Saving Ever After (Ever After #4) (36 page)

I was still
frozen in my spot when Chris walked over to the table, picked up that small
black box and then came to stand in front of me.

Oh shit.
Oh shit oh shit oh shit!

Internally I
was freaking out, on the verge of having a mini heart attack, while outwardly I
felt paralyzed. I didn’t even know if I was breathing.

“Mia, I told
you before that you’re it for me, and I told you then that I wanted my life
with you to be forever. Even though this might seem really fast, after we both
agreed to take things slow, I don’t want to wait anymore to start that forever
with you. I want to make a home with you, build a life with you, and eventually
start a family with you. I love you.”

Then he
dropped down to one knee, and that time I knew I did stop breathing.

“Malia Rose
Pierce,” he popped the box open, displaying the elegant, Princess cut diamond
ring nestled in the black velvet, “will you marry me?”

“You want to
marry me?” I breathed, still overcome with shock.

“Considering
I did just ask you, that would be a resounding yes,” he laughed softly, his nerves
breaking through the laugh.

“But I’m –
I’m only nineteen, and I’m a recovering addict and I’m still in therapy, and
I’m in college, and I – ”

“You’re Mia.
My Mia, and none of those things change that.”

“But, this
is crazy. You’re crazy.”

He frowned,
and his hand that was still holding out the ring dropped to his side. “Do you
want to marry me, Mia?”

“Of course I
do, but –” I didn’t get to finish telling him why this was so crazy, because he
grinned and then sort of attacked me with his mouth, sealing his lips over mine
and cutting off the rest of my protests. He backed me up the steps and kept
going, never once breaking contact between our mouths, until I was pressed into
the side of the house. My hands came up to wrap around his neck and he pressed
his body into mine. His hands splayed against the house on either side of my
head, caging me in.

I finally
tore my mouth away, sucking in a deep breath, “I didn’t say yes!”

“Yes you
did.” He grinned and nipped at my jaw line and down to my neck.

I drew in a
shaky breath, trying to hold back the moan that wanted to escape my lips. “No,
I didn’t. I only said that I wanted to marry you. That’s not the same thing.”
The more he nipped, kissed and sucked at my neck, the hazier the arguments in
my head became. Then he pulled away and fixed his darkened gaze on me.

“You did say
yes. You just don’t know it yet. So I’m going to take you inside, lay you down
on that big, brand new bed, and show you why all those reasons you think you
can’t say yes, don’t matter.”

I gulped.
His grin spread.

Oh boy.

Then he
dipped down, using one arm to scoop me up under my ass and lightly slapping my
thigh with his other hand to get me to wrap my legs around his waist. Then he
carried me back inside our bedroom. The cider and cheesecake were forgotten as
he placed me down on the bed and lowered himself on top of me. His lips found
the sensitive spot where my shoulder met my neck and he drove me crazy with his
kisses and gentle bites, trailing them all up and down my neck and shoulder. He
tugged the strap of my tank top down over one shoulder, revealing more of me to
his hungry eyes.

My chest
heaved under his, while my hands sought out his skin, sliding up under his
shirt to roam his back. He groaned as I softly raked my nails from his
shoulders down to the swell just above his perfect butt.

He leaned up
on one elbow to rid me of my tank top entirely and I used the opportunity to
strip off his shirt as well, and then we were warm flesh pressed together. His
mouth latched onto my breast, over the lace of my bra, and I cried out a
breathy little moan.

“You’re mine,
Mia. All of you, and I’m so completely yours. I’ve waited so long to have you
like this, but I would wait for you forever, because I know there will never be
anyone else,” He whispered against my skin as his mouth traveled back up to
mine. His kisses were hot, desperate and hard. I kissed him back just as
desperately.

Then he
leaned up on both elbows, his hands cupping the sides of my face, his nose
touching mine. “I love you. We don’t have to get married right away. We can
wait a year, or two years if that’s what you need. It makes no difference to me
as long you say you’ll be my wife. What we’ve got, I know how precious it is,
how precious you are to me, and I want you to know that too. I want you to know
that I intend to spend the rest of my life showing you. Our life together is
just starting, but it’s just that. Our life. We’re in this together, and no
matter how crazy the ride gets, I’m all in. For me, that means putting my ring
on your finger, whether it’s today, or tomorrow or whenever I manage to
convince you to give me that yes.”

I lifted my
head, softly touching my lips to his. “Yes.”

He blinked
and then stared at me, taking in what I just said. Then his face lifted with
that breathtaking smile. “Yes?”

“Yes.” I
nodded.

He sat up so
that he was straddling my waist and pulled out the tiny black box that,
sometime between doing the one knee thing and then carrying me in here to have
his wicked way with me, he’d slipped into his pocket.

He took the
ring out and slid it onto my finger, then raised my hand to his lips and placed
a kiss on it.

“All in,” I
whispered, and then once again he covered his body with mine and gave me one of
the most special nights of my life, in my favorite room.

Our room.

Our life.

Our happily
ever after.

Note from the author

I just want to a huge
thank you to all of you who are reading this. It means you’ve been with me
through four books now, (at least I hope so or you were probably a little lost
and confused about some of the characters and references to the other books
while reading this one.) I can’t even tell you how much it means to me that you
guys have stuck with me, showing your support and encouragement. I really hope
you enjoyed reading Chris and Mia’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Of
all the stories so far, this one has been the most personal to me, because of
all the characters I’ve written, Mia is the one I can most relate to. While all
the events of this story are completely fictional, I think to an extent we can
all relate to feelings of self-doubt and insecurity. At some point, most of us
experience that lost and alone feeling that she did. A lot of us are desperate
to connect with people, we feel that longing. We’ve all faced rejection, and
hurt and loss, and disappointment, and some of us have even felt those moments
of hopelessness or worthlessness, and if that’s you, I just want to say that
there is always hope and you are so much more than what anyone labels you, or
you label yourself. You’re more than whatever mistakes you’ve made and regret
you have. Who you are is enough, and you don’t have to be anything else. Thank
you for reading my story. I hope you’ll leave a review, good or bad, and find
me on Facebook. www.facebook.com/AuthorStephanieHoffmanMcManus