Ordered By The Mountain Man: A Modern Mail-Order Bride Romance (11 page)

D
elta sits back
on the pile of pillows, her foot propped up. I hate to see her this way—tears in her eyes, shaking her head, confused.

I fucked it up again.

“Don’t cry, Delta,” I tell her, taking her hand.

“I hate it when people say that. Why is crying so bad anyway? It’s what makes me human.”

“I didn’t say you shouldn’t be human, woman. I just said ... don’t.... Okay, I did say not to cry.”

The corner of her lip pulls up ever so slightly. “Did you just admit defeat, Boone?”

I shrug, running my hand over my beard, a smile hitching across my face. Damn it, I am so over my head with this woman.

“How about I try again. Why are you crying?”

She snorts, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. I stand and grab her a tissue from the bedside table.

“Mostly because you just told me to pack my bags and go.”

Oh. So maybe my phrasing was completely fucked up.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not great with words, with speeches and fucking declarations.”

“What were you trying to declare, Boone?”

“That I love you. So fucking much. That I want to marry you.”

Her eyes go wide. “And you were letting me know you loved me by telling me to go?”

“No.” I exhale, taking her hands in mine, wanting to pull her into my arms and kiss her lips and hold her heart. But I need to explain first, because her eyes are wide and scared, and I don’t want her to carry that fear anymore. “I was telling you that you needed to have your shit packed because I’m taking my woman to a proper courtroom, getting you some white dress and flowers and whatever shit girls like on their wedding day. I wanted you packed so I could take you to Anchorage and do this right.”

“Oh, Boone,” she says, shaking her head.

And that’s when I’m like,
fuck me now
. Really? She doesn’t want me after all? Because I swear to God I thought I figured her out. Figured
us
out.

“I was an ass for thinking you wanted my brother. And I was an ass for making this move harder on you then it needed to be. You can do yoga where you damn well please. And I’ll get all these dead animals out of the entire lodge; they’re old and dusty as shit anyway. And I’ll make Trey create a new menu of all-vegan food, and we can all eat fucking spinach and couscous.”

“You don’t need to eat couscous to convince me to stay. But I’m not going to Anchorage with you.” But then she squeezes my hand, and it gives me a sliver of hope that maybe ... maybe there is something here between us. “Boone, I may not have grown up out in the sticks, but I never wanted some fancy ceremony. I just wanted an adventure, and I thought that being so young and settling down would mean that I would have to give all that up.”

“But?”

“But marrying you, Boone, is not settling. It’s not defeat. It’s more than I could have imagined.”

My lungs fill with relief. “I love you, Delta.” I kiss her; her soft lips part, and I promise her so damn much with my mouth. I promise her everything.

“I’m not asking you to change all this stuff here at the lodge,” she says, pulling away, looking into my eyes. “Don’t do it for me.”

I smooth the hair back from her face, cradling her in my arms. “Delta, I’d do anything for you.”

“And I’d do anything for you.” She rests her forehead against mine. “I love you, Boone,” she whispers.

“So you’ll be my wife?”

“I will.”

* * *

T
he next day
her foot is much less swollen, and I wrap it securely after helping her shower. Dirk finds her a set of crutches, and she sits on a stool in her bathroom braiding her hair.

I watch her from the doorway, smiling at this mail order bride who has surprised me in so many ways. I thought I was getting a wife, but somehow I ended up with a woman who complements me perfectly. She’s the cream in my coffee, the fucking icing on the cake. She’s the cherry on top, and she is mine.

“What are you smiling about?” she asks, looking at me in the mirror. She’s wearing a white strapless sundress, and her sun-kissed skin glows. Her shoulders are sleek and her tits are perky, and she is just goddamn perfect.

“I’m ready to start our life.”

“Dammit, Boone,” she says, smiling. “If you’d sweet-talked me like that a week ago, we would never have fought. I wouldn’t have run. And I wouldn’t have sprained my ankle.”

“Your ankle will heal, honey.”

“Sure, but it will make consummating this marriage a bit more difficult.”

I come up behind her, kissing her neck, breathing heavily into her ears. She shivers, exhales. Sinks into me.

“I think I can find a way to fuck you even if you have a sprained ankle.”

“I suppose you’re right,” she says, turning on her stool to face me. “Because like right now, for example, I could lean over and put your cock in my mouth. But….” She shrugs, smiling like she knows how badly I want her. “You already got dressed.”

“Oh, girl, that doesn’t need to stop us. Ever.”

She laughs, unbuckles my jeans, then takes my hardening cock in her hands, purrs as she wraps her perfect lips around it.

After she finishes, swallows my seed, she looks up at me with eyes full of love.

I pull up my pants, then I get down on one knee, pulling the five-carat diamond ring from my pocket and sliding it on her finger.

“Boone,” she murmurs.

“Now it’s time for you to marry me, Delta,” I order her, lifting her up in my arms. “No more stalling.”

“I wasn’t stalling, Boone. I was giving you a freaking blowjob.” She grins, wrapping an arm around my neck, staring at me.

The love we have for one another swirls around us, creating this aura of intensity that no one can break.

I carry her out of the bedroom, toward the dock where we’re exchanging our vows and beginning the rest of our life.

I may have ordered Delta, but she’s the one who has complete control over my heart.