Page 36

ROWAN

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

“ Happy birthday, dear Lucy. Happy birthday to you!”

Everyone starts to clap their hands and Lucy claps along, a high-pitched squeal coming from her before she lets out a string of laughter. Hadley stands beside me, sliding closer as she slips an arm around my back. She presses her side into me and I dip my head down, pressing a kiss against the top of her head.

“Are you ready for cake, Luce?” Hadley asks my daughter as she pulls away from me and takes a step toward her. “Aunt Rae has the pretty princess one and then we have a special one just for you.”

We decided to have a small party for her at home with our friends, my parents, and Raven. Beau recently got a new job that he’s been traveling for, so he wasn’t able to stop by. He’s been doing really well in life and we’ve all just been watching in amazement, offering our support from the sidelines as he finally gets his life on track.

Hadley passes my sister Raven just as she comes into the dining room with my mother hot on her heels. One of the nurses Hadley works with has a bakery business on the side and she offered to make the cakes for us. After deciding to stay in Aston, Hadley’s been working her dream job at a neighboring maternity center.

She’s been talking about wanting to eventually cut back her hours for more time with Lucy, but I just want her to do what she wants to do. Mia has stepped in more as our regular babysitter, so we have a plan in place, regardless of what Hadley decides she wants to do.

Her co-worker made two cakes, one for everyone to eat and one for Lucy to smash, since that is apparently a tradition or something. The bigger cake immediately catches Posey’s attention. It’s shaped like a castle, looking more like a model than something you can eat, with a princess standing outside of the front door.

“A pretty princess!” Posey calls out as she comes jogging over to the high chair. She reaches for the tray, lifting herself on her tiptoes as she tries to get a better look. Lucy plants her palm against the side of Posey’s face, her eyebrows pulling together in annoyance as she tries to push her away from her cake.

“Lucy, that’s not very nice,” I tell her, half scolding her as I try to bite back my grin. Posey sticks her tongue out at Lucy as she drops back down onto her feet. She tucks her stuffed hockey player under her arm, before crossing them over her chest. Crouching down, I get to Poe’s level. “I’m sorry, Poe. Lucy needs to take her nap and she doesn’t understand what’s going on today.”

Posey pouts. “I just wanted to see the cake.”

“Look,” Raven says, lifting the cake from the tray on the high chair, and lowers it so Posey can see it. “Isn’t it super pretty? Look at all the pinks!”

“Pink is my favorite color,” Posey tells her with a grin spreading across her little face.

“Well, then I’ll make sure you get a piece with all the pink icing!”

Posey claps her hands in excitement, bouncing up and down as she stays in place and watches Raven take it over to the table. Hadley appears back beside Lucy, lowering a circular cake down onto the high chair for her to inspect herself.

Lucy wastes no time, digging her hands into the cake and icing immediately as everyone snaps pictures and takes videos of her. She fucking loves the spotlight and she literally has everyone eating out the palm of her hand.

No, seriously...She holds out handfuls of cake to Hadley and me before offering them to anyone who makes eye contact with her. No one has the heart to tell her no and it becomes quite a messy ordeal.

My mother and Raven fawn over Lucy as everyone falls into a cake coma, settling into the living room. Raven pulls Lucy from her high chair, cleaning her up before my mother takes her out toward the couch where my father’s sitting.

Hadley picks up the cake, taking it into the kitchen, and I follow after her, dragging the high chair on its wheels across the wood floor. Wiping down the surface, I clean what I can as Hadley gets the cake and everything else sorted.

I strip the cloth material from the high chair, setting it with the bib she was wearing, but Hadley picks it up immediately. She gives me a grin and a soft laugh. “I’ll throw it in the wash now. I don’t know if the pink icing is going to end up staining anything.”

“Good thinking,” I tell her as I go to slide the high chair back to the dining room table. As I enter the space, I glance around the rest of the house, seeing that everyone else seems to be occupied and not noticing my absence, or Hadley’s.

She’s still in the laundry room, waiting for the washer to fill with water as I step into the room with her. Pushing the door closed behind me, I make sure that it’s actually shut and lock it for good measure. Hadley looks over at me, raising an eyebrow as she begins to spin around to face me.

I stalk toward her, immediately entering her space as I slide my hand along the side of her face. My thumb slides beneath her jaw, tilting her head back before my mouth crashes into hers. She tastes like sugar and she lifts her hands to grip the front of my sweatshirt, pulling me closer as my tongue tangles with hers .

I swear, I can’t get enough of her and I don’t think I ever will.

“Fuck, I’ve been waiting all day to get you alone,” I murmur against her lips, nipping at her flesh with my teeth. My cock is already hard in my pants and I press against her, so she can feel me. “This is what you do to me, Hadley.”

“Mm,” she moans against my mouth, one of her hands dropping down to fist my cock through my pants. She slides her other hand along my chest, over my collarbone, before reaching my shoulder. Her nails bite my skin through the fabric of my shirt.

“You know everyone’s out in the other room, right?”

“Ask me if I care, outlaw,” I growl, my cock throbbing in my pants as I pin her against the dryer.

She stares up at me, lust building deep within the depths of her eyes. “I want you inside me, Rowan.” She drops her other hand down to the waistband of my pants, shoving them down far enough to pull out my cock. “You have to be quick and quiet, though.”

“Done.”

Hadley watches me, her lips parted, chest heaving, as I slide her pants and panties down. She steps out of them, leaving them on the floor. A gasp escapes her as I lift her up into the air, gently setting her down on top of the dryer.

She spreads her legs, her knees bent as she plants her hands on top of the machine, leaning back slightly as she stares at me with a sultry look. “Spit on it.”

Holy fuck. If I wasn’t going to be inside her within the next few seconds, I would undoubtedly come in my pants.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Gripping her knees, I spread them farther, her body shifting so her pussy is tilted toward me. I stare at her, my eyes not leaving hers as my cheeks pull in, drawing spit onto my tongue. Her eyes are glazed over, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.

Parting my lips, I roll my tongue, before spitting onto her cunt. Hadley’s eyes fall shut, a moan slipping from her before she looks at me once more. “Good boy.”

“Good boy, bad girl, huh?” I smirk as I wrap my arms around her thighs, pulling her toward me as I slide the tip of my cock against her pussy. Her head falls backward, her eyes rolling back in her skull as I push inside her.

“Fuck me, Rowan,” she breathes, lifting her face as her lust-filled gaze collides with mine. “Fuck me before someone comes looking for us.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Holding on to her, I begin to piston my hips, drilling my cock into her in rapid succession. She lifts her arms, gripping my shoulders as she clings onto me, taking every thrust I deliver. She takes every inch of my length, her teeth biting into her bottom lip as she swallows back her own moans and sounds.

The thought of someone knocking on the door makes my heart pound harder and faster. The possibility of getting caught has a way of making the fire grow at a rapid pace. Her nails bite into my skin and my fingers dig into her flesh. I slam into her, unable to help myself. The dryer shifts under our weight and her eyes widen as she stares at me.

“We have to be quiet.”

Rolling my lips between my teeth, I jerk my chin at her before I pull out. Her eyebrows pull together in protest, but I quickly sweep her off the dryer, lowering her feet onto the ground. She looks up at me as my hands find her hips. Without any protest, she spins of her own accord, leaning forward with her hands planted on the wall as I grab her ass cheeks.

My cock presses against her center and I slide back into her tight cunt, feeling how soaked she is around my length. She accidentally lets out a moan and glances at me from the corner of her eye as she turns her head.

“Bad girl,” I murmur, removing one of my hands from her ass. I slide it up along her body before placing it over her mouth. “If I have to be good and keep quiet, so do you.” I tilt my head to the side, fucking her slowly. “Are you going to be a good girl for me?”

She bobs her head with my hand still planted over her mouth.

“Okay,” I breathe, my heart pounding erratically in my chest as warmth spreads across the pit of my stomach. “I’m still going to fuck you like you’re a bad girl, though.”

Hadley’s eyes lock on me with her head turned to the side as I begin to move my hips again, pistoling them as I drive myself into her over and over again. She presses back against me and I fuck her harder. She begins to constrict around me, her pussy sucking my cock deep inside her before I’m falling over the edge with her, pumping my hips until she’s filled with my cum.

I release her mouth and we’re both breathless as I slowly slide out of her. Grabbing her hips, I spin her around to face me. My hand slides beneath her chin, gripping her face as my lips claim hers again. The movement is urgent and hard, but the way I kiss her is so fucking tender, it feels like my own heart is melting in my chest.

“Marry me,” I breathe against her lips.

She stills against me. “What?”

“Marry me,” I repeat, not giving a shit that this isn’t the way I had originally planned to do it. I planned on proposing to her while we are in Brazil next month, but I’m tired of waiting. I’ve waited long enough. I run my finger over the ring she wears on her middle finger now. It’s the ring that was her first engagement ring, but it wasn’t real. “I want to replace this with a real one and for you to wear it on the proper finger.”

She stares at me for a moment, her eyes wide. “You’re serious.”

“Yes, Hadley. I wanted to do it differently than this, but fuck it.”

A slow smile pulls across her lips, her eyes filling with tears. “Yes, Rowan. Yes, I’ll marry you.” She lets out a soft laugh as she lifts her hands to cup the sides of my face. “I will say, you’re slightly ridiculous.” She smiles at me, shaking her head. “I don’t even have pants on and your cum is currently running down my thighs.”

“Just how I like you,” I murmur, a smirk lifting my lips before I capture her mouth once more. Our lips melt together, the strands of our souls intertwining, and I’m home.

There was a point in my life where Hadley Reed felt like an unattainable dream, like she was a mirage that would never be mine.

But now I have her.

And I swear I’ll never let her go...

Keep reading for the first chapter in the next book from the Aston Archers series.