Epilogue #2
I assume he’ll want to go find his family to share the news, but he says that can wait. “I want to celebrate first, just the two of us.” He presses a soft kiss to my lips. “I want to keep this for just us for a while.”
I don’t tell him that I’m pretty sure Ellie has suspicions after my reaction to the farm smell earlier.
He drives home five under the speed limit, absolutely unheard of for him. When I tease him about it, he tells me to get used to it. “There’s a baby in this car with us, Nova. You think I’m going to take any chances?”
“Oh, man,” I groan. “You’re about to turn into an overprotective monster, aren’t you?”
He kind of proves my point when he refuses to let me climb out of the truck on my own, insisting on not only opening my door but physically lifting me down to the ground. He leads me inside, never taking his hands off me.
In our apartment, he settles me on a bar stool at the kitchen island and fixes me a quinoa salad bowl. “You didn’t eat at the fair. This should be easy on your stomach.”
“My stomach feels fine.”
But he quizzes me on every physical symptom I’ve had so far, what foods have sounded good to me, what foods make me want to puke. I know he’s storing all this information away to take care of me over the coming weeks.
Once I’ve eaten enough to satisfy him, he comes around the island and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “You feel okay? Nice and strong?”
“I feel great.”
“Good.” Something flashes in his eyes. “I want you to go outside to the balcony and wait for me.”
I blink up at him. With the way he’s been acting, I’d been expecting him to tuck me in on the couch with a blankie and cup of tea. But the way he’s looking at me isn’t so protective anymore. It’s decidedly heated.
“Go on,” he says in that commanding voice that always does things to me, pulling me down from the stool and making sure I’m steady before giving me a light tap on the ass. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Excitement thrums in me as I walk outside into the warm air of an early summer night. Good things usually happen to me when he uses that tone of voice.
He’s right behind me as I step onto the balcony. “Good girl. Now go over and grab the railing.”
I turn to look back at him, to ask him what he means, but I feel the hot press of his body behind me, crowding me, his warm breath on my neck. “Grab the railing, Mrs. Barlowe.”
“Why?” I ask, already breathless from nothing more than the low, heated timber in his voice.
“Because I had plans for us in that balloon.” He nips the shell of my ear. “If I didn’t get to have my fun with your body at the fair, I’m going to do it right here.”
The meaning of his words sinks into me and my heart rate takes off in a gallop. “Lawson.”
“Shh,” he soothes, nudging me ahead of him as he walks us to the edge of the balcony. “I’ve got you. Everything is fine.”
“But we’re outside.”
He groans a little, deep in his chest. “I know. That’s the point.” He licks a trail down my neck, from my ear to my shoulder. “I want to reenact the night we met.”
“And we can’t do that in our bed?”
He nips at my ear again, harder this time, making me yelp. “Nope.” He finally has me where he wants me, pressed against the railing of our balcony. “Now grab the bar.”
I shiver at the demand in his voice and reach out to do what he says. His approving hum sends warmth to my chest and I grin to myself. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how it feels to please this man.
“You need to be quiet,” he says, hands sliding up over my hips. “Remember where we are.”
I shiver a little. Just like the night a year ago when we went up in that balloon together, I know that no one is likely to see us.
We’re not quite as high as we had been on the ride, but we’re nearly as concealed behind Lawson’s many potted plants as we had been in the balloon’s basket.
Plus, we’re on the end of the building with no one across from us and neighbors only on one side—and I know for a fact that Mrs. Greene is visiting with her grandkids in South Carolina this weekend.
So we have a reasonable amount of privacy out here. But knowing that doesn’t do much to calm the beating of my heart or to ease the heat climbing my neck. And Lawson knows it.
“You like that, don’t you?” he murmurs into my ear, hands sliding up my arms. “You like knowing someone could see. My sweet, dirty girl.”
Before I can respond, his hands are at the neckline of my tank top and he shoves it down, revealing my bra in one quick move.
“Look at you,” he groans, resting his head on my shoulder to look down at me.
“I thought I was going to die the first time we did this, when I got to see you that night. Not being able to get you all the way naked in that balloon almost killed me.”
“You could get me all the way naked now,” I suggest, heat flooding between my legs as he starts to tug at my nipples through the lace.
“Soon, baby,” he says into my ear. “This is a big night. I want to reminisce a little more.”
As much as I’m dying for this to move faster—my hormones are on a hair trigger these days—I can’t bring myself to argue with him. Not when the memories of that first night together in the hot air balloon are washing over me.
“I think I knew right then,” he murmurs, one hand moving down to slide under the hem of my skirt. “How right you were for me.”
“How did you know?” I gasp, as he gives a particularly rough tug on my nipple.
“Because I knew I wanted more. Even when I had your perfect tits in my hand and my fingers buried in your sweet little pussy, I already knew it wasn’t going to be enough. I made you come and immediately wanted to do it again. And again. And again.”
“As soon as I saw you at my booth, I knew I was going to do whatever you asked me to do,” I tell him, then moan when his questing fingers come in contact with my panties.
He grunts behind me, slipping the already-wet material aside to brush his fingers across my heated center. “This cunt was the best damn thing I ever felt in my life,” he growls into my ear. “And that was before I even felt it wrapped around my dick.”
“Lawson,” I whine, beginning to wiggle against him. His fingers are too gentle as they begin to stroke me, never quite hitting the spot where I need him.
“So impatient,” he scolds.
I snort a laugh. “I’m impatient? You had your hand up my skirt within hours of meeting me.”
Without any warning, he shoves two fingers inside me, making me cry out. “That impatient enough for you?”
“Oh my God,” I moan, leaning back into him. “Lawson, that feels so—”
“Quiet,” he orders, pinching my nipple. “Someone will hear you.”
I honestly could not give two fucks if anyone hears me, but I bite my lip anyway, knowing he’s getting off on the re-enactment of our first time, when we actually did have to be quiet.
“Push the cups of your bra down,” he says. “I want to see those tits while I finger this tight pussy.”
My hands are shaking when I release the balcony railing to do as he says. I can tell that he notices because he thrusts his fingers harder. I push the lace down, allowing my breasts to spill over, and it’s his turn to be a little too loud when he curses.
“Fuck,” he mutters, staring down at me over my shoulder. “I thought your tits felt bigger last night. Is that from the pregnancy?”
“Probably. I’ve read that can be sign for many—” I break off in a gasp when he suddenly spins me around before dropping to his knees in front of me. He lifts my shirt over my stomach and then stares at the skin in front of him.
“I can’t believe our baby is in there,” he whispers, lifting a shaking hand up to press against my flesh.
My eyes immediately get wet. “I know.”
“We made this together,” he says, still sounding awed. He leans forward and presses a kiss against my belly. “We loved each other so much we created a brand-new life.” He grins up at me, tears shining in his eyes. “Our own nova.”
I laugh through my own tears.
“I feel…” he shakes his head. “I feel overwhelmed and excited and happy but also so, so terrified.”
I bring a hand to his head, sifting through his hair. “Why terrified?”
He doesn’t meet my eye. “What if I’m bad at it? Being a father.” I open my mouth to disavow that but he keeps talking. “I didn’t have the best example.”
“That’s not true. You had an amazing example.” Not his father, obviously—that man didn’t even deserve the title. But he had someone else. “You had your brother.”
His eyes go glassy. “You’re right. If I can be half the father to this kid that Mac was to us, I think it will be okay.
I brush his hair back from his forehead, looking down at this man I love beyond reason. “Lawson, all you have to do is love this baby as much as you love me. Take care of this baby as well as you take care of me.” I shake my head. “They’re going to be so lucky to have you as a dad.”
He looks up at me, tears shining in his eyes. “Not nearly as lucky as they’ll be to have you as a mom.” He presses another kiss to my belly, then another, taking a deep inhale, like he’s breathing me in. “You know what else I feel?”
“You mean in addition to the excitement and the overwhelm and the terror?” I tease, and he chuckles. But when he looks up at me, his eyes are filled with fire.
“I feel very turned on.”
I blink down at him and gesture at my belly. “Because of this?”
He nods, biting his lip. “I put a baby in you, Nova. I did this to you.” He exhales, the sound shaky. “That’s so fucking hot.”
And just like that the heat slams into me again and I squirm, pressing my legs together. “I think you should do something about that.”
He nods, already standing. “I changed my mind. I want you in our bed. I want to worship your body all night long in the same place where we made this baby.” He picks me up, striding to the balcony door.
“I’m going to fuck you over and over again, and you’re going to need something soft to rest on while I do it. ”
Never let it be said that my husband isn’t a man of his word.
He has me naked within seconds of reaching our bedroom, his shirt and pants following immediately after.
He arranges me just the way he wants, my body sprawled on the bed, my legs spread wide.
“I’ll never forget the way it tasted when I put my fingers in my mouth that night,” he growls out, staring at the place between my legs.
“Knowing they had been inside you. I knew right then I was going to be addicted to that taste.”
Then he proceeds to show me just how addicted he is by making me come on his tongue, over and over again.
By the time he finally comes out from between my legs, I’m a limp, sobbing mess.
He kisses his way up my body, getting preoccupied by my breasts.
He spends so much time suckling and biting that I’m writhing when he’s finished, somehow needing more yet again, even after multiple orgasms just minutes ago.
“You’re okay,” he soothes, wiping away the tears that always appear when he gets me worked up like this. “I know just what you need. I’ve got you.”
Then he grips my wrists, holding them restrained over my head, while his other hand grabs my thigh, pulling my knee high up onto his hip so he can thrust inside.
“Oh, fuck, Lawson,” I cry.
“I know,” he grits out, burying his head in my neck. “It’s so fucking good, Nova.”
It always is. Every single time we’re together like this.
He holds still for a moment, panting against my neck, letting us both get used to the overwhelming sensation of it. Finally, he lifts his head, locking eyes with me as he begins to move.
It’s funny, the first time I met Lawson I thought he was so stoic. The broody, quiet man I couldn’t stay away from. Other people have told me this, too, how he’s always been the quiet one. How getting him to talk is like pulling teeth.
But not with me. And never when we’re together like this. Words fall from his lips like he can’t bear to keep them in, his rough voice in the dark telling me how beautiful I am, how good it feels inside me, how he wants me forever, how I’m doing so good, taking him so well.
I swear the sound of his voice while he fucks me is almost as much of a turn on as what his hands and mouth and cock can do to me.
He knows exactly when I’m ready to come, this man who has become an expert on my body. “Look at me,” he demands as my muscles begin to tense. “You keep your eyes on me while you come, wife.”
That word sends me right over the edge. The possession I always hear in his voice when he uses it. The promise that I am his, and he is mine, and nothing will ever change that.
“I love you,” I manage to gasp out just as I fall apart around him. He curses, eyes locked on mine, fighting to stave off his own release until I’m done. Finally, he can’t hold it anymore, and he groans out my name as I feel his big body shudder on top of me with his orgasm.
We lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch our breath.
Eventually he rolls to the side, pulling me with him so we’re still pressed close together.
I have that amazing floaty, languid feeling I only ever get after a really good fuck with the man I love.
I snuggle into him, content to ride that high until I fall asleep.
But Lawson’s mind, apparently, is on other matters. “We should buy a house.”
I blink a few times, confused, then pull back enough to look up at him. He’s staring at the ceiling, an intense expression on his face.
“I don’t even get a ‘that was amazing babe’ before we start talking real estate?” I ask, and he chuckles, turning his head to kiss me.
“Obviously it was amazing.” He kisses me again. “Let’s buy a house.”
I study his face. “Why are you stuck on this?”
“Because we’re having a baby.”
“In like, eight months.”
He brushes the hair back from my face. “It’s just…neither of us ever had that, you know? A house. A place to be settled, a place where we felt safe.” His eyes are dark and intense, locked on mine, completely serious. “I want to give that to our baby. I want to give that to you.”
A lump comes to my throat. “Will you plant flowers?”
He laughs, the sound a little thick with his emotion. “Yeah, Nova. I’ll plant you a whole yard full of flowers.”
I close my eyes and let myself picture it.
A house of our own, one where we’ll stay for more than just a few months at a time.
A garden filled with Lawson’s flowers. A baby with his dark, serious eyes.
Friends and loved ones coming over to visit.
Our child growing up with the cousin currently in Ellie’s belly, both of them no doubt following Lucas around like his biggest fans.
A family. One the two of us made together. One that we’ll help to grow and strengthen every day, as long as we love each other.
Forever.
The End