Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
“I know, I know,” she whispers sweetly, pulling back to give me a teasing grin and eyes shining with relief.
Yeah, fuck me, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman.
No pain too great.
No burden too heavy.
No mountain unturned.
It’s not just her body or her mind.
She’s more than walking sunshine and a giving soul.
Like me, she’s suffered, and she knows what to do with it. She’ll feed that energy into fixing the world, and she has the passion to do it, too.
I just want to be by her side while her dreams come true, piece by blazing piece.
Maybe, in time, those dreams will merge with mine.
Her lids lower as she watches me.
Sexy, yes, but so intense it burns me to my core.
My heart doesn’t know what to do with this look.
I just know I feel every booming thud bone-deep every second she looks at me.
Hot intent scorches her eyes, dousing me in flames.
I’ve never doubted her, even when I had my head stuffed up my own ass, thinking she was too young and pure.
Now I know better.
Before she says the words, I know.
“I love you, too,” she tells me. The best fucking words I’ve ever heard, whispered in a voice like music. “So much it hurts.”
“It won’t hurt anymore, sweetheart. Never again.”
Her smile is so beautiful it almost breaks me as I stroke her hair.
Honest to God, I’m floating and I don’t care.
That’s what falling does.
Especially when love takes you down so hard you can’t tell where the sky meets the ground anymore.
We’ve been through so much in one summer.
I reacted like I was allergic to her very presence, attacked her like a creature of pure lust, learned to appreciate her quirky names for cars and otter obsessions, and almost watched her die.
She’s scared me shitless many times.
And yet, this moment right here, this is what kills me.
It doesn’t feel real.
Like any second, some catastrophe might come along and steal her away.
I’m not taking any chances.
I’m making her mine, here and now.
Day one of eternity where I hang up my life as a corporate monk and make time for a new life with her.
“You know I can’t promise what’s going to happen from here,” I say slowly. “But I’m going to do my damnedest to protect you. Don’t care if that means tromping around in the rain after otters or digging a foxhole while your old man tries to blow my head off. I promise you’ll always have all of me, Dess.”
“Shepherd... are you trying to kill me today?” Her voice cracks.
“No. I’m trying to find a way to make it work. It’s all I’ll ever ask for.”
Her hands skim my face, touching my scar.
She feels it sometimes. Kisses it, too.
She just has this way of looking at me like I’m flawless, just as untouched by violence and bad decisions as her, even when I know she’s what holds me together.
I’m a rusty fucking hammer in a princess’ hand, and I love it.
I love her.
So fully and completely and overwhelmingly it’s blinding.
“You’re stuck with me now, so we’d better make it work,” she tells me.
Damn her, I laugh.
That’s my Dess, all sweetness and spice.
I love the little slice of crazy she is, even if I wonder if I’ll ever get used to the weight of those words.
I definitely won’t get used to hearing her say them back.
With too much said and not enough kisses, I shove her fingers through mine and we head upstairs to the bedroom.
Molly twirls around in giddy circles around us before she settles on her dog bed in the corner.
The future I never imagined has only begun.
24
A Little Secret (Destiny)
Okay, so it’s probably pretty cheesy to say I’ve never been happier in my life.
There were always little pockets of happiness before. Moments I remember. Times I’ll never forget.
But with Shepherd, it’s different.
With him, all my smiles are condensed into one long beautiful moment.
Maybe because I’m an active participant in my own joy this time around.
Because this is the happiness I’ve chosen.
Every day I wake up and choose Shepherd Foster over and over again, and he's standing by with a thousand reasons why.
He makes my breakfast in the morning while I make his coffee.
We go for power runs on the beach with Molly. She nibbles at his shoes if we leave her next to his feet for too long, and he always just has a kind word and the sweetest chuckle.
He even helps with her training, drilling her through command routines with a tug rope in his hand or a pile of smelly salmon treats in his pocket.
That's definitely love.
I love my dog, but some of her snacks will send your gag reflex into overdrive.
Who knew stinky fish pellets could make a girl’s heart flip?
Every time I think I love him to my limit, I find out I’m flat-out wrong.