I nod, pulling away and lifting my arms as he slides the soft material upward and over my head. His eyes roam over my body.
His gentle touch glides over my arms, tracing the muscles. “You have to tell me what you want or. . .don’t want. Ok?”
I love him so much. I step into him, my skin pressing against his. “I need you to participate.”
That grin appears, and I tug him down on the bed.
“Help me figure that out.”
The weight of his body falls on top of mine, skin that’s warm and familiar.
He starts with my mouth and then sweeps kisses down my neck. “You gonna drop my ass to the floor, Jones?” he teases.
I grin as my fingers trace the ridges of each muscle in his back. “Maybe.”
His smile falls away, and there’s a heated intensity in his eyes that’s new. A burn radiates from my core throughout my entire body.
“Just stay right here. . .with me.”
His warm palm slides up my thigh as his mouth lowers to mine. Every movement is gentle and slow. His fingers skimming over every scar.
“I love you,” I whisper.
Cole’s lips run over my cheek to my ear. “I love you, too. I’m going to show you how much.”
We take our time loving and exploring, learning each other in a whole new way. We lie in the dark, my head on his chest, resting in his slow, rhythmic breathing that calms my soul.
“I want to stay here like this with you forever,” I whisper, not wanting anything to take away from the moment.
He pushes a strand of hair out of my face. “I’m not going anywhere. Ever.” His large hand spreads over my back. “I want forever with you. A life. A family, whatever that looks like. I want you to be my wife if. . .that’s something you want.”
I lie perfectly still.
Wife?Is he asking me to marry him?
I’ve never even thought about marriage or what it would look like to be a wife.
My brain spins with what that would mean.
He shifts from underneath me, and his hand slides over my stomach.
I can barely make out his eyes.
“It doesn’t have to be soon. I just wanted you to know,” he whispers as if he’s afraid he spooked me.
“I’m. . .not sure I’d be any good at being a wife,” I admit the fear that rises to the top.
His eyes roam over my face, and that dazzling grin appears—the one that takes all my hard resolve and squishes like a bug. “I think you’d be perfect asmywife.”
I slide my hand behind his neck, pulling his face to mine. “You sound pretty sure.”
His grin spreads against my lips.
“You’re gonna have to be ok with me staying out past bedtime or leaving in the middle of the night.”
His lips brush against mine. “I expect nothing less.”
My fingers brush over his scruffy jaw, asking a question I need an answer to. “Would you be ok if, at some point, I bring a girl or boy home who needs to know that someone will keep finding them?”
