The moment is very intimate and intense. And raw. Tears well in her eyes. “But I love you. I can’t live without you now.”
My thumb grazes her cheek. “It was okay for me to live in exile by myself. But I don’t want that for you. It’s not fair to you.”
“Axel—”
I cut her off with my mouth, and kiss her deeply. She whimpers and softens against me.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore tonight.” I look into her beautiful lavender eyes and know I have fallen so deeply for this woman—so deep I’m ready to do anything to make sure her future is nothing short of beautiful.
She nods and I kiss her again. Later I lead her to the bathroom and we sink into a tub full of bubbles, surrounded by lit candles and the sound of the heavy rain on the roof. She leans back into me and rests her head against my chest, and I wrap my arms around her in awe of her silky skin against mine.
Afterward I take her to our bed, and in the soft glow of the fire, I make love to her until we’re both too exhausted to worry about a future that might involve me going to prison for a very long time.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
LAUREN
Somewhere in the dead of night, my eyes open and I’m immediately hit with a sense of foreboding. Axel is asleep beside me, and the heat from his big body lying curled around me is comforting like a warm blanket.
But it’s not enough to thaw the chilly bite of fear as I think about him being taken away from me.
In the glow of the dying flames in the fireplace, my mind rolls over what he told me about Anastasia. About their affair. About her obsession. About her suicide. About him being convicted of her murder and then being given the death sentence. Fear tightens in my stomach. He says he didn’t kill her, and I believe him wholeheartedly. He is innocent. Which means, we have one hell of a fight ahead of us. Because Axel is insistent that he is going to turn himself in.
I’m scared it means he’ll go to prison and wait to be put to death.
And right then, I decide that I will follow him, wherever he goes. I will follow him and I will visit him every chance I can get, and I won’t ever give up fighting for his freedom.
Because Axel gave me mine.
When he took me from my bed the night before my wedding to Vince, he saved me. In so many ways. And the thought of not being able to do the same for him breaks my heart.
I’m in love with him.
With every cell in my body.
I want to stay here with him, cocooned in our bubble where only we exist. But it’s not going to end that way. A knot tightens in my chest. Because I can already feel my future with him slipping away.
With longing, I think about the moment he kidnapped me and brought me to his mountain hideaway. I think about the desire I felt for him, even before I knew him. How my body ached to feel his hands on me. How I wanted to feel his kiss. His cock.
I think about the days and nights spent in ecstasy with him. I think about the night I took him in my mouth and made him weak in the knees as I licked and sucked, and made him come on my tongue with his fingers tangled in my hair.
I think about his face buried between my thighs and the velvety pleasure of his tongue on my clit as he brought me to one orgasm after another.
And then I think about the first time he entered me, his beautiful cock so thick and big, slowly pushing into me, every hot inch filling me with so much man.
My heart aches. This can’t be the end for us.
I curl into him, wrapping my arms around his big body, and he stirs, but his long lashes remain on his cheeks, and his beautiful, full mouth remains slightly parted with gentle breaths as he sleeps deeply.
In a moment of optimism, I think he might wake up in the morning and decide not to hand himself in to the authorities. That the threat of losing me will be the deterrent he needs to reconsider. That maybe we can disappear into the misty mountain fog again, where no one can find us, and live the rest of our lives lost in one another.
But as I settle into the curve of his powerful body and let his heat engulf me, I know that isn’t going to happen. Axel is a man of his word and giving me his name is important to him. He is doing this for me, I realize, because he thinks it would be dishonorable not to, and the realization makes me feel loved and honored.
Somehow, I fall into a dreamless slumber, but am woken a few hours later by the tenderness of his tongue trailing down my belly. He covers me in his heat, his muscular body blanketing mine as he slowly makes his way lower. Instinctively, my legs part and I feel his lips curve into a smile against my hip. I shiver, and an ache takes up between my parted thighs as he continues to go lower. I’m wet with anticipation, needy for his tongue, and as soon as he brushes over the sensitive lips, my toes anchor to the mattress and I let out a breathy moan.
“I love the taste of your pussy,” he groans. His tongue swirls around my clit, making me tremble against his lips.
My climax is quick, and as I come down from the haze, I push him onto his back and climb aboard, sinking down on his cock. I’m so wet, he slides right in. I moan. I feel so full of him. And riding him like this hits every single button.
“I will never get tired of riding your cock,” I say, feeling the tension rising.
He grabs my hips and takes command of my movements. His hands are big on my thighs, his fingers supplying a nice pressure into my skin. He is grinding me against him. He knows this friction will get me off quickly. He knows it builds my orgasm fast. Knows I’m going to come wildly if he keeps doing what he is doing. Because he knows me.
I feel the wave rise, and with a violent crash, it tumbles through me, bringing with it a shower of pure bliss. My hands fall to his rock-hard chest. My fingers splay across the smooth skin. I come hard. And it’s long and intense, and I never want it to stop.
I collapse onto his chest, my hair damp, my breath labored, my heart pounding like a drum. I feel his heartbeat against my cheek and it’s rapid. He flinches his cock inside me and I smile against his warm skin.
“That was fucking amazing,” I breathe.
In response, he pulls out and flips me onto my back so he is on top of me. With one hard thrust he is in me again. “Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
His eyes are full of heat as he thrusts into me again and again.
“Lauren….” he moans desperately when he’s close to coming. “When I clear my name…” He pants, fighting his body as it begs him to come. “…will you take it as yours?”
My pussy clenches tightly around his cock and he bites down on his lip.
He’s asking me to marry him.
“Of course,” I whisper in his ear. “Why do you think I came back?”
We come at the same time, our bodies possessed by mind-shattering orgasms. It’s dizzying and sexy, and so fucking wonderful, and he continues to thrust his glorious cock into me until he’s given me every last drop of cum.
We sink into the mattress, our slick bodies entwined, our hearts pounding.
When our breathing evens, I press my lips to the hard line of his jaw.
This man, he is my future. And no matter what that future holds, I will stand by him until the very end.
Chapter Thirty
AXEL
“Well, I’ll be goddamned.” Sheriff Willard looks at me and shakes his head. “All this time you’ve been hiding away on my mountain.”