Jake (Downton Cowboys #2) - Miley Maine Page 0,56
on the carpet and ties her hair up in a knot.
She fits.
She belongs in my house. In my living room. On my carpet. Right next to me… forever.
Without hesitation, I lean over and kiss her. It comes out as a slow, tender kiss that somehow carries a trace of the heaviness I feel inside. As we part, she looks up at me, her eyes questioning.
She doesn’t say anything, nor do I. We just look at each other for a moment.
She wants to know.
“Belle,” I whisper.
“Hmm?”
“Do you know why I love music so much?”
“Why?” She smiles.
“Because in the darkest of times, I could feel like I wasn’t all alone.” I try to ease her mind by sharing something personal and intimate. A glimpse into the vulnerability I stubbornly refrain from disclosing.
“I can understand that,” she muses, still gazing deep into my eyes. “And I’m not saying that I’m here to compete with music or anything.” She giggles. “But I hope you never have to feel alone again.”
I smile, hiding the bitterness behind the curve of my lips.
Her hand finds its way to my face, softly caressing my cheek as her fingers trail upward. As her fingertips start to rake through my hair, I realize that my headache is gone.
She fixes her eyes on my lips and inches closer, and I am just sitting there, motionless. Watching her.
The smooth lips I worship make contact with mine, tasting like cherry and vanilla with a hint of tangerine. Planting soft kisses onto my mouth, my cheek, my nose, her breath flirts with my skin and I lose all focus.
How can she do this to me every time?
My hand moves over to her arm, crawling under the sleeve of her shirt and along her skin.
In a slow motion, she wraps her arms around my neck and holds on for dear life, like a force of gravity trying to keep me on the ground.
“Babe?” I whisper into her ear, enveloping her in my arms.
An unfamiliar feeling bubbles in the pit of my stomach, butterflies flapping their wings mercilessly as I keep her against me, wanting nothing more than to comfort her.
If only I knew what it is she needs.
“I’m so happy you’re mine,” she says in a low voice that drips of pure emotion.
I tighten my arms around her, dipping my nose into the nook of her neck, inhaling the consoling scent of her skin.
“You have no idea how you make me feel, do you?” I finally admit.
“Do you think we’re forever?”
“I pray for it every day.”
“Parenthood won’t get in the way of our love, will it?”
Slowly exhaling, I begin to understand.
“If anything, you being the mother of my child makes you the queen of my life.”
“What am I now?” She softly titters into my hair.
“Just a princess,” I joke.
Pulling back, she keeps her hands at the nape of my neck while her eyes playfully examine me.
“Does that make you the king?”
I slowly shake my hand from side to side, smiling.
“The prince?”
I do it again, grinning this time.
“Are you an intruder in the palace?”
“I… am the man assigned to fulfill your majesty’s every wish.”
“Really?”
I silently nod, my eyes enjoying the amused look on her face.
“Should we go back to the music list, peasant?”
“Whatever you please, m’lady.”
“It’s tempting… but you know what’s even more irresistible?”
“What?” I chuckle.
She kisses me again, this time with hunger and fervor, her tongue instantly finding its way into my mouth.
“And what do you call that?” I leisurely lay her down on the floor, my hand behind her head.
“Hormones?” She narrows her eyes. “Is this how they kick in?”
“A little too soon, don’t you think?”
Her hand pulls my head closer, prompting me to place my knees on either side of her thighs as I linger above her.
“No uterus, no opinion.” Her finger traces an imaginary line along my lower lip.
“The view from here is magnificent.”
“Do something about it, then,” she challenges me.
In her arms is where I belong. And it’s where I let go of everything that clouds my happiness. I push my worries to the background, so far out that I can no longer remember them, and delve into an alternate universe where only she and I exist.
In the middle of the night, I wake up and she’s still in my arms, my shirt splayed over her torso like a blanket. Without waking her up, I lean over and sniff her skin.
She smells like me now.
And I smell like her.
Chapter Sixteen
Belle
The sky on our wedding day is bright and unclouded.
While I get