Page 13

NASH

Four years later…

The sound of your children’s voice is the best kind of work interruption.

“Dad, Dad, Dad, look!” my son, Benji, shouts, his voice still baby-soft, despite the feisty speed at which he barrels into the garage.

I set down my wrench and wipe the grease from my fingers and manage to squat down just in time to snatch up my boy as he flies into my arms. His brown hair is especially wild today, and his T-shirt has crumbs and chocolate smudged across the front.

He must have gotten into the cookies Grace baked last night.

He’s also holding something in his right hand–something he definitely wants to show me.

“What do you have there, pal?” I ask, grinning as he opens his chubby little fist to reveal a stone.

“It’s a rock!” he says proudly. “But it’s shiny.”

I take the rock from him and examine it like I’m Indiana Jones. “Are you sure it’s a rock and not a meteorite!?”

His eyes go huge, and he does a little jump. “Like from space!?”

“That’s right.” I smile, ruffling his hair. “Only the bravest of boys collect meteorites.”

His smile lights up the garage as I hand him back his rock. He’s such a pure and sweet soul. I see so much of his mother in him.

“Benji!” a softer voice calls from the house.

My daughter, Kate, appears at the door. She’s barely two and a half and is pure sunshine.

She’s got Grace’s hair, but she has my eyes.

I’m already worried about just how cute she’s going to be when she grows up and how many boys I’m going to have to fend off.

She’s holding a plastic tiara in one hand and dragging her stuffed bunny in the other.

I have to pause to take in the moment.

This is it. This is the beauty of my life.

“Do you want to play marbles?” Kate asks Benji, but I go over to them and lift them both into my arms.

“Listen, you two. Why don’t we wash up? Your momma’s probably got lunch ready by now.”

They both cheer as I carry them toward the cottage. It looks better than ever now. Grace’s father didn’t make good on this threat to sell it. Instead, he kept it and allowed me to buy it off him. I guess once he realized I wasn’t going anywhere, and Grace wasn’t leaving me, he chilled out.

He still keeps his distance. He definitely doesn’t like the fact that Grace chose a “simple” life over whatever life he had planned for her, but he’s no longer toxic. He’s civil, and for right now, that’s enough.

I still run the garage with Nick and Craig, and we even hired another guy, Dave, to help with all the new work we’re getting. He does custom bodywork, which really started to bring in new customers and a lot more cash. Business is booming. So is our family.

Grace insisted we keep the cottage’s original charm, but I went ahead and upgraded the old plumbing, fixed some of the old windows, and Nick and Craig helped me build on a sunroom off the backside that she has filled with plants and flowers and a vintage white couch where she reads to the kids at night.

Never in my life did I think I’d end up the guy with the quaint house, the great wife, and the two kids, but that’s me.

Hell, we’ve even got a tire swing hanging from the maple tree in the back yard.

Four years ago, when Grace and I got married, I knew I was the luckiest man alive. What I didn’t know was just how much better our lives could get.

When we step inside, the kitchen smells like Grace’s special grilled cheese–with sour dough bread and basil–and tomato soup.

She’s standing at the stove in one of my old T-shirts and a pair of shorts that show off her absolutely perfect legs.

She has her hair up in a messy bun and has tomato sauce on her cheek.

She turns as I lean in and lick it off. “There you are!” She beams, kissing me as the kids giggle. “Lunch is basically all ready. Kids, make sure you wash your hands before sitting down!”

“Okay!” they reply in unison.

She laughs and turns back to the stove. I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her on the back of the neck.

“Mmmm,” she hums. “Grease, oil, and…sawdust? My favorite designer cologne.”

“Hey, you know me,” I chuckle. “You forgot the overpowering scent of testosterone.”

The kids have their backs turned, so I take the opportunity to pinch her on the ass, causing her to jump. “Hey!” she whispers. “Your children are around!”

“They didn’t see anything,” I whisper back. “And don’t pretend like you don’t love it.”

She checks behind me to make sure the kids are out of range and nods, a naughty gleam in her eye. “You know I do.”

After everyone’s washed up, we have family lunch at the table. Benji tells Mom about his meteor, and Kate and Grace come up with a back story for her little stuffed rabbit and come to the conclusion that she was probably a princess in a fantasy land before coming to live with Kate.

I steal glances at my wife, and she sends me back little secret smiles like we’re still dating and about to sneak off behind our parents’ backs.

After lunch, Grace puts the kids down for their naps while I clean up. Once I’m finished, I go into the living room and find her standing there, her arms crossed below her breasts, one hip cocked out to the side, with an expression on her face that makes my blood go warm instantly.

“Have I ever told you how amazing you are?” she asks.

“Who me?” I reply, just a slight amount of sauce in my voice.

She nods as I step closer, giving me the eye . The one all men know and love when it comes from their woman. “The kids are down, the house is clean, and I’m in the mood to show my husband just how much I appreciate him for being the most wonderful man I could ever imagine.”

As blood rushes to my cock, I sweep forward and snatch her into my arms, kneading the warm flesh of her tight ass with my fingertips. “I still can’t believe I get to wake up to this every day.”

“Just that?” she teases, biting her lower lip.

Ah, an invitation.

I carry her into the bedroom and lay her down on the bed–the same bed where I first took her when we moved into the cottage together. The walls have photos of our life on them now, and the floors have been redone, but everything feels just as raw and electric between us as it did the first time.

As it does every time .

I slip my hand up her shirt, squeeze her perfect breast. “And this,” I tell her, lifting the hem and finding her nipple with my lips. I suck gently, causing her to gasp. I kiss down her soft, flat tummy.

“And this.”

I keep kissing down, tease her little pussy mound, and bring my lips between her thighs, kissing each one gently. “And these…”

“Nash.” She moans my name, gripping my hair with her fingers.

I move up and kiss her core through the thin fabric of her shorts.

“And this…”

I take her wrists and kiss each of them.

“And these…”

Then I take her fingers and hook them into the waistband of her shorts, guiding her hands as she pulls them down so she lies naked beneath me.

“ All this…” I whisper as I tug my pants down. I’m rock hard already, and my wife’s eyes go straight down to my cock as I guide it between her legs and press my hips forward. As I enter her, her eyes snap back to mine, and her jaw falls open.

Yes, just like that. Earth-shattering every single time.

Her arms drape around my neck as I start thrusting, gently at first but picking up speed as I feel her soaked walls begin to tighten down on me.

We both know we don’t have much time. The kids will be up soon.

But we’re so in tune with each other’s bodies by now that we both know exactly what to do.

And in no time at all, I feel Grace’s heart pounding against my chest. Hear her breath heavy in my ear.

“Just like that, baby,” I whisper. “You feel so good.”

“You’re incredible,” she mewls. “I’m already gonna–”

But she can’t even finish her sentence before she goes off. Before her orgasm rocks her, causing her body to arch up into mine. A moan escapes her lips, but I instantly clasp my palm over her mouth. This is no time for either of us to be loud.

My cock jerks as my own climax hits me, and I spray inside her, over and over and over–a powerful orgasm that hits me like I’ve just crashed a race car. She takes it all so well, and as we both come down together, she looks up at me with eyes filled with devotion and love.

“That was so good, Daddy,” she whimpers, tilting her chin down and gazing up at me through her eyelashes.

“You take it like a good girl,” I tell her, brushing her hair back and kissing her deep. We lie there together for a moment, tangled up in the aftermath of our lovemaking, our hearts pounding hard against each other. Grace gently strokes my arm and sighs.

“Can you believe this life?” she asks. “I never even thought something like this would be possible for me. I always thought…that I’d just be someone else’s possession because that’s what I was meant to be. Just a daughter, a socialite, a wife to some man who never loved me.”

“You’re none of those things,” I tell her, kissing her on the cheek. “You’re mine . My wife . And I’m a man who only ever wanted you.”

She smiles, and I pull her tighter, cradling her head in my arms.

“For how long?” she asks.

Grace asks me this all the time. And I always have the same answer for her. I lift myself up and look her dead in her beautiful eyes and smile.

“ Forever .”

THE END