by Rye Hart
“Thank you, Daddy,” I said, my voice weak.
“And the way Caleb took care of you.” He paused. “I can’t imagine a better man for you. He was everything you needed. I know now that I was wrong about him and about your relationship. He’s perfect for you.”
“I know,” I said. Dad smiled and kissed my cheek again. The music was slowly approaching our cue so we took a couple steps forward and waited.
I wrapped my hand around my dad’s arm and felt butterflies rise in my stomach. When it was time to walk, I felt like I was floating. My head felt light, and my feet barely touched the ground.
When I saw Caleb standing at the end of the aisle, I couldn’t wait another second. My dad had to hold me back so I wouldn’t run forward. The music was impossibly slow, and the entire walk down the aisle was torturous. I just wanted to get to Caleb’s arms.
“Take care of her, kid,” Dad said as he placed my hand in Caleb’s.
“Always,” Caleb said.
Dad smiled and walked down to sit beside Cathy. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and they both smiled up at us.
Turning to face Caleb, I felt happier than I’d ever been.
***
The reception was a blur of music and laughter. Caleb’s firemen buddies kept everyone entertained well into the night. Stephanie snuck off with Tyler sometime after we cut the cake, and Dad and Cathy were both so happy they couldn’t sit still. They never left the dance floor, whirling each other around like two teenagers in love.
I only had eyes for Caleb. We went through the traditional dances and toasts. We cut the cake and danced some more. By the time the night was over, I was exhausted and ready to be alone with my new husband.
“Will you be upset if I tear that dress off you?” Caleb asked, whispering in my ear while we waited for the limo to pull up.
“I’d be upset if you didn’t,” I said with a mischievous glint in my eyes.
Caleb grinned down at me just as the limo pulled up. All our guests lined up outside to blow bubbles on us as we ran toward the car. I laughed as Caleb threw open the door and practically shoved me inside.
We barely got the door closed before his lips were on mine. I melted into him, losing myself in the feel of his lips and the taste of his tongue. We could barely wait to tear into each other.
“Are you feeling okay?” Caleb asked, suddenly pulling away. “Are you tired?”
“I’m all right,” I said. “Better than fine. I’m so happy.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to exhaust yourself.”
“That’s what wedding nights are for,” I said with a grin.
“I’m serious, Tara.” His eyes were dark. I sighed and kissed him softly.
“I feel great,” I said. “I’m a little tired, but it’s not chemo related.”
“Okay,” he said. Relief flooded his features, and he claimed my lips again.
With my chemo schedule, we couldn’t take a honeymoon anytime soon. Caleb wanted to plan something far away and exotic, but Dr. Young said no. She wanted me to stay in town until my therapies were completely over. If something happened, I needed to have access to my doctors immediately.
We were both upset, but Caleb didn’t want to risk anything that might hurt me. Instead, he reserved the honeymoon suite at a hotel downtown. We would have the entire place to ourselves for four days. I was so excited that I was shaking by the time the limo pulled up outside the hotel.
Caleb couldn’t keep his hands off me. He kissed me in the elevator, sliding his hands under my dress and cupping my ass in his strong hands. I moaned and pressed the button for our floor repeatedly.
We barely made it inside the room before Caleb ripped the wedding dress off my body. He tore the zipper down the back, but I didn’t care. I needed to feel him inside of me. My bra and panties flew off in an instant, and soon, Caleb was stepping out of his tux and throwing me on the bed.
He devoured my body with his, kissing and licking every inch of me. I writhed beneath him while he brought me to orgasm over and over again. Our bodies melted into each other before he even slid himself inside of me. And when he did, the entire world melted away.
He held onto me tightly while he rocked our bodies back and forth. His dick filled me up completely, pressing deeper and deeper with each thrust. I was panting and clawing at his back, hungry for more.
“I love you,” he said, his voice a deep growl.
“I love you so much,” I said between moans.
I couldn’t tell where Caleb ended and I began. He was inside of me, on top of me, and all over me.
He thrust his hips harder and faster, grunting with need and taking me as his own. I threw my head back and let waves of pleasure wash over my body. I shook and cried out, moaning Caleb’s name and clinging to him.
My pussy clenched around him, and he came fast. He grunted and growled, biting at my neck and kissing my lips. We held onto each other, still locked together. Our bodies shook, and we dripped with sweat, but we didn’t care. As we kissed, the entire world melted away.
I slept peacefully that night, wrapped in Caleb’s arms. Neither of us said a word until the next morning. We didn’t have to. Everything between us was perfect. Our entire lives felt like they’d finally fallen into place. That night, I didn’t feel sick. I felt whole.
We woke the next morning and stayed in bed. Caleb stroked my skin, and I kissed his chest. We didn’t want to move for fear of popping our little bubble. Instead, we stayed hidden in that room for four days, alternating between making love and dreaming about our future.
On our last day in the honeymoon suite, he held me close while we lied naked in bed. His body felt like part of my own. We’d spent so much time locked together that I didn’t think I would survive when we finally had to break apart.
Caleb stroked my hair and whispered soft words in my ears. He promised me the world.
“When you’re healthy,” he said with a sweet look on his face, “what do you think about kids?”
“You want kids?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Are you kidding?” he asked. “Hell yeah, I want kids. A bunch of kids.”
I laughed, and we spent the rest of the day naming our future kids.
Caleb told me about his plans to whisk me away the second I entered remission. He knew my cancer would disappear, and he was right. Within six months, I was cancer free. I didn’t know it then, but Caleb did. He never gave up hope. He never stopped planning for our future.
The End
RYE HART SNEAK PEEKS
STONE HEART
A SINGLE MOM & MOUNTAIN MAN ROMANCE
PROLOGUE
Is this real?
Is this actually happening?
My hips connected with his kitchen counter as the kissing intensified. His hands were all over me as I threaded my arms around his neck.
I felt alive.
On fire.
Ignited with electricity and surging with pleasure. I couldn't help myself. Even though a part of me was wracked with a guilt that made me nauseous, I couldn't stop. His tongue traveled along the roof of my mouth, making my knees grow weak.
My legs gave out from underneath me as his arms tightened around my body.
I could feel his rock-hard cock pressed against me. He wanted me as badly as I wanted him. There was something about that notion that made me smile into his kiss as his hands traveled my curves. He cupped my ass and gripped my thighs, bouncing between letting me lead and taking what he wanted. He pinned me against his counter as my hands traveled down to his chest.
I could feel the swell of his strength underneath my fingertips.
His hands gripped my ass again, and I jumped against his body. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my hands threading through his hair. My lips traveled down his neck as he carried me through his house and then closed a door behind us with his foot.
We were in his bedroom, and his hands were sliding up my shirt.
Piece by piece,
we ripped our clothes off. He yanked my shirt over my head, and I fell to my knees and took his pants with me. He pulled me off the floor and tossed me onto his bed, his eyes filled with a predatory instinct.
I watched him remove his boxers, taking in the thick cock he had bouncing between his legs.
He crashed into me, our naked bodies taking in one another. I ran my hands up and down his back, caressing the chiseled muscles there. His arms were bulging with veins, and his legs were trimmed with sinewy strength. He was sin incarnate, and I couldn't get enough of him.
His lips traveled down my neck, nipping and sucking at my delicate skin. His hands were firm but gentle, holding me to his bed but not pinning me so I couldn't move. His lips wrapped around my nipples, lapping and sucking and making my thighs grow wet with want.
I spread my body open for him as he continued to travel down the length of my form.
My eyes locked with him as he dipped between my legs. That cheeky little grin spread across his face. My legs were shaking, waiting in anticipation for what was going to come next. His lips kissed my thighs and lapped up the juices already gathering on my skin.
Then, he parted my pussy folds and began to devour me.
His tongue was heavy and thick. He pressed on my clit as his beard tickled the sides of my pussy. He tossed my legs over his shoulders as my hands threaded through his tendrils, pulling him as close as I could get him. My hips rolled, and my toes curled. Moans of ecstasy and desire fell from my lips. I groaned at him. Growled at him. Allowed the animal inside of me to unleash. I could feel my pussy dripping onto his lips as he lapped me up, swallowing me down and humming at my taste.
I could feel it, that white-hot sensation in my abdomen. My heels propped up on his strong shoulders, and he raised up, bending me in half and rendering me motionless. His hands pinned my hips, and his thumbs caressed the backs of my thighs. I felt my world spinning and colliding, shattering into pieces as electricity shot through my brain. My mouth opened and my eyes screwed shut. My toes curled into his skin as his tongue pressed deep into my pussy.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to feel it.
“Yes, baby. Yes. I’m coming. I’m coming. I’m com—”
CHAPTER 1
CINDY
“Mommy, is Grandma gonna be okay?”
“Why would you ask that, Lily?”
“She seemed sad when we left.”
“She’s always sad when you leave, honeybee. She misses you when you’re gone,” I said.
“So, nothing bad happened?” Lily asked.
“No, sweetie. Nothing bad happened.”
“Why doesn’t Grandma come to visit us then?” she asked.
“Because Grandma can’t move as easily as we can.”
“Are you calling her old?”
“No. Grandma’s not old. She’s got a lot more life in her, but that doesn’t mean she can move like we can.”
“Is that why Grandma always only wants to rock and read me a story?” she asked.
“Maybe Grandma likes reading to you. What’s wrong with that?”
“Sometimes, I wanna run around outside with her.”
“Then ask her to do that next time. Grandma might have to sit on the porch, but she’ll watch you while you do it.”
“Will you run around with me outside?” she asked.
“We can play tag when we get home. How does that sound?”
“Yeah! Tag with Mommy!”
I looked into the rearview mirror and took in my daughter’s eyes. Lillian looked just like me. Auburn hair, apple cheeks, and fair skin that held a tan instead of burning in the sun. But she didn’t have my eyes. They weren’t a sea green like mine. She had her father’s eyes, that crisp sky blue I’d fallen in love with all those years ago.
Even though he’d been gone a year, it still hurt to look into my daughter’s eyes.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, honeybee?”
“Why do you call me honeybee?” Lily asked.
“Do you want me to call you something else?” I asked.
“Grandma calls me princess.”
“Well, that’s Grandma’s nickname for you. That’s why I don’t call you princess.”
“Daddy called me princess.”
I gripped my steering wheel hard as tears brewed behind my eyes.
“That he did,” I said.
“Does Grandma call me princess because Daddy isn’t here to do it anymore?” Lily asked.
“I think so, yes.”
“Do you not call me princess because it hurts to say it because Daddy’s gone?”
My daughter always had a way of reminding me that she had her father’s intuitive spirit. She was remarkable for her age.
“A little bit,” I said. “But I’m fine.”
“I miss Daddy.”
“I miss him, too, honeybee.”
“You wanna know what I miss the most?” Lily asked.
“What’s that?”
“I miss his coffee.”
“What?” I asked.
“The way his coffee smelled. You drink gross coffee. It’s all black and nasty. But Daddy’s coffee always smelled like flowers.”
“Flowers,” I said.
“Mhm. Like the flowers we have in our backyard.”
“I don’t think Daddy’s coffee smelled like flowers. I think his hair smelled like flowers.”
“No, Mommy. It was his coffee. I know. I tasted it.”
“You drank Daddy’s coffee?” I asked.
“It was only one time! It was still gross, but it tasted like it smelled.”
“You’re a little booger, you know that?”
She giggled and stuck her tongue out at me playfully. I laughed and shook my head as we turned onto our street. I kept my eyes on the road as my daughter started singing to herself. She was starting kindergarten in a week, and I couldn’t believe the time had flown by so quickly. She was growing so big, and her language skills exceeded most her peers. At one point I was afraid she would fall behind.
When her father died, she stopped talking altogether for several months, and I was worried she would regress in all the progress we’d made with her. Instead, when she did start talking again, she was using words I hadn’t even known she knew. It was like conversing with a teenager sometimes.
“Mommy, look!”
I shook my head as I pulled into the driveway, my eyes scanning the scene in front of me.
“Nikki!” Lily said.
I saw my best friend waving from the porch as she jumped off the side. She came running up to Lillian’s door and ripped it open, unstrapping the girl from her car seat. The two of them hugged and kissed on one another as I got out of the car. Seeing them like this always warmed my heart.
I shut the car door and listened to it heave and groan like it was protesting the fact that it was still in use.
“You really need a new car,” Nicole said.
“Maybe but I can’t afford that right now. I need to work on getting this house paid off first,” I said.
“Aunt Nikki, you wanna play tag with me and Mommy?” Lily asked.
Nicole gave me a dubious look before she planted a kiss on my daughter’s cheek.
“It’s almost dinnertime, so how about this? You go inside and get changed and then figure out what you want for dinner. Then, after dinner, we’ll run around for a bit. How does that sound?” Nicole asked.
“Yay! I’m going to go change!”
Lillian wiggled out of Nicole’s grasp before she held out her hand for my keys. I rolled my eyes and plopped them into her hand and then watched my daughter unlock the front door. From not even crawling to speaking in coherent sentences to being well beyond her years in occupational therapy, it was a miracle what Bradley and I were able to accomplish with her.
It pained me to know that he wouldn’t be here to see her off to her first day of kindergarten.
“How you holding up?” Nicole asked.
“It’s ha
rd, going and seeing Bradley’s mom. He looked so much like her,” I said.
“It’s good for Lily to have a relationship with them, though.”
“I’d never keep her from them, Nikki. They’re family, and they adore Lily.”
“But I know it’s not easy on you. I wanna make sure you’re okay,” she said.
“Thanks. I appreciate it. But shouldn't you be at work?”
“Eh, figured I could use a day off. Tuesdays are my slowest days anyway. I wanted to make sure you guys got back in okay.”
“I love you,” I said. “You know that?”
“I know. Which is why we’re having wine tonight. Got it chilling in the fridge.”
“You're the best.”
I heard a door slam open, and I whipped my head around. My nosey neighbor was charging out of her house and making her way to mine. I furrowed my brow in confusion as her eyes swept over my car. I watched her nose crinkle almost in disgust, and part of me wanted to slap her.
Yes, my car was old. Yes, it was rusting on the undercarriage. But it was all I could afford after selling off everything to try and pay down as much of the mortgage on our house as I could.
When Bradley died, I had to take any job I could. Nicole hired me as a part-time employee until I could find something better, but no one wanted to hire a full-time mom with no work experience for any full-time position in this town. I sold off all I could, bought the cheapest car I trusted to haul my daughter around, and then threw everything else at our debt.
I knocked out most of it, but I still had forty thousand left on our mortgage to get rid of.
“Welcome back,” said the neighbor.
“Thank you,” I said.
“How was the drive?”
“It was fine.”
“In that car?” she asked.
“Yes. It gets me from point A to B safely. That’s all I can ask for.”
“Where’d you guys head off to?”
None of your damn business.
“Lily’s grandmother’s place.”
“Your mother or in-laws?” she asked.
“My in-laws. Technically.”
“You separated or something? I can sympathize. I’ve been separated twice.”
