Page 18 of Claimed By the Mountain Man

He opened the box, then the cooler, and stared down at the treat, looking a little disappointed. ”Truffles?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Just try one.”

Cooper eyed the green truffle a little skeptically. He took the tiniest of bites and began to chew. Then his eyes widened. “Thin mints? You bought me thin mint truffles? You are the absolute best boyfriend on the planet!”

Then Cooper’s eyes widened for an entirely different reason. He’d called me his boyfriend, but we’d never discussed labels. We hadn’t even told each other “I love you” yet, so he was no doubt freaking out internally, wondering if he’d just screwed up since I’d been so adamant about going slow up to now.

Now, Cooper was basically looking anywhere but at me. “Cooper, please look at me.” Still nothing. “Cooper, baby, please just look at me.”

His eyes snapped to mine, “I’m sorry. It just slipped out. I know we don’t do labels. It doesn’t mean anything. I was excited, and it just slipped out.”

I got out of my chair and went over to kneel beside his. I took his hands and held them in mine while I stared into his eyes. I’d been planning to do this later in bed or maybe on the dance floor, but I think now might be the perfect time to tell him.

“My gorgeous boy, it’s ok. I’m glad it slipped out. I am your boyfriend, and someday I hope to be more. I love you, Cooper. I want to be your boyfriend, and I want you to be mine. Is that ok?”

Tears welled in Cooper’s eyes. “I love you too, Gage. I have for a long time now. I was just afraid to tell you, because I didn’t know if you were ready for that. I didn’t want to scare you away.”

“I promise you, I’m not going anywhere, baby. I love you, and I’m here to stay. That’s why I did all of this. I wanted you to see how much you mean to me, and I planned to tell you that I loved you. I just moved up the timeline a little bit. Now, eat your thin mint truffles. I feel bad that you were so excited about them, and your joy was ruined because of my old insecurities.”

“My joy is in tact. I’m looking right at it,” Cooper said, smiling at me and looking like a goddamned angel.How did I get so lucky?

“Eat your truffles now, gorgeous. You’re going to need that sugar infusion for what I have planned for you later.” I smiled wolfishly at Cooper.

Cooper gave me one of those cocky winks I love. “I have a better idea for how I want to eat these truffles—off of your body,” he purred at me.

“Oh, gorgeous boy, I like the way you think. Grab your truffles, and let’s go,” I told him and reached my hand out to him. He took it, and I helped him up from his chair and led him out of the tower and around to the tent.

Cooper gasped when he saw the tent come into view. The front flaps were tied back, so you could see inside the huge tent to the luxury oasis I had set up for us. There was a king-sized actual bed—not the blow-up variety. For our first time making love, I wanted something sturdy. So, I paid to have the bed delivered in components, which were constructed by the team I hired. The bed was covered in sumptuous bedding including the biggest, fluffiest down comforter I’d ever seen. That just might be coming home with us.

There was a stove going in the corner to keep us warm with a custom flap in the tent for the flue, and there was another table in the corner with a cooler set up on it containing a variety of drinks and snacks. We were going to need to stay hydrated for the marathon session I had in mind. We had a small generator powering a few items like the sound system and lights. I also paid some decorators to come in and turn the place into a love palace for us with tons of gorgeous pillows and fluffy rugs. They did a fantastic job. This was well worth the money I spent. It was expensive, but it’s hardly even a drop in the bucket to the inheritance I received from my mother when she died. This was the first time I’d even touched it, but making Cooper feel cared for and loved was worth it.

While Cooper was still enamored with the tent, I grabbed him by the back of the neck to turn him back around to face me. And then I kissed the fuck out of that man, and again he swayed a little when we pulled apart.And he says he doesn’t swoon… I call bullshit.

While he was still swooning, I grabbed him up and threw him over my shoulder before stomping into the tent, slapping his pert little ass for good measure. He let out a surprised squeak, then started to laugh.

“What are you doing, you Neanderthal?” he wheezed out between laughs.

“What does it look like? I’m claiming my mate, just like in your romance books,” I proudly declared.

“Claimed by my mountain man. Finally! Wait a minute. Did you actually read one of my romance books?” he asked, sounding equal parts shocked and excited.

I sat Cooper down gently on the bed and said, “I read a few of them, actually. Gave me a lot of ideas for tonight,” waggling my eyebrows at him, which just made him laugh.

“Oh, there’s definitely plenty of ideas in those books. You know those are just fantasies, though, right? It’s fiction. I don’t expect half of the things in those books would ever happen in real life. It’s fun to read about, though.”

“Well, tonight, I’m going to do my best to make some of those fantasies come true for you, gorgeous. No tentacles, though. Sorry. There’s only so much I can do.”

Cooper laughed so hard, he had tears in his eyes. “I’m just picturing your face when you read about tentacle sex. Oh, my gosh! I wish l had a picture. I’d make that shit my screensaver.”

“Okay, you little brat, that’s enough sass out of that mouth. I’ve got better ideas for how you could use it.” I pushed Cooper down onto his back and ground my erection into him, slotting in just perfectly between his thighs. I burrowed my mouth into the crook of his neck and began kissing, licking, and sucking him there. And he stopped laughing and started groaning.

“Ungh. Gage, you’re really, really good at that.”

“And you smell amazing tonight. Goddamn, it’s driving me crazy, baby. I need you naked now!”

Cooper started to unbutton his shirt, but I stopped him. He looked at me, confused.

“Let me,” I said. “I want to enjoy uncovering every inch of you, knowing that it’s all mine to do whatever I want with. And I have soooooo many wonderful ideas.” I began to unbutton his shirt one by one, kissing and licking each new bit of his warm, delicious skin.

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