Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 213974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1070(@200wpm)___ 856(@250wpm)___ 713(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 213974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1070(@200wpm)___ 856(@250wpm)___ 713(@300wpm)
I grinned.
“I have a feeling that amuses you to no end.”
“It does.” I nodded for extra emphasis.
“Knew it.” Ash kissed me again and then pulled back. He cupped my cheek, tilting my head back. His gaze met mine.
“Your eyes are beautiful, liessa.”
Feeling my chest warm, I smiled. “Thank you.”
Ash settled onto the bed beside me. His hands roamed over my body, running down my sides and then back up over my breasts. I moaned softly, aching for him.
“I still have things I want to talk about.” His hand slid over my hip, cupping my rear. He tugged me closer to him. “And you’re being distracting.”
“Me?” I shivered as the tips of my breasts grazed the cool hardness of his chest.
“Yes, you.” His fingers pressed into the flesh of my ass.
“You’re the one who kissed me,” I reminded him, drawing in his fresh, citrusy scent as I worked a leg between his. “And you’re also the one groping my ass.”
“That’s only because I don’t want your ass to get lonely.” He nipped at my lower lip. “I’m just being thoughtful.”
I laughed, loving this rare, playful side of him. “So incredibly thoughtful.”
He murmured an agreement that was lost in the sigh he drew from me as his lips found mine once more. This kiss was just as slow and sweet as the one before, an unhurried dance that spoke volumes of love and longing. We were both breathless this time when our lips parted, our hearts pounding.
“Remember when I said I needed to tell you several things?” he said, tucking some strands of my hair back.
I nodded.
A moment passed, and when he spoke again, there was a change in his tone—a richer, fuller timbre I wasn’t sure I would’ve picked up on before. “I love you, Sera.”
My lips immediately split into the same wide, goofy smile that seeing the hair ties had provoked.
“And you love me.”
“I do.” I wiggled an inch closer.
His stare caught and held mine. “You’re my wife.”
“Hearing you say, ‘I love you,’ has become my favorite three words of any I’ve heard you speak,” I told him. “’You’re my wife’ is a close second. Or maybe they are tied?” I wrinkled my nose. “No. I love you is my favorite.”
“Stop being cute.” He kissed the bridge of my nose. “It’s also distracting.”
I grinned, flattening my hand against his chest. “Sounds like that is one of those you problems you’re continuously having.”
“One you’re currently not helping with,” he pointed out, letting go of my hair to place his hand atop mine. It was his left and my right. Our imprints touched, and I could’ve sworn our skin hummed. “I’m your husband,” he repeated. “You’re my wife. And I know I don’t have a whole lot of experience in this, not even secondhand…”
Neither did I. Even though my mother had remarried, their marriage had been more of a necessity. I wasn’t even sure she and King Ernald loved each other. Maybe they simply tolerated one another.
If I were honest with myself, my stepfather carried more than just a fondness for my mother but she…she was still in love with my father.
That made my heart ache as I focused on Ash.
“And even though I never allowed myself to consider what it would be like to be in love with another and be married, I know what kind of marriage I want.” Ash drew his lower lip between his teeth. “Or I know what kind of marriage I want with you.”
My heart started doing that skipping thing again.
“I want us to trust each other,” he began.
“I trust you,” I told him. “Irrevocably.”
A small smile appeared, softening his features. “I know, but this…I think this is a different kind of trust, one that allows us to share everything with each other. The easy and the hard—especially the hard.” Only a faint glow of eather pulsed behind his pupils. “The kind of trust where we know we can be honest and feel comfortable knowing that anything we share will not change how we see each other.”
My stomach hollowed as my gaze fell to where his hand still rested atop mine. I looked at the imprint.
“We have that kind of trust already, don’t we?” Ash asked, his breath cool against my forehead.
I nodded, my throat thickening. “We do.”
“So, you know that, no matter what, I will always see you as being as strong and brave as you are clever and fierce.” His fingers pressed between mine. “That my attraction, my need and want of you, will never be lessened, no matter what happens.” He paused. “Or what has happened.”
My lower lip trembled, and the edges of my fangs scraped against the back of my lips as I pressed my mouth closed.
“I know who you are, Sera, and what you mean to me. And that is everything because you are everything to me.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “And that will never change.”