Epilogue

ELISIA

" T his is Elisia Moore, coming to you live from Rosewood Ridge. We'll see you this weekend at Biker Blast."

I squeezed my eyes shut at the sound of my voice, drifting from our bedroom out into the hallway. I'd just gotten our nine-month-old daughter back to sleep and now I was ready for some alone time with my husband of six months.

Yes, six months. I stepped into the doorway and smiled at him. We'd found out we were pregnant just a few weeks before the small wedding we'd planned with just our closest family and friends. Luckily, I hadn't been showing yet, so my wedding dress just had to be altered a tiny bit for the water weight I'd gained.

"You're watching me again," I said.

He looked up, eyes wide like he'd been busted. Then he slapped the laptop lid down and set it on the end table next to his side of the bed.

"To my credit, I was watching last week's report," he said.

I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the doorjamb. "That's because this week's report hasn't dropped yet. Biker Blast just ended."

My career as a journalist had taken a turn since meeting Rob. It wasn't just him either. It was this town. I'd sent out some resumes and even gotten some interest after my video of the dog rescue went viral. The news director at the station in Utah showed interest in hiring me. We'd done a video interview, though, and it was clear during the interview that moving to Utah wasn't the best option for me. I wanted a home and family.

Soon after moving here, I went in front of the city council and proposed the idea of boosting tourism in this town by doing some social media videos. Somehow, along the way, I'd found myself on the board of the brand-new local tourism bureau. I reported on local events and had a blast doing it.

"Are you coming to bed?" Rob asked, patting my spot. Then he lifted the sheets as if in invitation.

I looked back over my shoulder, verifying no sounds were coming from the nursery, then pushed away from the doorjamb and crossed to the bed. My T-shirt and shorts were off before I'd finished crossing.

As I climbed beneath the sheets, I saw my husband's crotch area and realized he had a full-on bulge. He'd gotten turned on just watching me do my work. That happened a lot.

"We need to get that underwear off you," I said.

He shook his head. "Do you remember our first time?"

How could I forget? But we'd done the lap dance and the reverse cowgirl positions many times since that night.

Revisiting that wasn't what he had in mind, though. As he pulled his underwear down to the top of his thighs, it became clear what he had in mind.

I tugged down my panties and tossed them off to the side of the bed, then straddled him, heat rushing straight to my core as his hungry gaze settled on my breasts. He was almost reverent as he cupped each one, running his thumbs over my nipples.

"I remember not wanting to hurt you," he said, looking up at me.

I took him in deep, far deeper than I was able to that day. "When I was pushing past the pain, you touching me helped so much," I said. "I'm not sure I would have been able to get through it otherwise."

"You even orgasmed." He smiled. "Twice."

"Thanks to you." I nodded. "Plus, you showed me how to pleasure myself."

"An important skill to have." He shrugged. "In case, you know, I'm never around to help you with that."

With a baby in the house, there was barely time to do anything, but we managed to work sex in almost every night. Soon enough, we'd be able to squeeze in some morning sessions too. At least, that's what I was hoping.

"Why don't you show me now?" he asked.

Oh yeah, he liked it when I touched myself. It also helped me reach orgasm faster. He was not a fan of quickies where I didn't get something out of it.

But tonight, I took my time, slowly teasing myself, biting my lip to keep quiet as I moved up and down on him. All too soon, I felt myself losing control, my eyes sliding shut as my body took over.

But as my orgasm started, my eyes popped open. I wanted him to see how much I loved him. I saw it in his eyes too.

We were just as in love as we'd been from the day we'd met. And now that we were building a life together—a family—those feelings were only getting stronger.

He gripped my hips tighter, his eyes finally drifting closed as his own orgasm rushed through him. He gritted his teeth, that strong jaw of his clenched, and I knew he, like me, he was holding back, fighting with everything he had to stay quiet.

We were rewarded for our silence by being able to crawl up into each other's arms as soon as we were both sated. As much as I loved my time with our son, Lucas, sometimes it was nice to just have alone time with my husband.

"I'm so glad you showed up here that day," Rob said as he stroked my back.

I laughed. "Can you imagine how different things would be if I hadn't?"

"That video brought so many people to this town, and I'm not talking about the one with the dog being rescued."

Oh yeah, the video with Jax. Even Rob hadn't known much about him before I happened to catch him on video that day, working shirtless as he took charge of a crew of volunteers. He'd been known as a grumpy guy who kept to himself, but the internet had fallen in love with him. They nicknamed him the Cyclone Stud. I was so caught up in Rob that day, I'd barely even noticed until the video views started ticking upward at a ridiculous rate.

The next thing I knew, I was meeting people who came to town just for him. Some of those people had become my closest friends. As for Jax, he wasn't so bad once you got to know him, and we knew him pretty well now.

"I guess it's time to get some shut-eye," Rob said. "Hopefully, Lucas won't wake us up."

I sighed. He'd been sleeping through the night lately, and I hoped that trend continued.

"I just might get you up in the middle of the night myself," he said. "You know, if I happen to wake up with a boner."

"That's one kind of wake-up I wouldn't mind," I said.

I whispered "I love you" as my eyes slid closed. The last thing I heard as I drifted off to sleep was those three words coming from his lips. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.