Jasper Vale (The Edens #4)(45)

If someone had asked me in January if I’d miss it here, I would have said fuck no. But maybe I’d miss it after all. Of all the places I’d traveled in my life, there weren’t many as captivating as Montana.

Eloise’s car was still parked outside the A-frame when I got home.

I headed inside, dropping my keys and phone on the kitchen island just as she walked out of the laundry room, carrying a full basket. “Hey.”

“Hi.” She was wearing a simple green dress that hit her midthigh. Her feet were bare, showing off her polished toenails. White. This morning they’d been pink.

Her hair was down, the silky strands draping over her shoulders. When she smiled, her blue eyes sparkled like jewels. It was that smile that stopped me in my tracks. She looked at me like watching me come through the door was the highlight of her whole day.

And not that long ago, I’d told Sam how much I liked fucking my wife.

I wasn’t supposed to like that label. My heart wasn’t supposed to stop whenever Eloise walked into the room.

“What’s wrong?” She set the basket down on the couch, coming closer. Her gaze raked over me from head to toe. “Did Foster punch you again?”

“No. It’s nothing.” I shook my head, turning away and walking to the fridge. “Thought you were going to the ranch.”

“I changed my mind. I didn’t feel like driving out there today.”

I took out a Gatorade, twisting off the cap and drinking half in a few gulps. Then I set it down on the counter, staring blankly at the bottle. “Foster announced his retirement today.”

“Oh.” She rounded the island and hopped up on the counter, sitting right beside my drink. “You okay?”

“I knew it was coming.”

Her hand lifted, her fingertips going to my hair. Exactly the way I liked. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

I sighed, leaning into her touch. “The biggest commitment I’ve made in the last decade has been to Foster’s career.”

“What now?” she whispered, voicing the question in my head.

“I don’t know.” I leaned in closer, dropping my forehead to hers.

My entire childhood, I’d been handed a plan. It had been drawn out for me before birth, sculpted from generations of Vale men who had unyielding expectations that their footsteps would be followed.

It hadn’t been as hard as I’d thought to shun those expectations. The criticism, or lack thereof, had been mild. Tolerable.

My parents would have to care to be disappointed.

Those days, I’d embraced the lack of plan. I’d done whatever I’d wanted, whenever I’d wanted. Spontaneity had been an adventure.

It didn’t feel as exciting this time around.

Eloise’s fingers drifted over my face, tracing my cheekbone to my lips. Touching. She was always touching. Just like she was always curled against my side when we slept because apparently she was allergic to her own side of the bed.

I’d miss the touching when this was over. Not so much the cuddling.

“Hey.” She pulled away, giving me a sad smile. “You’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah.” I’d decide when the wedding was over.

“Hungry?” she asked. “I could cook us lunch.”

“Peanut butter and jelly doesn’t count as cooking.” I nipped at her lower lip. And if she was here today, I didn’t want to spend it in the kitchen.

With a quick sweep, I lifted her from the counter.

She gasped, her long legs wrapping around my hips.

“Kiss.”

She dropped her mouth to mine, one arm sliding around my shoulders while the other tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Her eyes drifted closed but I kept mine open, watching as her tongue fluttered against my lower lip.

I’d taught her that flutter.

Two weeks ago, when I’d done the exact move with my tongue against her clit, she’d come apart. Then before she’d drifted off to sleep, she’d said she wished she could do it. So for the past two weeks, we’d practiced.

She had it down now. That flutter was fucking perfect.

I tore my lips away, waiting until she opened her eyes.

“What?” she asked, breathless.

My arms tightened around her, hauling her so close she could feel my arousal. “That flutter is mine. Only mine.”

“Huh?”

I waited, giving her a minute to understand.

No other man got that flutter.

The sparkle in her gaze dimmed, like a sheer curtain had been draped across a window. “Don’t talk like that.”

“Like what?”

“Jas.” She unwrapped her legs, wiggling to be set down, but my hold on her only tightened.

“Promise me, Eloise. Don’t give it to anyone else.”

This was it. In all the vows we’d made, this one was the only one I wanted her to keep.

Her eyes searched mine for a long moment, sorrow creeping into those pretty blue irises, until she nodded. “Promise.”

I slammed my mouth on hers, our tongues twisting. I kissed her with everything I had, marking, claiming, needing to memorize her sweet taste. Then I changed my hold, cradling her with an arm beneath her knees, the other banded around her back as I walked through the cabin, carrying her to the bed we’d share for another month.