Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 89978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“Well, kids, I’m fine. Still kicking. I walked the mutt this morning, and I’ll let him piss in my yard before bed. So take your time. No need to rush back to fragile old me. A little terminal cancer never hurt anyone.”
I feel Koen’s gaze on me as tears well in my eyes. “I …” My voice cracks while attempting to clear the emotion from my throat, but it’s lodged too deeply.
“Kiss my Scrotum for me, would ya?” Koen asks, saving me from drowning.
Price laughs.
“Welp, it’s late.” Koen squeezes my waist a little tighter as I struggle to keep a semblance of composure. “We love ya, buddy. Goodnight.” He ends the call before Price can respond.
I cup a hand over my mouth and choke on a sob. Did Koen really just say that? Did my future husband feel my desperation and tell my first love, "We love ya?”
He’s too good for me. I don’t deserve Koen Sikes.
Sobs continue to wrack my body. Koen leans us back on the bed and strokes my hair while I make a teary mess of his shirt. And he does all this without knowing the true depths of my despair. I need to tell Price the truth. This is killing me.
As I catch my breath and the last of my tears release, the tide of my emotions shifts from grief to gratitude.
From gratitude to love.
From love to need.
I slide my hands along his chest and kiss his neck. “I never thought I could love someone…” my mouth brushes his ear “…more than I loved him.” As my lips hover over his, and he gazes into my tired, swollen eyes, I whisper, “I was so very wrong.”
Koen gives me the hint of a smile while his fingers brush hair away from my eyes. “He’s a good person. And he’s my friend, too.”
A few more tears sneak out and down my face. “I need you.”
“You have me.”
I shake my head. “I need you.”
His gaze searches mine. I don’t want him to make me laugh or beg.
And he doesn’t.
With tenderness and patience, he removes our clothes. His touch eases the pain.
His kiss stops time.
His whispered words give me hope.
And his naked body intertwined with mine is how I want to spend the rest of my life.
“I get to do this to you for eternity,” he mumbles before sucking my nipple and teasing it with his teeth.
“Do what?” I whisper, slowly writhing beneath him, needing him inside of me.
“You know, baby …” He deposits wet kisses down my body, inching himself lower until his hands grip my legs, spreading them wide. “This. I fucking get to do this to you forever.”
My breath catches when his tongue teases me, wet and warm between my legs.
When his finger slides inside of me, I close my eyes, squeezing my breasts, mouth opening to accommodate the growing intensity of each breath.
He adds a second finger.
“God … YESSS …”
There’s no way I can chase my response and muzzle it before it reaches my parents’ bedroom.
Euphoria wins.
Pleasure ripples through me, leaving my skin warm and flushed. He crawls up my body, dragging his lips along my skin.
Kissing.
Teasing.
“Koen.” I sigh, feeling content and sleepy.
“More?” The head of his erection presses between my legs while he hovers above me, wet lips brushing mine.
He knows that answer.
And I know when he penetrates me with a firm thrust, it’s going to be an awkward morning with my parents.
My dad’s coffee grinder brings me out of my slumber.
“Scottie Sikes,” Koen says, staring at the ceiling, hands laced behind his head.
“Not yet.” I grin, rolling toward him, fingers teasing his bare chest.
“I’m just taking it for a test run.”
“What do you think?”
“Koen, Scottie, and Scrotum Sikes. It has a nice ring to it.”
I chuckle. “I will name our kids. Understood?”
“Come here.”
“Where?”
He reaches for my waist, pulling me on top of him.
“Here?” I grin, straddling his chest and combing my fingers through my hair.
Koen’s gaze affixes to my breasts. “Not quite.” His hands grip my hips, scooting me lower until his erection slides between my legs.
I lift an eyebrow.
He grins. “Baby, can you be quiet this time?” His hips lift until he’s inside of me.
I bite my bottom lip to suppress my moan before relinquishing a tiny nod. My hands rest on his chest as I move slowly with him. I have a beautiful ring on my finger, a future far beyond my simple dreams, and a man who has redefined love for me. This life is everything.
CHAPTER THIRTY
LIFE IS ETERNAL, EVEN IF LIVING IS NOT.
I find my parents and Koen laughing and chatting in the kitchen after I shower. This guy …
Who meets a woman’s parents, proposes, makes her cry out in bed, and saunters downstairs for breakfast without a care in the world?
My future husband. That’s who.
“Are you feeding my sausage-eating fiancé oatmeal and blueberries?” I grin, sliding into the nook next to him.