Lena nipped his chest, then pulled his hand, leading him up onto the small porch with just enough room for the two rocking chairs that swayed gently in the breeze. She pushed open the door and watched his face as he ducked under the frame and stood to his full height. The smile still lingered at the corners of his lips, but his clear blue eyes pooled with some deep emotion she couldn’t fathom. She’d spent the last two days frantically trying to fix it up, but tried to see the cabin from his perspective.
It was split into two primary rooms with smooth wooden floorboards and heavy log walls. There was a single couch in the small living room, right in the shadow of a stone hearth. The butcher-block kitchen counter took up the back wall, speckled with appliances, and on the wall by a two-seater table was a black and white picture of her and Jenner. It was her favorite, and she’d had it printed in Galena today as the finishing touch on this place. She’d thought they were both grinning at the camera when she’d taken it, but while she was cheesing, Jenner had his forehead pressed against her temple, eyes closed like he was taking in the moment with her. They both looked blissfully happy.
Jenner’s gaze hesitated on the picture, framed in rough wood, and the emotion in his eyes deepened. God, he was stunning.
“I always wanted a record player, but I haven’t stayed in one place long enough,” she murmured.
“I’ll get you one. We’ll find whatever records you want, maybe put it over in that corner,” he said, pointing to an empty space near the hearth.
“That’s what I was thinking, too. Do you want to see our bedroom?”
“Our bedroom,” he repeated softly.
She led the way, but turned at the doorway. “This is my favorite room in the house. As soon as I saw what Link had done, this place just felt like home. Ready?”
Jenner leaned down and sipped her lips softly, then nodded.
Lena pushed open the door and was taken aback all over again. Along one entire wall was a picture window facing the sunset, and on the floor was a large mattress, covered in new, warm, forest green bedding. A small, circular wooden table, grayed with age, sat beside the bed and matched a rustic dresser on the wall opposite the window. Jenner didn’t seem to notice anything but the window as he padded toward it.
She held her place near the door just to watch him. She’d imagined it, how he would react, but now that he was really here, this cabin felt complete. He stood against the sunset, his tight black sweater and dark jeans stark against the colors there. Jenner cut a powerful silhouette with his wide, muscular shoulders, tapered waist, and long, commanding legs. When he turned to glance at her over his shoulder, his eyes practically glowed with contentment.
“Come here,” he said, holding out his hand, palm up.
The floorboards sounded hollow under her boot steps, and she smiled as her hand slid against his. The cabin had been lifted with metal beams for a reason. “I like the idea that in the winter when I sleep on our bed, you will be hibernating just below me.”
Pulling her close to his side, Jenner stared at the colorful streaks across the Alaskan sky. “I’ll like sleeping close to you, too.”
“Can you imagine it, Jenner? Watching from our bed as the leaves drop in the autumn, and when the first snowfall hits, watching big flurries falling down?” She swallowed hard at the swelling emotion filling her chest. “The second I walked in here, it felt like it was meant to be ours.”
Jenner turned her gently in his arms and kissed her, backing her against the smooth wooden wall. Heat flooded her middle as his fingertips brushed up her ribcage to her neck. Angling his face, he slipped his tongue past her lips. A helpless moan filled her chest as she stood on her tiptoes to better reach him. And when the soft rumbling growl that she’d grown to adore vibrated between them, Lena smiled into his kiss. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” she whispered.
Leaning forward slightly, Jenner gripped the backs of her knees and lifted her until she was pinned between him and the wall, her legs around him, and his thick erection hard between them. “Woman, I love you, too.”
“Never push me away again.”
“I can’t even if I tried. It’s me and you now, Lena. Whatever comes…it’s me and you.”
His mouth moved smoothly against hers, his tongue brushing hers in a delicious tease. Closing her eyes tightly, Lena gripped his sweater. She could never be close enough to him, and now she understood what Elyse had meant. Winters would be hard and long, but it would make their time together more potent. It would make every kiss and every touch mean more.
Jenner pushed his hips against hers, brushing right where she was most sensitive. His hand gripped the back of her neck as he dropped those nipping kisses to her throat. He sucked hard and ground against her again.
“Jenner,” she gasped out on a desperate breath.