I cast it to the universe with love and dreams.
I fling the gold over the edge of the cliff, offering it to the wind.
For a second, it lifts up in an arc of beautiful shimmer like small granules of glowing sunlight—only for the wind to blow it back over us.
Laughing, we lift our arms as it glitters down in golden snowflakes, coating our skin, our hair, even clinging to my eyelashes.
As I try to blow it back, Alaska catches me, swinging me around and pulling me closer to him.
“My girl,” he whispers. “More precious than any gold ever pulled out of this planet.”
My heart might die.
No one’s ever told me I was worth more than anything.
And when he kisses me, all swirled up in gilded magic, I lose myself in him.
In that euphoric feeling—of belonging to someone who cherishes me, who sees only the good in me, who wants me as I am.
By the time we break apart, we’re a breathless mess, steaming our affection into the night with every shallow, excited breath.
But I think our smiles might be permanent.
Like an unspoken agreement, we lace our hands and turn to find the path—only to freeze at the bright snap of a camera flash.
Eli.
He’s standing just a few feet away, grinning up at us like a cherub, lowering his camera.
“Hi,” he says shyly. “So does this mean you’ll be my stepmom?”
Whoa.
That hits me in a different way, sweet and soft and just a little heady.
“Um, yeah. That’s how it works, right?” Slowly, I grin. “And as your stepmom, I’m pretty sure I left you with the Fords, didn’t I?”
“You both know I wasn’t gonna miss this.” Eli winks, holding up his camera. “No worries, guys. I caught every second for your wedding album.”
Alaska looks down at me, and that intense gaze and good humor dancing in his eyes draws me in.
“Good idea, kiddo,” he says, but he’s locked so intently on me. “But trust me when I say I don’t need a single photo to remember this. I’ll never forget the night I found my wife and took her by the hand into the rest of our lives.”
“Murder, girl. You’re killing me,” he breathes, his hot words falling against the back of my neck.
I’m splayed out on my back reverse cowgirl style, naked, dripping with sweat, and so full of my new fiancé I’m a little scared he’ll break me.
Truth be told, I’m also a little peeved at the well-kept secret I’ve just found out.
Why, oh why, did nobody ever tell me the already amazing sex with a man you’re madly in love with turns into screaming acrobatics the second he puts a ring on your finger?
We’ve been at it for over an hour.
I’m feeling that heat again in the pit of my belly, moaning out a plea, throwing my hips down on his cock again and again.
“Paxton! Oh, God.” I don’t think the noise grinding out of my throat next qualifies as human.
“Give it the fuck up,” he growls back. “I know you’re not done. I know you’re gonna come on this dick plenty more tonight. Let me feel you go, Fliss.”
He’s not asking, I realize.
The way his thrusts quicken, slamming up inside me, daring me to keep pace is no gentle request.
It’s a flipping order.
And I never had a prayer of doing anything but obeying with a lovestruck smile.
Thank goodness he’s holding me up. Behind me, my wrists slip deeper into his hands, my legs shift apart, happily taking it as he pummels me into wild oblivion.
I’m already on the edge and about to see fireworks when he cranes his neck, breathing against my ear, holding his thick fullness inside me in a slow, barely moving tease.
“Gonna come with you, Fliss. Gonna spill every drop. Use that little pussy to suck me off,” he snarls, full throated and huskier than Hades.
Holy unholies.
I. Am. Gone.
I don’t even know what I am as my core tightens, as I push myself down over him, as I throw my head back with a rough, desperate gasp and feel every muscle I own flash melt like butter over a roaring campfire.
“Oh, oh—Pax!” I scream through pinched teeth.
And then all of my senses blur into one until I can’t tell if I’m yelling or breathing or just deliciously drunk on my husband-to-be.
I’m definitely addicted when he swells, giving up a guttural roar, threatening to break the bed as he crashes into me before coming to an abrupt, swelling halt.
His seed burns brighter than the stars tonight as he empties himself out, deep inside me.
Maybe it’s the riptide of emotion or the manic loving or some insane, long dormant urge deep inside me awakening.
But when the white-hot pleasure recedes and I fall against him, his cock still buried inside me and barely holding in a flood, I grab his hand.
“Ever think about adding onto our family?” I whisper, flushed with more heat than I thought I could hold in my blood. “I mean, not right now. And not to scare you. And not saying I’m expecting an answer tonight if you don’t—”
He’s laughing, a low and warm chuckle rolling out of him as he pulls out of me and rolls me over.
We’re eye to eye. He doesn’t answer until he gives me a minute-long kiss.
“Goddamn, you’re adorable. You want to know, huh?” he asks, an animal heat returning to those brown eyes as I nod briskly.
Oof, am I that desperate?
“Fliss, I’m marrying you to make our lives whole. And back when I was younger, I always planned on a bigger family. Even if there’s been a long damned intermission since Eli...I’m ready. You say the word, you drop the protection, and I’ll give you as many babies as you can stand,” he growls.
So, apparently I’m marrying the devil.
This man.
This handsome, powerful, generous tease of a giant.
“Why you looking at me like that? Cat got your tongue?” he whispers, giving me a knowing look.
I fall right into his smile and another torrid kiss, knowing it’ll be far more graceful than any words I can muster.
I know.
Common sense dictates I should be careful what I wish for—and maybe so should he—but I’ve got the funniest feeling this lovely ring on my finger has me itching for wishes unlimited.
Whimpering into his kiss, I start right now, wishing us the moon, the stars, and every soaring beat of my heart.
28
The Golden Word (Alaska)
Months Later
I’ve never seen a wedding come together so fast.
It probably helps that we both have simple tastes.
What helps even more?
Having the entire frigging town come behind us to pitch in, plan, and make it happen.
This is how I know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that I’ve found more than the woman I’ll spend the rest of my life with. I’ve found my tribe.
The moment I set foot in Heart’s Edge, I knew The Nest was an institution—and even with a few bad apples with sour tongues, the people of this town love their coffee and its keeper.
I get why Fliss had a hard time believing she wasn’t an outcast between Paisley and her father’s past. Not to mention the fact that I hear it takes seven compliments to negate one insult—some psychology tidbit—so I also get why she couldn’t just open her eyes and see how much the good people of Heart’s Edge care.