“Eleven. Ten.”
Under ten seconds.
“Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”
The buzzer sounds, and the announcer shouts, “The Montana Wild Kings are world champions!”
My teammates mob me, and we fall into a messy heap onto the ice.
As I eventually detangle myself from my teammates’ euphoric hugs and slaps on the back, I stand up.
Jared is right behind me as I skate off the ice.
“So what do you say, Wild?” He grins as I throw my arm around him. “Did I earn the ‘Wild King’ title?”
I tap the back of his helmet. “You earned it, Storm. You and Max barely let them near the goal. Good work.”
“Thanks. You know you’re going to get the series MVP.” He looks up at the stands. “Your wife is waving to you.”
I look to Mia’s seat. She smiles at me.
Our moment from before the game hits me in Technicolor. Because being with Mia is what I need. I don’t need any more MVPs or great stat lines. And right now, I can’t wait to go home and celebrate in private with my wife.
Epilogue
Declan
Mia and I remarry in front of the same people we married in front of the first time.
This time, it’s technically a renewal ceremony. But it feels real. And this time, I don’t have to hold back how happy I am to be marrying her.
Cam says to me afterward that nothing was different.
“True,” Jamie Beth says. “You two still looked like you wanted to rip each other’s clothes off.”
They’re right.
I liked Mia then, and I like Mia now.
But they’re also wrong.
I hadn’t opened my heart back then. I’d cracked open the door, but I hadn’t opened all of me. I could have stayed guarded and protected myself like I learned to do as a little boy and perfected as a professional athlete.
But meeting Mia changed me.
Suddenly, feeling halfway wasn’t enough. I wanted to feel all of it.
But only with one woman.
Mia Carroll Wild broke down my barriers. Because she gave me a shot.
A brooding hockey player who knew nothing about the world of marriage and love.
She believed in me.
She risked her heart by opening up to me.
And then, I risked too.
So now, we get to be Mr. and Mrs. Wild for real. And forever.
“Mr. and Mrs. Wild sounds good,” I say to her.
“Sounds perfect,” she says.
“You’re next,” I say to Luke later that night on his back porch.
“Not even close,” he says. “I’ll be the last Wild man standing. Plus, I’ve got the ranch to focus on.”
“A ranch isn’t the same thing as a relationship,” I tell him.
“It keeps me too busy for a relationship. Speaking of, I’m trying to get Michael to move out here for a while to clear his head.”
“That sounds like a good plan. He needs time away from work.”
And Wild Ranch has a way of helping people as much as animals.
Mia’s dream of a foundation is in full swing, and as I suspected, Luke was interested in helping out. Right now, Wild Ranch is housing three rescue horses, and I’m sure more will be coming.
“And at some point this summer,” Luke says. “I’m headed down to Texas for my annual trip. I promised Logan I’d help him out with his ranch’s cattle drive.”
“Oh, yeah? How’s Logan doing?”
Luke shrugs. “He says he’s good. I kind of get the feeling something’s up, though.”
Whatever Logan needs, all of us will try like hell to help him out.
Being a Wild isn’t always easy, and the Wild men can drive me nuts, but in the end, we’re all pretty lucky to have each other.
Mia comes out to the porch, and I pull her onto my lap. “I love you,” I tell her as I kiss her neck.
“I love you, too.” She giggles as I keep kissing her.
“Newlyweds.” Luke groans and heads for the house. “You leave for your honeymoon tomorrow. Can’t you save it till then?”
Nope.
I don’t want to hold back my love for Mia ever again. We spent too long denying our feelings for one another. From now on, I’m going to show her how much I love her each and every day.
I smile at her. “You want to get a head start on our honeymoon?”
Mia smiles at me. “You know one of the many things I love about you?”
“What?”
“We think the same way.”
I pick her up in my arms and start carrying her back to the cabin. Our home.
As I said, Wild men are pretty lucky indeed.
The End
Turn the page to read a steamy bonus scene from Declan!
And if you haven’t read about Declan’s brother, Cameron, and how he meets his wife, Savannah, check out CAMERON!
Declan Bonus Scene
Declan
I’m going to have a busy off-season. For the first time, I won’t be spending it as a player in training. This time, as a new owner—and a scout—I’ve got a lot to learn in a short amount of time.
But nothing’s more important than taking my wife on a honeymoon.
When I ask Mia where she wants to go, she says somewhere tropical. She says she’ll leave the rest up to me.
So, I make the arrangements.
I charter a plane, and as we reach cruising altitude and the captain announces our destination—a secluded island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean—Mia clutches my arm.
“This sounds sooo tropical, Dec.”
I turn my head toward her. “That’s because it is.”
She smiles widely. “My entire suitcase is filled with bathing suits, tank tops and cut-offs, and summer dresses.”
I kiss her pink lips. “You packed the perfect attire for the week. We’ve got our own pool that we can access from our bungalow.”
She widens her beautiful blue eyes. “Seriously?”
“Darling, I’d never joke about swimming naked with you.”
Mia’s cheeks redden with heat. “God, I can’t wait.”
Me neither.
I reach over and tug Mia’s bare legs onto my lap. The arm rest is in the up position, and she settles comfortably as she shifts to face me. Outside of the flight attendant, we’re the only people in the cabin, but a large partition divides us from the flight staff.
I slide my hand up one of Mia’s smooth legs and underneath her floral skirt until I reach the inside of her thigh.
“I like this skirt. It looks amazing on you, plus it provides easy access,” I say to her.
Mia lets out a breathy sigh. “Declan. The attendant could come by.”
I reach up and push the Do Not Disturb button above our seats. “She won’t. Besides…”
My hand drifts higher until I can run my finger across the panel of Mia’s lace panties.
The fabric is already damp.
I tilt my head forward and plant wet kisses across Mia’s bare shoulder before I take the strap of her pink tank top in my teeth and tug it off her shoulder.
“…This will only take a minute,” I promise her.
I pull the lace panel aside and slip my fingers into her swollen folds.
As I press two fingers inside her sweet heat, Mia throws her head against the seat.
“Fuck, Declan,” she murmurs.
I push my fingers in deeper and start fucking her in earnest with them.
“Give me your mouth, babe,” I say into her neck.
She turns her head, and I catch her lips with mine. I continue to thrust my fingers in and out of her tight channel while I make love to her mouth. Our tongues tangle with one another, and Mia clutches at my shirt like she needs something to ground her.
She’s so close when we hit a bit of turbulence.
Mia stops bucking her hips up into my hand.
But I don’t halt what I’m doing.
“Let
go,” I say to her as my thumb finds her sensitive spot. “Let it all go.”
We hit another bigger bump of turbulence just as I press down on her clit hard with my thumb.
Mia goes off like a bomb. Her muscles clamp around my fingers. I bite her lower lip as I try to help her prolong her orgasm as long as possible.
Mia’s eyes flutter open. “Wow.”
I kiss her mouth. “That’s just a preview of what’s to come on our honeymoon,” I tell her with a grin.
***
Our bungalow is as advertised.
Beautiful furnishings with a swim-up pool and amazing view overlooking the ocean. Best of all—it’s completely private.
No fans to ask for a photo and interrupt my time with Mia, because I don’t plan to leave our oasis.
We unpack the little we brought, and then I immediately strip Mia of her plane clothes.
“What about you?” she asks me when she’s naked.
“In a second.”
I back her up against the wall. “First, I want to taste you.” I kneel down so my mouth is lined up with the apex of her thighs.
I lift her leg over my shoulder so she’s open to me.
She inhales sharply. “Declan, I…”
Whatever she was going to say is swallowed by a loud moan as I put my tongue flat on her core. She tastes like lilies and mountain air.
I glance up and Mia’s clawing at the wall.
“Shit, Declan. That feels so…”
I drag my tongue through her wet heat and down to her opening.
“…Fucking good,” she finishes on a pant. “So good, so…oooh.”
I circle her opening with my tongue and then, with no warning, I thrust my tongue inside her.
Her moans get louder, and one of her hands grabs at the short hairs on my head.
She’s wide open to me from this angle, and I take my time enjoying being inside her.
But I’m greedy, and I want to feel her strangle my tongue when she comes.
I don’t have to wait long.
Three deep thrusts and Mia fucking explodes against my mouth.
As she chants my name, her leg holding her up starts shaking. By the time I’ve stood, she’s grabbing at me for support.
I sweep her into my arms and carry her over to the massive bed.
“Turn around,” I tell her. “Hands on the headboard.”
As I strip out of my own clothes, Mia looks over her shoulder at me.
“Condom,” I tell her as I go to leave the bed for the dresser where the bellhop had dropped off a box of condoms. Mia was so excited about packing all her bikinis that she forgot about her birth control pills until we landed on the island.
But Mia reaches out and snags my wrist. “Declan?”
“Yeah?”
Her expression is serious but her eyes unreadable.
“What is it?”
She shoots me a shy smile. “Do you want to keep using protection?”
I straighten up.
No. I want everything with you.
I take a seat on the edge of the bed and lift Mia onto my lap. “Are you asking me what I think you’re asking?” I say. “Because my answer is…I want whatever you want.”
She runs her fingers gently through my hair. “You mean that?”
“Of course.”
“Right now, it’s just you and me.”
I take her face in both my hands. “What are you trying to say?”
She locks eyes with me. “I’m saying I want you to be the father of my child.”
My chest feels like it’s going to explode with love for this woman.
“That’s good,” I say as I stroke her cheeks with my thumbs. “Because I want you to be the mother of my child.”
Mia’s eyes fill with emotion.
“We can start trying now if you want.”
“Yes, I want,” she says as she leans in to kiss me. “What about you?”
“I want also.”
I lift her up off my lap and put her back onto the mattress on her hands and knees. She automatically grabs for the headboard like before.
“I heard from behind is a good position for conceiving,” she says. “Don’t ask how I know that.”
I chuckle. “Jamie Beth?”
“Of course. She provided many honeymoon tips.”
I clear my throat. “I actually heard the same thing about that position.”
Mia lets out a hearty laugh. “Have you been doing some research, Mr. Wild?”
Maybe a little.
I kiss the small of her back. As I make my way up her spine with my lips, I get into position behind her.
I tilt her hips up more until the angle is right, and then I push inside her, filling her in one motion.
Mia arches her back and cries out at the invasion.
I pull out and, as I drive into her again, she pushes her ass back against me.
“More,” she says.
I hear the need in her voice. She’s raw and exposed.
Like me.
“More,” she says again.
So, I give it to her.
My fingers dig into her hip so hard I’m worried I’ll leave a mark. I nibble at the back of her shoulder, and then I pull back as I use my thumbs to spread her ass cheeks.
“Fuck, I can see us this way,” I say.
I’m so hard, harder than I’ve ever been in my life.
“Oh, God…” Mia slaps her hand against the headboard. “Declan, I’m close. I’m so…”
“Come, Mia.” I drive into her relentlessly, my thumbs that are still holding her apart brushing her puckered back hole.
She gives a full body shudder before detonation.
As her orgasm takes over her body, I pull out nearly all the way before thrusting back inside of her. Her release absolutely strangles my cock, and it triggers my own.
I hang onto her waist for dear life as I fall apart inside her.
“Fuck.” I hold her tightly against me. “Mia, this is…” Even more intense than all our other times.
We collapse onto the bed with me still inside of her.
“Amazing,” she mumbles. “So good.”
“I know.” I wrap an arm over her torso and bury my face in the crook of her neck.
If this is what trying for a baby’s going to be like, Mia and I are going to have a hell of a lot of fun.
***
We spend the evening soaking in our private pool.
“I’m not sure why I even bothered to bring all these cute bikinis,” Mia says as she gestures to hers lying useless on the pool deck. “All you’ve done since we got here is strip me out of whatever I’m wearing.”
I tug her against my chest and float through the water with her. “We don’t need to wear clothes here. So why bother?”
“Do you think we’ll get pregnant here?” she asks me.
The sun’s gone down, and all I can smell is the floral scent of all the flowers growing by our pool, plus Mia’s sexy-as-fuck body lotion she put on after showering.
“I hope so,” I say. “But there’s no rush. We’re just getting started. With everything.”
She kisses my jaw tenderly. “I’m looking forward to all of it with you.”
So am I.
***
I’m hanging out on the back porch of the main house at Wild Ranch with Luke when Mia comes riding up on her motorcycle.
We’ve been home from our honeymoon for over a month now, and I’m enjoying a rare leisurely day off from work. I didn’t expect Mia home for at least an hour, and I smile as she takes off her helmet and shakes her dark hair loose.
It flies around her head before settling over her shoulders, and her blue eyes are bright and mesmerizing as she fixes them on me.
Before I can go greet her, she jumps off of her bike and comes charging toward us.
“Mia seems amped. What’s up?” Luke asks as he turns the burgers on the grill.
“I’m not sure.”
Mia waves at
Luke and then sits on my lap. She gives me a long kiss, so long that Luke clears his throat loudly before saying something about checking on the potatoes in the kitchen.
I tug Mia back a fraction of an inch so I can look into her eyes.
“What’s going on?” I ask her. “You seem unusually…excited.”
She checks to make sure Luke’s gone inside before she pulls something out of her purse and hands it to me.
I stare at it. “You’re pregnant?”
“I am. We are.” She smiles at me. “I know we just started trying last month. I thought it would take a lot longer and that maybe we’d need help. But, I guess this is happening.”
I swallow. The sheer joy that’s filling me up right now is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
“Are you happy?” Mia asks me after a beat.
“Are you kidding me?” I stand up with her in my arms. “I’m ecstatic.” I kiss her. “I love you,” I say into her lips.
“I love you, too.”
I smile at her. “Let’s head back to the cabin now to celebrate.”
She laughs as I sweep her up in my arms.
“This baby is going to be so lucky to have you as its mama,” I say as I step off the porch.
And I’m the luckiest guy in the world.
Thank you for reading DECLAN!
Turn the page if you haven’t read the story of Declan’s brother, Cameron and how he meets his wife, Savannah! Check out CAMERON here!
CAMERON
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Take a peek at CAMERON:
Savannah
Every day is the same. I go to the Climax Coffee Shop, and then to the hockey rink where I’ve worked since I was a kid.
But today, a cocky guy cuts me in line. A dark-haired, sexy guy with laser eyes and a perfect body.
I can’t ignore how hot he is, and I especially can’t ignore how he’s the only man to ever make me want. Like really want.
By the time I walk into my office, I’m completely thrown off by the Hot Stranger.
Then my boss tells me a new player is joining our ice hockey team and it’s my job to do whatever it takes to make him comfortable.
Declan (Wild Men Book 8) Page 20
