Page 21 of Mountain Man's Bride

I worked as quietly as possible to put wood onto the coals, doing my best not to wake Everlee or disturb her in the slightest. It took me a couple of minutes to get the flames back up, but once they were and the wood caught, I turned to gaze at my beautiful wife.

Her dark lashes cast shadows over her cheeks, the orange glow from the fire giving her a beautiful, ethereal glow. She didn’t even look like she belonged in this world. She was too breathtaking for it.

Yet, she was mine. My wife. Mine to take care of. To keep healthy.

I shook my head and quietly sighed, the sound barely audible. Taking care of Ever was unlike anything I’d ever taken responsibility for in my life. She was precious to me. So damn precious.

After grabbing her blood sugar kit out of the bathroom, I made my way back to the mattress and lifted the covers enough to grab Everlee’s finger and begin checking her sugars. Relaxing when I saw they were still good, I crawled back under the blankets with her, wrapping my arms around her so I could spoon her.

“Tripp?” she mumbled, her sleepy eyes slowly opening. I moved a little so I could hover over her just a bit. Her pretty eyes squinted at me through the dim lighting in our bedroom. “What time is it?”

A shiver wracked her frame, and I tugged her tighter to me once I laid back down. “Like three in the morning, sweetheart,” I rumbled, pressing a kiss to her neck. She shivered again, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t from the cooler air of the room that time. “Go back to sleep.”

She rolled onto her other side so she was facing me, her sleepy eyes meeting mine. Unable to help myself, I reached up and tenderly brushed her dark hair back from her face before running my fingers over her cheek. She cuddled closer to me, her hands brushing my chest. My body came alive at her touch, and I prayed she didn’t notice. Or if she did, I hoped she didn’t freak out.

“Kiss me, Tripp?” she quietly asked.

She was going to snap my restraint. Completely demolish it. Especially when she asked it in that sweet way. She was asking me to kiss her as if I didn’t dream of kissing her every second of every day lately.

I groaned and leaned forward, molding our lips together. She was warm and pliant beneath me, her lips soft and welcoming. Sighing, I drew her closer, no longer caring if she could feel how badly I needed her. Wanted her.

I desperately wanted to consume her. It was an all-consuming need—one I could barely think past.

I forced myself to pull back, my chest already heaving. A low whine left her throat as she pulled my face back to hers, her tongue slipping into my mouth. I groaned, my fingers digging into the soft flesh of her thigh. She hitched her leg on top of mine, and a guttural groan crawled up my throat.

This had to stop now. She may be my wife, but I couldn’t do this to her. I couldn’t have her hate me come morning.

“Ever, you need to rest. Your concussion—”

“Please,” she begged me. I swallowed thickly. “I’m your wife, and I think I’m falling in love with you, Tripp,” she murmured. My eyes snapped open. The light of the fire flickered in her eyes and over her flushed skin.

God, she was beautiful.

And wrecking my restraint.

“Baby—” I rasped.

She slid her palms under my shirt, and I trembled as if magic had burst from her fingertips. “I’m asking you to make love to me, Tripp Walker.”

Groaning, I covered her mouth with mine again, rolling her to her back. She parted her thighs, allowing me to settle between them. Our breaths mingled together as I raised up to look down at her. “Are you absolutely sure?” I could only deny myself for so long. This was her last chance to put an end to this and let us just go back to sleep.

She nodded, her hands sliding into my hair to tug me back down to her. Her lips brushed mine as she said, “Right now, you’re the only thing I’m absolutely sure of.”

And damn if that didn’t undo me.

CHAPTER 15

Everlee

It took two days, but the blizzard finally passed. And during that time, Tripp made love to me—a lot. My body was pleasantly sore. I liked that I could still sort of still feel him hours after we’d gotten up.

He pressed a kiss to my cheek and grabbed his thermos of coffee off the counter in front of me that I’d just finished making for him. It was going to be so weird to not have him in the house with me all day after we’d been holed up together for the last couple of days.

“I need to go help my brothers. No doubt, we’ve got a bit of clean-up to do. I probably won’t be back until tonight. Make sure you follow your schedule, and text me every time you eat, check your sugars—”

I turned and cupped his cheeks. “I know,” I assured him. No one was staying with me today, and I knew it had his nerves on edge. But like he said—there was clean-up to do. It was all hands on deck.

Leaning up on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips to his. “Be careful out there.”

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