Epilogue
HANNA
* Four Years Later *
Good morning, readers!
Thank you for reading today’s WMBL!
You’ve probably noticed that the frequency of our issues has reduced, from every two weeks to once a month.
Although this newsletter will continue, it may be sporadic for a while. A new member of the team joined us in October and has been very disruptive to our process. This new employee is completely oblivious to deadlines, schedules, and quiet time for reading.
However, she is extremely cute, and worth turning our world topsy-turvy for a while.
“Which photo of her do we want to use?” I look up from my laptop and my heart melts.
Knox is in the process of transferring Evie from his arms to her bassinet. There’s always a touch and go moment where she might wake up, but we’ve learned the trick of setting her feet first, then keeping a hand on her chest for another minute.
We wait in silence until her breathing deepens and becomes more regular again, then Knox steps back, sitting beside me on the daybed.
“How about the one of her with the stuffed tree?” he murmurs softly.
“Perfect.” I scroll through the pics of our precious five-month-old until I find it.
Our joint project has been a huge success.
The Wolfe Mountain Book List, known as WMBL, pronounced ‘wimble’, isn’t just an emailed newsletter.
It’s a way for people to connect across the mountain, raving about books they love, and sharing what they are reading.
It also has features on local authors and artists, books pertaining to the area and the mountain, even a section talking about non-fiction books and linking to websites with advice on cold weather clothing and gear.
Knox also realized we can help businesses who are flailing a bit by featuring them in a monthly highlight. I love that we’re able to use both our love of books and our love of the mountain to help everyone.
I drop the photo into place, then send the copy to our three proofreaders who will skim it so we can send it out in the morning. I dust off my hands and quietly snap the laptop closed.
“Well, that’s another Wimble…done!” I announce with a giggle.
We tiptoe out of Evie’s room and into our bedroom, closing the door so we don’t wake her. It’s been a busy week and we collapse across the bed for several minutes, just breathing together.
“Thank you,” I whisper, propping myself up on one elbow.
Knox sits up. “For?”
“For everything. Loving me, bringing Evie into the world, being such an incredible husband and father.”
“Darlin’, I—”
“I’m not finished.”
He blinks, then mimes zipping his lips.
“And for helping me speak up for myself and creating a literary project that helps people, the area, and the books we love.” I smile. “Okay… Now I’m finished.”
Knox waits until I nod firmly. “Thank you for being the sexiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes or hands on.”
“You’re—”
A finger lands across my lips. “My turn not to be finished.” He lifts my hand and replaces his finger with mine so that I’m shushing myself. "I need to show my wife how much I love her without waking our beautiful baby. Are you going to be nice and quiet for me?"
I nod, murmuring, “Mmm-hmm.”
“Good.”
Knox has pulled my clothes off rough and fast countless times, frequently getting my hair tangled until we’re both laughing. This time he moves the fabric across my skin slowly, carefully, awakening every nerve.
By the time we're both naked, I'm tingling from head to toe and trying to roll toward him for a kiss.
"No way, darlin'."
He stares at me hungrily. I've always loved the way his gaze can sweep over my skin with the intensity of a laser, to the point where I almost physically feel it.
"I want you," I whisper.
"I want you, too. But I know you love it when I boss you around in the bedroom. So right now… It's all about me."
I can’t wait to see where this is going. This is different. Knox always puts me first.
He runs his hands and mouth around my breasts and across my stomach.
Just when I think he's about to head south, he takes a detour around my left hip.
My fingertips run around the tattoo on his left bicep as my entire body starts to tingle.
Every time our bodies are so completely in sync, it proves to me yet again that we belong together.
I gasp as he roughly shoves my thighs apart, burying his tongue inside my pussy. It's a jolt both to feel it so deep and also to feel his lust hovering right on the edge of control.
He licks all over my sensitive skin in patterns that make my nerves dance. Once I'm breathless, he jumps onto the bed, pulling me on top of his solid frame.
His eyes burn as I straddle his thickness, easing my wet pussy slowly down. We both moan as he settles all the way in.
Then Knox grins, licking his thumb. "Hands behind your back, darlin’."
He reaches around, clasping both of my wrists at the small of my back with one huge hand. His thumb settles against my clit but he doesn't move it. "Ride me," he commands.
Instantly, I understand. During my pregnancy, he was extremely gentle, refusing to take me at all past the seven-month mark, using his mouth and hands to satisfy me instead.
After Evie was born, he didn't touch me for a month, then gradually started using his fingers and mouth for a few weeks, ensuring that I was one hundred percent healed before we had sex.
Now enough time has passed, it appears he's ready to be a bit rowdy again. I sure am.
We've had sex in this position before, but never with my hands restrained. It takes me a few minutes to shimmy my knees into position. Once I'm there, I begin to rock up and down on his shaft, grinding my clit directly against his thumb.
"That's it." His deep voice is raspy. "Fuck me, beautiful. Bounce your perfect tits for me."
I lift my chin as I thrust out my chest, finding the angle that makes my breasts jiggle as much as possible.
My gorgeous husband stares at me in that way that always makes me feel like a goddess. "So sexy,” he growls.
I can feel his length thickening inside me as I grind against his hand, a small whimper escaping my lips.
"So sexy, and so wet for me," he murmurs.
"Yeah," I breathe. "For you."
My hips rock faster, dragging my dripping sex up and down his thick cock, feeling the tension building quickly. I know exactly what Knox wants to hear as I look down at his half-lidded eyes. "Should I come for you now?"
"Yeah. Come hard for me, darlin'."
I'm already clenching around him so tightly, I don't know if I could stop if I tried.
His hips are working with mine, thrusting harder, his length pounding home over and over. The pressure explodes in seconds as I tremble, crying out loudly, fighting for air as the climax rocks me hard.
"That’s it. Squeeze my cock with your hot, wet pussy," he commands in a dark tone I've only heard a few times. "Squeeze the come right out of me."
I obey without thinking as he releases my hands to grab my hips firmly. With my palms on his chest, the waves of my release roll on and on, as he slaps up into me roughly until I feel him explode deep inside me.
I collapse on top of him, kissing him savagely, his thick cock still twitching.
"So fucking sexy," he groans between lusty kisses. "My sexy girl." His gaze is fiercely possessive as he cups my cheek gently. "Love of my life. Wife. Mother of my child. You're my everything, darlin'."
"And you're mine." I grin. "My grouchy loner who seems to be collecting women in his life."
"You'll always be the most important one." He squeezes my ass firmly and grins. “Seriously, I’m kinda hoping for a son next time.”
He strokes my back as I press my face to his chest, listening to his heartbeat, steady as a metronome.
The steadiest, most grounding force in my life.
Forever.
You’ll meet Liam in She’s Got That Fire.
You’ll meet Barrett in Rescued by the Surly Woodsman.
Keep reading for a preview of Wolfish Heart.