His voice is thick with pleasure.“That’s because I love the way you scream out my name when you do.”
Swallowing hard, I open my heart and let the words flow from my lips.“I love you.”
His smile is tender and his eyes hold the emotions warming my bones.“I loved seeing you holding the cookie jar wrapped in only a blanket the first day I met you.You’re the only woman I allowed to crawl under my skin, only to settle deep inside my chest for safekeeping.I love you, Mercy Rustam.”
Frowning, I mutter, “Rustam is your name, not mine.”
“It will be,” he states with determination, “because you are mine.”
Then I realize what he means.“You want to get married?”
“We will get married, princess.”The corner of his mouth twitches.“Pick a date and we’ll make it happen.”
Happiness is what I feel at the thought of getting married.
Sable strokes my cheek with his knuckles.“Fill that gorgeous head with dreams of your wedding day and we’ll make them reality, okay?”
“Okay,” I agree, loving the way I can allow myself to follow weary dreams into a time where dreams will turn into a reality.
All because of Sable, who will soon become my husband.Who himself is a dream come true...at least, for me he is.
BONUS EPILOGUE
Five years later
– MERCY –
Bringing two fingers to my mouth, I give a hard whistle, making Seal’s head whip up from the long grass.I shove my hand into the air and curl my fingers a few times to give him the silent command to come to me.He starts running and his big ears start to flap as he picks up speed.
Running to me at full speed freaked me out the first few times after he came to live with us five years ago.I thought he wouldn’t stop and knock me on my ass.Never happened, though.Seal always stops, even if it’s only an inch away.
Like now.He plunks down on his ass and tips his head back, tongue lolling out on the side and a huge grin on his face.He’s such a happy dog.Such a contradiction to when we got him.The previous owner, a vet for crying out loud, debarked him.The poor thing can’t bark and it seemed it was one of the many awful things this man did to animals.
Wisely Dicey MC ended this awful man’s practice and managed to tie him to more crimes, including killing his assistant among other things, so he’s currently still rotting in a jail cell.Jocko called Sable five years ago, the day I started working for my father, and explained that there were a few animals needing a new home.
That’s how Seal entered our lives.My heart still warms at the thought of Jocko rehoming all those animals himself instead of calling animal control.He might seem like a dick but secretly he has a kind heart.
