Page 19 of And Forever (The Riders and Rings Duology #2)

WILDER

COEUR D’ALENE, IDAHO — AUGUST

T he sun hovers just above the horizon, sinking slowly, when I finally turn my truck onto the dirt road that weaves between the trees to my house.

Winona’s asleep in her car seat, having been a champion passenger on the long drive to Idaho.

She sang, talked about the things she saw out the window, snacked, and watched two movies on Charlotte’s iPad strapped to the back of my seat.

We made sure to schedule a couple of rest stops to get out and let her run around and have a real meal, but overall, she did really well on the road trip.

Next to me, Charlotte’s head swivels between the windshield and the side window, trying to see as much as possible in the fading daylight.

My stomach has been in knots, getting worse with every mile, only starting to lessen in the last few minutes.

In all the time we’ve been apart, Charlotte has been on my mind every day.

In big ways, like the near-constant ache of missing her physical presence, to the small ways, like wanting her input on the paint color in the bathroom.

I still haven’t wrapped my mind around the reality that she’s here with me.

A small gasp escapes her as I turn the truck into the curved driveway in front of the house.

The property is nothing like it was when she was here last. My trailer is long gone; sold as soon as the house was built.

The rest of the land has been cleared for the other buildings.

I can’t bring myself to look, so I become hyper-focused on all the steps of parking and checking Winona is still asleep.

I glance over my shoulder to see my daughter slumped onto one side of her car seat, bones more like rubber, and Meehaw tucked up against her neck.

Her lips are parted, a soft snore rumbling on every exhale.

The passenger door snicks, and I know I need to face Charlotte’s reaction to the house I’ve spent the last three years building. After I hop out of my side, I guide the door to close but not click shut and round the engine. I shove my hands into the front pockets of my jeans as I watch Charlotte.

She’s standing still in front of the two-story structure.

The farmhouse frame blends classic and modern features, like a wraparound porch and a three-gabled roof.

In the fading evening light, you can just see the large downstairs windows to the living room and the two brick chimneys bracketing the house.

The soft sage of the house is accented by a deep mocha trim and shutters, making it blend in with the surrounding forest, but still stand out with inviting charm.

Timer-controlled interior and exterior lights click on, bathing the property in warmth and drawing Charlotte’s eye to the large barn in a traditional deep red and then the riding ring.

“Wild.” She turns back to me, my name leaving her on a surprised exhale.

“This is… I can’t believe it.” Her emerald eyes are wide and glassy, jaw slack in wonder.

I want to go to her and wrap her in my arms, but my nerves about her reaction keep me rooted to my spot.

“How did you—It’s everything we—” Her voice breaks, strangled by the emotion behind it.

The tears fall, carving salty tracks over the curves of her cheeks, lost to the dirt below.

I move, carefully collecting her in a gentle embrace and letting the truth pour out of me.

“I’m sure there are plenty of reasons why it was pathetic or unhealthy, but I needed a way to keep you with me.

Having something to do with my hands helped to stop my mind from burying me with bad thoughts as I worked them out in my sessions with Adam.

And something about surrounding myself with your dreams made the ache in my heart bearable.

” Charlotte sucks in a breath, her eyes softening with a mix of concern and affection.

She cups her hand against my cheek, thumb brushing against the stubble.

It’s a comforting sensation, and I lean into it for a moment before I pick up my confession again.

“Even if we never—even if I never found you again, I was going to be okay. But until the day Curtis showed up with the offer from Arrowroot Hills, I hoped I’d get to show you this place.

Show you I was going to fix my mistakes, give you the future you deserve. ”

“Oh, Wild.” Charlotte curls her hand around to the back of my head, pulling me to her lips. She kisses me with tenderness, chasing away the bittersweetness of how we finally ended up here. Together again, now with even more to see grow and thrive because we have a family. We have Winona.

As though summoned by my single thought, Charlotte and I break apart at the first sound of her little voice from the truck. We immediately open the back door, looking at our baby girl blinking owlishly and offering a sleepy smile.

“I want to get out now,” Winona demands gently, and I move quickly to comply. Back around the truck to open her door and unbuckle the car seat straps. Across the cab, Charlotte begins pulling out our luggage.

“Want to see the house, Winnie?” I extract her from the truck, settling her on a hip and checking to see if Meehaw is still in her hands.

Content that Winona has a grip on her favorite lovey, I carry her to the front door, where Charlotte is waiting patiently for us.

With my free hand, I dig out the key from my pocket and put it in the lock.

Taking a deep breath, I give one final look at Charlotte before turning it.

With an exaggerated sigh, I sink into the plush comfort of the back-porch swing.

Charlotte quickly follows, relaxing into my open arms as we sway.

It’s nearing midnight, and even though I’m road-weary from the long drive, I couldn’t go to bed if I tried.

I twist my neck to see if the monitor is still receiving a signal this far from the room we settled Winona in.

The green light indicates we’ll hear her if she needs us, which relieves me.

She spent the afternoon and evening exploring every single corner of the house she could find.

I was swiftly reminded of how much childproofing I would need to do if she were to start spending any significant amount of time here.

It’s a hope I haven’t verbalized yet, even if I’ve started making a list of what to do.

“She’ll sleep in late tomorrow, but should get back on schedule by dinner time,” Charlotte comments as she follows my gaze. “That last long nap in the truck really threw things off.”

“Yeah, but she was so good on the drive,” I reply. “And she seems to like the house.”

“What’s not to like? It’s perfect.” Charlotte muses. “I mean, it’s a good thing you tucked that baby gate into the bed of the truck. Until she remembers there are stairs she’s not familiar with, I won’t worry about her taking a tumble from the top of them.”

“Kids sure do have a lot of shit,” I laugh, thinking of the four suitcases devoted to Winona we brought with us.

Monitor, clothes, toys, bath necessities, cups and plates, and just about everything else we thought we would possibly need for three days.

“Going to be a pain in the ass to pack it all up again.”

“Or we could leave some of it here,” Charlotte ventures from where her head rests on my chest. I hold my breath, trying not to hope that this means what I think it does.

Slowly, she turns her head to look up at me, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.

I adjust, sitting both of us up more for this conversation.

“I’m not saying we’re moving here, there are still too many things we haven’t talked about, but it makes sense for some of Winona’s things to stay. ”

“Can we talk about them?” I ask. “It’s been a month of, this .” I gesture between us. “I’m not asking for a label. But I do want a direction. I want to know that what I see when I close my eyes at night matches what you see.”

I’ve soaked in every moment, every kiss, every possibility that this reconnection isn’t temporary. But I’ve been too afraid to ask for more. Too afraid that I’m still unworthy of having this life I so easily threw away.

“I see you, Wild. I’ve always seen you.” Charlotte curls her legs underneath her body. The oversized sweater she wears slips off her shoulder when she tucks a strand of hair that’s fallen loose from the braid behind her ear.

“I see you, too.” My confession is like a weight being lifted from my chest. But it’s only the start of what I need to say. I scoot closer, my next words needing a more intimate space. “I told you once that I loved you. It was as simple as that.”

Her eyes mist up at the memory as her head bobs in recognition. I swallow thickly around my feelings for her, but I won’t be afraid to say them out loud anymore.

“It’s not that simple anymore. Because loving you isn’t just about your heart and mine, it includes that little girl in there, too.

” I gesture to the back door, in the direction of where Winona sleeps soundly.

“And I’m so fucking glad it does. I’m a greedy bastard for wanting to keep both of you when I’ll probably spend the rest of my life wondering if I deserve you.

But I don’t care. You’re mine. I’m yours. I still love you, Charlotte.”

“I love you, too,” she tells me without hesitation. The words sink into my soul, the final balm to heal the scars there. “We can spend every day figuring things out, but we’re going to do it together. I let you let me go once. I won’t let you do it twice.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulders while lifting her thigh with the other, angling her to lie flat on the soft cushion of the swing.

Charlotte squeaks at the sudden change, but spreads her legs to let me lie over her.

Her own arms wrap around me, too. I press a soft kiss to her lips, a humble plea for redemption that she answers with her acceptance.

Her tongue sweeps across my bottom lip, and I open for her, letting her take everything I can possibly offer.

I cradle the side of her head, angling her mouth to where I want, and deepen the kiss.

My weight settles in the hot center between her legs, and I can’t resist a slow thrust of my hips, the friction igniting a fire in me to get closer. Take more. Give everything. Charlotte arches under me, pressing herself against me. Her mouth breaks from mine, a drawn-out moan shaking loose.

“I need to feel you, Wild,” she begs, pressing hot kisses along my throat, sucking every so often to leave little marks in her wake. “Please, fuck me?”

“No, baby,” I tell her, holding myself up on my elbows and kissing the furrow between her eyebrows at my refusal. “I want to make love to you. Can I do that? With nothing in between us?”

“I haven’t been with anyone but you since our first time in Calgary,” Charlotte informs me. I can’t help but kiss her. The admission mirrors my own, which I give between a few more kisses and teasing rolls of my hips. “I had an IUD put in after Winona, too.”

Slowly, I undress her. Every inch of skin is a revelation.

Despite the times I’ve had Charlotte naked under my touch—in the past and the present—her body is like the stars.

Changing with the seasons and the light can obstruct a perfect view, I take in the shape of her, with comfort for the familiar and wonder in the new.

I lean back on my heels to start at her feet and kiss my way back up.

Her legs are as muscular and lean as ever.

Smooth skin over shapely calves and strong thighs.

I nip at the meat of them, smiling into the sting I leave when Charlotte gasps.

I travel over her hips, ignoring her pink, glistening center for the moment, relishing in the way her lower abdomen has a softness it didn’t before.

I suck marks into the flesh and hold her hips still when she tries to wiggle away from my attention.

“Wilder, don’t. It’s not the same anymore. I’m not the same anymore. You don’t need to.” Her protest reaches my ears, lifting me from my task to see unfiltered vulnerability on her face. I loosen my grip, soothing her with the patterns my thumbs trace instead.

“You think I don’t still love this body?

” I tilt my head, genuinely puzzled by her behavior.

We’ve had sex nearly every night for a month, and not once has she shown any insecurity.

But deep down, I know tonight is different.

It’s like the first time all over again; raw and real and so much more than satisfying a physical urge.

Even in the glow of the lamps around the porch, I can see her cheeks flush a shade of pink.

“Oh, no. That won’t do, baby.” I return my lips to the silver marks that dapple her skin.

I run my tongue along the trail of one, making her shiver and try to clench her legs around me.

“See this? This is where you grew our daughter.”

I flick my eyes back to hers, happy to see that she’s more relaxed on the cushion.

I need to be closer to her, make her see all that I do, so I swiftly reach for the back collar of my T-shirt and pull it over my head.

Skin to skin, I slide up her body to where her tits rise and fall with growing arousal.

I lean down to take one firm nipple in my mouth, kneading the other breast and plucking at its rosy peak.

Charlotte’s back arches, thrusting her gorgeous mounds closer to me.

“And these?” I swirl my tongue once more, then back off to press them together.

They’re heavier and larger than they were, nearly overflowing a handful.

She sighs, more tension leaching from her with each of my words.

“These must have looked fucking beautiful full of milk to feed her.”

Charlotte groans and wiggles, trying to get friction where she wants it most. With my body still between her legs, she just can’t manage it, so she squeezes her thighs tighter around me.

I didn’t know this would be such a turn on for both of us, but the more I think about her pregnancy and the changes it brought to her body, the more my cock throbs inside the black joggers I changed into after my shower.

“It’s time for me to worship this body for everything it’s done.” Begrudgingly, I abandon my hold on her tits to pull my sweatpants and briefs off and kick them aside, smiling to myself when I notice she’s melted into the plush of the pillows. Ready and waiting, all traces of insecurity gone.