Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
She wore her affection so openly that a blind man could have seen it.
“I know,” was the given response. But when I added, “I love you too,” I think I must have shocked the shit out of her because she blinked and shook her head as if she hadn’t heard me right.
I gave her a moment to process.
“What did you just say?” It came out as a whisper.
I narrowed my eyes on her. “You heard me.”
And her face turned soft in a way that made my heart stammer. “Say it again.”
Jesus Christ.
For her, I would have pulled the moon from the sky and set it on her nightstand as a night light.
I felt no shame being vulnerable with this woman. Tori wasn’t the type to ever use it against me. I felt secure in the knowledge that whatever I gave, I got back times ten.
Why would I hesitate when she had reached into her own chest and pulled out her bleeding heart, just so I could watch it beat for me?
My expression didn’t gentle when I spoke. It was too tense an emotion to feel soft. I licked my lips and the movement had her watching my mouth when I said the words a second time. “I love you.”
I don’t know what I expected but I wouldn’t have felt awkward should she have burst into tears of joy.
My little wife blinked and lifted her face to mine. I brought my own down willingly. And a moment before my lips touched hers, she sighed, looked me in the eye, patted my cheek and said, “I know.”
And I stilled.
She grinned.
My lip curled.
Her body shook in silent laughter as she shook her head, turned and walked away from me.
I kept my eyes on her gently swaying hips and deliciously full ass, and when I was left alone in the kitchen, my brow furrowed as I scratched at my chin and muttered under my breath, “I thought we were having a moment.”
So much for putting it out there.
Seconds later, I heard her call from the top of the stairs, “Are you coming?”
And a slow grin that stretched at my lips. In one fell swoop, I pulled off my tee and made for the bedroom with my chest bared. I took the steps two at a time and found her kneeling in the center of the bed wearing nothing but her underwear.
Fuck me, she was stunning. All thick hair, pouting lips and curves that killed.
I closed the bedroom door, took a moment to appreciate the view then started for her.
“Not before you do.”
The hour was late, the house was quiet, beside me, my wife stirred in her sleep.
Her unconscious shuffle towards me had me feeling things a cold man like me had no business feeling.
The scar at my shoulder ached and, as if she had some otherworldly connection to it, she sleepily turned her head and pressed a feather soft kiss to it.
It was a small movement. A barely-there touch. And yet, I found it difficult to breathe.
To think the heart she’d almost destroyed was the very same one she’d brought back to life.
It felt unnatural as it was not something I was built for, but for the first time in years, I found peace with this beautiful creature tucked into the side of my chest.
Something told me that peace would extend to everyday thereafter.
Epilogue
ACCEPTANCE.
Vittoria
Ana was fussing.
I bounced her on my hip and tried desperately to get dinner prepped before she went down for her nap. “Come on, honey,” I moaned quietly as she rubbed at her little eyes. “I have to do this. I thought you liked watching me in the kitchen.” And, dramatic as she was, her lips trembled, her eyes watered, and then she threw her head back and wailed, demanding my full attention.
Of course, she got her way and the second I gave it to her, lifting her high and smiling wide, her attitude completely changed. The gummy smile she wore was so damned adorable, I couldn’t help myself from pulling her close and kissing her little chubby cheek a thousand and one times. “Lord help me. You are even more demanding than your father.”
“I seriously doubt that,” Ella muttered as she walked into the kitchen, right up to me and plucked Ana from my arms, smiling down at our chunky chicken. “I’ll put her down if you want.”
Who would have thought Ella would have come to be my savior over the past year?
There was no doubt Ella loved her sister, and Ana loved her right back. Her little legs bounced as Ella rocked her from side-to-side and it might have been all the post-pregnancy hormones, but I often became overwhelmed watching them together.
I could see it already. Ella would be the sister I desperately craved, but never got.
And although the boys adored their little sister, they were still young and Ana did things that didn’t intertest them, like barf, cry and poop.