Two years ago, Rylan and I had gotten into a limo amidst a crowd of friends and family, and headed off to the airport. We'd spent two weeks in Europe. Paris, London, Rome, Venice – places I'd always dreamed of seeing, but had never imagined I would. Last year, for our one-year anniversary, we'd taken a cruise to Alaska. Two days ago, we'd just gotten back from the Bahamas. The past three New Year's, we'd spent in the family cabin in the mountains.

Now, after over three years of being together and two years of marriage, things were about to change forever.

I stood in the doorway of one of the two rooms that had recently been redecorated. They used to be extra rooms, not really used for much of anything. Now, they had a purpose. This one had been painted a light lavender with dark purple trim. The other was dark green and gold. The kids had picked the colors out themselves, along with everything else in the rooms.

Diana was seven. Jeremiah was nine. And, come tomorrow, they'd be ours.

Last year, when Rylan and I had started discussing adoption, I'd been hesitant to suggest what I really wanted. Then Rylan had told me that he'd been thinking that we should adopt kids who'd been taken from situations like mine. Who better to understand what a child was going through than someone who'd been through it too?

A few months later, a brother and sister were among those rescued when a child pornography ring was busted. They had no other family and would most likely be split up if they were ever adopted, though the chances of that were slim. I knew from experience that older kids were harder to place to begin with, much less kids who'd been through what these two had.

We'd moved slowly, building up trust between us. Visitations, overnight stays, family counseling. I'd shared some of my past with them, enough for them to know that I understood. I knew Rylan and I were in for years of dealing with issues beyond the normal parenting scope, but I had faith. I had seen it in the children's eyes, that longing for a real home and for safety. Rylan and I would give them that. The rest would be up to them.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Rylan said as he slid his arms around my waist. He pulled me back against him, tucking my head under his chin.

“Just thinking about Diana and Jeremiah, what they must be thinking tonight, knowing it's their last night in their group home.” I put my hands on Rylan's arms. “Excitement. Fear.”

“Fear?”

“That it won't last. That we'll send them back. That no one will want them.”

He kissed the top of my head.

“What about you?” I asked. “What have you been thinking about?”

“Two things,” he said. “One, I was thinking that we should have a huge picnic for the Fourth of July. Let the kids feel what it’s like to be part of a big family who loves them.”

“That's a great idea,” I said. “And two?”

“I was thinking that it's probably going to be the last night in a long time that we'll be able to be as loud as we want wherever we want.” He bent his head to graze the top of my ear with his teeth. “And I want to hear you scream my name.”

Desire shot through me, setting my body on fire. I turned in Rylan's arms. “That sounds wonderful.” I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck. “Did you have someplace special in mind?”

“Well,” he said. “Since the playroom is soundproofed now, I was thinking we might want to go someplace that wasn't. Or more than one place.”

“Really?” I raised an eyebrow.

He grinned. “I was thinking maybe we start in the living room and make our way through the entire first floor. We do have all night, after all.”

“I love the way you think.” I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss before stepping out of his arms. “Last one to the couch gets their ass spanked.” I grinned at him as I pulled off my shirt and took off for the stairs.

I laughed as I heard a familiar growl behind me. I'd almost reached the bottom of the staircase when an arm went around my waist, grabbing me and lifting me off of the stairs. I struggled, still laughing, as Rylan threw me across his shoulder – when had he taken off his shirt? – and gave my ass a firm slap.

I barely felt it through my jeans, but it made me squirm anyway. Over the past three years, Rylan had slowly introduced me to more and more of the bdsm world. We'd worked through my various triggers until I rarely ever had to ask him to take things slow. Each breakthrough had been another triumph over my past, another proof to myself that I was stronger than what had been done to me.

He dropped me on the couch and yanked off his jeans before I was about to straighten myself out. The sight of him standing there naked made things low inside me throb. More than three years and I was still in awe of the sight of him. Those firm muscles, rock solid abs. The deep v-grooves at his hips that pointed straight down to his cock.

“I'm on the couch first,” I said with a grin. “You lose.”

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow.

His voice had gone to that deep place that hit all those buttons I'd never known until I'd met him. I shivered in anticipation.

“Strip.”

My jeans went first, followed by my bra and panties, so that within a matter of seconds, I was as naked as he was.

“Bend over.”

I didn't bother to argue that I had indeed reached the couch first. Every once in a while, Rylan would have me tie him up, spank him, do things to him, but he was always in charge. And I loved it. The freedom that came with giving myself over to him wholly was one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. I knew I was safe and that he'd take care of me.

I put my hands on the back of the couch and waited. A moment later, his hand came down on my ass.

“Ahh.” My eyelids fluttered as the sting melted into warmth. The second one did the same to the other cheek. I gave myself over to the sensations as his hand came down again and again. He was being careful, I could tell, most likely to keep me from having any issues sitting tomorrow when the kids arrived, but it was enough to make my skin burn.

After a few minutes, I felt hands on my ass, but in a different position. These were cupping the firm muscle and, a moment later, I felt why.

“Fuck.”

My head fell forward as Rylan's tongue ran along my sensitive skin. He nudged my legs apart and began to lick every inch of me, dancing between my legs until my muscles were quivering and my breath was coming in gasps. Only then did he slide two fingers inside of me. I let out a sound somewhere between a moan and a yelp as he stretched me. Then his fingers pressed against that spot inside me and I came.

My knees began to buckle and I felt him behind me, his arm around my waist, as he removed his hand. The next thing I knew, I was stretched out on the couch and he was above me, his hand wrapped around my wrists. He held me tight as his other hand moved between us, getting himself into position.

“I'm going to make you scream,” he promised.

I'd learned never to doubt his promises.

He paused for a moment with just the tip inside me, then drove forward, burying himself inside me with one thrust. I did scream then, my back arching, hands struggling against his. I needed to scratch something, grab something. It was too much to take all at once, the pain and the pleasure, sensations so intense that I didn't think my body capable of handling it.

“That's my girl.” He kissed the side of my neck without losing a stroke.

He moved deep and hard, taking me to that edge and holding me there. His mouth moved over me, biting and sucking until I knew he'd left marks from my throat to my breasts. I moaned and writhed as he sucked on my nipples, teeth worrying at each one until they were swollen and throbbing. And still, he moved inside me, filling me, rubbing against all of the right places until I was a mass of raw nerves, begging for release.

“Scream my name.” His voice was breathless, but there was no doubt in his order. His fingers tightened around my wrists and he moved his hips, rubbing his cock against my g-spot and the base of it against my clit.

My orgasm hit me hard enough that, for a moment, everything went white. I could hear myself doing what he wanted and screaming his name, but it sounded far away, as if my body and I were in two separate places. And then I was back, held in place by where Rylan and I were joined. My anchor. He thrust into me again and came with a groan, his face pressed against my breasts. He emptied himself inside me, his body shuddering. As he released my wrists, I wrapped my arms around him, holding him to me. I smoothed down his hair and kissed his forehead.

We lay together in silence as we came down, sweat cooling on our skin. It was nice, I thought, to be able to make love here and not have to worry about someone walking in. And it would be just as good in the kitchen or on the stairs, or wherever Rylan took me next. We enjoyed the freedom to do as we pleased here, but I felt no sadness that these moments would be few and far between as of tomorrow.

We would still have our bedroom and the playroom, still have time to make love and to fuck. To use our toys and do all of the things we currently enjoyed. But it would be different tomorrow, because it would no longer be just the two of us in this big house. We were going to have a family.

Rylan shifted, rolling us so that he was behind me, his body curled around mine. I put my hands on his arms as he wrapped them around my waist. It was funny, I thought, how far I'd come since the first time I'd woken up in this room. How far we'd both come. And we weren't done yet. In fact, I was pretty sure that the best was yet to come.

I smiled and snuggled back against Rylan, safe and loved. Yes, I decided. This was just the beginning, and for the first time in my life, I couldn't wait to see what was next.