48

I stared at him as his eyes followed his hand, which was brushing through my hair slowly.

"What are you doing today," he asked quietly. His voice was still gravelly.

"Painting," I answered after a beat. "I have to redo Caroline's old room."

"Want some help?"

I smiled. "Do you want to help?"

He looked into my eyes. "Always."

I raised up on my elbows and looked down at him. "You want to spend an undetermined number of hours painting a room?"

"Well, I'm doing it with you, so it will really only feel like a few minutes."

I felt heat flood my cheeks. "If you say so."

He smiled as he leaned up. He kissed me, his lips moving against mine slowly. He stopped for a second, his lips staying within kissing distance. "Do we have to go now, or do we have two minutes?"

I laughed as I started kissing him. I felt his hand snake into my hair, cradling the back of my head and ushering me closer as he rolled me to my back. His body laid against mine, keeping me pinned to the mattress.

He lifted off of me just slightly to move his hand between us. Two of his fingers rubbed my pussy slowly, making me moan. I gripped his forearm, digging my nails into his skin. He pulled his hand away to free himself from his boxers.

A moment later, he was easing himself into me. My breath caught in my throat as all my attention moved to him inside of me. My brows furrowed as my mouth hung open. He buried himself all the way inside of me, groaning.

"Does that feel good," he whispered.

"Yeah," I nodded as I opened my eyes.

I felt his hand grip my thigh. He started fucking me slowly, his cock filling me completely each time he eased into me. He pulled my leg up as he thrusted into me harder. I gasped as I felt him hit something deep inside me. I moaned as I rocked my hips forward, arching into him.

He started kissing my neck. He pushed against my leg, making my thigh press against my stomach. I moaned as he stretched me to limits, I didn't know I had. He started thrusting into me quickly, his body meeting mine each time he fucked into me. I yelled out as he pounded against my g-spot.

Chills scattered through my body. I clenched around him as I came. I squeezed his arm tighter, moaning. The orgasm that took control of my body was only spurred on by his need to keep going. His grip on my thigh tightened as he thrusted harshly into me one last time. He grinded his hips against mine, moaning against my skin.

After a moment of calming down from the euphoria that coursed through both of us, I moved my hands to his sides. I pushed against him as I rolled us over. He groaned as I sank down on him. I put my hand against the mattress by his head and pulled back just far enough so that I could look at him.

He moved his hands to my hips, rolling my hips forward. I moaned as my eyes fluttered shut. I moved my free hand to his hand.

"We should really go," I said breathily.

He hummed softly. "Really?"

I moaned as he rocked my hips back and forth slowly. "Malachai," I warned. He started going faster. I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't form words. The only sounds that left my lips were moans and whimpers.

I gripped the bedsheets as I groaned. The feeling of him moving inside of me while also having my clit rubbed against his body was overwhelming. I moved my hand to his wrist, holding it tightly. He held me against him firmly, stopping his movements as I came around him again.

His hands slid up my body, under my shirt. He urged me to lay against him. As I pressed my body to his, I kissed him gently. I moved my hands to his neck as I pulled away to look at him. The soft look in his eyes felt like the comforting feeling that accompanied a hug.

"I love you."

He slid his arms around, pulling me to kiss him again. When I pulled back again, my eyes met his. "Marry me." The absence of hesitance and panic in his voice and face only made my jaw drop lower.

I was unsure of how to respond. The sudden question, or statement, rather, made my heart stop.

He moved his hands to my hips as I sat up. I moved off of him and sat next to him. I held my legs against my chest. He sat up and stared at me. I stared back at him.

"I knew you were insane, but this..." I shook my head, laughing breathily.

"What's so crazy about it?"

I furrowed my brows, "Have you met us? This will never work."

"Not if we actually try to make it work." He grabbed my hand. "I love you, Evelyn. As far as I know, you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you. That's all I need."

All of a sudden, everything felt small. My head was starting to spin. My throat felt like it was closing as I got closer to an answer. The feeling of his hand around mine warmed me, bringing me back to reality. It's just us. I wanted that feeling in my chest to stay there forever.

I moved to sit on my knees as I cupped his face in my hands. His body was inches from mine. His hand slid up my thigh, stopping at my waist. I looked up from his lips and stared into his eyes. "Ask me again."

"Evelyn." A smile flashed across his lips for a second before disappearing as he asked. "Will you marry me?" His voice was softer.

I glanced at his lips before looking into his eyes again. "Yes."

He stared at me for a moment with a look of content that was bleeding into disbelief. The smile that spread across my lips accompanied the tilt of my head. The quiet laugh that trailed from his lips to my ears made me smile wider. I leaned forward and kissed him.

His arms surrounded me just before he turned me onto my back, laying his body on mine. He lifted his head to look down at me. The light, floaty feeling that consumed me was euphoric. I slid my hands to his neck.

His eyes bored into mine. The emotion that poured out of just one look made my body feel weak. The weight of his body pinned me to the mattress as he kissed me fervently. I slid my hand to the back of his neck. He lifted off of me just enough to regain the ability to slide into me.

The thoughts of my plans for today passed through my mind for a moment before disappearing completely. He's the only thing I need right now, and for the rest of my life.

...

I could feel Ryan's eyes boring holes into the side of my head. I dropped the pen from my hand as I looked up at him sitting on the couch. "What?"

His eyes were narrowed. "You just seem different."

I tilted my head, "So you're trying to see into my mind with X-ray vision?"

He sighed as he rolled his eyes. "What's different about you?"

I picked up the pen after looking back down at the open book. "When you find out, let me know." I started writing again.

After another few minutes of silence, he spoke again. "What are you doing?"

I stopped writing. "Do you not have anything better to do?"

"Maybe. If you answer the question."

I kept staring at the paper. "It's a speech."

"Really?" As he reached for the paper, I smacked his hand.

He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. "I was just curious!"

I looked at him. "Go be curious about something else."

He rolled his eyes as he got up. He started walking toward the front door when it opened, and Kai walked through. I turned my attention back to the paper. I started clicking the pen as I thought of what else to write.

I felt Kai's hands on my shoulders as he leaned close from behind me. "Hi, baby." He kissed my cheek. I hummed in response as I stopped clicking the pen. "What are you doing?"

I took a breath before answering. "Trying to figure out how to tell Caroline." I tossed the pen onto the table.

"How long have you been doing this?" He squeezed my shoulders. "Relax," he whispered.

I realized how tense I was as I relaxed. "I don't know. A few hours."

He started massaging my shoulders gently. "You need to take a break."

"I have to..." I let my eyes fall shut. "I need to tell everyone. I need to figure out how to first."

He moved his hands to the sides of my face. I opened my eyes as he tilted my head back. "That wasn't a suggestion."

I whined as I pulled away from him. I grabbed the pen again. "Is it too late to say no?"

"Yes." I started clicking the pen again. He put his hands on my shoulders again and pulled me back between his legs. "Maybe you should just call her."

"And end up dead before we even get married?"

He sighed as he started massaging my shoulders again. "You've been thinking about this for too long. You need a break before your head explodes."

"That's actually impossible, and I'm fine."

"Yeah, because a person who's fine would be clicking a pen that fast."

I stopped moving my thumb and held the pen tighter. "Sorry."

"For?"

"I don't know," I whined. I tossed the pen onto the table before dropping my head into my hands.

"Hey." He squeezed my shoulders.

I sighed as I lifted my head. "This is so stressful." I moved my hands to the floor and turned around, moving to sit on my knees. I placed my hands on my knees. "It's not that I don't want to tell anyone, I just don't know how they'll react. And I know it doesn't matter. The only opinions that really matter are yours and mine, I know-"

He pushed my hair back behind my ears. "Stop." He cupped my face in his hands, tilting my head up. "If what they think matters to you, then I'll make it matter to me. Telling them is important to you, and obviously finding the right way to tell them is important too. We will figure this out together. Right now, you need to take a break before you break."

The tight feeling in my chest escaped through the slow breath that passed my lips. He leaned down and kissed me softly.

The sound of my phone ringing pulled me away from him. I grabbed my phone off the table and answered Caroline's call.

"Hey, are you busy next Friday?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"I'm throwing a party at the Grill for Matt."

I furrowed my brows. "His birthday was in February."

"Yeah, um..." She was quiet for a few seconds. "He's becoming the sheriff."

I paused for a moment. I never thought someone I knew would replace my mom as sheriff. There's been an interim sheriff for the past few years until they found a replacement, but I never thought they would actually find one. Especially not Matt.

"Evelyn?"

"I gotta go, Care."

"Will you be there?"

I felt sick. "I'll let you know. Bye, Caroline."

"Evelyn."

I ended the call and sat my phone back down. Kai was sitting in front of me now, his back against the couch. He reached his arms out to me. I moved to sit next to him. He hugged his arm around me, pulling me tight to his chest. I rested my hand against his stomach.

"I miss my mom."

He moved his hand to the side of my face, rubbing his thumb back and forth slowly. "I know, baby."

I listened to his heart as it beat slowly. I moved my arm to lay across his stomach as I pulled myself to have my body against his. He pressed a kiss into my hair before sliding his hand into my hair. I let my eyes close.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save her," he whispered softly.

The memory of what happened was refreshed in my mind. The only reason we're as close as we are is because I made a deal with him to save my mom. "If she had lived, we wouldn't be together right now. She would've convinced me to go back to school sooner than I did. She would've known I was falling in love with you before I did, and she would've known I didn't want to."

"You didn't want to fall in love with me?"

"No." I opened my eyes and tilted my head back. "But I'm glad I did."

"You actually like me now, right?"

"It depends on the hour."

He smiled. "Right now?"

I thought of the jealousy my love for him would inspire if it could only be physically seen. The depth of my devotion to him could be filled by the cosmos and still be infinitely filled by the expanse of time itself. "I love you."

There was a flash of something in his eyes that melted me. My entire being answered only to him.