Kept (Castile Family 2)

Tears slip from my eyes as I look up to stare into his. Knowing that this man is willing to do whatever it takes to have me in his life is more than I could have ever hoped for. I don’t want to spend another second without him. It feels good to have someone at my back. I know I have Luna but as much as I love my sister I don’t think I’ll ever let myself lean on her. It’s second nature for me to take care of her. With Cullen I can lean on him and he will be able to beat whatever it is with me. I’ll no longer have to do everything myself. Not only that, but I want to enjoy some time with him. Just the two of us. Nothing else to worry about.

“MJ Castile sure does have a nice ring to it,” I say with a huge smile on my face.

“It sure does, Mrs. Castile.” My eyes drift down to the ring. It’s simple but beautiful. I couldn’t have picked a better ring myself. Once again Cullen proves he knows me better than I know myself.

“Maybe I should put some things out there too.” Now Cullen starts to look a little unsure. Panic starts to rise in me.

“So my place isn’t under construction.” He says it so quickly that my mind needs a second to catch up.

“Excuse me?” I ask, thinking maybe I misunderstood what he said. He looks so nervous in this moment. I decide to let him off the hook. “Now I see where your sister gets the lying from,” I sass back at him. I’m not mad about it. “You faked it to get close to me. After I told you I was worried about staying home alone.”

“Wasn’t going to let you worry over something I could easily fix. I’m not trying to throw my money around, MJ. I have it and if I see something I can do to help you I’m going to fix it. I don’t think I can stop myself from wanting to take care of you.”

“I really do love you,” I tell him.

“I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit I would have done anything to get inside your home. Knew I needed to be close to you so you could see how fucking good we’d be together.”

I can’t be mad at that. In fact, it makes me love him more. He pushed when he knew I’d run. Thank God, or I wouldn’t be wearing his ring right now.

My eyes go back to my ring for a moment before I put my hand over my heart where I feel the heavy weight of the pendant. I pick it up to look at it. Cullen has a sheepish smile on his face. “Knew you wouldn’t want a big ring getting in your way but I had to get something. Thought this wouldn’t be in your way and I know it’s going to look fucking good when you’re naked with nothing but it and that ring.”

I love it. The ruby is stunning and I like feeling the weight of it on me. A reminder of Cullen all the time. I think he likes that it’s a bolder way of marking me. A giant ring is what most men would do but not my Cullen. He put me first and what would be more practical for me. I want to give him what he needs too.

If it was anyone but Cullen that would likely make me mad, but I know it’s because he has a need to let others know I’m his. I noticed that at the wedding when he introduced me to people. He would go on and on about how wonderful I was. He knew more about me than I’ve ever told him. He went looking. Maybe that was part of the soft stalking but I know it’s because he just wants to know things about me. I know I can be guarded but I’m not going to be that way anymore. I want to give to him too.

More than anything I want to mark him as well. I’m going to enjoy seeing a wedding ring on that finger of his. I’ll love all the little perks that come with being married. I know each night we’ll come home to the same bed. I don’t care if it’s his place or mine just as long as we are both in the same bed every night.

“We going to make your mom happy and do like she and your dad did?”

Cullen’s hand on my hip tightens. “You’d run down to the courthouse and marry me?”

“Soon you’ll see that there isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you,” I admit before Cullen’s mouth crashes down on mine. Once again I’m not surprised the man can get a judge out of bed and us married in a matter of hours. It’s perfect.