Cross My Heart (The Devil's Riders 8.50)

My eyes widened.

And just like that, I knew what was different. We weren’t just having sex. We were procreating. I knew in my bones we were making another baby.

It was a beautiful feeling, lending a purity to the dirty, filthy things we were doing to each other, and would probably do to each other again in a little bit.

After I took my casserole out of the oven.

I sent a thank you heavenwards as light filled my body, making me convulse, still bent over in the kitchen with my robe bunched up around my waist.

It was hard to believe how far I had come. How much my life had changed. How Mac, and the club, had healed my heart.

Made me whole again.

Just a few short years ago I had been on my own, a young widow, fighting to scrape out a meager existence with my inherited cottage and home heirloom seed business. I’d been so lonely, I couldn’t even imagine the feeling of a man’s arms around me. I couldn’t have imagined having friends, let alone being part of a sisterhood so strong, we could literally move mountains.

Now I had a home, a husband, a child, and a group of fiercely loyal friends that were a true family. I was pretty much the luckiest woman in the world. I had never expected anything like this. I could not imagine anyone like Mac, up until the moment I met him.

Second chances really did exist, I thought dreamily as he lifted me up and carried me to the bedroom. He went to check on the baby before crawling back in bed with me.

My man was my world. And tonight, he was determined to show me that I was his.

CHAPTER SIX

Melissa

“Well, you got through it. I’m proud of you,” Nick said as he helped me take down the last of the Christmas ornaments. It was my first Christmas without mom. And it had been hard. Even harder than I thought it would be, and I had been dreading it.

But having him with me through it all had made all the difference.

Instead of being sad, it had been bitter sweet. We had honored Mom’s memories. Following her traditions. Hanging keepsake ornaments that she had loved. Nick had thoughtfully bought some new decorations, so we added new traditions and memories to mix with the old.

That was my man. Always building. Always thoughtful. Always gorgeous.

“Thanks to you.”

“I helped,” he acknowledged. “But you did it. And you helped me, too.”

I gave his hand a quick squeeze and got back to carefully packing the delicate glass ornaments into boxes. We wouldn’t be able to use them forever, so I had gone full out. The fancy glass stuff was definitely not kid friendly.

“Is that it?” I said, looking around to make sure we had everything.

“Not quite,” Nick said with a smile. I looked up to see that he had positioned me under his arm. He was holding the last piece of mistletoe. Suzanna had grown some especially for the gang, though she had so much left over that she ended up selling some online, as well. But Nick alone had nearly cleared her out, she told me. He bought so much mistletoe, it had made her giggle. Then he hung them all over the place and kept using them to his advantage.

Our house had turned into a kissing obstacle course, ever since the day after Thanksgiving.

Not that I minded having my man love on me.

In fact, there was nothing better in the world.

He kissed me, nice and slow. Nick was very, very thorough. I ran my hands through his silky, long hair. He grinned and dropped down, looking up at me with an impish grin.

“Feel like getting frisky?”

He was holding the plastic mistletoe rightttt above my pussy.

I laughed and nodded as he scooped me up and carried me upstairs to the bedroom. I was actually impressed we made it that far. Half the time we didn’t make it past the stairs for round one.

Round two was a different matter.

I could tell I was in for a long night by the steamy look in his eyes. My man was always hungry for me. He made me feel absolutely cherished, admired, and desired.

And safe. I felt so safe with Nick.

I should tell him that, I realized. He might not know. He did so much for me but the truth was, I was shy around him about a lot of stuff. A big part of me still couldn’t believe that my forever crush wanted me back, let alone wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. But he did. And he told me all the time. I needed to tell him once in a while, too.

Twenty minutes later and I was having trouble formulating thought, let alone getting a coherent word out.