Page 115 of Forgotten Desires

Her brown eyes shimmer with unshed tears. “I just want this all to work, you know? I want you to get Layla and then my surgery to go well. I’m so worried that Jacqueline will fight you on this and we won’t get her. That this whole marriage will have been for nothing.”

“It’s not for nothing.”

I really thought that getting Layla was what was going to complete my life, and it will. I need my daughter to be with me so she’s safe and loved, but I need Brynlee too. My world won’t be the same if I lose one or the other. Therefore, I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to keep them both.

She shakes her head. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.”

“I’m just saying, you’ll get your surgery no matter what. Today, you’ll go in there and give your father a second chance at life, just like you do for every living creature you meet. Your animals, your family, me, Layla, all of us are better because of you.”

Her lips meet mine and I pull her closer.

Brynn sighs as our tongues meet, sliding together.

Her fingers lace into my hair, and she opens her legs wider. “Make love to me, Crew. Make my fears go away.”

“You don’t have to be scared, Bee. I’ll fight all your demons.”

She moans my name, and her hands move down my back. “Please. I need you again.”

In a few hours, she’s undergoing a serious and risky surgery. I’ll have to feel as though my own life hangs in the balance until she’s out and safe. I needed her last night, and I need her now.

I sink into her wet heat, letting it envelop me. She fits me perfectly in every way. I kiss her as I start to move, rocking us together, setting our pace. Her fingernails scrape down my back and then up my sides. Her hand rests on the bee that’s been etched in my skin the way she’s been in my soul.

“I . . . God, yes,” she whispers against my ear. “You take it all away.”

The two of us are panting and I can feel her tighten around my cock.

“I fucking need you, Brynlee. You.” I thrust. “Own.” Another thrust. “Me.” Again. “Feel how much I need you.”

She cries out, her fingers digging into my skin, head arched back as she lets go. I follow her over, unable to stop myself.

I push up on an elbow so I can see her face, and she’s grinning with her lower lip between her teeth. “What?”

“I’m just happy, that’s all.”

I kiss her quickly. “Good. We better get ready so we’re not late.”

Brynn nods and we both head into the shower. Once done, she looks around the room, her arms over her stomach. Gone is the ease that we had before getting out of bed. I wrap my arms around her from behind.

“You’re going to be fine.”

“I know. I was just thinking about the first night I spent here. How I never imagined I could ever think of this palace as home.” She glances up at me. “I guess I’m just laughing that leaving now, I just said how much I can’t wait to come home, and I mean here.”

“Just the same as Sugarloaf feels for me. I think that has more to do with you than the farm though.”

Brynlee turns, her arms around my waist. “You mean you don’t find the chickens and mucking the stalls to be fun?”

“As long as we get to shower together after, I might just be able to deal with all that.”

It has nothing to do with animals or showering, it’s her. It’s always been her. She’s my home. She’s what I want the most in this world, and as soon as we’re on the other side of this surgery, I plan to tell her all of that.

“Good to know.” She rises up on her toes, kissing me softly.

I glance at the clock. “We have to go.”

Brynn nods. “I want to say goodbye to Layla again.”

She heads out of the room and I go grab her bag. I head to my daughter’s room and lean against the door watching Brynlee, who has only known Layla a short time, be more of a mother than Jacqueline ever was.

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