My heart glows, even as I warn myself to slow down.
But I’m so freaking tired of slowing down, of second-guessing, of being unsure.
“She’s confident and shy at the same time. She’s curious, loyal, and caring and… and she’s the best, honestly, in every way I can think of. What makes it even more amazing is we’ve only known each other for a few days, but I feel closer to her than I do with anybody else in my life.”
“Really?” I whisper, shifting in my seat, my trousers rubbing against my sensitive core.
“Really,” he says, scooting even closer now. “She doesn’t give herself enough credit. She built a blog from the ground up, made the intelligent move to advertise it at the right time, and now she maintains it diligently, even after working long hours at a job she doesn’t enjoy. I couldn’t be prouder.”
His voice grows even huskier.
“I know she’s going to build an incredible career one day. I can see it in her eyes, in your eyes. Penny… you’re amazing. I mean that.”
I swallow, the pantomime show forgotten.
He takes my hands, softly sliding his thumbs across my knuckles. “And I’ll be there to support you every step of the way.”
Surely this is a sign. Every step of the way. That means the long haul, doesn’t it?
“That could take years, Preston.”
He stares deeply. It seems like he’s on the precipice of saying something. Rare indecision flits across his features, his eyebrows knitting.
“Yes, it could.” His voice trembles. “It doesn’t change what I said. Every. Step. Of the way.”
He tightens his hold on me, as though he thinks I’m going to yank my hands free, as though he thinks this could possibly be too much.
“Because…” He pauses, swallowing, his throat shifting.
“What, Preston?”
The indecision returns as he shakes his head. “I shouldn’t say. I don’t want to scare you away.”
“Never,” I blurt out. “I promise. You could never scare me away.”
He swallows again. “I might have to hold you to that.”
I wait as his thumbs continue to make patterns across my hands.
“I told you you’re special. I knew it the first moment I saw you. What I haven’t told you is how special. What I haven’t told you, Penny, my Penny…”
His Penny?
My body is floating. My head feels fuzzy.
Did I pass out? Is this really happening?
“When I first saw you,” he says, his voice rough and gravelly, “I knew I had to have you. I knew I had to claim you, every single part of you. I knew you belonged to me. I knew I owned you, Penny, and I don’t care how caveman that sounds. I knew that, for as long as I lived, I’d need to be at your side. No other man ever gets to touch you, to think about you, to have you. You’re mine, only mine, forever mine.”
“I…”
My mouth doesn’t seem to want to work. My words are cut short before I have a chance to summon them, my lips clamping shut. I try to force them out, but all I can do is stare into his eyes, the way they glint, wolfishly, possessively.
Just for me.
“I’m not just claiming you,” he goes on, his voice rumbling. “I’m claiming our future. We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives, Penny… and that means sharing a family. The first time I laid eyes on those curvy, perfect hips of yours, I just knew you were made to bear my children. I’ve never felt this before, or anything close to this. I…”
I love you, I imagine him saying. But now it’s his turn to have trouble with his words.
“I can’t be with anybody else,” he whispers. “You’re everything to me, Penny.”
His kiss catches me off guard. At first, I can’t even return the pressure. My lips don’t move for a moment, and he pauses, as though he thinks he’s just made a mistake.
That urges me into action. I grab onto his shoulders and open my mouth, my tongue clashing with his. The contract sends a tingling sensation over my lips, down my throat, joining the lump there that makes breathing difficult.
He snarls as he breaks off the kiss, smoothing his hand through my hair, keeping his face close. I can feel his breath against my skin, filling me with warmth.
“This is the part where you run away,” he says sarcastically, with that enthralling smirk. “This is the part where you tell me I’m crazy. This is the part where you say I’m moving too fast.”
I shake my head, tears budding in my eyes. I hunch over and weep, overwhelmed as I press my face against his chest. He wraps his arms around me as I cry into the hard muscles of his chest.
“I never thought I’d feel this way.” I try to blink away the tears, but they keep coming. “I never thought I’d come close. After what happened to my dad, I thought that was it. I thought… I would never have anyone in my life, just my sister, and then you came along. And everything changed.”