“Yeah, I do. I feel it with you.”
He looked at her. “I don’t want you to be afraid to share everything with me. I know with you I want kids. I want you to live with me, Ashley. To share the whole world with you.” He laid his hand flat on her back. “Do you want that as well?”
She nodded her head.
“I’m not going to leave.”
Ashley reached out, pressing a finger against his lips. “Don’t. Please.”
He took hold of her wrist and pressed a kiss to each finger. “I am so fucking sorry for what I did,” he said. “For what I said. I walked into the bar that night, and I smelled … it was Heaven. I’d never known anything like it, and I needed to have a look, a taste, anything, and when I found you, I knew I’d found the woman for me.” He took a second to stare into her eyes. “But you were so young. You’d just gone through your first transition, and I knew I couldn’t take that away from you. I had to give you time. I had to allow you the opportunity to flourish.”
“I forgive you,” she said.
Phoenix stopped. “What?”
“I forgive you.”
He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Again.”
“I forgive you and … I love you.”
He stared into her eyes, a little taken aback.
“You don’t have to say it back, but I love you. I’ve loved you for quite some time.”
Phoenix slammed his lips down on hers, and she moaned. “Ashley Simpkin, I am fucking in love with you, more than anything else. There is no one else I want more. Just you. Always just you.”
He saw the tears in her eyes, and he smiled at her, wanting her to see that his words were not lies. They were the truth. The complete and utter truth. This woman was his soulmate, his everything. He had fucked up, and for the last five years he’d been living with the consequences of what he’d done. No more. He was never going to live without her. He loved her, adored her, and would never let her go.
“I love you so fucking much. You’re an ache inside my gut and I’m pretty sure, here, all it says is Ashley.” He pressed a hand to his heart. “I’m not good with words, Ashley. I’m not good with anything, but I’m going to get better at it.”
She pushed him to his back. “Shut up.” She kissed him and at the same time moved to straddle him.
Her pussy was so slick with arousal, but also with the cum he’d spilled inside her.
“I want to get you pregnant, Ashley. I want us to have a family. I love you more than anything.”
She reached between them, and he saw the tears in her eyes, but this was different. They were joyful.
Ashley grabbed his dick, lining it up with her entrance, and as he was about to enter, he heard it—the sound of movement outside, but it was close. He had no time.
He got to his feet and pulled Ashley behind him. As he did this, the front door slammed open, and Ashley’s parents spilled into the cabin, along with several of the pack. They were holding baseball bats and he was pretty sure he saw someone with a shovel, and there even seemed to be a knife.
“Mom! Dad!” Ashley held onto his waist. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s nearly three in the morning,” Leah said. “We were worried. You didn’t come home. Neither of you, and you always come home.”
“So what did you do? Knock on every single door and hope that they what? Come and find me?”
There was a chorus of agreement. They had all done exactly that and some were standing in his hallway leading to the dining room, and spilling outside into the front garden.
“Are you going to tell me what this is about?” Ben asked.
“Dad, you can’t be here.”
Phoenix hadn’t wrapped the blanket around himself, so he stood before her parents and the town, completely naked. Ashley was covered by his body, and there were quite a few men.
“What is going on?” Ben asked for a second time.