Sable Peak (The Edens, #6)

by Devney Perry

He strode into the room wearing a pair of faded jeans and a black plaid shirt with its sleeves rolled up his forearms. It hung open, revealing a white T-shirt underneath that pulled tight across his broad chest. A silver and gold belt buckle gleamed beneath a flat stomach. His brown cowboy boots were scuffed and faded. Like the other Edens, he had dark hair and sapphire eyes. It was the playful grin that set him apart. The mischievous smirk on his soft lips. The sharp corners of his stubbled jaw and the twinkle in his blue gaze. This kitchen was full of beautiful people. He put them all to shame.

“Hey.” He dipped his chin, like he was tipping an invisible hat. “I’m Mateo.” That name locked into place for all time. Mateo.

Yep, he was perfect. Funny. Charming. Sexy. This crush was going nowhere fast.

He was the light. My light. The shining star that chased away the dark.

It was hard to stop crushing on Mateo Eden. Impossible, actually.

Sometimes it hurt less. Sometimes it hurt more. Tonight . . . tonight was a bad night. I missed my sisters. I missed my dad. I didn’t like Thanksgiving.

“I’m done waiting for you to see me.” I flew from the bar. I ran. And as I raced down Quincy’s sidewalks, I put my love for Mateo away. I shoved it in that locked box. And buried it down deep.

I’m done waiting for you to see me. I saw Vera. I’d always seen Vera. She was sweet. Strong. Her hair went wild sometimes and she’d get so annoyed she’d rake it into a ponytail with a huff that always made me chuckle. She loved cherry tomatoes. I hated them but always thought it would be weird to offer her food from my plate because that was something couples did and we weren’t a couple.

He won’t treat you like you’re broken, even when you are. She wasn’t broken. Not once had I thought she was anything but strong. A warrior.

She was beautiful. Vera had a beauty not a soul would miss. “Will you give Allie a birthday kiss for me?” she asked. Sad. Tired. Embarrassed. But she’d still remembered Allie’s birthday. Because Vera loved my daughter. My daughter loved Vera. That meant something. That meant everything. I’m done waiting for you to see me. Something shifted beneath my feet like moving sand. Things in my chest, around my brain, rearranged. It was like a deck of cards being shuffled. There was before. This was after.

Vera always had pink cheeks. I’d assumed it was just a natural blush. But maybe, all this time, it had been for me. Damn.

It was gorgeous. She was gorgeous. My blood stirred and rushed straight to my groin. Huh. That was new. And not entirely unwelcome. I was in trouble, wasn’t I? A fucking heap.

“You’re flying an airplane, Peach.” Peach? Where the hell had that come from? It had just . . . slipped out. Like I should have been calling her Peach for years. Like the way I’d started calling Alaina Sprout. One day she didn’t have a nickname. The next, she did. And Peach was Vera’s.

Clear and a million. Today, I was seeing clear and a million. “Will you teach me to fly?” she asked. Spend hours and hours with her, alone and above the world? “Absolutely.”

That kiss she’d given me at Willie’s hadn’t just been an eye-opener. It had been permission. There were no more lines. Something here was worth exploring, and I wasn’t wasting my chance.

“You kissed me before I could kiss you back.” “Oh.” My. God. “Oh.” A grin stretched across his mouth as he bent closer. “My turn.” Mateo sealed his mouth over mine, swallowing my gasp. He hummed, a sound so intoxicating and sinful, my body liquified. If not for the grip he had on my face, I would have crashed to my knees.

Goose bumps broke out across my skin as a smile toyed with my mouth. Mateo Eden, my Mateo, was stripping me bare.

“You’re so damn beautiful, Vera.” His voice was hoarse. “Look at me.” I opened my eyes and found his waiting. “I see you.”

His hands kept me pinned and he hummed a word I couldn’t quite make out, but it sounded a lot like mine.

I came on a gasp, my heart thundering as I exploded. Pulse after pulse, this orgasm put the first to shame. It was like shattering into a million pieces and when those pieces came together again, I was someone new. Mateo’s. I was Mateo’s.

Vera’s entire body jerked. The hold she had on Allie’s bed tightened into a death grip. She was in here, standing guard, wasn’t she? She was protecting my daughter from the storm.

My heart split down the middle. One half, so fucking full that she loved Alaina enough to act as her guardian. The other half, devastated for the terrified woman in my arms.

I leaned against the corner of the cabin and enjoyed the view. My view. This was mine. He was mine. I was keeping him forever.

I loved Mateo for trying to understand. I loved him for not pushing me to talk. I loved him for the distraction of a flight school and the name we still hadn’t chosen. I loved him. For always.

“I love you, Vera. I fucking love you. I won’t leave you. And I won’t let you go.”

“How’s the weather, Peach?” “Better than I expected,” she whispered. “It started overcast and gray.” “And now?” She smiled. “Clear and a million.”

Five years, and I saw them the way I saw Mateo and Allie. Not a cloud in sight. This life of ours was clear and a million.

Mom and Dad. Griffin and Winn. Knox and Memphis. Foster and Talia. Jasper and Eloise. Vance and Lyla. Vera and me. Some of us hadn’t started with the last name Eden. Some of us had changed it with marriage. But every person in this house claimed it. We were the Edens.