Page 129 of Juniper Unraveling

“You belong to me now, Wren. Promise me you won’t leave.”

“I promise.”

“Say it. Say you’re mine.”

“I’m yours, Rhys. I won’t leave you.”

“You’ll bear a son, or daughter, for me. My own child.”

“Isn’t it a bit soon to be talking kids?” The question makes me inwardly chuckle, but when I look up at him, Rhys isn’t smiling, at all.

He’s dead serious.

“Tell me you will.”

It’s not Szolen, or the romance novels I used to read, where couples courted each other. Out here, you meet someone you like, and you try to make a future. There are no dates. No marriages. Out here people seize life while they’re still a part of it.

Papa’s words drift through my mind from years ago, when he told me Six was driven by the same needs as a Rager. To eat, mate, and survive. He referred to it as the biological imperative of the species. It shouldn’t be a surprise that those needs would surface in time, and most women my age have come to accept the day when they’re called to fulfill that role. But as usual, I’m not most. “Lea came to you.”

“She told me you asked for them. I want you pregnant with my baby, Wren. I need to leave something behind. Something good. And I want you to be the one to carry my future.”

“When I’m ready, I will.”

His brow furrows, and he nods. “Okay, I can accept that.” Hips driving forward, he tightens his arms, holding himself off of me, as he pumps into me. “You choose when. But in the meantime, I choose you, Wren. That means we don’t fuck anyone else but each other.”

“Fair enough.” I don’t want anyone else. I’ve gone years comparing other men to Six, and even when I came to the conclusion that I’d never experience that kind of connection again, I still didn’t want anyone else.

My fingers dig into his back with the hammering of his hips. A sheen of sweat and remnants of water sparkle across his skin, and I drag my tongue over it for the salty taste of him.

His brows flicker as the pressure inside of me intensifies, and I know he’s close. Jaw tight, his hips grind out the final climb to climax. Our muscles tremble. My body arches into him. Higher. Higher.

A moan leaks past my lips, and when I cry out, he pulls out of me, directing warm jets onto my stomach. A low guttural growl signals his final release, and he pounds out the last of his seed.

His lips find my throat at the same time he spreads his fluids across my belly. “You belong to me,” he whispers against my skin. When he lifts his head, I notice the creases in his brow have lessened.

I run my finger over the shallow lines there.

“I’ve been trapped inside this hell, and you fly back to me like a breath of redemption. Why?” he asks.

“Why not?”

“Only a good man deserves a woman like you.”

“Well, then. You see?” I trail my fingertip down along his temple. “I told you there was goodness in you.”

His lips stretch to that beloved roguish Six grin, which quickly disappears. “I hope that’s true.”

“I don’t have to hope for anything anymore.” I curl my fingers around his nape, dragging his face to mine for a kiss.

A muffled static noise interrupts us, and Rhys’s head tilts to the side. He reaches for his pants nearby and tugs out a walkie-talkie, holding it to his mouth. “Yeah.”

“Got a signal from about twenty miles out. Legion.”

“Load up. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Rhys pushes off of me, scrambling for his pants, and with a mask of confusion, I sit up on my elbows.

“Where are you going?”

He tugs his shirt over his body, hiding the chiseled, but scarred, stomach beneath. “Another raid.”