Summer Love in the Forest (Summer Instalove)

Here I was, taking my gorgeous new boyfriend home to spend the night with him. We hadn’t even had a real date, yet he told me flat out that he was going to marry me. As he ducked his head to follow me, I knew that even though we were going down to my basement apartment, things were definitely moving up in my world.

EPILOGUE ONE

* Ray *

*** Two Years Later ***

The first thing I always did when I got home was take a quick shower to remove the sawdust, and residue from stains and varnishes. I used to make dinner right after, but now on days when Kate wasn’t home yet, I liked to spend a few minutes wandering around our new home , just feeling settled. Grounded.

Kate was absolutely right when she chose this place. I assumed that she’d want something bigger, but this was more than comfortable for us. I’d have to remember to tell her that later, since I knew how much she loved to hear it. Her choice couldn’t have been any more correct. Our new space was perfect. We’d only been here for eight months, but it was definitely going to be our home for many years to come.

I loved that she had been more interested in finding the perfect home for us than wasting time and money on our wedding. It had been a simple affair, just fifty people in the backyard, about a month after we’d moved in. She was the thriftiest bride I’d ever heard of, buying a second-hand gown, having her friend Becca design the emailed invitations, and asking me to create a small wooden arch for the ceremony.

Kate and her four best friends had covered it in wildflowers the morning of the wedding. When they all went to change, the girls had surprised her by wearing matching floral sundresses. She hadn’t wanted to burden them with the expense of buying dresses, but Kim had sworn that she knew somebody who was having a clearance sale.

I don’t think my ears will ever completely recover from the endless squealing that day, but by all accounts, we had the most fun and chill wedding ever.

Looking out the living room window, the wooden arch was now mostly bare, in the corner near my shed, but ivy was beginning to grow up the sides.

My previous house had really been a tiny bachelor pad. I’d bought something simple and utilitarian, but it wasn’t lively enough for my Kate and her boundless energy. Now I had a great woman to help me see the world properly, and that started with us moving in together, and her finding just the perfect place for us to fix up.

She looked at everything with a laser-focused eye, determining exactly what we needed. I had a shed in the back yard to putter when I wasn’t at my workshop, and there was a little recording studio in the basement for her.

We had a huge bedroom with a giant four-poster bed. I made the frame myself, with slats and bars artfully positioned so that she always had something to hold onto, and I could take her any way I wanted. On our wedding night, I had tied her wrists to the bed with a silk scarf for the first time, to symbolize that I was claiming her forever. That night she was screaming for me so loudly I’m surprised nobody called the cops.

I was considering adding soundproofing the next time we tinkered with the house.

There were also two small spare bedrooms that I said that we’d need immediately, and Kate clarified that we’d need them once she had two albums out.

As always, she was in complete control of our lives, no matter how much I teased her. Whatever she wanted was fine with me, but I knew that she was starting to think more seriously about kids.

I wanted to knock her up right away. She’d told me all about her paranoid cousin, and taking the pill, but was pretty sure that she was ready to stop it soon. The thought of my gorgeous goddess carrying my child filled me with something so raw and powerful I didn’t even know if I’d be able to control it when the time came.

I walked back to the kitchen, putting away the breakfast pans that were still in the rack, wondering why she was late getting home from work. I hoped that she wasn’t stuck dealing with bands and their endless problems again. Lately, she’d been trying to straighten out the accounting, and I knew it was cutting into her songwriting time.

As much as I liked her

brother’s business, some of the people Kate had to deal with sounded exhausting. They took advantage of her sweet nature, working her too hard.

“Hello?”

Racing to the front door, I had Kate in my arms before she’d even set down her bag. “Kitten,” I nearly growled, holding her tight as I nuzzled her throat.

“Damn,” she laughed. “What’s gotten into you?”

She was clutching an envelope, and I wished to hell she’d leave her work at her office instead of bringing more files home.

“I was just thinking about how you need to stop taking those pills so that we can start our family,” I said softly, picking her up and carrying her straight to the bedroom.

Kate laughed, but as I set her on the bed, she could likely see the hunger in my eyes. Taking the envelope from her hand, she stopped me. “Be careful with that,” she said quickly.

“Yeah, I know,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Important work stuff.”

“Important life stuff, actually,” she said, sitting up. Her hair was getting even longer, and as I pulled her dress off and bra off, it spilled over her breasts.

“Seriously, what’s gotten into you?” she laughed as I yanked off her panties, throwing her back and flipping her legs over my shoulders so that I could dig in.

Caressing her inner thighs, I saw that she was already juicy for me. I plunged my tongue into her wetness, wanting to hear her soft moans as quickly as possible. Instantly I jumped back.