Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“Hi, Crow. How are you?” Melody asked him.
I saw the flash of discomfort in his eyes, but I didn’t think anyone else would notice.
Softly, he said, “Good. How are you?”
“I’m good. Can’t wait to get off work. Moving takes a lot out of you.”
He nodded, and I told him, “Mel is going to propose to Isabelle. I’m going ring-shopping with her soon.”
“Congrats,” Crow told her, offering her a smile, then looked at me, head cocked, seeming unsure of something, but I couldn’t tell what.
“Anyway, I’m out of here. I’ll see you soon.” I hugged Melody, took off my apron, and headed around the counter to Crow.
When I reached him, he hooked his finger beneath my chin and tilted my head up. “Missed you.”
“I always miss you,” I replied, then melted when he pressed his lips to mine.
“Swoon!” Melody teased, and I gave her the finger, being sure to hide it from the customers.
*
“Saw Billy,” Crow said when we got in the truck, and I immediately stiffened. Billy still liked to give Crow a hard time, and that extended to me now. It wasn’t as bad as it could be, and Officer Paulson was a good ally for us, but still. I was used to bullies, and it was easier for me to ignore than it was for Crow, but his therapist had been working with him on coping mechanisms.
“Did anything happen?”
“Ignored him. It was…hard.”
“Good job, baby.” I reached over and palmed his cock. “I’ll reward you by getting you hard in a good way when we get home.”
He growled.
My dick got hard.
Just an everyday occurrence for us.
Crow was quiet the rest of the drive home. I could tell something was on his mind, but I knew it was best to let him work through it.
We got home and didn’t end up having sex, but Crow cooked dinner while I told him about my workday.
Afterward, I got on my knees for him, holding his cock in my mouth, which comforted us both. Crow ran his fingers through my hair, gaze intense on me, so much love focused on me that it nearly stole my breath.
“Do you want that?” he asked eventually.
I pulled off him. “Want what?”
“To be married. I didn’t… It’s not something I ever thought about.”
Oh, my sweet, bighearted mountain man. That’s why he’d looked unsure when I’d mentioned Melody proposing. “I don’t need that. I know who we are to each other. There are legal things we might want to consider that can help if one of us gets sick or if something happens to one of us…but I don’t need to be married. Do you want that?”
“I want you,” he replied simply.
“You have me. Always. It’s not something we have to worry about now, but we can revisit it in the future. We can have something here, just the two of us—and whoever performs the ceremony, of course. Maybe Mel and Isabelle?”
He pulled me up so I straddled him. “Mine,” Crow said, then tugged me down and kissed me.
Maybe I liked this whole marriage idea more than I thought I would.
*
Five years later
My heart raced with the speed of a cheetah and the thud, thud, thud of a stampede of elephants. My lungs were tight, struggling to pull air as I ran through the woods. I jumped over a log, then ducked behind a tree, trying to give myself a moment to settle down.
“Where are you, little lamb? I can hear you breathing. You know I’m going to find you. I always find you.”
Crow’s voice sent a shiver down my spine. He definitely always found me, and I always wanted to be found…eventually, but for this game that we loved to play, the fear of getting caught, feeling stalked, like his prey, was what we both wanted.
His feet crunched on leaves and branches, getting closer and closer. Just as Crow came around the right side of the tree, I darted left and took off running again. There was no doubt in my mind that Crow could catch me, but he wouldn’t, not until we were both ready for it.
I stumbled down a small hill, nearly losing my balance, but I managed to stay on my feet. I wasn’t as good as Crow, of course, but I’d learned to know our mountain fairly well myself. Knew the exact path I needed to take to get to the spot where we’d agreed Crow would take me.
I climbed over a large rock, then looked behind me, a quick glance over my shoulder. With his hair hanging in loose strands around his face, Crow looked more feral than he had any right to.
I ran beneath the tree stand we sometimes used, then down another small hill.
“I’m going to catch you,” Crow called out, even closer now, because yes, he was about to catch me. We were almost at the trees where—