CHERISHED: The Mountain Man's Babies Read online

  There is only one name.

  One name.

  One.

  "Where is he?" I ask again.

  Betty nods as if understanding. "He’s in recovery."

  I choke on my own tears, on relief. On hope.

  I haven't lost hope.

  "He's alive, then?"

  Betty nods. "Yes, and if he hadn't had you in his arms, he might not be.”

  "What do you mean?"

  "You gave him something to fight for, sweetie."

  Betty checks my chart, lifts my gown, and adjusts a heart monitor on my belly.

  A heart monitor. I look at the screen Betty is reading. My heartbeat quickens. "Is my baby alive?"

  She raises an eyebrow, twists her lips. She's an old woman, and with her sure movements and quick adjustments to my IV and monitor, I'm guessing she has delivered bad news a thousand times to patients.

  She wouldn't twist her lip to tell me I'd lost my child.

  Would she?

  "What is it?" I plead. I need to know that my baby is okay, I need James back in my life, and I need to get home to my triplets.

  It's been so long since I've seen their faces.

  A sob escapes me, missing my children so deeply, having lost so much.

  Scared I am losing more.

  "Oh, dear, I didn't mean to worry you. I know you have been through so much. Everyone is talking about it. The local news channel has been reporting the story for hours. That compound wasn't just holding women hostage, they were practicing polygamy, embezzling money from the IRS and forcing teens into marriage."

  I clench my jaw—knowing most of that. My shoulders sag, knowing so much of my life has been lost to a false religion.

  "But Cherish, there is good that has come of your James rescuing you."

  I lift my eyes to hers, searching for understanding.

  "The FBI has seized the entire compound. Whatever horrible things were happening out there has been put to rest."

  "How?" I shake my head still confused.

  "I don't know all those details, dear." Betty shakes her head. "I shouldn't be saying all this anyway. Don't you want your happy news?" She taps the screen that is monitoring the heartbeat of my child.

  "It survived?" I ask, already knowing it has. I feel the baby move inside me. "I was on bed rest my last pregnancy. But this time... I haven't been to a doctor and worried it was all my fault but I was so sca—"

  "Shhh, it's okay. The heartbeats are strong— just like yours, and just like James's."

  I bring a hand to my mouth, biting my knuckles in relief. "Thank God."

  "But that isn't all." Betty raises her brow again.

  "No?"

  Betty shakes her head ever so slightly. "As far as we can tell, you must have been praying for a miracle."

  I smile to myself, knowing that is exactly what I have been praying for.

  "You are having triplets, again," Betty tells me. She pulls over the ultrasound machine and presses the wand to my belly. "See?"

  Three little bodies light up the screen. It's beautiful, I never saw an ultrasound image with my last pregnancy, never having gone to a doctor besides our midwife.

  "Triplets?" I can't help but laugh at the absurdity. At the wonder of it all. "And they are okay?"

  Betty nods. "You'll need to be on bed rest, but if you can manage to do that for the rest of the pregnancy, you'll be able to go home. Though I’m sure the doctor will tell you all of that."

  "And James?"

  Betty pats my arm. "When he's out of recovery, we’ll make sure the two of you—" She gets cut off. Another nurse pokes her head in the room.

  "Betty, he's out of recovery." She looks at me and smiles. "You’re one lucky woman everyone is talking about!"

  I don't know if she is referring to the fact I was freed from a cult not once, but twice, or the fact I'm carrying triplets for the second time.

  But then the nurse looks at me again. "The babies are lucky, of course— and so is the fact you are alive at all. But I was meaning you are lucky to have a man like James. He is one handsome—"

  Now it's Betty who cuts her off. "Dana, that is completely inappropriate."

  But I don't mind.

  I know just how handsome James is.

  I fell in love with him when I was just a girl, and under the oak tree he kissed my lips for the very first time and offered me his heart.

  I didn't know how to take it then, how to hold on tight to the gift it was.

  But now I know what I was unable to see when I was young.

  A love like this is found once in a lifetime.

  And I was lucky enough to find it with my best friend.

  And I will never, ever, let go again.

  Epilogue 1

  She always said she was rain clouds—that I was the one who looked like blue skies and sun-tea. And maybe that was true before... but now?

  No way in hell is that what I see.

  Because when I look at her, in our cabin, with our three newborns swaddled, two in her arms, and one in mine—I see nothing but a radiant smile, her eyes beaming with pride. I see the woman I cherish, the woman I have and the woman I promise to hold—forever.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks, her voice soft, her eyes bright.

  "Because all I can think when I look at you is how goddamn lucky I am," I tell her, sitting beside her in our bed. I kiss the head of the son in my arms. She is holding both girls in hers.

  "You haven't stopped complimenting me since we left the hospital in Montana months ago."

  "You mean the night my life began for the second time?" I run my finger up her bare arm. She's in a tank top and leggings, her hair recently chopped to a short bob—the first real haircut of her life. I love her short hair—a literal weight was lifted, sure, but a metaphorical one too. She isn't carrying so much anymore.

  She’s learning she doesn't have to carry anything alone, ever again.

  She shakes her head, her hair swishing as she does. "You're going to regret being so nice to me. There’s no way I can ever catch up to how good you are to me. I mean, for months I've lain in bed while you've watched Jamie, Andrew, and Jacob. You've been on mom duty and dad duty—and never once have I heard you complain."

  I place the sleeping baby in the bassinet beside the bed, and take the swaddled ones from her arms and rest them beside their brother.

  "I've had help all this time. Jonah and Josie, not to mention Grace." I sit beside her in our king-sized bed, wrapping my arm around her.

  Cherish nods. "I know. But still, I wish I could make it up to you."

  I cup her face with my hand. "Soon enough," I tell her, grinning.

  She sighs, then bites her bottom lip. "The babies are two weeks old. But soon enough they will be two months old. And then," she says. "Then I will make it up to you plenty."

  I kiss her lips, breathing her in, grateful to have her beside me. And of course, ready to take my woman hard and fast—but knowing we are going to need to take things very slow. We haven't slept together since she was rescued, the night I took a bullet; the night the FBI raided the compound.

  After Jaxon got the story out of Grace—the day Jonah and I took off for my girl—they called the police. Apparently, the FBI had been looking for a location on the cult that the Lord’s Will joined forces with. They'd been running a gun cartel for years, embezzling money too— and they were the ones who took a shot at me before the FBI took them all down.

  The entire compound has been dismantled, families displaced—children taken into custody of the state—and for that, we are all grateful.

  But Cherish was put on bedrest... so even though she was only five months along, and in other circumstances, we would have been able to enjoy the fact we were finally together—and whole—but we were forced to abstain for her health.

  "Before we make love for the third time in our lives, we have to take care of a few things though," I tell her.

  "Oh yeah?" She narrows her
eyes and suppresses a laugh. "Like make sure I'm on birth control?"

  I grin. Six babies under two are plenty. But I shake my head because that's not what's on my mind. "I'm not talking about that."

  "Then what is it?" she asks as I reach into my pocket.

  I pull out a ring and hold it between my thumb and forefinger.

  "I'm talking about you making an honest man out of me. About you becoming my wife."

  She covers her mouth with her hands, tears in her eyes.

  "It's about damn time, wouldn't you say?" I ask. "I've been in love with you since you made me mud pies when we were four. Since you offered me your song book when we were seven. Since we pinky swore we'd be best friend for the rest of our lives. I've loved you as long as I knew how to run, and Cherish, you are the only girl I ever wanted to chase. I want you to be my future, and I'm the luckiest man to have had you for the entirety of my past. As the Beach Boys would say, we could be married, and then we'd be happy."

  She shakes her head. "I don't need to be married to be happy with you, James."

  "But wouldn't it be nice?"

  She laughs through her tears. "Yes, James. Yes, it would."

  "So, you'll be mine?"

  "Always. I'll always be yours."

  I slip the ring on her finger and start counting down the days until Cherish is my wife.

  Epilogue 2

  I wear a white dress and a veil. And I'm barefoot—though not pregnant!

  It's July, and our youngest babies are three months old.

  And while I'm no virgin on my wedding night... James and I haven't slept together since our babies were conceived.

  The doctor cleared me a few weeks ago... but we decided to wait.

  After all, we'd already waited long enough.

  I walk down the aisle in our back yard. Our property has a massive oak tree—because of course, it does. And there is no better place for James and me to exchange our vows.

  Everyone is here. Jaxon and Harper of course. Wilder and Stella—who, bless her heart, decorated my new home with magazine-worthy perfection. There are Buck and Rosie, and Honor and Hawk. And everyone's children. At this point, there are so many, it is hard to remember which little goose belongs to whom.

  This mountain may be jokingly called the fertile mountain, but I like to think about it a little differently.

  The couples here, at my wedding, have committed to the thing that matters the most in this world. Family.

  And so, ours grows, at a ridiculous rate.

  The definition of a miracle is a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws.

  So, I don't call this place the fertile mountain—I call it the Miracle Mountain.

  And I don't know about religion or God or what happens after this—my head and my heart still have a lot to unravel about all that... but I do believe in miracles.

  God only knows what I'd be without you.

  James is under the oak tree, guitar in hand, and he is singing Wouldn't It Be Nice, a song we learned together, the lyrics truer today than ever before.

  The first time I heard his voice, I thought he sounded like a sunny day, and as I walk down the aisle toward him I know he doesn't just sound like a ray of sunshine—he is my happily ever after.

  Jonah marries us, he went back to Miami after the dust settled, and came up for the babies’ birth, and now he’s here for the wedding. Everyone’s trying to convince him to stay… we all know how Josie is pining for him still after all these months. Grace is up front here too, with our year-old triplets. She’s not only been my faithful friend, but she’s been our live-in nanny.

  I smile, looking at the people gathered to celebrate my marriage. I would never have dreamed that they would be the guests at my wedding. There are all these burly men, covered in tattoos, but wearing the biggest smiles any man could ever have. All of us—the men and the women gathered here today have been through the wringer of life—we've been forced into situations that broke us and left scars so deep, we thought they'd never heal.

  But love saved us. Every single one of us. And James promises to take me as to his lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

  I do.

  I do.

  I do.

  When he slips a ring on my finger I consider his eyes and see the father of my children, my husband, and my best friend.

  "You may kiss your bride," Jonah tells him.

  And James does. He kisses me hard, with promise. He kisses me soft, for the ways we've both been hurt. He kisses me deeply, knowing our love story began the day we met.

  Then he picks me up and carries me to the house. The reception can start without us.

  After all, we have some business to take care of first.

  He carries me over the threshold, and the record player spins our favorite songs. He sets me down in our bedroom and reaches for my face again.

  "I love you." He kisses me again, this time urgently.

  And I kiss him back, needing more.

  Needing all of him.

  I unbutton his dress shirt, his abs a row of muscles and pure strength. I turn, and he unclasps my wedding gown, letting the white silk fall to the floor. I step out of it, and his mouth is on my neck, kissing me, reaching around and cupping my breasts with his hands. My head falls back, onto his chest, and he unclasps my white lace bra, letting it fall away. My breasts are exposed, and he spins me to face him, his kisses trailing from my neck, past my breasts, until he is on his knees.

  He tugs down my panties, my pussy greedy, not wanting to wait, and my wetness begs him to go faster. He listens.

  He stands and I unbelt his pants, pushing off his boxers, our desire growing more fervent, the pent-up pleasure from months... years... rushing out of us. Maybe the rings on our fingers give us the permission we needed because we aren't waiting.

  Life is precious.

  A gift.

  A miracle.

  His cock is hard, in my hand, and his fingers press against my wet pussy. "I love you," I moan, as he fingers me softly, then harder, then I'm on my back, legs spread wide as he leans over me.

  "I fucking love you more," he growls in my ear. This man who works with his hands, who lives and breathes these mountains, who isn't from here, but was made for this place—he is my mountain man.

  Leaning over me, he runs his hands over my skin, my body tingling under his touch. I've longed for this moment for so long. I gasp, my body opening for him, having forgotten how big he is, how much of man he is.

  How much I need to be filled by him.

  "Damn, it's been a long wait, baby," he groans as he pushes deeper inside me.

  "Worth the wait?" I ask.

  "You are worth everything."

  He isn't talking about sex being worth it... he’s talking about me.

  For so long, I didn't think I was enough for a man like James.

  But he tells me with his actions that I am more than enough for him.

  I blink back tears as he rocks inside me. My chest heaves as he fucks me the way my body was meant to be loved. Completely.

  James was my first and he'll be my last.

  He is my forever.

  Also by Frankie Love

  THE ENTIRE FRANKIE LOVE COLLECTION

  The Latest Release:

  HONORED: The Mountain Man’s Babies

  The Mountain Man’s Babies:

  TIMBER

  BUCKED

  WILDER

  HONORED

  The Modern-Mail Order Brides:

  CLAIMED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  ORDERED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  WIFED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  EXPLORED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  An Arranged Marriage Romance:

  COURTED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE

  CHARMED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE

  CROWNED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE

&nb
sp; Las Vegas Bad Boys:

  ACE

  KING

  MCQUEEN

  JACK

  Los Angeles Bad Boys:

  COLD HARD CASH

  HOLLYWOOD HOLDEN

  SAINT JUDE

  THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

  Stand-Alone Romance:

  KINKY RESOLUTIONS

  WILD AND TRUE

  Stand-Alone Bad Boy:

  BIG BAD WOLF

  Stand-Alone Mountain Men:

  MISTLETOE MOUNTAIN: A MOUNTAIN MAN’S CHRISTMAS

  HEART OF GOLD: A MOUNTAIN MAN’S VALENTINE

  HIS LUCKY CHARM: AN IRISH MOUNTAIN MAN

  ❤️❤️❤️

  About the Author

  Frankie Love writes sexy stories about bad boys and mountain men. As a thirty-something mom to six who is ridiculously in love with her own bearded hottie, she believes in love-at-first-sight and happily-ever-afters. She also believes in the power of a quickie.

  Find Frankie here:

  Frankie Love

  www.frankielove.net

  [email protected]