Page 68 of The Fireman's Fake Fiancée

He chuckles. “Damn right. You made it.”

My breath catches. The way he says it. The way he seeseverything.

He dips his head and kisses me—slow and deep, the water splashing around us, the world narrowing to just us.

“Five years,” I whisper against his lips.

“Five beautiful years,” he murmurs, pulling me into his arms. “And I’m just gettin’ started.”

I grin. “So was I.”

He shakes his head. “You were born ready.”

Later, we’re settled on the dock, kids asleep in the tent under the stars. The air is chill, the lake quiet except for the gentle lapping. He hands me a thermos of hot chocolate—he knows me too well.

“Cold shake?” he teases.

“Just because you’re freezing.” I lightly smack his thigh.

He folds me into his side. “Best kind of freezing.”

I slip my fingers into his hand and then he guides me down the wooden steps into the cool water. The air smells of damp earth and pine. He peels my sweater over my head, and my pulse quickens. I shiver when his fingers tug my leggings down past my hips. We step to the water’s edge. The forest presses in on all sides and I pause, one toe dipping into the lake water. A soft groan slips from me when he brushes himself against my backside. I arch into him, searching for more of that delicious pressure.

“So sensitive,” he whispers, a single finger traveling up the center of my torso before cupping my breasts. Heat blooms beneath his touch. He leans close and I catch his words on my skin: “I can smell how turned on you are.”

His hand tightens on my thigh and he guides me into the lapping water. The cool water envelopes us as soon as we’re waist-deep. When my hips meet his, I gasp—and then moan as he slides a finger inside me. My name tumbles from his lips on his first thrust.

He hums against my ear, “You’re so eager and sweet. I couldn’t love you more. When I found you, everything snapped into place.”

Now the water covers us to our chests. It tingles against my skin and heightens every brush of his body against mine. His words feel like fire in my veins, leaving me exposed and trembling.

This man is mine. I wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my bare chest to his. Our lips collide, urgent and wet, and the world around us fades into the steam. My heart hammers. “Please, fuck me, Clay. Make me yours again.”

His muscles bunch beneath my hands. Only his shoulders break the surface of the water, taut and gleaming. The moon filters through the pines overhead, and all I can hear is our breathing, our moans, the gentle lapping at our skin.

He pushes himself inside of me in one slow thrust, pulls out and then sinks back into me again. I clutch his broad shoulders, my legs tightening around his waist as he moves. I cry out, lost in the rhythm, my soaked core fluttering around him.

“I could spend every night with you right here,” he whispers.

A soft hum rises in my throat. Waves of pleasure roll through me until I break apart, my body clenching around him. He follows in an eruption of warmth, spilling into me. I hold him close as the aftershocks shiver through us both.

My heart thuds with desire and a fierce joy. Forever with Clay—it’s all I ever wanted.

He tilts his face down to mine. “I love you.”

I press my lips to his. “I love you more, fireman.” I lean in close, breath warm on his lips. “I think… I think I want another baby.”

His grin fades into something intense. His hands squeeze my hips. “Then let’s make one.”

“Do you think we’re ready for another one?”

“I think we can take on the world. I think we’re fireproof.”

I smile, lost in him. “Yeah.”

And bathed in the moonlight I know it deep in my bones—this life, this man, this love—it’s everything.

Everything I chose. Everything I needed. Everything I never knew I wanted.

My fireman. My best friend. My forever.

The End.