“Keep going.”
My nipples pucker underneath the pink lace bra. This set leaves little to the imagination. I do as he commands, unzipping the side of my skirt. It falls to my feet in a swoosh around my ankles, causing me to step out. I’m standing before him in nothing but the finest of lingerie, which I wear for only Slade. Even before him, I always wore it to make me feel sexy, confident, and in the back of my mind, I wore it on the off-chance Slade would come along. Little did I know all of my dreams would come true.
Slade crushes his body to mine, the slide of our bodies together as he presses kisses from my lips down to the hollow of my throat. His fingers find the latch of my bra, unhooking the clasp before tossing it somewhere across the room. I need to feel his skin skating across mine.
“Wrap your legs around me.” Slade’s hands grab my hips.
“Your bruises,” I mumble. He helps lift me up to place me exactly where he wants. I’m trying to be careful when he says, “They don’t hurt,” then he’s striding toward the bathroom.
When he places me on my feet, I take off of my panties as he turns the water on.
“You took my job away from me. I should spank you for that.”
“Be careful, Slade. You know how much I enjoy that little fetish of yours.” I saunter into the water, letting him watch as the water runs down my slick body before he’s charging at me. We’re tangled together. He’s seated deep inside me in one powerful thrust until both of us are gasping for air and coming together.
“Fuck, what you do to me, Taylor.”
“Ditto.” I’m fading fast. He shuts the water off, wipes himself off briskly with a towel, and then helps me dry off. I practically lean on him as he does all of the work.
“Let’s get to bed, baby,” he mumbles, and in a matter of moments he has me tucked into bed. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to shut everything down, set the alarm, and then we’ll sleep the bad day away. Only good days for us from here on out.”
“I love the sound of that. Hurry back.” I sink into the pillow underneath my head, the sheet and comforter tucked under my chin. I’m always cold when I’m in bed and Slade isn’t here with me. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen all that often.
I feel the mattress sink down next to me. “Night, Trouble. I love you.” He kisses the side of my neck before spooning my back.
“Goodnight, Slade. I love you so much,” I reply groggily. My body finally shuts down from the shit that has happened today. It even stops thinking about Travis and how I’ll forgive him for what he did to Slade and me. I just hope that, when tomorrow comes and he has to go back overseas, everything will be all right.
Epilogue
Slade
Two Years Later
“You can do it, Trouble. One more time,” I tell Taylor as I hold one of her legs up while she pushes our second child out, not in the way you think though. This is her first time going through labor and delivery. She delivered Grace already, and now we’re waiting on one last push for our son, Grayson. He’s being a stubborn thing and isn’t wanting to cooperate. I can only imagine where he gets it from.
“Ohhh.” She bears down, pushing one final time, and he decides to finally meet us.
“You did it, Taylor. We have two amazing children. I’m so proud of you.” I kiss her forehead.
“We did it, but if you don’t get over there with our babies, I’m going to kick your ass.” You wouldn’t know that she just went through five grueling hours of labor.
“Yes, ma’am.” I kiss her forehead and mock salute her this time around, much like she does to me when she tells me I’m being bossy.
It wasn’t long ago we were saying our wedding vows in front of Travis, Bridger, Drake, Leo, and Kellie. It was a small, intimate wedding, exactly what we both envisioned. It didn’t take long for Travis to forgive us for falling in love, though my girl, she made him work for her own form of forgiveness after the disappearing act he did on her when she needed to know he was safe. He came to our door the day after the incident happened with her favorite form of food—carbs with a side of dessert.
We spent our honeymoon in Greece, one of our last places to travel before we decided to calm down on our traveling throughout the United States and then in foreign countries. Thankfully, we were able to work around our schedules to take long weekend getaways. It was our last stop in Maine when Taylor came out of the bathroom and announced we should start trying for a family. I couldn’t have been happier; she threw her pills away that night.
Just the other day, she was saying, “I can’t believe how big I am. Where did this come from, anyways? I swear my stomach is as big as my body.” Taylor had been on a rampage that day and it seemed to last all day long. She wasn’t wrong when she bemoaned the fact that my swimmers work, it was our little joke. Even though it takes much more work than just my swimmers. When the doctor confirmed her pregnancy, we also discovered two heart beats. As far as either of us knew, twins didn’t run in our family. We’re just that lucky set of parents.
I sat down on the couch and put her feet on my lap, knowing exactly what she needed to calm down. I found the instep of her foot, massaged it, and she became content.
Now, here we are, and I’ve never been happier. Each day brings new adventures. I hate like hell leaving Taylor while they take care of her, but just like she wants me to watch over our babies, I want the same.
I watch as the nurses go over them with a fine-toothed comb, their little lungs working with each and every poke and prod. It is pissing me off the longer it takes, when all I want to do is wrap them in my arms. That’s right. The once unseemly invincible man has been brought to his knees by not only his wife, but our two bundles of joy.
“Are you almost done?” I snap out my displeasure.
“Here is your daughter, Grace.” The nurse says, as she places her in my arm. My other arm feels empty without Grayson, and I’ve never held them before.
“I’m going to bring Grace to Taylor, then I’ll get Grayson,” I let her know, not giving her an option.
“You have to place her in the cradle and wheel her over, at least while we’re in here, Mr. Chavez.” I roll my eyes, but I do as she says, as if I’d ever drop my child.
Grace cries as soon as she’s out of my arms. “I know, baby girl,” I coo at her until I’m back to Taylor. I pick her up and she instantly calms down. “Are you ready to meet your momma?” She looks just like Taylor, and I know already that I am completely fucked.
Taylor is sitting up, watching the two of us together, her arms come out, and I place Grace in her arms.
“She’s precious. Now go get Grayson.” That woman of mine has gotten bossy when it comes to our children, and I’m finding I love it.
I turn around to go get my boy, but the nurse already has him in the clear, plastic cradle, wheeling him over. He’s wailing louder than Grace, it pisses me the fuck off that my boy is crying, and it took the nurse this long to get to me.
As soon as she stops near me, I pick up my boy, holding him close to my chest.
“Let me see him,” Taylor says as she scoots over. “Come sit next to me, Daddy.” That causes my heart to squeeze in happiness.