Beautifully Broken Pieces (Sutter Lake, #1)(91)

Walker’s eyes fell closed for the briefest of moments, and then his lips were on mine with a hunger I’d never felt from him before. It was as if he wanted to connect us in every way possible, see how deeply he could instill himself in me.

I cupped his face as he pulled back, sucking in air. “You’re everywhere. I love you, Walker.”

“You’re mine.” His words were choked.

“I’m yours.” I brushed my lips against his. “And you’re mine.”

“I’m yours.”

My heartbeat stuttered at the emotion in his eyes, in his voice, radiating throughout his body. It was that emotion raining over me that sent me spiraling over the edge. Everything came together in a way I had never experienced before. His touch. His words. His heart. The orgasm sent such powerful waves through my body, I saw stars.

My inner-muscles clamped down so hard, I thought it might have caused Walker pain. He let out a curse I couldn’t quite discern as his back arched and he thrust even deeper, releasing everything he had.

Walker collapsed on the bed, rolling us so that I was now on top of him, both of us panting. I tried to grasp onto reality as I came down from the otherworldly high.

Walker’s heartbeat thrummed against my cheek. I placed a kiss directly over it. “Thank you for letting me belong to you.”

He squeezed me harder against him, brushing his lips against my hair. “Never letting you go. We’re going to build a beautiful life together.”





Epilogue





Taylor





ONE YEAR LATER



I pushed open the front door, calling out as I did. “I’m home! Are you here? If you are, pour me a large drink because I’ve had quite the day.”

“In the kitchen,” Walker called back.

I slipped off my heels by the front door and headed towards Walker’s voice. “Timmy Jenkins stuck an open glue stick in Sally Peters’ hair.”

I heard Walker’s low chuckle before I saw him. “He must like her.”

I rounded the corner and drank in the sight of my gorgeous man. “It’s not funny. We couldn’t get it out, so I had to call her mother to come get her and take her to a hairdresser.”

Walker pressed his lips together in an attempt to stifle his laughter. I was back to teaching, first as a substitute last year, and now as a full-time second-grade teacher right here in Sutter Lake. I loved it, even with dramas like today.

I melted into Walker as he wrapped his arms around me. “How was your day?”

“Boring. Nothing but paperwork and a couple tourist speeding tickets.” He might have sounded annoyed with the lack of action, but I knew Walker was happiest when his town was sleepy. He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Come on, I want to take you somewhere.”

I tipped my head back. “I’m exhausted, can’t we just stay in tonight?”

Walker brushed his lips against mine, and I sank into the kiss. His tongue swept into my mouth, and I groaned. “You’re not playing fair,” I said, pulling back.

He sent a mischievous grin my way. “You’ll be glad you let me steal you away. I’ll even take a couple beers with us so you can have that drink you’re craving.”

“I think I’ve earned two.”

Walker chuckled. “Deal.” He grabbed three beers from the fridge and led me back out the front door, barely giving me enough time to slip on some flip-flops.

Once in the truck, Walker typed something into his phone. “Sorry,” he said. “Tuck had a question about a case.”

I leaned back in my seat, putting my feet up on the dash. “So, where are you taking me?”

Walker slipped his phone into the cupholder and turned over the ignition. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

He was always doing things like this for me. Surprising me with dinner out or taking the boat around the lake, even just finding a new place for the two of us to go running together. Within a couple of minutes, I saw that tonight, he was taking me to our spot.

A smile played on my lips as we crested the hill to the overlook Walker had taken me to the very first time we’d gone running together. It was my favorite place in all of Sutter Lake. We came here often. Sometimes, on a run, other times we’d bring a picnic lunch, or like tonight, a couple of beers and a blanket.

I reached over, squeezing Walker’s muscular thigh and pressing my lips to his cheek. “We’re just in time for sunset.”

His gaze met mine briefly before he turned back to the gravel road. “Glad you let me steal you away?”

“Very glad,” I whispered into his ear before sucking the lobe into my mouth.

“Damn, woman, you’re going to make me wreck my truck.”

I giggled but released my hold, sitting back in my seat. Walker pulled to a stop and got out, grabbing a blanket from the cab. He opened my door and helped me hop down from the entirely too tall truck.

I grabbed the beer from Walker’s arms as he went to spread the blanket out under a beautiful Aspen tree. Walker leaned against the tree’s smooth trunk and patted the ground between his legs. I needed no further encouragement and hurried over, settling between his thighs.

I held up two beers, and he used the bottle opener on his keychain to pop the tops. We were silent as we sipped, just watching the sky put on a dazzling show and soaking up the simple joy of being together.