Chapter 69

CHAPTER 69

JESS

J ust because I hadn't had much hope that Slate would be back anytime soon didn't mean that I hadn't wished for it to happen with everything in me. Part of that wishing had been me dragging an old camping mattress up into the hayloft last night with a light blanket and a couple of pillows.

I'd lain out here watching the night sky for hours, simultaneously trying to come to terms with the fact that he was gone and wishing upon a star that I would get to use my makeshift bed with him soon. I hadn't really thought it would ever happen, let alone that it would be less than twenty-four hours later, but as I sat down on the mattress and waited for him to appear, I grinned.

I would make love to that man in the grass or on the ground any day of the week. I'd have him wherever and however I could have him whenever I could have him, and I wouldn't ever complain about it.

But I was glad for this mattress here tonight. Being on a bed in the hayloft with the love of my life as the sun set outside was about as romantic a setting as I could've hoped for. What we had was special, and so was this reunion.

Slate appeared just a few seconds after I had, hurriedly pulling his shirt over his head but stopping abruptly to blink hard when he saw what I was on. "You made a bed?"

"Where I want our bed to go," I murmured, beckoning him to me and wrapping my arms around his broad, warm shoulders. He fell to his knees in front of me. "If this plan of yours involves converting the hayloft, that is."

"If that's still your dream, we'll do it," he whispered into my mouth before pushing me back on the mattress and lying down on top of me. "I want to make all your dreams come true, Jess. If this is still what you want, then I'll start work on it myself in the morning, but your family did have one good point."

"What?" I asked. "When?"

"When they said you couldn't really raise kids here," he responded, genuine honesty and sincerity in his voice as he took a quick look around. "We also couldn't convert it for your parents on account of the stairs, so…"

When he trailed off, I lifted my head to press a kiss to his lips. "We'll figure it out. I love you, Slate. I want to plan our future together, but we don't have to have all the answers right now. Right now, all I want is you."

"We're definitely on the same page, then." He sealed his lips back over mine, his skin hot and his body hard against my own.

Still wearing my bra and jeans, I expected him to start working on removing those items right away, but instead, he just kissed me, his own lower half still trapped by the confines of denim as well. Maybe this is why so many girls prefer dresses. Much easier access. Much less restricting.

It was too bad I couldn't do my chores in a dress, but Slate didn't seem interested in easy access anyway. I could feel how hard he was against the seam between my legs, and my own body was all tingly with need for his, but we just made out for the longest time.

He kissed me deeply and passionately, his tongue stroking mine like it was coaxing it into a sultry, sensual dance. I moaned into his mouth, still trying to believe that he'd not only come back for me but that he was here to stay.

Willingly.

He'd offered to spend the rest of his life here with me and then he'd even asked if I'd have him. The mere memory of it made me smile against his lips now and I held him closer, thanking my lucky stars for making all my wishes come true.

"What?" he murmured into the kiss. "Something funny?"

"Just that I didn't know it was possible to be this happy," I whispered. "This is real, right? I'm not going to wake up and be heartbroken all over again?"

"It's real, Jess," he assured me, allowing more of his weight to sink into me as if he was trying to prove it. "I'm here and I love you, and I'm never leaving again unless you explicitly tell me that you don't want me here."

"That's not going to happen." I ran my palms along the ropes of muscles in his back, moaning when I felt him tremble against me. "I, uh, I have something else to tell you that's also very real."

He propped himself up on his elbows, his body still resting on mine as he looked into my eyes, searching. "Yeah, what's that? You're not pregnant, are you?"

"Nope. Sorry." I shrugged, staring back up at him with questions suddenly racing through my mind. "It is about that, though. Kind of. Why? Do you want me to be?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation. Winking, he sneaked another quick kiss. "Only when you're ready, though. I spent too much time with Beau. I'm not thinking clearly about babies right now. My balls are aching to put our own in you."

"You say the most romantic things to me," I teased. "I'd love to take care of your aching balls and I will, but they won't be putting a baby in me. Not unless your guys are strong enough to slip past the goalie."

"Goalie?" A slow grin spread on his face. "You're not talking about a condom, are you?"

"Nope." I stroked my fingers into his hair and smiled. "I, uh, I kind of walked in on Sophie and Tag yesterday."

His eyes went wide and he scoffed back a laugh. "What?"

"Yeah. I was as surprised as anyone, but um, after he eventually left us alone, she told me that they were serious. Serious enough that she'd gone to get the implant."

"Okay," he said slowly, brow furrowing as humor sparked in his eyes. "I know you two are close and all, but you know her implant doesn't protect you from getting pregnant, right?"

I smacked his shoulder and laughed. "Thanks, Dr. Sex Ed. But yes, I knew that. It's just that while we were talking about it, she mentioned she got it at the doc in town, and I pass by the practice on my way home…"

"You stopped and got one, didn't you?"

I dropped my chin in a nod, laughing again as I watched his entire face light up and an inferno spark in his eyes. "I figured it was smart to be proactive."

"God, I love you." When his mouth crashed back into mine, I kissed him back, sliding my fingers into the waistband of his jeans and running them along the warm skin I found there.

Slate groaned, lifting his hips to allow my hands to pass between us. I flicked open his button and unzipped him, sliding the fabric past his ass as I heard his boots drop to the floor. Once he was naked, he rolled us over, seating me on top of him and looking into my eyes as he reached for my bra.

"Are you sure the implant will work this fast?"

I nodded. "Apparently, it's immediate protection if you get it at the right time of your cycle, and I did, so…"

Fingers deftly unhooking the clasp of my bra, he ran them up my arms and hooked them around the straps, pulling them off slowly as he sighed. "Pity."

I giggled, tucking my hair behind my ears as I leaned over to kiss him. "Wow. You really are broody, aren't you?"

He shrugged, dragging his fingertips along the length of my spine and making me shiver against him. "I know what I want, Jess. After a really fucking long time, I finally know exactly what I want and it feels like I've been rubbed raw trying to get to it."

I glanced down at him. "You don't look raw."

He chuckled hoarsely. "On the inside, oh funny one. Although if we don't get you out of those jeans soon, that's going to change."

Lifting myself up on my knees, I watched as he opened my fly and then I helped him kick my pants and panties off before I settled on top of him, close enough that I felt his tip pressing at my entrance with nothing between us for the first time.

My entire being craved just slamming down on him, my body aching for him in places I hadn't even known I had, but I brushed my fingers into his hair, my gaze catching on his. "I think I like you raw. If it means telling me what you want, then I'm all for it. I feel the same way, Slate. I love you and I know that we're right. We were meant to be."

He wound a hand around the nape of my neck, pulling me down for a kiss that felt like a promise. As I kissed him back, pouring all my hopes and dreams for our future together into the moment, I finally sank down on him.

Savoring every moment of feeling his skin against mine like this for the first time, I moaned and felt my muscles tense, but I didn't stop kissing him. There was so much I had to say. So many things we needed to figure out, but I knew we'd get there.

For now, I wanted to be the balm to the places where he was raw and he was already being that for me. I searched for his hands as I moved on top of him, and when I found them, he laced our fingers together, holding them tight, and he thrust into me over and over again.

It felt so different not having anything between us that my heart fluttered like a butterfly in my chest, tears burning the backs of my eyes, and my body soon tensed, the sensations he was eliciting just too much for me to bear.

Slate murmured my name into our passionate kisses, his own thighs starting to quiver against mine. "I love you, Jess. Shit, I love you so much."

His hips started moving faster, their usual steady rhythm dangerously close to breaking. On top of everything else, that was what sent me spiraling into my first orgasm of the night. The knowledge that he was so close to losing it and he was still telling me how much he loved me.

Pleasure licked through me like hot tongues, tightening my muscles and making my toes curl as all the knots inside suddenly broke apart at the same time. Bliss shot through me, bubbles of elation in my bloodstream until it finally felt like I was floating on the cloud.

Slate swelled deep inside me, releasing into me instead of a condom and the sensation made me tremble as aftershocks rumbled through me. I held on to him for it all, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that this man was going to be my husband one day.

Slate and I had overcome our challenges, and in the morning, we would start building our life together. As I lay there recovering, pressing kisses to every inch of his skin that I could reach, I smiled. I couldn't believe how far we'd come, but most of all, I couldn't wait to get where we were going.