Page 127 of Wild Eyes
Home.
“I never want to leave again.”
His broad palm smooths over the back of my head and he chuckles. “That seems excessive. How will we take vacations?”
A watery laugh spills from my lips as I nuzzle against his sternum and let the sound of his heartbeat soothe me. “You know what I mean.”
“Then you don’t have to leave. Literally, whatever you want. It’s yours. Me. This place. The future. Just tell me what you want, and I will do everything in my power to give it to you.”
I sigh as his words sink in.The future. I very much want that with him.
“I want to go to bed and be naked with you all night long and only stop to have you feed me bizarre variations of grilled cheese sandwiches.”
“Want to be naked!”
West’s body shakes with laughter. “This bird is one of my new favorite people.”
“She needs to go to bed now, or she’s gonna develop an even worse mouth than she already has.”
He lets me go and steps back. “Off you go, Cherry.” When he holds his hand out, she takes a little jump onto his waiting arm. Without complaint. And without shit-talk.
I watch West put her back in her cage, murmuring to her about how he promises to take her back out for night check.
I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to fuck him more.
Which is why I don’t wait. I don’t talk, fearing it might slow us down. Instead, I take his outstretched hand and let him lead me up the stairs onto the second level of the sun-drenched farmhouse. In the master bedroom, it’s clear that he has been preparing for my return. The cracked windows allow the linen drapes to flutter across the hardwood floor. The bed is impeccable, as if he agonized over smoothing out every wrinkle on the blue-and-white patterned duvet. It’s so fresh that I can smell the laundry soap on the soft breeze.
My eyes flutter shut, and I inhale his signature smell, the soap, the light pine scent that always permeates the air here in Rose Hill.
Home.
He turns on me and my gaze lands on his baby blues, flashing with need. Withlove.
“Strip.”
I bite down on my lip and quirk an eyebrow at him. “The pictures weren’t enough?”
“It’s never enough with you. I’m greedy with you. I always want more, more, more.” He steps closer, thumbing the bottom hem of my shirt like he’s considering whether he should remove it gently or rip the fabric from my body. “It felt like I couldn’t breathe when you were gone.”
He focuses on his fingers, still tugging at my shirt. “I’ve never felt like that before. It feels like that sometimes when the kids are gone. But you too? It was…”
“It’s almost like you’re my number-one fan.” I reach out and caress his forearm to comfort him. West’s an actions kind of guy, so I’m not oblivious to this being a vulnerable moment for him.
“No, Skylar.” His eyes snap up to mine. “It’s almost like I love you.”
I hiss in a harsh inhale. He couldn’t breathe while I was gone, and I can’t breathe right now.
“Almost?” My voice shakes.
“There’s no almost. No question, no doubt in my mind. I love you, Skylar Stone. I think I fell that day on a backroad. The first moment I laid eyes on you.”
I blink. And I think. And I try to wrap my head around what he’s telling me. I’m not sure anyone has ever loved me like that. With such surety. With no qualifiers.
I never have.
Until now.
My palms land on his pecs, and I slide them up over his chest until my arms link around his neck. “Well, thank god for that. Because I’d hate to love you the way I do and not have you do the same.”
