Page 90

She lifted the veil and kissed me, driving her tongue into my mouth.

“Hot as fuck.”

I laughed at the absurdity of the situation. “I love you.”

The words had slipped out without me even realizing. I slapped my hand to my mouth as if I could hold them in.

“Oh my god, I didn’t mean that.”

Honey’s grip on me tightened and her blue gaze became intense.

“Didn’t you?”

I dropped my hand. “I mean…yes? No. Fuck.”

Honey smiled slowly. “It’s okay if you didn’t mean to say it yet, but you should know that I’m saying it now and I mean it. I love you, Bren.”

Oh. Fucking hell.

“I know it’s soon to say it, but I couldn’t just hold onto it. I say it when I feel it, which hasn’t worked out in the past, but I don’t care. You don’t have to say it back.”

She seemed flustered, her blush covering her cheeks and moving down to her chest as she held onto both my arms with an iron grip.

I thought about those three words. About what they meant, for me and for both of us.

No. I didn’t want to take them back.

Leaning forward, I kissed her lips. “I.” A second kiss. “Love.” And a third. “You.”

“Really?!” Honey squealed. “You do?”

I nodded. “Yes. I do.”

She flung herself into my arms and I managed to catch her, both of us laughing.

“Did you hear that? She loves me! I’m so glad the bees were here when you told me.”

They buzzed softly around both of our heads as Honey kissed me and kissed me, before she dragged me upstairs to her apartment to have her way with me. Again. And again.

Epilogue

Honey

“You’re doing so good.Just stay calm.”

Bren’s face was pale under the veil, but she was doing everything I’d asked her to as she carefully carved the honeycomb from the frame.

It had been a few weeks since we’d first started dating and I couldn’t imagine being happier. We had fit ourselves into each other’s life and made space, and sometimes it was a tight fit, but we worked. Somehow, we worked.

“Okay,” Bren said, setting down the knife and sliding the frame back into the hive and backing away slowly with the bucket of comb we’d already harvested.

She put the bucket on the ground and grinned at me. “I did it!”

“You did!” Bren flung her arms around me and we danced next to the hives.

“God, you two are dorks,” Ember grumbled on her way to the chicken coop. I’d sat my siblings down and had a little chat with them about helping around the farm and that I’d be doing less. They’d agreed to step up and do more, and so far, they’d been carrying more of the load.

In addition to helping with my business, I’d also had some ideas for Bren on how to outsource some of her tasks. She was still a complete and total control freak, but she was getting better. I always reminded her that the less time she had to spend on boring tasks, the more time we could be having mind-blowing sex.

The sex was still mind-blowing, which was a surprise and a delight. Bren and I were both adventurous and willing to try new things. There was an ease with her that I hadn’t had with other partners, and she would have said the same thing. Sometimes she couldn’t climax, no matter what we tried, but that was just the nature of sex. Sometimes you couldn’t get there and that didn’t mean it was a bad time. I still made sure she felt good. Every time.

Every night we spent together (we didn’t like to sleep without each other if we could help it) she would turn to me and say, “good mice, Honey Bea” and I’d say, “Good mice, baby.”

Life was pretty damn good these days.

“Can we try my honey? I’m starving,” Bren said, picking up the bucket and walking toward the barn.

I grabbed her hand and swung our arms together. “You can try me anytime you want.”

Her laughter rang out under the afternoon soon.