Page 175 of Slapshot Bride

My stomach growls with hunger pangs, and she laughs. That disrupts us.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Doesn’t matter, baby. You’re here now.”

I try to kiss her again, but she’s not having it.

“Come, let’s get you dinner.” She tries to head to the kitchen, but I don’t let her.

No.” I shake my head. “You're officially banned from my kitchen.”

She snorts.

“I'll hire a private chef. A housekeeper too. Tonight we'll order Chinese, because I know that's your favorite, and then we're going to bed.”

I cup her face. “And after that, I'm never letting you out of my sight again, Riley.”

She laughs and the sound hits me right in the chest.

I kiss her again because once simply isn't enough.

***

The food arrives half an hour later.

We eat on the floor in the living room, out of the cartons, because neither of us can be bothered with plates. She has more than I expect her to. I keep watching her eat, still not quite believing she’s here, that she’s real or any of this is happening.

“You’re gonna stare a hole through my head if you look any harder,” she teases, and that makes me smile.

I reach for her and pull her into my lap, ignoring the mess all around us.

“God… I missed you, baby,” I whisper into her neck, and she squirms against me.

“I missed you too…”

Her fingers cup my cheek, caressing my stubble.

I need a bath. That decided, I move her to the sofa and begin cleaning the mess. She tries to help, but I don’t let her. When I’m done, I carry her up the stairs into the bedroom.

“Need a shower. Don’t sleep off.” I steal a kiss, and she nods.

By the time I’ve showered and come back, she’s already in bed. In one of my shirts. Something in my chest cracks clean open at the sight of it.

It’s another reminder that she’s back. That I have her again.

I get in behind her and pull her back against me. She fits perfectly, like always.

For a while I just hold her. My arm over her, my face in her hair, the weight of her against me after weeks of an empty bed…

“I thought I lost this,” I say into her hair. My arm tightens around her. “Promise me. Whatever happens, whatever comes at us, you don’t leave. We do it together.”

She turns in my arms until she’s facing me. Her hand comes up to my jaw. “I promise.”

I press my lips to her temple, and drag in a deep breath, filling my lungs with her scent.

“I missed you in this bed,” I murmur. “Missed all of it. Missed you so fucking much, sweetheart.”

She doesn’t answer with words. She just leans in and kisses me. I don’t let her go. I kiss her deeply, savoring every little whimper from her, the taste of her, and I can’t stop. Not when her hands are on my shoulders, and she’s climbed onto my torso, straddling me.