Page 15 of Forever with the Mountain Man
"Bed," I manage. "Need you in bed. Now."
He carries me there, tossing me on the mattress and following me down, his weight pressing me into the sheets.
"How do you want it?" he asks, his voice rough. "Slow and sweet because we're engaged? Or hard and dirty because that's what you really like?"
"You know what I want."
"Say it."
"Hard," I gasp as he slides into me. "Want it hard."
He gives me exactly what I ask for, pounding into me with a ferocity that has the headboard slamming against the wall. I'll have bruises tomorrow, marks that prove I'm his, and the thought makes me clench around him.
"That's it," he growls. "Come on my cock. Show me how much you love it."
I shatter, screaming his name, and he follows me over with a roar that probably scares the wildlife.
After, as we lay tangled and sweaty, I trace patterns on his chest.
"I'm sad."
He tenses. "What?"
"That we have to wait until Monday to get married."
He laughs, pulling me closer. "That's my girl. So perfect."
And as I drift off to sleep in his arms, my engagement ring catching the light, I think about how sometimes the best things in life don't make sense. They just are.
And this? Us? It just is.
Caroline
One Year Later...
Themorningofthefirst day of school always brings butterflies, but this year they're mixed with a different kind of excitement. I smooth my hands over my still-flat stomach, marveling at the secret I'm carrying.
Finn doesn't know yet. I only confirmed it yesterday, and I want to tell him properly, in a way that honors how much this means to both of us.
My classroom looks perfect. New bulletin boards showcase the summer reading program, learning centers are stocked and ready, and the reading nook he built is filled with new books donated by parents who remember how much their children loved kindergarten last year.
"Ready for another year, Miss Cooper?" Principal Martinez asks, stopping by my doorway.
"Mrs. O'Sullivan," I correct with a smile, twisting my wedding ring. "And yes, I'm ready."
The spring wedding had been perfect—small and intimate, held in the Silver Lodge's garden with the whole town in attendance. Dad had walked me down the aisle beaming with pride, and Finn had waited for me at the altar looking like he couldn't believe his luck. Even now, months later, I sometimes catch him staring at me with that same expression of wonder.
I hear the familiar sound of his work boots in the hallway before I see him. He's been installing new shelving in the school library all morning. The school board had been so impressed with his work that they'd hired him as their permanent maintenance contractor, which means I get to see him throughout my workday. A perk I'll never take for granted.
"Mrs. O'Sullivan?" One of the second-grade teachers pokes her head in. "Your husband asked me to tell you he'll be in the library if you need him."
My husband. The words still send a thrill through me.
After my new kindergarteners have gone home, their parents charmed by excited chatter about their first day, I make my way to the library. I find Finn there, tools spread across a drop cloth, completely absorbed in his work. He doesn't hear me approach, and I take a moment to simply watch him—the careful precision of his movements, the way he double-checks every measurement, the pride he takes in making something beautiful and lasting.
"Hey," I say softly, not wanting to startle him.
He looks up, and his face transforms with that smile that's just for me. "Hey, beautiful. How was the first day?"
