Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Forever With You
Flickering flames from the glass-encased fireplace cast dancing shadows across the bedroom of the Rose Premier Suite at Hotel Andreas. Rose petals, once arranged in the shape of a heart on the white duvet of the king-sized bed, now clung to damp skin and nested in dark hair.
Kyree lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, Zuri’s arm draped across him, her head resting on his chest, her breath warm and velvety against his skin, and her leg curled over his hip.
He pressed his lips to her temple, and breathed in the lingering scent of cocoa butter, vanilla, and the essence of their lovemaking, feeling like the luckiest man on the planet––the same feeling he’d had when they made love for the first time, five nights ago, on this very bed.
This time, though, beneath white Egyptian cotton with Zuri’s heart beating steadily against his ribs, Kyree knew for certain that this was the beginning of his forever.
He let his gaze drift over her face, memorizing the curve of her cheekbone, the fullness of her lips, her arm wrapped around his torso, possessive even in rest. She looked peaceful and content, and just watching her, Kyree felt as though his whole universe had fallen into place.
He wanted to wake up like this every morning for the rest of his life. Wanted to fall asleep with her beside him every night. He didn’t want to just date her––he wanted to build a life with her. He’d never been more certain of anything.
This morning, after telling Michelle how he felt about Zuri, Kyree had asked her if he could use the suite tonight.
She’d said yes, and had even suggested asking the hotel staff to add a little touch of romance with flowers, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries.
He’d planned on bringing her here after the party, but the minute he’d seen her in that alluring dress…
Zuri stirred, her fingers flexing against his side. She tilted her face upward, her long dark lashes fluttering open, and when her eyes focused on his, she offered him a dreamy smile.
“Hmmm.” She stretched like a cat, arching her back. “That was delicious.”
Kyree plucked a rose petal from her hair, holding it between his fingers for a moment before letting it flutter to the sheets. “You were delicious,” he murmured, capturing her lips for a quick kiss.
She moaned her agreement and began drawing lazy circles across his chest with one crimson fingertip, her touch light and teasing. “What time is it?” Her voice was still rough from sleep.
He glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand behind her. “Nearly eleven.”
“You think the party is still going?”
“I’m sure it’s just getting started, baby.”
“Mmm, I like when you call me that,” she purred.
Kyree nuzzled his nose through the silky tangle of her loose braids, burrowing until his lips grazed her ear. “I’ll call you baby every day for the rest of our lives,” he whispered.
She snuggled closer to him and sighed contentedly. “I like the sound of that.”
So they were on the same page, he thought, courage to finally confess his love welling inside him. His gaze drifted down her body, and he started at the faint shadow of a bruise on her butt. “Where’d you get that?” he asked, tentatively touching a finger to the spot.
“Oh, I fell skiing the first day… Racing Thao, actually.”
“Bad girl.” He admonished playfully. “I’m guessing you didn’t win?”
“No, I didn’t win that race, but I think I won in the end…”
“And how’s that?”
“Well, if I hadn’t fallen, you and I wouldn’t be here right now,” she explained, meeting his eyes. “I was getting ice for my bruise when I saw you walking to your room.”
“I see.” It was all the conformation he needed.
He took her hand, laced his fingers with hers, and squeezed gently, grounding himself in her touch.
“Zuri,” he whispered, forcing his voice to remain steady despite the racket going on inside his ribcage, “these past few days with you…” He swallowed and cleared his throat.
“Well, they’ve been the best days of my life.
And I know it’s crazy,” he added hastily.
“I know we barely know each other. But Zuri—” He drew a shaky breath. “I’m in love with you.”
Love?
Zuri sat up abruptly, pulling the sheet up over her breasts. She tucked one leg beneath her as Kyree sat up, too, propping his back against the cushioned headboard, the sheet across his waist.
“You love me?” she asked.
He tapped his fingers in a slow, restless rhythm against his thighs as he spoke.
“I know that I don’t want this to end tonight.
I know that when I’m with you everything makes sense.
I love your boldness, your spark, and your wit––” He paused, his jaw working as if the words were fighting their way out.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, Zuri. When we’re apart, your laugh is all I can think about, and your cocoa brown eyes are all I see.
And when we’re together, the rest of the world disappears. I want––”
He inhaled deeply, the moment stretching as he searched her face. “I want to spend every midnight and morning with you in my arms. I want us to build a life together, Zuri,” he finally said, apprehension and hope in his voice.
Her eyes filled with tears she was fighting to hold back. “Kyree—”
“You don’t have to say anything,” he said quickly, almost desperately. “I just needed you to know. Needed you to understand that what I feel for you is real. And I know the long distance would be hard at first, but I just can’t imagine a future that doesn’t have you in it.”
Zuri traced her fingertips along the line of his jaw, savoring the feel of the soft bristle of his beard beneath her touch.
She held his eyes—those eyes that set her pulse racing, that had ignited something wild and electric in her from the start.
But tonight, underneath that familiar heat and the magnetic pull, she felt something that made her breath catch: absolute bone-settling certainty, unwavering peace, the kind of steady truth that whispered, this is real, this is right.
She took a deep stabilizing breath, and stepped into the abyss with him.
“Kyree, I wanted you the second I saw you standing at that bar––” Her voice broke, and her vision blurred as emotions overwhelmed her, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “You make me feel like I can take on the world. I feel whole with you…like I’m home.”
“Zuri,” he whispered, his voice hoarse with love, passion, and intensity as he pressed his palm to her chest. “You are home for me.”
She placed her hand over his, wrapping her fingers around his. “I love you, Kyree, and I don’t want to live without you either.”
With tears rolling down his cheeks, he cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs caressing her brows, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, and her lips with such tenderness, as if he were handling something precious and breakable. “Do you mean it, baby? Are we really doing this?”
She nodded. “I want forever with you.”
His mouth found hers in a kiss that tasted like forever.
Zuri’s heart felt like it would explode, so great was her love, her joy, her gratitude for everything that had led her to Kyree.
He pulled back suddenly. “Hold on a sec,” he said, jumping off the bed.
“Hold on for what? Where are you going?” she called after him, brows furrowed.
“I’ll be right back. Stay right there,” he called over his shoulder, racing naked out of the room.
Zuri fell back into a nest of pillows with a sigh.
Baby, I’m not going anywhere. This was what love was supposed to feel like.
Wild and passionate and absolutely perfect.
She’d never imagined she could be this deliriously happy with a man who loved her as fiercely as she loved him.
A man she already knew would respect her, cherish her, and wanted her exactly as she was.
With Kyree, she could be completely, authentically herself.
She marveled at how much her life had changed in four days. She’d come to Granite Falls to celebrate her freedom and find herself again. Instead, she'd found Kyree. This man who listened to her and paid attention, who was thoughtful and tended to her needs before they even arose.
She turned on her side when she heard him come back in––twisting and shaping something in his hands.
He climbed back onto the bed beside her and took her left hand. “We needed something to seal our commitment to each other,” he said, his voice suddenly trembling. “Now, this is just a placeholder. Just until I can buy you a real one.” He slid the makeshift ring onto her finger.
Zuri laughed as she took in the twisted wire circling her ring finger—so different from the “flawless” diamond Bryan had given her.
This ring, though—this simple twisted wire that Kyree had fashioned from a muselet—was all she would ever need from him. “No, this is perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
He kissed her then, slowly, and thoroughly, until she was pulling him down into the sheets, sealing their promises with touch and breath and whispered words of forever.
She wrapped her arms about him, and nestled close, resting her cheek on his chest where his heart beat for her, knowing that this beautiful, absolutely perfect moment—was just the beginning.