Damaged Love
Page 23
“Yes. Yes. Like that.” My core starts to tighten as pressure takes over.
“I love how tight you grip me when you come, baby,” he breathes out into my neck as his movements quicken. I know he’s close, and I know he’s taking it easy on me. I reach my leg around and grind my heel into his ass, spurring him on. His thrusts come quicker...harder, until moments later he starts spilling inside of me.
“Damn, I love you so fucking much,” he whispers into my ear, squeezing me for dear life.
“I love you, too, Jet,” I reply before kissing him on the temple.
Regretfully, Jet pulls out of me, and the two of us walk to the bathroom where we bump into each other several times. “Sorry.”
Instead of replying, Jet latches on to my hand. “We need a bigger bathroom. Definitely a bigger shower.” Both my heart and my hand freeze. He said we, not you.
“The bathrooms in this building are all the same size,” I add.
“Then let’s move. I’m living here, anyway. Let’s make it official. I’ll sell my place, and we can move closer to your studio.”
“Umm.” I knew at some point that we’d move to the next stage in our relationship, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen this fast.
“How attached to this place is Max? I was thinking if he was okay with moving closer to Manhattan, I could do a remodel on a building my dad bought years ago.”
My eyes shot straight to Jet’s. He’s serious. “You’d want to include Max in this move?”
“Of course. Alana would be devastated, otherwise. Plus, Max has grown on me.” His comment causes me to break out in a huge smile.
“Really?”
Jet reaches out and wraps a hand around my neck. “You and Max have a bizarre arrangement, but it works. Who am I to mess with that? Plus, if he lives across from us, he can watch our kids for us when we want to go out.”
“Our kids?” I question as my eyes go wide.
“Yes. Alana plus the ones we’re going to have,” he states in a carefree tone.
“How do you know we’re going to have kids?” I ask.
“C’mere.” He pulls on my hand and takes me back to my bedroom. He opens a drawer and moves his hand around until he finds whatever he’s looking for. When he turns back to me, he’s wearing a huge smile.
“Rachel Ashmore,” he says as he drops down to one knee, “will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” My mouth falls open as I take in what he said along with the ring he’s holding.
A ring! He had this planned before today.
“Well?” he nervously questions, bringing my attention back to him.
“Yes!” I shout before he stands up and wraps his arms around me.
“Thank God. You were freaking me out there for a second. Oh, and I’m thinking two kids. Three if you make it worth my while,” he adds with a smirk.
“Oh my God. We’re getting married!” I scream loud enough that everyone in our building probably heard me.
“Yes, we are, baby, and I promise from the bottom of my heart to spend the rest of my life making you happy.”
RACHEL
SIX YEARS LATER
THERE WAS A TIME IN my life when the darkness cast a shadow dark enough that I wasn’t able to see even a flash of light. I stopped focusing on the good and only saw evil everywhere I looked. I knew the real beauty the world had to offer, but I gave up thinking I was ever going to receive it.
A person can come into your life for only a brief moment and manage to leave a lasting impression. Years ago, I thought our story had ended, little did I know it had just begun.
* * * *
“It’s your turn.” I lightly jab Jet in his side with my elbow.
“Okay. I’m getting up,” he sweetly replies before jumping out of the bed.
Seconds later, the crying stops, and I hear Jet through the monitor. “Shh, my sweet angel. Daddy has you.” Every single time I hear Jet refer to himself as Daddy, I smile. Jet loves Alana—as if she’s his own—however, she calls Max Daddy and calls Jet by his first name.
Jet and I married within six months of his proposal, and from the day we said I do, Max has lived across the hall from us. Over the years, we’ve heard a lot of people tell us we’re crazy to keep this arrangement, and honestly, I never expected it to last this long, but we’re lucky. Both Max and I married people who eventually came to see how easy we had made life for Alana.
“Oh, you’re fighting sleep. Shh...” I smile.
Jet wanted a litter of children to fill our house, but I convinced him two more was enough. Even though he has a sister, he missed out on the joys that siblings usually share and he didn’t want his own children to feel the same way.
Three years ago, we had our son, Nickolas Russell McKenzie. He’s beyond funny and keeps us on our toes. Ten months ago, we had our daughter, Ashmore Charlotte McKenzie, and she has her daddy wrapped around every one of her chubby little fingers.
Two years ago, Max married a woman that brought a spark I didn’t know we were missing to our group. Like Jet, she had her own concerns that Max was holding a torch for me, but she quickly learned otherwise. They’re expecting their own child any day now, and I couldn’t be happier.
I feel the bed dip, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Ash fell asleep in my arms and didn’t wake up when I laid her back down.”
Jet pulls me tight against his body and snuggles his face into my neck. “Love you,” he mumbles as his body slowly relaxes as he falls back asleep.
I lived most of my life in either chaos or fear, but thanks to Jet and the family we’ve made together, I love hard, laugh often, and I finally learned that dreams really do come true because I’m living mine.
A special thank you to Colette Trainer, Katie Benson, Chantal Baxendale, Kaley Warner, Louise Holroyd & Katherine Clarke for taking the time to read and provide feedback. You ladies are priceless!
To My PA, Lainey Da Silva, thank you for your endless support. Your friendship and loyalty mean the world to me.
To my amazing cover designer and friend Jules Cabrera you seriously light up my world. I love you to pieces.
To the readers in my reading group, Riann’s Readers, I enjoy chatting with each and every one of you. Thank you for sharing a part of your world with me.
And last but never least, thank you to my amazing family. I don’t want to imagine a world without you.
Riann C. Miller is a wife and a mother of two. She was born and raised in the Mid-West where she still lives today.
Shortly after she discovered her addition to reading romance novels she started writing reviews and it wasn’t long before actively blogging turned to a desire to write her own romance novels.
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