Page 25 of Heal Me One Night

The last part came sheepish, like he’s almost embarrassed. But he shouldn’t be. It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve been blessed to know two wonderful men in my lifetime, and Silas Blake is one of them. “Thank you for fighting for us, but you don’t have to.”

“I want to,” he insisted. “I want to make sure that you and Karli have everything you need.”

“We do, Silas. We’ve got you... It’s a hell of a way to say something like this, but it feels like the time is right.” I pause, take a deep breath, and then, with all my courage, say something to him that I’ve only ever said to one other man in my life. But this time I get to say it to someone who deserves it. “I love you. I love you and I’m so grateful that you are in my life.”

He’s quiet. So quiet that I start to wonder whether or not I made a mistake, rushed it and fucked it all to hell.

Then he takes two steps toward me, grabs me up into his arms and holds me like he’s never going to let me go. “I thought I’d have to wait a long time to hear that from you.”

“I like to be unpredictable,” I say with a laugh.

“I love you, Britt. I love you and I love Karli. I want us all to have a life together.”

I wrap myself around him. Arms, legs, everything. And I just hold onto him as he pushes me back up against the wall. “The lasagna is in the oven, but we’ve got about twenty minutes until it’s done. And we’ve got about two hours before the movie is over and Ava brings Karli home.”

“You think twenty minutes is enough?”

I laugh. “For most men, probably not. But you have an extensive knowledge of female anatomy, and unlike most, you know exactly what you’re looking for... So, yeah. Twenty minutes.”

I expected him to take me upstairs. But he doesn’t. Instead, he just lifts up my skirt and places his hand between my thighs. Slow, gentle strokes to start, not directly on that sensitive little nub, but around it, beside it, circling closer to it with each pass. Then it changes. His mouth is on my neck, hot and hungry, his touch is harder, more insistent. He slides two fingers deep inside me while his thumb brushes rhythmically over my clit. And in record time, I’m coming, my body quivering with the force of it even as I reach for the fly of his jeans. The rasp of the zipper is so loud in that quiet room. He drives into me, one hard thrust that makes me see stars. And then there’s no more thought. All I can do is hold on for the ride.

Twenty-five minutes later,we’re flushed, mostly dressed and trying not to look guilty as Ava brings Karli inside. Ava takes one look at us, laughs. “Maybe I should have picked a longer movie.”

“It’s fine,” I tell her. “Really. Did you have fun, Karli?”

“It was awesome! There was a dragon and a quest and a beautiful princess!”

“Well, she can’t be prettier than you,” Silas insists. “That’s not possible.”

Yeah, he’s a keeper. And I’m going to move heaven and earth to make sure I’m the one who gets to keep him.

Ava gives me a not-so-subtle thumbs up as she walks out the door.

EPILOGUE ONE

Britt

(Six months later...)

“You know, Silas, if you wanted to get kinky with blindfolds, we could have done that at home,” I tell him, adjusting the folded bandana tied over my eyes.

“Hush. It’s a surprise. We’re almost there,” he says.

“Fine,” I concede and just sit there in the passenger seat of his truck, humming along with the radio. We turn off the main road and onto a gravel drive. Then he slows down and I can feel him shifting the gears into park.

“Okay. You can take it off.”

I raise the blindfold, slipping it over my head and dropping it on the seat. I have no fucking clue where we are. There’s a house, two story, white picket fence. In the yard, there’s a swing set. “What’s this place?”

“Ours if you want it,” he says.

My heart is pounding furiously in my chest. “You’re buying a house.”

“I’m buying us a house... if it’s the one you want. If it isn’t, we’ll keep looking. But it checks all my boxes. Plenty of room for Karli to play. Extra bedrooms in case we decide to have another kid someday.”

“Another?”

“Yeah,” he says putting his hands on the wheel and gripping it tightly. I can tell he’s nervous. “Karli’s mine. Maybe not by blood, but in every way that matters. I love her, Britt. I love her and I want her to be mine for real. It would mean getting Dakota to give up his parental rights, but since he’s literally thousands of dollars behind on child support, I don’t think it would be that difficult. He’s not even seen Karlin in more than six months. No visits. No phone calls. Nothing.”

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