I’m not sure a full second passes before he’s tensing, thrusting in harder, rougher, more desperately, and all at once growls out in relief.
“Fuck!” He leans down and buries his head against the nape of my neck as he pumps, strangling out the last bit of come. “I didn’t waste a single shot there. You’re filled to the brim.”
He’s not lying. I haven’t even stood and I already feel him sliding down my thigh.
“Good.” I smile, kissing his shoulder. “We’ll really give everyone something to talk about.”
“I know it’s wrong, Kitten, but I’ve thought about this moment so many times. You and me, a family—”
“In this cabin?”
“If you want.”
“You thought about me when you were remodeling, didn’t you?” My cheeks heat as he holds eye contact. “You built the baker’s kitchen and the natural stone fireplace with the live edge mantle. I’ve talked about those things for years.”
He offers a half smile and tilts his head to the side in the cutest way. “I may have thought you had some good ideas. That’s all.”
I wrap my legs around his waist, his cock still inside of me. “I love you.”
“Love you more, Kitten. Always.”
“Even though my dad isn’t going to make any of this easy?”
He nods. “According to the version of him I talked to earlier today, I have until tomorrow morning to leave Rugged Mountain for good… or else.”
“He doesn’t mean that.”
“He might.” Duke presses his forehead against mine. “He really might, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I just brought you home. I’m not ready to leave yet.”
Home.I’ve spent so long dreaming about this moment that I almost can’t believe it’s real.
“He loves us both. It’ll take time but I’m sure he’ll come around.”
Duke nods, though I’m not sure he believes it as wholeheartedly as I do. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Dad will neverunderstand why we fell in love. Maybe he’ll always see me as his little girl, and he’ll always see Duke as the guy that betrayed him.
I’m not sure what the future holds for Dad and I, but I know one thing for sure. I’m finally living my truth, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.
Epilogue
Duke
Two Years Later
Wade sits in the recliner by the fireplace holding his newborn granddaughter. She’s three months old and looks just like her mother.
Ariella, our baby girl.
“You have an extra blanket?” Wade grumbles. “She’s cold.”
Kit smiles sweetly and grabs a fuzzy pink blanket off the arm of the chair where I left it last night after a late feeding.
It took years for us to get to this place with Wade. In fact, almost two to the day. Sure, he still talked to Kit, though never about me, and he showed up to our wedding after the first thaw. He had to walk her down the aisle and that meant coming onto our property, but he wouldn’t look at me. Hell, we even went back to working together, but he did nothing more than grunt in my direction.
Nothing did the trick like Ari.
Her arrival was like magic. Suddenly, Wade was back to fishing on Sunday, calling me about random projects, and stopping by just to say hello. He even acknowledged me as her father, which is pretty shocking considering the track record we’ve had the last couple of years.
“You want to feed her, Dad?” Kit hands Wade a bottle half filled with breastmilk. “She’s probably starving. She slept through her last meal.”
