Page 49 of Beneath the Midnight Sky
I pulled her body closer to me and tightened my arms around her waist. “I’m here, Aspen. I’m not going anywhere,” I said quietly, and I meant every single word of it.
I couldn’t leave this woman if my life depended on it; this entire night proved that even further to me. She was mine. She had been since the moment she told that jack ass at the bar that I was her boyfriend. I hadn’t given up that claim, and the only time I intended to was when I upgraded her from girlfriend to wife, maybe mother of my children one day—if she wanted kids. I’d give her anything she wanted; she just had to name it.
I’d spent years telling myself that I couldn’t risk love, because I couldn’t handle the heartbreak that might follow if something were to happen to her. But what I realized when she ran out ofthe bar tonight was that what I truly couldn’t handle was the thought of going my entire life without the opportunity to fullyloveAspen Woodluck for as long as the gods above allowed. She was mine, and I’d do whatever was necessary to ensure I was able to show her how much I loved her—forever.
I laid there, listening to her deep breathing as it lulled me to sleep.
It felt like mere moments, but it must’ve been hours based on the sunlight that was streaming through the sheer curtains when I forced my eyes open. But the sun wasn’t what dragged me to consciousness. Aspen was mumbling in her sleep, twitching slightly. I sat up enough to look down at her face, and when I noticed tears running down her cheeks, I started running my hand up and down her thigh, her side, her arm. Everything I could reach without startling her.
“Little angel, I’m right here,” I whispered as I gently kissed along her shoulder. I didn’t want to scare her. I just wanted her to slowly wake up and come back to me. “It’s just a dream, love. Let’s wake up.”
After a few minutes of repeating those words like a mantra, her breathing calmed, and she opened her eyes. We didn’t speak, but I didn’t stop rubbing her side as she woke up. I continued gently pressing kisses to her shoulder, whispering sweet thoughts into her ear as I did.
I only stopped when she slowly rolled onto her back, her red-rimmed eyes staring up at me.
“Today I’m back to being mad at you,” she said, her voice still groggy and thick from a crappy night's sleep.
I smiled sadly. “I understand. May I begin my plan to win you back now?” I asked, my hand running down her stomach and stopping just above her sleep shorts.
She stared at me for a brief moment before biting her bottom lip and giving me a quick nod.
I let out a relieved breath and smirked. “Thank the gods above for that,” I murmured as my hand slipped beneath her shorts and into her heat between her thighs. I ran my fingers gently over her before dipping between her folds. “Are you already wet for me, little angel?” I asked as I leaned down, kissing her shoulder again, wishing she were already naked for me so I could access all of her. But something told me I needed to take this slower than I normally would, so that was what I’d do.
She let out a quiet moan as I slowly slid a finger inside of her. “I’ll take that as confirmation that all of this is for me.” I smiled and added another finger, slowly curling them toward me to hit that spot I knew she loved.
“Don’t get cocky, cowboy,” she said through whimpers. Her back arched slightly, her hips bucking towards me, her eyes closed.
“Ah, eyes on me, little angel. I want you to see whose fingers you’re about to come all over,” I quietly growled, as if by keeping our voices quiet we could stay in this perfect bubble forever.
“I’m not about to co—” she began, but quickly stopped speaking when my thumb pressed down on her clit, running circles around it.
“That’s right, quiet now. I want to see you come apart,” I told her as we locked eyes. That seemed to push her over the edge, though, because she stopped breathing for a moment as her core clenched around my fingers, and she came. I slowed my movements down as she came back down, slowly blinking at me. She watched as I pulled my fingers from her cunt and slowly licked each one of them clean of her deliciousness. “Fuck, easily my favorite breakfast to dine on,” I muttered.
I smiled as a blush crept up her cheeks and she pulled the pillow out from under her head and smacked me with it, beforeusing it to cover her face. I pulled it from her, tossed it to the floor, and kissed her forehead.
“I’m going to start you a bath and then go make us some breakfast,” I said happily and started to stand up, but she grabbed my wrist.
“What about you?” she asked, glancing down at my tented boxer briefs.
I cleared my throat because internally my dick was thinking that same thing, but he’d have to get over it. I came back and gently pressed my lips to her, pulling away before I could take it further like I wanted to.
“This wasn’t about me. This was about you, little angel. Now, I’m starting a bath in my room for you—the tub is better in there. Then, when you’re done, my groveling campaign continues with breakfast.”
She stared at me, her eyebrows pinched in confusion, but she nodded in response. So I hopped up and went to start my stunning woman a bath—which wasn’t to grovel, it was just because she deserved it.
24
A DELECTABLE LITTLE SNACK
Aspen
I satin the middle of the overly comfortable bed, the deep olive-green puffy comforter across my lap, my tank top slightly askew from a troublesome cowboy. My legs were crisscrossed, and my arms wrapped tightly around my body as I listened to him on the other side of the wall starting the bath for me.
I wasn’t even sure how I’d gotten here, honestly, but a deep unknown part of me, the part that I hadn’t previously allowed out because it never felt safe enough to do so, wanted more. She craved more,neededmore. And Rowan was…he was more. I knew deep in my core that despite the serious breach of boundaries he’d crossed, he meant well. He just went about it in a horrid way. Which, I guess, when you’d never cared enough to pursue a relationship with anyone before, it checked out. Sort of.
So I’d make him beg, crawl, and grovel. If he was willing to do so, this was where I wanted to be. I wiped away the tear that escaped my eyes and pulled out my phone to text Ivy. She had asked me if I was sure everything with Rowan and me was okay,and I’d told her, of course, just making him grovel even more now. I wasn’t sure how to bring up to my bestie that he had done a full background check on me without my permission, and it included…gods only knew what.
She’d either be furious or compare him to another dark romance novel guy she’d love to have in her clutches.
