by JB Salsbury
She doesn’t meet my eyes. “I felt like shit not telling you sooner. I mean, hell, your parents were like second parents to me. After everything Nash has gone through, I hated that Dustin did that to him.” She picks at a loose thread on her blanket. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but whatever he felt for you in high school only intensified after you left. He was so drunk, jealous of Lucas, that he told me later what he’d done. I think he felt bad about it after, but that doesn’t make it okay. I would’ve said something sooner, but Lucas wasn’t my favorite person at the time either so…”
“I understand.”
“You do?”
I sigh, long and hard, so over all this drama between us. “Do you think we could start over? You know, put all the hurt feelings and animosity behind us and just go back to being friends?”
I watch her swallow and she nods. “I’d like that.”
After getting all the heavy stuff out of the way, we catch each other up on the last five years of our lives. She tells me about a secret crush she’s been harboring for the young dentist who moved to town a few years ago, and I tell her some of the better stories of college life, making sure to leave Trevor out of every one of them. After a while, she loses steam and I take my cue to leave.
“Get some sleep, okay?” I fold over her and kiss the matted hair above her forehead.
“Thanks for coming.” She squeezes my hand. “I missed this.”
“Me, too, but we’ve got a lifetime to catch up.”
She yawns and the way it stretches her battered face makes me cringe. “So you’re staying in Payson?”
My mind cranks back to Lucas, all the plans we talked about between making love last night, and yeah…“I’m staying.”
She grins and her hold on my hand goes slack as her good eyelid slides closed. “Good.”
And with that, my future just got a whole lot brighter.
Epilogue
Shyann
Three years later…
“Where do you want this?” Cody’s standing in the doorway to my new office, holding a box labeled with my name and HEAVY: Don’t let her lift this.
I swivel around in my brand-spankin’ new ergonomic desk chair and point to the corner next to my new file cabinets. “Over there would be great.”
He drops it down with a thunk and I take another rotation in my seat, checking out the one-hundred-eighty-degree view from my picture windows. Even though it’s winter and there’s snow covering everything from treetops to blacktop, the office is warm due to the woodstove we had put in the lobby. I love this place.
It only took two years and eight months to convince my dad that Jennings needed a better office space, a more visible location, and a structure that would exemplify the product we produce. It took another four months for the place to be built, and today is moving-in day.
“You gonna unpack all that?” My brother motions to the boxes he’s been bringing in and leaving where I direct him to.
“Eventually.”
“I love it here!” Sam calls from her office located directly across the lobby from mine. “I can see Star Valley from my desk!”
Shortly after Sam recovered from her injuries, she took some accounting classes at the satellite school and my dad hired her on. It’s been so much fun working with her. We chase my dad out most days with our incessant chatter, so he’s on job sites more, which only helps business.
In the last couple years, Jennings Contractors has doubled. Not only did Payson open a fancy new country club and resort in town, but also the housing prices in Phoenix have gone up, so many have left to seek out the more affordable lifestyle that Payson can offer.
“Hey, I brought you a decaf. That fancy pod coffeemaker is the bomb.” Sam puts a mug on my still-empty desk and props her legging-covered hip on the arm of my chair. She sighs long and hard, mirroring my feelings on the place. “So much better than the portable. I could live in here.”
“I know, right?” I blow on my steaming cup of coffee. “Although, what would Doctor Smile say?”
She blushes and shakes her head. “He’d drag me back to our place, still smiling of course.”
“Of course.”
Sam and the town’s hotshot dentist, Dr. Gregory Post, just got engaged after living together for over a year. He’s a great guy, always happy, which is what earned him his nickname. She’s suffered from night terrors and panic attacks after what Trevor did to her. A few months after her attack, Phoenix police caught the Shadow—an ex-con from Texas who got a rush from beating up women—when he attempted to attack a woman who also held a black belt in the martial arts. The man got a taste of what he’d been putting women through and is now serving a life sentence in state prison. Although Sam was inspired by the woman’s story, she still hasn’t felt safe. Until Dr. Greg insisted she get therapy. Even though she still struggles with the attack, I’ve never seen Sam happier or more settled.
I take a sip of my coffee just as Cody brings in another box, this one labeled Shy’s Desk with a big FRAGILE scrolled on the side.
“Oh, here! I’ll take that.” I reach to grab it, but my brother moves past me and sets it on my desk.
“Nice try,” he mumbles.
I roll my eyes and ignore him, digging into my box.
Cody motions to Sam. “Once you two are done chitchatting, maybe you could start getting some actual unpacking done.” He flashes a teasing smile.
“Eh…he’s probably right.” Sam skips off. “I’ll be in my suite if you need me.” She giggles and slaps Cody in the gut as she passes him.
My brother’s footsteps shuffle toward the door, but he calls out, “Be careful,” before he leaves.
“Overprotective much?” I mumble.
“Ha! I’m nothing compared to—”
“Puleaze! Don’t even say it. All you men are equally as bad!” I slide my hands under the box to move it to my seat so that I can pull things out and place them on my desk.
“Who is equally as bad— Whoa!” Firm hands grasp my hips from behind, the touch as familiar as my own. “Put the box down, baby.” Those warm hands slide around my waist to my belly, rubbing circles on the six-month baby bump that stretches the fabric of my sweater.
“Lucas, I’m fine. I can lift a box to my—”
“No.” His lips skate up my neck, kissing and tempting, until he nips at my earlobe.
I shiver in his arms and press my thighs together as desire rushes through my veins like a flash fire. His chuckle vibrates against my skin. I tilt my head to expose more of my neck, a silent plea for more. “You love teasing me.”
“Mmm…” He moves his attention from my neck to my jawline. “Our baby’s doing beautiful things to your body. I think it’s you who loves teasing me.” He flexes his hips into my lower back and I gasp at how hard he is.
“I think, I wonder, if we could take a break? Ya know, just um…” I lick my lips, unable to concentrate past what his mouth is doing against my skin to string together a complete thought.
“Nash is in his office; probably not smart to do dirty things to his daughter with him in the next room.”
“Well…” I’m panting now as his teeth run the length of my neck. “As your wife, I will take control of our Netflix membership and torture you with historical biographies every night for the next year if you don’t put out this fire you’ve created between my legs.”
Another chuckle, this one deeper, darker, dangerous.
“Gage…” His name falls from my lips on a moan. “Take me home.”
“Like you have to ask.” He swoops me up in his arms and crashes his lips to mine in a kiss that robs me of breath. Our tongues glide together and he sucks at my mouth as if it’s the last drop of water in the desert.
I slide my hands around his nape, fisting the hair that sticks out beneath his ball cap, and moan when he sinks his teeth into my bottom lip. “Home.”
“Fuck, yeah.” He carries me from my office and through the lobby, past my brother
carrying a box, and some of the Jennings crew doing some last-minute finishing work.
“Be back in an hour, Dad!” I holler over Gage’s shoulder.
“Hey! Careful going down the stairs with her!” my dad yells from his new executive office. “She’s in a delicate cond—”
“She’s safe on my watch, Nash,” Gage calls back.
“You guys, I’m fine!”
“I thought the honeymoon was over.” I can hear my dad’s grumbled laughter as I’m carried over the threshold and across the snow-covered earth.
“Not even close!” Gage nips at my lips.
I claw his shoulders, pulling myself in tighter to protect myself against the icy cold. My breasts, now bigger and a lot more sensitive, brush against the firm plain of his pectorals and we both groan in anticipation.
He manages to open the passenger side of his new truck, this one complete with seat warmers and four doors to accommodate our growing family. He slides me inside, reaches over me to fasten my seat belt, and pulls back, his dark gaze boring into mine. “We’re gonna share this one.”
To anyone else, those five simple words probably seem meaningless, but they warm and cramp my heart all at the same time. Ever since I became pregnant, neither one of them have managed to stay away for long. Gage is more protective than ever; the tiniest thing, like me carrying in groceries or pulling out a stepladder, triggers the change. They flip back and forth daily, whereas before the baby I’d only see Gage about once a week. As hard as I know this is on Lucas, having Gage take over when Lucas would rather stay close, I love spending time with both of them. Each one has managed to offer a kind of beauty I never knew existed. Lucas’s tender, artistic, gentle side is what I crave. He’s the one I want to curl up to watch movies with and fall into the safety of every night. When we’re together, he loves with a passion that has brought me to tears, with a dependence that aches so deep it’s almost painful. Gage is our guardian. He’s fierce, loyal, brave, and demanding. When we make love, it’s without boundaries, without shame or record of the past. It’s free and rough and so intense it shakes the very foundation of my soul.
I cup his jaw and drop a gentle kiss to his lips. “Whatever you need.”
He blinks, and his eyes dart to the side before he focuses back on me. “He’s worried this is too much for you.”
“Never. But honestly, Gage, if you don’t get me home and in our bed—hell, at this point I’d settle for this truck, anyplace warm will do—I’m going to explode.”
His eyes flare and the corner of his mouth lifts. “Done.”
Gage
My wife.
My fucking wife!
Will it ever sink in?
Staring at her now, her black hair fanned out around her face, those lips that’ve brought me more pleasure than should be legal for any man to enjoy, relaxed and slightly tipped up on the ends. Her naked body sprawled out before me, swollen in the middle with the baby our love brought to life growing strong inside her. There’s not a single inch of her that I don’t love, that I wouldn’t worship. That I wouldn’t die to protect.
And she’s mine.
“Stop staring and come hold me.”
Her words call me to action. I crawl my naked body over hers until my chest is seated between her thighs, my arms braced on either side of her belly.
I run my lips from one hip bone to the other, taking the time to nip around her belly button and leave a trail of wet kisses in my wake. “You feelin’ okay?”
“Mmm…” Her hips roll against my chest and I bite my lip against an animalistic growl. “Feels really good.”
I grin against her skin. “Not what I asked, baby.”
“I’m fine, I feel fine, we’re all fine, I promise. If anything were wrong, you’d be the first to know.”
“He’s getting so big.” I palm her belly like a small basketball. “He’s not hurting you, is he?”
She pushes up on her elbows and forks her fingers through my hair. “No, he’s not hurting me.”
I try to relax, but ever since I found out about the baby, I’ve been a nervous fucking nightmare. Congratulations, you’re pregnant. Here’s an injection of psychopath with a dose of homicidal tendencies. I can’t believe she hasn’t told me to fuck off and banished me from her life yet. I’ve become the world’s most obnoxious helicopter husband. The worst part is, I don’t know how to stop. I’ve wanted to rip people’s arms off for touching her belly, caught myself growling at the ultrasound appointment, twice. Considered very strongly gutting her doc during a very routine exam.
It’s Luke who’s saved me. I’ve tapped in to the calm he feels every time he’s around Shy. I’ve managed to harness the tingling warmth that envelops his chest when they’re together. I’ve paid attention to the way he talks to her, the soothing tenor of his voice when she’s freaking out about something like dust mites in the baby’s clothes. He’s great with her, so much better for her than I am right now, and yet she looks at me, like the way she is now, as if I could do no wrong. Like the earth ends and begins with me.
“Have you decided on a name yet?” Her fingers continue to rake across my scalp.
I push up the last foot and a half to drop down to her side, throwing my thigh over hers to keep contact. It looks possessive, but it’s really a weakness. I need to touch her. “I’m leaving it up to Luke. After all, I owe everything to him. I’d never be here, with you, like this, if it weren’t for him.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “Don’t do that! You know I always cry when you get sweet.”
I kiss away a single tear that slides down her cheek. “You cry when Buddy’s sweet. And he’s a dog. He’s not capable of anything else.”
She sighs, and another tear falls. “Aww, Buddy…” Her face screws up and a sob rips from her. “He’s such a good dog.”
Okaaay, that’s my cue.
I brush my lips along her ear. “I love you, Shyann. I’m gonna keep loving you until we’re both long gone from this earth. You and the babies you give us.”
“I love…” She sniffs. “You…” Another sob. “Too.”
Lucas
I come to with my face buried in Shyann’s neck. I breathe her in and start to grin when I hear the not-so-quiet sound of her crying.
Thanks a lot, Gage. Always ducking out when things get sticky.
“Baby…” I wrap her in my arms and pull her to my chest. “Shhh…it’s okay.” I try to soothe her with my touch, but with us both being naked, my hands have minds of their own.
I cup her backside and she wiggles in deeper, her legs straddling my thigh and the firm bump of her belly at my hip.
“I’m okay. It’s just…”
“Gage bein’ sweet again.”
Another loud sob and then hot tears hit my throat. “Yes! I liked it better when I couldn’t cry!”
A laugh rumbles in my chest. “I don’t.”
She pulls back, her puffy eyes meeting mine. “You don’t?”
“Nope.” I run my thumb along her full lower lip.
“But…I’m a mess!”
Sifting my fingers into her hair, I pull her down so her lips are just a breath away from mine. “Yeah, but I love cleaning you up.”
Our lips come together in a sensual touch. She breathes against me, “You’re too good to me.”
I roll her to her back, taking care to shift my lower body to the side to keep from crushing her belly. “You always say that.”
Her tongue slides into my mouth, and it’s just like that first kiss. My stomach leaps into my chest and butterflies explode behind my ribs, because finding Shyann was like opening a door to a different life. We’ve found acceptance, not only in her love and loyalty to us, but also in her family. In this town. She’s given us more than we’d ever dreamt we could have, and no matter how unworthy of us she feels, she has to know that we’re the grateful ones.
Her hips thrust against me and I rip my mouth from hers. Ravenous for her taste, I slide down, sucking her swoll
en nipple and circling it with my tongue. Her back arches off the bed and the sound of her cries echoes off the A-frame walls of our newly added loft bedroom.
I scoot farther down her body, ravishing her with kisses until I’m between her legs. Her hands grip the comforter at her sides and her knees fall wide open in invitation. I take a second to appreciate her form, her body spread out like a buffet for my senses.
I run a firm hand up her inner thigh, pressing it to the bed to open her more. “You’re so beautiful.” Gliding my tongue up her thigh, I don’t hesitate before plunging it deep inside her. Her taste floods my mouth and I growl into her.
I’m lost to every sound that falls from her lips, every groan that vibrates her entire body, and every pinch of pain from her fingernails. It all shoots straight to my hard-on with a hunger that refuses to be ignored.
She whimpers when I pull away and drop beside her.
“Come here.” I reach over and scoop her up to guide her on top of me.
The second her legs spread wide over my hips, I almost lose myself to the wet heat that swallows me. She grips me and guides me to her, then sinks down slowly until we’re completely connected.
“I love you so much.” Tears still brim in her eyes as she braces herself with her palms pressed flat to my chest, then rolls her hips in waves.
The visual of her moving above me calls to me on a primal level and the sudden urge to have my tongue filling her mouth overtakes me.
I hook her behind the neck and bring her lips to mine. “You own me, Shy. Take what’s yours. Everything good in me, it’s all for you.”
“If that’s true…” Her forehead drops to mine on a long moan. “Let me have the bad too. I want it all.”
I’m panting, holding back the orgasm that’s about to blow through my body, but I grin. “Greedy.”