Page 35 of Playing with Fire

Willa beamed up at him. “Well, now you can.” Something about what Beckett mentioned niggled at her brain until she was stopping again. “Why didn’t you ask me sooner?” She had a feeling she knew the reason why, but she wanted to hear it from him.

Beckett reached up and rubbed the back of his neck with his good hand. “I didn’t want to come on too strong,” he confessed. It was exactly as Willa had thought, and while she understood why and appreciated his putting her needs first, she was also done being a victim of her past. Beckett grabbed her hand and held it tightly. “I didn’t want to risk losing you.”

“I know,” she assured him. Squeezing his hand, Willa stared into his hazel eyes. “But I’m a grown woman and I can do hard things. Yes, I might stumble and feel triggered again, but I know that I’ll get through it and you’ll be there to hold me while I do.” Willa knew that with as much certainty as she knew the sun would rise in the east every morning. “I don’t want you to hold back anymore, okay?” Her eyes bore into his until she saw the understanding there.

“I won’t,” he promised. Willa turned to walk, but Beckett tugged her back and pulled her against his firm body once more. “But I want you to remember that you brought this on yourself.”

Before Willa could ask what he was talking about, his mouth was on hers. Beckett’s good hand tangled into the back of her hair and tugged slightly as he angled her head, driving histongue into her mouth and scorching her insides with the heat of his desire for her. He gripped her ass as he continued to devour her mouth, the spiciness of the cinnamon taste on his tongue making her own tingle with increased awareness.

Willa’s entire body quivered as he groaned against her, his chest rumbling with need and causing her own to skyrocket. His grip tightened as the kiss deepened, their bodies practically melting together as Beckett poured everything he was and ever would be into her, his soul bumping up against hers until they were forever tethered by the passion they shared. When he finally broke the kiss, Willa followed along, her greedy lips wanting more and pulling into a pout when they were no longer connected. Their kisses had been smoldering before, but, apparently, he had been holding back and now that he wasn’t, that fire was molten heat.

“Holy shit,” Willa breathed out.

Her fingers came up to her lips to seal in the memory and also check to see if they were still there. It felt like Beckett had possessed her mouth and she wasn’t certain her body was under her own control anymore. With her ex, the control had been his and he’d used it against her, but with Beckett, any control she had given him was used to give her nothing but pleasure in return.

Beckett grinned as he led Willa back down the trail, her legs wobbling like a newborn foal from the single greatest kiss she had ever known. “And that was just a kiss,” he called over his shoulder. “Imagine what everything else will be like.” When he winked at her, Willa’s mind filled with images of the two of them in bed, Beckett no longer holding back and satisfying her in ways she could only dream of.

With a smile, she released his hand and took off down the mountain as quickly as possible while still being safe. Willa wasn’t risking another twisted ankle preventing her fromenjoying him when he was no longer curbing his desire. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s go.”

Beckett laughed and joined Willa as they raced to her car. They might stumble slightly and fall on the way down, but they would always be there to help pick the other one up. That was what they did for one another, and they always would.

Epilogue

~Beckett~

One month later

Laughter bounced around the back porch of Beckett’s childhood home, his parents and brothers recounting at least a thousand different stories from their childhood for Willa as they all sat around a long table and finished their lunch. Even Aiden’s cranky ass was there, his grumpy veneer breaking every now and then to let out a genuine laugh at the memories that were being shared. The sound was a welcome distraction from the nerves that were currently coursing through Beckett’s veins with the force of a firehose.

The ring box he’d procured earlier that week felt like a weight in his pocket, but not a bad one. It sat heavily as a reminder for him to get a move on and pop the question that he’d been dying to ask for weeks now. Beckett was ninety-nine percent certain Willa would say yes when he asked her to marry him, but that one percent nagged at him, keeping him from his ultimate goal.

Yes, it was soon, but they’d basically spent every day together before the fire and had definitely spent every free moment together in the weeks since. Beckett even had lunch with Willa when she had to work, and when he’d gone back to the station last week after the chief had mercifully ended his suspension, she would come and bring him a cupcake or just stop by to visit while he was on shift.

And yes, Willa’s past still came up from time to time and probably always would, but they worked through it just like they’d promised one another. Their relationship was still new, but it was as solid as the metal rod in his arm, and if Beckett knew one thing it was that he wasn’t going to make another mistake by holding back again. Willa asked him not to after all.

“You okay, little brother?” Aiden asked, his expression concerned.

Beckett rolled his eyes at the moniker and vowed to stop using it himself. He was only two years younger than Aiden and now he knew exactly how his other three brothers felt when he said it. However, at one glance at the tired circles under his older brother’s eyes and worry lines on his face, one might think Aiden was older than his thirty-four years.

Beckett raised a brow at him. “I’m fantastic. You’re the one who looks like he needs about a decade’s worth of sleep.” More than that if the frown lines bracketing his mouth were any indication.

Those frown lines deepened, the trademark scowl he’d had his whole life back on Aiden’s face as he huffed a breath. “Asshole,” he muttered. Shifting his eyes from side to side, once he’d seen that the rest of the table was deep in another conversation, Aiden leaned back over to Beckett and spoke out of the side of his mouth “I got fired.”

It took a moment for the words to register, and once they did, he was floored. “The fuck?!” Beckett yelped. Aiden was the most driven person he knew and had never been let go from any job. His work as a chef was his whole life, so hearing that he was fired was just about the last thing Beckett expected to hear from the man.

Aiden shushed him, the vee in between his eyes looking more like a canyon carved by a river of worry the longer he scowled. “It’s not a big deal,” he groused. Beckett highly doubted that since as far as he knew, it was the first time Aiden had ever gotten reprimanded let alone fired. “Just don’t tell anyone yet. I don’t want to disappoint Mom and Dad.”

Beckett could understand that since he felt the same way, but even he knew they’d rather know the truth. “They’ll be more disappointed if you don’t just tell them, but I won’t spill yoursecrets.” Beckett crossed his heart as he smiled sadly at his older brother. “I’m sorry you’re going through some stuff, bro. Do you know what you’re going to do next?”

Aiden shook his head dejectedly. “No.” His voice was solemn, sounding more melancholy than grumpy. It was disconcerting and Beckett wished he could do something to help, but he didn’t know the first thing about the restaurant business. “Hey, do you know what they’re doing with the old cider mill now that it’s burnt to shit?”

Beckett shrugged. He was curious as to the reason his brother was asking. “No idea. Why?”

Aiden’s eyes stared off into the orchard for a long moment before coming back to Beckett. “Forget I said anything.” With that, Aiden pushed back from his chair and walked into the house.

Beckett wanted to follow his brother to ask more questions, but there was another question on his mind that was far more pressing. Deciding he’d held off as long as he could stand to do so, he too rose from the table and approached Willa where she sat chatting with his mom. The two women hit it off instantly and had even been shopping and to lunch a few times. Seeing Willa integrate so easily with his family gave Beckett hope for the future, one he wanted to start as soon as possible.

Holding his hand out to her, Beckett smiled. “Walk with me?” His heart raced as he waited, but the moment she placed her hand in his, he felt it become slow and steady again. His mom gave him a knowing look and he winked at her before escorting Willa out into the orchard. She’d been there to help him pick out a ring and had wholeheartedly given her approval at the idea of him adding to their already large family.

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