Page 49 of Trapped With You

Relief suckered punch through my sternum like a bullet.

I clasped her face, gazing into those captivating eyes. “You’ll never lose me either, Ella.”

We kissed on it, sealing both of our fates.

I was hers. She was mine.

There was no undoing it.

I’d fight any force that dared to mess with our happily ever after.

“You keep kissing me like that and I promise you, I’m not going anywhere,” she mumbled in the space between our mouths.

“Challenge accepted.”

Before I could kiss her again, she ran a finger over my bottom lip. “You know what else I like about you, princepin?”

“What?”

“On the surface, you appear calm, reserved, unbothered, solitary. A true lone wolf. But you’ve got a bad side, don’t you?” She smiled wickedly. “One that comes out to play when someone messes with you.”

I wasn’t violent by nature, but my past had shaped my strong sense of justice. I wasn’t above teaching sinners a lesson they’d never forget. That side of me was sharpened now that I was living with the Remingtons.

“Or you,” I said vehemently. “I’ll hurt any motherfucker who touches you or looks at you the wrong way.”

She smiled. “And why is that?”

“Because you’re mine, Ella.” There was no going back from here. “And if there are any guys from your past that I need to be aware of, tell me now.”

“What are you going to do?”

Make them disappear. “Have a nice chat with them to make sure they stay away from you.”

“Someone’s possessive.”

“You’re one to talk, MissI-want-to-stamp-my-name-on-all-your-belongings.”

“Touché,” she said. “You have nothing to worry about, though. You’re my first boyfriend…and you’ll be my first everything.”

The satisfaction on my face had her giggling playfully. Fuck, I liked that too much. The sound of her laugh and the fact that I’d be her first everything.

“What about you?” Her eyes narrowed. “Are there any girls before me that I should be aware of?”

Sheathe your claws, princess. There’s no one but you.I pretended to ponder over her question, just to watch her morph into a green-eyed monster.

“Who are they?” she demanded through clenched teeth.

“Why, are you jealous?”

“Yes.”

A smile broke over my lips. She held my face, thumbs digging into my dimples. Half warning, half adoration. She’d make me sorry if the answer was anything but what she wanted. My territorial little princess.

“You shouldn’t be, Ellie. There’s never been anyone before you. Other girls don’t matter to me. Not whenyouexist. You make me smile. You make me laugh. You make me happy. Because of you, I look forward to every sunrise and every sunset,” I confessed. “Ella, my chest fills with so much warmth when I see you cheering for me by the bleachers at every hockey game. Do you realize what kind of effect you have on me? You’ve lowered my guard and pulled me out of my safely built walls. I’ve never had someone treat me the way you do. You’re my best friend. You’re my girl. And from now on, you’re my first and last everything. There will only ever be you for me.”

Ella’s jaw slackened by the end of my monologue.

“Good.” Her voice trembled. “There will only ever be you for me, too. And if there were other girls, I’d paint the town red.”