My heart is thudding so hard I can feel it in my ears. He lifts my hands, brushing his thumbs over my knuckles and then drops a kiss on them where a ring would go.
“I want to give you vows this time. Real ones. Words that live in my blood. Promises I’ll never break. I’m not rushing you. I know we still have things to figure out, time to get to know each other better. But I need you to know that I’ll propose again someday. Because you’re already my wife. And this time, I want to do it right.”
I nod, lips trembling, eyes stinging all over again. I reach for him, wrapping my arms around his neck and tugging him toward me until our lips crash together. The kiss is messy, full of all the things we don’t have words for yet, and when he pulls me closer, I feel the heat of it right down to my toes.
Then he’s lifting me, carrying me into the kitchen and setting me on the edge of the island. His fingers deftly tug my shorts down and to the ground with a groan that goes straight to my core. Then he drops to his knees in front of me like I’m something worthy of being worshipped.
“Baby,” he murmurs, breath hot against me, “you’re soaked for me, aren’t you?”
I clutch the back of his head, my thighs trembling as his tongue slides across my opening and finds my clit, lapping, sucking, sending sparks shooting through my body. His fingers join in, curling inside me in just the right way, working me open, unraveling me piece by piece.
“Yes, Hayes,” I moan, rocking against his mouth, “yes, that feels so good.”
He doesn’t stop. Doesn’t ease up until I’m panting, shaking, on the brink of my orgasm. My toes curl against his shoulders, my nipples pebbling through my thin shirt, every part of me wound tight.
And then—he stands. Eyes wild. Hands already working his jeans down. He fists his cock, thick and flushed and hard for me before he lines himself up and pushes inside my pussy with a loud grunt.
I gasp, the stretch of him stealing my breath. It burns, it aches and then it doesn’t. Then it’s just him—deep and hot, filling me so completely. The slick sound of his hips snapping against me as he slides in and out fills the space as he presses into me harder until we’re both gasping, rocking against each other in a rhythm.
“I swear,” he pants, glancing down at where we’re joined, watching himself disappear into me repeatedly, “I could do this every single day of my life. Work my horses by your side, throwsome weddings, work at the hospital occasionally, and fuck you on every surface of this house.”
“So do it,” I whisper, breathless, dizzy with him. “I want that too.”
He slows his thrusts, brushing a knuckle down my cheek, his eyes soften. “I know this might not mean the same thing to you.”
I blink, stunned. “How can you say that?”
He doesn’t answer with words right away. Just thrusts a little deeper, hitting a new angle that has me clenching down around him. He holds me in place, pinning my hips with his fingers as his cock pulses inside me. Then his voice breaks slightly.
“Because Regan… this is everything to me.” He adjusts his grip, scooping my hips and angling deeper, until I can’t breathe. Can’t think.
“No one’s ever fit me like you do,” he murmurs. “No one’s ever made me feel this fucking whole. I’ve never been inside anyone bare before, but I didn’t hesitate to do that with you. You’re it for me. You’ve always have been.”
I look down, watching where we’re connected, where he fills me. A moan escapes me, and I can’t hold it in. I meet his eyes, and the world stills.
“It’s everything to me too,” I say, voice cracking. “I love you, Hayes.”
And I know he hears it. Not just the words, but the truth underneath. The way we’re in sync now. Finally. Like we’ve both found our way back together to something worth staying for.
Chapter 45: Epilogue - Regan
Five months later…?
I stare down at the piece of plastic that’s trembling in my hand, heart thudding so hard I can feel it in my teeth. One bold pink line and another, just beneath it. It’s faint, but there’s no mistaking it.
Positive.
A smile breaks across my face before I even realize it’s happening. Wide and breathless and a little stunned. I slap my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle the disbelieving laugh that slips out. My eyes sting, but it’s not from fear or nerves. It’s awe. It’s joy so deep I don’t know how to hold it all at once because it’s actually happening.
“Hey Regan, it’s time!” Lydia calls from just outside the bathroom door, her voice bright and excited.
It’s our house now—mine and Hayes’s. Not the hotel room where we first collided, but the one where we reconnected and healed. Where we rebuilt. Where we fell in love in quiet, steady moments—over coffee mugs, shared showers, lazy mornings with horses grazing outside our bedroom window and a lot of hard work.
And now… a baby. Something we’ve been talking about, praying for, and hoping would happen for months now.
“I’m coming!” I call, my voice cracking just a little.
I shove the test behind the cleaning supplies under the sink and toss a folded towel over it like that’ll somehow hold back the flood of emotion inside me. There’s no way I’ll be able to keep this from Hayes for long. Not today. Not on the day of our real wedding. Our third, but the one that finally feels real.
