Page 22 of Hero

A wave of cheers sweeps through the diner and I squeeze Delilah and kiss the top of her head.

Flustered, Harvey sniffs and hurries out of the diner. We watch him leave and when he’s gone I turn to her.

“You okay?”

“I am now,” she whispers. “I can’t believe I let them control my life. I could have taken action all along, but I was too afraid of losing them. But now I see they never had anything to offer me in the first place.”

“You did good, darlin’,” I say, then lean into her. “And you got me riled up when you threatened to throw him out.”

“Oh, how riled up?” she asks with an arched eyebrow.

“Enough to take you up to our cabin and spend all day and night showing you how much I need you and love you. I want to fuck you senseless then make passionate love to you and then fuck you senseless all over again.”

“I like the sound of that,” she says, reaching up and running her fingers through my beard.

“What can I say? You and your sexy curves make me this way.”

She giggles. “I meant when you called itourcabin. I’ve never imagined I would ever have a home. But being with you on Thunderpeak feels so right.”

“The mountain is just a mountain, the cabin is a cabin. I can’t call them my home unless I have you in my arms.”

“I love you, Silas,” she says, her voice shaky with emotion.

“And I love you with every part of me. Now let’s go home,” I say.

As we kiss the sound of applause fades into the background and there’s just me and my beautiful girl who’s made me the happiest man alive.

EPILOGUE ONE

DELILAH

Two Months later

“And Delilah, do you take Silas to be your lawful wedded husband, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, for as long as you both shall live?”

Thank you, god.

Silas is the one. I can’t think of a more perfect moment than when I’m with this man. He’s always touching me, with his hands, body, and when I’m far from his grasp, his eyes. Whenever I catch him staring at me, behind the deep longing and raw need is a man who cares for my every need and loves me fiercely.

After my promotion to Pastry Chef, I felt overwhelmed with nerves. He reassured me and showed his belief in me. He took me out to our favorite spot to eat,Char & Bone Bistro,and proposed. And somehow that dispelled my nerves. The gesture showed me that no matter what, he would always be with me.

“I do,” I say.

“You may kiss the bride.”

My stomach is in a state of euphoria. Two months ago I stood in this very spot prepared to live out my worst nightmare. Now I’m living my best dream.

I know the church is filled with people who love and care for us, the community has accepted and embraced me as one of their own over the past few months. But when my lips meet Silas’s, there’s only us and no one else.

But that’s not true because I’m carrying his baby. As soon as Harvey left that day, we wasted no time in taking our sexual frustrations out on each other and I got pregnant soon after.

At family dinners, Knox and Miles joke that we’re having a shotgun wedding, and Chloe embraces me like an older sister. She believes we were brought together by fate.

And I have to agree. The wedding, baby, us—it all feels like it was meant to be.

When we break the kiss, he growls, “I want you so badly.”

“Have you forgotten we have a reception to get to?” I ask.

---