Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
"You have made me the happiest man alive, Betsy."
He was still holding her up as he spoke the words, and she nearly drowned in the intensity of his gaze.
"M-Me, too."
It was all she could manage to get out, with her head still reeling at how her once-aloof boss was openly talking about things she had never imagined she would hear him utter.
Lukas' chest squeezed anew upon seeing the stars in her eyes. Countless women had attempted to entice him to their beds. But not one of them had looked at him the way Betsy was looking at him now.
The knowledge humbled him, but it also made Lukas want to chain her to his side for eternity.
He slowly lowered Betsy to her feet, but only so he could cup her face and take her gaze captive.
"From now on, you are mine." He had never imagined he could be this possessive about a woman, but claiming Betsy was suddenly the only thing that mattered. "Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes."
"Then say it," Lukas urged her. "Say you're mine."
"I'm yours," Betsy whispered. "I've always wanted to be yours—-"
Lukas groaned as the sweetness of her words overpowered his self-control.
His mouth covered hers in an instant, and he felt more than heard her whimper against his lips as his tongue stroked in to mate with hers. Her body buckled violently against his when he started sucking on her tongue, but just as her nails dug hard into the broad slopes of his shoulders—-
A cry pierced their ears.
And Betsy wanted to cry again when Lukas immediately ended their kiss and carefully pulled away.
A wry smile curved over Lukas' lips when he saw the look on Betsy's face. "It is also because of how you are as a mother to your son that I want to marry you. "
Her lips parted, but she was crying so hard that speaking simply became impossible.
Thank You, thank You, thank You.
Someone once told Betsy how God didn't just listen to prayers that fell past people's lips. There were also prayers that people's hearts moaned and cried about—-prayers that one didn't either know how to express or did not believe they deserved to ask for.
She had never understood what that meant—-until now.
All Betsy had heard since giving birth to D were sighs of pity and dismay.
It was as if everyone saw her son as someone Betsy should regret.
It was as if everyone believed that her son had ruined her life.
And it hurt.
It had hurt to see people think of him as a mistake when all she saw was her greatest treasure.
It was only now that Betsy realized her every moment of despair was not in vain.
All that time, her soul was also silently crying out to God for someone to see what she saw in D.
Feel what she felt for her son.
And that was Lukas.
Her answered prayer.
Chapter Twelve
LUKAS STOOD BY THE doorway and watched Betsy lift her son into his arms before settling into the oversized armchair next to the windows. The sheer gravity of what he had just committed himself to hit him as a now-blushing Betsy started breastfeeding her son.
This woman would soon be his wife, and her son would be his son as well.
He waited for panic and regret to storm his thoughts at the realization, but the emotions that had his chest so damn tight were completely different.
My wife.
My son.
It was all he could think about as he watched Betsy's son suckle hungrily on his mother's breast. The bond between the two was unmistakable, and Lukas' resolve only strengthened when he thought of how that bond would someday include him.
I want it.
He was now absolutely certain of this. He no longer cared what other people would say about how they had met or why he had married her. The only thing that mattered was that Betsy would be his wife, and her son would be their son.
They would be the family he had once thought he would never have.
And he would do everything in his power to protect them.
BETSY FELT AS IF SHE was in a dream as she placed her son back in his crib, which now didn't feel "right" to use since it was a gift (among many others) from another man.
I still can't believe this is happening.
Her head was still in the clouds as she turned to face him again, and it was only when his gaze slowly ran down her body that she realized too late her blouse was still open, and her breasts completely bare to his gaze.
Not again!
Betsy hastily tried to shield herself from his gaze, 'tried' being the operative word since Lukas was suddenly in front of her, and her heart pounded against her chest as he suddenly gripped her wrists and slowly lowered her arms back to her sides.
Silvery eyes took hers captive, and her throat tightened at the heat that glittered in his gaze.