Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,127
kissed the nape of her neck.
“You okay?”
She set the mugs down and turned into his arms. “I knew you’d come for us. I didn’t know how long it would take you to find us, but I knew you’d never stop looking.”
“I would have searched the rest of my life.” He very softly kissed her. “Troy and the others...they didn’t...hurt you?”
Claire shook her head, remembering the hard work, what Mace and Pete Bragg had planned for her, trying not to think how much worse it could have been if she had been forced into some sort of sham marriage.
“You got there in time. Pete Bragg wanted to marry me, but I told him I was engaged to another man.”
Ben caught her chin, forcing her gaze to his. “Not anymore.”
Claire felt the blood slowly drain from her face. She stared up at him. “I thought...thought you wanted to marry me. I thought we were going to the justice of the peace. Just something simple—you said that’s what you wanted.”
Ben shook his head. “That’s what I thought I wanted, the reason I made that ugly proposal.”
Panic slid through her. “It wasn’t really ugly. It was... It was practical. That way we could both be with Sam.”
“It was ugly and selfish. If I hadn’t been such a fool, I would have told you I loved you. I would have said that I’m so crazy in love with you it hurts to think of spending another day without you as my wife. But I didn’t say those things.”
Her heart squeezed. She couldn’t figure out where this was going. Dear God, was he going to change his mind? She couldn’t bear to think of a future without him.
She forced herself to smile. “It doesn’t matter what you said. We’ll both be able to be with Sam. It was a good idea. It still is.”
“It was a stupid idea. I don’t want to marry you because of Sam. I want to marry you because I love you. I want to marry you because I can’t live another day without you. That’s the way I feel, Claire. What I need to know is how you feel about me. Do you love me? Because I want to marry you more than anything in the world.”
Relief hit her hard, then a surge of joy. Her eyes welled. Claire threw her arms around Ben’s neck, her heart beating so hard she was sure he could hear it. “Oh, Ben, I love you so much. It seems like I’ve loved you forever.”
The tension eased from his powerful shoulders. Ben kissed her long and deep. “I don’t want to go to the justice of the peace. I want us to have a big fancy wedding with all the trimmings. I want you to wear a long white gown and carry an orchid bouquet. I want your father to walk you down the aisle and your whole family watching. I want our friends there when we say our vows. I want them to know how much I love you and how proud I am you’re going to be my wife.”
Claire started crying.
Ben’s arms tightened around her. “I love you, angel. I was just afraid to tell you. I was a coward, but I’m not afraid anymore.”
Claire swallowed and shook her head. Ben Slocum was the bravest man she had ever known.
He eased back to look at her, wiped away the wetness on her cheeks. “Will you marry me, Claire?”
Fresh tears spilled over. How many nights had she dreamed of this moment, dreamed of saying yes to a man who truly loved her.
Claire smiled up at him. “I’d be honored to marry you, Ben. You and your son.”
Ben kissed her, a long, deep kiss meant to show her how much he cared. And though she might have doubted it, somewhere in her heart she had known, the moment he had stepped through the cabin door in camouflage and greasepaint, exactly how strong his love was.
Claire looked up to see Sam standing in the kitchen.
“So is she gonna marry you, Dad?”
Ben grinned. “Yeah, son, she is. She’s gonna marry both of us.”
Sam shot a fist into the air. “Yes!”
Pepper barked his agreement, and Claire and Ben both laughed. Ben was a man of danger and adventure. Claire looked forward to the adventure the three of them would share.
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Ben carried a box out of Claire’s apartment and loaded it into the back of the Denali. Trace shoved a box in after it, Alex piled a