My girl.
Mine.
Breathing hard, I rest my forehead against Aria’s, holding her through the aftershocks. When we finally come back to ourselves, she looks up at me, and something cracks open in my chest. Her eyes are so full of warmth. Trust. Nobody has ever looked at me like this before. I’m a big brute, intimidating as hell. I’m used to people avoiding my gaze.
But not her.
Not Aria.
She grins at me. “Well, caveman…that definitely wasn’t resting.”
“Way better than resting.”
“I agree.” She reaches up to brush my grizzled cheek. “It was perfect.”
“Youwere perfect, princess.”
“So were you.”
I roll off her, ignoring the sting as I land on my injured arm. Then I pull her back to my chest, breathing in the sweet smell of her hair.
Outside the window, fir trees sway in the wind, a light dusting of snow sprinkling to the ground like powdered sugar. Aria sighs contentedly in my arms, and I wish I could bottle up this moment. Keep it forever. Freeze it in amber or something. I can’t remember ever feeling this damn happy, and it’s all thanks to this sweet angel.
As I hold her close, I think back to what she said earlier, when I asked how long she was staying in town.
A few months, maybe.
Instinctively, my grip on her tightens. A few months isn’t going to cut it. Not by a long shot. When I told Aria she was mine, I meant it.
Mine.
Not for a few days or a few months.
Mine forever.
And if she doesn’t know that yet, she will soon enough.
10
ARIA
For the next few hours,Thorne is insatiable. Relentless. He fucks me in every room of the cabin, like he’s making a point. Like he wants to mark me. Ruin me.
We’re back in the bedroom now, on the floor by the fireplace. It pops in the hearth beside us as I ride Thorne, hands braced on his shoulders. He’s lying back, looking up at me with those savage green eyes as he grabs my ass, filling his hands with my plump flesh.
“Who do you belong to, princess?” he growls.
“You.”
He’s getting more possessive by the minute.
And I love it.
“Good girl.” He squeezes my ass tight. “Keep riding your man, just like that.”
His words make me shiver with delight. There’s just something about hearing him praise me in that gruff, throaty voice. It spurs me on.
“You look so good on top of me,” he grunts. “Like a fucking goddess, Aria.”
