Broken Series

by Dawn Pendleton

  “What about Dianne’s parents? Won’t they object to an adoption?” I was stalling, looking for any excuse to bolt. I was scared to death.

  “Probably, but considering the threat I left them in Florida with, I doubt they will say a word. I’ve already told them to stay away, but that’s a story for another day. Do you love me, Gabby?” His intense eyes burned into mine.

  “I–”

  “Don’t think, Gabby. Don’t let the what-ifs and the maybes cloud your decision. Do you love me?”

  I closed my eyes. “Yes.”

  I felt him pull me to stand, his strong arms applying gentle pressure on my arms until I was in front of him. “Open your eyes, baby.”

  I did. His were filled with unshed tears and my breath caught. I loved him so much.

  We didn’t need words then. He lowered his lips to mine, my mouth opening to him without any pressure at all. He brought me closer to him, his hands resting possessively on my hips. “Mine,” he growled against my lips.

  And I agreed. I was now, and always had been, his.

  20

  Wolfe

  Few things in the world created such a deep-rooted happiness as the woman I loved laying my arms. Currently, she was moaning as I applied pressure to her clit.

  After checking with Mallory that Katie was alright, I’d carried Gabby into our old bedroom, noticing that one of my old T-shirts was wrapped around the pillow on my side of the bed. I looked pointedly at it and then back to Gabby.

  “I missed you,” she explained. Her words made my heart clench.

  “I missed you, too,” I mumbled, gently laying her on the bed. I helped her out of her hoodie and then slipped off her yoga pants. She hadn’t really gained any weight yet, not that I could tell. I was excited to watch her body grow, to shower her with love and devotion, and to prove to her that I wasn’t going anywhere. She might always worry, but I wasn’t about to give her anything to worry about ever again.

  When I helped her out of her bra, I noticed that her breasts were already bigger, though, a fact that excited me more than a little. She had been perfect, but I had to be honest, I was a boob man.

  “They’re sensitive,” she murmured, her face going red with a full blush. “So be easy.”

  As if I could ever not be in tune with her body signals. But I respected her wishes with a nod and lowered my mouth to one of her areolas. I sucked the puckered nipple into my mouth and she groaned in satisfaction. I kept up my assault on her senses and eventually pushed her back onto the bed so I could get her panties off.

  Once she was naked before me, I helped her scoot farther up the bed, knowing there wouldn’t be much need for foreplay. We were both more than ready. I kissed her ankle, working my way up her leg, driving her crazy. I knew very little about pregnancy, but I did know that sex during pregnancy wouldn’t harm the baby, which I was grateful for.

  I couldn’t wait to start this new life with Gabby. Even though we spent three years together before, it felt like everything would be different this time, better. With Katie and this new baby, our lives would feel whole, complete. And later, I would get the two women in my life better acquainted. But for now …

  I let my teeth graze the inside of her thigh, thoroughly enjoying her shiver. I lifted up, pressing my mouth to her still-flat belly.

  “I’m so glad we are going to experience this together, baby,” I admitted to her, lifting my eyes to hers.

  She was teary and, for a second, I panicked. “Are you okay?” I hefted myself up the bed to lie beside her, my hand cupping her cheek.

  “I’m fine, I promise. You just know exactly what to say to make want to have forever,” she whispered.

  “Don’t you think we deserve it, after all these years?” I asked.

  “Absolutely. I’m just nervous. What happens when I get fat and you start to despise my body as much as I do?” She nibbled on her bottom lip, sucking the plump flesh into her mouth.

  With a sigh, I decided that we still needed to talk before we made love. “You have no idea how I feel, do you?”

  “I know you’ve said that you want to be with me and for me to be a part of your family, mother of your children and all that, but what do you want from me, Wolfe?”

  I laughed a little, sitting up on the pillows behind me and pulling her with me. “I don’t want you for a mother to my children or someone to just be a part of my family. What I truly want, is you. No dishonesty or hiding anything from one another. I want us to be together and to be happy. I love you so damn much, I can’t imagine spending another day without you. When I was in Florida, I was literally in pain from being apart from you.

  “I actually thought that distance would lessen the pain, but I was so wrong. Every mile away was like a thousand knives jabbing my heart until it crumbled into a billion little pieces. And then, when you showed up outside the Chuck E. Cheese, it was like everything came together. My heart repaired itself and I dared to hope, if even for a second, that we had a future together. And then you walked away …” I took a deep breath as I relived the scene where she left me again. “It was a kick in the gut, but I knew, even then, that I would win you back and that I would stop at nothing until you were mine. Now, you are.”

  I watched the play of emotions across her face, reading her like an open book. When she finally settled on relief, I spoke again. “I love you so much, Gabriella. You are my forever.”

  She smiled. “I love you too, Wolfe. I always have and I doubt that I would ever get along without you for too long. These past few weeks have been killing me.”

  I hugged her tightly until she fidgeted and tilter her head toward me. “Take me to bed or lose me forever,” she whispered, quoting the movie we’d watched back at her house on our first date.

  I felt relief flood me; we were both finally ready to take things to the next level, and not just out of passion, but of love. I leaned down to kiss her, pressing light kisses across her mouth until she grumbled.

  “Kiss me already.”

  So I did.

  I put my lips on hers, my tongue seeking and gaining entrance to her mouth. I swept inside, loving every inch I could reach. My hands were at her waist, hers scored marks down my back, even through my shirt. I loved the way she reacted, so open and honest. I pulled away for just a second to grab the hem of my shirt and yank it off. I wanted to be naked with her as fast as possible. Just as I reached for the button on my jeans, she stopped me.

  “Let me,” she demands, her pupils dilated with desire. I’d never wanted her more in my life than I did right then.

  I removed my hands and sat back as she climbed on top of me, her fingers fiddling with the fly of my jeans. She taunted me with her slow movements, but I loved every second of it. When I moved to hold her, she stayed my hands. Ever so slowly, she undid my zipper and between the two of us, she managed to wiggle me out of the jeans. I was down to just my boxers, my erection painfully hard. She rubbed me a little, just to torture me. I moaned at the contact, and she giggled. An actual giggle.

  “You’re tormenting me,” I complained.

  “You like it,” she whispered.

  “Turnabout’s fair play,” I said as I flipped her over on her back. I was gentle, and considering her hysterical laughter, I knew I hadn’t hurt her.

  When the laughter faded, she looked up at me, her beautiful blue eyes glowing with happiness. I brought my lips to hers and kissed her sweetly. It was a perfect kiss.

  “I don’t want to wait anymore,” she whispered against my shoulder when I moved to kiss her neck.

  “Me either,” I agreed.

  I got off the bed and slipped off my boxers, then fell back onto the bed, right between her legs. I trailed my fingers across her stomach and then lower. She was slick, so wet, so perfect. I just wanted to sink myself inside and lose myself in her. I slid my fingers inside her, groaning at the moisture that gathered there. She was ready for me. And I was ready to give her every aching piece of me.

  I put the
bulk of my weight onto my arms and held myself above her. She looked so gorgeous, her head thrown back in passion, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. I leaned down to kiss her and at the same time lowered myself to her body, my dick rubbing against her seductively. She was slick and her hips ground up against mine, desperate for me.

  I pulled back, adjusting myself and then pushing into her, the feeling so perfect that we both moaned in delight. I entered her swiftly and then backed out a little, enjoying the feeling of her tight sheath around me. I thrust into her, faster and faster, driving us both toward that amazing peak.

  “Wolfe!” she yelled, nearing climax. I drove into her harder, willing her to come soon. I wasn’t going to be able to hold out for long. Her body started to quake and I recognized the familiar shimmer of her body.

  Her eyes opened and we watched each other, something I thought would be discomforting during sex, but for us, it was oddly powerful. We rode over the edge of orgasm together, staring into one another’s eyes. I kept my eyes on her as she shattered, as she forced her eyes closed when she came. It was too much for her and tears slid down her face. I wiped away at them as I came, the tremors racking my entire body.

  I stilled inside her, her muscles still squeezing me. “I love you.”

  Her eyes popped open, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “I love you too.”

  21

  Gabby

  It was intense and powerful and mind-boggling. How on earth the man managed to shake me to the very core every single time blew my mind. I lay there, utterly exhausted on our bed, while Wolfe grabbed a shower. The way he tenderly kissed my forehead and rested a hand on my belly for a full five seconds before he walked away was so sweet.

  I was content, for probably the first time in a full year. My healing was complete. Well, almost. We decided to go pick up Katie after our showers and then take her shopping to pick out exactly what she wanted in her room, since she didn’t have much before. We wanted to give her the world, to spoil her rotten.

  The house had plenty of bedrooms, so each of our children would have their own room, their own space, and they would grow up so loved. Wolfe and I needed to talk a little more, but I was certain we were both ready to stop wasting time, to stop running from love and each other. We were ready to move on with our lives and actually start living.

  It was amazing how much we’d both grown up in such a short time. The little things no longer worried us, and we could sit back, relax, and just be happy. Finding out about the peanut was eye-opening for me, as I was sure the knowledge of Katie’s existence was for Wolfe. From here on out, we were going to let love be our guide. As a couple, as parents, and as a family.

  When I looked toward the bathroom, Wolfe was standing there, in just a pair of boxers, his arm up on the doorframe, staring at me.

  I looked down at my naked body self-consciously. “What?”

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “Stop saying that. You’re going to turn my head with fanciful talk like that,” I said with an exaggerated accent.

  “Good. You deserve to know how gorgeous you are, every single moment of every day,” he said, walking over to the bed and sitting next to where I lay. “I made so many mistakes. I don’t want to repeat them. I lost you once, I won’t let it happen again.” He kissed me hand.

  I smiled at him, knowing that if I said anything, I would cry. I got up, placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, and then went into the shower.

  My body hadn’t changed too much, except for my breasts, which seemed huge and were bordering painful. I knew it was only going to get worse, too, which gave me something to look forward to. Not! I turned on the water and lost myself in the steamy shower.

  Several minutes later, a knock on the door shook me from my thoughts.

  “You alive in there?”

  Whoops. “Yeah, sorry. I’ll be out in a minute,” I promised Wolfe. I rushed through washing my hair and then shut off the shower.

  When I opened up the shower curtain, Wolfe was there, holding a towel out for me. I stepped into his arms and he wrapped them and the towel around my body.

  “I love you,” he said, like he was incapable of not saying it all the time. I never tired of hearing it, either.

  “I love you,” I replied.

  In that instant, I knew everything for us was going to be okay, that we were going to make it work this time around. And our life was going to be amazing.

  Epilogue

  Baker

  One year later…

  Being around all the joy and happiness made me uncomfortable. Not to mention all the babies. Babies I would never have, never get to hold or spoil as anything other than my nieces and nephew. It was a selfish thought, I knew, but I couldn’t help it.

  With Rainey gone for over a year now, my life was in shambles. I couldn’t keep a job, regardless of Luke’s endless help. I didn’t need to, having made enough from the bar sale to invest a little and now those investments were paying off in a serious way. Who knew Google would be so big? The problem was, I was too depressed for my own good.

  It was at Thanksgiving that I announced my plans to travel for a year to all my friends and their families.

  “Baker, what are you talking about?” Mallory asked, holding her daughter and patting the baby’s back.

  “I know you guys don’t get it, but I can’t …” I took a deep breath to calm the tears that threatened to overtake me. “I can’t watch you guys live your happily ever after when Rainey is gone, my life is over, and I’ll never be happy again! I’m sick of being the fifth wheel on this train,” I told them.

  Their faces were comical, though I didn’t really find things funny anymore. Once upon a time, I was the jokester, the guy people called a class clown, and definitely the person people called to cheer them up. My wife’s death changed all that, though. I didn’t have enough time with Rainey, and I regretted not fighting harder for her.

  To make up for the guilt that engulfed me, I was going to travel the country on the motorcycle I just bought and try to forget some of the hurt. At the very least, I would be distracted. And for now, that was enough.

  “Baker, I hope you’re joking. The kids all love you, and we will miss you like crazy,” Gabby said, balancing her daughter on her knee.

  “This is something I have to do. I just need you guys to support me.”

  “Of course,” Wolfe said, stepping forward to shake my hand. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

  “Me too,” I mumbled, not sure I would find anything.

  After a round of hugs, Luke asked when I was leaving.

  “Tonight, after dinner. There’s no snow on the ground yet, and I want to head out as fast as I can.”

  Silence met that announcement, but I knew they would appreciate me being gone, even if they didn’t even know it yet.

  “Will you be back for Christmas?” Gabby asked.

  “Doubt it. But you never know. We’ll see,” I added when all four of their faces fell.

  Katie ran into the room and right up to me. “Uncle Baker! Throw me!” she demanded.

  I smiled sadly at her and picked her up. I tossed her in the air, as was normal with our little game, and then caught her as low to the ground as I dared. She trusted me explicitly and I loved her so much.

  Of all the kids, so far, she was my favorite, probably because she could talk and seemed much older than six. The babies were adorable, of course, but they couldn’t play checkers yet, either.

  After dinner, I said my final goodbyes and set out on my bike, ready to figure out what the hell I wanted and how to move on from the woman I loved.

  Time would heal everything, right? Yeah, right.

  ***Author’s note***

  I know many of you are unhappy with the way things turned out for Baker, so I wanted to let you all in on a little secret: Later this year, I will begin releasing a new series (Dreams Series) that will feature Rainey’s siblings, Ember and Dallas, as well as a final
happily ever after for Baker, which, I think, we can all agree he deserves after so much heartache.

  Broken Valentine

  Ch One

  Mallory

  I was elated. Not only had Luke proposed to me last summer, but we were expecting. Having a baby with the love of my life was something I never truly believed would happen to me. Of course, Luke and I had been through a lot over the last four years, especially the past twelve months. And after we were engaged, Luke and I finally settled into a routine.

  Neither of us expected us to get pregnant, but we were both excited for the birth of our child. We were still stuck waiting for our little bundle of joy for another few months, but everything in our lives was finally working out.

  Luke was plowing during the winter months, since carpentry jobs were few and far between. I usually went out with him, and today was no different.

  “Can we please choose a name already?” Luke begged, dropping the plow and scraping the fresh snow.

  I sighed. For weeks, we’d been name choosing. We couldn’t agree on a name for a boy or a girl, and later in the day, I had an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. Both of us said we didn’t care, but I knew Luke wanted a boy. And since we both wanted at least one more child in the next few years, I would be happy for a girl as the second child.

  “Caleb?” I suggested, though not for the first time. For some reason, the name was stuck in my head and I couldn’t completely discard it.

  “I don’t hate Caleb,” Luke emphasized. “I just don’t feel like it’s the one.” He lifted the plow and then put the truck in reverse. “How do you feel about Marcus?”