“You don’t have to say it back. I’ve had one hell of a head start.” He chuckles as he straightens and shakes his head.
But I’m not having any of that. I wrap my arms around his neck as I look up at the beautiful blue sky. I only allow myself one tiny second to curse the day I accepted Damien’s proposal. I want to kick myself for not noticing Luke’s feelings and ditching my old, empty life sooner.
But I can’t find it in me to be upset, because now I know exactly what love is supposed to feel like. And lucky for me, it’s with the man whose heart I want to love and protect more than anything on this planet.
I raise up on my tiptoes and pull him down so we’re eye level as I speak, his hands coming to rest on my hips. “You may have had a head start, but my heart has always known it’s been safe with yours. It’s how, during this insane time in my life, I’ve been able to trust my instincts and feelings when it comes to you. And we may have only been just friends until a few days ago, but you’ve always been able to read me well. So go ahead, look me in the eye and tell me, Luke. How do I feel about you?”
His eyes fan over my face quickly, his gaze turning serious as his hands tighten around me when he finds what I have no desire to hide. “Say it.”
A slow grin spreads across my face. “I love you, Luke.”
My sentence ends in a squeal as he lifts me up and spins me around. I laugh as he stops and rains kisses down my face and neck. “I love you so much, Daisy. I swear on my life, I’ll be good to you.”
“You already are. And it may take me a minute to get my footing, but for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m at the helm of my future, and I can’t wait to live it with you by my side.”
It’s then that I’m lifted bridal style, like the first night he walked me into his cabin.
He strides through the wall of daisies until we reach an empty patch of soft grass under a large oak tree. He sets me on my feet and wordlessly removes his henley with one effortless pull over his head. I don’t need instructions to start doing the same, and in a matter of seconds, we’re both naked in the warm sunlight.
He pulls me into his arms as he goes to lie down, but I stop him. “Wait, we should get a blanket or something. Your back might get hurt on the ground.”
He simply smiles as he sits on the cool grass and guides me to straddle him. “I’ve been in a daze since the moment I first laid eyes on you.” My eyes widen as he chuckles. “Yes, that’s why I love to call you, Daze. And now? All I feel is your love all around me. I could be lying on a bed of fiery coals and I wouldn’t feel a single thing besides your lips on mine. So stop stalling and let me make love to you,” he pleads, and it’s my undoing.
I bear down on him, and his hardness bumps against my wet center. I wrap my arms around him as his kiss threatens to consume me whole. I feel the breeze in my hair and the smile on his lips as I lift slightly, lining him up with my entrance, then slowly sink onto him. We don’t stop kissing as I slowly start to ride him, my clit grinding against him as I rise and fall at a languid pace.
His hands run down my side before rising up again and cupping my breasts. Pinching my nipples into little peaks as I moan into his mouth. My speed increases as he continues to play with me, and soon enough he’s managed to take over, even though I’m the one on top. Placing his hands on my hips, he keeps me in place as he pistons up into me at a brutal pace, hitting the sweet spot inside me that he knows will make me shatter.
And I do. We come together. Me screaming his name, him shouting “I love you” as he kisses my neck and breasts.
We lie on that patch of grass afterward, watching the clouds above us move and shift into shapes we can’t decipher.
But we don’t try too hard to guess what they look like.
Because we can’t keep the silly smiles off our faces, and honestly, we don’t even try.
thirty
It’s our last morningat the cabin, and I’m currently refusing to move from my spot on the bed.
The one keeping Luke pinned under me.
“We can come back any time you want,” he mumbles into my hair.
“I’m not done dissociating yet. So I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
His chest hums under my cheek. “You know what would make things better?”
“Do tell.”
“Freshly baked cookies.” In a flash, he’s thrown the covers off us, planted me on my pillow and tucked my naked body back beneath the sheets. “Now stay your cute little ass in bed while I run into town and get you the last batch of the morning, so we can munch on them on the drive back.” He takes off in search of his clothes.
I’m too busy staring at his bare ass to notice that he’s being ridiculous. “Hey. Take those clothes back off and get in bed,” I say grumpily.
He pulls up his jeans and chuckles while buttoning up. “Never gonna tire of those words coming out of your mouth, Daze. But I am a man of my word, and I’ve promised my woman a sweet treat, so I must deliver.”
He darts around the bed quickly. By the time I’m able to untangle myself from the sheets, he’s already fully dressed and grabbing his keys.
“At the very least wait for me.” I look around the disaster zone of discarded clothing, unsure of when I stripped out of any of those items since Luke and I have developed a habit of ripping them off each other’s bodies.
