Risking It All (25 page)

She gasped, and he nipped at her bottom lip, light and playful. “But there’s only one way for me to never leave you.”

Needing more, she leaned up to taste him, murmuring against his lips, “What’s that?”

Instead of giving her what she knew they both craved, he pulled back. “You have to marry me.”

Surprised by the sudden shift in the conversation, Cecelia stared, dazed and confused, as his words sank over her. Marry him. Spend the rest of her life with the one man who was like the other half of her soul, who knew her better than she knew herself.

As the reality of what he’d asked finally hit her, tingles shivered down her spine, fluttering out over the surface of her skin, and butterflies danced in her stomach. She didn’t have to think about it. Her answer instantly formed on her tongue. She ached to throw her arms around his neck.

Instead, giddy with the newness of the moment, with getting him back, she couldn’t resist tossing his tease back at him and arched a brow. “Aren’t you supposed to be down on one knee?”

When Kyle actually dropped to his knees in front of her, her heart lodged itself in her throat. If ever she’d imagined being proposed to, that was it right there. His heart was in his eyes. His face blurred as tears flooded her eyes, and her heart melted into a puddle at her feet.

“Now I’m on both knees.” He slipped his hands into hers, threading their fingers. “I love you, Ceci. I think I’ve always loved you. You’re my best friend. We’ve been together for more than twenty years. Spend the next century with me.”

The term threw her off guard. She couldn’t help smiling. “Century?”

Kyle grinned. “Yes, century. Fifty years isn’t enough time.”

His words wrapped around her heart and melted her knees. Kyle had to be the most romantic man she knew. She dropped to the floor and leaned forward, brushing her lips over his. “I love you, too. More than I can ever tell you, but I want an eternity.”

“Would that be a yes?” His voice trembled with his quiet laughter, and he released her hands to slide his arms around her waist. He pulled her tight against him.

Heart in her throat, she bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Yes.”

His mouth swooped down over hers. His kiss was hard and hungry, devouring her, possessing her. Whatever walls were left between them shattered. Hands flew in a desperate frenzy, seemingly everywhere all at the same time. His, hers, she couldn’t keep track. She’d been without him for nine days. Nine days where she was certain she’d lost him. Now he was here, and he was hers, forever, and she needed to be as close to him as humanly possible.

When his hands reached for the hem of her shirt, she pulled back, panting. She stroked a hand down his cheek as an overwhelming sensation grabbed her. The moment hit her, as if she were truly able to see for the first time. She’d always felt this way with him. That was why she craved to be near him when her world went topsy-turvy. In her best friend’s arms, under the light of his love, she was complete.

Brow furrowed in confusion, Kyle stroked his hands over her back. “What’s the matter?”

She smiled, shook her head, and stroked her fingers across his jaw, refamiliarizing herself with the feel of him. “Nothing. I’m just grateful for you. You complete me, you know.”

“Ditto. I’m not sure I know how to live without you, Ceci.” He brushed his mouth over hers, once, twice, then captured her lips, this kiss softer, sweeter but more intense. They clung to each other, mouths and tongues tangling. When he finally pulled back, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I need you.”

He whispered the words, his tone half statement, half question, and she understood only too well what he meant. She needed him, too. Inside her, a part of her. She wanted to spend several hours making loving to him. To make up for the hurt they’d caused each other and to cement the deeper bond they’d found this morning. To fuse them together.

Breathless, she nodded. “Love me, Kyle.”

He growled, a sound of torment and relief, and rose to his feet before sweeping her into his arms. She buried her face in his neck, breathing in his scent as he carried her upstairs. All these years she’d searched for the one thing that would make her feel whole, but like Dorothy in
The
Wizard of Oz
, she’d always had what she needed. She only needed to look next door.

Look for JM Stewart’s next heartwarming romance

WHATEVER IT TAKES

Available from InterMix December 2014

JM Stewart
writes sweet and heartwarming contemporary romances with a touch of passion. She’s a wife, a mother, a spiritualist, and a lover of puppies who is addicted to chocolate and coffee. She lives in the Great Rainy Northwest with her husband of sixteen years and their two sons. She’s a hopeless romantic who believes everybody should have their happily-ever-after and has been devouring romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing them has become her passion.