“Just when I think I’ve got to know how good life is with you Mama, something else happens.”
“Drag…” She begins, while she moves our son from her breast and lays him against her chest and gently pats him. I don’t let her finish.
“I’m not a praying man; I’ve seen too much and done too much. But every fucking day I want to get down on my knees and thank my maker for you. I was dead inside before you, Mama. Dead. You wouldn’t stop until you uncovered the bullet holes and patched them, made them go away. Now? Fuck, woman. The sight of you feeding our child… To see evidence of the way you completely love me and our son not just once in a while, but with every breath you take… I don’t have words. I don’t have a way to tell you what you are to me, Nicole. I don’t think the damn words have been invented. I love you is too easy, too small, to tell you what I feel. If I live to be a hundred and four there won’t be a day that I don’t need you to help me breathe.”
My woman has tears in her eyes, when I finish. I don’t know what I said. I do know it didn’t say what I wanted it to. I’m too fucking rough around the edges to give her the flowery speech she deserves.
She walks over to the crib and lays Dom down. When she’s done she comes to stand in front of me. Her hand slides against my face and her blue eyes shine with tears, but also with happiness.
“I love you, too. Forever.”
“Forever,” I promise, and it’s more than a promise. It’s a motherfucking vow.
She pulls my lips to hers and whispers, “Home.” The words brush against my skin and I feel it all the way to my soul.
Epilogue
Nicole
Two Months Later
My man is insane. He’s been after me for months. He wants a wedding. After the disaster of our first go around, you would think that he would have had enough. I know I have. If I never see another wedding dress, worry about bridesmaids, hear another bridal march, or ever see my man in a suit again that would still be too soon. I decided we should just go on like we are. I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me that Dragon and I belong to each other. He, however, refuses to go along with my plan. So after two months, he wore me down. I completely caved. Of course, I can admit that I did so after multiple orgasms. I lost count and maybe consciousness around number four. So, I agreed to anything he wanted. I only had one stipulation—one major stipulation. I told him it had to be the farthest thing from our first go around that he could find. I wanted nothing like that. I had regretted it way before the actual catastrophe at the church. Huge church weddings are not what Dragon and I are. I wanted the perfect ending to our fairy tale. What I didn’t realize at the time, was Dragon and I aren’t a fairy tale. We’re real. We’re bigger. We’re better. We’re a freaking never-ending story, and it’s epic.
So when Dragon said not to worry. I left it in his hands. The plane ride to Vegas wasn’t a surprise. The fact that all the Savage Brothers came along, save for the prospects watching the place back home wasn’t a surprise. The fact that Dani is here and smiling? It’s good. It’s not a surprise because she’s been different since her and Crusher came home. I even see glimpses of that first beautiful girl who became my best friend years ago. The fact he has me pump extra milk so Dancer and Carrie can watch Dom tonight and part of the day tomorrow? Sweet, but not surprising. The limo ride to an all-night wedding chapel at eleven-thirty at night? Yeah, it didn’t even surprise me. Dragon having a dress waiting for me in the dressing room? Again, not a surprise. I’ll admit that when I saw I would be wearing a red leather dress, which was skin tight and ended barely below my thigh, a cut that said Property of Dragon, matching black stockings and a red garter clearly visible with my fuck-me boots? I might have been a teensy bit surprised. The fact that my bridesmaids were in matching ensembles, except they were all wearing black with red garters, might have shocked me. I can’t lie. Then again, I’m figuring Dragon doesn’t give a damn. I have to say all the girls are gorgeous and hot as hell, even Carrie—who looks like she might pop at any minute. Hell, I look hot. I admit it. Still, nothing has been a surprise (clothes not withstanding) and even though it is different, the very moment Dani, Carrie, Nikki, and Lips leave to join the men outside, I get scared. What if we’re pushing it? What if fate doesn’t want Dragon and me to get married? My heart starts beating like crazy, my palms go sweaty and I’m barely keeping it together. That’s when I hear it.