Page 80 of Hunter

“I’m not going to be gentle,” he warns. “Not today.”

“I don’t want gentle,” I breathe. “I want you to ruin me. Show me I’m yours.”

He slams into me in one stroke, knocking the breath from my lungs. I arch and cry out, clinging to him as he drives in hard, relentless. Every thrust is deep, claiming, punishing, and perfect.

“Take it,” he snarls, gripping my hips. “Take every inch like a good girl.”

I can’t speak. I can only nod, mouth open, back bowed. He pushes my knees up higher, spreading me wide as he fucks me into the mattress. Driving home that I’m his, he’s mine, and that together we will fucking make this work.

“This is what you were made for. My cock, my seed. You were built to carry my babies. Do you understand?”

“Uh huh...” I half scream.

“The answer is yes, wife,” he growls. “Tell me you understand.”

“Yes, I understand,” I whimper. “I understand.”

“After I’m done with you, pretty girl, every time you walk you’ll feel me. You’ll know with every step that I’m deep inside, giving you our baby.”

My nails dig into his back. My orgasm hits hard, shattering me with no warning, no control. I sob his name as my pussy clenches tight around him, holding on for dear life as I come apart. He thrusts deeper as my body responds on command. The effect he has on me is clear, spurring him on more.

“Fuck, yes. That’s it. That’s fucking it. Take it, pretty girl.” He roars, a sound sub-human as he buries himself deep and stays there, hips jerking once, twice, as he lets go. I feel it. Hot. Endless. Marking me. Claiming me again, but this time it’s final. I’m his.

When he finally stills, he stays inside me, breathing hard against my neck. One hand lies over my stomach again. Protective. Possessive. Hopeful.

In the afterglow, our bodies tangled and his seed still deep inside me, we don’t speak for a long moment. He just touches my skin like he’s memorizing it. Our silent thoughts of what have become and what could be are at the forefront of both our minds.

Eventually, he flutters the tips of his fingers over my belly. His nose nuzzles my neck softly before kissing my cheek, the gesture the stark opposite of the way he drove his need home only moments ago.

“I don’t care if it takes once or ten times,” he murmurs, voice heavy. “I’m not stopping until you’re carrying my baby.”

My heart pounds. My body aches. My soul already belongs to him.

“Then don’t stop,” I whisper. “I don’t want you to.”

***

Hunter

Later that day, I spot Ronan out walking the perimeter of the gardens like he does multiple times per day. His role has changed a lot since Isabella and I reconnected. He went from personal bodyguard to being part of a larger system, but it doesn’t elude me just how key he’s been to my wife’s life.

With a beer in each hand, I wander down the old stone path that weaves between the flowerbeds. When the garden was modernized, the landscaper wanted to dig it up and replace it with a sleeker tile. But there’s something comforting about the trail, a window into a time more innocent. I hope one day my children will play here, hiding behind the rosebushes in a game of hide and seek.

“Ronan,” I say, approaching him quietly from behind. He pauses then turns to face me. “A word, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, Mr. Devane. Is there something you or Isa…” He cuts his word short. “Mrs. Devane require.” His slip of the tongue doesn’t go unnoticed, but I let it go. His closeness to Bella was when I was no longer in the equation; familiarity is no more than that.

“Just a few moments of your time.” He nods. “I don’t like people getting close to what’s mine. You didn’t just get close. You fucking protected her.”

His body stills, unsure of where the conversation is headed. “Only doing my job, sir.”

“You went above and beyond your job. We both know that.” I offer him the beer. He takes it. “I don’t forget that sort of thing.”

“It was my pleasure. Mrs. Devane is a wonderful person.”

“That is something we agree on.” He angles his bottle in the direction of mine, and we tap them together before taking a drink. “You have kids I believe?”

“I do. Five of them.”

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