9. Annika
ANNIKA
T he sky is bruised with shades of violet and coral, the sun dipping behind the mountains in a spectacular, final flourish.
I breathe in the cool air, heavy with the scent of pine and something else - a clean, masculine scent that is pure Kai.
We’re sitting on the sprawling deck of his house, a fortress built of stone and glass high in the remote Colorado mountains, watching the world fade to dusk.
A few days have passed since the takedown at the warehouse.
The police have the local operator, the evidence is secured, and Rya is safe with Miller.
There are more names on the list, and we know the mission isn’t over yet, but right here, right now…
I’m beyond content to take a break from the danger and enjoy this moment of peace.
Kai is sitting beside me, massive and warm, his hand resting on my thigh in a constant, comforting weight.
He insists I take the most comfortable chair, the warmest blanket, and the better glass of wine.
He’s been like this since we got back: doting, attentive, and so incredibly gentle that my heart aches with the sheer novelty of it.
Every small scrape he tends to, every home-cooked meal he prepares, every time he whispers mine into my hair, it’s more love and attention than I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.
My parents never saw me as anything more than a side project who ultimately disappointed them, but Kai looks at me like I’m his whole damn universe.
I take a slow sip of my wine, the warmth spreading through my chest. I tilt my head to look at him. His strong jaw is relaxed, his dark eyes fixed on the horizon, but I know his mind isn’t on the sunset. He’s always watching, always protecting.
A soft, genuine smile touches my lips. I picture him in this very moment, but older, with silver threading his close-shaved hair, a tiny version of him - a boy with his dark eyes and my rounded cheeks - crawling onto his knee.
I can see the brutal, possessive alpha transforming into the world’s most protective, most caring father, teaching our children how to be safe and how to love fiercely.
The thought sends a wave of fierce warmth through me, settling deep in my core.
“What’s so funny, little flower?” Kai’s gravelly voice rumbles, pulling me from the fantasy. He turns his head, his eyes piercing through the twilight and locking onto mine. “You’ve got that mischievous look on your face. Tell me.”
I take a deep breath, the confession feeling massive and terrifying now that the words are about to leave my lips. I reach out and cover the hand he has resting on my back, tracing the hard, scarred knuckles with my thumb.
“I was just picturing you,” I admit, the words a nervous, quiet rush. “I was thinking about us, you know, five years from now. I saw you, right here, but with a little one on your knee. A son, maybe, who looks like you, all dark eyes and that big, serious jaw, but with my round cheeks.”
I bite my lip, waiting for him to respond in some way. When he doesn’t say anything, I keep rambling.
“I pictured you being a father, Kai. The fierce, over-the-top, protective alpha kind of dad. I pictured us building a family here.”
The moment stretches, thick and suffocating. Kai doesn’t move. His hand, warm against my thigh, goes completely rigid beneath my own. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t grunt. He just stares at the mountains, his face a perfect, unreadable mask of granite.
My heart starts to hammer against my ribs, a frantic, desperate rhythm.
Oh, God. I’ve done it now. The silence is screaming, confirming every insecurity my parents ever planted in my head.
He’s horrified. I pushed too fast, moved too far into the future, ruined the perfect bubble we found.
He’s going to tell me I’m being too much again, just like my mother always did.
The familiar sting of rejection pricks behind my eyes.
“I-I’m sorry,” I rush to say, trying to backpedal. “It was just a ridiculous fantasy. I shouldn’t have said anything. I know that’s not… that’s not what you…”
Before I can finish the retreat, the tension in his face cracks. His dark eyes soften, the hard line of his mouth lifts, and his features break out into the most glorious, genuine smile I have ever seen. It’s huge and utterly breathtaking, lighting up the twilight like a thousand suns.
He pulls his hand from my thigh and pats his massive knee once, a silent but absolute command. “Come here, little flower.”
I slide out of my chair and immediately settle onto his lap, facing away from the sunset and toward him. His arms, thick and solid, wrap around my waist, anchoring me in place.
Kai turns my face toward his, tilting my chin up with the pad of his thumb. His eyes are shining, not with horror, but with a profound, consuming tenderness.
“Annika,” he murmurs, his voice a low, gravelly promise.
“You don’t have to apologize for dreaming about our forever.
That vision? A boy with my eyes and your heart?
That’s all I’ve been picturing for the last few days since you came into my space.
The house is too damn quiet without the thought of your voice, and maybe a few tiny voices, filling it up. ”
My breath hitches, a gasp of pure, dizzying relief and happiness. “You have no idea,” I whisper, running my fingers over his cheekbone, “how much I needed to hear that.”
“The only thing terrifying about that picture is how long it’s going to take to make it real,” he replies, his eyes darkening with a different kind of intensity. “I want it all with you, Annika. The kids, the flower shop, the whole damn messy, beautiful life.”
He dips his head, and our lips meet. The kiss is sweet, a confirmation of the future, a sealing of a shared dream.
But the taste of forever ignites a need deeper than mere sweetness.
My hands slide into his close-cut hair, pulling him closer, demanding more.
I stop kissing him to whisper, “Show me,” the words a desperate prayer.
The air thickens. The innocent kiss is gone, replaced by a deep, consuming hunger. Kai groans, a possesively, and his arms tighten around me, pulling me impossibly flush against his hardening body. His mouth is suddenly ruthless, claiming mine with a desperate need that matches my own.
The formidable tower of a man stands with me in his arms, his lips still locked on mine.
I hang onto his powerful shoulders, then whimper when he sets me down in front of the porch railing.
Kai breaks the kiss, smirking at my desperate cry.
He trails his lips down my jaw, licking and nipping at my neck, then grips my hips in a punishing hold and spins me around so my back is to his front.
Kai’s rough hand slides under my shirt and pulls the cup of my bra down so he can tease my breast. His other hand snakes lower, his fingers teasing me and rubbing my swollen bundle of nerves.
Then he pinches my clit and sinks his teeth into my shoulder.
I have to put my hand over my mouth to keep me from crying out.
Kai chuckles.
“No one can hear us. Scream for me, Annika. I want to hear you fall apart.” He nibbles my ear lobe while I reach back to spear my fingers through his hair.
He continues to rub my clit in long, lazy strokes. I jerk my hips every time he bumps my hard nub.
“I love how wet you are for me, love feeling your sweet honey dripping all over my fingers,” Kai murmurs right before thrusting two fingers inside of me.
“Oh my God …” I moan.
"That's it, love,” he encourages, his voice teetering on the edge of desperation. His fingers pump in and out of me and his other hand goes to my hip, holding me in place while he thrusts his jean covered cock up against my ass. I’m so close, right there, one more swipe over my clit and I know I’m going to explode, but then he stops.
I whine in protest. Kai laughs darkly, and I hear him undo his jeans and pull them down. His silky, thick cock brushes back and forth between my folds, rubbing my clit and teasing my entrance.
“Fuck me, Kai. Please, I need you.”
“Hands on the railing, Annika. Bend over and show me that gorgeous ass of yours.”
I do as he says, bending over the railing and holding myself steady with my hands. He runs his fingers up and down my spine, each touch leaving behind a blazing trail of desire. I whimper as my muscles tighten, the anticipation of what’s to come nearly suffocating me.
“So fucking sexy,” he growls before palming my breasts and pinching my nipples. A shudder ripples through my body and I gasp for air, my pussy contracting around nothing. I’m painfully empty, soaking wet, and weak with wanton need. “Kai–”
I barely get his name out before Kai shoves his cock into my throbbing core, bottoming out in one powerful thrust. It stretches me in the best way possible and I throw my head back as a feral moan escapes my mouth, pushing my ass against him.
“You feel so good, Annika,” he whispers in my ear, the sound rough and barely holding on. “I can’t get enough of you.”
He pulls out and slams into me again. Again.
Again . His fingers grip my hips hard enough to bruise.
I can’t wait to wear his marks like a badge of honor.
Kai’s hands slide up my body and over my shoulders until they are gripping the rail on either side of my hands.
His entire body is draped over me. I feel his muscles flex and tighten on my ass and back as he pistons himself in and out of me.
“Kai,” I rasp as I take in ragged breaths.
His lips brush over my neck before I feel him sucking on my skin. “Me too,” he growls knowingly. “Come with me. I’ve got you. Come for me, Annika.”
I’m so there, so close. Kai reaches down and furiously rubs my clit. Sweat covers my body in a thin sheen. My breaths are shallow and my body tenses and prepares for the wave of sensations waiting on the other side of the cliff.
“I won’t finish without you, so please, fucking come, I want to feel… Fuck!” He explodes inside of me as my cunt snaps around his cock, the feeling so intense I’m barely aware of the scream ripping from my throat.
Or maybe it’s Kai’s scream.
We both make primal noises as Kai ruts into me, hard and deep, releasing rope after rope of cum. Our combined juices make a mess down my thighs. My legs give out and Kai wraps his arm around my hips, keeping me in place while he thrusts into me two more times.
We shudder and shake together, slowly regaining control of our breathing.
“Goddamn, Annika.” He kisses between my shoulder blades before resting his head there.
"Yeah." I agree and then laugh. "Every time with you is amazing."
He nods against my back and then kiss me one last time. We both groan when he pulls out of me. Kai tucks himself away and helps me put my pants back on. Then, he scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder.
I shriek and then laugh when he swats my ass and carries me inside to the shower.
Twenty minutes later, we’re climbing into bed, naked. Clothes feel like an unnecessary barrier. Kai spoons around me, holding me close. I love feeling his skin on my skin.
“I love you, Kai. Love when you touch me, kiss me, hold me. Love you so much.”
He pulls me even closer to his chest. “I love you, little bird. More than you know.”
Kai kisses the top of my head and nuzzles his face there. We drift off to sleep and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
I wake up in the pitch-black room when I feel Kai’s fingers rubbing my pussy. I push back against him and he groans into my neck before placing kisses up my shoulder and nibbling on my pulse point.
“Sorry to wake you, love. I have an ache only you can fix.”
His hand traces over my hip and lifts my top leg over his. I feel his rock-hard cock slide into my entrance from behind, and hitch my breath at the sensation. Everything is so much more intense in the dark, my other senses heightened. Kai hisses as he pushes himself further into me, so slowly.
I moan when I he hits the absolute end of me, and then he starts pulling out slowly. He keeps up the excruciatingly slow pace, building us up one stroke at a time. I press back against him when he pushes in, and I squeeze around him when he pulls out, creating the most exquisite friction.
Kai’s hand spreads out over my lower belly, keeping me pressed close against him and tightening that pressure already gathering at my core.
He rests his head on my shoulder, his labored breaths spurring me on. I can feel his tense muscles as he controls his movements, commanding both of our bodies with his steady rhythm. It’s a slow burn, but I feel the fire catching, licking at my nerves, sending a rush of heat between my legs.
“That’s it. Fuck, I love being inside of you, love how wet you get for me.” He picks up his pace slightly and my muscles spasm with each thrust. “So goddamn tight. You feel incredible. Are you there, baby? Make me messy withyour pleasure. Let me feel all of it, every last drop.”
He thrusts once, twice, three times and I convulse in his arms, releasing everything in a rush as it spills out of me. I’ve never come that hard, and I’m a bit embarrassed at how wet everything is.
“Yes,” Kai growls victoriously. You’d think he won an olympic gold. “You squirted all over me. So damn hot.” He pounds into me, rubbing my clit with his fingers, one orgasm tumbling into another as he fucks into me, pushing me higher and higher.
“Annika, fuck, Annika…” he chants over and over, his cock swelling and exploding inside of me. The force of his release triggers a final, deep orgasm to break out over my body.
I curl in on myself, so sensitive from all of my orgasms. Kai just holds me in his arms, thrusting lazily before collapsing behind me.
“I’ve got you, love, I’ve got you,” he whispers as he nuzzles his head into my hair.
“Thank you, Annika. You’re my heart and soul. I can’t picture life without you.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, soldier. You’re stuck with me now.” I look over my shoulder and grin. Kai presses a kiss to my nose, and then rubs his stubble against my cheek, making me giggle and turn away.
“Stuck? More like incredible lucky, blessed, forever grateful, and–”
I spin around and kiss him, because how can I not? He sinks into my mouth, chasing my tongue with his. I’m definitely the lucky one, but if he wants to think otherwise, I’ll allow it. We curl up together, me resting my head against his heartbeat, while Kai strokes my back in a soothing gesture.
There’s so much more coming our way in the days and weeks to come, but this is a beautiful reminder of what makes it all worthwhile.
I love Kai more than I can express. I guess I have forever to come up with ways to show him how much he means to me.
With that thought, I smile as I drift off to sleep.