EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
LAIKEN
The house is done. It took over six months from the first time I drove into New Orleans and met with Mr. Black along with a lot of sweat, money, and vision, but the house is done. I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it turned out. It’s no longer a monstrosity of a mansion without a soul.
This is a home where I can raise my family.
And it has already started. I rub a hand over my baby bump and can’t help but smile.
After asking Tripp if he thought Rene was telling me I was already pregnant, the man went right out and bought a pregnancy test. That one didn’t pop positive right away, but a week later he bought another one and that one told the real story.
We were having our first child.
Did I freak out a little? Yes, of course. I took precautions and then this man blew into my life, changed everything up, and had me falling at his feet. Nothing about my life looked the same as it once did. I earned the freak out I had.
Tripp just gripped my face in his strong, calloused hands and looked into my eyes. Steady. He was so fucking steady that I found myself calming down almost instantly.
“We’ve got this, my little Mischief-maker,” he rumbled.
“We’ve got this. The house will be done before we welcome our first child.
There may be some weeks here and there where we need to stay at the clubhouse.
If that is the case, then we’ll make it work.
The moment your property cut comes in, I’m slipping it on your shoulders and making my claim official.
As soon as I don’t think you’ll freak out and run the other direction, I’ll be slipping a ring on your finger and we’re getting married. ”
“All official like, huh? Not just for the sake of biker life?” I couldn’t help but sass him.
He took it all in stride and grinned at me, his dark eyes dancing with mirth. “There is no way that I’m not claiming you in every way I can. I need you, Laiken. I need all of you.”
I melted against him and buried my head in his chest. With a nod, I mumbled, “You have all of me, Tripp. I’m not going anywhere. I’m a little freaked out right now, but it’s not because I’m not happy about being pregnant. I’m thrilled. I’m also terrified.”
“Thrilled and terrified I can work with,” he whispered against the crown of my head.
And that was it.
The man became a machine because there was no way he was going to break his promises to me. He certainly got the house finished before we are to meet our son.
It was only a few days after the pregnancy test came back positive when he picked me up from the house and drove me to the clubhouse.
As much as I tried to get him to agree, since I was still so early on, he refused to allow me on the back of his bike again.
It’s sweet and I love the man even more for it.
Even though I know it hurts him because he’d much rather be on his bike than in his truck.
The moment we walked into the clubhouse common room, everyone went silent, and I couldn’t help but fidget. Lucifer, the President of the club, approached with a huge grin on his face and a small box in his hands.
As he handed it to Tripp, his voice was thick with emotion, “It gives me great pleasure to hand this to you, Hammer.” With a chin lift to me, he stepped back.
When I looked up at Tripp, I found him already staring at me. Everyone else disappeared, leaving only the two of us in our own little bubble.
“I’ve made you a few promises so far, my little Mischief-maker, and I’m making good on one of them today.”
My heart started to race, and I swallowed hard as he opened the box in his hands only to let it fall to the floor as he pulled out my property cut. He held it up for the room to see, but my gaze stayed on the back where it declared ‘Property of Hammer’.
As my man slipped it on me, I felt the weight of what the leather meant settle around me. The loyalty it represents. The love. The family. It wasn’t the weight of a burden; it was one of great responsibility. I was more than willing to take it on.
And I have every day since.
Now he’s checked another promise off. Tomorrow, we welcome the club and my Didi to help christen our new home and celebrate its reborn soul.
As it should be.
This place deserves to be celebrated.
But that is also why I’ve spent all day in the kitchen cooking and preparing for everyone coming over tomorrow. I don’t want to be trapped in here when everyone comes by. I want to be able to spend time with my family and watch their eyes light up as they explore our home.
This is the first of many celebrations I plan to have here for my family. We have all this room; it would be a shame to waste it.
I tried to look for Rene again because I wanted to invite her to our housewarming party, but we never crossed paths.
No matter how much time I spent in the French Quarter, no matter how many little side streets I walked down that looked like the one from that night.
I had to give up and hope that if our paths are meant to cross again then they will.
“You better not be overworking yourself, my little Mischief-maker.” The rumble of Tripp’s voice against the shell of my ear as he presses his front against my back and wraps an arm around my waist startles me at first but then I melt back against him.
“I think I’m done with all the prep for tomorrow. Some things need to go in the oven in the morning, and I’ll need to stir things together, but it won’t be difficult now that I got through all this.”
“Everything will be perfect,” he murmurs as he buries his face in the crook of my neck.
His hand splays over my belly and my big, strong, sometimes scary man sighs with contentment. He always does when he has his family in his arms.
“You big softie,” I tease him.
“Only for you,” he vows.
And I know he doesn’t just mean me. He means me and Everand, the name we’ve decided on for our son because it means brave and the world needs a little more bravery. So does this land.
When his hand moves down and starts to bunch up my long skirt, I let out a huff which is a mix of indignation and delight. I haven’t been able to keep my hands off my man and I’m not going to apologize for it.
I could blame it on pregnancy hormones, but I know the truth. It’s just him.
Tripp is just as needy for me as I am for him.
“Not in front of the food,” I whisper breathlessly, almost getting lost in the feeling of being so close to him as his calloused fingers scrape along my skin where he’s gathered the fabric and has started to bunch it up around my hips.
He grunts in response and moves me farther down the island. Then the sound of the fabric of my panties being ripped from my body fills the room and I’m lost to how this man can make me soar.
His fingertip glides along the seam of my pussy and he growls. “Always so wet for me, Laiken.”
“Only for you,” I pant the words, my pussy flooding with arousal and causing me to become even wetter as my nipples harden to diamond peaks.
“That’s right,” he sounds pleased as hell with himself. He should; he’s earned it.
I hear the clank of his belt being undone and the rasp of the zipper as he pulls it down and frees himself. My entire body vibrates with anticipation.
“It’s been too long,” I whine slightly.
Tripp chuckles, but what he doesn’t say is that it’s only been a few hours. He doesn’t need to remind me. I know. And it has still been too long.
He presses the head of his cock at my entrance and then he pauses. I look at him over my shoulder in surprise to find his dark eyes waiting for mine. The moment our gazes lock, it feels like the entire house sighs around us.
“I want to fulfill another promise today,” he rasps.
“I think finishing the house far ahead of our little one arriving is a pretty big one.”
He shakes his head and then holds up a ring. A beautiful Victorian era ring which looks like it belongs in this house just as much as we do.
“Marry me, Laiken.”
I don’t even think about it, I slide my finger through the ring and nod. It was the only answer I was ever going to give anyway.
The moment the ring finds its home on my finger, Tripp thrusts his hips forward and fills me roughly.
I cry out and start to slump over the island, but my man is there to hold me up and hold me in place.
He keeps one of his hands on my baby bump, making sure our son is protected while the other braces my hip to allow enough leverage to fuck me hard and fast.
Just the way I need it.
Tomorrow the celebration is about everyone else, but this right here? It’s just for us and it’s perfect.
The house is no longer plagued by a past it never had any control over. We have given it life and in return, I know it will shelter us from whatever storm blows in from the Gulf.
It’s not until hours later, when I’m a sweaty mess with my head resting against Tripp’s chest, that I can really admire my ring.
I can only hope Blanche, Marilyn, and even Desiree are at peace with knowing that a Landry man will never ruin another woman in this house.
No, this house is mine now. I claim it the same way I claim my man.
Forever.