You Will Be Mine (Forever and Ever #7)(36)

***

We walked inside the apartment and enjoyed the silence.

“Nice, huh?” Slade asked. He was all over me the second the door was bolted and locked.

“Yeah…”

“I miss having our own space.” He pushed me against a wall and kissed my neck. “I miss kissing you and touching you whenever I want.”

“Me too.” I dug my fingers into his hair.

He guided me to his room and to his bed.

“I thought you didn’t want sex?” I asked.

He undid his belt. “That was before I kissed your neck and listened to you enjoy it.” He pulled the rest of his clothes off then yanked mine away.

“I always enjoy what you do to me.” I wrapped my legs around his waist as he found my entrance. He felt amazing the moment he slipped inside. “There is no present, is there?”

“Actually, there is.” He moved inside me completely. “But you get it when I’m finished.”

“It sounds like you’re paying me for sex in gifts.”

He rocked into me and looked into my eyes. “I pay you with love.”

***

We cuddled in bed, something we hadn’t done in a long time.

“This is the best Christmas ever.” He pressed his face into my neck and wrapped his leg around mine.

“Because you got sex?”

“Because I get to hold you. It’s been so long.” He kissed my neck then lay still.

Slade was the sweetest man I’d ever been with. I never suspected him to be the best boyfriend I ever had either. He gave me the attention I needed, but gave me tough love when I deserved it. He balanced me and always satisfied me. “So…how about that gift?”

He chuckled then pulled away. He leaned over the bed and searched for something underneath. Then he pulled out a square package. It was terribly wrapped in reindeer wrapping paper. It was crinkled and lopsided.

I stared at it and tried not to laugh. “Nice wrapping.”

“Shut up,” he snapped. “It was hard.”

“You could have just used a bag…”

“I wanted to put the effort in and make it look like a real Christmas gift.”

“Real?” I asked. “That’s the word you’re going for?”

He snatched the gift away. “Forget it.”

“Whoa…hold on.”

He kept it out of reach. “No, you blew it.”

“I’m sure the gift inside is better than the crappy wrapping.”

“Crappy?” he snapped.

“I mean, amateur.”

He still looked mad.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. “You’re so cute.”

He softened up. “Really?”

“So cute…” I kissed his chin then his neck.

He lowered the hand holding the gift. “That’s better.”

“It’s adorable that you tried to wrap a gift for me.” I snatched the package out of his hand then ripped it open.

A book was in my hands, a hardback. When I turned it over, I recognized it. It was The Odyssey. But it was a cover I didn’t recognize. The pages were old and yellow. When I opened it, the pages were a little dusty. I flipped to the front and looked at the date. “This is the first edition…” My heart stopped beating and I froze.

Slade watched my reaction.

“How…how is that even possible?”

He continued to stare at me, his mouth shut.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. “How…how?”

“I spent six months tracking it down…and paid a small fortune for it.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “But I knew you would love it.”

Tears sprang into my eyes and fell. “I don’t know what to say…”

“I know it’s an epic novel about war, revenge, and adventure, but it’s also a story about love. No matter how long they’re apart, they come back to each other, even if they don’t recognize one another.”

I held the book in my hands and wiped my tears away so they wouldn’t stain the book. “I…Slade.”

“You don’t have to say anything. Seeing how much you love it is enough.” He rubbed the back of my neck then pressed his lips to my hairline.

“You’re so…wonderful. I didn’t think we’d make it because our relationship had such odd beginnings but…we’re meant for each other.”

“You think so?” he whispered.

I nodded. “I do.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m starting to think it too.”

I left the book on the bed then circled my arms around him. My face moved to his chest and I inhaled his scent. He was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, the sweetest man in the world.

And I was so grateful he was mine.





Chapter Nine


Trinity


“You really should eat something.”

Skye stared out the window. Her eyes were glued to something only she could see. The sun was setting over the horizon, and the lights from Manhattan were starting to burn in all their glory.

“Skye?” I set the pizza box on the table. “I got your favorite.”