Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23981 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23981 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
She moans as her lips part for me. The tip of her tongue teases mine.
God, her mouth is so soft. I could do this all night.
I slide my tongue against hers, tasting her sweetness, and sinking into this beautiful moment that I know I’ll cherish forever.
Her hand slides up my arm as she opens her lips wider. I kiss her deeper.
If this doesn’t prove it to her, then I don’t know what will.
Only mates can kiss like this.
When I finally pull away, her eyes are closed, her chin is tilted up, and her lips are pursed like she wasn’t ready for me to stop.
Those eyelids slowly open as I stand back up. Glossy green eyes look up at me like her whole world has just shifted and she’s suddenly realizing her life will never be the same.
“Okay,” she says in a breathless tone. “That proves it.”
I smile as I pull out the chair beside her and sit down.
She turns to face me. I take her hand, swallowing it in my own as we gaze into each other’s eyes.
“So, there’s no one else?” she asks in a whisper. “It’s only me?”
I nod.
“And you’ve never…?”
I shake my head.
“Ever?”
“No, Tara,” I say as my grip on her hand tightens. “I’ve been waiting for you all my life. You’re the only one I want.”
“I haven’t either,” she says, and the bit of tight dread that’s been lingering in my chest since I saw her in her wedding dress disappears. “I’m a virgin too. I didn’t realize it, but I guess I was waiting for you as well.”
I want her more than ever.
She moans as I lean in and kiss her again, harder this time, letting her know how much I appreciate her saving that sweet little cherry for me. I’ll never forget it.
We stay like this for a long time, kissing slowly and tenderly like we have all night. We do have all night. We have a lifetime together.
I wonder if she realizes that she’s never leaving. That our lives are interconnected in the most intimate way now. That there’s no going back.
“Come,” I say as I take her hand and pull her to the fireplace where we can be more comfortable.
She sits cross-legged on the rug, watching me with excited eyes as I take a blanket and drape it over her shoulders.
“Thank you,” she whispers as she wraps herself up in it.
The orange flickering light from the fire is reflecting in her eyes and I’m suddenly wishing it never stops snowing. That we get snowed in here forever.
“I love your place,” she says as I sit down. “It’s so cute.”
“It’s going to feel like home soon,” I say, wondering if I’m moving too fast. “Where do you live?”
“I live in Pocatello with my parents. It’s in Idaho. They want me to move out so they can move to Argentina. That’s why they were trying to marry me off, so I’d leave.”
“You’re welcome to live here,” I say, hoping I don’t sound too desperate. “I’d love to see you every day.”
She doesn’t answer, but she does get a big wide smile on her face.
“What’s life like here?” she asks. “What do you do?”
I tell her all about my brothers and how we grew up here on the mountain. I have her laughing at all of the crazy stories and the sound just makes me so damn happy. I’m still in shock that she’s actually here in front of me.
“Michael was the adrenaline junkie,” I tell her as she laughs. “He was wild back then. Oliver and I could get him to do anything on a dare. Once, I dared him to walk his grizzly bear through the grocery store and he did it! People ran out of there screaming their heads off. There was fruit everywhere. The manager ran to his truck to get his shotgun, and me and Oliver had to wrestle it out of his hands. Michael is still banned from the place. He has to get his groceries in the next closest town, about an hour away.”
“I can’t wait to meet them,” she says as she takes another sip of her wine. I refill her glass and mine too.
“You’ll meet them soon enough,” I promise her. “They’re going to be shocked to see you.”
She smiles as she looks at her glass. “What do you do for work?”
I shrug. “The three of us work construction in the summer. We have our own business, designing and building houses and commercial buildings around town. Did you happen to see the post office on your way in?”
“I saw snow, ice, and more snow,” she says with a laugh.
“Right. Well, we built it.”
“I’m sure it’s beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you.”
Her cheeks turn a dark shade of pink as she smiles shyly at me. “I guess, if you’re into big bandages in the middle of someone’s face.”