He slid down, kissing and caressing until his head settled between my legs again. His tongue set to work, and I gasped, sensitive from his size and the climax I was still coming down from.
“Stone.” His response was to grip my thighs and suck on my swollen bundle of nerves, any protest I might have had dying on my lips.
As he lapped at the evidence of our passion, I was helpless to do anything but surrender. In what seemed like seconds, he launched me into another abyss of pleasure.
Everything inside of me liquefied. When he crawled back up my body and kissed me, I was more than eager.
“This is what forever tastes like.”
Epilogue
Stone
New Year’s Eve
Date night.
I rubbed my hands together and looked around the closet. Muriella would be home any time now, and I was still as anxious to see her as I had been before the first date.
She stopped short at the sight of me surrounded by a mound of clothes in our closet. “We’re just going upstairs for the party. Are you that worried about what to wear on our date?”
The tease of a curve on her lips eased some of the tension brewing inside me. I was beyond ready to get this film over with and move on with our lives.
“I’m unpacking from our honeymoon.” Muriella squeezed my shoulders as I threw some of our things onto the floor.
“Are you sure you’re not looking for an escape? It’s pretty crowded out there,” she said, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Family was in town for the new year, and it was a lot of people under one roof, even in an apartment this size.
“I like having all of them here.” I threw a couple of her sweaters into the pile. “But yeah, I needed a minute from the noise.”
“I promised Vivian we’d be upstairs soon to help with last minute preparations for the party.”
“How’d therapy go today?” I switched gears, still so damn proud of her for making the commitment to take her healing a step further.
Her hands stilled on my shoulders.
“Fine.” Then after a pause, she said, “I went to the doctor afterward.”
I dropped the shirt from my hands and twisted around, concerned. “Are you sick?”
She smoothed her hand over my face. “No. I’m pregnant.”
My lips parted. I reached for her hips. “Pregnant?”
“I made the appointment after we got back from the Caribbean. To see if everything was okay for us to conceive. I’m not young…” She trailed off, and I slid my hands around her back. “Surprise.”
“We’re having a baby?” She nodded as I tried to grasp the concept. “We’re having a baby?” I asked again.
“We’re having a baby.”
I lifted her shirt and kissed her stomach. “Is everything okay? Are you okay?”
“The doctor doesn’t anticipate anything other than a healthy pregnancy.”
I peppered kisses on her stomach before I dropped my forehead to the soft skin. “Hey,” I whispered. “We can’t wait for you to get here.”
Her hands wove through my hair.
“I’m scared to believe it’s true,” she confessed.
I kissed her stomach once more and got to my feet. “You’d better get used to it, Mommy.”
She covered her mouth with her hand, a sheen over her eyes. “It’s another miracle.”
Vivian barged into the closet. “Hey, are you two coming upstairs? The Salvatores are here, everything isn’t ready, and the rest of the family is due up any minute.” She stopped short when she saw our faces. “What’s wrong?”
I looked to Muriella. It was her call how she wanted to play this.
“Everything is right,” she whispered.
A crease formed on Vivian’s forehead. “Then why do you look like you’re about to cry? I thought you liked going on dates with Stone now?”
“Because I’m so happy.” She slid her hand into mine. “Let’s go upstairs.”
I glanced at her in disbelief. I thought she’d want Vivian to know right away. Vivian eyed us both suspiciously before leading the charge.
‘Daniel,’ Muriella mouthed.
I kissed her temple and grinned in understanding.
When we got upstairs, Daniel gave us an odd look as we entered the kitchen behind Vivian. We weren’t going to be able to hide this from them. Not that we wanted to.
Muriella halted in the doorway and looked in surprise at a woman standing by the island. “Valentina?”
The older woman beamed. “Hello, Muriella.”
My wife’s eyes flicked over to the man we both knew who was standing next to Valentina. “Is he…your husband?” She pointed toward Donato Salvatore, whose hand went to the woman’s thigh.
She placed her hand on top of his, affection in her eyes. “I put up with him.”
He kissed her temple. “I don’t know why, but you’re stuck, lady.”
The man had been nothing but kind to me, though it was difficult to reconcile this teddy bear with the one who hadn’t cracked a smile in front of his men.
“You told them,” Muriella said before she turned her accusing gaze to me. “That’s why you set the date up when you did. You knew what I was going to do.”
“I asked you to lunch because I wanted that third date you owed me,” I said squeezing her fingers. “Nothing more. Nothing less.”
She glared at Daniel. “She told you.”
He stared back without a word.
Valentina answered for him. “Muriella, when we met all those years ago, I thought it was pure coincidence. Now I believe our paths crossing at the church was divine intervention.”
“You knew who I was,” she said, her voice sharp.
Vivian was quiet, hands behind her back as she rocked on her heels.
“I did. But I didn’t speak to Donato until you asked for the plane.” She stood and crossed the space between us. “Bella, I didn’t know the circumstances, but I did understand the fire in your eyes.”
“Why give me the guns?”
“I wasn’t sure if someone was coming after you. I wanted you to have protection, though you already had it anyway.” She flicked her eyes over to Daniel. “You probably feel I betrayed your trust, but families have to look out for one another. If something had happened to you and I could’ve stopped it, I couldn’t have lived with myself.”
Muriella’s shoulders deflated. “I think I knew.” She shook her head. “Hindsight is always more clear, but under normal circumstances, I’d have never asked for those things from a relative stranger.”
“You understand why I didn’t tell you who I was.”
She let out a long sigh. “Want to go back to the shooting range this week?”
“Shooting range?” My brows shot to my hairline.
“It’s cathartic.” Muriella shrugged. “However you intervened, I’m glad you did. Things certainly worked out better than if I’d gone through with my plans.” She held up our joined hands, showing off her ring.
“I had a feeling they would.” Valentina admired the wedding bands. “I’m free Thursday. Vivian, would you like to join us?”
“Absolutely.”
“No.” Vivian and Daniel answered at once.
She bumped him in the shoulder and said to Valentina, “Name the time and I’m there.”
“I don’t want you around guns,” Daniel protested.
She looked at him incredulously. “Really? Then why do we have them in our home?”
“I could use a beer,” I said.
Donato drained his wine and lifted the empty glass. “I could do with a refill.”
“Please don’t be angry with me,” Valentina said to Muriella as I moved toward the fridge.
“I’m not,” Muriella returned with a soft smile. “Mr. Salvatore, you have excellent taste in jewelry.” She exchanged a secretive smile with Valentina. Donato looked confused, but he didn’t say anything.
“Here you are, darlin’.” I pla
ced a bottle of water in front of her on the island and wrapped my arms around her from behind, my hands on her stomach.
“I got the good stuff.” Vivian slid a glass of champagne to Muriella.
“You can have mine.”
Vivian’s eyes zeroed in on the glass, then on my hands on Muriella’s stomach.
“No,” she said, her eyes widening.
Daniel slid an arm around her waist. “No what?” His brows pinched.
She flicked her gaze back and forth between my hands on Muriella’s stomach and Daniel.
“What?” Daniel asked more insistently.
“No champagne.” She elbowed him in the ribs. “Look at his hands,” she said out of the side of her mouth.
Light dawned in Daniel’s eyes. “No.” He blinked at Muriella, who grinned.
“Yes,” she said.
“I’m going to be an aunt!” Vivian shrieked, running around the island and throwing her arms around both of us.
“I’m going to be an uncle?” Daniel tested the words on his tongue before his eyes met mine, and he grinned.
“That’s wonderful news,” Valentina clapped her hands.
“Salute.” Donato held up his glass.
“Can we keep this between us? At least until I’m further along?” Muriella worried her lip between her teeth.
Vivian dropped to her knees and kissed Muriella’s stomach. “You’re going to like me so much better than everybody else. You and me kid.” She kissed her stomach again and popped to her feet.
“Perhaps this baby would like a few cousins,” Donato said not-so-discreetly aiming his gaze at Daniel.
“You just want more grandkids,” Vivian said, throwing an arm around him.
“I won’t deny it.”
Gently, I spun Muriella until our bodies were flush. She’d warmed to my touch over the last few weeks to the point that it had become natural. The nightmares still came and went, but we worked through them together. We’d even had our first appointment as a couple with a therapist.
I bent my head to hers. “I want another date. One alone.” Before she could respond, I pressed my lips to hers.
She wrapped her arms behind my neck and kissed me back. “How are you going to convince me? Blackmail again?” Her saucy smile had me of half a mind to skip this party.
“Don’t have to. You want to go.”
One dark brow arched. “I do, do I?” She tapped her lips with her index finger. “Have you ever asked me on a date I didn’t have to say yes to? Because I don’t think you have.”
I cradled her cheek. “Are you busy Saturday? I’d like to take you out, and there’s a dog named Charles who’d really like to see you.”
That mouth that made me insane twisted to one side. “I think I’m free.”
“Then it’s a date.”
What is it about Paris for Mitch and Juliana?
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Book Stuff
This book wasn’t planned.
The story that began in It's Not Over was going to stop with Vivian and Daniel getting their happy ever after. But this strong, incredible woman, who was a friend and the calm in the center of the storm, refused to be ignored. And then that Hollywood cowboy sauntered onto the page, and it was on.
The second THE END was typed on It’s Not Over, we started writing Three Dates. But truth be told, when we finished, Stone and Muriella both tapped us hard on the shoulder and were quick to inform us that what we’d written wasn’t what happened at all.
So we listened…and started over. Once we did, the book wrote itself in only a month.
It was a difficult journey. Muriella’s past is painful and heartbreaking. We admired her strength and rooted for her to have the happiness she deserved, but at times she was her own worst enemy. More than anything, she inspired us to be better friends and better people. We’ll never be able to thank her enough for that.
Stone is so solid. He wooed us right along with M and made sure we knew he would not give up on her no matter what. From the second we met him, he just shined. All that charm makes it kinda hard not to fall in love with him. :) He showed us what true perseverance looks like, and we’re so grateful for the reminder.
And oh that Jacobs family… Aren’t they something else? We kinda hope they’ll invite us over for Christmas.
These two…they’re hard to let go of. Fortunately, we’ll see Stone and Muriella again as the series moves forward. If you think M was stubborn about her happy ever after, just hold your horses ‘cause Mulaney’s going to give her a run for her money.
We can’t tell you how much all of your kind words have meant to us. Until we see you again in Heartbreaker, keep those emails coming.
XOXO,
Grahame Claire
Acknowledgments
In a lot of ways, this is the hardest part of the book to write. There’s always this fear of inadvertently leaving someone out who helped along the way. But those that are on this journey with us, know that we are so grateful to have you and love you bunches.
Not sure our families knew exactly what they were signing up for when they agreed we should definitely go after our dreams. But that unconditional support means so much more than we can put into words. You’ve sacrificed and been our greatest cheerleaders. We don’t say it enough, but thank you for that.
Want to know something that’s surprised the heck out of us? Authors talk a lot about how writing is a solitary endeavor. For us, that’s not totally true, but there are times it feels like you’re on a island…until you find others out there like you. We certainly never expected the friendship we’ve formed, but that it could go beyond is just…well, we couldn’t imagine not having the people we’ve met in our lives now. SueBee, Catherine, Emma, Tia, Claudia…we couldn’t do this without you.
Angela, you make absolute magic. We’re floored how you take what we give you and turn it into something beautiful.
Our betas—Jessica’s Totally Over The Top Book Obsession, Christy, L. Duarte, Diane, Sabrina—you shaped this book, loved it as your own. When we put Three Dates in your hands, we had no idea what to expect. Your feedback blew us away. Thank you for your time, effort, and for being right here with us every step of the way.
And to you, the reader. We wouldn’t be able to do this without your support. Every email, comment, message…we cherish. There is no way to adequately describe what it means to us that you love this family as you do. Sending the biggest hugs to all of you.
For more information on sexual abuse please visit https://centers.rainn.org/.
Also by Grahame Claire
PATHS TO LOVE SERIES
It’s Not Over
Three Dates
Righting Our Wrongs
Heartbreaker
Dangerous Redemption
Thick As Thieves
About the Author
> A writer. A blogger. United by our love of stories and all things romance. There was definitely some insta-love. Hello? Books involved. A little courting. A lot of writing. The result...Grahame Claire.
Soulmates. Unashamed of our multiple book boyfriends. Especially the ones that rooted in our heads and wouldn’t leave us alone. Don’t worry. We’ll share.
Pleased to meet you.
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Three Dates (Paths To Love Book 2) Page 32
