Chapter 9
T onya
I stood frozen in Kevin's kitchen, his words echoing in my head like accusations I couldn't escape.
Choose. Right now. Me or the cottage.
I've waited my whole life for someone to choose me first.
The door had barely closed behind him before fury ignited in my chest—white-hot and consuming.
How dare he? How dare he twist my moment of panic into some grand betrayal?
How dare he make this about him being abandoned when I was the one standing here watching everything I'd built crumble around me?
I wasn't trying to choose between him and the cottage. I was trying to figure out how to keep both without letting Michael win. There was a difference, and Kevin was too wrapped up in his own wounds to see it.
My hands shook as I grabbed my jacket. I wasn't doing this. Wasn't going to stand here and let him paint me as the villain in his abandonment story when all I'd done was hesitate for thirty seconds while trying to think.
I found him out back, splitting firewood with the kind of controlled violence that meant he was working through something dark. Each swing of the maul was precise, brutal, final—like he was trying to split more than just logs.
"Stop," I called out. "Just stop and listen to me."
He kept working. Split. Stack. Repeat.
"Kevin Pike, you stop right now or I swear to God—"
He stopped. Didn't turn around, but he stopped.
"You don't get to do this," I said, my voice shaking with anger and tears. "You don't get to walk away and make me the bad guy."
"I'm not making you anything." His voice was flat, emotionless. "You made your choice clear enough."
"I didn't make any choice! I was thinking. Trying to figure out how to outmaneuver a man who's spent two years controlling every aspect of my life." My voice cracked but I pushed through. "And you took my silence and turned it into some proof that I don't love you."
He finally turned, and the pain in his dark eyes nearly brought me to my knees. "You hesitated."
"Of course I hesitated! He threatened to take the one thing I've built with my own hands.
The one piece of proof I have that I'm not the helpless woman he made me believe I was.
" Tears were streaming down my face now but I didn't wipe them away.
"But you know what I didn't do? I didn't say yes.
I didn't agree to go back with him. I didn't choose the cottage over you. "
"You didn't choose me either."
"Because you didn't give me a chance!" The words burst out of me, raw and angry. "You gave me an ultimatum instead of trusting me. You made it about you being abandoned instead of about us figuring this out together."
He flinched but didn't respond.
"You want to know what I was thinking in those thirty seconds?
" I stepped closer, forcing him to look at me.
"I was thinking about how much I love that cottage because I built it.
I put every nail in place, sanded every board, proved to myself that I could create something lasting.
It's not about the property—it's about what it represents. "
"And what does it represent, Tonya?"
"That I survived him." The admission tore from my throat. "That I'm not the broken, helpless woman he said I was. That I can build something beautiful even after he tried to destroy me."
Kevin's jaw clenched but he stayed silent.
"But you know what matters more than that cottage?" I closed the remaining distance between us, tilting my head back to meet his eyes. "You do. Us. This life we're building. I was trying to find a way to keep both, but if I have to choose, I choose you. Every single time."
"You didn't say that when it mattered."
"Because I was scared!" I shoved at his chest, barely moving his massive frame.
"I was terrified that he was winning, that all my work meant nothing, that I'd never be free of him.
And instead of giving me two minutes to work through that fear, you made it about your abandonment issues and walked away. "
He grabbed my wrists, holding them against his chest. "Don't."
"Don't what? Tell you the truth?" I was crying openly now, past caring how I looked. "You talk about trust, but you didn't trust me. The moment things got hard, you assumed I'd leave. Just like everyone else in your life left."
"That's not fair."
"Neither is making me prove my love by passing some test you created.
" I pulled my hands free. "I love you, Kevin.
I'm in love with you. I want to marry you and have your babies and build a life on this mountain.
But I need you to trust that love when things get hard, not turn it into proof of your worst fears. "
The silence stretched between us, heavy and loaded. I could see him fighting against years of conditioning that told him people left.
"The cottage doesn't matter," I said quietly.
"Let Michael have it. Let him have his hollow victory and his worthless property.
I don't need it to prove I survived—I have scars for that.
What I need is you trusting that I'm choosing you, even when I'm scared or confused or trying to figure things out. "
"Tonya—"
"I'm not leaving you." I grabbed his shirt, fisting the fabric in my hands.
"I'm not going back to Michael. I'm not keeping an escape route.
I'm staying right here, with you, building a life that's ours.
But you have to meet me halfway. You have to trust that when I hesitate, it's not because I don't love you—it's because I'm human and scared and still learning how to be loved properly. "
His hands came up to frame my face, thumbs brushing away tears. "I'm sorry."
"I know you are. I know your past makes trust hard. But my past makes quick decisions hard." I covered his hands with mine. "So we work on it together. You trust me more, I choose faster. We figure it out as a team instead of you making ultimatums and walking away."
"I was scared," he admitted, his voice rough. "Scared you'd realize I'm not enough. That the cottage and independence and all of it matters more than some damaged foster kid with abandonment issues."
"You are enough." I pulled him down until our foreheads touched. "You're everything. And I'm sorry I hesitated. I'm sorry my fear looked like doubt. But I need you to know—there was never a choice. It's always been you."
His arms came around me, crushing me against his chest. "I can't lose you."
"You won't. I'm yours, remember? Completely and forever." I pulled back to look at him. "But that means trusting me when things get scary. Can you do that?"
He was quiet for a long moment, and I could see the war in his eyes—old wounds versus new love. Finally, he nodded. "I can try."
"That's all I'm asking." I kissed him softly. "Now can we go back inside and figure out how to make Michael regret ever stepping foot on your mountain?"
The smile that broke across his face was pure relief mixed with something darker. More primal. "Our mountain."
"Our mountain," I agreed.
He dropped the maul with a clatter and pulled me flush against him. "I'm sorry. I should have trusted you instead of letting my past dictate my reaction."
"We both reacted from our wounds instead of our hearts. But we're here now. That's what matters."
"Yes," he said firmly. "And you're never leaving this mountain again. I don't care what Michael threatens or what papers he waves around. You're mine now, completely."
The possessive declaration sent heat spiraling through me. "Prove it."
KEVIN
I carried her to the house, to my bedroom that would now become our bedroom permanently. No more divided loyalties, no more separate spaces. She was mine, and I was going to make sure she never forgot it.
"Strip," I commanded, setting her down beside the bed. "I want to see all of what belongs to me."
She obeyed without hesitation, her hands trembling slightly as she removed her clothes. When she was naked before me, golden and perfect in the afternoon light, I had to pause just to look at her.
"Mine," I said, the word carrying all the weight of ownership and devotion. "Every inch of you belongs to me now."
"Yours," she agreed breathlessly. "Show me. Claim me. Make me forget everything except you."
I stripped quickly, then pressed her back onto the bed with deliberate intent. This wasn't going to be gentle or tentative. This was about possession, about marking her so thoroughly that she'd never question where she belonged again.
"I'm going to fuck you until you forget your own name," I told her, positioning myself between her thighs. "Until the only thing you remember is that you're mine."
"Yes," she gasped. "Please, Kevin. I need—"
"I know what you need." I pushed into her in one smooth stroke, watching her face as I filled her completely. "You need me. You need this. You need to be claimed so thoroughly that you never doubt who you belong to again."
I set a deep, possessive rhythm, claiming her body with every thrust. She met me eagerly, her nails raking down my back as she surrendered completely to the pleasure I was giving her.
"That's it, baby," I growled against her throat. "Take everything I'm giving you. Take my cock, take my love, take my promise that you'll never want for anything again."
"Kevin, I'm—"
"You're going to come on my cock like the good girl you are." I circled her clit with my thumb.
She shattered around me with a cry that echoed through the room, her body clamping down on me like a vise. The sensation sent me over the edge, and I buried myself deep as I emptied myself inside her, marking her in the most primitive way possible.
"My woman. My future wife. The mother of my children,” I growled as I continued to move, making sure every drop stayed buried inside her.
Afterward, we lay tangled together, both of us breathing hard. I pulled her closer, my hand settling possessively over her lower belly.
"Marry me," I said suddenly. "Not someday, not when things settle down. Soon. This month."
Her eyes widened. "Kevin..."
"I want you legally mine. I want your name to be Pike. I want to know that no court, no ex-fiancé, no legal document can ever come between us."
"Yes," she said without hesitation. "Yes, absolutely yes."
I reached into the nightstand drawer and pulled out a small velvet box. Her intake of breath was sharp and sweet.
"I bought this weeks ago,” I said, opening the box to reveal a simple but beautiful diamond ring. “I've been waiting for the right moment."
"It's perfect," she whispered as I slipped it onto her finger. "It fits perfectly."
"Because you fit perfectly. In my life, in my arms, in my future." I kissed her softly. "We're going to build something beautiful together, Tonya. Marriage, babies, a life that spans generations on this mountain."
"What about the cottage?”
I shrugged. "We’ll find a way to get it back.
We’ll talk to a lawyer. Shane, Neil and Sam are all in for the fight too.
But for right now, we'll build our life here, on property that's ours free and clear.
I'll put your name on the deed to the farmhouse.
Everything I own becomes yours the moment we're married. "
"Kevin, I can't take your home."
"You're not taking it. I'm giving it to you. Making sure you always have something that belongs to you, that no one can ever threaten or take away." I pulled her closer. "This farmhouse is your home now. Our home. The place where we'll raise our children and grow old together."
She was quiet for a moment. "I don't need ownership to feel secure here. I need you."
"But you're getting both," I said firmly. "Security, ownership, and me. Forever."