“Kayla?” Dev mutters my name. His body stiff, still. Plastered against me.
“Mmm hmm,” I heave, fluttering my eyelashes as he clutches my face. The two of us sweating, panting and shaking, slowly recovering from the fuck-filled frenzy.
One look is all it takes, one reconnecting, reviving, reawakening look from Dev, and I bleed with emotion.
Fresh tears form.
“Kayla, don’t.” He drops a loving kiss on my lips. But I can’t help it. What just happened, it was agonizing relief.
“I missed you so much. I miss both of you so much.” I sob against him, hiding my face. I’ve been suffering since the moment he left, and I can’t contain the desolation any longer.
“I know. I’m sorry.” He hugs me tight, peppering kisses wherever he can. “You know Reese didn’t set you up for failure. He knew what he was doing. He knew in the end, it would always be you and me.”
If Dev had said that to me four years ago, I never would have believed him, but knowing what I do now, he’s right. It was always supposed to be us.
“I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I walked away. But I meant what I said, I’m never leaving. Ever again.” He wipes some wetness away with the pad of his thumb.
“Good, because I’ll have a very angry three-year-old on my hands if you do.” I laugh through my tears.
“No one wants that.” He smirks.
“No,” I agree.
“Let’s go to bed, butterfly.” He nips at my lips. “I have a lot of time to make up for.” He kisses me indulgently, circling his tongue and his hips, his semi-hard cock still buried deep inside me. “I’m going to make you come all night.”
My pussy involuntarily clenches, surrendering to just the sound of his husky voice. I willingly hand myself over, eager for Dev and all his dark desires.
“Oomph!” I wake up to a twenty-two-pound sack of sugar on my chest. Cici giggles, her big blue eyes inquisitive and alight. “Morning, munchkin.”
She looks back and forth between a sleeping Kayla and me, trying to figure out what I’m doing her in her mommy’s bed.
Cici isn’t much of a talker. She’s more a thinker. She absorbs, just like Reese. She shares so many of his tendencies. When I hold her in my arms, I feel a piece of him, my brother, my twin, and that is a precious thing. Both my girls are precious things.
She shimmies restlessly on my chest in her little pink skull and cross bone PJs. She has a hard time keeping still, which is yet another of Reese’s attributes.
I place my hands on her hips to calm her, but she only laughs, examining me systematically. This child is going to be a force. I can see it already. She takes her little hand and touches the tattoo over my heart. It’s a pair of steampunk clocks with the guts pouring out. One frozen at the time of Reese’s death, the other at the time of her birth.
She traces all the springs, gears, and dials fastidiously. “Daddy,” she utters in her tiny voice.
“That’s right, little one.” I place my hand over hers. Not satisfied, she slips her hand from my grasp and presses the tip of my nose. “Daddy.”
My heart literally stops. Just dies right in my rib cage. I have never hinted, never even implied. I glance down at Kayla. She’s lying on her stomach, peeking up at us from the pillow. Her eyes are glassy, and there’s a small smile playing on her lips.
“That’s right, baby.” She pushes herself up, my gaze following her vigilantly, as she gives Cici a kiss. “Daddy.”
Kayla just destroyed me with one single word. If ever any of my wishes came true, this is the one. The big one. Kayla, a home, a family, and unconditional love.
Content, Cici grabs the remote off the nightstand and shoves it in my face. “Mickey Mouse!”
I turn on the television as a happy Cici makes herself comfortable between Kayla and me. I extend my arm so I’m holding both of them, the greatest amount of joy overcoming me. Kayla smiles as she settles back down onto her pillow. It’s a warm, rich expression that will forever be engrained in my soul.
This is life.
The very beginning of our life. Mine, Kayla’s, and Reese’s.
I may have had to scale a mountain to get here, but I’m convinced the best view comes with the hardest climb. And now that I’m sitting atop the highest peak, I’m howling at the moon.
I’m never letting go again.
I’m never, ever, letting go . . .
The End