Caelin nodded before speaking softly. His voice was almost too small for either of them to hear. He hated getting in trouble, and he hated disappointing his parents more than anything. It almost killed the two of them to punish the soft-hearted boy. “Yeah.”
“We already talked about it,” Meredith ruffled the hair on his head. “I think we’re good, aren’t we Cae?”
He nodded, reaching up for Tyler to pick him up. His small hands reaching for the much bigger hands of his dad. Meredith loved to watch them together, loved to watch her husband’s hands, so sure and strong with their kids.
“You’re gonna hurt yourself,” Meredith reprimanded him. Even if almost forty did look good on him, it didn’t mean his body always agreed. He’d worked with his hands most of his life, and while he was in good shape, his back hurt sometimes. “Put Addie down first. You aren’t as young as you used to be.”
“Woman, I’ll show you just how young I am later,” he groaned as he leaned down and picked his son up, too.
Meredith liked the sound of that. She absolutely loved when Tyler felt like he needed to prove his prowess to her. She let her eyes devour him from the top of his straight black hair to the boots on his feet. Everything about him screamed manly man and she liked to be his damsel in distress.
Tyler gave Caelin a kiss on the cheek, catching sight of something in his hair. It was a color he’d never expected to see in his child’s hair, at least until he was a teenager going through a phase. “Why is your hair pink right there?”
“That would be Hotter Than You….it’s an OPI nail polish…and it sticks. He’s gonna have a pink streak for a while. I’ve washed his hair three times and it hasn’t even faded.”
She giggled, seeing the horrified look on Tyler’s face.
“I like it,” Addie piped up from where she hung onto his back. “I wanna get my nails painted that color when we go to Christy’s shop again,” she told her mom. “Please, Mom! Make sure she knows this is the color I want. For my nails and my toes.”
Meredith was beginning to think she’d maybe made a mistake – taking Addie with her all the time. “I will Addie, calm down,” she told her daughter.
Tyler blew out a breath, hoping to calm his own nerves. This was one situation that had never happened before with them. Their kids were usually so well behaved. “I guess it is what it is.”
She nodded, pushing back their son’s shoulder-length hair. Dreading what she was about to suggest. They’d never taken a pair of scissors to Caelin’s hair, and it almost gave her a panic attack to say the words. “Either that or we cut it.”
At the mention of cutting it, Caelin went into complete melt-down mode. He wanted hair as long as his dad’s.
Tyler gripped his son tighter, as he started fighting against his hold. Having his hair cut seemed to be much more distressing than having a little bit of it pink. “We won’t cut it. It’ll come out eventually, right?”
They could all only hope so.
‡
Chapter Two
Meredith breathed a sigh of relief when she looked at the clock. Nine PM. This time of night was hers and Tyler’s alone. Dinner, bath time, and bedtime were done and they could just be with each other.
Towel-drying her hair, she had a seat on their bed, exhaling deeply. It’d been a long day, one of the longest she could remember in the past couple of years. Probably since she first started working at CRISIS. With Christmas only weeks away, CRISIS was filling up. They’d taken in more women and children in the last two weeks than they had the previous six months combined. Something about the holidays brought out the worst in some people, and relationships that were on the brink through most of the year hit their breaking point come December first. It was almost as if a switch flipped and there were no more compromises in marriages or dating couples, instead they spoke words meant to get a rise and acted on things meant to hurt.
She could understand it. Too many families lived paycheck to paycheck and then came the stress of how are we going to pay for this? Kids didn’t understand the balancing act most parents had to perform in order to give them a Santa miracle or even any Christmas presents at all. Moms and dads felt the pressure and sometimes, they snapped, just like a rubber band. Too much pressure broke it in half. Especially when most of them were trying to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head. Forget extra expenses, many of them were doing their best just to meet basic needs. That feeling of inadequacy did nothing to help prevent the situations that brought women and children to CRISIS. A prevention program was something Meredith wanted to explore after New Year’s. Like everything else, even in her personal life, she lacked the time to get everything done. She used herself as an example all the time: life didn’t pick and choose, it flat-out gave dumped you into situations and forced you to react. Sometimes those reactions weren’t so good.
“Hey babe.”
She looked up at the sound of her husband’s voice. Her eyes followed the movement of his body as he came into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. Not much had changed about Tyler Blackfoot from the first time she’d seen him all those years ago. He still wore his authority like a suit of armor. His eyes were still the darkest pools of emotion she’d ever gotten lost in, and his body would always be the most magnificent piece of artwork she’d ever seen. Letting her gaze travel down, and then back up, she focused on his mouth, which was smiling at her, the motion drawing attention to the laugh lines she loved so much.
Getting up, she walked over and put her arms around him, snuggling in close to the warmth of his skin. “Today was a long day,” she sighed, letting her worries wash away as she settled against him.
Tyler’s big hand came around, cupping the back of her head, and holding her for a few breaths. Carefully, he asked. “You wanna talk about it?”
Sometimes she shared her days with him, sometimes she didn’t. Many days she saved her worst cases for Doc Jones. There were things he couldn’t help her with, and they both accepted that. She exhaled heavily against his chest, inhaling immediately after because she loved his scent. It centered her and gave her the courage to continue. “This girl,” she started and stopped. Her mouth snapped shut as she struggled to find the words.
Tyler bent down and lifted her up into his arms. He walked over to the bed, sat down and settled her onto his lap. “C’mon, you can talk to me about anything. You know that. Even if I don’t give great advice about this part of your life, I’m here to listen at least. You know I’ll be your sounding board every day for the rest of our lives.”
She did, Meredith knew that with all her heart, but even this many years after her attack, it was still hard to talk about triggers. It was hard to admit to anyone, but things still affected her. It was at the oddest of times and the weirdest things, too. She’d never know from one day to the next would do it, and that part of having triggers really pissed her off. “This girl and her daughter came into CRISIS today. The daughter is young, probably a year old, and the girl looks to be about twenty, twenty-one. I didn’t look at her paperwork,” she trailed off, lost in thought and memories she would never be able to let go completely. In a way, she never wanted to forget what happened to her, because it had changed her life in more ways than one. It’d brought her to Tyler, and it had given her the kind of direction in life she wouldn’t have had otherwise. She wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but without a doubt, it had steered her life in the direction it was always meant to go.
“Do you see yourself in this girl?” he asked carefully, running his hand down her back in a soothing motion.
She buried her head in his neck, nodding. It was easy to recall how hard it had been in the beginning for her accept even his hand trailing over her back. Hopefully this girl would be able to stand a man’s touch again, and she prayed the girl would end up with someone like Tyler. Everyone deserved to be loved – and she knew she was so blessed to have the love of this good man. “She was beat up, Ty, somebody did a number on her. Her clot
hes were torn too. She told me she’d run through the woods and that’s how they got torn, but she’s walking with a limp, and it looks like it’s hard for her to sit down. I remember that,” silent tears rolled down her cheeks, and she pushing them away angrily. “I remember how that felt.”
His grip tightened on her. “I do too,” he whispered.
“It brought back a lot,” she sniffed, trying to get control of her emotions. A shuddering breath helped her to relax, but it didn’t keep the emotions at bay. “But it also showed me how far I’ve come, too. That girl has a lost look in her eyes, and I know if it hadn’t been for you showing me all the good still waiting for me, I’d still have that lost look in my eyes, too.”
“If I could, I’d take care of him for you again,” he made the vow in a deadly calm voice.
“I know you would,” she pushed his hair back from his face, searching those bourbon hued eyes of his. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to do it for the woman, who she wasn’t sure had someone in her life to go to bat for her. That was the hard part about being the voice for these women, she wanted to make all their situations better, she wanted to take all their pain away.
“You’re what brought me back from the edge.”
They both knew without a doubt she spoke the truth. There was no Tyler without Meredith, no Meredith without Tyler. They couldn’t exist without each other.
“So,” she finished on a long sigh. “It’s been a hell of a long day.”
He chuckled, the sound muffled against her hair. “And you walked into Caelin playing with pink fingernail polish.”
“The new pink fingernail polish I bought for Addie, too,” she grumbled. “Bless Doc Jones for watching our offspring when we need an emergency babysitter, but dear God, do they run all over her!” she laughed along with him, shaking her head. She still couldn’t believe he’d managed to cause the damage he’d been able to in minutes. They were going to have to really watch him as he got older. “She couldn’t use a stern voice with those two if it fell out of the sky and landed on her face.”
Tyler wrapped her up tightly in his arms, pulling her back against his chest on the bed. Fluffing his pillow, he pulled it closer, sticking his arm underneath it, to give it some support. “C’mon babe, let’s get some sleep.”
Normally she’d argue with him, wanting to spend more time talking. This was the only time they got most days, unless they made it a date night, or they both took off work early. It wasn’t easy having two toddlers, but they were making it work. It was a delicate balancing act, and so far, they had it together. Tonight, though, was different. She wanted to be in his arms and enjoy the comfort and safety he gave her. This was her favorite place in the world.
‡
Chapter Three
The first fingers of light were curling in around the edges of the curtains in Tyler and Meredith’s bedroom. The soft light was just enough to wake him up. He’d always been an early riser and hadn’t had an alarm clock since he was a teenager. He realized that he and Meredith hadn’t moved once they’d fallen asleep. His arm had gone numb and he cautiously flexed his fingers, hoping to get the circulation going. Seeing that they hadn’t even moved the covers, he chuckled softly. Both of them must have been carrying a lot of tension to be so exhausted they hadn’t even rolled over.
Reaching behind him, he grabbed his cell phone off the bedside table and quickly scrolled through his contacts, looking for one name in particular. Without disturbing his wife, he sent a text to Drew, telling him they were taking the day off from working out. What Tyler didn’t tell Drew was he’d be getting his cardio in, but it’d be by burying himself balls deep inside his woman. They both needed it more than they knew and he was man enough to admit he needed her in a bad way. He waited impatiently for Drew to text him back, which the little shit did with a sure and a winky emoticon. Fucking emoticons. He checked the time, seeing they had at least an hour before the first of their little hellions would be up. It wasn’t nearly enough – he wanted all day with her, but he could work with an hour. Fuck, he’d make it work. Setting his phone back on the bedside table, he got himself comfortable against Meredith’s back and went to work.
There were times when he was hesitant to come at her like this, but since they’d slept the whole night with his front to her backside, he figured they were safe. Even after what they’d talked about last night. There were small clues she threw off when she was feeling threatened, and none of those clues were being displayed or had been the night before. Moving slightly to situate himself more comfortably, he ran his hand lightly down her throat, over her unbound breast (inhaling a little deeper when he felt the hard nub of her nipple), over her stomach and straight into the scrap of panties she wore to bed with him. If it were up to him, they wouldn’t wear clothes to bed at all, but since Addie started exploring on her own, and coming in unannounced, they were both much more comfortable being clothed. Neither of them wanted to scar a child that young if she happened to see something she wasn’t supposed to.
Scooting himself further down the bed, he latched onto her neck, suckling at the soft skin there. Her scent enveloped him as he nosed her hair to the side, and it took everything in him not to go hugely alpha male on her. She moaned, adjusting her thighs so there was more room for him to work, encouraging his fingers to enter her as she thrust up towards him. Meredith was always wet for him, and right now was no exception. Not caring about waking her up anymore, Tyler moved his other arm so he hugged her tightly, his free hand going to the hardened nipple of her left breast, rolling the skin between his thumb and forefinger, applying slight pressure as he pulled at the taut nub. Meredith loved when he did that, and he felt like pulling out all the stops for her.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, pushing up against his fingers, thrusting her nipple towards the palm of his hand.
Her legs widened further and he literally felt her intake of breath against his forearm. She was positively vibrating with the arousal he could smell coming off of her in waves now.
“Feel good?” The tone of his voice surprised even himself. It was deeper and darker than he’d ever heard it come out of his own mouth. Dipping his fingers to the knuckle inside her sweet heat, he used his thumb to rub her clit, wanting to make her crazy with need. There was a particular rhythm she loved, and he made sure to keep up the pressure, forcing her to give herself up to him.
“Shit,” she breathed out, turning her head into his. Morning breath be damned, they kissed like two teenagers making out in the backseat of a car. Her hands went to both of his, directing their movements against her body. Their fingers tangled as she helped him arouse her core, just as much as he had on his own. It was the hottest thing he’d ever felt as their fingers slipped back and forth, coated with her wetness.
It never failed to amaze him how much smaller she was than him and it was never more apparent than when she put her hand over top of his. It turned him on more than he cared to admit. Being stronger and bigger than Meredith, wanting to protect her, never failed to get him hard as a rock.
He moaned when her tongue dueled with his, loving the slight nip she gave his bottom lip as he pulled away. She chased him with small kisses, and Tyler loved that chase. So many times when they’d first gotten together, she’d been scared to express the sexual needs she had but they’d obviously gotten her over that hurdle. Her ass pushed back against his hard cock, causing him to abandon teasing her nipple and pull her tighter against him. The hand across her stomach spanned her from hipbone to hipbone, reminding him again how much bigger he was, spiking his arousal. If possible he felt himself grow harder, and if anyone interrupted this, he would be interested in showing them the business end of his gun – unless it was their children.
“Fuck, Mer,” he couldn’t help the thrust of his own body against hers, even if it were through two layers of clothing. It felt better than he remembered, and it wasn’t like it’d been a long time since they’d done this. It was the fact they were letting t
he tension go, trying to make themselves breathe easier and not be wound so damn tight. Life was a bitch sometimes, and you had to have your release – no matter what it was.
“Fuck me, Tyler,” she panted, the air coming out of her mouth in short bursts.
He felt her hands going to that scrap of panties again and trying to push them down, but fuck that, he could get rid of them even easier. He withdrew his hand from in between her thighs, and goddamn if she didn’t thrust up, trying to follow him. That motion of pure passion was enough to undo him, there was nothing sexier than her when she wanted hers. To know he’d helped her discover that piece of herself was heady, and he’d take credit for it every day of the week, because he had helped her. It wasn’t his victory alone, but he loved her more than he’d loved anything else in his life, and that love had seen them through a hell of a lot.
“Give me a second, baby,” he soothed her, trying to assure he’d be back to finish what he started when she whined. No way in hell was he leaving her wanting anything. She’d never been left wanting and she never would be. If there was one thing he was great at, it was pleasuring his wife.
Taking the lace in his fingers, he yanked hard, separating the fabric and pulling it from her body. Then he got his boxers down just far enough so that he could pull his cock over the top of the waistband. It was hot how rushed they were, how excited they both were to get to the finish line. They didn’t have much time, and normally rushing wouldn’t have been sexy, but damn if it wasn’t today. He wanted his and he sure as hell wanted her to have hers.
Reaching down, he pulled her leg up with a big hand on her thigh, and he groaned, feeling her grasp his hard length, guiding him inside her body. Feeling her fingers around his cock was enough to make it jump, enough to make him catch his lip between his teeth. He wanted to go at her hard, but a part of him pulled back, and let himself enjoy the first push into her heat. It allowed him to savor the way she enveloped the head, and then slid down further on the length until he was fully inside. There had never been another woman that could bring him to his knees, and he knew if he’d been standing – that’s exactly where he’d be right now. And this moment, above any in his life, he knew was his favorite besides adopting Addie or the birth of Caelin. There was no other place he’d rather be.
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