Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 75193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
It did, but it was broken up in places, making Ridley chuckle.
“I forgot to use the condom,” he said, tossing it down by my face.
I turned to stare at the foil, opened but still holding the latex inside, then turned my face to him.
“You don’t need it anymore,” I said.
His eyebrows went up as he slowly pulled out of me.
He leaned forward, his body hovering over mine, his eyes serious, as he said, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
I blinked.
“What?” I asked, surprised at the abrupt change in subject.
Why did he not question it?
He pressed his lips down onto mine, then pulled back until he was only inches from me.
“I’ve come to a decision,” he said.
I raised a brow at him, lifting my hand to run my fingers along his side.
“Yeah?” I asked. “What about?” I wondered. “Is it about moving in with you again?”
He grimaced.
I’d been staying at my house now that the threat against me was gone, much to Ridley’s annoyance.
Although he’d claimed to be ready for me to live with him, I’d decided he needed a little more time to prepare himself before I moved in permanently.
I was staying over there quite a bit, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t crowd him and force him into doing anything that he wasn’t ready to do.
“I want you to listen to me. Don’t interrupt until I’ve got it all out, okay?” he asked.
I nodded, albeit a bit reluctantly.
“I want to get married.” He stopped me before I could interrupt him. “You promised.”
I sighed.
“I’m ready.” At my look, he smiled. “I really am. I’m ready to have you there. I wake up wanting you in my arms and go to bed wishing you were there against my side.” He pressed his lips against mine. “And I want to have you as mine. It hurts to watch you leave, and I sleep like shit.”
“You sleeping like shit isn’t a reason for me to move in…nor get married,” I told him in exasperation.
He grinned.
“How about the fact that I love you? Is that enough to get you to marry me?” he pushed.
“And when did you realize you loved me? When did you come to this decision that we should marry?” I asked, getting upset now. “Was it when you realized you came inside of me unprotected? We don’t have to be married to have kids—kids I might add, that you don’t want.”
He shook his head.
“No.” He stopped me before I could get into full bitch mode with just a few words. “It was when you threw that big hissy fit at the prison. I realized then that if you would go to that much trouble to see me, that you’d willingly put yourself into an embarrassing situation just to have a piece of my time, that I wanted to give that to you, too,” he said. “I fell in love with you the moment I set eyes on you the night you hung your Christmas lights. I fell in love again when I watched you shoot your brother’s rifle and win a shooting contest that most men couldn’t win.” He held my face so I could look deep into his eyes. “I fall in love with you each and every day, more and more, until I’m so fucking full of love for you that I can hardly breathe from it. If kids come…I’ll be happy. The idea of kids scare the shit out of me—especially in this fucked up world we live in—but I’m willing to do anything. Give you anything. If it’s kids you want, then you’ll get kids.”
I closed my eyes as tears started to slip down my cheeks.
“Okay,” I agreed quickly.
“Okay?” he asked. “Okay you’ll marry me, or okay you’ll move in?”
I smiled then.
“I love you, too.”
“You didn’t answer, I noticed,” he said, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’ll move in, and I’ll marry you.”
“Why?” he asked suspiciously. “Why’d you give in so easily?”
I sat forward until our lips were only a breath away from each other, then said the two words that brought him to his knees.
“I’m pregnant.”
Epilogue
I’ve come to the point in my life where I need a stronger word than ‘fuck.’
-Text from Freya to Ridley
Freya
I hurried inside the building, worried that Ridley would be mad at me.
I waved at various guys as I made my way to his new office, smiling when I saw the sign beside his door.
Ridley Walker - Sheriff
That still sent goosebumps down my spine.
Ridley was an awesome man, but I hadn’t wanted him to run for Sheriff.
The good citizens of this county, however, had.
He was a good man and a fine cop and everyone loved him.
No one had a problem with the fact that he was a part of a motorcycle club.
They didn’t care that he was rough and brisk.