Page 34 of Claimed By the Cowboy
My breath hitches. “Tom?—”
“You think I’m conflicted about wanting you?” He cups my face, thumbs brushing away fresh tears. “My only conflict was why I wasted time pretending to want anyone else. You think I give a damn about some piece of paper when you’re sitting here believing you’re not worth choosing?”
“I’m not?—”
His hands tighten on my face, not hurting but firm enough to stop my self-destructive spiral. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”
“Tom, please, you don’t understand?—”
“I understand plenty.” He releases my face only to grip the hay bale on either side of me again, boxing me in with his body. “You’ve spent years convincing yourself that you’re a burden instead of a gift.”
“I am a burden! I’ve been nothing but dead weight to Delaneyfor years?—”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit! It’s a fact!” I push at his chest, but he doesn’t budge.
He crowds closer, his thighs bracketing mine. “Here’s a fact: I’ve been going out of my mind wanting you since you said ‘pineapple’ and made me laugh for the first time in months.”
“That’s not?—”
“Here’s another one: I’ve spent every night since you arrived lying awake thinking about your laugh, about how you look at everything like it’s magic.” His voice drops to something rough and possessive. “And I was lucky enough to taste some of that magic when I watched you come apart in my arms.”
Heat floods my cheeks, but I don’t look away.
“Delaney has sacrificed plenty, but you saw her face. She’s happy because she finally gets to see you choose something for yourself.”He brushes his thumb along my lower lip, satisfaction burning in his eyes when I shiver. His mouth is inches from mine, his breath ghosting across my lips. “Andhere are the most important facts of all. I love you. And you love me. You’re just too loyal to admit it.” He traces the curve of my jaw with his fingertips. “Isn’t that right, Kitty?”
“I...” I swallow hard, pulse fluttering like a trapped bird under his touch. “It doesn’t matter what I feel?—”
His hands slide into my hair, angling my head up to meet his gaze. “It’s theonlything that matters.”
This is your life now. Your choices. It’s your time to shine. To live.
Delaney’s words from earlier echo through me, breaking past all the fear and excuses, and suddenly, I can’t hold it in anymore.
“I love you,” I blurt, the words ripped out of me, raw and certain. My chest heaves, my pulse races, but I don’t take them back. I meet his stunned blue eyes. “I love you, Tom. I’ve tried to fight it, tried to bury it, but it’s the truest thing I’ve ever felt.”
Tom's grip tightens in my hair, his voice is rough with relief when he says, “Thereshe is. My Kitty-Cat.”
He claims my mouth, and I melt against him with a soft moan, my hands fisting in his shirt as I kiss him back with desperate hunger.
When he finally pulls away, we’re both breathing hard.
“I love you,” he says against my lips, “and I'm done pretending otherwise. Marry me, Kitty.”
He pulls me up with him, his hands spanning my waist as he lifts me onto the hay bale so we’re eye to eye.“No more excuses. No more running.” He steps between my thighs, and suddenly, we’re both locked in the same breathless space—his strength surrounding me, my choice anchoring me here. My hands curl into his shirt, pulling him closer, needing him as much as he needs me.
His voice drops to a rough plea. “Tell me it’s yes, Kitty. Please.”
“It’s so quick. People will think?—”
“I don’t give a damn what people think.” His hands tighten in my hair. “The only opinion that matters is yours. Do you want to be mine, Kitty? Completely, permanently mine?”
“Yes,” I breathe.
My hands tremble where they rest on his chest, but not from fear. From the storm building inside me.
My voice wavers, but the truth is steady. “It’s yes. It’s always been yes.”
