Page 8 of With You

Much to my surprise, a chuckle left him.

“Good to know, Meadow.”

I sat up, staring down at him. “You think this is funny?”

He sat up, mirroring my pose. In a quick move, he pinched my jaw. “No, I don’t think it’s fucking funny. I don’t like fighting with you, but I don’t know how to fix this. I don’t know what to do to fix us. But I’m willing to do whatever it is you want. I promised you on our wedding day that it’s you and me against the world. Do you remember our vows? Not the standard ones we said at the ceremony but the ones we said in private.”

My eyes welled. “Of course,” I whispered.

“Tell me,” he demanded.

A shiver raced down my spine. Shade wasn’t always dominant, that was Sunny, but ever since he died, it was like Shade felt he had to take over that role. Like he had to dominate me because it was how Sunny had been with me. But he didn’t have to. I tried telling him that, but I could never figure out how to voice it. Which was saying something, since I never usually had issues voicing my thoughts.

“I promise to love and cherish you. To talk to you about my feelings and make sure that we put communication first.” I shoved my head out of his grip. “You haven’t kept your vows either, my dear husband.”

In a quick move, Shade pushed me onto my back and straddled my hips. He pinned me down, staring deep into my eyes. “We need to talk.”

“No shit,” I threw back at him.

His nostrils flared, his gaze dropping to my mouth.

I licked along my bottom lip. “I like when you hold me down.”

“Fuck.” He took a deep breath, his body shaking. His fingers dug into my shoulders, holding me in place as he thought about his next words. “We’re going away this weekend,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “I was going to surprise you.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, trying not to notice how very naked he was. How his muscles bunched over his bones. Or how his cock was semi-erect, hinting for everything that I was willing to give it and more. To put it mildly, my husband was fucking hot.

“You’ll see when we get there but your parents agreed to watch Andrew an extra day. We’re going for a few days longer than usual. I need you. I need us.” He released my shoulders and rose to his knees before kneeling between my legs.

My body flushed, heating with desire for the very man who had invaded my life so many years ago.

His eyes roamed down the length of me. He brushed the back of his hand over my C-Section scar. “The things you’ve done. The life you created.”

“Thatwecreated,” I corrected.

His eyes snapped to mine. “Do you still not wanna know?”

My chest tightened, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “No. Not yet anyway. Andrew is both yours and Sunny’s. Our future children will be both of yours as well. The kids will grow to learn how amazing he was. What kind of man...his love for us...” My throat worked over a sudden lump.

“You thoughtIwas overbearing when you were pregnant.” Shade chuckled. “I think he would have been worse,” he said, his voice thick.

“I know. Both of you would have driven me insane.” Shade hadn’t been too bad. Not as bad as I expected anyway.

“Yeah, maybe.” He sat back on his ankles, running his hands up and down my thighs. “I’m sorry for fighting. I really am. I also know that we need to talk about it. But...”

“It’s rough,” I finished for him.

He nodded.

“We haven’t talked at all and it’s been years, Shade.”

“I know.” A shuddered breath left him.

“Tell me something about him, you’ve never told me.” I knew we should have probably gone to bed, but I had Shade’s attention. He spent every chance he could, telling me about Sunny and their time before me, but it wasn’t enough. I was greedy for the information about the other man we both loved.

“Well...it’s part of your surprise but I’m taking you to Toledo, Ohio this weekend. We went on a ride years ago and hit up this pizza place. Sunny fell in love. We all did actually. Best pizza ever. Even better than the one you introduced us to after we first slept together.”

“Ohio?” I moved to a sitting position. “I’ve never been to Toledo.”

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