But I didn’t have to make that awful choice. He came back to me, just like he promised, and brought my parents with him.
“What are you thinking about?”
I turned and saw Emory standing in the kitchen, grinning at me.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Liar.” He came over to me and kissed me. I felt a thrill run through my body, the same thrill I’d first felt. It never got old, Emory touching my body that way.
“Just reminiscing about the past,” I admitted.
“Oh yeah? Thinking about that time I fucked you in the rest stop?”
I laughed. “Emory, Mason is right over there.”
“He can’t hear me.” He kissed me again.
“I was also wondering about those tomatoes,” I said as we finally broke our kiss off.
“They’ll come in. Don’t worry.” Emory pulled me close against him. “Listen, I have something for you.”
“What’s that? You didn’t need to get me something.”
“You finally graduated. I sure as hell had to buy you a present.”
I laughed, shaking my head. After everything, I finally went back and finished my degree. It was a long time coming, but it felt so good finally finishing it.
“What’s this present then?” I asked.
“Go out front.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Emory walked over to Mason and swooped him up. Mason giggled and laughed as Emory lifted him into the air.
I smiled at them. Emory was an incredible father. He’d had some catching up to do, had to figure out how to change diapers and what it meant to really take care of a child, but he took to it so fast. I was so proud of him.
I touched my stomach, smiling. He was going to be a great dad to our next child, too. A little brother or sister for Mason, only a few months away.
“Come on,” Emory said.
“Come on, Mommy,” Mason cheered.
I laughed and followed my two favorite men through the house, our house. When Emory told me he was retiring from the SEALs, I’d argued against him for hours, but he was such a stubborn man. He got a job working for the Navy Intelligence as an analyst, and I had no clue what that meant. Apparently he looked at data and helped determine threat scenarios, whatever that was.
But even better, he’d bought a house near my parents in Dayton. It was only a few minutes by car to get to my parents, and that couldn’t have been more perfect. Lindy was still living in the area in her own apartment, and so all of my favorite people in the world were still living in one small town, all near each other.
I’d always wanted my own house, and Emory had made that happen. I never asked it of him, but he said he had a ton of money saved up from years of SEAL pay. He sold his apartment and all his stuff back in California and moved into the house with me.
We never looked back. I got pregnant again not too long after that, after a long discussion. We both wanted a big family, and we knew that we needed to get started right away. Which wasn’t exactly a chore, since I was constantly in and out of bed with Emory. Every spare second we got, we spent in bed together, our bodies sweating together. Emory taught me so much about what it meant to get off, what my body could do, what I could feel. His fingers, his mouth, his muscles, everything about him drove me absolutely wild.
It was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for more. When The Network was after us, I’d thought my life was over, but my real life was just getting started. I could have gone without all the violence and the terror, but I was so beyond happy that Emory was brought back into my life.
Emory pushed open the front door and I followed him out.
I gasped at what I saw.
“Emory!” I said. “You didn’t.”
“Happy graduation, mommy,” he said, grinning.
“Happy gradation!” Mason cried out.
I walked over to the blue car parked in the driveway, shocked. I’d never owned a new car before, and this was perfect.
“It’s a Prius,” Emory said. “I’d rather a big black truck, but I know how you’re all environmentally conscious.”
“Emory, how can we afford this?”
He smirked at me. “The Navy pays pretty well, and I have a lot more saved than you realize. Trust me, you’re worth it.”
I shook my head, on the verge of happy tears. How could this all be happening to me?
The man of my dreams, a perfect, happy son, a beautiful house, another child on the way, and now the exact car I’d always dreamed about. It felt like none of this was real, but it was my life, my real life, and none of it was going away.
I walked over to Emory and kissed him hard. Mason made a noise, not happy to see us kissing, but that was okay.
“I love you,” I said to him.
“I love you too.” He grinned hugely and put Mason down. “Now, Mason,” he said, “remember what I told you? Like we practiced?”
“Yeah!”
I stepped back. “What are you doing?”
Emory faced me on one knee. “Tara Bright, I love you, and this was a long, long time coming.”
“No,” I said, shocked.
Mason walked over to me and took a little box from his pocket. “Marry Daddy?” he asked.
I took the box. “Thank you, Mason,” I said.
He ran back over to Emory, who swooped him up.
I opened the box and gasped, shocked again. It was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen, a cluster ring with perfect, shining diamonds. I slipped it onto my finger.
“Yes, of course,” I said.
Emory put Mason down, wrapped me in his arms, and kissed me hard.
“Now I’ll make you mine forever,” he said.
I kissed him again. “I already was yours forever.”
I knew it was true. Perfect house, perfect husband, perfect children. It seemed too good to be true. I was having such a hard time wrapping my head around all of this, but it wasn’t going away. Emory was here to stay, and that meant my life was going to keep feeling like a lovely waking dream.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go call your parents and Lindy.”
We moved toward the house, our home, the place where I felt the happiest, the safest, because of him. Because of Emory.
He wrapped his big, strong arms around me and we walked toward the house together, Mason in tow.
This was my family, my joy.
I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Stiff: A Stepbrother Romance
Prologue
I was stuck in the dark.
He was so far away and his touch was like a distant memory. I could just barely feel the soft slip of his lips against my skin. I wanted that feeling again, needed it badly, but I couldn’t reach him. I wanted his muscles, his skin, his lips, his leg-shaking grin. He made me squirm with sweet agony. He was the light, the opposite of where I was.
The darker one was just down the hall.
I could hear the water drip down the walls of my cage, my body contorted to fit comfortably while my hands were locked up above my head.
He hadn’t touched me. Not yet, at least.
But his whispered words were almost worst: I’m going to kill him slowly, and I’m going to make you watch.