"Santiago?" I ask.

  His shoulders shake. "We got out," he says. "We got out alive.”

  I know what that means, that in order for us to live, other men had to die. I clench my jaw, fear coursing my veins as I consider Bellamy dying too.

  I need answers. I pace the waiting room for hours, it seems, until someone finally comes and talks to me. "It's not good," the doctor says. "She's on life support and isn’t going to wake up. Decisions will need to be made."

  "No," I shout. "I don't believe it. She can't be gone. You can't be saying…"

  The doctor tries to calm me down. I'm shaking.

  “You won’t be able to see her until you’ve calmed down,” he tells me. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to see if you’re ready.”

  I pull out my phone, calling my friends because I don't know what else to do. How am I supposed to make a decision like this? And if she's going to go, if we're really going to lose her, then I don't want to be the only one by her side. Jemma was her friend for as long as I've known Bellamy. She should be here too.

  I call Walker but he doesn't answer. I text Walker asking for Jemma's number.

  And he texts back right away: Damn. You’re alive? It’s been a month. Jemma doesn't have a phone on her today — but this is Jameson’s.

  I call it immediately. "Jameson," I say, "I don't know if this is a bad time." I hear voices in the background, music, and laughter.

  "What's going on, Beam?" he says.

  "It's Bellamy," I say, choking up. “She's dead.”

  "What?" he says, his voice gone cold. "Dead?"

  “Nearly. She's on life support. It's real bad," I say. "I know we don't know each other, we don't have any past or history, but if Jemma can be here to say her goodbyes… I don't know if that's even possible."

  Jameson tells me it's their wedding day and I shake my head.

  "I'm sorry, man. I didn't know,” I tell him. “I wouldn't have called if—"

  "It's okay," he says. "Where are you exactly?"

  I tell him the hospital we're at. “Just a second,” I say, as a doctor calls for me. “I’m going to speak with the doctor now, but I’ll call with an update as soon as I can.”

  “Okay,” Jameson says. “Call me and as soon as I hear back from you, we will make plans to get to Nevada.”

  The call ends and I follow the doctor, a nurse, someone who will let me see the girl I love. Finally, I'm directed into a room where Bellamy lies tethered to the world with machines, her arms pierced with IVs, medicine, support. I can't lose her. It's all I think, it's all I want. "I love you," I say, my voice cracking. "Whatever kind of burly ass mountain man I've become, I realize I've become something else this year too."

  As I kneel before her, my hand holding hers, I consider the last year, how I came to Alaska running from my past and how it caught up with me. How she caught up with me. And I'm glad this wild ass journey brought me here because it brought me to her and she's all I've ever wanted, all I've ever needed.

  "I love you, Bellamy. I can't lose you now," I say.

  The machine beeps, beeps, beeps. Steady, steady, steady, and then it grows louder. Louder.

  "I can't lose you," I say. And as the machine’s beeps grow more urgent, nurses and doctors rush in.

  "What happened?" they ask. "What changed?"

  I'm terrified, truly terrified, in a way I've never been before. Is this the end?

  It takes a second, but I realize the other people in the room are not panicked with worry. They're smiling. "She's waking up," they exhale.

  They look at me. "Whatever you did, your being here brought her back to life."

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Bellamy

  Two weeks later…

  The early morning sun filters through the curtains of our bedroom. We've been back here only a few days after recovering in the hospital for over a week, and it's still hard to believe what went down in order for me to come back here. As I walk from the bathroom to the bedroom, I look at Beam, a giddy smile on my face.

  When I first arrived at this tree house, I thought I had landed back in my childhood fantasies, a storybook dreamland that was too good to be true. But over the last few weeks, I've been through hell and back. And yet every morning I still wake up and pinch myself.

  This hasn't been a dream. This is real, my real life. Somehow, even though my past has been so dark, so jaded, even though I have every reason to remain bitter, I'm not. I'm just so damn grateful.

  Beam wakes, and I roll to him, running my hands over his chiseled chest, my fingers tracing his tattoos, knowing he is just as grateful as I am. For a moment, when I was shot down, I thought I lost everything. But I didn’t. I’m still here, stronger than ever.

  And I don’t need Santiago in my life to be happy. Which is good since he is in prison.

  Maker made a deal with the feds, telling them about the stash of cash in the cargo ship in exchange for a clean hand in everything that went down at Magliado’s. Knowing what Maker did for me, I faced my fears with him. He apologized, knowing he’d fucked things up for me a million times over. He was sorry, and somehow I believed him.

  After he fought to save my life, I stopped seeing him as the enemy. Now he’s just a person with a shit ton of baggage. Just like Beam. Like Walker. Like me.

  And I’m relieved that the story with Santiago is over. I may not have had parents who raised me, but now I know more than ever what kind of parent I want to be one day. A good one, a strong one.

  I press my hands to my belly, knowing that today I'm going to tell Beam he's going to be a father. I tiptoe back to our bed, thinking about the two pink lines I saw on the test I just took. I want the moment to be just right, but I smile as I crawl on top of my mountain man, thinking really any moment with him is right. In fact, every moment with him is perfect.

  "What has you so happy so early?” he asks, cupping my cheeks with his hand, pulling me close for a kiss. I run my fingers through his thick beard, loving the way it feels brushed against my skin.

  "I was just thinking we're pretty damn lucky,” I say.

  He presses his hand to my chest. I'm still bandaged from the gunshot — but not broken.

  "We are so lucky," he tells me. "And I have a particularly good reason to be smiling."

  For a moment, I think maybe he saw me take the test and he knows that I'm pregnant, but then he reaches for something in the bedside drawer.

  "I love you," he says. “And I know we just got back home, but I don't want to wait any longer. I want you to stay here. I don't want this to be my tree house. I want it to be our tree house, our home forever, yours as much as mine."

  I blink back tears. "What are you trying to say, Beam.?” I ask him.

  "I'm saying I love you and I want to take care of you. I want to make that vow to you. That no matter what happens, I will always be by your side. But we have to trust each other, Bellamy, even when it's scary."

  I swallow. “Even when it's terrifying.”

  We've talked about this plenty of times over the last week. How I was against the idea of having Maker join us, how I didn’t trust Beam to make the right call. How I was terrified to face Maker again. But how in the end, Maker being there was what saved me.

  I should have trusted Beam from the get-go. Should have trusted his integrity, his intentions. It was only because he wanted what was best for me.

  "Will you marry me, Bellamy?" he asks. "Be my wife."

  I shake my head, overwhelmed with joy. “I never thought I would be the kind of girl who would get a fairytale. I thought I was too messy for that, too damaged, that too many people had used me up and that there wouldn't be anything left. But you don’t think of me as the leftovers. You think of me as a…”

  “I think of you as my angel. You are my second chance. Same as I'm yours.”

  He pulls out a ring, a big diamond ring.

  "How did you buy this?" I ask with a laugh. "You already bought an island. What else? Did Maker skim some of the 23 mil from the feds before handing it over?”

  He shakes his head, "Nah, I don't want dirty money," he says. "I may be a badass, but I'm also pretty smart. I know how to invest my cash, baby. I know how to take care of you."

  I look at the ring, shaking my head. "It's more than just taking care of me," I say.

  "What do you mean?" he asks, running his hands over my skin, my back. I sit on him, straddling the man of my dreams, feeling his thickness underneath me, my body craving for him to fill me up, make me whole.

  "Well," I say, taking his hand and resting it on my belly, "we're having a baby."

  He shakes his head in wonder, amazed at what I've just told him. "No fucking way," he says, pulling me close, kissing me hard. Our tongues entwine, our bodies joining as one.

  He enters me and I sink deeper into the kiss, feeling his heart pound against mine. My chest is healing just like my heart. The irony is not lost on me.

  He moves inside me and I gasp at the pleasure of it, of him filling me up the way I've always craved a man would. He alone satisfies me.

  "I love you, Beam," I tell him, the words truer than any words I've ever spoken.

  "I love you more," he says, and I feel that love from him, seeping out of every pore in his body. “And when I marry you," he tells me, "let's make sure it's a Cinderella wedding."

  I smile. "I never thought I would get something like that," I say.

  "I know,” he says softly. “Just like I never thought I'd get someone so wonderful as you you."

  Epilogue

  Beam

  Three months later…

  "I think it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," I say as Bellamy steps out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. Nothing else. Her hair is wet, her eyes sparkling. God, she looks good knocked up. Her belly is barely a bump, but at four months preggers, she looks like a goddamn queen.

  She smiles at me. "I don't need luck today," she says. "I already have you."

  "It's crazy, huh?" I say.

  She sighs happily. “The weather's perfect. The guests are arriving. I'm so excited," she says.

  Our friends have been arriving either by seaplane or boat throughout the day. There are already caterers outside. There's a whole pavilion set up. Florists have been decorating tables all morning and my little island hasn't ever been so bustling.

  “Jemma and Jameson are here,” she says. "Gosh, I cannot believe how pregnant she is. Oh, and Wavy and Walker are here with their babies."

  I ask, "Did you get to meet them?”

  She nods. “They are just ridiculously cute and we're so lucky that we can get to them by boat."

  “I’ve been looking at new boats,” I say, moving closer to her. "We're supposed to be up here getting dressed."

  My tuxedo is hanging on the closet and her gown is on a clothing rack, the skirt so big and puffy. A Cinderella dress.

  "Why do we need another boat?" she asks.

  "Well, because I want to make sure I have the safest, most top-of-the-line rig for my girls."

  I step to her, pulling the towel away from her skin, letting it fall to the floor. My bride is naked before me. Her tits so nice and juicy. Her ass so perfectly round. I drop to my knees, kiss her belly.

  I look up at her. "My boat is made for fishing. It's not made for my princesses."

  She smiles, shaking her head. "You're literally insane. You know that, right?"

  "I do, and I know I'm not going to see you for hours, so I'm going to have you now."

  After her shower, she's supposed to be whisked away for hair and makeup. The girls are all getting ready at a yurt we've just built on the property for company.

  "Oh yeah?” she asks. “And how did you want to spend our last few moments together before we're husband and wife?" she asks with a grin.

  "Oh, you know." I lift her up, carrying her to the bed. She falls on the mattress laughing. I lean over her. "You know how I want to spend it." I push her legs apart, drawing her ass to the edge of the bed, kneeling before her.

  I began to lick her up and down. Her cunt dripping wet, so damn sweet and juicy.

  "Oh God, Beam," she moans, wrapping her legs around me, inching her pussy closer to my mouth.

  I go to town on her cute-ass cunt, licking and sucking until she's dizzy with delight, clenching the sheets, moaning my name. "Oh, Beam,” she cries. "Oh, yes. Oh, yes."

  I take her good, the way she likes. I add a finger, then another finger. Fucking my baby, until she's downright ready. Her orgasm releases against my hand, so damn wet. Her cries are loud enough for the whole island to hear. I grin, loving that sound, wanting everyone to know I'm claiming my wife as mine.

  I pull up to her, my cock raging and thick, ready for her. She knows it. "Come to me," she says. "Don't make me wait."

  "I won't." My cock enters her nice and slow. Her legs in the air, over my shoulders, and her tits bouncing as I fuck her nice and good. "I love you, Bellamy, now and forever."

  She smiles up at me, licking her lips. "Yeah?" she says "Then fuck me harder, Beam, so hard."

  I give her what she wants. I go deeper, thrusting against her, my cock rigid and rock hard for her and her alone. She moans as I finish. My come shoots deep inside her and I know she loves it. That warmth, being filled by me, the way only I can satisfy her.

  She crawls up into my lap, clinging to my neck, kissing me hard. “Yes,” she pants, "I need more."

  I smile. "I want more too.” I tell her to spin around and I lie down. I need her ass in my face and I began to eat her out the way she likes.

  We sixty-nine until my face is covered in her come. She starts sucking my cock nice and good, teasing my balls the way I love. They're tight and ready. I'm hard for her again, so damn hard. I know she loves it when she swallows my seed. I want to give my girl what she wants as she pumps me nice and deep.

  "Oh," she moans, sucking me off as I lick her up and down, her sweet pink cunt mine for the taking. I devour her. She sucks me good, the way we both like, and when I'm about to explode, she rolls over. "Come on me,” she says. "I'll take a shower again."

  I laugh. "You sure, baby?" She nods.

  Pressing her tits around my cock, I pump until I finish. My come shooting out on her mouth, her lips, her tits. God, she looks so good covered in me, like she's mine, and she is. The ring glistens on her finger. My baby's in her belly. Bellamy is my girl, now and forever.

  I finish. She pants, same as I do, and I lift her up from the bed. "I'm sorry baby. I know you just showered, but I'm going to have to wash you all up again."

  I pick her up. Screw crossing the threshold. I'm taking my girl to the shower, where I'm going to fuck her once more.

  ___

  Later, after the wedding, after the vows have been said, promises made.

  "Forever, forever, I'm yours," she whispered.

  "Always, always my heart," I said, and now, we're dancing.

  There's a band here. There are not many guests. I mean, hell, we don't have that many friends, but the ones we have, we will have for a lifetime.

  Wavy and Walker and the babies. Jameson and Jemma. Dominic came with a few of his friends and Bellamy has invited Marley, who came with a few other people from the mainland. Namely, her three brothers.

  Marley smiles as she greets us. "Thank you so much for the invitation," she says, "and thank you for letting my brothers come. They insisted on joining me as chaperones." She laughs, but I can tell she’s frustrated by the situation.

  “The day is better with you here,” Bellamy says, giving her a hug.

  “It’s been really awesome to get to know you guys over the last few months,” Marley says. “It's good to have new friends in this Wild Wild West."

  Bellamy laughs, agreeing. "I know and you've been such an amazing help with this wedding. I don't think I could have pulled it together without you."

  Marley shrugs. "Well, always a bridesmaid. Never a bride."

  We laugh. Although Bellamy didn't have any bridesmaids for this ceremony, we understand Marley's point.

  "Maybe you'll be the one to catch the bouquet," Bellamy says with a smile.

  "Yeah. I suppose there's not too many single ladies here, but there are a lot of single men," I say, looking around the room. Besides Marley's brothers, there's Dominic, his men. "You have your eye on anyone?”

  Marley bites her lips and I know she's holding something back.

  "What? Who are you looking at?" Bellamy asks.

  Marley’s eyes land on one man and one man alone. "Tell me about Maker,” she says. “Is he a nice guy?"

  Fuck. This naive girl with overprotective brothers has her sights set on the wrong man.

  Bellamy and I exchange looks. What exactly are we supposed to reveal?

  "Of course, he's nice,” Marley says with a laugh. “You wouldn't have invited him otherwise.”

  “He’s Walker’s brother,” I say, knowing that isn’t a lie.

  “Yeah? That’s what I want, a nice guy who wants a family.” She looks at the picture-perfect family that Wavy and Walker make up, each holding a baby. “Okay,” she says with a smile. “Wish me luck. I'm going to go make my move."

  She walks away, and Bellamy and I pause. “Should I warn her?” she asks.

  I take my wife’s hand, pulling her toward the dance floor. “She’ll figure it out fast enough.”

  “And in the meantime,” Bellamy says, “maybe she can have herself a little fun.”

  I draw Bellamy close, dancing slowly. “Speaking of,” I say, whispering in her ear, “I can’t wait to have fun with you later.”

  She kisses me, then flashes me a sexy ass smile. “I may be a Cinderella in this dress, but I want a Beast to rip it off me.”

  MAKER: Book 4

  Coming August, 2020

  MAKER

  The Men of Whiskey Mountain Book 4

  I’m not the kind of man an innocent girl should fall for.