He shifted his hips and I bit my lower lip because damn he felt good. “What do you think?”
“We should probably get back. There are two detectives downstairs, they will easily deduce what we’re doing up here.”
“You’re mine.” He shifted his hips again. “I don’t care if they figure it out.”
His hips were picking up speed, hitting me in all the right spots that I didn’t care anymore either. He never took his eyes off me as he slowly brought me to orgasm again, and watching him as he found his release, the moment or two when his body gave in, was my favorite because I saw right down to his soul and the depth of what he felt for me. He was beautiful, imperfect and mine.
It felt as if I had just fallen asleep when I woke. I reached for Damian but the bed was empty. He stood next to Edie’s crib and Pilot, our German shepherd puppy, stood right next him; we had named our daughter Edie in honor of my dad. I climbed from bed and joined them, my arm coming around his waist as I looked down at our little girl.
“All I feel when I look at her is love, the kind of love I feel for you.” He turned those eyes on me. “She’s a piece of me.”
I swallowed down the sob because I understood. I was his family, Anton, Cam and my mom, he had family, a big and loving one, but this beautiful little girl was a part of him.
His voice broke when he said, “Thank you.”
We had just landed and were running late. I called mom from the car to let her know we had arrived. She and Pilot were on a walk, he loved going to Grandma’s. We had hoped to drop our bags at the cottage but there just wasn’t time. Damian kept Amelia’s cottage. Right after we got married, we returned to town for a visit. We had missed the reenactment, but it had been so good to get caught up with everyone and not have any drama hanging over our heads.
Damian and I discussed selling the place, but neither of us wanted to. We may not get to visit as often as we wanted, but we liked the idea of having a place when we did, her place.
Edie started clapping her hands in her car seat. She had wild brown hair like me, but she’d gotten Damian’s eyes. She adored her daddy and her big, badass daddy adored her right back.
We reached Main Street to see a crowd had gathered at the end of it. Damian walked around the car and helped me from it, his hand lingering longer than needed, his eyes soaking me in like he had a tendency to do. He then freed Edie from her seat, tossed her in the air, which always had my heart stopping and her squealing in delight, before he settled her close to his heart. He reached for my hand and pulled us down the street.
Missy was the first to greet us then Maureen, Dinky and the others moved in for hugs and kisses. Amelia’s items were all back—the recipients of Amelia’s things were appalled when they heard the story—and Janice was serving three to five years. We turned toward the bar and the sign that was not yet lit.
“Ready?” Missy asked.
The sign flickered on.
Amelia’s
Mom had Edie and Pilot for the evening and having a night off Damian and I had spent it watching scary movies and making love on the sofa. It was late and I woke to find the apartment empty. I knew where he was, so I reached for a blanket and headed to the gym. I passed the table in the living room, then stopped and walked back to study the picture…one of Damian, Edie, Pilot and me. Dad’s special box sat next to it and was filled with all the letters I had written to Damian, minus that first letter and the picture of me because he still carried them in his wallet. And just in front were his dog tags. It hadn’t been my intention, but I loved the table because it represented the journey it took for Damian and me to get to where we were. I touched his dog tags, thankful that he was home and safe and then I walked down to the gym. He didn’t have his late night sessions as often as he used to. The ghosts that haunted him were growing quieter and I liked to believe Edie and I were helping with that.
He was where he’d been that first time I’d seen him working the bag, and like then, he knew when I’d joined him. His back was bare, his devil moving as the muscles worked from his efforts. I moved right into him, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades…right on the scar from the bullet he had taken for me. He turned and wrapped me in his arms as his chin dipped down, and for a few seconds we just looked our fill before he lifted me into his arms and carried me back upstairs. I had wished as a girl to know all about the quiet, reserved boy he had been, and I did now, I knew every part of his beautiful, complicated and damaged soul and I loved all of him. We reached our bedroom and Damian undressed us both before he pulled me down onto the bed. And to think I had once feared the silence. Words were so overrated.