Epilogue
Landon
A year later
The second I step inside, I catch the soft, off-key humming coming from the kitchen, and a smile cuts across my face. My wife. I shut the door and head straight to her.
Funny how you don’t see the worth of something until it’s gone. I’d heard that line a hundred times before, but it never hit home until I lost Anna. Yeah, marriage once made me run. Not anymore. Every trace of that doubt died the moment I slid the ring back on her finger.
Now there’s only one thing I breathe for: to protect her and love her with everything I have.
Stopping in the doorway, my smile deepens the moment my eyes lock on Anna.
She’s at the counter, slicing vegetables, her hair spilling loose around her shoulders.
Those damn denim shorts and that thin white tank top leave nothing to the imagination.
And to top it off, she sways to her off-key humming, completely unaware she’s stealing the air from my lungs, the kind of effect only she can have.
God, I love being married to this woman.
I love seeing her like this. I love knowing I finally have a family to come home to—my little girl, Liala, and my wife, Anna.
And with her by my side, I know this is just the start.
We’ll build more. We’ll grow more. My wife and my daughter… they’re my forever.
In a heartbeat, I cross the room in long strides, my gaze locked on Anna. She barely turns, surprise flashing across her face as I scoop her off the ground and into my arms. I know our daughter is out with her nanny for her drawing class and won’t be back for another two hours.
Not enough time I know. But more than enough for me to make love to my wife and remind her exactly how lucky I’m to have her back in my life.
Yes, I’ve made love to her a thousand times, each time pouring everything into proving her what she means to me. And still, it’s never enough. I crave more. More of her, more of us, more of everything we lost and somehow finally managed to find again.
“Landon—” she gasps, her hands clinging around my neck.
I don’t bother with an answer. I carry her through the house, taking the stairs two at a time. When we reach our bedroom, I kick the door open, stride inside, and lay her on the bed, right where she belongs.
“I need you. Now.” The words rip from me in a low growl as I straighten and tear at my clothes, shirt over my head, pants shoved down in one impatient motion.
Her lips part, a flush of heat painting her face as she rises to her knees. In one smooth motion, she slips her top over her head, baring herself to me, then pushes her shorts down her legs. My gaze locks on her, darkening instantly.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” I breathe as I press her back onto the bed. I hover above her, pinning both her wrists above her head with one hand, holding her there.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you,” I rasp, my free hand roaming slowly over her bare skin.
“Landon… please,” she breathes, a plea that only fuels the fire roaring through me.
I lower my head, closing my mouth over her nipple, and bite down just hard enough to drag a sharp gasp from her lips. “I love the way you beg for me,” I growl against her skin, before giving the other breast the same fierce attention.
She moans, her fingers tangling in my hair as her body arches into my mouth, desperate for more, for everything I’m giving her.
I trail slow kisses down her skin, breathing in her scent, feeling the shivers that ripple through her. And then I bury my face between her legs. My tongue finds her clit, and at the same time, my fingers thrust deep into her wet, scorching heat.
The moment her taste floods my mouth, I groan, my cock hardening even more, if that’s even possible. Nothing drives me crazier than this. Than her. Than knowing I can unravel her with nothing but my mouth and my hands.
When her body finally shudders with release, I crawl up over her, line myself up and push into her with one hard thrust. Her gasp rips free, but I swallow it with my mouth.
“God…” I whisper against her mouth. “I love this pussy. It was fucking made for me, sweetheart.”
“Yes…” she agrees, her hips rolling up to meet mine, desperate, needing me as much as I need her.
“I fucking love you,” I groan, my thumb finding her clit again, circling hard. “Say it… say your husband is the only man who’ll ever touch you. The only man you’ll ever need.”
“Yes, God, yes!” she moans. “You’re the only man I’ll ever need… the only one who can touch me. Only you, Landon.”
“That’s right. Only me, sweetheart,” I hiss, driving into her harder, deeper, until her cries of my name echo through the room and her body locks around mine.
I follow her over the edge, pressing close and burying my face in her neck, drinking in her scent.
I hold her there, my chest heaving, every nerve alive with the heat of our closeness.
When the rush finally settles, I lift my head and meet her eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she replies, smiling.
I drop back onto the bed and pull her close until her head rests against my chest. Her fingers trace lazy circles across my bare skin, her touch familiar in a way that feels like home. My hand slides over her back, caressing the curve of her beautiful body.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispers, and everything inside me stills for a moment.
“What?” I whisper, looking down at her, disbelief and awe warring across my face.
She nods, gazing up at me with that soft, radiant smile that melts me from the inside out. “I went to the doctor today. You… you’re going to be a father again.”
“I’m going to be a father… again?” I repeat, needing to hear it one more time.
“Yes,” she confirms, and I close my eyes for a moment, letting it sink in. When I open them, emotion rushes through me so fiercely I can’t stop myself. I roll her beneath me, leaning close, my hands framing her face as I lose myself in her eyes.
“I promise you,” I murmur, my voice thick with everything I feel, “this time, I’ll be with you from the start. You’ll never be alone. I swear it.”
Her eyes glisten, and she reaches up, her fingertips grazing my cheek. “I know you will.”
“I can’t thank you enough for giving me this chance to prove myself,” I say softly, leaning down until my forehead rests against hers.
“For trusting me again. For letting me be the man you need, the husband you deserve. And I’ll spend every day proving it to you, again and again.
” I press a kiss to her nose. “You deserve nothing less.”
“You’ve already proven it… more than I could have hoped for,” she smiles.
I brush a strand of hair from her face and hold her gaze. “Get used to it, sweetheart, because I’m not stopping. You and our little family are everything to me.”
She lets out a shaky breath and buries her face into my chest. I hold her close, her breathing slowly evening out as she melts against me.
“Thank you,” she murmurs. “For never giving up. For fighting for us. And for coming back to me.”
“Always,” I kiss her forehead. “For you… always.”
God… I never thought I’d get her back. But now that I have her, nothing on this earth will ever take her away from me again. Not fate. Not fear. Not even me.
She is my forever, and I intend to keep it that way.
The End