Epilogue
NIXIE
One Year Later
I twist my engagement ring around my finger, staring blankly at my computer screen. My brain doesn’t care about work right now. All it cares about is that it’s been two weeks since I’ve seen Beauden, and today is the day he’s coming home.
At first, I thought his firefighting deployments would be these long stretches where I wouldn’t hear from him at all, and I braced for the radio silence despite his promise that he would call every chance he got.
I wanted to believe him, but that flicker of doubt still lived inside me.
Then he called every day of his first deployment after we got back together. And he called every day of the next one. And the next. Until the doubt finally fell silent and my heart was certain that every time he walked out the door, he would come back to me.
A year ago, I never thought I would call Black Timber Peak home again. Now? I can’t imagine being anywhere else.
When I hear Tiberius barking at the front door, a familiar flutter flares to life low in my belly because I know what that excited bark means.
I shove away from my desk and run down the hall. The hardwood is cool against my bare feet, and when I see Beauden coming through the front door, my heart clenches in my chest.
How can this man still have this effect on me after a year together?
“Hey,” he says, and his warm smile is a balm to my soul.
Tiberius is on him before I can respond, bouncing around him like he’s still a puppy as Beauden sets his bags down.
Like always, he crouches to say hello, nuzzling Tiberius’s head and scratching behind his ears.
We’ve learned that if he doesn’t greet Tiberius first, that little mongrel won’t give us an inch of space.
So, I wait, smiling like a love-sick fool at the way Beauden is with him.
After a thorough round of pets, Beauden stands slowly, all his attention on me. It’s a heady feeling when he looks at me like that.
“What are you doing all the way over there?” he asks, his voice dripping with want.
A little thrill zings through me, and I don’t know whether to run and jump into his arms or race back down the hallway and into our bedroom. Assuming I can make it that far before he catches me.
He slips his boots off with his eyes locked to mine, and when his lips quirk up in a smirk, my decision is made. I spin and dart across the wooden floor as fast as I can. But Beauden is faster. He catches me around the waist before I even make it to the bedroom door.
I let out an embarrassing little squeak. His laugh vibrates against my back.
“One of these days, I’ll make it to the bedroom,” I say with mock defiance.
He hums low under his breath. “And then what? What will you want as your prize when you make it there first?”
Desire coils in my middle. “You.”
Obviously.
Beauden brings his lips to my ear, his hot breath sending a shiver through me. “You already have me, Nixie. Win or lose, rain or shine, I’m yours.” Then he sweeps me up into his arms bridal-style and carries me into the bedroom.
When he sets me on my feet and claims his prize, his hands tangling in my hair, it’s raw and demanding, but also tender. It’s ‘hello’ and ‘I missed you’ and ‘I love you’ all wrapped in a searing kiss.
One piece at a time, we strip each other out of our clothes and fall into the cool sheets.
Beauden’s lips on my bare skin set me on fire.
His weight on my body is a grounding comfort I can’t even begin to describe.
And the way he fills me —driving into me, watching me like I’m everything— it’s almost too much.
“Did you miss me?” he asks, low and rough, pulling back and burying himself deeper before I can answer.
He knows I did, but a moan takes the place of my confession. I missed him every second he was gone, but the ache is nothing like before.
It’s not about loss this time, it’s about wanting him in every part of my life.
I shift my hips and hike my leg up higher. His strong fingers dig into my thigh and with a groan that sends a ripple of goosebumps cascading down my body, he bottoms out inside me.
“Fuck,” he growls.
Instead of bending forward and claiming my mouth, he splays his big hand across my low belly and pushes down as he drives into me again. And again. And the pressure amplifies everything.
“Beauden,” I cry, my voice cracking on his name. I’m so close. My legs are shaking. My body is wound so tight.
Tighter.
Tighter.
“I’m right here, baby,” he says. “Break for me. I’ll catch you.”
His voice and his words are all I need. My nails dig into his wrist and thigh. And a wave of sensation overwhelms me as I press my head back into the mattress and clench my eyes shut.
Pleasure tears through me, lighting every nerve ending on fire. Beauden follows me down a few seconds later with another guttural curse.
He braces his weight on his elbows, his heavy heartbeat blending with mine as his earthy brown eyes consume me. “I missed you so fucking much.”
“I know.” With a satisfied smile, I lean up and press a soft kiss to his lips. “I missed you too.”
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