“Fuck, Alex, I’m coming!”
She hadn’t needed to tell him, but the words pushed him over the edge. Emory melted around him as Alex’s cock throbbed its release. Warmth spilt from his body into hers, their scent intensifying until there was nothing else in Alex’s world.
Spent and sated, he collapsed to the bed beside Emory. “Perfect for each other, just like I said.”
She turned her head and met his gaze. “I think I might need a little more convincing.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Why can’t they make real roads out here, Chris?” Fox cursed as the road took another abrupt ninety-degree turn to nowhere.
Braced against the rear passenger door, Alex tightened his arm around Emory. She’d been sleeping for over an hour, snuggled against him in the small backseat of Fox’s SUV.
“I told you I’d drive.” Chris’s voice never wavered from its mild tone.
“Are you kidding? You drive like an old woman. We’d never get there.”
“How long has it been since you’ve seen your aunt?” Alex asked the question primarily to distract the men from the ongoing argument about driving habits.
“Emory and I stayed with her briefly after our father threw us out of the house.” Chris rubbed a hand down his face. “Since then I’ve kept in touch via letters.”
“Snail mail, can you imagine?” Fox shot Alex a cheeky grin in the rearview mirror. “The old lady doesn’t even have a computer.”
“Things are pretty old school down here.” Chris’s response was given automatically, as if his mind were far away.
Alex gazed at the scenery. It was breathtakingly beautiful in a wild, untamed way that reminded him strongly of the pixie sleeping by his side. He could picture her in a place like this, growing a garden, tending her flowers, and raising a house full of kids.
Was he ready for that kind of thing? He’d taken the first step, admitting to himself and Emory that he wanted to be with one person. What about the rest of it? What if she got pregnant? Could he be a father?
He thought of his father, a man he’d not given a second thought to since his passing. Alex’s folks had been the hands-off type. They’d let him do his own thing, something they’d both mentioned repeatedly when it came time to join the army. He’d had nothing else to do, so he’d joined up. His father had been proud. Alex remembered that, but beyond that tenuous bond, there had never been much of a relationship.
If he was going to settle down and have a family, Alex wanted more than he’d had growing up. He wanted his kids to be self-sufficient, sure, but he didn’t want them to get stuck in the apathetic rut that had been his stock and trade since high school.
Rolling green meadows gave way to thickly wooded hills. Fox slowed the SUV. When a dirt track opened up to the left, he swung the vehicle onto the gravelly surface. He was grumbling something about GPS and modern technology beneath his breath when they drove up to a rambling Victorian-style home painted bright purple with pink and yellow accents.
Fox shut off the engine. “Look at that, a touch of San Francisco right here in Deliverance.”
“Don’t start, Foxy. I really can’t take it.” Chris gave his lover a hard look.
“Baby, relax. I’m just trying to make you laugh. I can behave myself, as you well know.” Fox cupped Chris’s cheek. “I’m here for you. I’m not going to make this worse than it already is…for either of you.”
“I know. I do. You’ve been my rock. When we get home, I’m going to marry you.” Chris leaned forward and gave his partner a gentle kiss. “I’m sorry I made you wait this long.”
To his credit, Fox didn’t burst into song, which is what it looked like he wanted to do. He grabbed his lover close and hugged him as tightly as the center console would allow.
“Did that just happen?” Emory’s sleepy voice drew Alex’s attention from the drama playing out in the front seat.
Alex pushed a stray strand of curly hair away from her face. “It would appear you and Foxy need to go shop for wedding dresses, if that’s what you mean.”
Fox swung around and pegged him with a stare. “Dresses? Like more than one? As in you’re going to marry our Emory?”
Was he absolutely nuts? Emory’s expression said she wondered the same thing, but Alex had suddenly never been surer of anything in his life. “If she’ll have me. Although I didn’t intend to put her on the spot like that with all this insanity going on.”
“Can’t think of a better time.” Emory dragged his head down to hers and kissed him full on the lips.