Forever Your Rogue

by Erin Langston

flour

i luv this scene… i am loving these scenes betwee them and how nth is boring so far

Cora spun herself into a tizzy, and Nate spun her right out of it. It was almost as if she needed him. It was almost as if he liked it.

Nothing had ever stirred him to action so quickly as that single, wavering syllable. It was absurd, but somehow, it seemed Nate’s ears had been tuned to the exact decibel of Tess’s cry. Her small voice was louder than the children’s laughter, louder than the barking dogs. It was louder than his recalcitrant doubts. Nate pivoted sharply, rerouting to the garden. “My little girl is afraid of dogs.”

AGAHSHSHDH

“Tess!” Nate sprinted to her, his heart far outside of his body as he watched her wail in distress. “Tess, it’s all right, sweetheart, it’s all right…” At the sound of his voice, she turned, hiccuping, her watery eyes landing on him like a tiny blue beacon: There you are. “Nate!” Tess cried. He stopped short, momentarily stunned as she scrambled down from the bench and raced to him, barreling across the garden as fast as her small, brave legs could carry her. She was coming to him. He took two long strides, and then he was scooping her up, folding her shaking body inside his arms. She clung to him, curling into a tight little ball, her knees tucked against her own chest even as she wiggled her way into his. “Shh…shh…Tess…” Her little hands clutched his coat, her wet face burrowed into his neck. “I don’t like it…” And Nate understood; Tess was frightened, but not of the dogs. She was frightened of her own fear, of the realization that she could be afraid, that she should be afraid. He knew the feeling well. “You’re fine, darling girl, I’ve got you,” Nate murmured, smoothing down her hair. He fervently prayed he was doing this right. “Don’t cry, sweetheart, nothing is going to hurt you…I’ve got you.”

DEADDDHDHWI

“Hold the bedpost, Cora,”

Nate frowned. “Cora…all summer, I allowed you to dwell under the ridiculous premise that it was fine to not ask anything of me. That it was permissible to have no expectations.” He touched her face. “But no more. I’m telling you, love, ask me. Ask me for everything. Demand more of me. Let me become.”

i luv that

He had four children—two he made and two who had made him—and Nate loved them all fiercely, equally, differently.

“It wasn’t always easy, Tess. But it was always.”