Page 99 of Marked for Obsession

“You want to know if I’m sure?” He held himself still, his forearms taking the brunt of his weight to protect her.Must protect her. Fucking always.“Woman, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my entire life.”

“Really?”

The slow, teasing roll of her hips made it damn hard to concentrate.

Focus, dickhead. Tell her. She needs to know.

Brushing some wayward strands away from her eyes, Jax stared into them as if they held the answer to life’s great questions. For him, they absolutely did.

“I love you, Penelope.”

He’d already said those words, first in the hospital and countless times since. But each day with her—each second he was lucky enough to spend with her—was a gift he wasn’t about to take for granted.

“I love your smile and your laugh.” He took the declaration a bit further. “The way you light me up inside without even trying. I’m a better man when I’m with you.” His voice thickened with emotion, but he cleared it away, determined to make it through this without bawling like a fucking baby. “You make me want to continue being better. Todobetter. For you.” Jax feathered a barely-there kiss across her lips. “For us.”

“Ah Jax.” Poppy sighed, her palm finding his rugged cheek as she spoke. With her chocolate gaze boring into his, she whispered back, “Don’t you know? You don’t need me to be a good man. You were there long before me.”

“That’s sweet, Kitten, but you’re wrong.”So very wrong.“Idoneed you. I need to wake up to this face every single day. I need to hear your laugh and soak up your smile. I want to make love to you every night and feel you in my arms as I fall asleep. And when I’m wrong, I need you there to call me on my shit.”

She smiled wide. “You sure about that last one?”

Jax chuckled. “Especiallythat one.” With his heart kicking the fuck out of his ribs, Jax manned up and laid it all out on the table.

“Marry me, Poppy.” There. He’d said it.

While they were both naked and he was seated balls-deep inside her. But really, would it be like him to do this any other way?

“What?” Shock poured over her as his unconventional proposal began to sink in.

“I said marry me.” He kissed her again.

“I thought…I thought you just wanted me to move in with you?”

That had been the original plan. Get her out of the hospital and on the mend, repair the damage to the cabin, including a massive upgrade to the security system, and then move them both into the cabin permanently.

But Jax knew better than most that plans—even big, life-altering plans—could change. And thank God for that.

“I do want you to move here. But baby, I told you before…I’m a selfish bastard.” One trait that would never change. Not where she was concerned. “I want it all. The house, the wedding…kids…”

“Kids?” Her voice rose an octave, but the gleeful expression crossing over her beautiful face put his racing heart at ease.

He nodded. “But only if I can have them with you.”Just her. Only her.“So what do you say, Kitten? Wanna give this whole happily ever after thing a try?”

“With you?” Poppy’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I’ll try anything as long as I’m with you.”

“Is that a yes?” Hereallyneeded to hear her say the word.

“Yes, Jaxon Everett Monroe.” She brought her mouth to his. “That’s most definitely a yes.”

Filled with more joy than he could ever remember having, Jax spent the next hour making love—yes, makinglove—to his fiancée. Because he did love her.

With every fiber of his being.

And on that sunny, wintery afternoon in the mountains Jax finally understood. Money and power—neither of those things held the key to happiness. It was all thelittlethings.

The smiles and laughter. The shared meals and stolen glances. The challenges—big and small—that one faced with a strong, capable woman willing to stand tall by his side.

Thosewere the things that brought a man happiness. And for Jax, well…

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