Chapter 30
Chapter thirty
Reeve Hardy
This Love Will Last — Chris Isaak
Beads of sweat roll down my chin, some sliding down my back. I turn on the tap, fill my bottle with water, and then chug it all quickly.
My eyes track the loud gunshots outside the window, and I can’t help but smirk when I see Winona start shooting again. She sneezes for the hundredth time today while loading another magazine.
It’s late August, and Winona has seen the forest transition from one season to the next.
She’s becoming bolder, freer, and more daring. She made me take her to her tower a few times so she could go on the zipline again. We practice shooting, martial arts, and how to ridiculously turn each other on almost every day.
As promised, we’ve gone on many dates and explored parts of the forest. We decorated the walls with her sketches; she drew one of our boy, Titan.
We miss him so much. The rest are seductive sketches of us in all kinds of positions, along with others of me, because the girl is obsessed, too.
I appreciate that she doesn’t deny it either. She’s proud of me, of being with me.
My chest expands when that hits something deep within me.
I let her see more of my inner scars each day, and she allows me to kiss hers lovingly.
Despite everything I’ve put her through, I watch her slowly bloom every day. She gave me a chance, but there’s still a pang in my chest that won’t let me rest.
The mission isn’t over yet.
I step out the door and walk toward her, flicking my hat backward. She melts into me as I come up behind her.
“How was your workout?” she asks.
“Great.” My grin turns to a wicked smirk behind the shell of her ear seconds before I take it into my mouth. “I was thinking about lifting you the whole time.”
“Mmm, sounds like a great idea.”
“Yeah, it does.” I sling her over my shoulder.
“Reeve!” she yelps, kicking her feet as I adjust myself with one hand, holding her with the other. “What are you doing? I’m in the middle—”
“Shhh, we need to take a shower, and then you need to rest with my cock inside you. Your throat is sore too, so I’ll make you a cup of tea. And you’ve been sneezing a lot since you woke up this morning. I don’t want you to catch a cold when it’s hot outside. We have a ton of shit to do.”
“Okay, all your concerns are valid, but…”
“No buts, unless it’s yours.”
In the blink of an eye, Winona spins around me and flips me to the ground. My body slams against the soiled ground like a heavy sack of potatoes. My hat rolls to the side before she catches it and puts it on her head.
Fuck, I missed her ninja moves.
Sitting on top of me, she stares me down with a wicked little grin and hungry eyes. “I’m not finished.”
“You will be once I’m done with you,” I retort.
Her hand flies to my throat, and her other hand aims the gun at my temple as she leans forward, slightly grinding against me uncontrollably.
She can’t resist it.
Her body never lied to me.
“What did the barrel say to the trigger?” I ask with a shit-eating grin. My hands come up to grip her ass, squeezing it firmly with enough pressure to leave a mark.
“Don’t shoot?” she immediately replies, chuckling to herself. I almost laugh at her funny choice of words, but instead, I click my tongue.
“Ouch, motherfucker.”
Our rolling laughter echoes. It’s not even that funny; it just sounds funny to us.
“If you keep your mouth running with your clever comments, I’m gonna tie you to bed and force you to watch me pleasuring myself.”
My little tease.
I’m not opposed to her taking control now and then. I kind of like it.
“I’ll enjoy that, but I’ll probably break the cuffs.”
“I’ll use a rope and the Shibari technique you taught me.”
Now, that’s what I’m talking about.
“You liked that, didn’t you?” I run my hands up and down her back.
“I did.”
She would definitely look prettier with it.
As I’m about to lift my upper body upward, a cocking sound of a gun halts me in place.
“Don’t move, Reeve.”
There’s something about her that I just can’t help but love. She has this radiant smile that fills me with joy. Her features are sweet and carefree, yet still soft and relaxed. And those loving eyes of hers are filled with so much warmth and affection.
Love.
So much love.
She loves me as much as I love her.
“I need to tell you something,” I start.
“What?” Her brows pull together, then flash widely with a realization. “If there’s a snake behind me, just kill it.”
We need to work on her fear of snakes.
“No. It’s not that. I found a place for us away from Salem and all the chaos there.
We could start fresh,” I say hesitantly.
I know she’s lived there her whole life, and being near her grandma is a perk; she always has someone to watch over her and be there for her.
But I just want us to travel around the world.
I want to show her all the things I’ve seen and still want to see with her.
We will be free for good once I eliminate all our threats.
The hand that grips my throat moves up to cup my cheek, and I lean into it, soaking in the sensation of her satiny skin against my growing stubble. She drops the gun beside us to free her other hand. Wisps of hair stick to my face, and she brushes them away.
“I would be honored.”
She exhales a long, soft sigh. Her fingers toy with mine on either side of us, sparks ignite in that simple contact, sending shivers down our spines. I know this because we both tilt our hips—me up, her down—while we grind against each other. The comfort we find in our touch alone satisfies us.
She doesn’t mind that I’m sweating and that dirt clings to me like a second skin.
She never cared about these trivial things.
Whenever the rain fell on us, she embraced it. And when everything closed in on us, she held me tighter and refused to let go.
I am madly in love with her because I never stopped.
My heart swells, and my chest puffs out whenever I see her.
I am so honored to be her crying shoulder and the reason she wakes up smiling in the morning.
I am honored that she looks at me with undying love in her eyes, a twinkle that can last forever like a promised kiss.
“Tell me something about yourself from before we met,” I prompt. “Something good and something I wouldn’t like to hear.”
“Hmm…”
“Something I didn’t know about you.”
“I’m pretty boring.”
“Anything but,” I correct. “Go on.”
“I played the saxophone from age seven to sixteen. I thought it was pretty cool and asked Grandma to play it, so she hired an online tutor, and I practiced it for years until I got tired of it.”
No way.
“Wait… that’s why there’s a glass cabinet in your Grandma’s house in the living room with different saxophones.” I’m pretty sure my excitement shows on my face.
“Yup! She collected them like trophies and thought that would make me play it again when I stopped.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“I stopped, so it didn’t matter.”
“It so matters.“ I knead her thighs. “I want to hear you play someday.”
“Okay,” she doesn’t hesitate.
“Really?”
“Anything for you.”
Fuck yeah.
“What’s the other thing?” I ask, now, dreadful as her body tenses against me. “Please, I need to know.”
She stays silent for a moment.
“One of the bodyguards I had when I was eight came into my room one night while Grandma was away on business.”
“What did he do?” I force out the words, grind my teeth, and gently brush her hair.
“Nothing. He wanted to, I’m sure. The dark look in his eyes... I was so scared, I clutched my teddy bear so tightly until Koy appeared behind him and yanked him out of my room.”
I slowly exhale the breath I’ve been holding.
“I’ve never shared this with anyone, and I’m unsure if Koy ever told Grandma about it. He probably did. Koy was like a father figure to me whenever I needed a comforting hug, advice, or just someone to vent to.”
“He’s a good man. I’m glad you had him before I came.”
“Me too.”
I’m a bit jealous that he could always be there for her, and I couldn’t.
“Did he kill the fucker?”
“He handled it. The fucker never came back.”
Yeah, he killed him.
Koy would kill anyone for Winona and her grandma without a second thought. He’s as loyal as I am and equally protective.
I’m still upset that she had to experience all of that as a kid.
“Why couldn’t the world just let us be kids? Why did it have to be so hard?” I voice my thoughts.
“Maybe because we needed to be who we are now so we could handle shit the way we do.”
“Maybe... but I wish you could have been a little firecracker with the best stories about all the fun adventures you might have had. I wish my childhood looked different.”
“I’m still a firecracker. Maybe not all my stories are fun, but I have plenty of adventures to brag about because of you.
Look at us, Reeve. We’re here, together, holding hands.
We’ve known each other for over a decade, and we’re still counting.
This is what real life looks like. It’s not easy.
It’s not always fun. It’s this. It’s us.
We write our own story, and ours is just getting started.
I feel like we have so many years ahead of us. ”
I hope so.
She moves closer to my face and seals her lips to mine. I nip her lush lip and slip my tongue into her mouth. She runs her fingers through my messy hair, tugging at the thick strands. I run my hands down her back, squeezing firmly before resting them on her hips.
“How’s the bear?” she asks between kisses, pulling away to catch her breath, then diving back in.
“He looked fine when I saw him two days ago during my usual walk. He might know a secret you haven’t unlocked yet.”
“What secret?” she questions.
“I will show you tomorrow.”
Right now, I’m having too much fun kissing and making out on the dirt.
I lower my lips to hers for a gentle kiss. My hand in her hair, tugging it back.
Winona and I make out on the couch, but it doesn’t last long when Titan decides he doesn’t appreciate being excluded from our morning activities and jumps between us, expressing his concerns with grunts and growls.
“Come on, boy, we love you too,” I say as I rub his entire body, giving him a pleasant sensation behind his ears, and Titan’s tongue hangs out.
He’s a happy big baby with a blissful face.
Winona kisses his paw, and he grins widely with satisfaction when she kisses his other paw loudly, giving him all the attention.
I’m starting to think the jealous fucker is spending more time with my wife than I am.
Too much stimulation at once makes him lose his balance, and we slip off the couch onto the floor, piling up on each other. We laugh loudly, and he quickly hops to his feet, helping Winona up with his big head, giving her back a nudge, and she laughs even more.
“I’m okay, buddy.” She turns to him and pets him on the head. “Don’t worry.”
We’re finally settled into our house, and a sense of calm washes over me. Even though I don’t fully believe it, I still enjoy it. We’re finally married, even though my name isn’t really my name or how the world knows me, but at least that’s something.
I have her, and that’s all that matters.
Muffin mews outside, so I quickly stand up to get her food from our kitchen cabinet, which we keep especially for her. I open the front door, step outside, pour her food into her bowl, and watch her eat peacefully.
She showed up here the first time we moved in and has stayed ever since. She goes on walks around the neighborhood but always comes back at the end of the day.
I like having her around.
I was concerned that Titan wouldn’t get along with a cat because he had never been around one, but surprisingly, they’re quite fond of each other.
My eyes follow her black fur up to her nape, where it’s a little shorter than usual. As I’m about to crouch down, Muffin snaps her head toward me, then runs the opposite way and out of the driveway.
Odd.
I hope no one here has decided to run experiments on cats, because I’ll make them drink their piss if they did, before I put some sense into them.
I’ll keep an eye on her.
I look out the window as I close the door. A shadow stretches across the driveway, and I first notice the Oxford shoes at its feet.
My face falls flat.
The space around me dims, and my heartbeat slows down.
Thump.
A distant thump.
Thump.
It sounds like it’s coming from a monitor right before it dies, but not quite.
“Reeve, is everything okay?” Winona’s voice snaps me out of the fleeting nightmare my mind had spun, and when I glance outside once more, the shadow is gone.