Page 111 of Falling Too Late

ALEX

Wren straddledme in just a tank and panties. The sun slashed into her room across her, setting her aglow. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. I massaged her thighs, working my way up. I ran my thumbs under the hem of her shirt.

She leaned back, stretching her arms above her head, groaning a little as she did. Her muscles bunched and moved under my hands.

“Keep it up and I’ll never let you out of this bed.” She purposely rolled her hips right over me, causing more friction to strain my control.

I could lie in bed with her all day.

She smiled down at me, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Maybe that was my whole plan.” She teasingly kissed my lips, running her tongue at the seam.

My thumbs circled over the scars I had seen on her when she was on the mat. I had wanted to ask her about them before but hadn’t found the right time.

“What are these?” Softly, I ran my thumbs over them again.

Her expression dropped, and she cupped her hands over mine.

“Scars.”

I could see she didn’t want to talk about them, but I pressedfurther. “From what, Wren?” They were thin raised scars with little white pinpricks above and below them. From stitches, I assumed.

She swallowed hard. “After that day. . . I did several STI tests. I needed to be sure I didn’t get anything from him. On my six-week exam, they told me I was pregnant.”

I froze, staring at those scars. “You were pregnant?”

She nodded again, her hands dipping below mine to block my touch. My world flipped and my mind started to run.

She was pregnant.

Pregnant.

“Don’t.” She cupped my face, bringing my eyes to hers. “I did the same thing. I wondered if maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t his. I tried convincing myself it was yours.” She shook her head harder. “But I wasn’t willing to risk it. I wasn’t willing to hope, because if that baby got here, and it didn’t have your eyes, and your smile.” She took a steadying breath. “I wouldn’t be able to do it. I didn’t want a reminder of what had been done to me.” She let go of me, sitting up, her arms clutched across her body. “So, I had them terminate the pregnancy, and I asked to be sterilized.”

My first reaction was to be pissed. Not because of her decision, but because of my failure. If I would have just made sure he died in that fire. If I had stabbed him or something, maybe, just maybe she wouldn’t have had to go through this. I stared at those scars and thought of all the things they took away from us. All the possibilities we could have had.

“Is that what you wanted?” I just spoke the honest truth. “If that’s what you wanted then I support you.” Wren hadn’t ever had control over her body, and I imagined that was something she had been fighting for her whole life. I wasn’t going to insert my wants onto her. I had never thought about being a father. It wasn’t something that had ever crossed my mind, and I didn’t want to think about it now, just because I never would be.

“It is, but,” she waved her hand between the two of us, “Alex, the choice, for me, was an easy one. I didn’t want to be pregnant.The thought of raising a child in the same world I grew up in, if I couldn’t protect them. . . If I took away something that you wanted, I understand if this. . .”

“Wren.” I sat up, holding her in my lap and banding one arm around her, cupping the back of her head with my other hand, keeping her in place. “The only thing I have ever wanted in my life is you. You are the only thing I have ever asked for, and if you still want me, too, you are all I need.”

She kissed me deeply before pushing down on my chest, planting me back on the bed. Adjusting her positioning, she moved the sheet down, exposing the scar on my right side. Above the scar, in jagged tattooed ink, readnice try.

“What happened here?” Her fingers brushed over the rough raised flesh.

I smirked. “A guy with a shiv got me in the showers one day.”

“Wait, you were stabbed?” She reared back, sitting up.

I shook my head. “No, I moved just in time, it was only a flesh wound.”

“Why the fuck would someone go after you? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Prison is a whole other world, darlin’.” I moved my hands back to her thighs. “You just look at someone too long and it’s on.” Fear crossed over her face. I had my theories on who sent guys after me, but I wasn’t ready to talk to her about it.

“Did I almost lose you while you were in there?” she asked softly.

“No, you were never close to losing me. I’ll always crawl home to you.”

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