Page 107 of What I Should've Said

He pulls back slightly, his entire body rigid, but his blue eyes warm with emotion. “A girl?”

“A girl.” I smile through the tears that are now making their way down my cheeks. “And I want to name her Autumn.”

His voice is a whisper. “Norah.”

“This baby is a gift from Summer, Ben. I know it in my heart and soul. Our Summer brought us Autumn.”

Bennett nods, his throat no doubt too clogged to talk at first. When he finds the words, they’re noticeably raspy. “It’s perfect.”

His lips find mine, and I give in to the feeling I get every time they do. It’s comfort and happiness and right on the edge of passion. It’s the kind of kiss that you want to repeat over and over and over again for as long as you live.

I giggle softly when he finally pulls back, and his lips find my neck, working a line from my chin down to my collarbone. “I have to go make you a new cup of coffee. I left the first one out in the cold.”

He snorts, and the vibration of air is enough to make me tingle all the way to my toes. “Probably a good place for it.”

I guffaw. “Excuse me! I’ve gotten a lot better at coffee-making, I’ll have you know.”

He laughs. “Not better enough.”

“Fine, then. Get your own coffee, why don’t you?”

Bennett smiles. “I will. But I’m going to get something else first.” He lifts me up by the hips, and I gasp, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist.

My heart races with excitement as he carries me to the drop cloth in front of his current work in progress and lays me down. Slowly and reverently, Bennett works his way from the top of my body to the bottom with his lips, worshiping every inch of exposed skin and pulling back my clothes to reveal the rest. I shiver once, but when the heater kicks on in the small space and Bennett removes my panties, I don’t feel cold anymore.

And then his lips seal over me between my legs, and the whole notion of being anything but incredibly hot ceases to exist.

“Ben,” I moan softly, letting my thighs fall open as much as I can so he has room to work. It’s not my natural inclination—normally, I’m a thigh-clencher—but I’ve been trying to work on it for the good of the reward.

I sink my fingertips into his hair as he swirls his tongue around my clit, and my back arches off the floor in silent applause. Over and over, he uses his tongue to stimulate my nerves, and I wriggle my back against the makeshift pallet restlessly. All that tension I released is back, but this time, it’s like the sting on Cupid’s bow, fighting for release.

Bennett’s groan of pleasure at my excitement vibrates against me, and in a blaze of glory, I come in a huge, overwhelming wave that arches my back off the floor.

It’s bliss.

The orgasm, the moment, but more than anything, the life this runaway bride with a dark secret managed to find.

Wednesday, June 9th

I wake up with a start and look toward the crib beside our bed. It’s empty and I sit up, utterly confused. My head whips toward Bennett’s side, but when I find that empty too, I crawl off the mattress and head out of our room.

My bare feet tap against the hardwood floor as I head down the hallway, but the closer I get to the kitchen, the more my ears can make out the soft sounds of music.

With only a dim light filling the room, Bennett is holding our almost-two-week-old Autumn against his chest, and a song by Depeche Mode plays from the wireless Bluetooth speaker on the island. She looks so small against his big frame as he sways her back and forth to the beat and quietly sings the lyrics into where his lips rest on the top of her tiny, blond-hair-covered head.

I’ve never taken the time to really listen to the poignant lyrics of this song, “Enjoy the Silence,” but as I hear Bennett’s deep voice caress around them, one tear slips from my lids and down my cheek.

This is all I’ve ever wanted and needed, too.

I think about Bennett’s wild past. I think about what he is capable of and how Thomas looked when he was on the receiving side of his anger. I think about Summer and the precious bond she had with him. And I think about Autumn and me and how safe and protected I feel because of Bennett.

Little girls really do have the power to tame the baddest of men.

The more I watch them, the more I watch Bennett press kisses to the top of Autumn’s sleeping head and the way his big hands tenderly hold her against his chest, the more I feel myself falling in love with him all over again.

I love this man with every fiber of my being, and I swear, that love only grows each day, only roots itself deeper into my soul.

I don’t know how long I silently stand here or how long it takes Bennett to notice me, but when his eyes meet mine, a smile lifts both corners of his mouth.

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