Contentment flows through me as I watch Paisley hustle around the kitchen making Tommy’s favorite, homemade pizza. Apparently, the kid can’t get enough of it.
“Okay, how ‘bout this one… When's the best time to go to the dentist?” Tommy smiles like he’s got me beat.
I’ve got this one figured out, however. “Tooth hurty?”
“Darn it!”
“I got one for you, master riddler. What do you call a sad strawberry?” I ask.
“A blueberry!” Paisley answers.
“Mom!” Tommy groans.
I can’t help laughing at the glare he shoots her way. This kid is damn adorable. I couldn’t be more satisfied than I am right now when they both burst out laughing.
“It’s the only one I know.” She grins at us but continues kneading the dough.
Watching her move around the room and joking with Tommy, it’s all I’ve ever wanted in life. They complete me in a way I never understood until now.
Tommy may not be my blood, but he was damn sure mine. Just as soon as I could make it happen. Paisley and I have a lot of getting to know each other to do, but we have years to figure that out.
While the pizza cooks, we sit outside on her small deck and play cards. Simple, yet everything. We seemed to have found an effortless fit with the three of us. I’m sure there’s going to be learning curves. There will be times where I need to back off because they’re so used to their independence, and there are going to be times they need to understand I’ll take the reins. That I’m not going anywhere.
* * *
Paisley
We’ve just put Tommy down for the night, and I’m still unsure I’m not dreaming. I expect to roll over and wake up to my alarm any minute now.
Gage exhausted him, playing every game my son wanted to. Not once did it enter his mind he could say no. Better yet, he wanted to spend time with the eager boy. Seemed to really enjoy playing catch, showing him how to properly bait his fishing rod. They even wrestled in the front yard while I cleaned the kitchen after dinner.
My heart is so full of joy and ready to explode with satisfaction.
If only I don’t wake up.
My son has smiled more in the past four hours than he has in the past four years. There’s no fear that Gage will leave him. As far as he’s concerned, the man has fulfilled his promise and will never break it again.
My reasonable and incredibly foolish heart is terrified I’ll screw this up. Every bad decision in our lives in the past nine years were all my fault. How can I trust this will be our happily ever after?
“Breathe, Paisley.” His whiskey-smooth voice washes over my nape as he lays a light kiss there while his arms wrap around me from behind.
“I’m trying.” I breathe out, realizing he is right. I wasn’t breathing.
“I could practically hear you hyperventilating from the other room.” There’s laughter and a touch of worry in his voice.
Turning, I look up into his clear gaze, crinkles in the corners of his eyes from his smile that melts my insides. “I’m afraid you’ll leave,” I confess.
“Seeing is believing, right?”
“Right.”
“Let me reassure you. My promise to you two is golden, but let me show I’ll stick around. In time, this fear will back off, and you’ll get to fully enjoy the life we’ll have.”
My own words thrown back at me.
“Deal.”
He seals it with a kiss. Searing. Hot. Intense.
His strong arms lift me into his embrace as he takes us up to my bedroom. We collapse onto the bed in a heap. His body over mine. His hands gripping my hips as he tries to control the tension I feel rolling through him.
“Goddamn, do I want you,” he mumbles in my neck. “Since the first picture I saw, I’ve desired you with a ferocity I can’t explain.” He pulls back to look at me. “This connection, tell me it’s not just me.”
“It’s not,” I murmur, out of breath again, only for a much better reason.
“Good.” His grin is devilish. He strips his shirt off over his head, and my own spins. Scars litter his chest and abs. The fresh one on his bicep catches my attention immediately.
“Is this the one?” I ask, tracing it with a finger.
“Yes.”
“And it could have taken you from us?” Our gazes collide again.
“Almost did.” His honesty scares me and wakes me up from that trance I was in earlier.
“Make me yours, Gage.” I lean up on my elbows and kiss the middle of his chest as he pulls my shirt up and over my head. Our clothes wind up in a pile to the side of the bed once we’re done.
Naked bodies, heavy breaths, and exploring fingers have us tangled up in each other. I feel one hand slip between my legs, his fingers petting me lovingly as he gets me ready for his entrance. Wrapping one hand around his cock, I slowly stroke him in the same fashion his fingers are moving inside of me.
Light kisses, slow touches, soft moans, and he’s got my body ready to blast off like a freaking rocket.
* * *
Gage
Christ almighty, this woman. She’s going to destroy me. Her body is the perfect specimen for me to play with. She’s responsive, soft, supple. Everything I’ve ever dreamed of while staring at her pictures across the fucking world. The way she accepts me as if we’re meant to be is humbling.
“More,” she breathes out against my neck, sending a shiver through me. Her fingers continue working their magic on my hard cock. Pulling and tightening with every stroke.
If I didn’t want in her body so damn badly, I’d show her just how hard I really like it. “Open for me, baby.” I suck a nipple into my mouth as she does what I ask. Her thighs fall open to make room for my excited body. I can see her want as I position myself against her warm cunt.
Her arms wrap around my biceps, nails digging into the skin as I slowly push my shaft into her wet pussy. Nothing but bliss with my girl. “So much sweeter than I ever imagined,” I mumble into her neck. My hands are flexing on her hips as I forge my way into her body.
Her legs slowly graze my thighs as they move up to wrap around my hips, constricting as I bury myself balls deep inside of her. Her tight channel envelops my flesh; I don’t move. I savor the feeling of her warmth, the ripple of her walls as she contracts around my length.
When she purposely squeezes around me, I bite back the groan dying to break free and grit my teeth. My body wants to take her in the most primal way. I want to leave my mark on her body, anywhere I can, everywhere I can. She’s mine, and I don’t know if she realizes what all that will entail.
“Gage,” she whispers in my ear, “don’t hold back.”
I push up on my elbows to look at her. Her face flush from her pleasure, a light sheen of sweat glistening on her brow, and her breathing labors. It’s then that I realize she must feel my taught muscles, the way my skin is rippling to pound into her. To take her.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her hands glide from my back, around my ribcage, and travel up to cradle my face. “I’m yours, Gage, completely. And that means your mine as well. Take me, Gage.”
Spurred on by her words, my fists tangle in her hair. I sit back on my heels with Paisley in my lap and my cock buried to the hilt inside of her.
“Ohhh.” She moans like a cat in heat.
Her hips swivel, mine buck up into her, and in that exact moment, the cage around my lust for her is broken. One hand grips onto the base of her spine while the other pulls her head back by her glorious mane, her chest is in my face as I grind the base of my cock against her swollen nub. Her frame undulates with her desire in my hold.
My thrusts are harsh as she continues to groan, ripping a growl from my throat. I know I sound more beast than man. When I feel her body tense and a gush of liquid floods my cock, I know she’s about to come apart for me.
Taking her mouth in a savage kiss as she screams my name, I swallow every ounce of pleasure that’s running rampant through her body as she writhes beneath me. Once she’s sated, replete of all energy, I wrap my arms around her waist and thrust relentlessly in and out of her luscious cunt, chasing my own release.
Just as I crest my peak, she shocks me by jutting her hips up into my downward thrust, lodging my cock as deep inside her as I can get. Her nails score down my back as I come. Toes curling, I bite her neck as currents of ecstasy rush through me at lightning speed. Exhausted, I collapse on top of Paisley, our breathing harsh in the silent house as we recover.
“Sweet mercy,” is followed by a light giggle. “That was far better than I ever imagined.”
My chest puffs up like a fucking peacock as I trail kisses up her neck to her mouth. We’re lazy, with no rush to push for more. Simply being together is enough for us both.