It may have only been a month but I know now more than ever that you and I are meant to be.
No other woman has captivated me, stolen my breath, and made me feel like I’ve been bewitched like you do. You’re all I think about when we’re apart. When we’re together, I feel like I’m the luckiest, most blessed man in all of Alaska.
I’ve never thought any farther ahead than a year or two. Yet every time I’m with you, it’s like more and more of our future life reveals itself. As if it’s already been mapped out.
Especially this afternoon when I kissed you for the first time and saw stars. More than stars, it felt like I was truly alive–and it was because of you.
I’ve even talked to Ma about needing a ring and wanting to call you mine and give you my family name. I told her about wanting to build a life with you, abouttaking over the ranch once my parents are ready to retire. About you and me working together, taking care of the land and all that lives on it until we’re old and gray.
I thought Ma would warn me away from settling down with the first girl to catch my eye. Except when I told her it’s only ever been you, she got this soft look in her eye that I’ve only ever seen when she thinks Dad’s not looking.
Now, I have our family’s heirloom ring in my top drawer and that’s where it’ll stay until the day it finds its home on her finger after I ask your father for your hand.
Until then, I’ll work hard to be the man deserving of a reward like you. And I’ll do everything I can to keep making you smile in that cute, sweet, heart stopping way you do.
Forever and always yours,
Henley.
Chapter 17
Em
A sliver of sunlight shining through my blinds wakes me up, but I do it with a smile, feeling more refreshed and relaxed than I have been for months now. Maybe ever.
Jude and I must’ve moved during the night. Now I’m lying on my side, half of my body plastered over his, and my head is burrowed into the crook of his neck while his arm is wrapped tight around me, holding me close.
The best thing of all is the first thing I see is of a still-sleeping Jude looking as handsome than ever.
Last night was…bliss. Absolutely perfect. There was no overthinking or worrying if we were on the same page or rushing into something one or both of us wasn’t ready for. It was like we were in sync with where we were at with each other and our relationship.
When I saw Jude standing in my open front door, something clicked into place, a big thing I didn’t think I was ready to acknowledge. Little did I know, seeing him smiling standing there waiting for me to come home, smiling like I was the highlight of his day, then catching me as I launched myself at him, was all it would take to realize I’d slipped from falling for Jude Cooper to being absolutely head over heels for the man.
It doesn’t matter that the mountain spirit chose him for me and me for him. I honestly believe we would’ve found our way to one another regardless.
Leaning in, I press my lips to the hinge of his jaw, loving the way his soft stubble tickles my skin. Just as I go to move back, his arm flexes, holding me in place as my eyes meet his warm chocolate ones gazing down at me.
“Hi, wifey.”
“Hey, hubby,” I whisper.
“Feels good to wake up with you in my arms.” His sleepy rough voice sends a tremble running through me, something he doesn’t miss if the flash of heat in his eyes is anything to go by.
The next thing I know, I’m flat on my back with every inch of Jude’s body pressing into mine.
“Thought I was dreamin’. I even kept wakin’ up to check it was real… thatyouwere real.”
Looping my arms around his neck, I glide my fingers through his thick sleep-mussed hair. “Feels pretty real to me.”
His eyes drift to my lips as my tongue darts out to lick them. “Think I might have to check,” he murmurs, lowering his mouth to mine and giving me what might just be my favorite kind of Jude kiss. It’s gentle…. searching…savoring, and more about the act than the destination.
In short, it’s divine! It’s also not enough because suddenly I’m consumed with an urgent need for more. Jude must sense the change–or maybe he feels it too–because soft and slow morphs into hungry and desperate. One moment we’re exploring, the next we’ve locked our bodies together, rubbing, feeling, moaning, groaning…
“More,” I whimper into his mouth. He lifts his head with a growl, just long enough for me to catch the raging inferno of lust in his gaze before we devour each other all over again. Our bodies sliding together, my ankles linked behind his back, myhands holding him tight like he’s the very air I need to breathe–if breathing involved full body contact over our clothes, that is.
His hard length presses insistently against my aching core, every thrust of his hips driving me higher and higher, our heavy breathing, racing hearts, and out of control libidos willing us toward the point of no return. All I can do is take and give and feel, whimpering into his mouth as he groans into mine.
“Come for me, Em,” he rasps, his voice so sexy I swear I could finish on the sound alone. “Want to hear you moan my name.”