He roars and then his breathing turns hollow, as though he can’t find the energy to let out the beastly noises anymore.
My womb sings and celebrates as he empties his seed inside of me, biting softly down on my shoulder at the final moment, growling through the closeness.
“Fuck,” he growls, rolling aside.
I roll with him, traitorous thoughts entering my mind now that we’re no longer fused together. High school voices whisper that he’s going to lose interest now that he’s got what he wanted, that he’s going to push me away or laugh or do some other evil cruel thing.
But of course, he doesn’t.
He moves his hand through my hair and then leans down, kissing me softly on the forehead.
“I just know it,” he whispers.
“Know what?” I ask softly.
“What else?” He smirks down at me. “I’ve put my baby in your belly. This is it, Snapshot. This is the first day of the rest of our lives together. It all starts here, with the child already flowering in your womb.”
“I hope so,” I whisper, smoothing my hand over my belly, praying that he’s right…
And yet there’s another feeling there too, something that makes me want to scream until it goes away and stops torturing me.
What if I’m pregnant and Angela disapproves?
What the heck do we do then?
“Trent,” I say.
“Hmm?” he replies, sounding more content than I’ve ever heard him, like we’re floating on the bed together, like the bed is a raft rocking on a calm ocean and we don’t have to worry about the rest of the world.
“I think I want to tell my mom about us,” I say. “She deserves to know.”
“I agree,” he says. “I was going to suggest the same. When?”
“Tomorrow morning before work?” I say. “That way if she freaks I have a good excuse to make a run for it.”
I laugh and he chuckles, but I’m not entirely joking.
There’s another reason to tell mom, a cruel reason I shouldn’t even allow into my mind.
If mom disapproves, maybe we’ll stop this before we have to tell Angie.
My womb laughs. My soul laughs. I almost laugh.
I don’t believe that for a second.
Trent and I are bound together for life now, no matter what anyone says.
I love you, I want to scream as I rest my cheek against his unyielding chest and feel his heartbeat pound against my cheek. I love you so much. I’ll never stop loving you.
I don’t stop to question how impossible this should feel, considering this only started today.
Today.
It should feel impossible and silly, but it doesn’t.
It feels like fate.
It feels like everything I’ve been waiting my whole life for.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Trent
The next morning, I pull up outside Tessa’s house with a cheesy-as-fuck smirk on my face. We only parted ways a few hours ago – we had sex at my place after the cabin date – and yet I’ve burned and ached for her every moment since.
I know I should probably be nervous, questioning if everything is going to blow up in our faces when we tell her mother. I know Caitlin as much as I know anybody else in Youngstone, which isn’t well considering I’ve spent most of my life with the SEALs, handling my work.
Still, she deserves to know what’s going on with me and her daughter.
I just hope she takes it well.
I walk across the lawn and up the stairs, fighting off the anger that pricks me at the sight of the rundown house. When Tess and I go public, I’m going to renovate this whole place. My woman’s mother deserves a nice place to live in as much as my woman does.
I take a breath before I knock on the door, steadying myself.
It’s not nerves that cause tremors to move through me.
It’s the knowledge that I have to control myself.
Pouncing on Tess in front of her mother would hardly make the best impression.
The door opens before I get a chance to knock and my breath stops short, my hands curl into fists so I don’t instinctively reach out and grab onto her hips.
She’s wearing her waitress’s uniform, just like when she captivated me, but this time I know what she looks like underneath all that fabric.
I know the gorgeous shade her ass turns when I grab it with carnal ownership.
I know how perky her nipples get when I kiss her in just the right way.
“Hey,” she says, looking up at me with those naive eyes…
Naive, yes, but there’s a glimmer of something else behind the naivety now, something suggesting that what happened last night has changed her. A new confidence is growing inside of her, I can tell, shimmering across her expression.
“Thanks for coming.”
I chuckle quietly. “You say that like we’re casual acquaintances. You don’t have to thank me, Snapshot.”
She giggles, nodding endearingly, and then steps aside and waves me in.
I walk into the small hallway, fighting the urge to comment on how threadbare the carpet is.
I’m not judging her. I served with plenty of men who came from poor means in the SEALs, and I grew up pretty damn hard-off myself.
It’s just that she’s my woman and she deserves so much more than this.
I am going to give her so much more than this.
She leads me into the kitchen slash living room area. Her mom smiles at me over the kitchen partition as she pours a glass of water. She looks much as I remember her, except she’s cut her hair short now.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” she says. “How are you, Trent?”
“No bad, ma’am,” I say. “And yourself?”
“Can’t complain.” She trails off, her eyes shifting between me and her daughter. “Something tells me this isn’t a social call.”
“I think you should sit down, Mom,” Tessa says, her voice wavering.
I clench my fist even harder, somehow resisting the overwhelming urge to grab her shoulder and give it a supportive squeeze.
“Okay…”
Caitlin walks into the living room and over to the couch, sitting down and
