Storming into my childhood home after a fight with a boy was something altogether new for me. Hell, being with a man at all was something I had absolutely zero experience with. Something my dad made perfectly clear when I flew through the front door, cheeks flushed, eyes red-rimmed and glassy, and he looked at me as if I were a ghost.
“Emmy?” he asked, eyebrows shooting toward his hairline. “What’s going on? Is everything all right?” He did a quick scan of me from head to toe, flitting his eyes briefly near my stomach, panic written all over his face.
Wade Collins was the most fearless man I’d ever known…except when it came to his only daughter. Though he hadn’t expressed it in so many words, his worry for me had always been plain as day. Worry that I’d follow in my mom’s footsteps. That a ravaging disease would take me too soon. A fear that only worsened around the anniversary of her death, which was next month.
“It’s not anything like that, Daddy.” I gave him a hug, intent on reassuring him. Instead, my eyes burned as I settled into arms that reminded me of a happy childhood despite everything we’d gone through and tried my hardest not to cry.
“Wade?” Yvonne called from another room. “Is that Emery?”
“Yeah, honey. She’s, uh…” He thumped his hand on my back. “Maybe you could come out here?”
While my dad had never shied away from showing his affection with hugs, he’d also never had to deal with his daughter blubbering all over him. I’d never had a reason to.
“Emery, I’m so glad you… What is it?” Yvonne asked, stepping into the room.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” I pushed away from my dad, discreetly wiping my eyes as I slipped over to the couch and sat down, pretending like everything was okay. Like the man I’d asked to give me a baby hadn’t just stomped all over my heart with his careless disregard for my concerns and feelings.
But Yvonne had been a mom for a long time, and my dad was the chief of police—it was their jobs to spot bullshit. There was no way I was getting anything past them.
She shot my dad a look—one I pretended not to see—then tilted her head in my direction, eyebrows raised. “You two should talk. I’ll go make some coffee.”
My dad stared after Yvonne’s retreating form, looking as lost as I’d ever seen him. He cleared his throat, then crept toward the couch to settle on the cushion next to me. “Do you…do you want to talk about it?”
Even though I was upset, I couldn’t help but laugh at how uncomfortable he was. I shook my head. “Not yet. I just wanted to be home. And Yvonne said you were worried about me.”
“Yeah. Wanted to make sure that bug was gone. You feeling better?”
And just like that, everything came flooding back. I hated having to lie to him, hated every second of it. I wanted to tell them everything, wanted to share with both of them—my brothers, too—the fact that I was involved with an amazing man who made me happy…most of the time. A man I was in love with. A man I wanted to have a baby with. A man who just happened to be my stepbrother.
I opened my mouth to say something—what, I had no idea—when the front door burst open, and John flew inside, eyes wild as he scanned the room. “Emery.” As soon as he spotted me, he heaved a sigh, his entire body relaxing. “I hoped you’d be here.”
My shoulders stiffened, my spine straightening. I had absolutely no desire to air our dirty laundry at our parents’ house. “I thought it’d be obvious by the way I left that I wanted some time away from you.”
John shook his head and took a step toward me. “Not like this. Not when you’re mad. Let me make things right again, then you can go do things without me.” Brows drawn down, he frowned. “For a little while.”
Before I could respond, Yvonne came around the corner carrying a carafe and mugs. She shot her son a smile. “I figured you’d show up here. Want some coffee?”
“Wait…what do you mean you figured he’d show up here? What’s going on?” Dad asked, glancing first at Yvonne, then to me, before finally settling on John. John, whom I refused to look at, too scared that if I did, I’d melt into a puddle right here on the couch. I was still mad, still hurt, and I wanted to hold on to that a bit longer.
“Nothing,” I said, attempting to end the discussion.
John had other ideas. “Your daughter and I had a disagreement this morning. Completely my fault, sir.”
“Is that so?” My dad assessed John differently now, his confusion turning into suspicion in two seconds flat. “A disagreement about what?”
As hard as I tried to keep my attention off John, my eyes were drawn to him. To his huge presence in this small room. He glanced at me, meeting my gaze briefly, before straightening to his full height, perfect posture in place as he addressed my father. “I didn’t communicate well with her, sir, and ended up hurting her feelings. Something I deeply regret.”
“I see,” my dad said, the words clipped, his eyes narrowed as he studied John.
“Why don’t we give these two a second alone, Wade?” Yvonne pulled my dad to his feet. “Let them work things out.”
“But—”
“Come on, now. I saved some of those cookies for you.” She linked her arm through my dad’s and guided him into the kitchen even as he dragged his feet, shooting glances over his shoulder toward us.
At least their being in the other room gave us the illusion of privacy. Trouble was, I didn’t know if I wanted to be alone with John right then. I was still too emotional over everything, and I knew if I looked at him, if I listened to him, I’d forgive, just like that.
John crouched in front of me, resting his elbows on bent knees and bringing us to eye level. “I was an idiot this morning.”
I raised an eyebrow. Stating the obvious wasn’t going to win him any points with me. “Yes, you were.”
He reached out, pulling one of my arms away from my chest, then encased my hand between both of his. “I’m sorry, baby. I need you to know that, first and foremost. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Well, you did.” I tried to yank my hand away, but he held tighter, his fingertips tracing over my skin in a soft caress. As good as it felt, especially after the morning, I couldn’t lose sight of the issues we needed to discuss. “You ignored my concerns when I brought them up. You brushed them aside as if they didn’t matter, which made me feel like I didn’t matter. You acted as if you could snap your fingers and take care of everything. Things don’t work like that, John. Not with me.”
“You’re right—I did all of that. It’s not what I intended, though. I would never—ever—purposely make you feel as if you didn’t matter. You matter so much, I can’t think straight at times. I wanted to take care of you this morning, to protect you from anything negative. I handled it wrong—I see that now. But it wasn’t because you didn’t matter. The opposite, really. Your happiness is everything to me, and I didn't want you to be stressed about stuff I thought I should deal with.”
Rolling my eyes, I huffed. “But not talking about things doesn’t magically make them go away. And then for you to flee before discussing things with me, to leave me out completely as if this doesn’t affect me? That was a shitty move. And to top it all off, you lied to me.”
“I did. I fucked up. I should’ve told you I needed to be with my mom, but I was focused on the mission. That’s not an excuse, though. I know it.” He slid his hands up my thighs, bunching my maxi skirt as he went. Then he gripped my hips, his fingers digging into my ass as he tugged me forward. “I don’t make the same mistakes twice.”
The very thing I’d worried would happen was happening. I was melting. Right here, on my dad’s couch, with John nestled between my spread legs, his hands massaging my hips and ass. Thank God I’d worn a long skirt. It gave at least the illusion of a barrier, flimsy as it was—especially if John made it his mission to get under it. Even with the sexual tension brewing between us, I needed to make sure what went on this morning wouldn’t happen again.
“You better not.” I rested my hands on his biceps, forcing myself to keep my fingers still. Not to caress the bulk of muscles there, not to slide my hands under the sleeves of his T-shirt to feel his skin against mine. “Because if this thing is going to work, you have to be my partner.”
He scowled, his voice low and grumbly as he said, “There’s no if. We’ll make this thing work.”
“Then there’s no more lying. Period. I hate it. I hate being the one doing the lying, and I really hate being the one lied to.”
“No more lying. Got it.” He pulled me even closer so he could brush featherlight kisses along my jaw, nuzzle my neck.
My stomach flipped at the contact, at the way he murmured my name as his lips caressed my skin. “That means we need to tell our family.”
“Yeah.” He sighed, placing one last kiss behind my ear and pulled back. “I’m here to do that for sure, but I sort of already told my mom.”
I jerked my head back, mouth agape as I dug my fingernails into his arms. “You did? Today?” Groaning, I dropped my chin to my chest, before looking up at him. “Oh my God, John, don’t tell me I lied straight to her face when she already knew about us!”
“No, no. I told her at the cemetery after she left the house. That’s where I went.” He linked his fingers together at the small of my back, guiding me even closer to the edge of the couch. Closer to him. “It’s my dad’s birthday today. I knew she’d go there, and I haven’t been to pay my respects since I’ve been back.”
The small bit of fight remaining inside me fizzled out completely. I knew what it was like to visit a parent’s gravesite—knew all about how the supposed-to’s and the have-to’s didn’t always align with the want-to’s. I cupped his face, ran my palm over the scruff he hadn’t bothered to shave the past few days. “I wish you would’ve told me. I would’ve liked to go with you.”
“I didn’t even remember until I saw her. We can go, though. Maybe drop by your mom’s to make sure the stone’s cleaned off and in good repair.”
God, this man. So sweet. So kind. He’d messed up, without question. But everyone did at some point. The real test was how they made amends for it—if they kept their promise not to do it again. John had promised he wouldn’t, and he was a man of his word. I believed him with all my heart.
“Okay.” I leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “I’d like that.”
“Everything all right in here?” Yvonne called before peeking around the corner from the kitchen. “You two aren’t doing anything we wouldn’t want to see, are you?”
“Jesus, Mom.” John groaned and shook his head. He focused on me, then leaned close and whispered, “Ready for this?”
I took a deep breath, pulling back to look over John’s shoulder toward where Yvonne stood, my dad behind her, his brows drawn and mouth cemented in a scowl as he stared at John and me. “Ready.”
John pushed to his feet, pulling me up to stand next to him, then turned to face our parents. “Mr. Collins, sir. Emery and I have something we’d like to talk to you about.”
“Oh, now it’s Mr. Collins, is it?” my dad grumbled, his voice dialed straight to petulant child. Or, more aptly, pissed-off dad.
“Formal feels more respectful in this situation, sir.”
My dad narrowed his eyes even further, straightening to his full height and going into Cop Mode. “I’m listening.”
“We’re in a relationship, sir. I know that will bring some unwanted attention on the family considering your marriage to my mom, but I refuse to keep Emery at arm’s length because of some gossip. I care deeply for her, and somehow I was lucky enough that she feels the same for me. Stepsiblings or not, we’re together, sir. Permanently.”
My dad glanced between us, and the shock I’d expected to see on his face wasn’t there. Instead, he looked as if he’d almost been expecting this. Though, with my dad spending the past thirty-five years of his life as a cop, that wasn’t so hard to believe.
“What happens within our family isn’t anyone’s business but ours.” My dad split a look between John and me. And if I hadn’t been standing next to him, his arm banded around my back, I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to tell how John’s whole being seemed to relax at my dad’s words.
“Though I’m not sure how this is permanent yet,” Dad said. “I don’t see a ring.”
“Wade,” Yvonne admonished, shooting him a glare.
I rolled my eyes, but John didn’t back down. Instead, he said, “I haven’t asked her to marry me yet, but we’re committed to each other nonetheless.” He looked down at me as he tucked me closer into his side. “I’d marry her today if she wanted that.”
I gasped, shooting my eyes to his as I rested my hand on his stomach. “You would?”
“Now, hold on a minute—” My dad’s irate tone drew my gaze for a moment, but even Yvonne’s slap to his chest and reprimand for him to hush couldn’t keep my attention for long. Not when John slipped a finger under my chin and turned my face back to him.
“Without question,” he said, his focus never straying from me. Never once glancing at the pissed-off chief of police a few feet away.
I melted into him, pushing aside the fact that we were standing in front of our parents. “Well, I hope that’s not your proposal because it sort of sucked.” I bit my lip, attempting to stifle the smile that refused to be confined.
John brought his thumb to my lip, tugging it from my teeth. He traced my upturned mouth, his own mirroring mine. “I’ll work on it for next time.”
“Let me get this straight,” my dad persisted, arms crossed, brows drawn down, even with Yvonne scowling at his side. “You’re in a permanent relationship, without a ring, but you’re planning on asking her to marry you someday. Have I got that about right?”
I rolled my eyes and shot my dad a look. “You don’t have to sound so mad about it, Dad. John’s an amazing man—you’ve said that yourself!”
He scoffed. “Well, I meant in general. Not in relation to my baby girl!”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“I disagree. But even if you’re correct, that’s my right as a dad. Need to make sure the man you choose treats you right.” Dad glared at John. “And my daughter coming in here with red eyes like she’d been crying doesn’t prove that very well.”
“Dad—”
“He’s right, Em.” John leaned down to press a kiss to the top of my head before straightening once again to his full height and addressing my father. “You’re right, sir. I’ve already apologized to Emery, but I’d like to apologize to you as well. I never meant to hurt her. I was an idiot this morning, but it won’t happen again. You have my word.”
“Awful early in the day to have already screwed up, son.” My dad assessed John, shrewd cop cranked up to ten. “What were you doing with Emmy so early?”
Yvonne slapped a hand to my dad’s chest. “Oh, Wade. Stop. The kids are too old for us to be worrying about what they’re doing every minute of the day.”
“She’s my baby girl,” he said to her, then lifted his eyes to me. “I’ll never stop worrying about her.”
Part of me softened at the fact that I had such an amazing man for a father—someone who only wanted what was best for me. But only part of me. The other part had to clear something up. “Dad, I can worry about myself.”
Apparently, the fact that I shouldn’t have to do so was the one thing John and my dad agreed on, if the look they shot each other was any indication.
“I worry enough for both of us, sir,” John promised.
“Now you’re both being ridiculous.”
“Oh, honey, this is what they do.” Yvonne shook her head, glancing between them. “Sometimes you just need to let them.”
Slipping away from my dad, she hurried over to John and me, then guided us straight to the front door. “I’m sure you both would like to be alone for a bit—finish talking and get everything settled. How about dinner tomorrow night? We can chat about things more.”
“Thanks, Mom.” John broke away from me only to press a kiss to her cheek. “Call if you decide to go back to the cemetery later.”
She smiled as she nearly shoved us out the front door. “I have a feeling you’ll be busy, but I think I’m okay with that.”
“You have any problems at all, you call me, Emmy!” my dad hollered.
Yvonne huffed, then whispered to us, “Don’t you worry about him. I’ll handle it.”
John shot his mom a grateful smile and took my hand as he led us toward the porch steps. “Let’s get home, sweet girl.”
“Home?” my dad called, his voice sharp. “What the hell does he mean home—”
The front door slammed on my dad’s question, and, not for the first time today, I was thankful Yvonne was there to defuse the situation.
Finally just the two of us, I leaned into John’s side as he guided us down the front walk to the driveway. “I missed you this morning. I know that’s weird because you were there, but it felt off. Wrong. You were distant like you were…before.”
“Never again.” He opened the passenger’s side door to his truck, not pausing as he gripped my hips and lifted me straight up into the seat. “You’re mine now, sweet girl. I may not always do the right thing or say the words you need to hear, but I’ll always try. I’ll always strive to keep us together. I could never go back to the hell that was denying my attraction to you.” He pulled out my seat belt and reached around me to lock it into place. “Stay there. We need to get on the road.”
“What about my car?”
“We’ll come back for it.” He gave me a quick kiss before shutting my door and jogging around to his side. Once inside, he put the truck in gear and drove off, taking us in the direction of the cottage. “I don’t want you to leave my side right now. Besides, I didn’t get to give you a wake-up call this morning. We should remedy that right away.”
I laughed, biting my lip as I recalled his favorite way to wake me up. My favorite, too. “Definitely as soon as we get home.”
“I’ve got a better idea.” He turned down an uninhabited backroad, not stopping until we parked right by the lake in a thicket of trees. Then he shot me a look as he shut off the ignition. One that could only be read as pure hunger.
I glanced around, seeing everything I needed to in his eyes. “Here?”
“Here.” He unbuckled my seat belt, then grabbed me by the hips and hefted me across the seat. Not stopping until I sat astride his lap and he had my skirt rucked up around my hips, his already hard cock pressing against me. “We fought today, baby. We need to make up, and I don’t want to wait another second.”
So he didn’t. He captured my lips, releasing a groan into my mouth as soon as his tongue brushed against mine. All the while, his hands were greedy, gripping me wherever he could. Delving into the back of my underwear so he could cup my ass and rock me against him. Not stopping as he slipped his hand between my legs from behind. I read everything I needed to in those actions—he was as desperate for me as I was for him. Our fight may have only lasted a few hours, but it’d felt like a lifetime. It was time to make amends.
“John,” I breathed, tilting my head to the side as he scraped his teeth along my neck.
“Gonna make you scream, sweet girl. Out here, in the woods, where anyone could see if they happened past. We’ll put on a show, won’t we?” He blew a warm puff of air over my nipple even through my shirt before grazing his teeth against it. “Want you so bad, baby. Want to suck all over your tits. Give ’em to me.”
Without hesitation, I did as he asked, pulling my shirt up and off. John didn’t even wait for me to take off my bra, just dove in with a growl and sucked me straight through the lace. I cried out, gripping the top of the seat behind him as I arched my back, trying to get closer. Always trying to get closer.
John continued to rub my pussy from behind, slicking me up for him. Prepping me to take him inside. And I couldn’t wait another minute. I fumbled with the fastenings of his jeans, then wrapped my fingers around his length, stroking from root to tip. So thick. So big. This was still new enough that I marveled at his size every time I touched him. Marveled at how hard and solid he was beneath silky-smooth skin.
“Jesus, I need to be inside you.” John slouched down and brought his ass toward the edge of the seat to give me more room, holding my panties out of the way so I could take him inside.
And I did. I gripped his cock and rose up on my knees, then slid down on his thick length, swallowing him whole. Groaning as he filled me. As he stretched me so much, he stole my breath. “Oh my God.”
“That’s my girl. Take it all. You’re so nice and wet for me, so hot and soft. Fucking perfect.”
I clutched the back of the seat with both hands and lifted up before sinking down, swiveling my hips on each downstroke. He slid so deep like this, made me feel so full, but I loved it. Loved that it seemed like I had all the power here as I rocked over him. As I took him inside again and again, shooting us both straight toward our releases. Seemed like I’d reduced this huge, overpowering man to a pile of helpless need.
“I love it when you ride my cock. Drives me crazy to have you run the show.” John gripped my hips, his fingers digging into my ass, careful not to take control of this. I could feel how much he wanted to in every inch of his body. In the stiff set of his shoulders, the sharp tendons of his neck, the bunched muscles of his biceps. So much restrained power, all so I could ride him exactly how I wanted.
But the best part of being with him was how we worked together, and I wanted that now.
“Move with me, John.”
He groaned, his hips snapping up as soon as the words left my mouth. “Gonna fuck you so good, sweet girl. Fuck a baby right into you.”
Our lips met in a messy kiss, all teeth and tongues, groans from both of us mixing in the middle. When he slipped his thumb between us and traced tight circles around my clit, all the while thrusting into me from below, I couldn’t hold back anymore. My eyes fluttered closed as the waves crashed over me while John continued to fill me over and over again until he pushed deep. Settled so far inside me, a groan rumbling from his throat before he breathed my name like a prayer as he came.
I collapsed against his chest, a boneless heap of ecstasy as I tried to catch my breath. “We should fight more if this is what make-up sex is all about.”
“I’m all in for more make-up sex. Maybe I can forget to put the toilet seat down or something—you can scold me for it, and then I can bend you over the vanity for the making-up part. That’ll count. That’ll be enough of a fight.”
I laughed against his chest before pushing back to look at him. “I don’t know…falling into the toilet in the middle of the night isn’t fun.”
“But make-up sex is.”
“You’re not wrong.”
He reached up and slipped his fingers around my nape, pulling me close. So close his lips brushed against mine as he said, “I never want to have a real fight again, though. Not with you.”
“No real fights.” I nipped his bottom lip, brushing my hands over his chest and rocking in his lap as he grew hard once again inside me. As he dug his fingers into my hips, pulling and pushing me. Guiding me. “Just amazing sex.”
“Amazing sex that leads to babies.” He pulled me down on him, filling me completely as he rotated my hips in a circle. Grinding my clit right against him and making me moan. “I’m going to come inside you every day until we make a baby, and then I’m going to come inside you every day because I can. You’re my home, Emery. My world. And I can’t wait to make a new life with you. I can’t wait to have a tiny little you running around and stealing my heart just like her mama did.”
My eyes fluttered closed, my heart bursting at his words. “John,” I breathed.
“Love you, sweet girl. I have for so long, and I always will. You’re mine, and I promise to be good to you.”
I never thought I’d hear those words from him. Never thought I’d be lucky enough to call this man mine. Never thought I’d be given the opportunity to make a family with him. To make a life with him.
“I love you, John.” I whispered the words against his lips, loving how his eyes flared as I said them, how his cock twitched inside me. How he gripped me tighter, held me closer. Whispered my name over and over as he filled me.
Making me feel so safe and cherished and undeniably loved. Making me feel like I was his.