He swept her into his arms, packing her back inside the warm cabin, shutting and locking the world outside.
Shade had hot chocolate on the table in front of the couch and a warm fire blazing a few feet away. He heard her sip her chocolate as he threw a log onto the fire.
He stood up, going into the bedroom then coming out with a small package, handing it to her.
Lily opened the tiny package. Inside was the exact replica of the flower Gaige had destroyed at the fair so many months before. He had saved it to give her at the right time. Wanting it to be special, he had chosen their honeymoon.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Thank you, Shade. I love it.” She reached up, kissing his cheek.
“I’m going to go take a shower. Can I trust you not to sneak out again?”
“Yes.” She curled her legs under her, sipping her hot chocolate.
She was still sitting and staring into the flames when he came back wearing only a pair of sweatpants.
He sat down next to her on the sofa, his arm on the back of the couch. “What are you looking so serious about?”
Lily shrugged, avoiding his question.
“Lily?” He bore his gaze into her, demanding an answer.
“Nothing, really. I was just thinking.” She looked up at him.
He cupped her cheek, his thumb wiping away the lone tear clinging to her lashes. “About what?”
“It’s just that I waited such a long time to see the Northern Lights … It would have been disappointing if they hadn’t been as beautiful as I thought they would.”
“I’m sure it would have,” he said gently.
“I was just thinking that you said you had waited for me since Razer had met Beth, and then I thought that … What if I wasn’t what you wanted? You might’ve become disappointed.”
“You did a lot of thinking while I was in the shower.”
“I know.” She nodded.
“Lily, you only saw the Northern Lights in pictures. It’s different having expectations of something you don’t know anything about. I grew to know you over the years; what a warm, loving woman you are, how you can’t stand anyone hurt, and how strong you were to survive a childhood which would have seriously fucked-up anyone else.
“Angel, I didn’t have expectations. I knew I wanted that sweet girl whose beautiful soul I could see in her eyes. The more I grew to know you, I wasn’t disappointed—I was captivated by everything I had learned. It was like unwrapping a pretty Christmas package and finding a work of art inside which was priceless. So, no, I wasn’t disappointed.”
“You’re definitely not what I expected. Giving me flowery speeches on Valentine’s Day, a trip to Alaska to make my dream come true, even being a nice guy and giving Georgia’s brother her job so he would be able to support his kids and hers while she’s in prison.
“The first time I saw you, all I could think about was how scary you looked with all those tattoos. Then they ended up being the reason I fell in love with you,” Lily said ruefully.
“You fell in love with me because of my tats?” Shade asked, surprised.
“I understood their meanings.” She reached up, touching the stars on the side of his neck. “The stars are your guide, so you always know what’s important. The compass, so you never lose your way home.” Her fingertips brushed the one on his collarbone. “‘Strength and Loyalty’ means someone strong enough to always protect me.” Her hand glided down to the tat scrawled across his chest. “‘Only Death Can Stop Me,’ someone who will always be there for me. When I realized their meaning, I realized I had found him.”
“Who?” Shade’s asked tenderly.
“I knew I had found my cowboy.” Lily circled Shade’s neck with her arms, touching his lips with hers in a kiss which showed how much she had come to love him.
Shade lifted her into his arms, laying her down on the blanket in front of the fire. She smiled as she opened her arms to him, his beautiful wife staring up at him with dreams in her eyes. He was no dream man—that was for fucking sure—but he loved her, and he finally had her.
“Why do I always feel each time with you is like the first?” he murmured against her throat.
She rubbed her cheek against his. “Are you sure you’re not going to get tired of me after a few years?” she teased.
“Fifty years of being married to you wouldn’t be enough,” Shade said, pulling down her top so he could trace the cleft between her breasts with his tongue.
“Fifty years is a long time.” She ran her fingers through his hair.
“I can prove it.”
“How?”
His lips smoothed away the frown on her forehead. “Ask me again in fifty years.”
Chapter 74
The cell phone rang as he was running a towel through his damp hair. They had been home from Alaska only since the night before, and it seemed like everyone had something they wanted to say or needed from them. When they had gotten home, they had been surprised by an excited Razer and Beth, who told them Beth was pregnant with twins. Now it seemed like Evie had news to impart.
Shade picked up the phone. “What’s up?” he asked, leaning casually against the dresser as he watched Lily frantically dress for work. It might have been their first day home from their honeymoon, but he had already started the routine of making her late for work, again.
“Guess who your sister has a date with next Saturday?”
“Who?”
“Lily’s ex, Charles.”
Shade disconnected the call without saying goodbye then punched in Penni’s number.
“Hey, bro,” she answered.
“That date you have next Saturday? Cancel it,” Shade said ruthlessly without explanation.
Lily bent over to put on her shoes, and Shade narrowed his eyes on her ass.
“With Charles?” Penni asked.
“That’s the one. Cancel it, now.”
“Okay,” Penni agreed. “Anything else?”
“No, that’s it. Be safe,” Shade told her then hung up.
Lily stood up straight, blowing her hair out of her eye with frustration.
“What was that all about?”
“Nothing, just a small problem I needed to take care of. How late are you for work?” Shade asked, casually walking to the bedroom door as she picked up her purse.
“Two hours. Rachel’s a sweetheart; I’ll buy her lunch…” Lily came to a stop in the middle of the bedroom floor, her mouth dropping open when she saw him leaning against the door, still naked with his arms crossed against his chest.
“Uh, Shade, what are you doing? I really need to get to work.”
His hardening cock swelled, pointing upwards to his tatted belly.
“You have two options. I can fuck you, in which case you’re going to b
e another two hours late because I’m off today, and I told you to take off also,” he reminded her. “Or you can give me a blowjob, in which case you’ll be only thirty minutes later than you are now.” He shrugged. “It’s totally up to you which one you decide.”
As Lily snapped her mouth closed, staring at him, Shade stubbornly stared back.
She sighed, tossing her purse onto the bed, then walked seductively toward him, dropping to her knees in front of him.
He groaned when she took him in her mouth. “That’s the one I hoped you would pick.”
* * *
The sound of a car pulling into to the parking lot had all the men staring at the ugly, puke-green car. Their expressions turned apprehensive when they saw the woman getting out.
“That’s all I need right now,” Cash muttered.
Shade watched Killyama approach, narrowing his eyes on her determined expression.
“I need your help.” The bitch didn’t believe in beating around the bush.
“Why should we help you?” She deserved Train’s smart-ass comment after the way she had been making fun at the brother’s expense.
“Because if you don’t, I’ll ask Beth, Winter, and Lily for help.”
Shade didn’t like to be blackmailed; it was a pet peeve of his, actually, because it showed vulnerability. Lily was his, and Killyama knew it.
“What do you want?” Viper snapped, not any happier at being blackmailed than he was.
Razer was the only one who had stayed silent, his clenching hands showing he was debating strangling her.
We’re all pussy-whipped, Shade thought glumly to himself.
“Fat Louise has put herself in a fucked-up mess, and I need you to help me get her out.”
“What kind of trouble?” Train asked suspiciously.
“She sneaked into Mexico to get her half-sister out.”
The men stared at her blankly, completely surprised by her answer.
“Fat Louise? She doesn’t even take a piss without one of you by her side,” Razer commented. “Besides, why did she have to sneak? The federales want her?” he joked.
“You think this is funny?” she snapped, taking a step toward him.