Page 76 of Puck Me Twice

“She’ll love you,” he says, and my breath catches. “Because I already do.”

“Sven…”

He shakes his head. “I know you have work to do. That’s fine. I’ve been dancing around my feelings for you for some time. I didn’t want to scare you off further.”

“Because the marriage talk after our first kiss wasn’t enough?” I try for a teasing smile.

His eyes are warm like molten honey as he shrugs. “I’m not good at reading between the lines. I don’t see the gray area,” he says. “I do best when things are explicitly spelled out, and you deserve the same.”

Sven takes my hand. “I love you, and when you’re ready, I want to build a life with you. I want us to have a future together. However long it takes to get there, I can wait. I’ll be here—for you.”

I bite my lip. “How do you know you won’t change your mind again?”

“I won’t.”

“But how do you know?” My heart hammers in my chest, wanting desperately to believe him.

“Because you are all I’ve ever wanted, even when it wasn’t an option,” he says. “Why would I throw away the very thing I’ve been dreaming about since we met nine years ago?”

I lose my breath.

“It—nine years ago? That long?”

He nods. “From the very first night we met.”

If I had any lingering doubts, they’ve fizzled away.

I hold out my hand and Sven takes it, lacing our fingers together.

“Take me to your bed,” I tell him. “Let me love you the way I know how.”

He pulls me close for a soft, sweet kiss.

I don’t want soft.

I don’t want sweet.

twenty-five

. . .

Vanessa

My fingers dig into his scalp, twisting his wavy hair. Beneath the longer strands, the sides are shaved, and the sharp texture change sends prickles of pleasure to my core.

Sven breaks the kiss. Before I can so much as blink, he scoops me up over his shoulder. His hand on my ass, he starts up the stairs.

Letting out a laugh, I smack his ass, and I’m rewarded by a soft pant rumbling from his mouth.

The last time I was here, I didn’t get to see his room. Now, upside down, I like what I can see. It’s the same dark flooring and light walls, and in the darkness, I can make out some plants without much detail. He slaps on a lamp and the room floods with warm, golden light.

Sven deposits me on the edge of the bed. Before I can so much as blink, he’s on his knees before me, staring up at me with heat in his green eyes.

I cup his cheek, and he leans into the contact, brushing his stubbly jaw against my skin as he turns to place a kiss in the center of my palm.

“The last time we were together…” His voice is hoarse. He clears his throat. “You took care of me. You made me feel seen. Wanted. I’d never experienced that before, and since then…”

I don’t want to hear about whatever’s happened since then. I don’t want to know about the other women who came before me.