Chapter 26
AUTUMN
Have we managed to do the impossible and overcome our differences?
Seems so, and it was simpler than I imagined. I finally saw the truth hidden in the lies I told myself.
I wouldn’t reprimand my sixteen-year-old self for getting it wrong and twisting things into something else. I would hug her. She needed it, and she needed her parents. That profound absence turned into a sense of abandonment.
So sabotaging other relationships in my life before they had a chance to hurt me is now so obvious when I look at the details of the past. The harsh reality is that I blamed Brandon when I was responsible for ensuring I’d end up alone.
The damage runs deep and wide, but I only have myself to blame, and I must keep it from happening again.
Now, two weeks after telling him everything, we’re stronger than ever. It’s amazing what will grow when the seed is planted, watered, and cared for. We’ve bloomed right out of a fairy tale, and made it real life.
Of course, it’s our little secret.
I don’t know why it felt right to keep things private, but it’s built trust and given us room to make a few missteps as we learn to navigate a new relationship.
No outside pressure or people asking when we’re getting married, which I know we’ll be hit with as soon as the news is out.
It was when we were lying under the stars last week that it dawned on me.
If I’d known how important addressing concerns head-on was when I was younger, we might have been together this whole time.
Sometimes our own perspective is so narrow that we can’t see the big picture. I didn’t that night.
I’m told Chantilly’s arms were promptly removed from his body. Not fast enough for my liking, if you’re asking me, which he isn’t since it’s in the past, but still. Ever since we talked about it, he’s had snippets of that night return and assures me nothing was going on.
My head wonders if he’s telling me what I want to hear, but my heart devours every word, digesting them slowly as the truth warms me from the inside.
A body slams against the nurses’ station, jarring me back to reality. Spinning back to the counter, I see Stacy grinning like she won the lottery. “He’s being honored.”
My stomach twists into a knot at the thought of Ludlow being honored for something. “Who?”
“The firefighter you’ve been taking care of. Brandon Culver.” She pushes off the counter and looks down the hall, one way, then the other. I suspect making sure we don’t get caught gossiping, but other staff is rarely around at eleven o’clock at night.
Little does she know that firefighter is mine! I may not have seen him coming, but now that he’s here, I’m not letting that catch go.
Is it time to tell others? My sisters? Dolly?
Stacy? Social media official? Skywriting?
An ad in the Mountain Laurel Monthly Gazette—after weddings and before the obits?
Just thinking about him makes me so happy I’m tempted to climb to the top of the hospital and shout it from the rooftop.
Too much? Probably, but I’m impressed how well I’ve held this secret in.
I should get a trophy for keeping it, or, better yet, have it engraved with the message that Brandon Culver and Autumn Season are a thing.
A thing?
Hmm. I can’t say I like that title. But since we haven’t made ourselves official, “a thing” is all we have.
“Didn’t you know,” she asks, collecting straggler strands around her face and pulling her long hair into a topknot.
“I knew.” I keep the defensiveness at bay and start back with my busywork of entering files into the online system even though there are easier methods of getting this input.
The hospital just likes to torture me with it.
“I was there when he got the call. It’s exciting. Our town’s hero.” The hero of my heart.
“Ah. I didn’t know if you were still in the loop since the homecare job ended.”
I glance up from the monitor. “I’m very much in the loop.” Slip of the tongue. “Was in the loop.” Oops. Dammit. “We’re friends.”
Her eyes just about pop out of the sockets. “You are?” She leans in with the most insinuating smirk I’ve ever seen. “How friendly are you?” Tilting her head toward me, ear first, she says, “Hmm? Tell me everything.”
I laugh, but this line of questioning puts me in an uncomfortable position.
I don’t lie, but I also need to discuss going public with Brandon before I announce it, even privately to a close friend.
And I can’t tell her before I tell Dolly and my sisters, or I’ll never hear the end of it.
Understandable, since I’d do the same to them.
“Friends.” I start typing again, hoping that throws her off the scent. When she remains staring at me, I glance up and add, “We’ve known each other most of our lives.”
She blinks a few times, and asks, “Just tell me. Is he still single or not?”
I wouldn’t lie under oath, and this inquisition feels like the same kind of pressure. There’s no squirming out of this. “I—”
“I think that long pause tells me everything I need to know.” She starts walking toward room 8 to check on a patient, whistling as she goes. “Get that bag, girl.”
Smiling like a Cheshire cat, I look around, realizing I look like a fool sitting here all by myself like that. What’s not to be happy about? I’m dating Brandon Culver. Although I don’t gamble very often, if I were to wager a bet, I’d bet on us.
Five days later . . .
The windows of the house are dark at this hour, but the porch light shines bright, guiding me home like a beacon.
Though home feels more subjective these days.
When I pull onto the property, I glance in the rearview mirror, hoping to catch sight of that mountain that’s more comforting to my soul these days.
It’s too dark at midnight to see the landscape, but I won’t complain.
I’m happy to have had a second shift instead of an overnight for a change.
It’s a busier shift with real care needed for patients.
It was fun and exhilarating to feel needed and valued again.
But missing Brandon is wearing on my heart.
Working opposite shifts from each other leaves no real time to reconnect.
I miss how his arms engulf my waist when he’s wrapped around me from behind.
That chin scruff scratching against the skin of my inner thighs when he’s determined to make me come.
I bite my lip as the memory of him kissing me until I’m breathless embeds itself.
Our physical connection is undeniable, but it’s the emotions that sneak up that grip my heart. Maybe it’s too soon to delve into them, but while his eyes hold me in the now, our future seems to glow in neon lights. Brandon and Autumn. Ten years in the making.
I shut the door and start across the yard toward the pink Victorian. Waves break against the shore while the moon helps guide my way. I stop before I reach the porch. But it’s not fear that grips me when I see a large figure sitting on the top step. “Hey, you,” I say, walking toward him.
He lifts his head as if he’d taken a catnap.
A smile broadens on his face, and his eyes catch the moonlight.
Standing, he gallops down the steps to greet me, lifting me into his arms like we’ve been apart for months.
It’s crazy that a few days feel so impactful, but my heart stutters in my chest, reaching for him.
“What are you doing here?” He lowers me to my feet, but I leave my arms wrapped around him.
His hair is messy, and his eyes hang down at the corners. He’s not been back at work long, but I can tell he’s still building his energy back. “I missed you.”
My heart flutters for him. “I missed you, too.” I brush my hand over his cheek and settle it on his chest. “You need sleep, Lieutenant.”
“I need you more.”
We could be at his house in fifteen or maybe twenty minutes in the dark, or I could have him upstairs in two minutes flat. Taking him by his hand, I start pulling him up the steps. “Stay with me.”
He glances at the house over my head. “Here?”
“Yeah, here.” I get him two steps closer to the front door.
We reach the porch, but he’s put his brakes on. “What about your sisters and Dolly? Won’t we wake them?”
A laugh bubbles inside me, but I try to restrain it. I fail. “Depends how loud we are.” Tugging him to the door, I ask, “Want to find out?”
“You have a naughty side, Nurse.”
Taking a cue from him, I waggle my eyebrows. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
He takes my hand and leads the charge inside and up the stairs. I could tell him that Dolly sleeps like a log and only Winter lives here right now since Spring is still in school. And Summer moved next door and is usually traveling with Daniel. But it’s cute that he thinks he’s sneaky.
As soon as the door closes, his warmth wraps around me from behind, his hand already slipping down the front of my scrubs.
“Do you know how many times I think about your pussy in a day?” The rough of his fingers scrapes against the skin of my lower belly.
Such a turn-on. I love how rugged he is, how hard he works, and the hard muscles he builds from hauling heavy equipment.
I’m small to his large frame, and I really love how possessive he is over my body. It’s his more than he knows. I’m his. We’re just not to the point of saying it yet.
“How much?” I’m desperate to hear his reply and how much he thinks about me, wondering if it’s as much as I think of him in all the ways.
He slips a finger between my lower lips, causing my breath to catch. Leaning forward, he angles his head and whispers, “All. Damn. Day.” He leans forward and kisses my neck, sucking at the base.
“Don’t leave a mark, okay?”
Popping his head up, he levels his eyes on me. “When do I get to make you mine?”
The slow slip through my slickness has my thoughts fraying, and I bite my lip to hold back the moan. Just one inch lower and he’ll be where I want him. “I’m yours.”
“To the world. I want everyone to fucking know that you’re mine, beautiful.”
I hadn’t even realized my bag was still on my shoulder until it plummets to the floor. We both look down, then continue as if nothing happened. The tip of his finger dips into me, pulling out too fast. “Don’t tease. Please.”
My body is a live wire ready to spark, aching for him to give me an orgasm.
“I want that,” I exhale on a bated breath.
Peeking up, I say, “I want the world to know you’re mine as well.
” He slides a second finger in deep alongside the first, startling a moan as he drags his fingers back out.
When he leans his head against the door, a heavy breath escapes his parted lips, blowing a strand of my hair toward my face.
Reaching back, I tug at the collar of his shirt, fisting my fingers over the flannel. “I love this, but I want you more.”
Tilting my head back, he finds my eyes. “Unless you have a cond—”
“I don’t care. I’m on the pill.”
Magic words.
Clothes go flying, hands bumping into each other, legs tangling, and bodies tumbling onto the bed. He falls on top of me, his penis long and hard, the pressure of his need pushed against my belly.
Our eyes reconnect. “Roll over.” There’s no time to think or room to wander. I’m caged within his arms and have never been wetter. I scuddle onto my stomach, and he scoops my hips up until I anchor my weight on my hands and knees.
His calloused fingers run along my spine, and the mental image of his heated gaze following the path his fingers take makes heat pool in my center.
When he slides his fingers through my lips, he hovers over me, bending down to kiss the back of my neck.
“So perfect,” he groans, sliding his hand and my slickness over his length.
Warm breath breezes across my neck as he positions himself at my entrance. “How quiet can you be?”
“Quiet as a mouse.”
Wrapping his arm around my waist, he asks, “You sure about that?”
“I’m—oh God!” Hard and fast, I’m rammed from behind, and instantly made a liar when I cry out in ecstasy.
“Yes!” I drop my head to the bed, biting the blanket as he thrusts in and pulls out so fast that I’m not going to last. He feels too good, our bare bodies exchanging heat and hits as he fills me with each push forward.
Fingers grapple through my hair and slide to my shoulder to hold me still as he seeks to steady his rhythm. I take and take and take everything he gives, and when I suck in a breath, I give back, forcing my weight to meet his thrust for thrust.
“So fucking hot,” he groans through gritted teeth. When moving unsteadily, he lowers his hand to my clit and teases me.
I lose my pace to erratic thoughts as I chase my release. “Harder.” He reaches deeper with each thrust, and I lose the war with locked elbows as my head hits the mattress.
The sound of his breath turns wild, untamed like I feel when I’m with him, freedom from constraints. Quick thrusts follow each circle and pinch of my clit. I can’t take it. The sensations are too much to manage all at once. “I need you . . .”
My body erupts as the heat of his release ribbons across my backside.
My knees quiver, my thighs ache, and my core tremors through a series of earthquakes.
Lowering my hips to my legs, I turn my face to the side to get some air.
Hair sticks to my face, and my lips feel swollen from scratching against the quilt.
I’m consumed once again when Brandon wraps himself over me and kisses the back of my head. “You weren’t quiet.”
I burst out laughing, turning slowly so our sweaty bodies face each other. He pushes hair from my face, and I brush his from his forehead. “No, I wasn’t. You make it hard to be quiet.”
He chuckles, but our smiles soften and the moment goes quiet. His expression softens as we watch each other. “I love you, Autumn.”
And there, with my arms wrapped around him and our legs half off my bed in a room tucked on the second floor of the house I grew up in, I hear the words I’ve longed to hear forever.
He smiles, brushing his fingers through my hair as my tummy flutters.
With my whole heart owned by this man, I look up into those soulful brown eyes so full of pride, and hope blooms in my chest.
“I love you, too, Brandon.”