Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
"Cool," Brinley whispers.
"Why don't you go get dressed, baby girl? We'll be up in a minute, okay?" he suggests, trying to get her out of the room before she sees things she shouldn't or realizes that we're naked under the covers. I am not prepared to have that discussion with her right now. Actually, I'm not prepared to ever have that discussion with her.
I had all the other milestones. He can have the sex talk when the time comes. It's only fair, right?
I kind of doubt he's going to agree, but I can dream.
"Okay, Daddy." She bounds off the bed, racing for the door. Only to stumble to a stop halfway there, distracted by something. "Mommy, how come your clothes are on the floor?"
"I…" I grasp for an explanation.
"She was packing," Grayson lies. He lies like the freaking wind. And I love him for it.
"Oh." Brinley nods, scurrying from the room.
I turn wide eyes on Grayson. "Um, we're going to need a lock on our door on the bus," I whisper.
"Yep," he agrees, his eyes equally as wide. "We definitely need a fucking lock."
I bury my face in his shoulder, laughing uncontrollably. Three months on the road with a five-year-old is going to be a disaster. But, God, I can't wait to cherish every crazy moment of it.
Five Years Later
"It's time," Grayson says, running his hands down my side. "You know it is."
"Yeah, but…" I shiver beneath his touch, arching against him as my argument unravels, unable to stand up to the heat he sends coursing through me.
"But what?" He blows a hot breath across my belly, and I sob his name. "Tell me, baby."
"But are you sure?" There it is; the question I meant to ask. The only one that matters right now.
"Hell yes," he breathes, dipping his tongue into my navel. His teeth rake down my abdomen, leaving a trail of fire. "I want to get you pregnant." His gorgeous gray eyes rise to lock with mine. "I want to see this belly grow with my baby. I want it all, Mina. I know you do too."
He's right. I want another baby so damn badly. Every time Brinley asks when we're going to give her a sibling, my arms physically ache with longing. But he lost so much time with her. She lost so much time with him. We both did. We needed time to just be the three of us before we brought another baby into the mix.
We've had five years. Five amazing, perfect years. Every damn day I feel like I'm living a fairytale. I wake up in heaven and go to sleep lost in bliss. Every moment in between is so full it hurts in the best way possible.
I'm afraid to mess up a good thing. What if we do this and it all goes to hell again? That's what happened last time, right? As soon as I was pregnant, the world crashed down around us. Pieces of it didn't stop raining down on us for years.
Even now, despite the perfection of our lives, we still stumble across the wreckage of the past more often than we'd like. In ways, I think we always will. Grayson will always carry the scars of what he endured. I'll always carry the memories of what I went through without him. Brinley will never truly get back the time she lost. There are a thousand little moments and memories we never got to share. It's a bittersweet kind of pain every time we discover something new.
We've made so much progress, undone so much pain, and forged something new. Something lasting. I'm scared to change the status quo now…afraid of the unknown. And I guess that's a little bit more wreckage of the past. It made me…hesitant. Afraid to leap.
But I find strength in Grayson's arms. That hasn't ever changed. To the world, he's Priest, a simple guitarist. To me, he's my fortress, my salvation. My forever.
And if he thinks we're ready for this, who am I to deny him? I never could. I never will.
"I do want it," I whisper, melting beneath him. "So bad, Grayson."
He rests his forehead against my stomach, his body trembling, before he crawls up to press a fervent kiss to my lips. "Then let me give this to you, baby. Let me get you pregnant right here, right now."
I tip my face up to him and smile. "Right here, right now?"
"Fuck, yeah," he breathes, hitching my leg around his hip as he slips inside me.
I throw my head back, moaning the only thing that matters. "Love you forever."
His beautiful eyes lock on my face as he begins to move, surging inside me again and again. "Forever isn't long enough, Mina," he whispers. "Not even close."
He's right. It's not long enough by half. But it's a start.