Where It All Began (Phoenix Falls Series)
Where It All Began: Epilogue

Seven months later – February

I ease the four-wheeler up onto the curb outside of the bungalow, tires moving slow-mo through the deep frosting of snow, and then I shut the engine off, turning to look at my girlfriend next to me.

On the top half she’s wearing a giant white puffer jacket with a thick fluff-trimmed hood, pulled up over her head to make her look like a furry angel. On the bottom half, all that I’m seeing are her long bare legs and a pair of white cowgirl boots. Her knees are tucked up under her chin and she’s happily stuffing her mouth with marshmallow after marshmallow.

You know how hard it is to replace vegetarian heart-shaped marshmallows? Really hard. In fact, it’s so hard that I had to order them online five weeks ago to ensure that they’d arrive in time for Valentine’s Day.

I reach across to gently twiddle with her long soft hair and she taps her feet against her seat, humming with contentment.

“You have one hell of a sweet tooth,” I say, smiling as she tears into marshmallow number fifteen.

She slides her eyes over to me, giving me a devious smile of her own. “There’s something salty that I like,” she replies, and my neck burns volcanic.

Jesus. I look away from her as my face flushes red, pretending to concentrate on un-strapping both of our seatbelts, but really I’m trying to recover from the image that she just put in my head.

Incited by her own naughtiness, she suddenly reaches into her candy pouch and tries to shove a marshmallow into my mouth. I keep my lips firmly shut, disallowing the invasion, and then I take hold of her wrist and remove it from my face, wiping at my chin with my other hand to try and brush off the sugar dusting.

I pluck the marshmallow from her pincers and hold it in front of her lips for the taking.

She gobbles it straight from my fingers like Fantastic Mr Fox.

I laugh, shake my head, and then I let myself out of the driver’s side door, moving around to the passenger side so that I can free my little demon.

When I open the door, she’s unmoved and still munching.

I lean under the car roof and scoop her straight out, hoisting her up into my arms and shoving the door closed with the back of my bicep.

“Come on, Puss in Boots,” I say, eyes trailing down her exposed skin, all the way to her waggling toes. The thick February snowfall is radiating a glittering icy chill and a series of tiny goose-bumps are puckering up her soft thighs.

She gives me a hard kiss on the cheek, purring when my scruff scrapes over her.

“I wanna give you your present before we start making the dinner for my dad,” I say, shifting her weight onto one arm so that I can fish for my key in my back pocket.

Since deciding to stay in Phoenix Falls my relationship with my dad has been one of my top priorities, making up for the time that I was away and incommunicado, hence why we’re spending our first Valentine’s here, making him dinner and then maybe going to see a movie. Then, obviously, I’m going to steal Kitty for myself.

I never claimed to be a saint.

“A present?” she asks, beaming up at me. She stuffs the almost-empty marshmallow bag into her pocket, suddenly keen to give me her full attention.

I laugh. “Yeah, a present. It’s Valentine’s Day, baby. You thought that I was gonna let you go without?”

She scrunches up her nose, and gives me a shy smile.

Yeah, like hell she thought that I’d let her go without. With a nickname like princess what else would she expect?

I unlock the front door and push it open, kicking off my boots before walking up to my old bedroom, still in the same shape that it was when I was fifteen.

It wasn’t difficult for me to decide what to buy for her. After winning the Barn Bonanza in July and signing a local contract before the New Year, I knew that it was time to get her fully equipped for a year of studio sessions and potential touring.

When Kaleb realised how serious I was about his sister – after I gave my position to Tyler and took a break from the band so that I could stay in town with Kitty – he started coming to terms with the idea of us being together. So much so that he’s been texting me repeatedly, offering me to get back on the road with the guys.

I knew that he was finally really okay with Kitty and I being a couple when he suggested that she could tour with us.

My chest swells at the idea.

I kick open my door and then set Kitty down, facing the bed.

She lets out a squeal when she sees the large guitar-shaped case resting on the comforter.

She spins around to face me, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“I hope it’s a puppy!” she says, and then she laughs and yelps when I bury my face in her neck, biting at her ear.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” she cries, squirming as I tug at her skin, but I can tell that she’s loving it because she’s holding me in place by my hair, arching her throat upwards so that I can get better access.

I pull away, breathing hard, and then jerk my chin behind her again.

“Open it,” I say, trying to hide my nerves. I hope to God that I haven’t totally misread her.

I don’t need to tell her twice. She whips around, hood thrown backwards because she’s moving faster than the speed of light, and in one quick swoop she unzips the guitar bag, pulls the top to the side, and reveals the guitar within.

She steps backwards into my arms, fingers covering her warming cheeks. I unfasten her jacket and rub my hands over her stomach.

“Like it?” I ask, resting my chin in the crook of her neck. She shivers when my stubble stabs into her.

“Yeah,” she whispers, eyes roaming all over it.

It’s her first real guitar that’s actually fully hers. Not a second hand gift or a rental from her brother. It’s new, it’s electric…

And it’s rose petal pink.

She turns around, all shy now, and lifts herself up so that she can kiss at my lips. I smile as she pecks at me, heat pooling in my abs, and I let my hands push her coat off her shoulders, exposing her little white dress.

I pull away, tugging at my lip-ring, and my eyes trail down her body, stopping when I get to her boots and crouching down so that I can take them off.

She sits down on the edge of my bed, holding each ankle up for me so that I can slide her shoes off of her.

I grunt when I see what she’s got on underneath. Those little freaking pop-socks. I run my palm down my jaw, wondering if we have time for a round in here before we start making dinner for when my dad comes home.

Reading my thoughts, she pulls the straps of her dress off her shoulders, rolling it down to her waist and exposing an eye-popping push-up bra that has me lunging for her chest, ripping down the cup so that I can take her in my mouth.

“Ah,” she whispers quietly, fingers lacing through my hair. I lick and suck at her until she’s moaning and then I pull her dress fully away from her body.

This is my Valentine’s Day gift.

I tower over her, standing between her legs, and I pull my wallet from my pocket so that I can take out a condom.

Yeah, I’m not a total animal.

She rolls her eyes and tries to steal the foil packet from my hand with her toes.

I laugh as I release my belt, shoving down my jeans and rolling on the condom. I pull my shirt off over my head and press my torso firmly down against hers. My fingers slide down over her cotton-covered heat and then I gently tug two digits beneath the gusset, pulling it to the side.

“You want me to become a Papa or something?” I tease her, aware of how huffy she gets when I make us use protection.

“Maybe,” she bites back, looking me hard in the eyes.

My abs clench tight and my cock jerks, slapping hard against her soft inner thigh.

“Don’t say things like that,” I whisper, aligning myself up with her. “You’ll make me wanna take it off.”

She squeezes her thighs around my back. “That’s the whole point.”

I grunt, grip my hands around her hips, and then thrust the whole way inside. She arches off the bed and makes the prettiest sound that I’ve ever heard.

I slip it in and out slowly, wanting to take my time with her, and I rub a hand over her breasts, caressing her nipples and making her whimper.

She leashes her fingers into my hair and pulls my face down to hers.

“I love you, princess,” I murmur and she clenches involuntarily around me. A whine leaves her throat and my balls immediately ache, growing heavier with the need to unload.

“I love you, too,” she whispers, and then she starts pressing kisses into my lip-ring.

I smile as she licks at me, and I close my eyes in pure contentment.

That’s my girl.