Page 30 of Connecting with the Mountain Man

“I heard that,” Eden calls from the stove. I wink at her and settle the kids at the table, watching as she plates the fresh batch.

Once they’re busy, I sidle back up to her, leaning against the counter. “I meant what I said, you know.”

“About the pancakes?” she teases, passing me a plate.

“No,” I reply, voice low. “About you. About this.” I gesture toward the kids, the cabin, the life we’ve built. “It’s everything. You’re everything.”

She pauses, looking up at me, eyes soft but intense. “You still get all sentimental on me, huh?”

“Only when it comes to you.”

She sets the plate down, curling her arms around my neck, pressing her body to mine. “You’re everything to me too,” she whispers.

I hold her there, right in the middle of our messy kitchen, ignoring the syrup and the chaos. I don’t need much—just this. Her, our kids, this life we built out of nothing but pure love.

Later, when the kids are down for a nap, I press her up against the wall of our bedroom, hands roaming as her soft moans fill the space between us. Her legs wrap around my waist like she’s been waiting for this moment all day.

“You know,” I murmur against her lips, dragging my teeth down the curve of her neck, “I think we have just enough time.”

She arches into me, breathless. “Time for what?”

I slide her shorts down, fingers tracing her thighs, feeling the heat pooling between us. “To remind you exactly how crazy you make me.”

Her head falls back as I press kisses down her collarbone, tugging at the fabric until it’s gone, and she’s bare beneath me. My mouth trails lower, and I don’t stop until she’s trembling, fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer.

Five years. Two kids. And I’m still desperate for her like it’s the first night she moved in.

And when we finally collapse onto the bed, bodies tangled, hearts racing, I know I’ll never stop wanting her.

Not now. Not ever.

I stroke her hair as she lays against my chest, her breathing slowing, eyes fluttering shut. “You know,” I murmur, brushing a kiss against her forehead, “I’m going to keep you like this forever.”

She smiles sleepily, running her hand down my stomach, letting it rest low on my hips. “You say that like I’d ever leave.”

“I wouldn’t let you,” I growl, flipping us over, pinning her beneath me once again. Her soft laughter fills the room, and as the sun dips lower outside the window, I know there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

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