Savage Alpha (Alpha 8) (21 page)
Read Savage Alpha (Alpha 8) Online
Authors: Carole Mortimer
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Mystery, #Thriller & Suspense, #Romance, #War & Military, #Genre Fiction, #Urban Life, #Urban
“Yes.” His arms moved about her possessively.
Her heart soared in her chest. “I love you too, Jonas.”
“You do?” His arms tightened about her.
“Oh yes.”
“You love me?”
“I really do.” She nodded. “But I thought—I believed I was only an obligation to you. A debt to be repaid.”
“Damn Seth,” he growled. “No, that’s unfair. I
let
you believe that.”
“Why?”
“Because it was easier. Because it made you leave. Because then I didn’t have to admit I’m in love with you.”
Her hands cupped the sides of his face. “I love you so much, Jonas. This last week without you has been…well, it’s been just horrible.”
“Horrible?” he teased, eyes gleaming.
“Ever heard of the understatement—” Lily next words were cut off as Jonas took possession of her mouth and commenced kissing her, thoroughly, passionately.
Kissing led to caressing. Caressing led to stroking. Stroking led to—
“Wow,” Lily breathed in glowing satisfaction when she finally managed to catch her breath.
The two of them were completely naked on the bed, bodies entwined. Jonas’s cock was still buried deep inside her as he rolled onto his back and took her with him.
Lily stretched naked along the muscular length of his body and smiled down at him, happier at this moment than she’d ever been in her life. Jonas loved her.
“Marry me.”
Her eyes widened. “Marry you?”
Uncertainty flickered in those dark blue eyes. “Unless you would rather not.”
Lily had no doubts she had Jonas’s stick-up-their-ass English family to blame for that uncertainty, for making Jonas feel
less
because of his Native American heritage. “I would be honored to be your wife, Jonas. I never thought—I didn’t think you were the marrying kind.”
“I’m not,” he acknowledged dryly. “Except when it comes to you. This past week without you has been the longest, loneliest time I’ve ever known, as if each hour was a day, each day a week. I never want to feel that way ever again. I want—need you with me, Lily, to know you’re my wife. That I’m your husband. For us to be together. Always.”
“Even if it means you get four brothers-in-law who are just like you?” she teased softly.
He grimaced. “Even then.”
“Then my answer is yes.” She beamed down at him, her happiness glowing in her eyes. “Oh God, yes, please, Jonas.”
Everything else could be worked out later. For now, all that was important was their love for each other. That they were going to be married and spend the rest of their lives together.
Chapter 15
“Nervous?”
“Nope.” Why would Jonas be nervous about the best day of his life?
The second-best day. The very best day was when Lily told him she loved him as much as he loved her, and she had agreed to marry him.
Six weeks later, he was sitting at the front of the church, Seth beside him as his best man, with three of Lily’s brothers acting as ushers. Gabriel was giving Lily away, of course, and any minute now, the church doors were going to open and Lily would be standing there, ready to walk down the aisle and become Jonas’s wife. Life didn’t get any better than this.
“No, I’m not in the least nervous,” he repeated with absolutely certainty.
“You shouldn’t be. Lily is a lovely lady.” Seth squeezed his shoulder supportively, no doubt as eager to see his own wife again. Diane was acting as Lily’s maid of honor.
The weeks since Shaw’s arrest had been sad ones as well as happy.
Attending Charlie Driscoll’s funeral at Lily’s side.
Then Evan Butler’s.
Todd Shaw had never reached a courtroom, having been placed indefinitely in a secure mental facility after psychiatrists diagnosed him as being a psychopath capable of killing again without mercy.
Jonas had asked Gabriel’s permission to marry Lily. That had been Lily’s idea, not Jonas’s. He could well have done without seeing that look of glee on his future brother-in-law’s face. But the look of joy on Lily’s face afterward had been worth even that.
Lily wanted a simple and quiet wedding, and that was exactly what they were having. Family, Lily’s closest friends, and the men and women Jonas worked with at Grayson Security and Knight Security. In a strange twist of fate, those two companies had now become one, Dair Grayson having sold out to the Knight brothers after deciding he had lost so many of his men to marriage that Grayson Security was no longer viable. Jonas worked for Knight Security now, but only in a consulting capacity.
It wasn’t as if he needed the money.
Jonas had been left a small fortune by his maternal great-grandfather upon the man’s death ten years ago, but it was money Jonas seldom touched, apart from the purchase of Larchwood Forest. Money he never talked about either, although Lily knew about it now, obviously. The two of them shared everything. Love. Laughter. Happiness.
Jonas had told Lily how he had only met his great-grandfather once, when the old man had made it clear he had loved his granddaughter dearly, and he didn’t echo his son’s and daughter-in-law’s feelings in regard to Jonas’s Native American heritage.
Now, ironically, it was that family money which was allowing Jonas to live the life with Lily that he so much wanted, had hungered for without even being aware he did.
There were also several members of his own family present.
Lily had insisted on sending invitations to his grandparents, along with his great-uncles, uncles, and aunts. His grandparents hadn’t even acknowledged the invitation, but to Jonas’s surprise, several second cousins had seen the wedding invitations sent to their parents, and they and their children had contacted him to ask if they could attend. It was more than Jonas had ever hoped for and wouldn’t have happened without Lily’s encouragement.
“This is it, man,” Seth murmured at his side. The two men stood as the wedding march began to play and the doors opened at the back of the church.
Jonas turned, heart threatening to pound out of his chest with happiness and pride as he saw Lily at the end of the aisle, looking beautiful in a cloud of white as she beamed at him, love shining in her eyes. For him. Only for him.
His future.
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About The Author
Carole Mortimer is the author of over 200 novels, contemporary and Regency romance. She is a USA Today Bestselling Author. Recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. Received the 2014 Pioneer for Romance Romantic Times Award. Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Author. She was also recognized by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 for her ‘outstanding service to literature’.
She is happily married to Peter. They have 6 sons, and live on the beautiful Isle of Man. She also loves to hear from Readers!
Other books by Carole Mortimer
ALPHA series:
Christmas Alpha: Novella
Dark Alpha: Full-length novel
Shadow Alpha: Full-length novel
Midnight Alpha: Full length novel
Renegade Alpha: Full length novel
Warrior Alpha: Full length novel
Rogue Alpha: Novella
Savage Alpha: Full-length novel - Release March 2016
Regency Unlaced Series:
The Duke’s Mistress
Claimed by the Marquis
Taken by the Earl
Pursued by the Viscount – Coming Soon
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