“Swear,” he demanded, but at least his voice was lighter now, less growly. “Swear you aren’t mad at me for pushing us.”
“So worried for nothing,” she murmured. His eyes reflected strangely in the moonlight. “Silly beast, worrying about the feelings of your prey.”
“No, Alana.” Aaron ran his thumb reverently over the deep scar on her lip. When he pulled his hand back, blood was smeared on it. “You’re the beast, and I’m your prey. My heart is yours. My bear, my life, everything. You can have it all. Just give me a chance to make you happy.”
He was asking her to stay, and she already knew her answer. She’d known it from the moment she’d admitted to him how she wished she was stronger, and he’d deemed her good enough. Her heart felt bound to him in ways she’d never been able to fathom before it happened. This was the moment she’d always dreamed of—the moment when she belonged to another completely, and he belonged to her.
There would be no leaving Bryson City now. There would be no more planning a perfect future. There would only be building a new one here, with Aaron.
Alana sighed and slid her arms around his neck, rested her cheek against his shoulder, and kissed the claiming mark she’d given him. “Whether you Turn me or not, I’m yours, Aaron. I’m not going anywhere. As long as you want me to stay, I will.”
“Always,” he murmured, rocking her gently.
Dreamily, she asked, “Hmm?”
She could feel his smile against her cheek as he let his lips linger there. “I want you to stay for always.”
Alana’s eyes burned with emotion. What a beautiful offer that was. Having a man she cared for so completely asking her to put down roots deep and wide—to intertwine them with his own and start a future with him. Her life here wasn’t ending as she’d been convinced it was. Aaron had come in and breathed brilliance into this place, made her see herself and her list of plans differently.
Always.
Alana smiled and hugged him closer.
Always was a good start.
Chapter Fourteen
Bam, bam, bam!
Alana yelped and sat up in bed, scrambling with the sheet to keep her boobs covered. “What is happening?” She searched frantically for Aaron, but his side of the bed was empty.
When the muffled sound of laughter drifted through the log walls, she sighed with relief. The banging picked up again, and she blew a curl out of her face, then slid out of bed, dragging the entire sheet with her.
First, she peeked out the bedroom door to the living room and kitchen, but the house seemed to be empty. Alana shut the bedroom door and made her way to the bathroom as waves of masculine voices floated this way and that through the walls. She expected to be horrified when she looked in the mirror, but she was pleasantly surprised, likely do to the epic and thorough boinking Aaron had given her last night. Her hair was Texas-big but her curls had held, and her cheeks had a rosy tint to them. She didn’t look exhausted like she did most mornings. Just happy.
What time was it?
She picked up Aaron’s watch on the counter and gasped at how late it was. Ten o’clock? She’d practically slept all day! Thank goodness for her part-time employee, Marina, running the café on Fridays so Alana could have a day off to pick up her nieces from school and spend the evening in Asheville. Lissa had always been so protective and borderline judgmental. Alana had never dated a guy Lissa was pleased with. It was as if her twin sister had taken over the role of mom after their mother had passed. She was pretty sure Dad would be an easier sell on Aaron than Lissa would be, but okay. She would have to be brave and just lay it out on the line because she loved Aaron.
Loved Aaron?
Alana’s reflection looked utterly shocked, and then she grinned. Yeah, that felt right. She loved him. Maybe it was fast for normal people, but Aaron was different. Their relationship was different.
“He’s the one,” she whispered, excitement nearly doubling her over as she tried to keep her happy squeal in her throat.
Lissa could get on board or not, but Alana was doing this. On second thought, though, maybe she wouldn’t mention how she’d bitten Aaron last night. Lissa wouldn’t understand it was special and not gross.
She readied for the day quickly so she could see Aaron sooner, and by the time she bounced out of the house and onto the saggy front porch, she was nearly humming from the inside out with anticipation.
“There she is,” Ryder drawled from his place lying face down on an old plastic lawn lounger in the yard. He was wearing gym shorts and a smile and nothing else.
“Hey,” Aaron said from the side of the cabin where he was holding up a dark green shutter next to the window while Weston drilled it in. Aaron’s smile stretched across his entire face and landed in his blue eyes. He usually gelled his longer hair back, but today it was loose and falling in his face on once side, and he hadn’t shaved this morning, so his jaw glistened with blond stubble. A white skin-tight sweater clung to his muscular torso, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing those tattoos she found so gosh-dang sexy. How had she ever thought they made him look like a bad boy? Aaron was a good man.
“I’ve got the rest of this one,” Weston murmured around a couple of screws hanging out of his mouth.
Aaron pushed off the shutter and strode directly over to her, hopped up onto the porch, and squared up to her. With an easy smile that shook up the butterflies in her stomach, he leaned down and sipped at her lips until she melted against him. Resting his forehead on hers, he murmured, “Damn, it was hard not to wake you up.”