Epilogue
DARCY
Three months later
I had my thighs wrapped around Archer’s hips, as he drove us through the streets of downtown on his motorcycle.
Linnea and my mom were watching Casey for the evening so that we could have a much needed date night.
He hadn’t told me where we were going, and when we first took off, I thought I knew where we were headed, but as he drove us further from town, all of my guesses were disproven.
When we turned down a dirt road that emptied into a clearing thirty minutes outside of town, I was confused.
There was nothing here. Well, that wasn’t entirely true.
The setting sun cast a warm golden light over the vast field before us, and a tiny stream steadily trickled to our right.
There was a massive willow tree sitting along the bank, and a hedge of cattails a little further down that were swaying gently in the late summer breeze.
It was a gorgeous view, but I wasn’t sure what our date night could entail here.
He hadn’t told me to dress for a hike, and I didn’t see a trail entrance anywhere, so maybe this was a pit stop?
Pulling our helmets off, he peered over his shoulder at me. “What do you think?”
“I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way because it’s gorgeous, but what are we doing here?” I asked, dismounting and walking to stand next to the front of the bike.
“Well, I packed us a picnic,” he started, but then his eyes trailed down my sundress.
Before I knew what he was doing, he grabbed my hips and hauled me back onto the motorcycle, straddling it so I was facing him.
His lips brushed over the sensitive skin right below my ear.
“But now I’m thinking I want to do something else. ”
The hands gripping my ass pulled me closer to him, forcing my legs up over his thighs until I was almost in his lap.
I shifted, sucking in a deep breath at the feel of him hard and fully erect beneath me.
My pulse thrummed in my ears as one of his hands skated up my spine to grip the back of my neck firmly.
“Archer.” I squirmed, my body wanting to get closer to him, but a small part of me was hesitant the way it always was when Archer and I were together since giving birth.
“Darcy,” he growled into my neck, his hands gripping me tighter, knowing what was coming next.
I sighed, a sound caught somewhere between contentment and exasperation, but not with him—with myself.
I had mostly come to terms with my C-section.
It wasn’t how I’d wanted to give birth, but it was necessary for both mine and Casey’s survival.
And while I tried to view my scar as a badass battle wound, it had unlocked a new insecurity I’d never had before.
My body was different, and I wasn’t sure how to be confident in it anymore.
Sure, I was slowly getting my abs back, but my hips were wider and so was my rib cage.
My boobs were bigger, but less firm despite not having breastfed, and the combination of all of it had my clothes fitting differently.
Everything was . . . different. And despite Archer’s reassurances, I found it hard to believe that nothing was different for him.
His mouth stilled over my skin, and he lifted his head, the glow of the sun reflecting in the green of his irises giving him an otherworldly appearance.
“I’m sorry,” I groaned. “I know it’s stupid, I just . . . I’m not the same anymore.”
“You’re not,” he agreed without hesitation. “You’re better.”
I rolled my eyes, hating that I was making him say the same thing he’d said a dozen times to me again.
His hand at the back of my neck moved to grip my chin, forcing my shocked gaze to his. “Roll your eyes at me again, and I’ll give them a real reason to roll.”
Fuck me.
“Now, listen to me very closely. I’m going to say this one more time, and then I don’t ever want to have to defend you to yourself again.
Understood?” His voice had me growing hot, and I nodded as much as his hold would allow.
“You are the most stunning creature on this planet. You were sexy before and you’re sexy now.
The only thing having our baby has done to my attraction to you is amplified it to unhealthy amounts.
You could have a hundred scars, and I’d spend the rest of forever cherishing each and every one of them.
” He lifted the hem of my dress to reveal the scar in question.
“There is nothing ugly about this.” With a gentle hand, he pushed me until I was bent back over the fuel tank. His mouth hovered over the six inches of pink skin, his eyes burning into mine. “It is beautiful.”
Kiss.
“It is strength.”
Kiss.
“It is power.”
Kiss.
“It is a goddamn masterpiece.”
Kiss.
My breath hitched in my lungs with every descent of his lips, and my body shivered despite the August heat. He’d never said all that before, but it was everything I needed to hear.
“Do I make myself perfectly fucking clear?”
“Yes,” I breathed, bringing my hand up to cup his face. He turned into it, placing a kiss to the center of my palm, then shot me a roguish grin.
“Good. Now be a good girl for me and try to be quiet.”
In one swift motion, Archer pushed my panties to the side, his thumb finding my clit instantly, toying with it while his middle finger slid inside me. Using his other hand, he freed my breasts, tongue sweeping out over my nipple before taking it into his mouth.
“Agh, Archer,” I whimpered, trying to do as he said and keep quiet. We were off the beaten path, but it wasn’t the middle of nowhere, though that added to the thrill of it.
Adding another finger, he pumped them in and out of me lazily, working me quickly into a frenzy.
The pace was maddening, fast enough to build with each stroke, but slow enough to have my hips grinding down against him mindlessly, desperate for more.
If I was capable of feeling anything other than the intense lust coursing through my veins, I might’ve been embarrassed by how fast he reduced me to a panting, thrashing mess.
But as it was, my body was winding tighter and tighter.
I bit my lip around a moan as he strummed my clit.
He groaned around my breast, nipping at the tight bud. “Fuck it, I lied. I want to hear you scream when you come for me.”
If I was embarrassed before, I was mortified now because that was all it took. Those words ordered in that raspy, masculine voice of his had the tight cords of my restraint snapping, my orgasm crashing through me in waves.
“Archer!” I screamed, gripping his shoulders, as I rode out every last sensation tearing through my body.
“That’s my girl.” Dropping a heated kiss to my lips, he sat back so I could right myself. “Now, open your mouth.”
I didn’t hesitate. I parted my lips and sucked the fingers that had just been in my pussy into my mouth, the tangy sweetness of my release coating my tongue.
“See? You still taste fucking divine too.”
This man.
Before I could respond, he lifted me off the bike. Then he was behind me, pressing me forward over the side of the bike.
I glanced over my shoulder and watched him free his cock from his jeans. My hips swayed involuntarily at the sight, desperate to have him inside me. Filling me.
A dark chuckle rumbled in his chest as he swiped his tip through my wetness before driving into me. My brain misfired.
When he moved it was slow, taunting strokes meant to drive me wild, but I couldn’t handle any more of his games.
I pushed back forcefully on his next thrust, taking him deeper and harder than he’d been.
The breath in his lungs left in a hiss, and his fingertips dug into my hips.
A piece of me wanted them to leave bruises, to mark me as his.
“Do that again, and this is going to be over before it starts,” Archer warned through gritted teeth.
Smirking, I repeated the motion, reveling in the groan it pulled from deep within his throat. I did it once more before setting a tempo that had my own climax forming, his cock hitting the back of me with every thrust.
“Shit, Darcy.” His hands flexed once against my hips before he took over, dragging me up and down his length fast and hard, exactly how I needed it. My pussy gripped him tightly as he pistoned into me over and over, the edge of sweet oblivion dancing within reach.
His hand wound around the braid I’d put my hair in, and pulled until my head was tipped back almost painfully. Then his lips crashed into mine, tongue claiming, as he drove into me again. My climax tore through me seconds before his movements grew jerky and uneven, his own release overtaking him.
He released the hold on my hair, and I fought to catch my breath as my heart pounded loudly in my chest. “I love you.”
Archer spun me around to face him, straightening me as he did, and captured my mouth in a slower kiss that felt a lot like worship. “I love you too.”
***
After we dressed ourselves, we did end up eating the picnic Archer had packed for us.
I don’t know if it was luck, or if he had planned for our little delay to prolong our eating, but he’d put our sandwiches in the saddlebag with enough ice packs that everything was still cool.
It was the perfect date too—quiet and just the two of us, which was something that rarely happened these days.
When it started getting buggy, the sun officially gone from the sky, we packed everything up and headed home.
My mom and Linnea were on our couch watching one of mom’s baking shows, and Casey was fast asleep upstairs.
We chatted for a bit, getting a very detailed rundown from Linnea, before they took off.
Upstairs, Archer headed to our room, but I took a detour to the nursery. I’d be back in here in a couple of hours to feed Casey, and I shouldn’t have been risking waking him up, but I couldn’t help it. I crept over to the crib and peered over the railing.
His mouth was popped open in a tiny “o,” quiet snores sounding with every breath. Dark hair stuck up in all directions, his hands curled into little fists by his head, as he slept peacefully, completely unaware that I was beholding him.
I hadn’t heard Archer come in, but I felt the bare skin of his chest press against my back, and I leaned into him, resting my head against his shoulder.
For a while, we stayed like that, wrapped in an embrace, marveling at the sleeping human we’d made together.
If someone had told me a year ago that this would be my life, I would’ve laughed in their face.
There was no way I was having a baby, especially not with Archer Mack.
But that me was a different version of myself entirely.
She went through her days with a chip on her shoulder, constantly competing in a contest that was entirely self made.
That Darcy was a woman who thought she was fine alone with her books and movies, who functioned under the idea that it was better to be by herself than let anyone close enough to hurt her.
But that was only because she didn’t know any better.
I needed Archer, needed Casey, to kickstart the fire that had all but burned out inside of me. They burst in when I least expected it, and breathed a sense of belonging into my life, fueling the fire that made each day new and exciting.
Standing in Archer’s house—our house—gazing down at our son with Archer’s arms wrapped around me, I couldn’t imagine my life any other way. It was everything I never expected to have, and everything I couldn’t imagine living without. It was perfect.