She smiled at his statement. “I love you too.” He took her mouth and tasted the flavor of her tears and everything that made up his mate. She was his, he was hers, and there was nothing that would ever change that.
His mark may have disappeared from her flesh, but his scent poured off her, and a low growl of possessiveness left him at that knowledge. From this point forward, it was only the future they had to focus on.
Epilogue
Two years later
“Momma!” The tiny wail that came from the living room had Ary dropping the plate she was washing and running out of the kitchen.
“What?” She looked around the living room and saw Cole standing by the patio doors. “What’s wrong?” She rushed over to him and scooped up her little boy. Scanning his body for injuries, she breathed out in relief when she saw none. “Why did you cry, Cole? Are you hurt?”
“No.” A little frown formed between his eyes. He started mumbling unintelligible things and pointing outside.
“He’s mad that I brought him inside because he wouldn’t listen and kept trying to eat worms.” Charlie came up behind her, pushed her hair off her shoulder, and kissed the exposed skin. A shiver worked through her, a reaction she had when he touched her even two years later.
Looking down at Cole’s tiny hands, she noticed for the first time they were filthy. “Cole Charlie Wylde, were you not listening again?”
A fat tear rolled down his chubby little cheek, and she brushed it away and kissed his forehead. Her little man looked just like Charlie, right down to his blue eyes and blond hair. Cole threw his arms up and went tense in the way toddlers did during a temper tantrum.
She set him down, and he ran to the corner of the room where his toy box was. Charlie turned her around and framed her swollen belly with his hands.
“You feeling okay, kitten?” He kissed her right cheek then her left.
“I guess. I just feel fatter than usual and ready to have this little girl.” He rubbed her belly, and she swore if he took a needle to her, she’d pop like a damn overfilled balloon. He smiled and continued to rub her stomach.
“You want me to massage your feet?”
She moaned. “Man, you know the way to a woman’s heart.” He chuckled deeply and led her to the couch. Once she was in position, he picked up her bare foot and started kneading the top and then the heel. The baby decided to start kicking like crazy.
Their daughter was due in just a few weeks, and Ary couldn’t wait. Not only was she having a little girl, but she was also an ocelot shifter. Heaven help her. She would be living with two bear shifters and now another ocelot, who probably had a fiery little attitude if her acrobatics in her belly were anything to go by. Charlie looked up at her and did that sexy little half-mouthed grin.
“Have I told you I love you?”
“Not since this morning, but I am always willing to hear it a second time, and a third and fourth.” He started massaging her other foot, and not even the sound of Cole banging his toys together, or the tea kettle screaming, could take her away from this one perfect moment.
“Well, Mrs. Charlie Wylde, I love you more than a fish loves water.”
She threw her head back and started laughing.
“You are so dang cheesy.”
He was grinning when he sat beside her on the couch and enveloped her in his big arms.
“Maybe, but I still mean every word I say.” Resting her head on his chest, she listened to his heart beating steady and strong. Yeah, she knew he meant it all, corny or not, and because of that, she loved him to the end of the world and back.
She couldn’t help smiling at the thought of that phrase. It had been what he told her the night he came back from Slater’s and poured his heart out to her in a poetic way.
His words might have seemed cheesy in context, but he meant them from the bottom of his heart, and she knew that without a doubt. He had given her a beautiful little boy and soon a little girl, and he constantly made her feel like the most cherished woman on the planet.
He was soft and gentle with her, but was also fierce and strong and protected her and Cole with every part of his being.
“You know what, Charlie?”
He smoothed his hand up and down her back. “What, baby?”
“I love you more than the flowers love the sun.”
He started chuckling, and everything came rushing back to her—the noise of Cole laughing and throwing his toys against the wall, and the sound of the tea kettle still screaming. She went to stand, but Charlie helped her back on the couch and went to the kitchen.
Even with her life hectic and boringly domestic at times, she wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.