Page 90 of Mountain Defender

Then I’ll see Rory at her most unrestrained. Her most vulnerable.

The Rory she only shows to me.

Reaching down, I find her sensitive bud, pink and exposed. Then I start to rub it. Slow first, then fast.

Her hips thrust in an erratic rhythm, instinctively seeking what I’m giving.

I pull back one more time.

Pinch that little bundle of nerves.

Thrust home. Deeper this time than any before. Joined to the point where we’re no longer two people, but one.

Rory cries out as she explodes around me, slicking me with another rush of heat. Her body stiffens while her inner muscles keep working, quivering and clutching at me. An expression of sheer ecstasy moves across her face, slackening her features and hazing her gaze.

My own release comes speeding upon me, pulsing in exquisite waves of pleasure as I fill her. Prickles of electricity surge across my skin and my lungs strain for the breaths I’ve forgotten to take.

Like a primal warrior claiming his prize, pride washes over me as I pull Rory to me, hugging our still-joined bodies together and feeling my seed seeking her womb.

I never considered that before. Not a wife or the possibility of a family. And while I know it’s not possible now, not with Rory on birth control, when I think of her round with our child, I like it.

I might even want it.

As I hold Rory to my chest, she rests her head on my shoulder, breathing hard. “Gage,” she murmurs, her breath a warm whisper on my skin. “I always think it can’t get better. But somehow it does.”

My heart somersaults. Flips. “I know, baby. Every time with you is magic.”

Her lips press to my neck. “That’s beautiful. I love that.”

And there.

The word I’ve been hesitating to say.

I’ve been holding back, and the truth of it is, I’ve been scared.

Me. Scared to say three little words.

I’ve been through a lot of shit in my life. Seen things I wish I could forget. Suffered a career-ending injury. Struggled through a crushing depression. Hid myself away from the world for years.

But telling Rory I love her might be the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Not because I don’t feel it. But what if…

What if she doesn’t feel the same way?

What if I tell her too soon and it messes things up between us?

What if I screw up the best thing I’ve ever had?

But.

There’s thatlookin her eyes.

Thoughts thick in my head, I lay back onto the mattress, draping Rory across my chest. Tiny aftershocks are still sparking through us, and her heart is beating in the same staccato rhythm as mine.

Rory lifts her head to look at me. Her eyes close for a moment before reopening. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

Worry creeps over me. “Ror? Is something wrong?”

“No.” Her lips brush across mine. “I’m just… I want to tell you something. But I’m trying to get up the courage to say it.”