Chapter Fourteen
Wren
Present Day
Father Anderson looks toward me with the downturned expression of a man I don’t recognize. His beard is longer now. The lines beside his eyes sunken deeper. He’s also somehow more muscular, if that’s possible.
“What are you doing?” My voice is frayed, my brain spinning at how any of this is real. Of all things today, I wasn’t expecting to see him. Hell, I never expected to see him ever again.
He sets me down in his truck, rounds to the driver’s side, and pulls away from campsite four fifty-seven as though he’s known all along I was coming.
“I’m doing what I should’ve done to begin with.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m leaving with you. Tonight.”
“What? I can’t go yet. I haven’t said goodbye to anyone. I have a list of things I still have to get for the baby, and—”
“You stayed with that fuck,” he growls, his jaw tight as we drive up the mountainside, weaving between heavy pines and yellow aspen. “Why did you stay? Why didn’t you answer my letters?”
“Letters?” A tear rolls down my cheek. “I didn’t get your letters.
Not a single one. His family has kept me under lock and key for years.
They took away my access to everything, including vehicles and money.
I’m to show up at events, I’m to smile, and I’m to put on the perfect little show.
If I don’t, trust me, I get hell for it. ”
He slams his fist against the wheel of his truck. “I should’ve fucking killed him.”
I jump back and blow out a breath, my hand moving over my stomach where my daughter grows.
“I’ve thought about you every single day for seven years.
Every day I watched the prison’s website.
I saw the day you were released, but then you were gone.
No online presence whatsoever.” She sighs.
“I convinced myself that you didn’t want me.
That you didn’t want to be found. I did ruin your life after all. ”
“You didn’t ruin my life, Wren. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I’d have done anything for you. I still would,” he growls, his hand on the shifter as he glances toward me. I have no idea where we’re going, but we’re climbing further up into the hills.
“How did you get away today?”
“I made these little creatures for the new house manager, and she let me use her car. I think she feels sorry for me. I told her I was out shopping and that I just needed a minute to myself, but I know she saw how broken I was. I know she’s heard him yelling.”
Kade’s fists tighten around the wheel of the truck. “You realize we don’t have a lot of choices, right? You’re having the man’s baby, so we can’t risk you staying. God knows what he’d do to get that baby back. Didn’t you say his own father made his daughter disappear?”
I nod. “I know. That’s why I’m scared. I can’t let Evie—”
“Evie?” He glances toward me, the soft light of the morning sun filtering in through the window. “You’re naming her Evie?”
I nod. “It made me think of you. This should be our little girl, Kade. I don’t know what to do.”
He reaches over, his hand on my stomach, the touch of rough, calloused fingertips like a memory that slips back into the present without pause.
“That’s our baby and I’m going to protect the both of you.
I’m taking you to the cabin I have up in the woods.
We’ll stay there while Tucker works on the new IDs. ”
“You’re coming, too? What about your life here at the campsite? I don’t want to ruin everything again, Kade.”
“My life here was nothing until the second you pulled in. Hell, the whole reason I put all this together was in the hopes that you’d find it someday when you needed it most. Then Tucker said he’d heard from someone that he thought was you, and my brain snapped.
I was afraid he was wrong, that even if you did find us, there’d be no way you still felt anything for me.
” He glances out the side window. “Then I saw you on the security camera in the back cabin and I knew you were pregnant. I’ve looked at that body so many times.
I knew it the second you stepped out of your car.
” He pulls into a small cabin tucked into the pines.
The one with overgrown brush and late-season wildflowers poking up against the foundation.
“Tell me you’re mine this time. Tell me you’re mine, little lamb. I need to hear it.”
Little lamb. My chest warms at the memory of him saying those words to me so many times before.
“I’m yours,” I say, heart pounding as he shuts off the truck’s engine and rounds to the passenger side, his big, warm hands lifting me out and carrying me toward the cabin as colored leaves fall to the ground.
“The divorce papers are still sitting on Zane’s desk.
I beg him every day to sign them. He’s not a good man.
He’s done… that I,” I suck in a deep breath, recalling the menagerie of things he’s done over the years, “I’m glad you’re here. ”
Kade nods and tucks me against his chest with a sigh.
It’s funny how you can be separated from someone for years, and one conversation later, everything is right back to where it was. It’s like we’re still in that rectory seven years ago. His heart is still mine, mine is still his, and no one can know.
He sets me down inside and closes the heavy wood door behind me, the scent of wood smoke in the air as he holds me against his chest. “I’ve really fucking missed you.”
“I missed you too. Are you okay? I can’t believe you went to prison. I… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t murder him. I’d have stayed in prison forever if it meant keeping you out of that man’s arms. So many fucking days I’d catch the news and see you cuddled up next to him, a smile on your face.
I didn’t know what the fuck to think. I’d convince myself one day you were being forced, and by the next I’d think you thought I was the monster. Maybe I am.”
“You’re not a monster, Kade.” I stare up at him, my breath quick, my heart quicker, until all at once, his lips are against mine and the scent of pine on his skin surrounds me.
God, I’ve missed this. Being touched like I was a prize. Being held like I was something someone was afraid to lose. Being cherished.
“Wren,” he says, voice low, “I have to confess. I’ve not been with anyone else, but I’ve thought the filthiest thoughts about you every day for the last seven years. I’ve beat scars into my cock thinking about the things we did, about the things I wish we’d done.”
“What do you wish we’d done?” I say, voice quivering, panties already soaked.
“I wish you’d have gotten on your knees for me. I wish I’d seen your mouth stretch over my cock. I wish I’d have bent you over, taken your hair into my fist, and fucked your little pussy raw.”
A shiver runs through me as he leans me against the back wall of the cabin and presses into my lips again, his thumb brushing against my chin. “I’m so sorry, little lamb. You’re safe now. I’ve got you. Always.”
“I know,” I say, bending down onto my knees, hitting the hard pine floor with a thud, “and I’ve got you too.”
He growls low under his breath and holds his gaze steady as he stares down at me, the war behind his eyes apparent. I can feel it shivering through his body, but right now, I want to take care of him.
Unbuckling his jeans, I tug out his massive cock and swallow him whole as he shivers.
His dick pushes down my throat, gagging me as I grip hold of his shaft and pump over and over, my brain scanning back to the day he had me lean back in the church pew and touch myself for him.
I’ve thought of that day so many times over the years.
It’s the only thing that got me through when Zane would force himself on me. I’d disappear to the rectory and the night Father Anderson and I spent in each other’s arms. I’d disappear to the night we spent with my ankles on his shoulders as he thrust his thick cock inside of me over and over again.
“Fucking hell… that’s good. Right there, little lamb.” His thick fingers weave into my hair and he pushes and pulls my mouth onto his fat cock quickly and erratically, like he’s losing control.
“Jesus fucking hell,” he groans. “Right the fuck there. Suck my cock just like a good girl.”
His voice is irregular and strained, and I feel his dick grow stiffer and stiffer against my tongue, until all at once, he’s spilling his seed in my throat with a growl.
“Fuck.” He stays there a second longer, thrusting into my mouth over and over again before finally pulling out.
“Show me, little lamb. Show me what you did.”
I open my mouth and let his come drip down my chin and onto my covered breasts, the taste of salt against my lips as my clit throbs.
His shoulders relax as he lifts me up from the ground and carries me back to the bed, his lips all over my skin as he strips off my clothes, kissing every inch of my body. My neck, my breasts, my stomach, my thighs, and finally my pussy.
He breathes me in, licking me, devouring me, eating me with a growl in his throat.
His tongue twists around in circles, his thick fingers thrusting in and out, until I grind up against his face, rubbing my soaking pussy against his beard, as the deepest orgasm I’ve felt in years realigns every chakra in my soul.
He kisses the top of my head, the scent of me on his lips as the phone rings on the bedside table. This is what happened the last time we were together, and it was awful news.
My stomach tightens, wondering if it could be Zane.
No. How would he get this number? How would he know where I am?
“Yeah,” Kade says, a heavy sigh on his breath as he answers the phone. “What’s going on?”
He pauses for a moment, though I hear the man on the other end of the line. It’s Tucker. Thank God, it’s Tucker.
“I can have the paperwork for you by the end of today, Kade. That’s the soonest I can get things wrapped up, but you have to think about what you’re doing with your mom’s place. It’s… you’ve got to do something with it.”
His mom.
My heart sinks as I think about the woman with the best cinnamon roll recipe I’ve ever had the privilege of baking. I’d heard about her death from Tilly, who was updating me on all things Grace Valley Church after Father Anderson’s arrest.
Apparently, after he was hauled to jail, Leanne told everyone about the panties she found on the church floor.
It wasn’t long after that before everyone shared their suspicions, and the church officially excommunicated Father Anderson, though I think that was coming anyway, given that he’d beaten Zane so harshly.
I’m not sure who runs the church now. Tilly told me it was some old guy with a hairy chest and pleated slacks who has a crossword puzzle addiction. I’m not sure if there’s a fan fiction about him or not.
I’m guessing not.
As for Mrs. Anderson, she passed shortly after Kade was arrested, and I’ve blamed myself for that every day since. Kade should’ve been by her side. Instead, he was in prison because of me.
I did donate to the church in her name, though.
I had the stained-glass windows she loved so much repaired and put back up in their rightful place in her honor.
It wasn’t easy to get the money over to the church, but I convinced Zane that it was good for publicity, given everything that had happened, and he agreed.
That might have been the only thing he’s ever agreed with me about.
Kade hangs up the line and turns back toward me, his giant frame blocking out the light that’s trying to filter in from the window behind him. “Tucker says he’ll have the paperwork ready tonight. I just have to figure out what to do with my mother’s house.”
“Your mother’s house?” I stare down at the ground. “Kade… we can’t disappear. That house meant so much to your family. I know your mom would want you there.”
He takes my hand in his. “My mom would want us to be happy, and she’d want you to be safe.
I’m going to let Tucker take over the place.
I’ve done a ton of renovations to it since I got out of prison, and he’s always looking for a project to do.
Plus, that town doesn’t have a good thing to say about me these days. ”
“No,” I say, swallowing hard, my hand on my stomach. “That’s not true. People have moved on. You can live in that house. We can keep her legacy alive.”
“We’ll keep her legacy alive through the things she taught us.
She left me a letter to read after she passed.
She talked about her life and how excited she was to see Bree and my father, and she told me how much she loved you.
How great she thought we’d be together. One thing that stuck out especially was when she said how love isn’t a sin.
It was a thing of beauty, and I should hold it close, tight, never let it go. ”
I drag in a deep breath and let it out slowly, tears rolling down my cheeks as I stare up at Kade. “I love you.”
“I love you more, little lamb,” he says, sucking in a deep breath. “This is it. Tonight our whole life changes. Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” I say, crashing into his arms with the heavy sigh of a woman who’s finally free. “I’m ready.”