23. Piper
Piper
“Do I need to get Callan a gift?”
“Nope,” Christian says, glancing over his shoulder with a lazy grin. “Just your pretty little self will do, darlin’.”
It’s Callan’s birthday this weekend, and according to Christian, it means the bar shuts down early, every rule gets tossed out the window, and everyone shows up ready to drink, dance, and forget about real life for a while.
“We’re not really gift-givers,” Christian explains, leaning against the edge of the dresser in his bedroom with his hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans. “We’re show-up-anywhere-anytime-of-the-year people. If we need or want something, we just give it.”
I cross the room to the mirror, pretending to focus on my makeup. “So what happens when it’s your birthday?” I tilt my head, catching his darkening gaze in the mirror. “You don’t want me to get you anything?”
“Nothing I want from you costs a damn thing,” he murmurs, stalking slowly toward me.
His hands settle on my hips just as I swipe the mascara wand through my lashes, and his lips find the sensitive spot on my neck that always makes me melt. I feel the gentle scrape of his teeth against my skin, followed by the warm, velvet stroke of his tongue.
“All I want is you," he murmurs against my throat, his breath dancing across my skin and sending shivers down my spine. “Just you in my bed, wrapped up in nothing but me, letting me hold you through the night while I stay buried inside you until morning. That’s it. That’s all I'll ever want.”
September 12 is his birthday. I remember showing up at the farm with Travis that day as if nothing was wrong, even though, at that point, everything felt like it was.
I gave Christian a bottle of bourbon, one I’d picked out and paid for myself while Travis wasn’t looking, choosing the label I knew he’d recognize from some half-forgotten conversation at the bar.
But when Christian pulled me in for that hug, my body betrayed me.
For those few precious seconds, I let myself drown in him.
He was all leather, pine, and raw male heat.
Two seconds of heaven before reality yanked me back to earth, reminding me that some cravings can’t ever be fed.
“Hardly special when you can have that whenever you want,” I tease, setting my mascara down and spinning to face him.
I wrap my arms around his neck, loving the way he instinctively pulls me closer like we’ve been doing this forever.
“Why don’t you ask for something you haven’t had yet?” His eyebrows shoot up, and that dangerous smile plays at his lips while his hands slide down to cup my ass.
“Piper, there’s nothing off-limits with me. If there’s something you want… you ask for it.”
“You must have a limit.”
“Don’t think I do. Not with you.”
I drag one finger down his chest, tracing the line of buttons that stand between me and bare skin.
“Okay, so… can I fuck you?”
“You’re gonna have to elaborate, because I’m thinking you don’t mean riding my cock.”
“Well, considering you have no limits…” I lean in just a fraction, letting my lips graze his. “Maybe I could bend you over and have my way with you. What’s it called again? Pegging?”
He growls, hands tightening on my ass. “Alright, smartass, there’s your limit. The only one getting fucked like that is you, so no, you can’t have everything.”
“Well, you know… you haven’t done that to me either.”
“You want me to do that to you?”
“I mean, it’s you, and I trust you. So I’m not completely against the idea.”
His head rolls back, and he lets out this primal sound that makes my toes curl.
“What are you doing to me, woman?”
I smile sweetly, tucking his reaction away in my memory. Because apparently my mountain man has a few fantasies of his own, and I have every intention of pulling them into the light.
I can’t help but laugh as I step out of his embrace and slide my feet into my boots. “You need to be on your best behavior tonight. I know Callan and Violet know what’s going on, but that’s how it needs to stay until you’ve talked to Travis.”
“Then I’ll do it tomorrow,” he says, stepping toward me. “Because I don’t wanna hide this, Piper. I’m ready to shout it from the top of the goddamn mountain.”
Jesus, this man. I could cry just looking at him, at the way he’s standing there, ready to claim us publicly and willing to deal with whatever chaos follows rather than keep hiding what we have.
“How about I head back to Violet’s tomorrow night?” The look he gives me could freeze hell over. “I have to go back sometime. It’ll give me a chance to catch up with my sister and give you time to have that conversation with Travis without me here. Then we can figure everything out from there.”
“Like when you’re moving in?” He says it so casually that my heart does a backflip.
I start laughing, and that unfairly beautiful smile I’ve fallen hard for spreads across his face. I know without a doubt he’d help me carry boxes up his front steps tomorrow if I asked, but we need to breathe. Just be together without rushing headlong into something that deserves time to grow .
“There’s no rush for us,” I say softly, turning back to face the mirror. “We have all the time in the world.”
His arms wind around my waist from behind, and I watch our reflection as he rests his chin on my shoulder, the scrape of his stubble rough against my skin. We fit together like this was always meant to be—like this, us , was always the destination. We just had to take the long way home.
“I’m not getting any younger, Piper.” His fingers trace gentle circles on my stomach as his eyes hold mine.
“If there are things you want—if there’s even a small part of you that dreams of something bigger than this—we need to talk about it.
” I freeze under his touch, my heart thundering against my ribs.
“I’m not trying to scare you, but I need you to know where I stand when it comes to our future.
You deserve to know what you’re getting into because now that you’re mine, I’m not letting go. Not ever.”
“Are you talking about kids and stuff?” He nods, and a nervous laugh escapes him—the kind that makes my heart melt a little more. “I just assumed that wasn’t something you’d want again, after Travis.”
“I never thought I’d want to be a father again.
Hell, it’s been the one thing I’ve always been sure about and one of the main reasons I’ve kept myself closed off from relationships.
” He takes a deep breath, then reaches down to thread his fingers through mine.
“But things change when you find the woman you want to build your life around.”
“And if I said I never wanted to be a mom? Because I’ve never wanted kids. Not after seeing what motherhood looked like in my world.”
Christian knows about the hell Lorraine put me through.
He knows every ugly, painful piece of it, and I know that if he could go back, he would.
He’d shield that little girl with everything he has.
He’d take every blow, every cruel word, and every moment that woman made me feel like I wasn’t worth loving.
But he can’t change the past, so instead, he loves me harder, holds me tighter, and makes damn sure I never go a single day questioning whether or not I deserve something good.
“Then you never have to be a mom,” he says simply, tightening his hold on my hand.
“It can just be us. You and me, building a life together, and I’ll love the hell out of it, and you, every damn day.
” I nod, but apparently, this man’s determined to turn me into an emotional puddle.
“But if one day, you ever change your mind and decide you do want that… Then watching your belly swell with my baby would be the kind of miracle I’d count myself lucky to witness. I’d love that life, too, just as much.”
Well, shit. My heart will be the one getting pregnant at this rate.
“It’ll always be your choice,” he whispers, brushing his thumb over my knuckles. “Always. I just wanna give you everything I’ve got while I’ve got it to give. Because as long as I have you, darlin’, I’ve already got everything I need.”
“But would you really want to do it all again?”
“With you? Hell yeah. Besides, I didn’t really get to do it right the first time. So if it happened, I’d be all in. I’d love you. I’d love our child, and I’d be there every single day for all of it. The good, the messy, the late nights, the diapers, everything.”
“God, I know you would.” I reach behind me to cup his face, feeling the rough stubble against my palm.
“But,” he says, pressing his lips to my temple, “it’s nothing we need to decide now.
We’ve got a holiday coming up and probably a shitstorm or two to get through first.” A soft laugh slips from me.
“It’s something we can talk about later.
I just needed you to know that nothing’s off the table with me. Not where you’re concerned.”
I smile up at him, my heart feeling full to the brim. “God, you’re cute. Savannah was right about you.”
“Savannah?”
“She told me that when you love, you do it with everything you’ve got. No half-assing it. You just go all in, and she was right. You do, and I just… I’m so lucky to have you, and I don’t want you to forget that.”
Tonight, The Velvet Stag is bursting with Callan’s friends and family.
It’s loud, rowdy, and overflowing with the kind of love that fills every corner.
The doors are closed to outsiders. It’s just us and the old regulars, the ones who’ve pulled up a barstool so many times they’re practically family now.
There’s no need for menus or tabs. Everyone knows what they want, and anyone who wants a drink just ducks behind the bar to pour it themselves.
“Seriously, how much longer do I have to stay?” Violet mutters in my ear as I slide another shot of vodka her way.
“You’ve been here thirty-five minutes,” I say, laughing as she gives my ponytail a light tug. “Your tolerance for human interaction is truly inspiring.”