He’s worshipping my body, and it’s the most amazing fucking thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life.

He slowly slides the rest of his cock in my pussy and then swears under his breath as he holds himself there, sheathed in me.

“So damn amazing,” he whispers. The room is quiet, the house still, as he makes soft sweet love to me. Our breathing is labored, but we hardly make any sound at all as he moves above me and I raise and lower my hips to meet him, relishing in the way his hardness feels inside me.

It’s as though he’s home.

“Love you so much,” I whisper into his shoulder as his pubis presses against my clit, sending me into a rolling orgasm, gentle as a calm ocean wave, but no less staggering than the wild choppy seas of a hurricane as he follows me over the edge and into his own climax. He shudders above me, not making any noise as he collapses beside me and pulls me into his arms.

If he heard my declaration seconds ago, he doesn’t say. He simply tucks me up against him, pushes his fingers through my hair and kisses my forehead before falling into a deep sleep.

After several minutes, I untangle myself from his embrace to go to the restroom and clean myself up, pull on some clothes, and mentally pull myself together.

Did he not hear me?

Possible.

When I return to the bedroom, he’s turned onto his side, facing away from my side of the bed. I climb in behind him and lay on my side, several inches from him, watching him as he breathes in sleep. The light from the moon casts a shadow of light over his back, illuminating his tattoo.

I can’t resist lifting my hand and tracing the letters and numbers with the tip of my finger. He’s so much more than what’s written in these four lines.

He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.

Chapter Eighteen

~Caleb~

I’ve avoided her all day. All fucking day. And that’s not easy to do when the person you’re avoiding is the one you’re living with and doing your damndest to protect.

It’s not easy.

But for my own sanity, it’s necessary.

I heard her last night when she whispered that she loved me while I was buried inside her and couldn’t tell where I ended and she began. She didn’t have to say the words aloud, I could fucking feel her, and to say it scared the shit out of me is an understatement.

So I did the only thing I knew and ignored it.

Because somewhere along the line I fell in love with her too, and now I’m too much of a pussy to admit it.

I slide out from under the sink in the kitchen, throw my wrench in my toolbox and wipe my hands on a towel. I’ve managed to work out twice, repair a loose board on the deck, re-caulk the bathtub in the kids’ bathroom, and repair a leak under the kitchen faucet, all since we all returned home from work and school this afternoon.

I even opted out of eating dinner with Brynna and the girls, insisting that I’d eaten a big lunch at work.

I’m fucking starving.

I frown as Bix saunters around the kitchen island, sniffing for any scraps that may have fallen while Brynna made dinner and comes to me for an ear rub.

“Hey, boy,” I whisper and kiss his cheek while I rub him down. “How are you feeling?”

Bix nudges my chin with his head and sits next to me on the floor, enjoying the attention.

“You’re such a faker,” I mumble with a laugh. “You get more attention from those two little girls than you have in your whole life.”

He grins up at me and moans as I rub the sensitive area around his injured ear.

“Does that still give you problems, boy?” I ask with a whisper and gently massage the tender area.

“What’s wrong with him?”

I glance up, surprised to see Maddie standing in the kitchen and I didn’t hear her approach. She’s in a long nightgown, her dark hair is still wet from her bath, but it’s been combed to hang over her shoulders. She’s barefoot and is holding her doll close to her chest.

She’s all fresh and clean and just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.

“Nothing, buttercup,” I respond and smile. “Sometimes his ear just hurts.”

“Oh,” She frowns and watches me rub Bix’s face. “Poor Bix.”

“He’s okay,” I reassure her. “What are you up to?”

“I want you to read us a story and tuck us in, so Mom said I should come find you.”

She watches me with wide sleepy eyes.

“Shall we take Bix up and read a story?” I ask her with a smile.

“Yes, please,” she responds happily.

I rise from my seat on the floor and motion for Bix to follow us up the stairs. Brynna is just coming out of the girls’ room as we approach and she hugs Maddie tight and grins at her.

“Good night, baby girl,” Brynna croons to her daughter.

“’Night, Mama,” Maddie responds and jumps up into her bed. Bix happily curls up on his bed between the two, but he’s not fooling me.

He’ll be up on one of their beds as soon as I turn the light out and leave.

“You and I need to talk,” Brynna murmurs to me before turning and walking down the stairs.

Yeah, we do, Legs.

“Come over here with us, jellybean, and we’ll read a story.”

Josie climbs into Maddie’s bed and the two little girls curl up together. “I want Ferdinand,” Josie informs me.

“Ferdinand it is, then,” I grin and find the book about the bull on their bookshelf before sitting on the edge of the bed to read.

Bix sighs as I begin the story about a bull who is content to just sit and smell the flowers under his favorite cork tree. The girls settle in and watch the pictures as I read, making my voice different for the different characters. They yawn, their eyes growing heavy.

By the time I reach the end, they both have their eyes closed and are breathing deeply with sleep. Rather than wake Josie and make her get up out of Maddie’s bed to get into her own, I lift her carefully and carry her to her bed, tucking her in.

Before I can pull away, she tightens her arms around my neck in a hug and whispers, “Love you, Daddy.”

My heart stops as she wiggles away, turns on her side, and sighs as she falls back to sleep.

Suddenly, I feel a sheen of sweat form on my forehead and pulling air in and out of my lungs is a struggle.

I need out of here.

I back out of the girls’ room, turn out the light and walk quickly down the hall through Brynna’s bedroom to the bathroom and turn the faucet on cold, briskly splashing it over my face, over and over again, not caring that I’m splashing water all over the floor, the sink, down my shirt.