by R. E. Butler
She reached her hand back to him, and he took it, leaning forward and kissing the top before rubbing his cheek against it. “I wish I could have met him, too.”
Nathan, Owen, and Kevin were taking turns playing a handheld video game in the third row. She’d been touched by their nervousness when they climbed into the SUV and reassured them that her parents really did like them and were looking forward to getting to know them. After he shut the door, Aaron said quietly, “They’re not used to people outside of the pride caring for them. You’ve brought so many wonderful changes to our lives in the last few weeks, Sam. I’m so glad you’re our mate.”
When her dad opened the front door as they were getting out of the SUV, he called out, “Come on inside before you freeze your ears off!”
The kids scampered up the walk, and he greeted all of them warmly, sending them inside to take off their coats and boots. He kissed Sam’s cheek and said, “You look much better, honey. How are you feeling?”
“Great, Dad. I’ll be glad to go back to work tomorrow.”
Her mom looked up from where she was hugging the kids and laughed, “Being waited on hand and foot getting to you?”
Grant slipped her coat from her shoulders and hung it up in the hall closet. “Oh, yeah, it’s real torture,” Sam quipped with a smile.
The house smelled exactly like it always did on Sundays — roasted meat, fresh bread, and the hint of something sweet that would be for dessert. Today it smelled like pot roast, sourdough bread, and apple pie. Her favorites. Her mouth watered at the thought of the feast that awaited them.
“I’ve got cookies that need frosting, boys,” her mom said, encouraging the kids to join her in the kitchen. Over her shoulder she said, “Samantha, you could offer your mates a cup of coffee.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sam replied sheepishly. She looked at Aaron and Grant who had looks of wonder on their faces as she led them into the kitchen. Her mom had been raised in Georgia, so the kitchen was country-comfortable, with gingham curtains, wood paneling, and framed prints of barns hanging on the walls.
“Would you like some coffee? I’m sure there’s soda and juice, too,” Sam said, smiling as they looked the cozy kitchen over, noticing the refrigerator covered with family pictures.
When she got their attention, they both said they were fine, and her dad offered to give them the tour. She followed behind, smiling at the kids who were perched on stools at the island, frosting thick sugar cookies with colored frosting.
The tour started on the second floor, including her parents’ room, the guest bedroom, and her own bedroom, that still held an embarrassing assortment of posters of teen heartthrobs plastered to the walls. Aaron and Grant raised their brows at her but said nothing about the posters, the Pepto-Bismol pink color of the walls, or the mound of stuffed animals that graced the pink, lace canopy draped across the top of the bed.
On the way out of the room, Aaron said, “Like pink?”
She gave him a light punch on his shoulder. “I was a teenager.”
Grant shut the door behind them and laughed, “It’s a good thing we didn’t know you back then. I don’t think we could have competed with the one guy in the leather pants.”
Her cheeks heated as she laughed, hooking her arms through theirs. “I’m glad you find my awkward teen years so funny.”
As they headed downstairs, her mother called her and asked for a hand in the kitchen, and she left her mates with her dad as they finished the tour, starting with the den.
Sam set the table, wiped frosting from the kids’ faces and hands, and sliced the fresh-from-the-oven bread into a big basket. Her mom laid the platter of pot roast on the table and called for everyone to join them at the table. Aaron and Grant came with her Dad back into the kitchen and joined her on one side of the table. Her parents and the kids sat down in the other chairs.
Sam had learned very quickly that Aaron and Grant liked to fix her plate. Whenever they sat down to eat together, one of them would put the plate together for her, making sure she had plenty. It wasn’t uncommon for them to take more on their own plates and set it aside for her, just in case she decided she was still hungry. She rarely was, though. The meals at the boarding house were so filling, her plate piled high, and she had never wanted seconds.
While the meal progressed, her parents kept the kids talking about school and activities, peppered Aaron and Grant with personal questions, and told a few embarrassing stories from Sam’s childhood. When the dishes were cleared, they took coffee into the family room and sat down on two comfortable couches while her dad tended to the fire in the fireplace. Sam’s mom joined her dad on one of the couches, and Sam noticed that they both had expectant looks on their faces. She was about to ask what was going on when Aaron and Grant both stood and then immediately dropped to one knee in front of her.
Her eyes widened as Aaron pulled a ring from his pant’s pocket. Picking up her left hand, he held a diamond solitaire ring in front of her ring finger.
“Samantha, I love you. When you came into my life I thought I was the luckiest man in the world. If you’ll marry me, then I’ll know for sure that I am. Will you?”
Happy tears sprang to her eyes. “Yes!”
He pushed the ring onto her finger and kissed her. The kids clapped. Grant held two rings in his hand. Lifting one from his palm, he pushed it onto her finger before picking up the other one and holding her hand.
“Sam, I know that there was some engineering over the way we met,” he glanced at the kids who grinned, “but even if that hadn’t happened, I know that we would have met eventually, and I would have found you to be completely enchanting, beautiful beyond words, and sweeter than anyone I’ve ever known. You’re easy to love because you give so much of yourself to everyone, and I’m so thankful that you chose me to be your mate. I love you. Marry me.”
The tears threatened to spill over as she said, “Yes.” Grant pushed the third ring onto her finger. When the third ring nestled against the others, she saw that all three solitaires joined to form one ring with three connected stones. After she kissed Grant, and the kids and her parents clapped and cheered, Aaron explained, “It wasn’t enough for us to both get you a ring, we wanted to have all three of us represented, so there’s one diamond for each.”
“I love it,” she sniffled. “I love you both.”
Kevin said, “Now, Dads?”
Aaron and Grant both chuckled and got off their knees and sat on either side of Sam. The boys stood and came over to Sam, lining up in front of her.
Kevin looked very serious as he cleared his throat and said, “I promise to not leave my shoes at the front door.”
Kevin looked at Owen, who stood next to him. “I promise to help with the dishes.”
Ben said, “I promise to hang up my coat in the hall instead of tossing it on the floor.”
Brian said, “I promise not to leave my underpants in the bathroom.”
Sam chuckled at his confession.
Nathan said, “I promise to always be kind to my old brothers and my new brothers.”
There was a short pause as the boys looked at each other, and then they said together, “Will you be our mom?”
She gasped as Ben held out his hand and opened it, revealing a gold ring. Ben picked up the ring and held it out to her as the tears came back in force, and she took the ring and put it on the ring finger of her right hand. “Of course I will, kids. I love you all so much, and I’d be proud to be your mom.”
The kids piled onto the couch, hugging her and kissing her cheeks. When they were seated again, she looked at the ring they had given her and counted two rows of four stones in varying gemstones.
“Oh, it’s our birthdays!” Sam said once she realized the colors were birthstones. She looked at the kids. “I love it!”
“And we love you, sweetheart,” Grant murmured in her ear.
Sam looked at her parents and saw how happy they were for her, and she realized that she’d never been happ
ier. It wasn’t just that Grant and Aaron loved her or that she loved them, it was that she loved being part of their family and how accepted they made her feel. They loved her, cared for her, watched out for her — hell, they’d fought for her life. They said they were lucky to have her in their life, but she knew that she was the lucky one. The luckiest woman in the world.
Chapter 15
Grant kissed Sam goodbye before she left for her first day back at school. He had really loved being home with her the week before, and it wasn’t until her alarm went off in the morning that it really hit him that she wasn’t going to be with him all day.
“You look bummed,” she said as she wrapped a scarf around her neck before he helped her into her coat.
“I’m gonna miss you.”
“Aw, I’m gonna miss you, too. The day will fly by, you’ll see.”
He felt a little petulant. He didn’t want to share her with the school; he wanted to keep her in bed where the scent of her arousal drove him insane.
He walked her out to the car and then stood on the porch until she faded from view. After putting the kids on the bus and driving Henry to school, he headed to the farm to work, disgruntled and irritated.
He normally worked until dinnertime on Monday, leaving the kids to Aaron’s capable hands. But as the day wore on, he wished that he’d been the one to greet Sam when she got home from school, to be the one to ask her how her first day back went. He’d known that there would be times when he would jealous of Aaron, and this was one of those times.
Alone in the barn late in the afternoon while Rhett and the others had gone for supplies, Grant was lost in thought about Sam when he suddenly smelled her. His head jerked around looking for her, but he didn’t see her. He felt like he was going crazy. He put down the hammer and stood, turning towards the door that was slightly ajar. A stifled giggle caught his attention as he stalked towards the doors, thinking she had left them open to tease him into a chase. He saw a glimpse of her black coat as she ducked behind a thick post inside the barn, and he growled happily and leapt forward, catching her as she moved away from the post.
“Gotcha,” he growled, snagging her around the waist and drawing her close.
“Umm,” she sighed, tipping her head to the side as he kissed her throat.
“I’m not complaining, sweetheart, but what are you doing here?” He pulled her closer, the ridge of his erection grinding against her.
“I came to seduce you and make you my love slave.” Her head dropped back down, and she grinned.
“No seduction necessary. I’m already yours.”
She gave him a sultry look as she lowered her lashes and sank her teeth into her bottom lip. “I’m feeling very naughty, Grant. Make love to me, here. Please.” The words whispered across his lips, and every thought went flying out of his head as his cat purred in his mind and the sound tumbled from his mouth.
He lifted her up further, and her legs wrapped around his waist. The long skirt she wore bunched up between them as he pressed her against the post, cushioning her back with his arm. Her hands moved between them and pulled the skirt out of the way, and he pressed his jeans-clad erection to the apex of her thighs. Grinding gently so he didn’t injure her delicate flesh, he devoured her mouth in a heated kiss and flexed his hips repeatedly until he felt her body tense and his senses caught the spike in her arousal.
That’s the spot. Mine. Mine!
He pushed his free hand up the front of her sweater, his cold fingers making her shiver as he delved them inside her bra and captured her nipple. She squeezed his hips with her thighs, thrusting as he rubbed against her while their tongues danced together. Her hands played in his hair, her fingernails scoring his scalp as she moaned. He teased her nipple, tugging and pinching lightly. She pulled free of his mouth, panting and groaning. “Oh, fuck, yessssss,” she hissed, burying her face in his neck and holding tightly while he growled and pressed tighter to her, increasing the friction between the thin layer of her panties and the rough fly of his jeans. “Grant, Grant,” she chanted, her fingers digging into his shoulders before she threw back her head and cried out, her body trembling as pleasure tore through her.
He pulled his hand free from her breast and reached between them, his shaking fingers finding the button and zipper of his jeans and undoing them, shoving the jeans down until his cock sprang free. She kissed him hard, possessively, sucking on his tongue as he growled. He cupped her perfect ass, feeling the wet heat of her arousal that had soaked her panties as he tore them from her body and buried himself to the hilt in one … hard … press.
Heaven.
He eased away from her, her pussy clutching his cock, and then he thrust up, reveling in their joining. She moaned his name when he kissed her neck, and he sucked her flesh into his mouth enough to mark lightly but not bruise. His cat encouraged him to mark her, to sink his fangs into her flesh and make her his forever, but a small part of him remained rational enough to know that he couldn’t do that right now, even though every fiber of his being wanted to.
He felt his climax rushing at him, and he wanted her to come again before he did, because there wasn’t anything better than the feel of her body clutching his as she screamed in pleasure.
He rolled his hips, pumping into her with a steady rhythm as he struggled to hold back his pleasure until she came once more. He moved his hand from her ass and wiggled it between their bodies, finding the swollen bud of her clit and pressing it with his thumb. Her body bucked against his, and she dropped her head back against the post, her mouth parted as she panted, her eyes rolling back. As he drove into her with long, sure strokes, he moved his thumb back and forth on her clit. Her hands flexed on his shoulders, and he picked up the pace, thrusting into her hard and fast as he thrummed her clit as fast as he could.
Her back arched away from the post, and she closed her eyes, her mouth falling open on a scream of pure pleasure as her body clenched his tightly, pulling him into his own climax. He roared his pleasure to the sky, his come spilling hot and deep inside her. Pressing his face into her shoulder, he sucked in a much needed breath and gathered her in his arms as he stepped away from the post and sank down to the floor on his knees.
She eased away from him, smoothing her skirt under her as she sat on the wood floor with a contented sigh, her face flushed with pleasure. Rolling to his back with a groan, Grant held his arms out to her, and she snuggled against him.
“It’s a good thing you’re mine forever, Grant, because I’d never let you go. Not in a million years.”
“I don’t ever want to be anywhere but with you, Sam, that’s a promise.”
She lifted her head and stroked her thumb across his cheek. “Are you okay?”
He raised a brow. “I’m fantastic, sweetheart.”
Her pretty blue eyes rolled lightly as she smiled and swatted at his shoulder. “I know you’re fantastic now. I meant earlier. You seemed distraught. I was worried.”
Guilt sifted through him. “I didn’t mean to make you worry, sweetheart. I was just feeling selfish and ridiculous.” What he really felt, right then, was distinctly uncomfortable at her searching gaze.
“Your feelings are never ridiculous, Grant. Tell me.”
Her gentle admonishment made his cheeks heat with blush. He laid his head back on the floor and closed his eyes with a sigh. “I was jealous of Aaron getting to meet you when you got home from school today. If I’m being honest, Sam, after what happened last weekend, I don’t like you being out of my sight. I trust Aaron to keep you safe and take care of you, but I wanted it to be me.”
She rose up on her arms, planting her hands on the floor on either side of his head. He opened his eyes and saw the look of concern drawing her lush mouth down into a frown.
Before he could think of anything to say, she got a thoughtful look on her face and then smiled. “This is hard, huh?”
Chuckling, he nodded in agreement.
“But it’s worth it. I love you so much, Grant
. Even when I’m not with you, I’m thinking about you, about the way that your touch makes my skin tingle, how your kisses drive me wild, and the sweet way you purr when you’re turned on.”
He shouldn’t have been surprised that his smart sweetheart knew just the right thing to say to chase the demons out of his head. If the choice was sharing Sam or not having her in his life, well, he’d gladly share her because she was worth it.
“I love you, too, Sam. My sweetheart.”
She lowered her mouth to his, pressing a light kiss to his lips. With a sigh that shifted into a small yawn, she snuggled into his arms, splayed across his body like a blanket. I could sleep right here, he thought, comfortable even though the floor was hard and he was pretty sure there was a screwdriver poking him in the back.
After a few minutes, he helped her get up and then he retrieved her ripped panties, which she tucked into her pocket with a smirk. He thought she would leave, but she sat down on a wool blanket on a wooden crate and told him about her day while he finished working. She assured him that she had let Aaron know that she was coming to the barn to see him. Grant was thrilled that she’d come to spend time with him. Even though making love to her was amazing, he would have been happy to just have her sit and talk to him. He would never tire of the sound of her voice or her silly sense of humor.
When he finished his work, he followed her home. She waited for him on the front porch, and he opened the door for her and ushered her inside.
“It’s good to be home,” she said as the sound of five kids running towards them grew louder.
“It sure is.”
Chapter 16
