Total pages in book: 193
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
The guys have been working around the clock to get it ready before the fall comes, so that we can finally spend our first winter inside, but I haven’t been allowed anywhere near by decree of my very protective, very obsessive mountain men, and I’ve obeyed until today.
Seth has been texting me pictures nonstop until my curiosity finally drove me up from the ranch.
“Let’s go see your daddies!” I say to my son and daughter as we leave the car.
Already, I can see traces of Khalil in the details with the roaring bears and howling wolves etched into the narrow support beams in the extended overhang. The natural awning shields the front door and the steps leading to it, and I start toward them when one of my mountain men barrels through, having received my text warning him that we were on our way.
“You. Stop right there,” Khalil orders with a point of his finger when he sees me walking toward the construction site with our daughter on my hip and Nico clutching my hand. He’s wearing a hard hat, dust-covered boots and jeans, and a loose muscle shirt that shows off his sweaty arms and makes my mouth water.
“Daddy!” Bliss squeals with a wave when she sees him, looking just like his ass.
Khalil softens even more when he sees his little princess, and he takes her from my arms when she reaches for him. Nico abandons me too to run over and grab his pant leg, and Khalil bends to lift him until he’s got a kid in each arm, and they’re talking his ear off.
“I thought I told you to keep your mama in line,” Khalil says to Nico the moment he gets a chance. “We had a deal. What’s up?”
“We wanted to see you, Dad,” Nico responds with a mischievous grin.
“I’m happy to see you too, Nic.” Khalil kisses his cheek, and when I try to slip by him now that he’s distracted, Khalil says, “You can’t go in, Aurelia, and you know why. It’s not safe for you and the babies.”
As in, baby number three…and four.
“I’m barely showing, Khalil. It’s fine. I’ll be careful. Please?”
Before he can tell me no, Khalil’s father comes ambling out of the cabin in a hard hat, and my babies get hyped and start yelling for him at the same time. “Pops,” I say to the large man when he comes over to gently steal the kids from Khalil, “do you mind doing me a favor and watching the kids while your overbearing son gives me a tour?”
“Yeah, yeah. Go on, go on,” he says distractedly as he showers his grandbabies with affection.
“See?” I say to Khalil. “Problem solved. You can be right there to protect me.”
Sighing, Khalil gives in and takes my hand, stopping by a workbench to grab a spare hard hat for me. The massive Douglas fir support beams on either side of the front steps catch my attention as he carefully arranges the hat on my head, and I make a mental note to goad one of my mountain men into fucking me against it later. Khalil whisks me toward the double pane glass doors, and I take one last look over my shoulder at the kids with their grandpa before Khalil pulls me through the door.
The sound of hammering, sawing, and drilling fills my ears as we walk inside, our steps on the reclaimed pine floors echoing up to the thirty-foot ceiling. Directly across from the entryway and perpendicular to the front doors is a switchback staircase leading up to the second floor.
I glance to the left when we reach the wall propping them up and see a huge open space with a chandelier already installed, and I know from the plans that it’s the living room. Khalil keeps me close to him, tucking me into his side as he leads me to the right toward the kitchen where the majority of the noise downstairs is coming from.
I take a moment to take in the plaster walls held up and framed by more massive logs and the antler tiered chandeliers everywhere we go.
“It’s all so beautiful,” I say tearfully and feel Khalil squeeze my hip as we enter the kitchen.
Immediately, I spot Thorin with his shirt off, and my gaze narrows when I realize he’s standing with his dirty-ass boots on my custom and very expensive granite table as he attempts to fix the chandelier hanging above it.
He glances over when we walk in and then double takes when he sees me before swearing viciously. “What the hell, Khal?” He jumps down and rushes over to me. “Wolf, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see.”
Thorin immediately touches the barely there swell of my stomach. “It’s not safe,” he says.
“Neither is ditching your shirt in a construction site,” I whisper as I trail my fingers down his glistening abs. “But that didn’t stop you from turning yourself into a little thirst trap, did it?”