Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
His grin was slow and dark. “No, baby. That happened the second you let me touch you like you were already mine.”
I laughed through the tears threatening to spill. “Okay, but now it’s stitched in thread, too. So nobody can miss it.”
“Damn right, it is.” His expression shifted, eyes turning fierce again as he pulled me against his chest. “You’re mine, Tamara. That doesn’t change. Not ever.”
Talon leaned in and pressed a kiss to my temple, followed by my cheek, then the corner of my mouth. They were soft touches that made my breath hitch. But when I turned my head and brushed my lips against his, the tenderness between us snapped into something else entirely.
He growled low in his throat and flipped me onto my back, pinning me with the weight of his body. “You’re mine.”
“I know,” I whispered, heart pounding. “And you’re mine too.”
“Damn fucking straight.” He kissed me hard and deep. It was a claiming, his tongue sweeping into my mouth while his hand slid beneath the hem of my shirt to splay over my bare stomach. He pulled back just enough to look down at me, his thumb tracing lazy circles against my skin.
“I’m gonna put a kid in you,” he murmured, his voice rough. “Might be tonight if I haven’t already done it. Soon, you’ll be full of me, wearing my ring, my patch. Every fucking thing I can give you. All of me.”
My breath caught, and I didn’t even try to stop the rush of emotion that flooded me. Talon didn’t make promises he didn’t intend to keep, so I knew I could count on the future he described.
“Your ring?”
He brushed his thumb over my finger. “Already ordered it, just waitin’ on the jeweler since I wanted the sapphire to be a perfect match for your eyes.”
I loved that he had put so much thought into my engagement ring. There were details to figure out, like me leaving Lainie without a roommate, but I had no doubt that we’d work it all out. Together.
“I want all of it,” I whispered, not trying to hide everything I felt now that we both knew where we stood with each other. “You and me. Babies. Building a family.”
His eyes burned hotter. “You’ll have it.”
He kissed me again, slower this time. Like he had all the time in the world to remind me who I belonged to…because he did.
EPILOGUE
SAVAGE
The Midnight Rebel smelled like wood polish, whiskey, and the faintest trace of lemon cleaner. It was quiet for now, with just the hum of the old jukebox in standby mode and the thudding of my boots against the scuffed floorboards as I restocked the liquor shelves, checked the register, refilled the garnish containers, and got the bar ready to open. It was Friday night, and we had a full house expected later. Everything needed to be ready, or the place would descend into pure chaos. Especially when I’d taken the night off.
I moved on autopilot since my mind wasn’t really in the bar. It was with Tamara, tucked away in my office, nose-deep in one of her textbooks, probably chewing on the edge of her pen while she tried to memorize a list of Latin terms or some shit like that. And our six-month old daughter. Calida already had me wrapped tighter than my fists in a street fight. I’d take the world apart with my bare hands for my baby girl, no questions asked.
The front door opened, and Hawk stomped inside, muttering to himself.
“Late,” I grunted when he finally noticed I was in the room.
“Take it up with Midnight,” he snapped as he marched over to the bar. “New assignment.”
He snatched a glass and a bottle of his favorite whiskey. After pouring two fingers, he drank it all in one swallow.
I waited, knowing he’d keep ranting if I let him, and I could get a better idea of why he looked like he was on the edge of his sanity.
“Fucking client briefing.” He scowled as he poured another glass and tossed the entire contents down his throat again. “What kind of a name is Gemma, anyway?”
He pivoted on his heel and disappeared into the kitchen.
Gemma.
My lips curved into a smirk. From the way he’d been riled up, I should’ve figured this was about a woman. His woman.
Chuckling, I finished with the last of the prep and wiped my palms on a bar towel, before heading to my office. Hawk was forgotten, and my heart kicked up with every step.
I pushed the door open quietly, and there they were. My reasons for existing.
Tamara was curled in my chair with her legs tucked under her. She was wearing one of my T-shirts knotted at the waist and a pair of soft black leggings. Her hair was twisted up in a messy knot, a pencil stabbed through it, making me think of a naughty librarian. Her laptop was open, her textbook sprawled across her lap, a highlighter gripped between two fingers as she read with a furrowed brow.