Tom takes me by the arm and rebuffs my attempts to push him away. He guides me as I take two slow, unsteady steps forward, stabilizing myself with a hand on each of the parallel bars. Tom backs away and waits, placing his hands on his hips. Katie rises to her feet at the other end of the parallel bars, her eyes gleaming with excitement but anxiety still present on her face.

I take two steps forward.

The nerves ache, the walls of the sockets pressing against them, but I don’t feel it.

I take two more steps forward.

My wife waits, my son in her arms, and the only thing I feel is the immediate need to take them both into my own arms, to hold Katie while standing for the first time in so long.

Two more steps forward.

Tears roll down her cheek, one after the other. I want to wipe them all away. I want to kiss her, to touch her, to hold her like she’s never been held. To feel whole, at peace, and so in love that nothing in this world could ever change it.

I take two more steps forward.

Katie is now standing before me, laughing because she’s so happy. Jax is awake, his beautiful brown eyes curiously taking me in. I kiss Katie’s wet cheek and taste the salt in her tears. I put my arm around her, gripping the small of her back, and I pull her in tight.

Letting go of the other bar, I place my hand on Jax’s forehead, softly stroking his hair to one side. I kiss him lightly on his forehead. He smells of baby powder and that pink lotion Katie likes to use, and it’s the best smell in the entire world.

Then I look down into Katie’s chocolate eyes—after looking up at her for the past year—and all my worries and concerns evaporate. My lips meet her forehead, my other arm resting on her thigh, and out of the blue I remember something Katie said to me while I was in the hospital. She probably doesn’t even know I heard her, but it was her words that pulled me through.

“I want to marry you,” she says, her lips brushing mine. “Marry me, Devin. Wake up, heal, and then marry me. Let me love you and take care of you and show you what a real family is like. And let’s have babies, okay?” Her voice breaks right along with my heart and I try to reach up to touch her—to comfort her—but nothing happens. “Lots and lots of babies. I want sweet little boys with your big green eyes and thick dark lashes. Our little girl will have your dark hair and your smile.”

Well, I’ve taken care of the marriage part, and we have a sweet little boy, but I’m ready for that little girl … hell, I’m ready for lots of babies.

“Hey, Katie?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Remember when I was in the hospital and you told me you wanted lots and lots of babies?”

Katie cocks her head to the side and gives me a curious look. “You heard that?” she asks.

“I heard every word you said. Including the part about the babies …”

“Yeah?” she says with a cute little smirk.

“How about we head back now, put Jax down for a nap and start working on those babies?”

A choking sound comes from behind me and I glance at Tom. He looks down, but not before I notice how flushed his cheeks are. Smiling to myself, I turn my attention back to my beautiful wife. Katie’s smile is blinding, and it’s the most beautiful sight in the whole damn world.

“I think that sounds like a great idea.”

A low growl rumbles from my throat at the thought of burying myself deep inside my wife. “Let’s get me out of these things,” I whisper, so only she can hear me. “What do I need these legs for when the important one is fully functional?”

Katie’s eyes widen, a look of desire flashing across her face. “More than fully functional,” she says, laughing.

“Damn straight it is.”

“What am I going to do with you, Sergeant?” She slaps my arm playfully.

“Love me,” I answer, brushing my lips across hers. “I just need you to love me.”

“Sir, yes, Sir,” she says, and then I devour that sweet, sassy smart mouth of hers.

THE END

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A Touch of Fate Series

Where We Belong

Pretty Pink Ribbons

Continue reading for a preview of KL Grayson’s third novel in the A Touch of Fate Series, Just For Tonight

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Just For Tonight

By K.L. Grayson

Coming 2016

We all have our weaknesses…rich, decadent chocolate, fancy designer handbags, overpriced stilettos in every color under the sun. My weakness is Benny Catalano. To call Benny tall, dark, and handsome would be a massive understatement. His giant, tattooed, drool-worthy frame sits at an impressive six foot three. Thick dark hair sticks up in every direction, giving him that notorious I-just-had-crazy-monkey-sex look that most women love. And the five o’clock shadow on his perfectly square jaw could bring any woman to her knees. Benny wasn’t just smacked with the handsome stick. Nope, he was smacked and then beaten with the Adonis bad boy belt.

My only problem … he’s playing hard to get.

I’ve never had to work too hard for anything, especially not a man. My father is the most influential music producer in the world—I’m used to getting what I want. But if I’ve learned anything from dear ol’ dad, it’s that money can’t buy happiness and the best things in life don’t come easy. And Benny is worth having, although the way he’s been dangling the goods and giving nothing away, he sure as hell is making things difficult.

The question is, why?

What he doesn’t know is that this privileged socialite isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. If the man of my dreams is the end result, I’m ready to put in the work to make him mine.

My name is Mia Brannigan, and this is my story.

A Lover’s Lament holds a very special place in my heart for many reasons, but mostly because it’s a story that I never thought I’d see come to fruition. Now that it has, I have a TON of people to thank for helping me get it there.

First and foremost, I have to thank my husband, Tom. The endless amount of support and encouragement you gave me while writing this novel is truly amazing. Thank you for making sure the house stayed clean, the laundry got done, and the kids were fed. Thank you for taking over nighttime duty so that I could stay up late and write. But most of all, thank you for not freaking the hell out when I showed you a picture of my co-writer. Any other man wouldn’t have handled it with the grace and beauty that you have. Not only have you supported me through this, but you’ve supported BT as well—he just doesn’t know it. You are amazing and wonderful, and I’ll never know what I did to deserve you. I love you to the moon and back.

Taylor Urruela, what can I say? Thank you doesn’t seem like enough, so I’m going to try really hard to find the right words. When I reached out to you last winter, I was pissed off … do you remember that? I read one of your short stories and I said “you can’t end it like that!” That one message turned into several more and eventually led to me sharing an outline of a book—this book. Instantly, you latched on to this story like it was your baby too. We plotted, we spitballed and we worked our asses off for nine long months, stretching and molding this story into something that we could be proud of. And let me tell you, I am DAMN proud of this book. It wasn’t an easy journey, but believe me when I say that there isn’t another writer on this earth that I would’ve rather taken this journey with than you. Thank you for loving this story as much as I do.