“Okay.” He kissed the pad of her finger. “I told you before, it doesn’t matter to me what your name is. What do you want to be called? Sage?”
She shook her head and backed away from him, wrapping her arms around her middle as if trying to hold herself together. “Before I moved to DC, I had the choice of three names. I chose Lark because of the saying ‘happy as a lark.’ I just…wanted to be happy for once. And I was. With you. I want that happiness back.”
“You’ll have it.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “I want to spend the rest of my life making sure you’re happy.”
“Then I want to be Lark again.” She rolled her lips together, then lifted her chin and met his gaze, a challenge in her own. “But I want my last name to be Wilde.”
Vaughn laughed and pulled her in for a kiss. “Yeah, vixen. Wilde is the perfect last name for you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It had been ten days since the fight at the warehouse and still, waking up every morning in Vaughn’s oversize bed—or she supposed it was now their bed—came as a surprise. She wondered if she’d ever get used it and kind of hoped not, because she never, ever wanted to take it or him for granted.
Returning to the name Lark had taken no time at all to get used to, but it still hadn’t fully registered yet that she’d never have to change her name again. As of yesterday, when Vaughn slid the ring on her finger in front of a judge at the courthouse, she was officially and forever Lark Wilde.
Vaughn stirred behind her, and his morning erection nudged her butt. He dropped a hand over her waist and drew her against his body, nuzzling her neck before kissing her bare shoulder.
“Good morning, vixen.” His voice was low, sleep-roughened, and sent a bolt of desire into her belly.
She smiled and enjoyed the lazy slide of his lips up her neck. But when he sank his teeth lightly into her earlobe, a thrill sizzled down through the center of her body and settled between her thighs.
“Know what would make it a better morning?” She rolled and threw a leg across his body, straddling his hips as she rose over him. He was mostly healed now, the cuts closed up, the bruises faded, all but gone. He still had pain in his ribs and would yet for another few weeks, but that just meant she got to be on top, which was exactly where she liked to be anyway.
His hands slipped up her legs then around to cup her ass, and he smirked up at her. “What, we got married so now you think you’re getting some this morning?”
She rocked against his erection and watched his intake of breath tighten his stomach muscles. “Oh, I’m definitely getting some.”
She reached down between their bodies and stroked his shaft. He groaned and let her play with him for a moment before catching her wrist. “I’d love to, vixen, but we’re out of condoms. We used the last of them last night.”
She slowly withdrew her hand and gazed down at him. “Well…do we need them?”
He went very still beneath her. “Are you still on birth control?”
“No. Not since I left DC for New Orleans. There wasn’t any need. After you, I-I wasn’t interested in sleeping with anyone else.”
He sat up so that they were face to face, cupped a hand around the back of her neck, and gazed straight into her eyes. “Lark. Do you want us to have kids?”
“I do.” She blinked hard to stem the rush of tears that blurred her vision. “So much. But…” Her voice wavered. “I’m scared.”
He reared back and the expression on his face was nothing short of horrified. “Of me? Jesus. I’d never—”
“No! God, no.” To prove it, she clasped his face in her hands and kissed him. “I’ve never been afraid of you, okay? I couldn’t be. I love you too much, and I know you’d never do anything to harm me. It’s just…” She rested her forehead against his. “Vaughn, I’ve already lost two babies. I don’t know if I can…” She trailed off, because even voicing the possibility of another loss was too painful to bear.
“Aw, vixen. Come here.” His voice was thick, raw with emotion as he wrapped her up in his arms and held her tight. “Your ex killed them. It had nothing to do with your ability to be a mother. You’ll make a great mother. You’re smart and tough—the strongest woman I’ve ever met. You could’ve let life destroy you, but you didn’t. You still have so much love to give even though nobody’s ever given two fucks about you. It’s amazing. You’re amazing.”
“You give more than two fucks about me.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I do. So much more. And I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you never go without love again. If you want kids, I’ll give you a house full.”
God, she loved this man. Loved his rough edges, his grumbly disposition, and most of all, the gentle soul he only let her see in quiet, intimate moments like this. She drew away slightly and smiled at him. “A house full?”