16. Rune #3
I felt the flood of his cum fill me, and he thrust again, slowly, tenderly, his mouth shaking against mine. "Rune, oh god, Rune! I love you, oh god Rune, I love you so fucking much."
I found my own release in his declaration of love, my legs clenching around his waist, my fingers clawing into his back and raking down his spine as I rocked with him, and I bit into the hard ridge of muscle at the top of his shoulder and screamed and screamed and screamed as I came.
His cock split me open and pierced me, penetrated me, filled me with thrust after thrust, and I felt his cum spreading through me and spilling out of me, and Duncan groaned through our mutual release, his face nuzzling my throat as he surged against the soft, welcoming cradle of my thighs.
I felt him spasm once more and go limp, and I nipped his earlobe. "I love you, Duncan. I really, really fucking love you." He started to shift, but I locked him in place with my arms and legs. "Don't move. Not yet. Just…stay here. Just like this, my love. Let me hold you."
His shoulders shook, though he was silent. "You love me."
"Yes," I breathed. "So much. I always did. I was just scared."
"Of what?"
"Everything," I answered. "How much I cared about you, so damn fast. I think some part of me always knew it'd be you. I think that part of me somehow subconsciously knew we'd end up here, one way or another, at some point, and that scared me because I didn’t trust you."
"Do you trust me now?" he asked.
I caressed his face and turned it so he was looking at me. “Yes, Duncan. I do. I trust you. You've been there for me. You were there for my friends when you didn't know me and didn't owe anyone anything. You didn't let me push you away when that would've been the easiest way out."
He huffed. "Never done anything the easy way."
Duncan rolled us so he had me on his chest; I lost him inside me and felt a seep of seed down my thigh. I didn't care. Messes could be cleaned up—this moment was too important.
I traced abstract lines and arabesques on his chest. "We're going to be parents," I whispered. "I'm going to be a mom."
"You'll be an incredible one, too," he answered. And then: "We haven't talked about getting married."
I froze. "Duncan, we don't have to."
"I want to."
"Duncan, honey, please listen to me." I lifted on an elbow and held his gaze. "I don't want to get married—"
He opened his mouth to protest, and I covered his mouth with my hand.
"Hold on, let me finish," I said. "I don't want to get married just because we're having a baby. I want to get married because we love each other."
He reached a long arm out, opened the top drawer of his nightstand. “Well, then, in that case…" he rolled me to my back and leaned over me. "Marry me, Rune. Because I love you. Because I can't handle being away from you. I want you to be mine forever."
He put a ring in front of me—it was small and simple, a half-carat diamond solitaire on a white-gold band.
Once again, tears sprang to my eyes—these of joy. "Yes, yes, yes," I whispered. "I'll marry you."
He slid the ring onto my shaky hand. "Lindsey told me your ring size. She wasn't sure what kind of diamond setting you liked, so—"
I shut him up with a kiss, sobbing even as I kissed him. "It's perfect. You're perfect."
"Hey, that's my line," he said, grinning against my mouth.
I held my hand up so the sun streaming through the window caught the diamond and sparkled.
“It's beautiful, Duncan." I looked at him.
"Lindsey didn't know what kind of ring I liked because I've honestly never thought much about it.
I guess I always just wanted to be surprised.
" I palmed his face and kissed him. "And this is definitely a surprise. I love it, Duncan, truly."
"I know it's not much, but I figured I could upgrade it for an anniversary—"
I shook my head. "No. It's perfect, Duncan. Even if you had a billion dollars to spend, I wouldn't want anything else. You chose this for me. You put it on me. I don't want or need some five-carat rock. Just…you. All I need is you. Our little family. Our future together."
He let out a shuddery breath. "I was so worried you wouldn't like it. That it would be too small, or you wanted a princess cut or—or—"
I laughed, touching his lips with my fingertips. "Stop, baby. It's perfect. When did you even have time to think about this, let alone shop for it? And how did you afford it?"
He shrugged, and then slid down and rested his head on my chest. "I made time. Elias watched things for me so I could run over to Mr. Katzenberger's shop."
"Mr. Katzenberger, huh?"
"Just about every single ring the women in my family wear has been made by Isaiah Katzenberger," he told me. "As for how I afforded it, well…that's part of the other surprise I have for you."
"A surprise?" I felt my heart pitter-patter. "You better not have bought a house without asking me, Duncan. I’ll be so mad, I swear to god.”
He shook his head. "I didn't buy anything, I promise. I would never make a big decision like that without you."
"Then what—" I started.
He pulled me on top of him, and I felt his erection prodding my entrance.
"Oh," I gasped. "I see. I like this surprise." I held his gaze as I slid him inside me, sat up on my knees, and then drove down to impale myself on his cock, gasping as he crushed deep inside me.
"This…" he groaned, head thrown back, eyes rolling back in his head. "Oh fuck, honey—you feel incredible. This isn’t the surprise."
He lasted a whole hell of a lot longer, this time. We fucked for an eternity, moving together in synchrony, each gasp mated, each moan muted by mouths, laughing as we came in perfect unison.
Finally finished, sweating and gasping, I rested my chin on his chest and gazed at him. "So? What's the surprise?"
He patted my ass. "Let’s get cleaned up and I'll show you."
His version of us getting cleaned up meant I lay where I was and let him clean the rather shocking mess we'd made of my thighs and sex, each touch gentle and tender and reverent. Only then did he let me get dressed.
He drove us to the original Badd's Bar location on the boardwalk overlooking the Inside Passage. Being late afternoon on a Wednesday, there were only a few die-hard regulars at the bar, which was being tended by a middle-aged woman with light brown hair laced with silver.
She lit up as we entered. "Duncan! And I finally get to meet my newest niece-in-law.
" She swept out from behind the bar and embraced Duncan, gave him a light kiss on one cheek, and then, to my shock, did the same to me—after the cheek-kiss, she held me by the arms and looked me over.
"My god, you really are gorgeous. I mean, you’ve definitely got the preggo-glow, but you're just stunning. "
I wondered if she could tell the glow was more of a 'my fiancé just fucked my brains out twice' glow.
Unthinking, I brushed a lock of hair out of my face with my left hand, and the woman—who hadn't been introduced to me yet—squealed like a teenager and clapped a hand over her mouth. "No! You're engaged ?”
Duncan laughed. "Yeah, and you're the first know, so don't spill the beans. We want to tell Mom and Dad."
She mimed zipping her lips. "I won't say a word." She took my hand and examined the ring. "You did good, nephew, I'll say that. It's beautiful. Just like your bride."
Bride .
That hits different. Bride…mom…I've got a lot of new titles coming my way.
“So, Aunt Kitty—" Duncan started.
"Oh!" I exclaimed. " You're Kitty? The one the bar is named after?"
She rolled her eyes. "I've been annoyed by that for twenty years. But yes. I'm Kitty Badd. Sorry—we're not great at introductions, sometimes."
Duncan huffed. "Sorry, babe. Yeah, this my Aunt Kitty. Aunt Kitty, this is my fiancée, Rune Rigby."
"Now that we've got introductions out of the way," Duncan said. "I was hoping—"
"Right this way," Kitty said, cutting him off. "It's been professionally deep-cleaned after the tenant moved out. And I'll say, it'll be a relief to have family in there again. It's been weird having strangers live above this place."
I frowned at Duncan. "What's going on? Why are we here?"
He just grinned. "C'mon, I'll show you."
"It's unlocked,” Kitty said. "I'll be up after you, I just gotta top off a couple beers."
Duncan led me across the bar to the kitchen, but instead of going through the doorless entryway into the kitchen, he opened a door next to it marked "Private" and held it for me.
A set of stairs led up; the stairwell, while steep and narrow, was clean and well-lit, and none of the stairs creaked as we ascended them.
The door at the top was also unlocked, and Duncan pushed through it.
I followed him into a surprisingly expansive and well-lit great room.
A bank of windows let in buckets of natural light, bathing an unfurnished living room, opposite which was a kitchen—recently remodeled by the look of things.
Beyond the kitchen and living room was a long hallway with three doors, two on one side, one opposite.
Another small window at the end of that hallway let in more light.
"What is this place, Duncan?" I asked.
He grinned at me. "Home."
I gasped. "What?"
He nodded, showing me keys he had in his pocket.
"We own the building—my family, I mean, not you and me.
Dad and my uncles grew up here, and Mom and Dad lived here with a various assortment of uncles.
When all the aunts and uncles had houses and kids, they rented it out.
The lease just ran out and the tenant didn't want to renew it.
We need somewhere to live that's not with Mom and Dad, so… voila. Home."
I looked around again, envisioning it with my furniture, maybe a few new pieces we picked together. "Duncan. Really? It's ours?"
He nodded. "Aunt Kitty wants to step back from managing this place, and Elias is way overdue for a promotion, so I'm taking over here, and Elias is stepping up at the Kitty."
"I'll still be around if you ever need help," Kitty's voice said from the top of the stairs.
"Not that you need it. I'm just ready to hang out at home with Rome.
Maybe take a few longer vacations and wait for our kids to give us grandbabies.
I'm jealous of Dru, you know. She's already got one, and now she's getting another? Donovan needs to step up his game."
Duncan barked a guffawing laugh at this. "Don’t hold your breath, Aunt Kitty. I'm not sure Donovan has any plans to settle down any time soon."
She shrugged. "Yeah, well, neither did you, and now look. Engaged and having a baby!"
I grabbed Duncan's hand. "I love it."
He grinned. "Me too! I was hoping you'd like it, because this way, we can keep saving money and live close to work. If Dane ever moves out, he may want one of the rooms, but I don't see that being a problem, do you?"
I shook my head. "Nope, not at all." I elbowed him. "Speaking of Dane, did you notice any weirdness between him and Lindsey?"
He nodded. “Yeah, but he won't talk to me about it. Just says don't worry about it. Lindsey say anything?"
I shook my head again. "No, same story. Something's up with those two."
Kitty just laughed. "Leave 'em be. If there's something going on, they've got to sort it out themselves. And if they need their family and friends, they'll let you know."
I set the question of Dane and Lindsey aside, already imagining paint colors, a new couch, a bedroom set…a rocking chair.
I have a home.
A fiancé.
A healthy baby growing inside me.
If you'd told me six months ago that this is where I’d be in life, I'd have laughed you out of the room.
Yet here I am.
And I couldn't be more excited. A little nervous about being a mom—okay, scared, too, maybe, but I've got a huge support system in my family and Duncan's.
What more could you want?
Not a damn thing.