Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 153571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 768(@200wpm)___ 614(@250wpm)___ 512(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 768(@200wpm)___ 614(@250wpm)___ 512(@300wpm)
"Like you could float away?" he asks, a smile in his voice.
"Like I finally know what it's like to have a family," I whisper, staring down at his hand over my stomach. "For a long time, I thought I wanted stability, but I really wanted a place where I belong. I think I've wanted it ever since my mom died. With you, I finally know what love feels like. I know what it means to be a family. I have you and Tahani and Trent…and our baby. I have everything I've ever wanted. It's so peaceful, Roman. Thank you for giving that to me."
"Jesus, baby. You're killing me." He presses his face into my hair, his chest rising on a deep breath before a soft exhalation sends pieces of my hair wafting around me. "Just when I think there's no fucking way I could possibly love you more, you say something like that, something so goddamn sweet, and I fall a little harder." He presses a kiss to my temple and then leans forward, pulling me up with him. "Close your eyes," he whispers in my ear.
I obediently squeeze them closed.
He shuffles around behind me, and then I hear his bedside drawer slide open. Something scrapes against the side of the drawer, and then he's lifting me off him with his hands around my waist. Before I can even think to hold on, he's got me on my back beneath him, my hair spread across his pillow. I feel him rise up over me before he grabs my hand.
A gasp falls from my lips, and my eyes pop open when I feel him slide something I'm pretty sure is an engagement ring onto my finger. I don't get a chance to look at it, though. My gaze catches on him, and my mouth goes dry. Emotion blazes in his hazel eyes, burning hot as the sun as he stares down at me.
His gaze sweeps down my body, not missing anything before he lifts his eyes to mine and swallows hard. "I've wanted to see you pregnant, with my ring on your finger since…fuck, probably since the night you told me you were all in, Mila." He runs his hand down my face and then between my breasts before finally settling on my stomach again. "You've been mine since the day I met you, sweetheart. You'll always be mine."
"You're mine, too," I whisper, happy tears sliding down my cheeks. "You've always been mine."
"I have," he agrees, his voice solemn. "Since the day I met you, I've been yours. I'm so fucking glad you feel like you belong with me because my heart goes where you go, Mila. Until the day I die, every breath I take is for you. So long as I'm alive, you will never again have to wonder what it's like to feel loved. You will never have to be without family ever again. You're mine, and I will spend the rest of my life making sure you know how much you're wanted and needed. How much you're loved."
By the time he finishes speaking, his voice thick and heated, I'm crying too hard to speak. When I finally look at the gorgeous diamond and platinum ring on my finger, more tears spill down my cheeks. It's simple and breathtaking at the same time. It's a little bit me and a little bit him, and I love every single thing about seeing it shining on my finger.
"Say you'll be mine forever. Marry me, baby," he whispers.
"Yes," I sob, nodding my head furiously. "Yes, Roman."
He gives me a blinding smile, then leans down and kisses me breathless. His tongue dances with mine, his lips moving over mine until I'm dizzy with the taste of him and so fucking in love my heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest.
When he finally breaks away, panting for breath, he rains adoring kisses all over my face, drying my tears with his lips. "Mrs. Gregory," he whispers in my ear and then groans softly. "Fuck, I love the sound of that."
I do, too. So damn much.
As he hitches my leg over his hip and slides inside me, whispering it over and over while he makes love to me slowly, I love it even more.
He's my future. My protector. My everything. With him by my side, I know I will always be safe. I'll always be loved.
I couldn't ask for anything more.
Epilogue
Roman
Mila shifts around on the bed, her gaze bouncing from the machine beside her to the door and then to her stomach and back again. With her shirt pulled up and tucked beneath her bra, exposing her growing belly, it's taking everything I have to keep my hands off her. I don't know what it is about her being pregnant, but seeing her stomach growing to accommodate our baby makes me so fucking hard. I'm on her every chance I get. The second I'm not, I want her again.