~ Six months later ~
Piercing screams startle me from sleep. I bolt from the couch where I'd lain down for a rest, and stumble to the front door, heart pounding hard and fast. Throwing it open, I see the cause of the sounds, and sag against the frame, hand pressed to my chest as relief replaces my instinctive fear.
Martin's kids, playing tag with Kit on the lawn in front of my house; I'd forgotten we'd agreed to watch them while he supervised some renovations on the old house he'd bought in town.
After his divorce was finalized by human law, it became clear that Elena had controlled nearly all the family's wealth. She left Martin the barest minimum she could, and he hadn't fought her for more. All he wanted was to never see her again. Then, with some help from the rest of us, he'd scraped together enough for a down payment, come to Spring Lakes, and found a sweet old fixer-upper close to a good school.
For having had their lives entirely upended and disrupted, the kids seemed happy with the change.
Martin had told me he'd made sure Elena never hurt them; that any violence got directed at him; but kids are perceptive. They might not have understood, completely, but they saw and understood enough. Their old house hadn't been a happy place, and Martin still blames himself for not getting them out of it sooner.
He's not the only one with lingering guilt, either. When Kit and I had gone back to Montana to help Martin move, I'd caught my dad watching him with a sad, curious look, even as he smiled and laughed with our mom. As we cleaned up after dinner, I'd asked him what was wrong.
"Martin lived with us, or less than a mile from us, for most of his life. He was always a happy, carefree boy, with that bright, mischievous smile. Seeing it again is wonderful. But I keep asking myself, 'When did my son stop smiling, and why did I not notice it?"
He shook his head and sighed.
"I guess, sometimes, when you're close to someone for long enough, you stop really seeing them. Start taking them for granted. Stop saying 'I love you,' because you figure the other person knows. Like you, Monty; I don't think you know how much you're loved. I'm glad you've got Kit to remind you of it, now."
I'm glad, as well, and as I watch him roll and tumble with Martin's kids in the grass, I vow to make sure Kit knows it, too.
~ ☾ ~
We've had a lot of 'firsts,' in the last six months. First real date. First trip to the beach. First time holding hands in public.
Kit has had many more 'firsts,' of his own, and I often have to remind myself of how restricted his life was before we found each other — of everything he's been through, and everything he's missed out on.
He's catching up fast, though, and devours books as if he needs them as much as food, or oxygen.
Maybe he does.
He spends a lot of time in Noah's bookstore, and in the public library, and on the phone I bought him, and I'm worried he's going to run out of things to read soon, but Noah reassures me.
"He's slowing down, already," he tells me. "It's like he was starving before, and 'wolfed' down knowledge like food. Now that he's not quite so hungry, he's learning to savor things, and to pick out what he likes best."
He was learning other things, as well — like how to pull my strings and push all my buttons, in the best way possible. He's got me wrapped around his finger, my little fox, but I don't mind.
I've got him, too.
~ ☾ ~
"Are you ready for this?"
Kit's lips brush mine as he leans over me where I lie in bed, his honey-gold curls framing his bronze-toned face, and his dark eyes shining bright. I slide my hand around the back of his neck and pull him into a kiss, reveling in the sensation of his mouth against mine, the warmth of his smooth skin, and the fresh forest scent of him.
"You know I am."
I slide my hands down his bare back to his hips and roll to trap him beneath me. He squeaks and then shivers as I kiss his throat and chest, inching my way lower as I worship him with my lips. He squirms as I reach the band of his underwear, and gently wraps his fingers in the back of my hair.
"Monty... I think we're supposed to save this part for later," he gasps.
"You started it."
I nuzzle his navel and trace my fingers up the inside of his thigh.
"Monty!"
He bucks and shivers again, and I lift myself and look down at him.
"You really want to wait?" I ask, my eyes traveling his form. He's filled in and toned up a bit, though he's still slim and beautiful and... foxy.
"Do we have time?" he whispers, gazing up at me with all kinds of questions in his dark eyes.
"Plenty."
He bites his lip and turns his head aside, but I see a smile teasing the corners of his mouth. "Okay, then."
He's not the only one who can play games.
"Nah, maybe you're right," I say, sitting back with a sigh. "We don't want you showing up with marks on your throat from where I kissed you, or your legs all weak, and your face all flushed from all the ways I made love to you."
I start to get up, and he grabs for me, catching the front of my shirt.
"Wait..."
"Yeah?"
"What if you..."
"What?"
We know each other well enough now that I know he likes this kind of teasing — likes to be chased, but not hunted, and likes to be the one to make the first move.
"What if you... If we just... If..."
I raise my brows at him. One rule I'd made was that if he couldn't say it, we couldn't do it.
He huffs in mild annoyance and sits up. Then he crawls into my lap, loops his arms around my neck, presses his body to mine, and whispers in my ear.
"What if... I'm on my back, and you tease me with your tongue until I'm all helpless and trembling, and then you put your cock inside me, and you fuck me slow and easy, until you come so hard it takes you five minutes to catch your breath. That way, there'll be no marks on my neck, and my legs won't be weak because you'll have done all the work. That is... if we really have time."
I try to think of a witty comeback, but my brain jams and the only sound that escapes me is a sort of strangled groan.
He falls back on the pillows and lifts his arms above his head, raising his brows at me. There's a laugh on his lips and a light in his eyes, and I can't resist him.
I swallow, and then shift myself to lie over him, and kiss him so he knows that he's my heaven, and the only heaven I want.
And then we do as he suggested; and we're almost — but not quite — late for our own wedding.
~ ☾ ~
It was Gracie's idea.
She thought it would be adorable, and fun: two brides and two grooms; both sets joining their fortunes together in a ceremony of love.
"You sure?" I'd asked, when she'd proposed the idea. Her and Chloe's wedding was already planned, and adding Kit and I to the affair seemed troublesome. "We don't want to steal your thunder."
"Don't be a potato bug!" she'd laughed, hitting my arm. For a human, she was pretty strong, and it hurt almost as much as if she'd been Freya. "Chloe's hyped for it. Our friends and families overlap anyway, so the guest-list stays almost the same. All you guys have to do is stand at the altar with us — and we'd be honored if you did."
"I'll ask Kit," I'd said, feeling my face heat up. "If he... says yes, then... you can count us in."
I'd asked him that night, under a peaceful, star-strewn sky outside my little house. And he had said yes, of course.
~ ☾ ~
And so, here we are: about to get married in the flowering meadow beside Grace and Chloe's house, on a beautiful spring day in Spring Lakes, with all our family and friends looking on.
Gracie's family is almost as big as ours, and seem like genuinely good people, but Chloe is as alone in the world as Kit. Her one close relation is Ian Foley, who beams from the front row of white plastic seats, a tear glinting in his single blue eye and Sam at his side.
Martin sits with his kids, looking tired but happy; Dane sits with Julian and the twins, who are just nearing the age of true havoc now, and Mom and Dad sit front and center, holding hands. The rest of my siblings and extended family are there as well, and I see many happy faces filled with joy — for me and Kit, and for Chloe and Grace.
Everyone is dressed in their best, though my 'best' isn't much to speak of. Having a tux custom-made for a guy my size isn't cheap, and I'm lucky it still fits me. It's not top rack, by any stretch, but I still feel like a prince as I stand facing Kit, who wears a suit Martin gave him.
Grace looks stunning in a white dress, while Chloe is equally beautiful in a fitted tux.
Our Mom officiates, and in no time at all we're happily wed — in the Wolf world as well as the human one.
Then there is good food, and good company; tears and laughter; and at last the day is done, and we return to our little house at the end of its solitary road, and I carry Kit over the same doorstep where I first found him, half a year before.
Mine, as I am his; to have and to hold, to love and to cherish; my heart's desire, fulfilled.
~ The End ~
A/N: That's it for Kit and Monty for now! As usual, the story didn't turn out quite as I'd first envisioned it, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.
And if you liked this story, check out my profile for the rest of the Heart's Desire series, as well as some others you might enjoy. 😸❤️