"So," she said, careful to keep her tone casual, "I've been looking at flights that leave in the next week or so."
There was a pause. "Leave for home?" Rex asked, rolling to his side to meet her eyes.
"Well, we need to see Regina," Al pointed out. "Last time on Skype, I think she recognised your voice. She got a big smile on her face when you started talking."
His eyebrows drew together. "I thought maybe I'd go back soon, and you'd keep travelling. You said you wanted to stay away for a year, maybe more. Your big adventure."
"I thought that too." She paused, looking out over the view before them. "I think I'm ready to stop living out of a backpack, though. For now."
"For now?"
Al levelled her gaze at him. "I'm not planning on settling down any time soon. Why, did you think you'd have me pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen in the next few years?"
Rex blinked several times. "Sorry, I've been rendered temporarily useless by the idea of getting you pregnant. Just give me a minute."
"I'm serious, Rex. I know you don't want to end my adventure early, but I've found what I was looking for. I climbed a mountain and swam with elephants and got lost in, like, twelve cities. I know you're desperate to get home to Jared and Ivy and Reggie, and I want to come too."
"Skype isn't the same as being there," Rex admitted slowly. "I've spoken to them six times in the last two weeks. It was the hardest thing, making the choice not to be there after Reggie was born. But Ivy wanted me to come to you, and not just because I kept moping on her couch and eating all her food. She wanted me to be happy. Plus, in her words, it's not like Reggie will remember the first few months of her life anyway. Between Ivy's family and ours, she gets carried around so much, I'll be surprised if she learns to walk before she's five."
"So, we go home," Alannah said. "We go home, and you finally get to hold Regina again. And next year, we find time to get away again. The adventure will continue."
Rex rolled so he hovered over her, balanced on his forearms. His gaze was fixed on her face with laser precision, like he could test the truth of her words just by looking hard enough. "Do you mean that? You won't feel like I'm dragging you back home?"
"Of course, I mean it." She reached up, pressed her lips to his, and drew back to meet his eyes. "You know, big man, you're an adventure too." Half her mouth quirked up at the cliché.
"You're my adventure, sassy girl," he murmured. "Being with you is my adventure."
"Come home, then," Al said.
They did.
The End
Sophia Martin
Sophia grew up in Australia as part of a big family. She started telling stories before she could write, and writing before she could spell. Her early works consist almost entirely of misspelled fairy stories. As a teenager she would hand-copy the steamy scenes out of her favourite books to enjoy later, and this naturally led her to romance.
After a brief stint in non-fiction writing with a university paper, she returned to her origins and started writing fiction again. When not writing, she can be found pole-dancing very poorly, completing her university degree or terrorizing her two dogs. He Comes Home is her first novel.
Find her on Instagram: @sophiamartinwrites
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Sophia Martin and Blushing Books!
Shepherd’s Creek Series:
He Comes Home - Book One
Taking His Time - Book Two (Available December 2019)
Blushing Books
Blushing Books is one of the oldest eBook publishers on the web. We've been running websites that publish spanking and BDSM related romance and erotica since 1999, and we have been selling eBooks since 2003. We hope you'll check out our hundreds of offerings at http://www.blushingbooks.com.
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