Gunn

Eight months later …

“There she is!” Susan practically screamed into my ear. I followed her finger. She was right. Brenna walked into the auditorium amidst a sea of other black caps and gowns. Susan put her fingers to her lips and whistled loud. Brenna turned toward the sound. I raised a hand and she saw me, her smile widening.

The marching band picked up “Pomp and Circumstance” as Brenna and her classmates took their places in line. We’d just suffered through two hours of the most boring speeches I’d ever heard, but it was all worth it for this.

Mercifully, they called the College of Business first. Susan got her camera ready. I just bought her a brand-new one. Professional grade with a massive zoom lens. She’d taken up photography as a hobby at the advice of her therapist. Little by little, she was making her way back into the world. Today, I think she was the proudest mom in the building.

Brenna’s name was one of the first they called. She wore a gold tassel around her neck as she was graduating with high honors. She had aced her semester abroad and came back home in January to kick the asses of her final classes here too.

Susan and I vaulted to our feet and clapped and cheered as Brenna made her way across the stage. She took her diploma and waved wildly at us, her smile as bright as I’d ever seen.

“Oh, I wish Scotty were here to see this,” Susan said as she snapped more pictures. She wasn’t sad though and I knew what she meant.

“I think maybe he is,” I whispered, giving her a quick hug around the shoulders. It had taken time, but Susan was easy around me again. We’d healed so many of the wounds of the last eight years. Brenna stepped off the stage and made a beeline for us. I threw out my arms and caught her, twirling her around. She lost her cap and Susan caught it.

“Can we leave?” I asked. “Aren’t you supposed to stay for the rest of this?”

“Screw it,” Brenna whispered. “I want to be with you two.”

She posed for a few pictures at Susan’s insistence, then we headed out to the car. I’d rented a limo for her and planned to take them to the best restaurant in town.

Brenna was happier than I’d ever seen her. She’d taken a job at a tech company downtown. On the side, she was running an online store for me. She got the idea when she was overseas. It had been up and running for three months now and she’d already helped me double my profits. My girl was amazing on every level.

Later, after dinner, we took her mom home. She hugged me at the door. “Take care of my baby,” she said.

“Always,” I promised her. The limo drove off. I’d parked my bike on the side of the house. Brenna did a quick change into some jeans and grabbed the helmet I bought her from a hook by the door. Next week, she was moving her things out of her mother’s house and into mine for good.

“Ready to go home?” she asked.

“Not yet,” I said. “I have one more thing planned.” That was a lie. I hadn’t planned to do this tonight at all. But it felt right. I hoped to God I wasn’t wrong.

Brenna tilted her head, questioning me, but climbed on the back of the bike. She trusted me. We gave Susan one last wave as I headed for the freeway.

As soon as Brenna realized where I was heading, she squeezed me tighter. I headed north, for the bluff. We hadn’t been back there since Sly and Scarlett’s wedding ceremony.

A blanket of stars lit the sky as I slowed the bike and came to a stop. Brenna slid off and pulled off her helmet. She shook her hair out and reached for me.

“This is perfect,” she said. “How did you know?”

“I don’t know. It just seemed right.” I kept a blanket folded under my seat. I spread it out on the flattest part of the ground then reached for her. I sat down and spread my legs so Brenna could find her space between them, her head pressed against my chest as we looked up at the sky.

“It’s so beautiful. Every night when I was in Prague I’d look up and wonder if you were looking there too. I mean … time difference and all, but you get the idea.”

It hurt when she was gone. Physically hurt. But I was so damn proud of her. Of course, she’d been right about that too. It made what I meant to do even more special. I’d never been more sure of anything in my life. I just hoped she felt the same.

“I love you,” I said. “You’re amazing. Gorgeous. Smart. Perfect.”

“Oh, I’m far from perfect, but neither are you.”

“You’re perfect for me,” I said. Just then, a meteor shower arched across the sky. Brenna gasped and leaped to her feet. She raced to the edge of the cliff to get a better view. I was right behind her. I kissed her cheek and smelled her hair. I didn’t think I could ever get tired of that.

“I love you,” she whispered. “And you’re perfect for me too.”

Then the moment was perfect too. I let her go and took the small velvet box out of my pocket. I’d been keeping it in a compartment of my Harley for just the right time. That time was now. Brenna was still staring up at the sky as I slowly went to one knee. Brenna felt the air shift behind her and turned. She let out a little gasp and took a step back.

“Careful,” I said. “Don’t want to lose my girl off the edge of a cliff before I get this out.”

“Gunn?”

“I love you,” I said, deciding to just barrel on through. “I’ve never loved anybody the way I love you. I know I have a lot of faults. I know club life will never be easy. But I want to share it all with you. Forever. Brenna Rose, baby, will you marry me?”

She had her hands over her mouth. Tears made her eyes shine just like the stars. She took a step forward then sank to her knees right alongside me. With trembling fingers, she carefully took the ring out of the box. It was a square-cut four-carat diamond with a solid gold band. Simple, beautiful, stunning.

“It’s beautiful,” she gasped. “Oh Gunn. When did you ... how did you?” She slid it on her finger and held it out to see it better. It fit.

“How did you know what size?” she asked.

I leaned in and kissed her. “You haven’t answered my question.”

Brenna threw her arms around me. “Yes!” she screamed. “Oh my God, yes! What took you so long?”

She threw herself against me with enough force to knock us both to the ground. Laughing, I pulled her close. I loved the outline of her breasts against my chest. I was wrong though. The night was just almost perfect. There was one more thing that could get us there.

Brenna was already ahead of me. She fumbled for my zipper and peeled off her jeans. It took her all of three seconds, but then she was spread naked before me on the blanket. The moon cast her in a heavenly blue glow. My ring twinkled on her finger.

“Come here,” she said. I reached for her. I teased her with my fingers, finding her wet and ready. Oh yeah. She was perfect all right. And she was all mine.

Brenna wrapped her fingers around me. I was rock hard and ready for her too. Neither of us wanted to wait.

“Say it,” I whispered as I teased along her slick folds. “Say it and mean it.”

Brenna arched her hips, coaxing me toward her. “Baby. Always. You already know.”

She knew I liked to hear it anyway. “Yes!” she gasped. “Oh Gunn. Yes. I’m yours. Forever. For always. I belong to you!”

“That’s my girl,” I said, laughing. But she knew I was the one who belonged to her. I slid my cock inside her, driving it home. She was hot and perfect and halfway there. She rose up, wrapping her legs around my waist. I thrust into her deep and hard. It wouldn’t take either of us long at all. But we had all night. We had forever.

I poured myself into her. Just like my ring on her finger and the promise I would make to her every day for the rest of our lives. I would love her. I would protect her. I would share my life with her in every way that I could.

Brenna took it all. Me. My love. My club. As the stars above and the Great Wolf River below bore witness to our vows.