I make a come-here motion with my fingers, moving them inside her for the first time, and Joy’s hips jerk off the bed as she gasps and pulls on my hair.

“Oh, God.”

“So wet,” I whisper and trail my mouth down her jawline. “So tight. Have I mentioned how much I love your pussy?”

“Not today,” she manages, panting and writhing beneath me.

“Your pussy is what dreams are made of,” I tell her as I add my thumb to her clit and she cries out, giving in to the first orgasm of the evening, her body quaking and clenching around me. “And guess what it is?”

“Yours?”

“That’s right, baby. It’s mine.” I kiss down her body, moving quickly to replace my hand with my mouth. As soon as my tongue pushes inside her, she explodes again, crying out my name. “Good girl.”

“I can’t do any more,” she pants as she comes down from the high.

“Oh, you can. And you will.” I hurry to shrug out of my clothes, cursing myself for not doing it earlier because all I can think of now is sinking inside her until I’m blind. I kiss her leg, the underside of her knee, and smile when she whimpers. “Another hot spot?”

“My whole body is a fucking hot spot,” she says, her voice filled with confusion and frustration. “How do you do this to me?”

“It’s us, Joy.” Naked now, I cover her and cradle her head in my hands as I ease inside her as slowly as possible, giving her a moment to adjust to me. “I can guarantee you that it’s never been like this with anyone else.”

“Never,” she agrees, watching me with hot eyes as I bury myself balls-deep and brush my nose back and forth over hers. She hitches her knees up around my sides, spreading herself wider and making me sink farther into her.

“I don’t know where I end, and you begin anymore. And I’m not just talking about this.”

“I know,” she says, digging her nails into my shoulders as I begin to move. “I know.”

I link my fingers with hers and stretch our hands above her head, holding her down as I move in long, slow strokes, building us both toward orgasm. She pants, giving as good as she gets.

“Mine,” I growl, staring down into her eyes. “You. Are. Mine. All of you, every day.”

“Yes,” she says and arches her neck, drowning in her orgasm as another wave pulls her under. Her muscles bear down and milk me, and I can’t hold back any longer. I bury my face in her neck and grunt with my release.

“Mine,” I whisper before kissing her neck and letting go of her hands. She frames my face and smiles up at me.

“And you’re mine.”

“Knock-knock.”

I glance over at the front door, happily surprised to find Joy’s dad, Larry, standing at the screen, smiling at me. Nancy is sitting patiently at his side.

“Hey, come on in,” I call over. “Joy’s at work, but she should be home shortly.”

“I came to look in on this sweet girl,” he says as he looks into Angela’s whelping box and reaches in to pet the new mother behind the ears. “Look how pretty you are there. How are these babies doing?”

“Now I know where Joy gets her love of animals,” I say, wiping my hand on a towel.

“Never met an animal I didn’t like,” Larry agrees as he stands up, holding one of the puppies. Nancy sniffs and strains to see, so he shows her the little baby, then gives it a kiss on the head before giving it back to Angela. “I’m also glad that Joy isn’t here because I’d like to have a conversation with you.”

“Oh?” I cock a brow and toss the towel onto the countertop. “Would you like a beer?”

“Better not. I’m driving, and I’m a cheap date these days.” He chuckles and sits with me in the living room. “I hate to be a cliché, but I’m afraid I’m going to be anyway. I’d like to know what your intentions are with my daughter.”

I cross one ankle over a knee and take a deep breath. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Hell, it’s all I think about. So, I’m confident when I hold his gaze with mine and reply, “I’m going to marry her.”

His eyes widen, and his whole face lights up. “When did you ask her?”

“Well, I haven’t yet. I should say, I want to marry her.”

“Why in the hell haven’t you asked?”

I stand now, too keyed up to sit, and pace the room. “Because I feel like I should wait until this mess with the hospital is cleared up. How can I offer Joy a future when I don’t know for sure what that future looks like?”

“Well, you’re not psychic, son. None of us knows what it looks like. Do you really think her love for you would change based on the outcome of the case?”

I turn and stare at him, surprised that he’d ask me that. “Of course, not.”

“Then I’ll ask again, what are you waiting for?”

I open my mouth, then close it again, and shrug. “I don’t know. I already bought her a ring, I’ve just been waiting for the right time.”

“Then you’re wasting time,” he says sadly. “Trust me when I say, there is less time in life than you’ll ever want. It’s never enough. I’d give anything to have just ten minutes back with my Elizabeth.”

“I know.”

“And you have the love of your life at your fingertips. If you want to marry her, marry her.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It is.” He shrugs. “I don’t see where it’s difficult. That girl loves you like crazy.”

“I know.”

“Elizabeth and I knew from the day Joy brought you home all those years ago. You both insisted that you were just friends, but when you left that night, Elizabeth looked at me with that soft smile she had and said, ‘He’s the one for her.’”

I swallow hard, unsure what to say.

“She just knew things like that,” he continues. “She was usually right.”

“I’m sorry she’s not here.”

He nods once. “Me too, Jace. You have no idea. So, you marry my girl, and you have babies and enjoy every damn day of your life with her. You won’t find better than her.”

“I know it.”

“Daddy,” Joy says as she comes inside. She’s carrying files and breathing hard, and I know she didn’t hear anything before coming through the door. Joy isn’t one to hover. If she wanted to know what we were saying, she would have come in and asked.

“What are you doing?”

“Just chatting with Jace,” Larry says. “I came to look in on Angela.”

“She’s doing great,” Joy says with a smile, but it’s strained, and I want to know what’s wrong. “Some of the babies’ eyes are opening.”

“I saw that,” Larry says and smiles as Joy squats to give Nancy all of the belly rubs in the world.

“Oh, I’ve missed you, sweet girl.” Nancy grunts in delight. “Yes, I have. How are you, baby girl? Her eye looks good.”

“Yep, everything has been just fine,” Larry says with a grin. “She might have gained a pound because she likes table scraps.”

“You shouldn’t feed her people food,” Joy says, not looking up from the bulldog. “But I’m sure she loves it.”

“We should go,” Larry says.

“Oh, you don’t want to stay for dinner?”

“No, I have chili on the stove at home. I just came to say hello.”

Joy gives her dad a big hug before Larry and Nancy leave. She falls onto the couch and sighs.

“Not a good day?” I ask.

“I had to send a tech home because she caught the flu from another tech, who came to work with it last week,” she says and rubs her hands over her face. “So, we’ve been short-handed, and of course, it’s a full moon, so we’re busier than normal.”

“So that’s not just a people hospital thing?” I say, sitting next to her and pulling her into my arms so I can kiss her head and give her a cuddle.