Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Not when I murmur, “Marry me, Treasure. For real–no bullshit mail-order bride business, just you and me, romance, love, forever.”
Her lips part, her breath catching.
She blinks up at me, water droplets clinging to her lashes. “What?”
I smirk, bringing her ring finger to my lips and kissing it softly.
“I’m not good at this,” I mutter, voice rough. “Never been the kind of man who knew how to say the right words. But I know this—I was never meant to be alone, Palmer. I just didn’t know it until you showed up, wrecking my peace and making me want things I never thought I could have.”
Her lips tremble, her fingers clenching around mine.
“You’re mine,” I tell her, voice thick with emotion. “And I’m yours, Treasure. If you’ll have me, I would like to officially ask for your hand in marriage.”
She stares up at me, blinking like she can’t believe my words are real.
Then her eyes flick to mine, and I see it—the moment she gives up fighting.
The moment she chooses me.
“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes, Hudson.”
Relief crashes through me so hard I almost stagger.
I grip the back of her neck and crush my mouth to hers, kissing her so deep, so hard, she gasps against me.
“Say it again,” I demand against her lips.
She grins, wrapping her legs around my waist. “Yes.”
I groan, hauling her closer, our bodies slipping together in the water, heat flaring between us.
Palmer is everything I never knew I needed.
And she’s mine.
Her head rests on my chest, her fingers tracing lazy circles over my stomach.
“You really planned this whole thing out, huh?” she murmurs.
I smirk, dragging my fingers through her damp hair. “Well, I still need to get you a ring–but yes, I try to be a man with a plan.”
She chuckles. “You also like to boss me around.”
“Damn right, I do.”
She tilts her head, peering up at me. “So, what now?”
I grip her chin, making her look at me.
“Now,” I say, voice low and firm, “I show you exactly what it means to be mine.”
Her breath shudders, her thighs pressing together. I smirk.
"Mm, my Treasure," I murmur, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Just wait ‘til you see what I have planned for our wedding."
She laughs, swatting my chest, but the way she melts against me tells me all I need to know.
Palmer Lane is all in. And I’ll spend forever making sure she never regrets it.
Chapter Twelve
Palmer
The moon is high, casting silver light across the Phantom River, turning the rushing water into liquid mercury. The air is thick with the scent of pine and earth, the warmth of summer lingering even in the dead of night.
Hudson's arm is heavy around my waist as we lay stretched out on a thick blanket beneath the sky. His body is heat and solid muscle, the rough scrape of his calloused fingers tracing slow circles over my bare stomach.
I shiver. Not from the cool breeze, but from him.
His touch. His presence.
His claim.
"You cold, Treasure?" His voice is deep, husky.
I shake my head, shifting to press my chest against his. "Not even a little."
His lips twitch. "You sure? 'Cause you're trembling."
I huff out a laugh, sliding my fingers down his abdomen. "Maybe it's because I'm lying next to a six-foot-four mountain of muscle.”
His nostrils flare, and before I can blink, he rolls on top of me, pinning me beneath him, the weight of him deliciously suffocating. I barely get a breath in before his mouth is on mine, deep and demanding, his tongue sweeping inside like he’s claiming more than just my lips.
Like he’s claiming my soul.
I whimper against his mouth, my legs parting to cradle his hips. With a deep, satisfied growl, he slides against me again, stretching me, filling me in a way that makes my toes curl into the blanket beneath us.
“Hudson—”
“Shh, Treasure,” he murmurs against my lips, rolling his hips slowly, making me feel every inch of him. “Let me love you the way you deserve.”
I cling to him, nails scraping down his back, my heart racing. “You do love me.”
His movements falter for a split second before he leans in, his forehead pressing against mine.
"Yeah," he rasps. "And I'll love you forever."
The words send a shudder through me, my body arching as he moves with purpose, slow and deliberate, like he has all night to worship me.
And maybe he does.
Maybe this is what forever feels like.
The river rushes beside us, birds chirping somewhere in the trees, the whole mountain bearing witness to this moment.
This man.
My man.
"You’re so soft and silky and sweet," he growls, his voice rich with admiration as his hands caress my skin.
"Thank you," I whisper.
He shifts slightly, his eyes lingering on me with an intensity that sends a thrill through my body.
He's been utterly charming and attentive, the tension that usually hangs around him replaced by a relaxed, playful demeanor that I find irresistibly captivating.