Epilogue
Julie
JULIE
Three years later
The house still smells like fresh pine when the mornings are cool.
Not as sharp as it did in the beginning, when the walls were new and the floors had just gone down and every room felt like a promise I was scared to trust. Now it smells like coffee, wood smoke, Tank’s soap, and whatever I have going in the oven.
Home.
The word does not feel borrowed anymore.
It feels mine.
Ours.
I stand barefoot in the kitchen wearing one of Tank’s shirts and nothing else, my coffee warm in my hands, morning light spilling gold across the floorboards.
Tank had been living at the clubhouse before I met him. Then three weeks later, somehow, he had a wife.
Six weeks after that, the club built us this house with their own hands.
Ghost framed half of it. Viper claimed he only helped because he was tired of hearing us through clubhouse walls. Shadow barely said a word, just showed up every day and worked harder than anybody. They all joked they wanted to get rid of us.
I still think half of them meant it.
The front door opens, and there he is.
Black Henley. Worn jeans. Dark hair a little too long again. Pale eyes finding me the second he steps inside like they always do.
Always.
That still does something to me.
He shuts the door behind him and heads straight for me without a word. Big hand around the back of my neck. Mouth on mine before I can even set my coffee down.
Slow first.
Then deeper.
Then rough enough to make my pulse jump.
“Morning,” I murmur against his mouth.
“Morning.”
His hand slides to my waist, then lower, settling on the back of my thigh. My shirt rides up under his palm and heat curls through me instantly.
I smile a little. “You look like you came in here with plans.”
His eyes darken.
“Maybe I did.”
Before I can laugh, he lifts me onto the counter like I weigh nothing. The cold stone kisses the backs of my thighs. His body fits between my knees.
“Bossy,” I whisper.
His mouth tilts. “I’m your husband. I earned bossy.”
That gets a laugh out of me right up until his hand slips into my panties and cups me.
Then all I do is gasp.
His forehead drops to mine for one second while his thumb drags over me, slow and knowing and filthy in the way only he can be.
“Still this wet for me after three years,” he murmurs. “I like that.”
My whole face burns.
“Tank.”
“What?” He brushes me again, harder this time.
I laugh and moan at the same time. His mouth finds mine before I can answer, and the kiss goes deep fast.
I get his belt open while he kisses me. He gets my panties off with less patience than that. Then he sinks to his knees between my thighs, and the look he gives me from there still nearly undoes me.
“Tank.”
“Yeah, angel?”
I should say something smart.
I do not.
Because he puts his mouth on me and every thought in my head burns to ash.
My hand flies to his hair. The other grips the edge of the counter. Tank eats me like he has all the time in the world and none at all, one big hand spreading my thigh wide while his mouth works me over until my breathing shatters.
“Please,” I whisper.
That gets his eyes on mine.
“Please what?”
Mean.
He is so mean when he knows exactly what I need.
“Please don’t stop.”
His mouth curves against my skin. “That’s my girl.”
Then he gives me exactly what I asked for.
I come hard enough to make the whole kitchen tilt, my hand tangled in his hair, my body shaking with it while he holds me through every second.
When he stands again, his mouth is swollen and his eyes are wrecked and I swear I could get off just looking at him.
He kisses me and lets me taste myself on him.
That gets another helpless sound out of me.
He pushes his cock into me in one smooth thrust, and I cry out, legs locking around his waist, pulling him deeper.
“You wanted this?” he asks, voice rough.
“Yes.”
He drives into me again.
“Wanted my cock?”
My whole body flashes hot.
“Yes. I always want your cock.”
That is all it takes.
Tank’s face changes, the last of his restraint burning off. He fucks me hard enough to make the counter knock softly against the wall. One hand keeps my thigh open. The other slides between us and finds the place that makes me lose words.
“There you go,” he mutters against my mouth. “Take it.”
Every dirty little praise hits me low and deep.
“Good girl.”
“That’s it.”
“Come on my cock, angel.”
I clutch his shoulders and let him give me exactly what I need. His voice stays rough in my ear while he thrusts into me and rubs me until my whole body goes tight.
“Come for me,” he says. “I want to feel it.”
That does it.
I break apart with his name on my mouth, body clenching around him so hard he groans into my throat.
He follows a second later with a broken sound I feel all the way through me, body locking over mine, every hard line in him going tight.
After, he stays close, breathing rough, forehead against mine.
I smile a little, dazed and warm and full of him.
He kisses me once. Slow. Then looks at me.
“What?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
Lie.
He knows it too.
His hand slides down to my stomach.
And just like that, I decide.
I was going to tell him tonight. Or maybe after dinner. Or maybe in bed when the light went soft.
But he is right here. Looking at me like I am his whole world.
There will not be a better moment than this.
“Tank.”
He stills instantly.
“What is it?”
I cover his hand with mine and smile, sudden tears burning behind my eyes.
“I’m late.”
His brows pull together. “Late?”
I nod. “I took a test yesterday while you were out.”
He goes so still I feel it everywhere.
For one second he just stares at me.
Then his eyes widen.
“Julie.”
I laugh softly because I might cry if I do not. “I’m pregnant.”
The silence after that is so complete I can hear the fire pop and both our breaths caught high in our chests.
Tank stares at me like I just put the sun in his hands.
Then his forehead drops to mine and his hand spreads over my stomach, careful and reverent and shaking just a little.
“You’re sure?”
I nod. “Very.”
His eyes close.
A rough sound leaves him. Half laugh. Half something wrecked.
Then he kisses me.
Slow this time.
Deep.
A kiss so full of love it nearly hurts.
When he pulls back, his voice is wrecked in a whole different way.
“I love you.”
The words hit me with all the force they always do.
I put both hands on his face and smile through the tears.
“I love you too.”