“Thank you,” she said, a little shyly.
He loved how shy she was.
She’d also found the time to cook a delicious stew which was bubbling over the fire, the scent wafting throughout the entire cabin.
Grady ate hungrily, staring at his new woman the entire time. He just couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes off her.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” he said.
She nodded and fixed herself a bowl, sitting next to him at the little table beneath the window.
“How’s Destiny been?”
“A little angel,” Autumn said.
Grady smiled at her and felt, not for the first time, that God had personally gone out of his way to bring such happiness into his life.
After they ate there was still some light and Autumn tidied up while Grady cut wood and started making a crib. When Autumn came out to the deck to find out what he was up to, her jaw dropped.
“Grady, that’s beautiful, how did you make it?”
“It wasn’t hard. I have all the tools I need.”
“It’s just so adorable,” she said, rocking the beautiful, handmade crib gently. “Destiny is going to love it.”
“I figured we could use a little extra room in the bed,” he said with a wink.
Autumn laughed. “We did all right last night,” she said and then ran back inside before he could catch her.
For dinner they had more of her delicious stew by the fire. It was so cozy in the cabin that even Destiny picked up on it. She started laughing and Grady picked her up and put her in the new crib in the bedroom. It wasn’t painted yet but it was nice and solid and well able to hold her.
“How do you like that, little baby?” he asked.
Autumn came over and started tickling her. She laughed and laughed.
Grady said, “You’re going to get her all riled up before bed.”
Autumn looked up at him with the most delicious, seductive look in her eyes, and said, “little girls like to be riled up before bed.”
Grady grabbed her and lifted her into the air.
“Put me down, Mister,” she squealed and he obliged, throwing her onto the bed.
He leapt down on top of her and started tickling her, refusing to stop despite all her attempts to break free.
“You’re going to make me wet myself,” she squealed but for some reason, the thought of that only made him tickle her harder.
She grew flushed and breathless and at last he relented. He was sitting on top of her, his enormous weight easily pinning down her small frame.
“You’ve got me right where you want me, don’t you?” she said.
He looked down at her and couldn’t believe how saucy she’d become. Just a few days ago she’d been nothing but innocence and sweetness. Now, she was suggestive and sensual, a real woman with the flush of love all over her.
“I do,” he said, “and I’m going to keep you here.”
Still sitting on her, her arms pinned down beneath his legs, he leaned down and touched her lips with his. She sighed and he let his tongue enter her mouth, kissing her with an electric passion.
His cock was raging for her but he knew he couldn’t have her yet. The baby wasn’t asleep yet for one thing. With an effort, he forced himself to get off her.
“I better get Destiny to sleep,” Autumn said, straightening out her hair.
She was so pretty when she did that. Grady couldn’t take his eyes off her. He watched as she got up and went to the baby, lifting her out of the crib and taking her to the bed.
“I’ll go heat some water for her,” he said, but he didn’t move.
He just stood there, watching his two girls going about their business peacefully.
CHAPTER 34
GRADY
An hour later they were both sitting by the fire, he in his cozy housecoat and Autumn wrapped up in more blankets than he even knew they owned. He’d made them tea and they were drinking it with muffins that Autumn had somehow managed to bake in the wood-burning stove.
“Can I tell you something, Autumn?”
“Of course,” she said, looking up from the fire.
He looked at her, her perfect eyes, her sensual, seductive lips, her ardent expression.
“I’ve never been as happy in my life as I’ve been with you here these past few days.”
A look of extreme happiness flashed across her face.
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
He threw a few more logs on the fire and continued.
“I tried to be this happy before. I even tried with Destiny’s mother, but somehow, it never worked out.”
“How come?”
He gave a little shrug.
“I guess the timing wasn’t right,” he said. “Or maybe God knew this was coming and wanted to make sure I didn’t stop searching. If I’d found happiness somewhere else in my life, I’d never have come here, and then I’d never have found you.”
Autumn nodded, thinking about that.
“Tell me about Destiny’s mother,” she said.
Grady sighed. He didn’t love the idea of talking about his brief time with Ravenna, but he forced himself to do it because he knew Autumn had a right to know, especially considering she was probably going to be the only mother Destiny would ever know.
“She wasn’t in good shape,” Grady said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she was a drug addict, and she was mixed up with all the wrong people. Pimps who wanted to take advantage of her and use her to make money.”
“She was a prostitute?” Autumn said in surprise.
Grady lifted his hands helpfully. “I think so. At least, when she needed money for crack.”
“I guess people will do anything when they’re addicts,” Autumn said.
Grady nodded.
“How did you get involved with her?”
Grady let out a little laugh.
“Same way a man always gets involved. I hit on her in a bar.”
“And she was receptive to your advances?”
“You could say that,” Grady said. “Although, even at the time I knew it was a big mistake. I never should have messed around with her.”
“Was it just the one time?”
“Yup, to begin with at least. I took her up to a special place, a chapel where two of my brothers got married. It was a really nice place overlooking the Pacific.”
“Sounds romantic.”
“It was anything but romantic. I took her there because even then, I knew I didn’t want her knowing where I lived.”
“And what happened?”
“Well, we fucked, basically.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, and then I took her to buy some morning after pills, which I watched her take. After that I dropped her off at her drug dealer’s place and thought I’d never see her again.”
“But you did see her again?”
“When I found out she was pregnant, I was determined to do what I could for the child. At the time, I didn’t even know for sure if her child was mine, but I took her to a place, looked after her, helped her get clean.”
“And she did well?”
“I thought she was doing well. She was clean. She got healthy. She managed to have a healthy pregnancy, which I’m thankful to God for, every single day.”
“And did you fall in love with her?” Autumn asked, her voice faltering.
“Not for a second. A few things might have happened while she was clean, but not much. It’s hard for me to think back to that time. I thought I was getting through to her, I thought I could trust her, but then she got her hands on my cellphone and the first thing she did was call her drug dealer. All she wanted was to get away from me.”
“She must have been crazy,” Autumn said.
“She was. Her dealer found us and took her away. I followed but by the time I caught up to them, they’d been in an accident. I went to the hospital and they told me there were no
survivors. And that was when I knew I’d had enough. A part of me was glad to be rid of her.”
“But you thought the baby was dead too.”
“Yeah, that was the part that hurt.”
“I can imagine.”
“And then I got a call out of the blue six months later telling me the authorities were searching for me because Destiny had survived.”
“Wow.”
“Yup.”
Grady looked at her, so beautiful, so kind, so understanding.
“Is it okay with you that I have all that in my past?” he said.
A single tear fell down Autumn’s cheek as she nodded.
“I’d love you if you had the darkest, messiest past in all of human history,” she said.
Her words struck him somewhere deep in his heart, some place he’d never been touched before.
“I love you too, Autumn,” he said.
They looked into each other’s eyes, the dancing flame of the fire reflecting in them, and no words were necessary. After a few minutes, Grady broke the silence.
“So, tell me something about you. Since we’re making confessions.”
“Confessions?”
“You’ve got to have something,” he said.
Autumn laughed. She thought for a moment and said, “Actually, there is one thing I should confess to you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, you remember back at the hotel?”
“Raven’s Nest?”
“Yeah, well there’s something you should know about your room. Room seven.”
“Oh no,” Grady said, shaking his head, half guessing what she was about to say.
“Yup. Mrs. Hildegard has a few tricks up her sleeve that you don’t know about.”
Grady laughed.
“There’s a hole in the ceiling. From the room in the attic next to mine you can look down and see everything.”
“Everything?”
“Everything,” Autumn said.
“And tell me, little Miss, how do you know about this secret spy hole?”
“Because naturally, being a red blooded woman with a healthy appetite and a natural curiosity, I looked through it with her.”
“Oh, you did?”
“Yes.”
“And what did you see?”
Autumn flashed him a wicked smile.
“Everything I wanted to see,” she said, laughing.
“Oh, you filthy little devil,” Grady said, leaping out of his chair.
Autumn leapt out of hers and made a run for the bedroom but Grady had her before she even got close to the door. He lifted her off her feet and pulled her back to her seat, letting her fall into his lap.
“I saw you jerking off, you dirty old man,” she squealed.
“I was thinking about you,” he said, tearing her out of her blankets.
He pulled off her clothes and opened his robe, freeing his erect cock. Autumn looked down at it.
“There he is,” she cried. “You won’t believe the thrill Mrs. Hildegard got from that little guy.”
“Little?” Grady said, shaking his head. “I’ll show you.”
With his strong arms he lifted her up above him and licked her pussy. Then he brought her down onto his erect cock, sliding her straight onto it, impaling her.
“Oh, Grady, that feels so good,” she said, sitting on his lap, his cock deep within her body.
They made love in the chair, Autumn panting and clinging to him while he rocked her back and forth on his lap. He lifted her up and then pulled her back down on his cock, over and over, and when they came, they screamed into each other’s mouths, kissing and crying out simultaneously.
CHAPTER 35
AUTUMN
The more time that passed at the cabin, the more comfortable Autumn grew. She started to get used to having Grady around, his strong, masculine body lying next to her at night, keeping her warm. His laughter at her jokes over meals, and his compliments of her cooking. His whistling while he worked outside the window, cutting wood or setting things up so that she could have hot water and a hot bath. Getting the hot water set up had been his main priority for the past few days. It was a big job.
She also grew used to the feeling of safety she got from living with him. She’d never lived with a man before, never had the hulking presence of one around the house, and it was a novelty she enjoyed every second of.
Spending time with Destiny was a complete joy for her too. She was such a quiet, well behaved, sweet little thing and Autumn could spend hours puttering around the house, doing her chores, cooking the dinner, and keeping the house tidy with nothing but Destiny’s happy company.
The nights were heavenly. She felt as if she was on a honeymoon. Grady was insatiable and seemed to crave her body constantly. They’d sit together in front of the fire each evening, talking about their plans and how their day had gone, or making silly jokes and having fun, when suddenly he’d jump from his seat and lift her over his shoulder. A moment later she’d be lying on her back on their luxurious bed, her legs wrapped around him while he fucked her deeply and vigorously. He took her in every position imaginable and no matter how ravenous he was for her, she always wanted more.
She would never say no to him.
She often woke up in the middle of the night to him passionately kissing her mouth, or else he was down below the sheets, eating her pussy while she slept. She’d find herself dreaming she was having sex, and then she’d wake up and it was actually happening. It was like a metaphor for her life. She didn’t know if she was dreaming or awake, her life had become so happy.
She was washing her clothes in the river one day, the sun shining down on her, and despite the snow on the ground, she was working up a sweat.
“It’s warm today,” she said to Destiny who was playing on a blanket next to her.
She’d grown and was busily crawling around. She’d even started taking her first steps lately and it wouldn’t be long before she was running around the cabin, getting into all sorts of mischief.
The winter was finally giving way to spring and Autumn realized that the cabin was going to be even more beautiful in spring than it had been in winter.
She took off her sweater as she worked and looked into the crystal clear water. It was so clean and fresh. She knew it was ice cold, but the desire came over her to swim.
“What do you think, baby?” she said to Destiny as she began taking off her clothes.
With the sun on her skin, she still felt warm. She got completely naked and looked around at the patches of snow that were melting in the sunlight.
“Here I go,” she said and Destiny looked up and giggled.
Very slowly, Autumn lowered her naked body into the water. It was so cold it took her breath away, but she didn’t stop. The water crossed her ankles, her knees, her thighs, and when it touched her pussy she gasped. She’d never felt anything so refreshing, so painful and delightful at the same time. She kept lowering herself, letting the water cover her bare breasts, her nipples pink and erect as they touched the water.
Finally, she submerged her face.
For a single, eternal second, she was completely submerged in the clear, flowing water. Then she burst through the surface and climbed back up onto the bank, gasping.
She’d never felt so alive.
She blinked in the sunlight and lay down on the blanket next to Destiny. In the distance she heard a howling. For the first time in a long time she thought back to the night she’d escaped from the Hildegards. The panic as she fled, the pain in her ankle, the fear as she ran into the darkness. The wolves.
How could she have known that such a night would lead to all this, to such happiness and safety?
To such love?
A shadow passed over her and she opened her eyes.
It was Grady.
“What?” she said defiantly.
He was staring down at her on the blanket, no doubt wondering what on earth she was doing stark naked while there was s
till snow on the ground.
“You’re crazy,” he said. “That water is cold enough to kill you.”
“I got tired of waiting for my hot bath,” she said.
Grady laughed. “Oh, you did, did you?”
Autumn nodded. She knew that look in his eye. He was going to pounce on her any second. She couldn’t wait.
He started taking off all his clothes, but to her surprise, he didn’t get down on top of her. Instead he leapt into the stream with a huge splash. Autumn sat up and watched. He was under the water for a second, and another. It felt like an eternity.
Then he crashed up through the surface and climbed back onto the bank as quickly as he could.
“Holy cow, that’s cold,” he said, adrenaline flowing through him.
“It feels good though, doesn’t it?” she said.
His body was pink from the cold, and his muscles were tense and firm, even more defined than usual if that was possible.
He stood up, dripping wet.
Destiny was watching the whole scene with a sense of great wonder.
Grady picked her up with one arm and picked up Autumn with the other. She felt as light as a child in his arm and even struggled as if he was taking her against her will.
When he threw her down on the bed she was giggling like a schoolgirl.
“You seem very pleased with yourself,” he said, putting Destiny in her crib where she had a few toys she liked playing with.
“I am,” Autumn said. “I know what’s coming next.”
“Oh do you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I have a surprise for you, little Miss.”
“A surprise?”
Grady bent down to the bed and scooped her up in his arms. He carried her into the bathroom and there, to her complete amazement, was their beautiful, antique bathtub, full to the brim with hot, steaming water.
“You got it working!”
“Yes I did. Are you ready for your first hot bath in our home?”
“Am I ever,” Autumn said.
He brought her to the side of the bath and very slowly, excruciatingly slowly, he lowered her into the steaming water. Her skin, so recently chilled by the stream water, tingled as he lowered her, inch by inch, into the hot bath.
Then he climbed in with her. The tub had plenty of room for both of them.
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