They stayed that way for a long time, breathing each other in. Around them, birds chirped and animals scurried, and the garden scents drifted on the breeze. Peaceful.
Slowly, reluctantly, Elijah pulled back and looked into her eyes.
“Are you here for good?” he asked, running a hand over her hair and cupping her face.
“If you want me,” she told him. Would he want her to stay forever?
His eyes widened incredulously. “Want you? Of course. Of course I do. I love you, Gia. More than anything.”
He kissed her before she could reply, fierce and desperate and possessive, until they were both gasping.
“I love you, too,” she told him on a relieved laugh when they’d finally broken apart. She hoped that cabin already had a bed installed, because the kiss had set her body on fire.
“What took you so long?” he asked, giving her an intense stare.
“There was a lot I needed to wrap up. I didn’t want to leave it hanging. Didn’t want to have to go back. If you’d had a phone I could have called…”
His eyes lit up. “There’s no cell phone reception here, but if you really want we could get a satellite phone. I’m still putting the finishing touches on the cabin.” He turned and gestured proudly at his—their—new home. “I was going to come get you when it was good enough. But it’s not quite there.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “It’s beautiful,” she told him.
“So, you could live here?” he asked. “This part is on the edge of my father’s property. I actually sold some of the land to the government to help pay for all this.”
She hadn’t actually known he’d owned the land. She almost laughed at herself.
“I couldn’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather be,” she told him. He’d built this for her, she had no doubt. He’d fought for her in his own way, with gestures instead of words. He couldn’t ever give her a big speech, but his heart ran deep, and he wasn’t afraid of showing her that. “I even researched nearby markets, and how to make beauty products. I want to try selling them.”
He let out a deep, shuddering breath and pulled her into his arms. “That sounds perfect. And the baby?” he asked, his hand cupping her rounded stomach.
“Healthy, so say the doctors. Not sure on gender yet. I was thinking it might be a nice surprise.”
He nodded. “Healthy is all that matters.” His eyes shone.
Gia turned her gaze to her new home and sighed happily.
She was exactly where she belonged.
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More by Aislinn Kearns
Soldiering On Series
Soldiering On: (Soldiering On #0.5)
Station Alpha: (Soldiering On #1)
Guarding Sierra: (Soldiering On #2)
Dangerous Victor: (Soldiering On #3)
Christmas Tango: (Soldering On #3.5)
Hotel Hideaway: (Soldiering On #4)
Whiskey-Eyed Woman: (Soldiering On #5)
Underground Fighters Series
Caged Warrior: (Underground Fighters #1)
Russian Beast: (Underground Fighters #2)
Undercover Fighter: (Underground Fighters #3)
Author Bio
Wounded Heroes. Action Movies. Happily Ever Afters.
These are a few of Aislinn’s favourite things, and you’ll find all of the above in her writing. Whether it’s the Soldiering On series – about wounded military veterans starting a security company together and finding love along the way – or her upcoming series about underground fighters.
If she’s not reading romance novels or watching action movies, you’ll find Aislinn writing like mad to get the next book out. She also loves to travel to new places around the world, forever in search of the perfect cottage in the forest that she hopes to one day call home.
Visit her at https://aislinnkearns.com/
Follow on Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/aislinn.kearns.writer
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/ardentaislinn
And Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15428911.Aislinn_Kearns
Stranded with the Mountain Man Page 18
