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“Hush,” I command. Swallowing guilt and shame, I tap my thumb to her mouth, tug her plump lip down, and soak her in. She’s crying over me. She’s given her first kiss—and her second, and her third, and her fourth, fifth, sixth—to me. Opening her mouth, I lean in and claim her tongue, forcing tiny sounds to leave her.

She gasps for air. “Wy—”

“Shh.” I kiss, give her the smallest break, and watch her struggle to fill her lungs. “You’ll do anything for me, won’t you?”

Breathless and flushed, she promises, “Anything. Please.”

“Live with me. Leave your—” I swear. “—parents’ house and live with me. Let’s see how far your devotion really goes for a little while. And, then, if you can stomach it, let me take care of you forever.”

“Take care of me forever?” she echoes.

“Become my wife.” I lift her chin on my finger, watch a swallow move her throat. “I’ll teach you everything you dream about and more. All you have to do is prove you can tolerate me. What’d’ya say, baby? You up for it?”

“Yes,” she blurts. “Please. A million times yes.”

I hum. “Okay, sweetheart. I’ll help you move in tomorrow, then. In the afternoon.” I scan her. “In the late afternoon. You have much you wanna bring?”

Her head shakes. “No. No, I hardly need anything. I’ll pack a bag and a few boxes tonight. You mean it? Are you serious?”

I kiss the salted corner of her eye, catching more tears on my tongue when they fall. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. I’ll switch the mattresses tonight.”

Confusion settles in her pretty eyes. “Huh?”

I latch my fingers around her neck and revel in the way she goes still for me, expectant, waiting. “Alister used your—” I swear. “—bed. You’re not sleeping somewhere another guy has. I’ll put my mattress in your room. You can use it until it becomes ours.”

Eyes wide, she frees a slurred cuss.

“Yeah, baby?” I murmur. “Is that how that makes you feel?”

Her face heats further, beet red and beautiful. “I love you.” She links her fingers around my wrist, asking me to hold her tighter. She shudders when I oblige. “I love you so much.”

“Yeah.” I taste her. “I love you, too.”

With that, she crumples in my arms, sobbing until she falls asleep.

Chapter 1

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Princess for sale to a good home.

December

Months later…

“And that’s why we’ve decided—” My father’s voice drifts out of my brain while I sit, princessly, upon my lush window seat and peer out at the autumn world beyond the glass. The chill settling into my bones proves—yet again—that this house is way too big.

If I were with Wynnter…in his cabin…in his arms…

Maybe then I’d be warm.

Dazed, I let the scene take hold. A crackling fire. My Wynn wrapping me up in a blanket and pulling me onto his lap. His low, rough voice fills my head as he kisses my neck and asks if I want more. Pliant as ever in these fantasies I use to keep me sane, I beg him for it.

Because more is never enough.

Never, ever, enough.

“Devina!” My mother’s sharp tone cuts into the picture of Wynnter plunging me onto my back on his couch and warming me, one kiss at a time. “Honey. Are you listening to us?”