An Act of Redemption

by K. C. Lynn

  “There’s nothin’ to be smilin’ about right now, Anna.”

  She giggles, finding something amusing. “Actually, there’s a lot to be smiling about right now. The fact that you’re alive to even want me is something that’s worth smiling about forever.”

  She’s got me there.

  She takes my hand from the door and presses a kiss to my palm before twining our fingers together. “Come here, I have something to show you.”

  My heart pounds in anticipation as she leads me to the bedroom. I’m praying she’s changed her mine and she’s going to show me what she has under those clothes. I come to a halt as we enter the room. There are hundreds of balloons floating around, all different colors with messages written on them.

  “From friends and family,” she explains, before handing me a purple one that’s from Annabelle.

  I take it from her and sit on the end of the bed. The words: You’re my #2 hero, is written on it with felt pen. A smirk touches my lips, assuming Jaxson is #1. Anna passes me a yellow one next, from Hope and Grace, telling me they’re creating a hero pie just for me and wishing for me to get better soon. Next is a green one from Sawyer. I grunt when I read: Get well soon, pussy. My mom and sister share a blue one, with a message telling me how much they love me and how proud they are.

  I go through each one, emotions I’ve never felt before swirling inside of me as I read all the messages. I get to Jaxson’s near the end and read the words: Maybe you’re not so bad after all. I declare you good enough for my sister. I declare you a brother. I stare in shock at the words, something I didn’t think I would ever get from him because, let’s face it, no one is good enough for Anna, and I’m the first one to admit it.

  The last balloon that Anna passes to me is from her. In bold letters she took notes from Annabelle but switched it up a little. You’re my #1 hero. Love your Anna, forever.

  Those are the best words I ever could’ve gotten from her. They are the words I’ve longed to hear from her—that no matter how close she and Jaxson are, I’m her number one.

  She is mine.

  At the sound of shuffling, I look up to see her pull her shirt off, revealing full, perfect tits covered in purple lace. All the blood from my body rushes south to my cock, turning it painfully hard. With a sexy smile on her face she comes to stand between my legs. My lips immediately find the smooth surface of her flat stomach while my hands go to the button of her jean shorts. Unfortunately, she stops my attempt and steps back.

  My gaze snaps to hers. “Now is not the time to play games with me, Anna. I’m about to throw you down on this bed and fuck you into next week.”

  She bites her bottom lip, stifling a smile. “One game, Knight, and we play it my way.” Dropping to her knees she starts tugging at my shirt. “I do all of the work.”

  I help her with it, wanting to speed this along, then allow her to push me to my back. I do not like to give up control, but I’m totally digging this shit right now. “Sounds like a plan to me, baby. I’ll just lay here and enjoy the view.”

  She stands and shimmies out of her jean shorts, revealing her matching purple lace panties, making my dick jump at the sight of her. Leaning over, she goes for the button of my jeans, her mouth hovering enticingly over my cock. Her breath hits my hot skin as she removes my pants, my jaw clenching at the powerful need thrumming through my veins.

  She grasps the length of me in one of her smooth hands then leans over and takes it into her hot, wet mouth. With a tortured groan, I grip her silky strands gently as she takes me all the way to the back of her throat before sucking her way back to the top. “That’s my girl, suck my dick, baby, just like that.” She whimpers around my cock, loving my dirty words. My balls draw up tight as she slides back down and relaxes her throat, swallowing. “Ah fuck,” I grit out, feeling close to exploding already. I tug on her hair, drawing her mouth away. Her hooded eyes meet mine. “As much as I enjoy fucking this pretty mouth of yours, baby, I need you more. I need to be buried inside your warm body.”

  She places a kiss to my abs, close to one of the bandages, before I feel her squirm to remove her panties. It’s something that I want to do but I stay where I am, following her rules, because no way in hell do I want this shit to end. She crawls over and situates herself on top of me. My hands grip her hips as she sinks down on me, her hot, wet pussy sucking me greedily into her tight depth as our groans of pleasure burst through the air.

  This, this right here is everything. There’s nothing else in the world that feels as good as she does.

  “Oh god. I love you so much. I was terrified I would never feel this again,” she cries, tears forming in her warm eyes.

  The thought has panic seizing my chest and my throat burning fire. “Never going to happen, baby. You’re going to feel me for the rest of your life. My arms, my mouth, my cock,” I add, driving the point home with a thrust. “You will never go a day without feeling this.”

  “Promise?” she whispers, staring down at me.

  “Yeah, baby, I promise. Forever.”

  Her hips take on a slow rhythm, gliding up and down on me, making fire spread through my veins. I reach between us and run my knuckle through her slick pussy, finding her swollen bud. Her head falls back on a gasp.

  “Lose the bra, Anna.” With a deft flick of her fingers she obeys the order, baring me to the most beautiful sight of my life. “Jesus, you’re fucking beautiful. A goddamn angel—my angel.”

  A small smile lifts her lips. “You make me feel beautiful.”

  “That’s because you are. Lean down, baby, I want to suck your pretty nipples.”

  With a moan she bends down, her full tits filling my waiting hands, and I take one hard tip into my mouth. “Oh god.” She whimpers and grinds down harder, her hips seeking a more frantic rhythm.

  “Good girl. Fuck me, don’t hold back.” I pump my hips up into her, throwing all caution out the window, making every thrust count.

  “Logan,” she breathes, just as I feel her pussy start to flutter.

  “Give me your mouth, Anna. I want to taste you when you come.” I hook a hand around her neck and pull her closer to me. She gives me what I want, her warm, choppy breaths and sweet taste rushing through my blood, making my fucking head reel. “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you more.” She whimpers.

  “Not fucking possible.” I use my other hand to cup her warm, heavy breast then pinch her tit with enough pressure to almost border pain, knowing it will send her over the edge. And it does.

  “Oh god, yes!” she screams, just before she shatters, her pussy locking down on my cock like a tight vise and draining my own body of pleasure.

  “My, Anna.” I groan against her mouth, keeping her lips on mine as I spill myself inside of her.

  She falls off of me to the side, being mindful of my injuries, and I don’t fucking like it, not one bit. I pull her in close to me, trapping her in my arms. “Don’t move,” I whisper against her hair. “I’m good, baby, I promise. Just stay where you are.” She relaxes against me. I pull the other side of the covers over us, wanting to keep her warm, and trail my fingers down her slender arm. We relish in the silence, only feeling, never speaking.

  She takes my hand a few minutes later and brings it to her mouth for a kiss before interlacing our fingers. “I want to stay like this for the rest of my life. I never again want to feel what it’s like to not sleep in your arms.” Her voice is soft but her words hit me like a blow to the chest.

  I want to reassure her but I don’t know how. I begin stroking her ring finger, my mind spinning as I look around the room. Then I find it—floating right next to the bed is her balloon. Releasing her hand, I reach over and grab the bottom of the pink string, ripping a piece off.

  She looks up at me, her brows furrowed. “Hey, why are you wrecking my balloon? I put a lot of thought into that.”

  With a smirk, I turn on my side to face her, ignoring the bite of pain I get from it. I grab her left hand and kiss
the inside of her wrist before taking the pink ribbon and tying it around her ring finger in a secure bow. She tenses against me, her eyes shooting up to mine in shock.

  “When I tell you forever, Anna, I mean it. You will be my wife and the mother of my kids. You will be my Anna forever. Nothing or no one will ever change that.”

  Her warm eyes shine with tears. “Are you asking me to marry you, Logan Knight?”

  “No. I’m telling you, you are.”

  A laugh spills out of her just before she grabs my face and lays one hot fucking kiss on my lips. I thread my fingers through her hair and crush her mouth harder against mine. Inhaling everything she has to give me, her warm tears mixing with our flavors. “I love you so much,” she whispers into the kiss.

  “I love you, too. I swear, Anna, I’ll take care of you. You’ll never know what it’s like to hurt.”

  “As long as I have you by my side I can survive anything. I just need you.”

  After a few more hard kisses, she moves back in place, her head lying in the crook of my arm. She raises her hand and examines the pink bow tied around her finger, her smile gleaming as if she’s staring at a fucking diamond.

  “I know it’s not the perfect ring, but I’ll take you out soon and buy you what you want.”

  She shakes her head. “I don’t want anything else. This is perfect.”

  I grunt. “Babe, I was improvising. I’m going to get you the real thing. Something that will shine so fucking big every motherfucker will see it from a mile away.” She bursts out laughing, thinking I’m joking… I’m not.

  “Mmm, I have a better idea.”

  “What’s that?”

  She looks up at me. “Why don’t we get our names tattooed on our fingers, instead of rings?”

  “Seriously?”

  She nods. “I’ve been wanting one for a few years now, and I can’t think of anything better than branding your name on my finger. It’s something that can never get lost or ever be erased. It’s a forever kind of thing.”

  Just the thought has my cock going rock hard. I peer down at her, knowing, tattoo or not, she will always be my forever. “I like that idea, baby.”

  “Me, too. In the meantime, I will wear this pink bow everywhere I go and flash it to every motherfucker who walks by.”

  A laugh bursts out of me. I’ve never heard that word fall from her mouth before, and I fucking love it. “That’s my girl.”

  She covers her giggle then releases a yawn, exhaustion weighing heavily on her.

  I kiss the top of her head and bring her in close before resting my forehead on hers. “Let’s have a nap, baby, then we’ll tell the world.”

  She nods. “Do you need anything first?”

  “No. I have everything I need.”

  She burrows in closer, tucking her face into my neck. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Anna.”

  “Forever,” she whispers.

  “Forever.”

  As contentment settles over me, it isn’t long before I slip into the best sleep of my life, knowing with this girl by my side I will conquer the world, just like my friend wanted.

  *

  Anna

  As I feel Logan’s breathing even out, I glance up to see him sound asleep, his face soft and peaceful, just like it always should be. Our story was long and our road to happiness even longer but in the end we prevailed.

  In the beginning this man was my salvation but in the end it was his redemption that saved us all.

  EPILOGUE

  Anna

  Six Months Later

  “Higher, Logan, higher.” Annabelle shrieks, laughing as Logan pushes her on the tree swing. I snap a picture of them with my phone, one of the many I’ve taken of Logan today.

  We’re at Jaxson and Julia’s new home. Jaxson ended up buying some of Cade’s land so they could stay in the country, but on the other side and away from their old place. After what happened, Julia refused to go back there, and I don’t blame her, I don’t think I could ever bring myself back to the place where Logan was almost killed. Jaxson made sure to have Julia’s tree moved. It now stands proudly on their new land, a grand reminder of their love for each other.

  The whole gang is here as we celebrate Logan’s graduation from the academy, something he wasn’t keen on letting us have, but Julia and I didn’t care. We were going to celebrate him graduating top of his class whether he liked it or not. Even his mom and sister are here, fitting in with the group perfectly. Cooper got an emergency call right in the middle of Logan’s ceremony that he had to go to, and unfortunately my parents are out of town, but we had dinner with them the week before to celebrate.

  Everything is finally how it was always meant to be.

  “Annabelle, quick come here, we’re gonna play tag with Bandit!” Hope shouts, waving her over from across the yard.

  Annabelle jumps off the swing mid-air, giving Logan a mild heart attack before scampering away. I giggle at his panicked expression.

  He turns around and notices me watching him for the first time. Giving me that sexy smirk of his, he closes the distance between us. Wrapping his arms around my waist he picks me up, leaving my feet to dangle off the ground. “What are you laughing at?” he asks.

  “Your face when she jumped off,” I admit with a smile, circling my arms tightly around his neck. “You would think, by your expression, she just jumped off the Empire State Building.”

  He grunts. “She needs to give a guy some warning.”

  I shake my head, stifling a laugh. He’s as protective as Jaxson.

  A moment of silence stretches between us as we stare at one another, his midnight blue eyes piercing the very depths of my soul.

  “Have I told you lately how proud I am of you?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

  “Only about a hundred times. I’m pretty sure the entire country heard you, my mom and sister today.”

  “Good, because the entire world should know how amazing you are.”

  His arms tighten around me. “You’re the amazing one, baby.” I scoff at the compliment but my heart warms. “Tell me you love me,” he demands.

  A full smile breaks out across my face. “I love you.”

  “Tell me you’re my Anna.”

  “I’m your Anna,” I whisper.

  I swear I will never tire of repeating these words to him for as long as I live.

  “Forever.”

  “Forever.”

  “Damn fucking straight. Now kiss me, baby.”

  I follow the order, a blissful sigh escaping me as my mouth descends on his. The kiss spreads throughout my entire body, right to the tips of my fingers and toes, a kiss that I’m blessed to have for the rest of my life.

  A groan rumbles from deep within his chest. “Jesus, I fucking love you.”

  I pull back to take in air. “I love you more.”

  “Not possible.”

  Our moment gets interrupted. “Hey, you two, lose the lip lock and get your asses over here. We need your help for this,” Sawyer yells from across the yard as he, Jaxson and Cade all line up with their kids. A massive, inflatable obstacle course is set up in front of them, courtesy of Jaxson renting it for the kids to play on today.

  “Sawyer, what on earth are you doing with my babies now?” Grace yells from the patio where she sits, visiting with Julia, Faith, Kayla and Katelyn.

  “Don’t worry, Cupcake, just a little friendly competition.”

  “Uh oh. I’m scared,” I whisper with amusement. The girls must feel the same as I do, since they immediately get up and head over to them.

  Logan grunts. “I’m sure they don’t need any help. Those assholes are always crampin’ my style when I’m with you.”

  With a giggle, I give him another hard kiss before he releases me. Miranda’s laughter echoes through the backyard as we walk to join everyone else. We look back to see her and Sarge on the patio. He’s leaning in close to her, murmuring in her ear, making her blush.

&nbs
p; “That guy is really starting to piss me off.” I glance at Logan to see him glaring daggers at them.

  “I think he likes her.”

  “I know he does. The fucker was asking about her at the gym the other day.”

  “Well, I think they would make a cute couple.”

  His glare swings to me. “My mom is too old to make a cute couple with anyone.”

  “Oh don’t be ridiculous. She’s not that old, she still has many years left, and she deserves to be happy. They have both been through a lot. I think together they could heal the wounds of their pasts.”

  I look up to see him staring down at me, his expression softer. “I hate it when you make sense.” A smile touches my lips as he drapes an arm around my shoulders and drops a kiss to the top of my head.

  Jaxson gives Logan the stink eye as we reach them. “You’ve only been here an hour, can’t you keep your hands to yourself until you’re home?”

  “No, I can’t,” Logan shoots back in annoyance, not backing down. He lowers his voice so the kids don’t hear what he says next. “And that’s mild compared to what I want to do to her.”

  Jaxson shoves him. “You little punk.”

  Logan, Sawyer and Cade all chuckle.

  “I swear I love this kid more every day,” Sawyer remarks with a grin.

  Jaxson glares over at him, not appreciating his input.

  “Come on, Daddy, let’s get this show on the road,” Annabelle says, as she excitedly jumps into Jaxson’s arms.

  “All right, we’re settling this score once and for all,” Sawyer starts. “Except this time on land. We’re running this obstacle course with the kids on our backs. If a kid falls off you’re out. First one to the finish line wins. Knight, I want you on the other end and I want you to time it. I’m curious what mine will be when I beat these aaa…guys,” he adds with a cocky grin.

  “You’re only taking one kid,” Grace says to him.

  “No, I’m taking both.”