amusement in his eyes, Kaden ran his hand down her arm until their fingers were intertwined. “I would never ask you to give those things up, and I think you know that. Ali, I want you to do what makes you happy. Hell, if after we’re married, you want to add two more businesses to your already crazy work life, then you do that. As long as you’re happy, so am I.”