Page 17 of Serenity & the Hermit
“Oh wow. What was that like? Do you still climb?”
He chuckles at my multitude of questions, his chest bouncing against my back. “It was enjoyable. And yes, I do climb occasionally, but never competitively now.”
“What made you stop?”
“The travel. The pressure. The fact that it was getting less and less fun the more I traveled and competed.”
“I can understand that. They say to do a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. But the reality is, if you turn the thing you love into a job, then you never really stop working.”
“Which is why,” he starts, lowering our joined hands back into the water and resting them against my belly, “I took the prize money I’d accumulated and retired early to my log cabin. I invested well, so it provides me with much of what I need, and the rest I can hunt or forage for. It’s a good life.”
“And you get to climb for fun again.”
“Exactly,” he says, pressing his lips against my damp hair.
“I often wonder if I’ll ever grow tired of yoga. If teaching it every day will be the thing that makes me want to give up my own practice.”
“Well, if that ever happens, you can always run away to a log cabin the way I did.”
“Is that what you did? Run away?”
“Not really. I grew up in mountains around Whisper Valley, so it’s where I feel at home. Hiking and climbing with my brothers and cousins are some of the greatest memories I have. After traveling the country and the globe climbing in hundreds of different locations, I’ve seen my fair share of chaos and calm. It taught me that what I genuinely love is the calm. So being alone in my cabin, seeing my family and friends when the occasion strikes…It’s all I need.”
“That doesn’t explain the growling at people in town.”
He chuckles again. “I wasn’t always like that. But when you’re as big as me and my brothers are, people tend to judge you. Especially when you’re a bit of a hermit too. Dylan—he’s the oldest of us four—swears that every reported Bigfoot sighting is just one of us spotted while we’re out hunting. People see our cousins, smiling and personable in the bar, and they compare it to us and our reclusive ways. Its’ not that we hate people though, it’s just that we genuinely feel at peace up in the quiet of the mountain surrounded by nature instead of hustle and bustle. It’s where we belong.”
“This must be hard for you then,” I say, turning slightly so I can see his expression better. “Being down in the valley, interacting with my customers. I’ve forced you out of your comfort zone.”
“You didn’t force anything, sweetheart. I chose to do this.Insisted, if I remember correctly. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Again, and again, and again—all because I’m crazy in love with you, Fanny Longbottom, AKA Serenity.”
“I hate that name so much, but when you say it all growly and sexy like that after telling me you love me, I don’t think it sounds so bad.”
With a grin, he slides a hand into the back of my hair and brushes his mouth against mine. “Marry me, Serenity. Let me be the man who gives you a name that’s as beautiful as you are.”
“Serenity Valentine. It has a certain ring to it,” I whisper back, my body singing in anticipation of his kiss.
“Does that mean you’ll take it?”
“Yes,” I murmur. “Yes, Nelson. I’ll marry you and take your name. I’ve fallen crazy in love with you too.”
And with that, he seals his mouth over mine, kissing me deep, long and slow, his free hand sliding down my body and cupping my mound, his fingers slipping between my seam.
“I want to be the man who always takes care of you, Serenity,” he rasps, his fingers pressing inside me as his thumb teases my clit. “I want to be the kind of husband you deserve, the kind who always puts his wife’s needs above his own.”
“Oh god,” I gasp, my hips rocking against his hand, chasing my budding orgasm as he continues rasping against my ear, promising me the world if I’ll just give my heart to him.
On the surface, it seems like a pretty uneven trade, but since I know that any man who goes out of his way to meet my needs and make me feel loved will get that love and care back tenfold, I know this is going to be a marriage made in heaven. I can see only good things in our future.
“Nelson, I… Please… Oh god, I want you inside me. I’m aching.”
“Soon, baby. Soon,” he murmurs. “Let me put a ring on that finger of yours first, and then I promise you I’ll fuck you good. You’ll feel me so deep that the only thing you’ll be able to see is stars.”
“Oh god. Yes. Yes!” My body rocks with my release, his words tipping me over the edge and turning me into a pulsing, twitching mess. He feels so damn good just by using his hand, and I can’t wait to kick things up a notch by going all the way with him after… wait.
“Did you just say you want to wait to have sex until after our wedding?” I ask in a gasp as I come down slightly, his mouth gently kissing the soft curve of my neck.
“Yes. You’ve waited all your life for me. The least I can do is wait until you’re legally mine for you.”
