Her hands rise, fingers threading in the sides of my hair, and I place both my hands on each side of her pillow. She reaches higher, wrapping her arms around my neck, and I move my hand behind her head, lifting her so I can kiss her deeper.
I’m lost in the minty taste of her lips, the feel of her warm breath against my cheek, her cherry scent, her soft body in my arms.
I ache to possess her, but I manage to pull back so I can say all the things I couldn’t say before.
I help her move to a sitting position with her back against the pillows, and I’m on one knee at her bedside, holding her hand in mine.
With her other hand, she reaches out to comb my hair behind my ear. “What is it?”
I lift my chin, meeting her eyes. “I need to tell you the truth.”
Her brow quirks, but she nods. “Okay.”
“The truth is I love you, but not only that… I want you with everything I have, with all my soul. I was afraid at first, but I’m not afraid now. Now I know what I want. I want you. I was jealous because I’ll do everything in my power to protect and keep what’s mine.”
As I speak her expression changes from confused to smiling to blinking fast as she reaches for me. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you’re my home, Gina. You’re comfort and love and everything I want in my life. As I flew back from Eureka, I did a lot of things, but the most important thing I did was call your dad.”
Her pretty green eyes widen. “You calledmydad? Why?”
“I wanted to apologize to him for not being able to ask him in person.”
Her full lips part. “Ask him… what?”
I slide my hand down the side of her cheek to her neck, placing my thumb on that small cleft in her chin. “If it was okay to make you my wife. He said he’d give me a pass this one time, but if I ever did anything to hurt you, he’d find me.”
“Owen…” Tears are in her eyes, but she’s smiling so big my throat aches.
I reach into my pocket and take out the blue pouch, then I take out the ring.
“Will you marry me, Gina Grace? I love you… and just like your devoted dog, I need to be beside you always. I burn for you. I want you to be my wife, my life partner, my soul mate. It’s always been you.”
She nods rapidly, faster with every word as tears spill onto her cheeks. “Yes, Owen, yes.” Reaching forward, she puts her hands on my shoulders. “I love you!”
I take her left hand in mine and slide the ring onto her third finger. It’s a round diamond set in platinum with seven small diamonds on each side arranged to look like paw prints.
“Haddy helped me with the size. I tried to find something that captured your personality. This seemed perfect.”
“Oh my gosh!” She holds it up, turning her hand side to side. “I adore it—it has paw prints!”
“Maddie also gave me the thumbs up to ask you…”
“You askedMaddie?” Her forehead crinkles. “When?”
“Tonight, when I was putting her to bed.” I rise off my knee to sit beside her on the bed. “I wanted to tell you all of this earlier, when I got back into town, but I think you were still mad at me.”
“I’m not mad now.” She scoots closer, pulling her body flush with mine. “I’m so happy.”
My hands slide from her waist, under the hem of her shirt. I place my palms flat against the warm skin of her bare back, moving them higher as I lift it over her head.
“I’ve missed you.” Dipping my chin, I kiss the top of her shoulder, the side of her neck. “It’s so hard to be away from you. I’m like Spanky. I need to be with my woman.”
Her nose wrinkles as she lifts the bottom of my shirt. “I thought you hated a cage.”
“It’s not a cage if you’re with the person you love.” I whip the garment over my head, then lean forward to pull her lips with mine. “Didn’t you say cages were safe spaces?”
“Mm-hmm…” She nods, chasing my kisses with her own. “Are you saying you’d live in a cage with me?”
