Chapter 30
ROXY
Ipaused my painting, my eyes tracking Angel as he swiveled away, breaking our locked gaze and prowling down the corridor.
There was a hunch of his shoulders and a slight wistfulness in his eyes that told me he wasn’t all good.
The back door opened, and I glanced out into the rear garden to see him heading toward the lake.
A wind blew, causing leaves to swirl in the air, and I sighed, rubbing my bump.
Autumn was getting close, and the temperatures were dipping.
Setting my brushes down, I cleaned up, took off my apron, and went to find him a coat.
I also wanted to figure out why he gave me that melancholy expression before he left.
Twigs and leaves crunched under my sneakers as I walked in the direction of the shore, his jacket in my hands.
I found him sitting on the cedar bench, in the middle of a phone call.
I was about to step away and give him privacy when I discerned the tone of his voice.
His timbre sounded wrecked, rough and hoarse with a friction that made me stop in my tracks.
I caught some of his words drifting through the air.
‘I’m frustrated by the expression she gives me when I try to love on her,’ Angel rasped, his resonance breaking with emotion.
‘She pulls away when I try to kiss her. I keep a smile on my face for her, but it’s proving too hard.
I don’t know how much longer I can bear this rejection.
Am I a fool for staying? Or am I just forcing a ghost of a marriage? ’
My heart jolted as he gave ear to the speaker on the other end, his jaw tightening into a hard line.
‘Hell, Jude,’ Angel muttered. ‘Damn you for stating the obvious. So you’re saying I have to endure this for as long as it takes?’
He listened for a bit before muttering,
‘You’re a massive bundle of help today.’
A few muffled sentences were shared that I missed, my breath catching in my throat.
Then his chest expanded, his voice breaking into a ragged whisper.
‘That’s just it, Jude. I want it to be. I love Roxy so much, but I’m dying on the inside not knowing if she’ll ever feel the same back.’
After a few more murmurs, he disconnected the call.
I froze on the grass behind him, trapped, unable to alert him to my presence yet powerless to walk away.
My eyes remained fixed on him as tears spilled over my eyelashes and down my cheeks.
His head tipped back to the chair rest, and I jolted at the rivulets tracking down his face.
His broad shoulders heaved with silent, agonizing sobs that shook his entire frame.
Seeing him like this destroyed my last defenses.
The icy wall around my heart shattered.
I stared at this magnetic, handsome man weeping by the water, hollowed out by his devotion to me.
I could no longer keep my soul and my love from him.
I stepped into the clearing, leaves crackling under my feet.
He knifed up on the bench at the sound of my approach, his palms wiping at his damp eyes as he spun around.
‘Babe, you OK?’
Always with the care. This man.
I rounded him and sank onto the cedar seat next to him.
Setting the jacket aside, I turned and cradled his face with one hand, the other sliding through his hair.
‘I believe that in every person’s life, there comes a time when we have to lay everything on the line to fight for what we want,’ I whispered.
His hazel eyes locked on mine, bloodshot and dilated with shock.
‘Fuck, you heard the call.’
‘I did, and you need to know, Angel, that I love you,’ I said, the words rushing out of me like a river. ‘I’ve never loved anyone more in all my life than you, for over twenty-five years, honey.’
He swallowed hard, shuddering, more tears spilling down his sculpted cheeks.
‘After a long struggle to forgive you, I have,’ I continued, framing his face with my palms and leaning closer, my nose to his, until our breath mingled.
‘I’m no longer scared to lay it out on the line and pour myself out for you.
This is it. I’ve never felt more passionate about anything, and I’m not giving up on us. ’
A growl escaped his throat, his sinewy hands coming up to cover mine as I slid them to his nape and chest.
‘Roxy,’ he groaned, the sound tortured and drawn out.
‘In recent weeks, you’ve given me unbelievable happiness despite the nausea,’ I whispered. ‘You’ve cherished me with a care that I could have never imagined.’
I kissed his damp cheek, tasting the salt, my chest aching with a fierce, possessive need for him.
‘There’s no simple way to describe how much you mean to me,’ I murmured. ‘Even I don’t understand it sometimes. I can’t help it, and I won’t argue with it anymore.’
‘Things happened between us that I’d give anything to take back, but I can’t,’ Angel rasped, his timbre a gravelly ruin.
‘The only thing I can do is say I’m so sorry.
I’ve been so selfish. I trampled on you with my words and my actions.
I put my energy into saving the unsaveable when I should’ve loved you. ’
I smiled through my tears, pressing my forehead against his.
‘It’s all in the past now, honey. Over the last few weeks, the negative emotions that clouded my feelings are gone. They revealed a devotion for you that I never thought existed. Angel, I love you so much. I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you.’
‘You mean that?’ he breathed, his grip tightening on my wrists.
‘With all my heart.’
‘Hell yeah.’
The relief in his delivery was palpable as he cradled my face, his thumbs wiping away my lingering tears, and then his mouth found mine.
The kiss began with a desperate, trembling yearning.
My heart threatened to burst as emotion ratcheted up.
I pulled him closer, my fingers tangling in the collar of his shirt.
He answered with a deeper pressure, his lips groaning against mine, sealing the promise of our future.
He lifted his mouth off me, eyes locked on me, fierce and intense.
The sun hovered at the very edge of the horizon, ready to dip away and paint the lake in deep crimson as Angel slid off the bench.
He dropped to one knee on the grass in front of me.
He took my hand, his eyes locked on mine.
‘Roxy, will you choose me again? For real this time?’
I let out a soft laugh, my chest bubbling with joy.
‘Yes. Yes, I do.’
He pulled me into his arms, shifting on the bench with me on his lap.
His hand went to my stomach, his palm caressing our bump.
‘I’m looking forward to every single second with the three of us,’ he whispered against my neck, his timbre thick with emotion. ‘This little one is going to have the best life, and hey, down the road, maybe we’ll add two or four more to the crew.’
I gasped, feigning shock. ‘You want me to suffer through nausea again?’
As I spoke, though, a massive smile spread across my face because I wanted the same thing and would endure it if I had to to make our dreams come true.
We held each other, curled up on the seat as he threw the jacket I brought over us and tucked my head beneath his chin.
‘I adore you. Forever and a day, babe.’
We remained entwined for a long time.
Eyes fixed on the sky above as twilight surrendered to a velvet sky filled with constellations that lit up the darkness, charting a map for our brand-new beginning.
ANGEL
We moved inside when a damp autumn wind chased us from the lake.
I built a fire in the hearth, stacking hickory logs until the flames took off.
I heated milk on the stove, whisking cocoa powder and sugar into two mugs.
I handed one to Roxy to warm her up.
Then I fired up the gas range and seared beef in a smoking cast-iron skillet, basting the meat with crushed garlic cloves and fresh rosemary sprigs.
I tossed asparagus into the pan with lemon and butter, the rich sizzle filling the kitchen with an incredible aroma.
Roxy perched on the island stool, her gaze locked on my hands as I carved the medium-rare meat into perfect strips.
‘I’m starving, honey,’ she murmured, reaching out to pluck a piece of steak before I could plate it.
‘Hands off the merchandise, Rox, not until its ready,’ I teased.
I added herbs and a sprinkling of herbs and slid the loaded platter in front of her alongside the asparagus and fresh bread rolls.
‘Now, you can indulge. Eat well, babe; you’re building a human.’
We ate right at the counter, our knees bumping, trading laughs over old road stories from my touring days.
When she finished every last bite, I pulled her to the sofa, and we lay down, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind.
She leaned back against my chest, a deep sigh of contentment escaping her lips.
I pressed a slow kiss to the warm side of her neck, my hands cupping her growing belly.
Yearning and need flared hot, making my pulse hammer.
When the fire in the hearth finally died down to glowing embers, I walked her down the hallway toward her bedroom.
We stopped outside her door, the dim corridor lit only by the moonbeams filtering through the window.
I pulled her close, my palms gripping her hips tight as I captured her mouth.
The kiss grew hungry, a deep, trembling surge of weeks of pent-up craving.
My hands tangled in her hair, holding her securely as I drank her in.
I broke the contact, resting my forehead on hers while I fought for breath. ‘Goodnight, babe.’
Roxy paused, then reached for the front of my shirt, her fingers quivering, her cheeks flushing a beautiful pink in the shadows.
‘Stay,’ she whispered. ‘Come inside with me, Angel.’
My brain short-circuited.
I stood frozen for a split second, blown away by the invitation before my senses kicked into gear.
‘Hell yeah, let’s make up for lost time.’
With a smile, I took her hand, followed her across the threshold, and shut the door behind us, locking out the rest of the world.
We moved to the bed in the darkness as I tilted my head and kissed her.
She pushed into me, going at it with a wild passion, undaunted by her pregnancy.
Our kissing and touching was deep, greedy, and yearning, but also a rediscovery of our wild connection.
We remembered each other’s erotic zones, and I re-familiarized myself with her body, which was now more lush and full.
We glided over each other, licking, sucking, and losing ourselves in each other.
We lost our clothes in seconds, with me pulling them off both of us.
Kissing and suckling her fuller tits was heaven and made me almost lose control.
I eased her back onto the bed, nipping, licking, lapping, loving her voluptuousness.
She moaned as I went to town suckling her nipples.
Her growls told me she was loving it as I found the V between her legs, stroking; her hips were riding my fingers, covering me in her wet.
I slid down her body and stroked her mound, loving on it.
Then I went lower and made her cum, jerking as my mouth on her clit and my fingers in her slit, brought her to a shuddering orgasm.
I then shifted up to slide into her from the rear, lifting one thigh over mine as I thrust my cock into her until she screamed.
Our lovemaking was gentle, yet savage and fierce, a beautiful, healing collision of bodies and souls that left no room for doubt.
Cradling her rounded belly, I loved her with everything I had, mapping every inch of her skin with my mouth, proving my devotion with each touch.
It was incandescent, a sacred reclamation of the vows we made months ago out of necessity, now written onto our hearts for eternity.
Dawn broke across the Tennessee hills, painting the bedroom ceiling in pale shades of lavender and gold.
I blinked open my eyes, finding Roxy nestled against my side.
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
My heart swelled with a possessive, protective instinct even as my cock thickened to full hardness, needing to claim her again.
I leaned down, nuzzling the sensitive spot right behind her ear, my stubble scratching her skin.
Roxy stirred with a tiny moan, her long eyelashes fluttering open as she turned her head toward me.
A sleepy, radiant smile transformed her face the moment her hazel eyes met mine.
‘Morning handsome,’ she rasped, her voice hoarse, sexy, and warm.
‘Hi, beautiful,’ I murmured, sliding my thigh over hers.
I captured her lips in a soft, lazy kiss that soon caught fire as her arms looped around my neck.
The sheets tangled over our legs as the heat rebuilt between us, erasing the early chill.
Coming behind her, I slid my cock inside her, and she growled, clutching hands to her tits as we rocked together to bliss.