EPILOGUE
Cord
Six months had passed since I’d planted that field of poppies, and every day since had been a lesson in how much a man could love a woman without actually losing his mind.
I was in one of the greenhouses, checking the humidity levels, but my focus was elsewhere. It usually was these days. It was on the sound of the back door of the cabin slamming, or the way Poppy hummed when she was mixing fertilizer.
She walked in a few minutes later, looking flushed and a little bit breathless.
She was wearing a pair of my old work pants held up by a belt, but they were starting to look tight across her lush, wide hips.
Her breasts seemed heavier, too, straining against the fabric of her t-shirt in a way that had been keeping me up at night for weeks.
“You’re late for the morning check,” I rumbled, though I couldn’t keep the softness out of my voice. I reached out as she got close, my hand automatically finding the small of her back to pull her into me.
“I had a special project to finish,” she said, her eyes sparking with that familiar sass. She was holding a small, four-inch starter pot in her hands. A tiny seedling, no bigger than my thumb, was pushing up through the dark soil.
I stared at the tiny seedling, then back at her face. “Is that from your pepper plants? The ones form the rack disaster?”
She shook her head. “No. I think I’ve found a new species, Cord. It’s a bit of a hybrid. High maintenance, very demanding, and likely to cause a lot of trouble in about six months.”
I frowned, looking down at the pot. “It looks like a pepper plant to me, Poppy.”
“Read the tag, Mountain Man.”
I leaned in, squinting at her messy handwriting on the plastic stake.
Species: Homo Sapiens—Mountain Variety
Planting Date: Roughly twelve weeks ago
Expected Harvest: Late December
Growing instructions: Needs lots of pickles, foot rubs, and a very big, very possessive father.
I stared at the tag, the words blurring as the reality slammed into my chest like a falling pine.
“Poppy?” My hands were shaking as I let go of her waist to cup her face. “Are you... are we...?”
“There’s a bun in the nursery oven, Cord.” Her smile wavered just a little as her eyes filled with tears. She was watching me with those dark eyes—nervous and brave in that way that was entirely, exclusively her. “We’re having a seedling.”
A primal, explosive surge of protectiveness roared through my veins.
I didn’t just want to kiss her. I wanted to build a wall around the entire mountain and never let a single breeze touch her.
I dropped the pot—thankfully onto a bag of mulch—and hauled her against me, my face burying in the crook of her neck.
“God, Poppy.” My voice broke as the reality of what she’d told me settled inside me. “A baby. My baby inside you.”
I pulled back just enough to look at her, my gaze dropping to her stomach. Knowing what was growing there changed everything. I reached down, my large hand covering her belly, my fingers splayed over the skin.
“I knew it,” I muttered, my mind racing. “I knew your breasts felt heavier. I knew your pussy felt tighter, hotter every time I was inside you lately.”
“Cord,” she laughed, though she was blushing a deep, beautiful red. “I don’t think that’s a thing.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked my hand covering one of her breasts. “How does that feel? Sensitive right?” I plucked at the hardened nipple.
“Yes, that happens, but not the other thing.”
“What? That your pussy is tighter? Wetter? I know what I know, baby.”
She slapped me on my shoulder. I swept her up into my arms, my grip iron-clad and possessive. “You aren’t lifting another tray. You aren’t climbing any ladders. You’re going to sit in that cabin and be worshipped until that baby arrives.”
“I am a grown woman, Cordell,” she bossed, even as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
“You’re my woman,” I corrected, my mouth finding hers in a hard, hungry kiss. “And you’re carrying the next generation of this mountain. That makes you the most important thing on this planet.”
I carried her out of the greenhouse, my stride long and certain. As I walked, I couldn’t stop my hand from sliding down to squeeze the thick, soft curve of her bottom.
“You’re going to get even rounder,” I rasped against her ear, the thought making my cock stir with a heavy, aching heat.
“Your hips are going to get wider for me. Your breasts are going to leak for our baby. And I’m going to spend every second of the next six months making sure you know exactly how much I worship every new inch of you. ”
“Is that a promise, Mountain Man?” she whispered, nipping at my jaw.
“That’s a vow, Poppy. You and the seedling. You’re mine. Forever.”
The sun was hitting the peaks, turning the world to gold, but the only light I cared about was the glow in her eyes as I carried my family home.