by Sam Crescent
She loved him so much, and this separation was killing the both of them.
When the doorbell rang, her nerves went right up.
Running her fingers through her hair, she tried to calm herself and gave up.
This was it. After tonight they were either together, or they weren’t. No more backing down. No more second guessing. They would be together or not.
Depending on if Dale could handle it. She knew she could.
Taking a deep breath, she walked toward the door. Dale stood with flowers in hand, looking so nervous.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey, you.” She smiled at him, hoping to relieve some of the fear and panic.
“I bought you some flowers.” He held them out, and she took them.
“Thank you. They’re beautiful. Come on in.”
She had to remember she could do this. She could be nice, cool, calm, collected, sweet, charming, nice.
Dale stepped inside her home, and she just couldn’t take it anymore.
“I love you, and I don’t want you to stay away anymore.” She spoke the words fast so she didn’t back down or chicken out. “I don’t want us to be like this. Not for our child.”
They’d opted out of finding out if they were having a boy or girl. They wanted to be surprised.
Dale cupped her cheek, pressing her up against the wall as he claimed her lips. “Fuck, Mandy, I thought you would never ask. I’m so sorry about everything. So freaking sorry. I will do everything in my power to earn your forgiveness.”
“Shut up and kiss me. All I ask in return is you love me, never step out on me, and you’re the best damn father this could have. That’s all I want.”
“Then consider it yours.”
He slammed his lips down on hers, and for Mandy, she knew she’d done the right thing. Feeling this way, loving him, he was her life.
They had a long way to go, but she couldn’t kick him out of her life. They were going to have a baby together, and besides that, she loved him. Nothing else mattered other than her love for him.
He picked her up, and as they passed the kitchen, she put a hand on his chest. “Wait, I cooked,” she said.
“Is it a salad?”
“Yes.”
“So at worst it’s going to get warm.”
“Yeah.”
“It can wait.”
He carried her toward her bedroom, and she didn’t have a single problem with that.
****
Four months later
“That’s it, baby, push. Push.” Dale held onto his wife as she screamed.
Their baby was coming out, and he couldn’t stand to see her in pain. He had to hold onto her, as otherwise he’d kill the son of a bitch who was currently trying to help his wife.
He and Mandy, it hadn’t been easy. After she discovered his fuck-up, he’d really thought she was going to walk away from him. By getting her pregnant, he hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but to give himself a chance to catch her.
Only, it hadn’t worked that way. He’d nearly lost her, and he knew what an asshole that made him.
She’d forgiven him, and now he got to prove to her every single day how much he loved her, wanted her, cared about her, and wanted to be with her. She was his entire life.
The love of his life.
He couldn’t ask for anyone better.
The love he felt for her, he just wanted to be with her, every second of every single day. That’s why he knew he wouldn’t fuck this up again. He was done messing everything up. His love for her meant everything to him.
The sound of a baby’s scream filled the air as Mandy collapsed back again.
“Is our baby okay?” she asked.
“Is it?” Dale asked.
He didn’t know if their baby was a boy or girl, but he wanted to know.
“You have a beautiful baby girl,” the nurse said, bringing them their little girl, wrapped in a white blanket.
“Oh,” Mandy said, sniffling.
“What’s the matter, baby?”
“We have a little girl. A daughter.”
The nurse put the baby in Mandy’s arms, and she laughed. Dale stroked the back of her hair, staring down at his little bundle of joy.
This was his little girl.
“She’s perfect,” Mandy said. “So beautiful.”
Their baby daughter opened her eyes, and Dale knew he’d spend a lifetime protecting and loving her.
“Hey, sweet girl,” he said.
“What should we call her?” Mandy asked.
“Dale is a good name,” he said.
“That’s your name.”
“I know, and it will keep all the boys away. We could name her Reaper, or Death, or ‘Stay away from me or my dad will gut you.’”
Mandy laughed. “He’s joking.” She spoke to the room full of nurses.
“I’m not,” he said, whispering against her ear.
“How about Anna?” she said. “She looks like an Anna.”
“What does an Anna look like?”
“Our baby girl.”
Dale stared down at their daughter, and he’d do anything for her. “She’s an Anna,” he said.
“Hello, Anna. I’m your Mommy.”
“And I’m your Daddy.”
“We love you so much.”
“More than anything in the world and you’re going to have lots of brothers and sisters soon to take care of you. To love you.”
“Dale, come on, this is our first.”
“But not our only.”
“You want more kids?” Mandy asked.
“Yes, and I will even put up with the pain while you give birth. I love you, baby, more than anything. I told you, I’m here for life. You, me, and our kids.” He cupped the back of her head. Her hair was wet from sweat, but it didn’t matter. He loved her. “And I will love you forever.”
“I love you too, Dale.”
Anna began to moan, and the nurse came over. He stood close by and watched as his woman nursed their baby.
It was the most beautiful sight in the world.
Epilogue
Five years later
“Hello, beautiful,” Dale said, picking his woman up. She stood by the park, talking with Jo and a couple of the other old ladies.
He didn’t care what anyone thought. Today was his anniversary, and even though he’d pretended not to remember that morning, he already had plans. He’d organized for Jo and his father to take their kids, all three of them, while he made love to his very sexy wife.
“Dale, put me down. I’ve got to go and sort out the kids.”
“Not going to happen. You, me, romance, and a bed are all happening tonight.”
“Dale, come on.”
“We haven’t had a single break in five years, and today is the anniversary of the first day I met you.”
“It’s not our anniversary. We didn’t get married for another couple of months.” Mandy held onto him. “Dale, seriously, don’t drop me.”
He pretended to, but he wasn’t going to lose control of his woman. She was in perfectly safe hands.
“Dale!”
“I’ve got you. Today is our anniversary.”
“I’ve told you it’s not.”
“Yes, it freaking is. Today was the first time I met you six years ago.”
“What?”
“You got that right. The first time I ever saw you, and I knew I wanted you. I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with you, but from the first look, I haven’t been with another woman. I have no desire to, because you are the love of my life. Always have been. Always will be.” He pressed a kiss to her lips as he carried her into their home.
If the walls could talk, they would already share so many memories of the last five years. The babies, the Christmases, the Halloweens, Thanksgivings, birthdays, a couple of fights.
He had no doubt there would be many more to come as they got older.
But nothing would keep them apart. Not now, not eve
r.
He carried her to their bed, where they wouldn’t be interrupted for some time. At least two days, he’d bargained with his father. He and Mandy always took his brothers and sisters so his father could be with Jo, and well, now it was Dale’s turn.
Placing Mandy down on the bed gently, he kissed her.
“I can’t believe I’m here right now,” she said.
“Believe it. I’m not going to change.”
“I love you, Dale.”
“I love you too, with all my heart. You own me, Mandy. Every single day of our life, you own me.”
With that, he pressed a kiss to her lips, and showed her with actions, not just words, exactly what this woman meant to him.
She was his entire world, and he’d nearly lost her.
He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
The End
www.samcrescent.com
Other Books by Sam Crescent:
www.evernightpublishing.com/sam-crescent
If you enjoyed this book, you may also like:
Taken by the Kingpin by Winter Sloane
Rescuing Rory by N.J. Walters
Witness Protection by Stacey Espino
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
THE INITIATION
Darkness Within Duet, 1
Sam Crescemt
Copyright © 2019
Sample Chapter
Harper Miller stared out of her bedroom window just like she had for many years, in a different house, a different room. A house that was once her home but not anymore. The night was dark, but then it had always called to her. The only light cast was by the moon, and that was because of a power outage in the town of Stonewall, a once-promising town for tourism, real estate, and beauty. In recent years, that had changed. The town was no longer a place for promise but a death sentence.
There were crooks, criminals, and abuse at every corner. Harper knew her father was a lawyer. He’d helped many of the men in this town get away with murder and fraud.
Pressing her face against the window, she saw them. The four men waiting for her. They were not boys. True, they all went to high school, but the small group of four were anything but boys. She didn’t know what had changed in them, but they were deadly.
Not too long ago that danger would have scared her. She’d try to run, to hide away from what they were, but now, there was no hiding. She yearned for the peace that came over her because being around them meant she was still alive.
She’d heard other students refer to them as being fearless, deadly, dangerous. No one was allowed to join their little gang. It was just the four of them, until tonight.
They waited by the tree in the front yard. They were dressed in black, each of them staring up at her bedroom window as they had been doing for the past nine months.
Nine months of planning.
Of preparing.
Of getting ready for this moment.
She already had the ink on her back declaring herself theirs. That had been an experience she had no interest in repeating.
Harper had no doubt that the rumors at school would run wild. That was all people cared about. Their image. Bringing others down. Making others feel small so they could rise up. She hated it. Hated the world. Hated her family. Hated everything that she could think of. Anything that got in her way. Men, women, kids. None of them were of any importance to her.
Not anymore.
A year ago, she’d have said differently.
A year ago, she wouldn’t have looked down at her front lawn at the four men waiting for her and eagerly awaited what was coming to her.
No.
She’d have still been going through the motions, still in pain, but she’d have been a good girl, always doing the right thing.
Only, doing the right thing stopped having any meaning to her.
All it did was make her so angry, so pissed off, and she hated the world around her.
Pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail, she opened her window and climbed out to what awaited her.
Draven Barries.
Axel Cook.
Buck Perry.
Jett Henry.
They were her salvation.
Her fight for survival.
They would belong to her just as she did to them.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but she had no choice. They were the only ones to understand, to get her, to know her.
There was no turning back.
The initiation had begun months ago.
End of sample chapter
www.evernightpublishing.com/the-initiation-by-sam-crescent