Epilogue
Two Years Later
Nikki
Reed grips my arm and tugs me into the woods with a primal sort of snarl he reserves for playtime.
“What’s gotten into you today?” I grin and pound against his chest playfully, pretending I want to be let go, though I totally don’t. “I’ve been on Daddy’s lap twice already. Don’t you need a break to restock or something?”
He leans in and growls low, spreading wet heat into the crook of my neck. “There’s something about this pregnant body. I can’t get enough.”
“Yeah?” I bite back a smile and rub my hand over my expanded stomach with a groan. “What do you love more? My swollen ankles, the fact that I can’t bend over, or the constant mood swings?”
“All of it.” His voice drops low as his teeth scrape against the lobe of my ear when he whispers, “Now grab hold of that tree there. Daddy needs to feel his little kitten.”
He’s barking out directions, though he doesn’t wait for me to comply before he takes over.
Positioning me where he wants me, between the fallen log and the standing pine, Reed tugs my bikini bottom to the side, bends me forward, and sinks into my pussy, growling low.
It’s then that he fucks me like an animal.
A wild, feral, primal beast whose needs are never satisfied as boats hum peacefully on the quiet lake where we have our annual family barbeque.
It’s not a huge event, but every year for the past two years, we rent out the lake houses the guys renovated for a weekend, and we all catch up on life.
I’d love to say we could do that through Friday night game nights and random fishing trips, but now that everyone has kids, it’s harder and harder to make time for the things we used to.
This little getaway has been the perfect opportunity to reconnect everyone.
Plus, the rentals are cheap considering I snagged them up myself.
I never thought I’d go back into real estate, but after I sold a few sunset photos on my website, folks started asking where they were taken, and the buzz started from there.
A month later, I contacted the new realty company that took over the listings and offered asking.
I had plenty of connections with lenders given our history.
Now, it’s passive income while I spend my days taking pictures.
“Everyone is going to be here any second,” I sigh, my tits falling out of the bikini top I swore fit comfortably this morning. “We have to hurry.”
“Fuck no. We’ll meet them at the shore when Daddy’s finished playing,” he grunts, thrusting into me harder, my belly shifting back and forth against the mossy log as Reed plows me from behind.
My thighs ache and my tits begin to drip milk as he buries himself in deeper, hitting a new spot he’s found since I got pregnant. I’m not one hundred percent sure how that works. All I know is that this new spot appeared around my second trimester and it’s reliably amazing.
“Oh God,” I moan, reaching back to grip his arm as he works. “Right there.”
He pushes in harder as he holds me steady, inked muscles flexing beneath my touch.
“Good girl. Soak Daddy’s cock. I need to feel you tighten up.”
The wind blows a warm breeze as I grind back into him, twisting circles.
“Jesus Christ, how do you do that? You get Daddy so hard every fucking day.” His voice is rough and frenzied, like he’s losing control.
It’s my favorite sound to hear. The ache, the anticipation, the primal urge to fuck, all gathered in his throat at once as he takes me with a crude force I can’t get enough of.
“Right there,” I whine, an orgasm building at my core. “I’m so close.”
“Good girl. Spill all over Daddy. Come on, you can do it.” He thrusts faster and faster with every breath, until all at once, he howls out, sending a bird flying from somewhere in the pines.
He’s still jolting forward, his hot seed filling me up when my orgasm surfaces like a rogue wave.
My vision goes dark, the forest spins, my muscles contract, and I soak my husband’s cock like I haven’t come already three times today.
I’m halfway through suppressing my noises when I hear Bella and Pepper hollering at each other on the shore.
“Oh my God,” I moan, still bent over the log, my nails dug into a standing tree. “You’re so big, Daddy.”
Reed lands his big hand on the back of my neck and squeezes gently. “I love you, kitten.”
“I love you more,” I pant, the scent of damp soil surrounding us, “but we need to go down to the beach. I’m the one who came up with the whole fire idea. I think everyone else wanted to go to bed early.”
“Let them,” he says, holding me close as he pumps inside a few more times.
“I can’t let you walk around the beach with those big tits falling out like that.
Plus, look,” he spins me toward him, drawing his fingertip down over my milky nipple, “you’re leaking.
You need Daddy to take you home and clean you up. ”
My clit throbs again as though I’m an insatiable little fiend, which is a common theme for me when I’m around Reed. There’s something about the way we interact that’s inherently sexual, and the wedding didn’t slow any of that down.
I’m so glad things worked out with us, and I didn’t end up dating Troy.
After Reed took me from the festival, I never heard from him again.
All I know is that he was no longer interested in Reed’s boathouse.
A retired couple from Michigan was though, and they paid over asking given that the kitchen was re-done.
Reed and the guys whipped up the changes over a long weekend, and the buyers are some of our closest friends now.
We get together for dinner at least once a month, and they’re so excited to meet our baby boy.
Reed spins me toward him and kisses me long and slow, his rough hand against my throat as he moves his lips down over my neck and toward my nipples, licking up the mess he’s made.
I grin and tug my bathing suit back into place. “Even if everyone else went to bed, I’ve got to stay. The sunset shots have been going fast on my website. I had fourteen orders last week alone.”
He kisses my nose and tucks his big hand into mine with a groan. “Fine. We’ll stay through sunset, but you’re going to owe me.”
“Owe you?” I grin, my toes digging into the warm sand. “How so? I’ve been paying you all day.”
“Paying me? No, that was for your pleasure. Tonight is going to be all about me. Daddy needs to play rough.”
My clit throbs at the thought of him being rough, but I tease him anyway.
“My pleasure?” I laugh as we walk toward our friends who’ve gathered on the beachfront.
Rhett and Clint are gathering firewood, and the girls are trekking back to the house for something.
“Rough how? I’m pretty sure most people would say you’re always rough. ”
“The kind of rough where Daddy pins his kitten down and makes her beg,” he growls low against the lobe of my ear, then rubs his hand down over my stomach sweetly.
I love every side of Reed. The rough, feral, sexual side. The protective side, the possessive side, the soft daddy side, and the fatherly side I’ve watched him grow into over the last nine months.
This man is going above and beyond. He’s already bought Archer his first bike, a replica Harley but for toddlers, his first tool set, a plastic version he can use while helping in the garage, and he’s even started a notebook of things he wants to remember to teach him when he gets older.
It’s the cutest thing ever.
So far, the list has everything from basic car repairs, to how to apologize and take responsibility, to how to make a good steak. There’s even a section written about leading by example and treating women well.
I’m a lucky woman, and every single day that reality shows itself more and more.
“Still feels like yesterday that we were out here saying our vows.” Reed kisses the top of my head as we walk toward our friends. The beach is fairly busy on the other side of the shore, but over here near the lake house, it’s always quiet, which made it the perfect spot for our special day.
Well, special night.
We decided to get married at midnight, when the sky was darkest. I wore a simple white dress and the monarch butterfly clip that Reed bought for me at the marketplace a few years back.
It both made me feel pretty and reminded me of my mom.
He wore jeans and his nicest button-down, which interchangeably works as a fishing shirt.
Thankfully, the clouds were clear, and we had a perfect view of the Milky Way overhead.
We could’ve tied the knot in the middle of the day, under the light of the sun, like most people do, but we figured the moon was more fitting for our love.
A love that’s tender and steady, and shines through the darkness.
“Hey, guys.” Clint nods as he tosses an armful of driftwood on the pile he and Rhett have been building. “Where’d you two run off to?” He shakes his head before we can answer. “Never mind, don’t tell me.”
Reed squeezes me close and nods toward his buddy. “There’s enough wood here to set the lake on fire.”
“Yeah,” Clint laughs, “that’s how long you’ve been gone.”
Reed shakes his head and grabs the camera bag I left hanging over my beach chair. “I’ve gotta get this one over to the east shore. The light is great for pictures right now.”
I glance toward the horizon to see streaks of warm orange and gold near the horizon fade, with a pale purple hue outlining the sharp mountain silhouettes.
He’s right, the light is really unique right now and the pictures would be great.
I love that Reed pays attention to the light as much as I do.
Last week, he was out mowing, and the evening dust and humidity caught the setting sun and made these dreamy beams behind the barn.
He ran into the house to get me, and I photographed the barn for at least an hour.
I still have to get those pictures edited and up on the website to see how well they do, but I have a good feeling about them.
Clint glances toward me, brows turned down with concern. “Just so you know, I ran into your dad down by the food trucks about an hour ago on the other side of the lake, so if you’re trying to avoid him, I’d steer clear of that area.”
“Okay,” I nod, “thanks. We won’t be long.”
“Better not,” Clint laughs, already resituating the wood, “or we’ll all be asleep by the time you get back.”
Reed and I shake our heads and laugh, though I’m sure we’ll understand better how exhausted everyone is in a month when Archer arrives.
We’re a few feet away from Clint, along the shore, our toes in the cool lake water when Reed lands his hand on my back. “You okay?”
“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. It’s been a while since anyone has mentioned your dad.”
I’m not intentionally avoiding my father, but I haven’t spoken to him since the morning he drove through Kade’s gate at the campground and pulled a gun on Reed.
He hasn’t contacted me, and I never contacted him.
That might make some people sad to hear, but I no longer buy into that whole ‘blood is family’ thing.
My family consists of people who love me, show up for me, and care.
My dad hadn’t been that guy in a long while, if ever.
I’d be surprised if he didn’t know about the wedding or the baby. Word travels fast around here, and given that he still runs the realty company full-time, he’s got plenty of people to talk to, though I hear he’s having a hard time keeping agents under his thumb.
I can’t imagine why.
“Yeah,” I nod, the cool waves lapping around my swollen ankles, “I have everything I need. More than everything, actually. I don’t really think about him anymore. He’s just a guy I used to know. A guy I let have way too much power over me.”
“I’m proud of you, kitten.” Reed kisses my forehead as we reach a little patch of wildflowers by the lake I haven’t photographed yet.
I turn toward him, the cool lake air sending out the light, honey-sweet scent of columbine and bluebells. “Thank you, Daddy.”
He shakes his head and swallows down a little grin as he helps me onto a nearby boulder, where I sit to get a better vantage point.
Bracing myself against the giant rock, I scoot down a bit more and angle my camera toward the gold and rose sky with the shadowed silhouette of the craggily peaked mountains.
The lake water reflects the scene, and softened in the foreground, a patch of blue and red wildflowers, their petals glowing like lanterns.
I already know these pictures are going to sell fast, so I snap quickly, getting as many shots of the changing light as I can before the sun dips beneath the horizon.
“Kitten,” Reed says, his tone serious, like he sees a snake or one of those lake monsters everyone is always talking about, “look to the left of you.”
Heart pounding, I glance to the left to see two monarch butterflies dancing across the columbine. My throat closes and my mouth goes dry.
Reed’s hand brushes against my shoulder. “What do you think she’s telling you?”
Tears swell in my eyes, but I let them fall as Reed takes the last picture of the night.
A monarch butterfly landing on my belly.
“I think she’s telling me she’s happy for me. That I’m going to be a good mom.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I think you’re right, little kitten. You’re going to be the best mom.”
A cool breeze blows, and the butterflies flutter away toward a beam of light that casts gold along the edge of the forest.
I’m not sure of many things in life. In fact, I question myself all the time, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m right where I belong, and it’s nice to know my mom thinks so too.
THANK YOU FOR READING.