Page 114 of Shelter from the Storm

“Fate,” he repeated, pounding into her, his balls growing tight. Something else was inevitable too.

Gretchen’s body trembled roughly as her climax crashed in on her, and this time, she took him down with her. Theo grunted as pulse after pulse erupted inside her, and he was sorry it wouldn’t take root. Talking about the future and children made him long to start right now.

“Love you,” he murmured once he came down. He was still curled over her body. Somehow, she was holding the supplicant pose, her lower body resting on her bent knees, her cheek pressed against the blankets beneath them.

“I want to live with you,” she whispered.

She pushed herself up, and as Theo shifted back, resting his ass on his ankles, she turned to face him, cupping his cheeks in her hands.

“I want that cabin, those kids and grandkids. I love you, Theo, but maybe even more than that, I trust you. You took a chance on me when no one else would and you gave me a home and a family. You’ve become my shelter in the storm. You make me feel safe and sound. I don’t have a single doubt about us because you made me believe.”

“Believe in what?” he asked.

“Love at first touch.”

He grinned. Even so…

“Gretchen.” He didn’t want her to make this decision while still drunk on lust and orgasms.

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

“I’m glad, but I promise, kitten, we don’t have to rush,” he forced himself to say, even though he sure as shit didn’t want to change her mind. “We have all the time in the world. Forever.”

“Exactly,” Gretchen said. “We have forever. And I want it to start—truly start—tonight. Please.”

Theo grasped her waist, bending toward her to steal a quick kiss.

Then, resting his forehead against hers, he nodded.

“It starts tonight.”

Epilogue

Mila reached forward, attempting to grab the final strand of lights still hooked to the porch without having to move her ladder. She’d already gone up and down the darn thing a dozen times, working her way along the edge of the porch roof. Ordinarily, she left the holiday lights up longer, but a strong wind had come through last night, blowing a large section in the center down completely.

Since Mother Nature had already taken care of a portion of the work, she decided to roll with it, taking the lights down now rather than rehanging them, only to have to ascend the ladder again in a couple weeks.

Unfortunately, her laziness wasn’t working in her favor, because that last stupid hook was an inch or so out of?—

The ladder began to wobble, so she reared back too quickly—and overcorrected. The top of the ladder shifted away from the roof, hovering with no support, her along with it.

Mila was too off-balance to push it forward again, her actions reminding her of a novice on stilts, the ladder shifting from one leg to the other.

She was going to fall. There was no combating gravity. But she fought it for as long as she could.

One last-ditch attempt at recovery failed when her foot slipped. While the ladder fell forward, she went back.

She closed her eyes as she cried out, bracing herself for the painful impact.

It didn’t come.

Instead, she heard a grunt that didn’t come from her.

Opening her eyes, she realized she’d hit the ground. Or at least, the guy under her had, leaving her sprawled in his lap. She blinked a few times, fighting to focus, and when she did…

Holy shit.

The rugged mountain man seriously looked like he’d stepped straight out of her fantasies. He was large and muscular, with a thick beard and piercing brown eyes, so dark they looked black. There was a crook in his nose that indicated it had been broken before, but rather than detract, it simply reinforced his attractiveness.

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