There’s no rush. Just a slow, aching devotion to the woman I love and want to spend the rest of my life with.
My mouth moves lower, coaxing shivers from her skin, as our fingers entwine, anchoring her to me. Every touch conveys what I’ve wanted to say for weeks but couldn’t.
As her hands gently grip my face, she whispers against my lips. “I love you,” she says, her voice raw with emotion. “I love you so fucking much Jase I didn’t even know what I was feeling until I didn’t have you anymore.”
“You’ve always had me.”
“No, don’t interrupt me, please. I need to get this off my chest. It’s so long overdue, and honestly, I have no idea what kept me from saying it to you, but I’ve loved you for months.I’ve loved you from the beginning, and I’ll love you till the end. I don’t just want the good, Jase. I want it all. The good times we’ll spend with our baby, the bad times we’ve dealt with in our past, all of you.”
I reach into the pocket of my jeans, pulling out the small box I’ve been carrying with me since the day I moved her into my house. Bringing it between us, I open the small box revealing a cushion-cut diamond centered on a gold band decorated with small glittering diamonds all around. She lets out a gasp, the sound bringing me so much joy. I strive to take her breath away, a rare phenomenon, and the fact I get to do it makes my heart swell.
“I’ve carried the ring for months, and have had it in the pocket of my jeans for two weeks since the night of the baby shower. I was planning…” My voice was thick and choked with emotion, tears welling in my eyes. I was planning to ask her to marry me the night everything fell apart, and this ring has been burning a hole in my pocket since, a mockery of what we almost became—strangers.
“All of me belongs to you, Moonshine. It has since the very first day you were mine.” This is it. This right here is my one chance to make her see how much I love her. “Marry me, Monroe,” I say, with my forehead pressed to hers. I brush her jaw with my thumb, kissing her where my fingers touch. “Let me spend the rest of my life proving to you how much I love you. You’ll never have to question it again. Be my wife, Moonshine. Build this life with me, I beg you, make me whole.”
Tears fill her eyes, spilling hot down her cheeks. “Jase,” she reaches for my face. “Yes,” she murmurs, “I’ll marry you.”
I crush my lips against hers, standing and pulling her over to straddle me as I sit on the bed. I bury my face in her neck, my whole body shaking with relief.
“God, Monroe. You have no idea how much I love you.”
“I think I do,” she mutters through sobs.
Chapter Forty-Four
Monroe
The word hangs in the air between us like something holy, changing everything and nothing all at once. There is a fire in my chest, sparking down my arms, curling into every inch of me while Jase stares at me, his hand still wrapped around mine, thumb trembling against my skin as if he can’t quite believe it either.
“I mean it,” I whisper, my throat tight. “Yes.”
The sound he makes is raw and guttural, and then his mouth is on mine. He kisses me hard, drawing out my response with a deep and consuming kiss, all tongue, heat and desperation, as if he’s trying to brand the word onto my soul.
“Yes,” I murmur into his mouth as I clutch at him, fisting his shirt, because my entire body is about to give out under the weight of what I’ve just agreed to.
His hands are everywhere like a man starved—in my hair, cupping my jaw, sliding down the curve of my back to pull me flush against him. Every inch of me comes alive beneath his touch, every nerve sparking.
“Jase,” I gasp when his mouth trails down my throat, nipping, tasting, claiming.
“You don’t know,” he rasps against my skin. “You don’t know what it does to me hearing you say yes. Knowing you’re mine. The promise that you’ll always be mine.”
I shudder, heat pooling low in my stomach. “It’s more than a promise, Jase. It’s a vow, unbreakable and sacred.” His growl vibrates through me as he kisses me again as I reach for him, tugging his shirt over his head, my palms skimming over hard muscle, the ridges of his chest, and warm skin. He hisses when I drag my nails down his chest, and I feel powerful, completely drunk on him.
“You drive me insane,” he mutters, gripping my dress and tugging it over my waist. His fingers trail soft circles over the bare skin he uncovers. Leaning down, he lays me on my back, kissing my ribs, my hipbone, and my thigh. Heat blooms in me everywhere he’s touched until he places a soft, tender kiss on my stomach. “Every damn day, Monroe.”
“Then don’t stop, lose your mind,” I breathe, gasping when his teeth graze tender flesh. “Just like I’ve lost mine.”
Those mesmerizing blue eyes are anything but gentle. They’re dark and hungry, ready to worship me when my naked body comes into view. I’m mentally thanking Raven for bringing me a dress to wear home from the hospital because it’s making this so much easier.
“God, Moonshine,” he groans into my mouth, tongue sliding against mine, claiming, devouring as he tugs my dress all the way up and over my head. “Mine.”
The way he says it wrecks me. I love the way he’s caging me in, pressing me down into the sheets. His mouth licking down my neck, over my collarbone, biting at the swell of my breast through the lace as I arch against him, desperate and needing more.
Leaning forward, he licks across my breast, his teeth dragging along my skin as he draws my nipple into his mouth. He tugs, making me painfully aware of how fucking wet I am for him.
I suck in a breath as his thumb pushes over my panties. He adds the slightest pressure as he tugs them to the side, running his fingers through my slick arousal. Two fingers slip inside me as his thumb toys with my clit in circular motions.
“Jase,” I hum as I spread my legs wider. “Please, I need you inside me.”
