Taming Rafe Animals MC book 7

Epilogue.

Raphael slowly opened his eyes, blinking to try and bring his blurred vision into focus. Slowly he looked around the room.

He was in his bed, in his cabin, nothing was out of place. The furniture was exactly as it should have been, the windows were completely intact and he was tucked in his bed, warm and safe.

His first thought was that maybe it had all been a dream, even Tess. He sat up and the pain that shot through his entire body proved to him it was very real.

Looking down he saw the bandage around his abdomen, the bandages across his shoulders and one around his leg, he was wearing only his black boxers.

He fell back against the sheets, exhausted from even attempting to sit up. He could hear movement in the main living area and hoped it was a friend and not someone coming to finish him off.

The bedroom door slowly creaked open and Tess stepped inside, her eyes met his and she hurried forward.

"You're awake."

"Looks like it and alive."

She eased down onto the edge of the bed next to his right hip.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

"Terrible, everything hurts."

"You lost a lot of blood, a lot...I called the doctor in town and convinced him to come up and stitch you shut. I paid him all the money you gave me to run to keep quiet about it."

"You should have let me go, Tess. You never should have come back."

"I couldn't let you here alone...I saw them come into town and...I...I knew I couldn't leave you."

"If they had still been here, they would have killed you. I couldn't protect you, I couldn't save you." He argued.

"They didn't, they weren't here and they didn't' kill me. " She insisted, reaching out to place her hand against the side of his face.

"Who fixed the house?" He asked.

"I did, mostly but I had a man in town do the windows."

"How long have I been out?" He asked glancing around the room.

"Almost three days, the doctor gave you pain meds so when you would start to come to I would give you one. I just...wanted you to be comfortable."

"I just wanted you to be safe," He said.

"I am, I'm safe. I'm here with you."

He laughed and reached out to copy her, resting one hand against her soft cheek.

"I love you," He said softly.

"I love you too."

He pulled her down for a soft, long kiss. She pulled away first shaking her head.

"Where are you going? Come back here," He whined.

"I don't want to hurt you, you can't tear the stitches open."

He let her go with a heavy sigh, she smiled and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"I know we missed Christmas with everything but I have a present for you," She said gently.

"I don't have anything for you," He replied.

"That's okay."

"Alright, what did you get me."

She smiled brighter and leaned down to give him another long kiss, pulling away to rest her forehead against his.

"I'm pregnant."

He froze, grabbing her upper arms to hold her away from him.

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure," She said biting her lower lip.

"You can't be very far, are....are you sure it's..."He trailed off swallowing past the lump in his throat. Suddenly near tears at the thought that he may be a dad or worse the baby may not be his.

"It's yours," She promised.

He struggled to sit up ignoring the way she fussed and winced as he did so, his body protested the movement but he didn't care. Resting a hand on her flat stomach.

"I'm only a few weeks, barely even a month but...it was enough for a pregnancy test and I took it yesterday." She said.

"I...I'm going to be a father," He said lamely.

"Yeah, that is if you want to be. I know...I know how stupid the circumstances are and there's really no reason to keep this baby and I know how we met is...not exactly normal but.."

"No, no. I love you, I love you more than I ever thought I could love another human being. I can think of a million reasons to keep this baby but...number one is I love you, number two is...I love this baby."

She smiled and leaned forward giving him a careful hug and letting him hold her close. He shook his head blinking back tears.

"I really wish you hadn't come back, what if...what if they killed you? Another woman and another baby gone because of me."

"They didn't we're here, we're fine." She promised.

"I never thought when I got there that night to kill Harold that my life would change. It was just a job, in and out... then...I saw you, I think I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you." He said, pulling back and pushing her dark hair from her face.

"I'm really glad you didn't kill me." She said with a small laugh.

"Me too," He agreed.

"Lay down, I'll go get dinner started. You need to rest."

He complied falling back against the sheets and pillows, too exhausted to argue with her.

"Get some sleep."

"I'm afraid you'll be gone when I wake up. I'm afraid this is all a dream."

"I'll be here, I'm not a dream." She promised, leaning down to kiss his cheek.

"Make sure you make lots of food, you gotta feed my boy." He teased as he closed his eyes.

"I think you mean my little girl."

He chuckled as he drifted off to sleep, the sound of Tess humming in the kitchen as she busied herself with dinner. HIs aching muscles slowly relaxing and giving in to sleep.

His mind briefly filtered back to all those years ago when he lost Chloe, he thought his life had ended that day but maybe it had only been the beginning.

THE END>>>