“I’ve missed you, Kens. Missed your beautiful smile. Missed kissing you. Now, where was I? Ah, I remember. I was worshipping these beautiful babies.” He swirled his tongue around a nipple, then gently bit down. Her moan told him she liked that, and he moved to her other breast.
“I’m going to make you moan all night long,” he said as he trailed kisses down her stomach. He slipped his hand between her thighs, seeking her heat and the wet proof of her desirefor him. When he found what he was searching for, he smiled against her belly. “I love how soaked you are for me.”
“It’s your fault.”
He chuckled. “That’s one thing I’ll gladly take the blame for. I’ve made you moan, now let’s see if I can make you scream my name.” He loved her with his mouth and with the touch of his hands over her silky-smooth skin. The taste of her was addicting. He memorized all the places that made her shiver. And when she did scream his name, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and held her until her body calmed.
“We’re only just getting started,” he said as he slowly kissed his way back up her body.
She dug her fingers around his arms and pulled. “I need you inside me.”
“I need that, too, baby.” More than she could possibly imagine. He reached for the drawer to get a condom. Did she even realize her tongue was tracing her upper lip as she watched him put it on and how hot that was?
He braced his hands on each side of her head and stared into those baby blue eyes. “Are you ready for me, beautiful girl?”
“Yes,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper.
He leaned down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss as he eased into her. “Wrap your legs around me.” He stilled for a moment, savoring the feeling of being inside her, of being connected to this woman he loved.
She trailed her hands up and down his back as he began to move, slowly at first, just savoring this moment of finally being with her again. He began to move faster, deeper. The heat between them intensified as her body responded to his every thrust.
He whispered her name against her lips, feeling a sense of completeness he had never experienced before. Each brush of his skin against hers felt like an electric shock, sending waves ofpleasure coursing through his body and causing his heart to beat madly against his chest.
Her nails dug into his back, the sensation a mix of pain and pleasure that sent a jolt straight to his groin. She arched her body beneath him, her breaths hitched, and her moans grew louder with each thrust until finally, she cried out his name. With one final stroke, he climaxed with her. He held her close and stroked her hair, never wanting to let go of this moment.
“I’ve missed you,” she murmured, her fingers tracing the lines of his face.
He kissed the corner of her eye. “I’ve been right here.”
She smiled. “I know. Thank you for waiting for me to come back.”
“Know this, Kendall. I’ll always be here, always wait for you.”
Every night for the past three weeks, he’d fallen asleep with his arm wrapped around her waist and her back against his front. She’d told him that was when she felt the safest, when he held her like that. It hadn’t been easy, but he’d patiently waited for her to want him. He would have waited however long it took and wasn’t expecting it this soon. He sure wasn’t complaining.
And as they lay entwined in each other’s arms, he knew with unwavering certainty that this was where he was meant to be, here with her, now and always.
“I love you, Kendall.”
She didn’t say it back, but she gave a soft sigh as if the words pleased her. That was okay. She would say them when she was ready, and being a patient man where she was concerned, he’d wait for that day.
Epilogue
Four Months Later
Kendall smiled as she watched the man who hadn’t given up on her pitch the ball to Livie. It was the boys against the girls. To help even the odds, the guys had to use a plastic toy bat. Grayson was guarding first base, Tyler second, and Liam third. If a ball was hit in the outfield, Ruby left her post of guarding baby Erin and raced after it for both teams, bringing it back to the pitcher. The game was silly and ridiculously fun.
That she was laughing and having fun was something of a miracle. It hadn’t been that long ago that she hadn’t been sure she’d have the strength to climb out of the black hole that had held her captive. She had Dr. Slater, whom she now saw every other week, to thank for that. And Cooper. Always and forever him. She hadn’t been herself, and instead of letting her sink into that black hole so deeply that she’d never climb out, he’d been there for her. He’d been what she’d needed without her asking.
A baby’s cry filled the air, and Quinn, their best batter and up next, said, “Someone’s hungry. I’m out.”
“I’m out, too,” Liam said.
Kendall grinned. There wasn’t a reason for him to be out. Unlike Quinn, he didn’t have the tools to feed his daughter, but whenever his baby girl cried, he couldn’t resist going to her. Ruby, too. As soon as the dog heard Erin, she forgot her outfielder’s job and raced to the baby she considered her responsibility to protect.
Cooper shook his head. “Apparently, the game is over. Time for burgers and hot dogs.”
They were at Cooper’s new house. “Yours, too,” he told her each time she called it his house. He’d refused to buy it until she and Livie had approved it. She’d never returned to Decatur, had no wish to. Her place had sold three weeks after listing it, but Cooper had refused to take any of her money to put toward the new house…their house. He’d been very adamant on that. She’d resigned from her teaching job and had been hired by the elementary school three miles from their new home as a second-grade teacher. She was excited to get back in a classroom when school started in two weeks.