Terms of Surrender (29 page)

Authors: Sheila Seabrook

BOOK: Terms of Surrender

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Refusing to meet his eyes, she reached out and grabbed the girls’ arms. She looked cross and more than a little annoyed. “Get off your uncle. We’ve had a really long day and it’s way past our bedtime.”

The girls set their feet on the floor, let go of his legs, and craned their necks back as far as they would go so they could look up at him. “Can we sleep with you and Aunt Harley tonight?”

He rubbed the spot over his heart. “Well, that depends on how fast the two of you get ready for bed.”

They pushed past their aunt and dashed down the hallway into the spare bedroom.

The woman he loved frowned up at him. “What’s wrong with your chest?”

“Broken heart,” he said.

The kettle whistled in the kitchen, followed by a blood curdling scream from the bedroom, followed by giggles which told him everything was okay.

As Harley started to push past him, Gage grabbed her wrist, preventing her escape. He figured he had about thirty seconds—or less—before the next interruption. “I surrender, Harl. Simple, straightforward, heart on the line.”

She rolled her eyes and bent to pry his fingers off her arm. “We’ve all had a scare, Gage, and everyone’s on an emotional high tonight. Maybe now’s not such a good time for this.”

He released her and his gut tightened.

Maybe she was right. Or maybe it was her turn to be scared. He refused to give up, at least not until she smacked him over the head and booted him out on his ass.

The pitter patter of tiny feet raced into the hall, and the girls pushed their way between them, and tackled his legs and clung.

As he watched Harley’s eyes go all soft and moist, it hit him right in the chest near his heart. He looked down at the girls, then back up at her beautiful face. With no more than a hitch to his voice, he said, “It’s the dream, babe. Sharing the responsibility of the girls with you. Feeding, bathing, and entertaining them together. Tucking them into bed with woman I love at my side.”

In the evening light, her dark mocha eyes glistened with doubt. “Dream? Now I know it’s the adrenaline. I’m sure you’ll come to your senses tomorrow and realize—”

“I won’t change my mind.” He risked a step forward, squishing the girls between them, ignoring the giggles from down below. “You and me, getting married, having a family of our own, growing old together.”

He captured her face between his hands, hoping beyond hope she could see everything he was feeling in his eyes. “I’ve realized the past has nothing to do with our future. Here, now, we have a chance to build something special. We’d be fools not to grab each other and hold on tight. I love you. I’ll love you till my dying breath and beyond.”

Tears filled her eyes. And with only the tiniest hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his head down, and whispered against his mouth, “I love you, too.”

He lowered his head, his mouth claiming hers for one warm, delightful kiss that lasted milliseconds—or hours—he didn’t much care because he had forever in her arms. When he lifted his head, he smiled down at her. “I surrender my heart, my life, my love to you. For the rest of my days, I want to wake up with you in my arms. I want to make love to you every night, give you babies to hold to your breast, and keep you safe.”

“Yes,” she breathed.

He pressed his mouth to hers, while one of his hands worked its way from her cheek to her neck and downward. Somewhere in the vicinity of his legs, he heard a tiny voice whisper, “He’s going for her booby.”

Gage caught his hand back before he made contact, and Harley smiled against his mouth. He reached down and scooped her into his arms, ignoring the pinch in his heart and the giggles from down below. “Minds. Hearts. Bodies joined. I surrender my love to you for the rest of my life.”

She looped her arms around his neck, an impish grin on her very kissable mouth. “I love the way you surrender.”

“Honey, I’m gonna surrender to you every day for the rest of my life.” He entered the bedroom, laid her on the bed and covered her body with his own, while the girls crawled up his back and under the covers. “And then I promise to love you for the rest of yours.”

Gone were the shadows in his life, the emptiness in his heart. He had a lifetime to show this woman how much he loved her and he didn’t intend to waste a moment of it.

As soon as the munchkins and his mom were in bed, he’d prove it to her with his mouth, then his hands, then his body. And tomorrow, he’d start all over.

From the doorway, he heard his mom’s happy voice. “The tea is ready, but since I’d rather have another grandbaby, I’ll just get the girls out of your hair.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the woman who had tried her best to protect him from harm, and gestured her forward. “We’ll take care of that later, Mom. For now, come join our family.”

One of the girls climbed onto his back—Lisa, no doubt.

He reached over his shoulder, rolled her onto the bed, and tickled her on the feet where she loved it the most.

His heart swelled with joy.

He finally had his family, his future, forever.