by Banks, R. R.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and offer it to her. Felicity looks at it, and I see the recognition crossing her face. She’s never met Haley, but she knows the name. She knows Haley’s one of my best friends, and that she is also absolutely not dating men – especially men like me – anytime soon. Felicity looks up at me, her eyes filling with hope. She puts her hand on it and pushes it away, wrapping her arms around me.
“I – I’m sorry I doubted you,” she sobs.
“That’s not important,” I tell her and place a kiss on her forehead. “Doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’re okay.”
She looks deeply into my eyes and I see the emotion filling them. She looks at me the same way she looked at me back at my cabin – it seems like ages ago now. I welcome that look. Seeing it again fills me with the purest joy I’ve ever known.
“You came for me,” she says, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“I always will. Always,” I respond and put my hand on her belly. “For you and our baby.”
Her eyes widen in surprise and her lips are quivering. “Y- you know?”
I nod. “I do.”
“And you’re okay with it? But I thought you didn’t want kids.”
A smile touches my lips as I look into her eyes. “When I thought I’d lost you, the only thought in my head was that if I didn’t find you, I’d never get a chance to hold you – or our baby,” I explain. “And I never wanted anything more in my life. Something changed inside of me, Felicity. You changed something inside of me.”
“Sounds like you found your red dot,” she smiles.
“I did. I really did.”
She pulls me into a tight embrace, laughing and crying at the same time. I step back and smile, not acknowledging that tears are running down my own, too. Felicity looks at me and cocks her head.
“Penny for your thoughts,” she says.
Still smiling, I get down onto my knee and take her hand in mine. I see Felicity’s eyes widen and her mouth fall open. As the rain continues to pour down on us, I gently kiss the back of her hand.
“Felicity Manson, you have turned my life upside down in the best way possible,” I begin. “And I want nothing more than to spend my life with you – raising a family. I know this isn’t exactly the best timing, but will you marry me?”
Tears blend with the raindrops on her face. She stares at me, practically bouncing on her feet. She draws in a breath, and the look of joy on her face is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Seeing that on her face makes my heart swell. She looks up into the rain and laughs. All of the pain and fear is washed away, and all that is left is love. Pure love
“I’ve always wanted a spring wedding,” she grins. “Yes, Knox. Yes, yes, yes.”
She pulls me up, and I pull her into a tight hug, both of us laughing together. I pick her up and spin her around. The sound of a man deliberately clearing his throat draws my attention. I set Felicity down and turn around. It’s time to pay the piper.
Cassie is standing next to Reid. Behind them, a couple of uniforms are dragging a cuffed and bloody Blake Waters to the patrol car. Reid is staring at me, somehow managing to balance a look of amusement and anger at the same time.
“How in the hell am I supposed to arrest you after seeing something like that?” he asks.
I shrug. “You don’t,” I tell him. “You got your guy for kidnapping and whatever other shit you think up.”
He chuckles as he recognizes his own words being thrown back at him. But then a frown pulls his lips downward.
“I told you to stay out of this, Knox,” he goes on. “And yet, you deliberately raced us here so you could extract your pound of flesh.”
“No, I raced you here to save the life of my fiancé and my unborn child.”
He sighs and wipes the rain off his face. “Next time, you do what I tell you or I’m throwing you in a cell,” his voice is stern. “You got me?”
“I hope there isn’t a next time,” I tell him. “I’m hoping Felicity’s days of being kidnapped are over.”
“Your odds increase the longer this asshole, and her asshole agent, are in prison,” Reid says.
An expression of sadness touches Felicity’s features and she looks down at the ground at the mention of her agent. I know she’s going to have questions she’ll need answers to. I’m hoping I can give her what she needs.
“Congratulations on your engagement,” Reid finally relents. “You two keep your noses clean. You got me?”
“Thanks, Detective,” I tell him and shake his hand.
He goes back to his guys and they organize themselves as they gear up to run their investigation. Which is our cue to get the hell out of there.
I stand there, hand in hand with Felicity. Cassie comes up to greet us. She looks at me, then Felicity, and back again, a wide smile stretching across her face.
“Fiancé, huh?” Cassie chimes in. “You don’t mess around, do you?”
“Sometimes you just know when it’s right,” I reply.
Felicity looks over at me, arching an eyebrow. “Going to make an introduction? Or do I have to make another terrible assumption about you two?”
I laugh and squeeze her hand. “Felicity, this is Cassie. She’s going to be running Black Moon for me,” I introduce her and put my hand on her belly. “Cassie, this is my soon-to-be wife Felicity, and this little fertilized embryo is my soon-to-be kid. The name’s still pending.”
Cassie laughs. “I haven’t taken you up on your job offer.”
I smirk. “You will.”
She rolls her eyes and Felicity laughs. I turn to her, looking deeply into her eyes.
“I love you,” I tell her.
“I love you too, Knox. As insane as this is, I do.”
The smile on her face is one I want to see for the rest of my life.
Felicity
“She said she did it for me,” I say.
“How in the hell does she figure that?”
We’re lying in bed and I sigh, my head on Knox’s chest, tracing circles on his tight abs with my fingertips. I’m heartbroken, but my sadness is tempered by my anger. I spent a good chunk of the day down at the prison, talking to Maura. I needed to understand why she did what she did. Why she’d put me in harm’s way and did something that could have gotten me killed.
“Publicity. She thought having a little bit of mystery and drama would sell more copies of my book. Get my name more front and center in the public’s eye. She said it got out of hand,” I explain. “She said that the guy – Blake – was more mentally ill than she thought, and that things just went completely sideways. She says she tried to keep him in check but realized too late she couldn’t control him.”
I shudder and try to push the bad feelings out of my head. But even saying his name – and hers at this point, frankly, send a wave of rage and revulsion running through me that’s hard to contain. Not to mention the fear. Nightmares plague my sleep. I haven’t gotten a good night’s rest in a while. I know they’ll go away eventually, but in the here and now, it sucks.
Knox lets out a long breath and strokes my hair. “It’s almost over,” he says softly. “They’re both going away for a long time. They’ll be out of your life for good.”
“Yeah.”
I know what Maura did was wrong. Really wrong. What she did borders on evil. She very well could have gotten me hurt or killed. And yet, I can’t deny that I miss her. She’s been such a big part of my world for so long that not having her around has left a big hole in my heart. I hate what she did, but I still love her.
Knox kisses the top of my head, and I snuggle closer to him. I revel in the warmth of his body and the way mine fits so perfectly against him. It’s like we were made for each other.
“Tell me something,” I start, wanting to steer the conversation away from Maura and all the bad feelings that stirs up. “Haley’s running the team now, and Cassie is running Black Moon. Why are you giving up control of your companies?”
I look up at him and see the warm smile on his face. “I think it’s time for me to grow up,” he explains, his voice rumbling in his chest. “I think it’s time I focus on what’s really important in my life – like finding the best ice cream in Seattle.”
I slap his chest playfully. “Shut up.”
He kisses the top of my head again. “I was actually talking about you and the baby – not ice cream – just in case you wondered. I hear pregnant women tend to be a little forgetful.”
I slap him on the chest again. “Forgetful and filled with anger.”
“That actually sounds kind of sexy,” he says. “I can think of about a thousand ways to take advantage of that.”
I laugh, placing a soft kiss on his chest. “I still can’t believe you are excited about the baby. You might even be more excited than I am.”
“When I’m in on something, I’m all in.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“Speaking of being excited about something,” he purrs, rolling me onto my back.
I laugh softly as he presses his lips to mine. Our kiss is slow and soft as he runs his fingers through my hair. Our tongues slide around one another gently. I feel the flames of passion flaring up within me and feel myself growing wet almost instantly. Knox is the only man who’s ever been able to take me from seriously not in the mood to burning hot in a matter of seconds.
I slide my hands up his bare chest, dragging my nails along his skin. I feel him shudder, and he smiles. He kisses me again, this time with a little more heat behind it. He runs his hands up and down my back as he kisses my neck, lightly nipping at the skin.
Knox pulls my tank top up and slips it over my head, tossing it to the floor carelessly. He cups my breasts and kisses them, making me shudder when his tongue hits nipples that are incredibly sensitive these days. He sucks on them, swirls his tongue around them, and I moan softly, gripping his hair tightly.
He slides down the bed, slipping his fingers beneath the waistband of my boxers and pulling them down along with him. They join my tank top on the floor, and he positions himself between my thighs. His crystalline blue eyes – eyes that still captivate me – glitter as he looks up at me and smiles. Leaning forward, I draw in a sharp breath as he runs the tip of his tongue along moist, warm lips that are as sensitive as my nipples.
Knox takes my clit into his mouth, sucking on it gently. He slips two fingers inside of me, driving them into me deep and hard as he rolls his tongue around my most intimate parts. I press my head back into the pillows and moan as he pumps his fingers into me, licking and sucking with a slow, gentle intensity. As he begins to pick up his pace, I feel myself growing hotter and wetter by the second.
I grind myself down against him, taking his tongue and fingers deeper into me. My body feels like it’s on fire as Knox works me over, the heat and passion in his most intimate kiss bringing me to the edge. With one last thrust of his fingers and one last hard flick of his tongue, he sends me tumbling over. I call out his name as my body clenches up tightly, and then explodes.
My heart hammers the walls of my chest. Tendrils of fire snake their way through my veins as I come hard. I’m shaking from head to toe and barely manage to grab hold of Knox’s hair, pulling it tightly as I grind myself against his face. He slips his tongue inside of me even deeper, making my orgasm even more powerful. I scream.
My orgasm is still rocking me when Knox climbs up my body and suddenly pierces me with his thick cock. I clasp my hands behind his neck as he drives himself into me, plunging himself deep within my molten core. I cry out again, undulating waves of pleasure rolling through me, and I dig my nails into his shoulders.
I taste myself upon his lips as he starts to move within me, rocking his hips gently. My body is humming with a carnal electricity that makes me feel alive. More alive than I’ve ever felt in my life. Knox braces himself on his arms, holding himself above me, those eyes I love so much staring intently into my own. His movements are slow, deliberate. He makes love to me with a sweet tenderness I haven’t experienced with him before. It takes my breath away.
“I love you,” I gasp.
“I love you too.”
Our bodies move together in a steady rhythm, giving and taking of each other. Knox slides deep inside of me and holds himself there, hitting the sweet spot that sends a lightning bolt of sensation shooting through me. The pleasure sears my every nerve ending. I call out his name as I feel myself trembling.
“Yes, baby,” I moan. “God yes, that feels so good.”
I raise my hips to meet his gentle thrusts, the feeling of him piercing me driving me half out of my mind with ecstasy. The passion in his eyes, and the way he drinks me in as he makes love to me, sets the fire inside of me even higher.
A seductive grin on his face, Knox rolls off of me and onto his side, pulling me to him tightly. He slips into me from behind like that, our bodies coupled together, his movements still tender yet intense. He drives himself into me and he kisses my neck as he cups my breast, giving the nipple a gentle pinch. I push my ass against him and turn my head, kissing him with all the love and passion I feel for him.
Still cupping my breast with one hand, he slips the other around my waist and pulls me to him even harder. I feel his body tightening. His rhythm starts to increase, and his breath grows ragged. Knox kisses me hard, the power and speed of his movements growing. I know he’s close.
I lean into him, my back against his chest and bite my bottom lip. My eyes roll back in my head as he pumps himself into me with an eagerness born of his passion for me. Knox reaches down and lifts my leg as he drives his cock into me, and I call out his name. I squeeze him with my internal muscles, making him cry out.
We rock our bodies in unison, moving as one in an erotic rhythm that has both of us building toward a glorious end. It’s as if everything we’ve gone through lately is fueling the intensity and passion coursing through us. We cling to one another as if we need this affirmation of life – and our love. It’s almost as if this is the culmination of everything we’ve been through and the starting point of what’s to come.
Knox moves faster and grips me tighter as he moves inside of me. He kisses my neck and bites my shoulder. I feel his cock swelling within me. It makes me gasp and causes my heart to thunder inside of me, savoring the sensations that are rocking me from head to toe.
“I’m going to come, baby,” he groans. “God, you’re going to make me come so hard.”
“Yes, baby,” I thrust myself backwards. “Come for me. I want to feel you come inside of me.”
His movements are frantic, and his breathing is labored as he thrusts himself into me. Knox is so close and he’s pushing me to the brink as well. He pulls me hard against him at the same time he thrusts, holding himself as deep within me as he can go. I squeeze his rigid shaft and he calls out my name as he bursts.
“Felicity,” he groans. “Oh God, yes.”
Knox’s thick cock throbs mightily. He unloads within me and I feel the rush of warmth and stickiness of his seed filling me up, and it brings me to a mind blowing crescendo. I shake hard and scream his name as my own orgasm crashes down over me.
Our bodies are coupled together, both of us gripped by our mutual ecstasy, and we ride out the waves of pleasure. I turn my head and gaze at Knox, the look of absolute desire and love in his eyes overwhelming. He makes me feel like the most beautiful, most desirable woman in the world. It fills me with the brightest light of joy I’ve ever known. If I were to die right now, it would be with a heart filled with more happiness than I ever expected in my life.
“I love you, Knox.”
He kisses the tip of my nose, a roguish grin upon his lips. “And I love you too.”
I snuggle myself against him, relishing the warmth of his body. Reveling in the feel of the hard angles and planes pressed to the soft, gentle curves of mine. Cherishing the feel of his arms around me.
Rejoicing in the love we share.
“Now, you we
re saying something about getting me ice cream?” I ask.
I could listen to his laughter for the rest of my life.
Felicity
18 Months Later…
Knox is holding our little girl, Claire, close to his chest. He looks at her with pure adoration in his eyes, and it warms my heart. The juxtaposition of such a large man holding such a small child is about the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. He smiles and plants a gentle kiss atop her head.
“She’s perfect, you know?” Knox observes. “And to think, I almost missed out on something as amazing as this.”
“Stick with me, kid,” I say. “I’ll teach you a few things.”
He flashes me a salacious smile. “You’ve taught me a few things already, baby.”
I slap him on the shoulder. “Pervert.”
“It’s part of my charm.”
“Is that what you call it?”
He shrugs and chuckles. “I can’t repeat what you call it in front of the little one.”
I roll my eyes and laugh at him. “You are terrible.”
“Not what you said last night.”
“Oh my God,” I cackle. “Is there anything you can’t turn into a sexual innuendo?”
He purses his lips and looks up at the ceiling. “No, not really.”
The door opens and a woman wearing a headset and carrying a clipboard steps in. “Ten minutes, Ms. Manson.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. “I’ll be ready.”
The woman nods, makes a note on her clipboard, and closes the door behind her. We’re seated in the green room of the Julia Dunphy Show – one of the biggest daytime talk shows in the country. I’m here to talk about my latest book as well as the film premiere of the Obsidian Fields adaptation. I’ve had to pinch myself more than a few times just to make sure it’s real.
This is by far, the biggest booking I’ve had. I am so excited that I may possibly bust. Knowing that millions of people are going to be watching me, I suddenly feel gossamer butterfly wings brushing the inside of my stomach. My mouth grows dry, and my palms damp.
