Total pages in book: 170
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
“Declan,” she murmurs my name with hesitancy as her eyes search mine and something inside of me cracks. I’m desperate to hold it together.
“Don’t say anything but yes.” My throat tightens and I inch toward her, “Just say yes.”
My heart pounds once, then again and again, all the while her dark eyes beseech mine.
Finally, she whispers, “Yes.”
Relief is instant as is the need to claim her. Her lips are first and then my hands roam her body.
Mine. She’s truly mine.
“I love you,” I whisper in between urgent kisses. She presses against my chest, forcing me back just enough to tell me, “I love you too. Even if you scare me.”
With her in my arms, I turn her so her back is to my front. The warm water pours at my back and I let it go, not interested in a damn thing other than her. Loving her and taking that fear away.
I enter her fully in one swift stroke and it’s fucking heaven. The way her back arches, her breasts press into my hands. The sharp intake of breath and then soft moan that pours from her lips. The way every inch of her heat feels around my cock…heaven. Braelynn is my heaven.
How I’m able to speak is a mystery to me as our eyes meet. Her gaze reflects back everything I’ve been feeling. “Watch the mirror,” I whisper at the shell of her ear and seemingly reluctantly, she moves her gaze to our reflection and I do the same.
With another thrust, her palms smack against the stonewall of the shower. My gaze drops to her peaked nipples and supple breasts as they sway with each thrust.
My heart pounds as the pleasure intensifies with each stroke. With an arm bracing her, holding her close to me, I make love to her. Deeply and fully capturing her lips as she comes undone for me. Grateful that she’s here with me still and able to love.
BRAELYNN
I love Declan and he loves me. But Carter also made it clear that this is the way to keep the law from using me to get to Declan.
I never thought a man would one day propose to me by simply saying that he needed me to marry him. I never thought that the marriage would be for reasons other than love. Love has a lot to do with it, of course, but above all, Declan wants to protect me. Somehow, this is the best way to get the law on our side, at least a little.
It wasn’t just the wine that said yes last night. My damn heart refused to say no.
“This feels so strange,” I whisper to him in front of one of the glass cases in the jewelry store. The jeweler, an older man with a neat gray suit, hovers nearby, pretending to look through a catalog although he keeps glancing up and has asked me several times if I want him to take out a ring to look at. Nate stands outside the shop and I can just barely see his suit in the large bay window.
“It’s better this way.”
I can’t help but look around the store as the nerves flip in my stomach. “The whole store is closed for us, though, you don’t think—”
“I think it’s safer,” Declan says, with a finality to his tone. He’s the one who called ahead and had the store closed down. “Don’t worry about anyone else. Just focus on choosing a ring. More than one ring, if you want.”
My laugh feels too loud for an empty jewelry store. “What would I need more than one ring for?”
“I want to spoil you.” He kisses the back of my neck, his lips soft and warm. “If you want two rings, you’ll have two rings. I’m sure there are other things you’d like. Choose anything. This day is for you.”
The kiss makes me shiver. I love him, but I’m scared. It’s moving very quickly and I’m not so naive that the reality hasn’t dawned on me.
Once I marry Declan, I’m in this life. I can’t imagine they’d ever let me leave. And it’s all happened so fast that I have mixed feelings about whether this will work. Declan seems to believe that if we get married, I’ll be shielded from having to testify. He thinks it’ll save me from the worst of the fallout.
What if it can’t, though? What if a shotgun wedding won’t change anything?
I haven’t even told my mother. Real life as I know it is gone forever the moment I slip this ring on my finger. I know it. Sober, or rather hungover, me apparently has cold feet.
Declan puts his hand on my jaw and turns my face to the side so he can kiss me. With his body behind me and his hand at my waist, my worries are chased away…for the moment. Everything feels like it’s going to be all right when he kisses me.