Page 69 of Corey
“Oh, um, no, please go ahead.”
She looked so shy all of a sudden. Reaching for her mug, he took it from her hands and set it on the coffee table with his. Turning toward her, he cupped her precious face in his hands, dragging his thumb over her lips. Crazy, uncontrollable emotion pummeled through him.
“In such a short time, you’ve come to mean so much to me.” Dammit, his voice cracked. He released a breath. Breathed in.Shake it off, Cor.“I don’t completely understand it, but one thing is crystal clear…”
She waited so patiently, blue-gray eyes swirling, as he found the courage to admit the depth of his feelings.
“There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go. At some point between being deliriously sick to scaling down the side of a burning house, I fell in love with you.”
Her lips parted and tears brimmed in her eyes.
“I want you here with me. In my life, in my bed. You’re already in my heart, sweetheart, so why not make it absolutely permanent?”
“You want me to…to live with you?” she asked breathlessly.
“I want everything with you,” he corrected. “Starting with today and ending with forever.”
Lifting her left hand, he pressed a kiss to her ring finger.
Gathering his courage, he met her questioning gaze and asked, “Will you marry me, Sera Darling?”
???
Corydon Emerson just proposed to her, and Sera’s heart took off like it had wings. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “Oh, my God, Corey, yes.Yes!So muchyes!”
She threw herself into his arms and their mouths crashed together. Her happiness was off the charts, and when she thought about being Corey’s wife, she didn’t think she’d ever come down from the high. How she’d gone from confiding in Julia, Ellie and Lottie that she didn’t think marriage was in the cards for her, to now being engaged to the most incredible man, blew her mind. It also made her giddy because she was bursting with love.
Straddling his lap, she plunged her hands through his silver-touched hair and kissed him deeply. Their tongues danced, and a powerful need to be as close to him as possible swept through her.
In such a short, yet crucial period of time, she’d run for her life and fate had led her to the one man who was helping her heal from a trauma she hadn’t been able to let go. Until him. God, she loved him so very much.
And she hadn’t even said the words back yet.
“Corey,” she gasped, pulling back so she could look into his ice-blue eyes. “I love you, too.”
He smiled. “Good to know.”
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.” Her eyes filled with tears again.
“Sweetheart, please don’t cry.”
“You showed me—” Her voice caught and he began raining kisses all over her face. “That it’s okay to not be okay.”
He lifted his head. “I think together,” he said, voice low, “we’re stronger.”
“I think so, too.”
“And when I’m inside you,” he continued, voice guttural, “when our bodies fuse and become one, something incredibly powerful happens. I think it’s when…when the healing happens.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I also think if I don’t make love to my fiancée in front of the fire within the next few minutes, I’m going to die.”
“We certainly can’t have that,” she teased, sliding off his lap. He grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and carefully spread it out in front of the fireplace. Then they pounced, tearing each other’s clothes off. Shirts flying, Corey tripping as he yanked his pajama bottoms off, Sera’s bra sailing through the air and landing on Storm’s head. They laughed when he shook and made a quick getaway.
She took a moment to admire the way the firelight made Corey’s skin glow, the way his thick cock stood proudly, and the almost feral look in his stunningly clear eyes as they raked over her nakedness. He had a wildness about him that made her shiver.My big, strong mountain man.
“I need you,” he rasped, reaching for her. She went into his arms, and he lowered her down onto her back, settled himself between her legs, and kissed her into sweet, sweet oblivion. The feel of his warm body covering hers, of being skin to skin withthe man she craved more than her next breath, had her melting beneath him.
