My heart stuttered, my stomach flipping even as my pussy clenched around him, my body tightening and readying itself for release. “I love you too,” I breathed. “So much.”
“Tell me again.” He rolled his hips, pressing in even deeper, his voice nothing but gravel and heat. “Say I’m the only one who gets this body. This heart. This perfect fucking cunt.”
“You are. Always.”
“Fuck, Willa.” He rested his forehead on mine, his thrusts quickening, his muscles tight as he held himself back. “Need you to come, baby. Reach down and rub that pretty little clit for me.”
I was too far gone to do anything but obey, sliding my hand between us and stroking exactly where I needed it. Lincoln pressed kisses along my neck, my collarbone, tugged my earlobe with his teeth, all while he sank inside me, again and again, and I whimpered and moaned and gasped with pleasure.
“There you go,” he said, his tone threaded with satisfaction. “You make the filthiest sounds when you’re falling apart on my cock. Let me hear them, wife. Let me hear you come apart on what’s only yours. And then I’m gonna fill up what’s only mine.”
Everything tightened inside me as Lincoln whispered praise in my ear and fucked me like I was sacred. Like I washis. I worked my fingers in frantic circles over my clit, the pressure building with every deep grind of his hips. Until everything inside me coiled so tight I thought I might shatter from it.
And then I did.
With a cry, I came undone beneath him, my back arching as white-hot pleasure ripped through me like a lightning strike. My pussy clenched tight around him, pulsing and fluttering in relentless waves as I sobbed his name into the crook of his neck.
“Yes, fuck yes,” he growled, his control breaking. “That’s it. That’s my girl. So fucking perfect when you come for me.”
He gripped my thigh, hooking it higher over his hip, and slammed into me once, twice. Then, on a groan, he buried himself deep, his entire body shuddering as he spilled inside me.
“Fuck, Willa,” he rasped, his voice hoarse and reverent. “I’m never gonna get enough of you.”
His chest heaved against mine, his breath hot and uneven as he pressed kiss after kiss to my cheek, my temple, my lips. Like he couldn’t stop. Like he was reminding himself I was right here with him.
He stayed like that, buried deep and trembling, one arm braced beside my head, the other clutching my hip like he’d fall apart without the anchor. And I held him. My thighs quivering, heart racing, body still trembling with aftershocks, I held him like I’d never let him go. Because I wouldn’t. Because what we had wasn’t a secret or a regret or a mistake.
Because right now, in this moment, I’d never felt more his. And I’d never known a love as sweet as this.
EPILOGUE
LINCOLN
For the firsttime in recent or even distant memory, all four of us Steele brothers were seated at a table in One Night Stan’s,off duty, during Trivia Night. Tasha was running the hell out of this evening—she’d been running the hell out of this place, period. And we… We were able to enjoy life outside this bar.
It was unsettling. Almost suspicious. Like peace and quiet were just lulling us into a false sense of security before something exploded.
Atlas had tugged Sutton’s chair so close to his, she might as well be in his lap. Chloe actuallywasin Xander’s lap, stealing a fry from his plate. My wife sat next to me with a soft smile on her face, her thigh warm and smooth under my hand, skin still smelling like honey from the…product sampling…we’d done earlier today. And Declan was smack-dab in the middle of three couples and trying hard to pretend like he wasn’t surrounded by nonstop PDA.
“Sounds like Steele and Bramble’s been busy,” Chloe said, a wide smile on her face.
Willa blew out a breath and leaned into my side. “It has been. More than I could’ve imagined. Thankfully, we’ve been able to hire enough staff to manage the growth well.”
“Lolo really loves working there,” Sutton said.
“You’d never know it with all the snark that pours out of Miss Sassy Pants,” I said with a grin.
“Oh, come on, Linc,” Sutton said. “You know snark is her love language.”
“She said she’s managing invoices now?” Atlas asked with a raised brow.
“Yeah. Told me she wanted to build her résumé for world domination.” Willa shrugged. “How could I say no to that?”
I took a sip of my beer. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile as big as she did when I told her we could actually pay her now.”
Because, yeah—we’d gotten the grant. Obviously. With that interview we’d nailed, how could any other outcome have been possible?
But it turned out we hadn’t even needed it—a twist of fate I was incredibly grateful we hadn’t known at the beginning of all this. Otherwise, Willa wouldn’t be sitting here next to me with my ring on her finger, and I wouldn’t have tasted our latest honey flavors mixed with her skin mere hours ago.
