Forever You're Mine (MINE #4)(48)

More tears streamed down her face. I swiped my thumbs across her wet cheeks before bringing my lips to hers. “You. Are. Everything.” I said, stealing her breath in a kiss.





Let you hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.

~Robert H. Schuller





It hurt.

I had a feeling it always would. But I’d come to the conclusion that I would rather suffer the pain of her memory than suffer through a relationship with her. She was toxic, and sometimes you have to get rid of the bullshit to make room for the good shit.

Like Winston coming home.

The hearing was in two days. I was a nervous wreck. I tried to keep myself busy, but I couldn’t stop thinking what it would be like to have him here. I fixed up his room. Purchased a full size bed frame at Goodwill and splurged on a top of the line mattress. After sleeping on little to nothing all these years, I figured Winston would appreciate that. I’d also loaded up all the bags my mother had thrown out, and luckily I came when I did since I’d held on to a lot of personal things of his. A few of his favorite books, including To Kill a Mocking Bird and Catcher in the Rye. Old photos. Mostly of me and him. Doing all of these things filled me with hope, but there was always that niggling of doubt.

What if he doesn’t come home?

What if he…

No, I couldn’t think like that. I needed to stay positive and strong.

Cannon was a good distraction. He stayed here most nights or I stayed with him. It just depended on where we were and what we were doing. Sometimes when I came home from my shift, he would be in my bed waiting for me.

Like tonight.

When I saw his truck in my driveway, my nerves and the shit day I’d had faded away. After I went inside, changed clothes and washed my face, I crawled in bed next to him. Naked from the waist up, he smelled of fresh soap and home. I snuggled up close, placing my cheek on his chest.

“Hey, babe,” he said groggily, wrapping his arms around me.

“Hey.”

“How was your night?”

I let go of a tired sigh. “Long.”

“Yeah?”

I nodded against his chest. “How was your day?”

“Ok.”

I lifted my head to find dark shadows on his face, but I could still make out his eyes and they were troubled. “What is it?”

“Letter came today.”

He’d been dreading this since Nikki’s phone call. Cannon carried a lot of guilt over what happened to Landon. Unnecessary guilt, but guilt all the same. He was dealing with it one day at a time, in his own way. He’d come so far already. A far cry from the man I met nearly three years ago. I knew he would eventually find the peace he so desperately needed. In the meantime, I would give him comfort and love the only way I could.

My heart constricted in my chest as I pressed my lips to his. “Brave,” I whispered, softly kissing his lips. “Strong,” Then raised my hand to his face. “Mine,” I finished, rolling on top of him, earning myself a surprised gasp.

I straddled his thighs and pulled my t-shirt over my head before pressing my bare chest to his. His brave heart pounded in time with mine as I cupped his face, running my palm along his scruffy jaw, evoking tingles in every part of my body. I kissed him deep as he reached between us, shoving the fabric of my panties aside, so he could finger my slit. “Need this sweetness, baby,” he said, centering his cock. “Put it down on me.”

Lowering my hips, he filled me with an easy glide, my desire for him shamelessly guiding my efforts as I began to rock. My hands to his chest, I bounced my hips up and down, working him in and out of me at a deliciously slow pace.

“You look so beautiful ridin’ me,” Cannon said, his rough finger tips digging into my thighs. I threw my head back, grinding my hips. When I looked back down, his eyes were squeezed tight and his mouth was parted, allowing tiny puffs of air to escape each time I dropped back down. I leaned forward, taking his open mouth with mine, owning it and the moan that vibrated from his chest as he rolled us over. “My turn,” he grunted, slamming his hips to mine. He took over, pressing both hands into the mattress, thrusting in and out of me.

Eyes locked with mine, he f*cked me with the perfect balance of rough and soft. His cock may have been unforgiving, but his eyes showed nothing but heated desire and a deep seated love.

“I love f*ckin’ you. When you wrap those sexy legs around mine and take all of me. I live for that shit, babe. It’s like comin’ home every time. I belong here.” He lowered his mouth to my ear. “Forever.”

We came together, my fingers clutching the tight skin of his back, our breaths coexisting in the space between us.

His name poured from my lips in a succession of pleas as the love we were making poured from my heart and brought me to my knees.





Man does not control his own fate.

The women in his life do that for him.

~Groucho Marx





I never really thought about ever settling down, getting married. Even when I was younger, I never really looked that far ahead. But now, I wanted all of those things. Not right now. But eventually. A few years from now when we are both ready. I couldn’t see a future without Cora in it and now that she was mine, it scared me a little to know there was a chance I could lose her somehow.