Sin This woman. Every time I expect her to act in a certain fashion, she throws me for a bouncer. I'd proposed to her and thought... What? That she'd fall into my arms, with declarations of love and forever? That she'd be floored, perhaps be so swayed that she'd collapse and I'd catch her? Then ease her into my arms and kiss her senseless? Then we'd... live happily ever after? She is going to make me work for it, huh? My thigh muscles twinge. I ignore it. Man up, bastard. Tell her what you really feel. It's now or never. "What? No words?" she peers down at me. "Apparently, I've finally rendered you speechless, eh?" She pushes a finger against her cheek. "Should I be congratulating myself on that?" I glare up at her. One side of her lips curves. "The alphahole who'll sit across a table and negotiate until he gets his own way on everything, struck dumb." She swipes her hair from her face, "And all because I asked you to navigate a delicate matter of the heart?" My shoulders bunch; my pulse begins to race. Sweat slides down my spine. She glances at the ring in my palm, then at my face. Her lips turn down. "Guess that's it, huh?" She turns to leave. "Flowers." She pauses. "I know you love the violets among the wildflowers because they remind you of my eyes." She stiffens, reaches for the door handle. "You're allergic to gluten, yet you sneak your favorite brand of cake from Gregg's because it's not available anywhere else, then you swallow down half a bottle of Benadryl to compensate for the allergic reaction." She flinches. "A habit you have to stop, by the way." She pushes down on the handle and the door whispers open. "You hate stuck up snobs who have way too much money they don't know what to do with, yet you forgave the worst of them, because you realized he was broken enough to have to overcompensate for his insecurities." Her shoulders shake. "You love waking up at dawn sometimes and walking on the grass barefoot, while you lift up your head and sniff the delicate breeze that wafts down from the East." Her entire body tenses. "You hate the color pink." She swings around. "Who told you?"
"It's why you colored your hair and bought clothes in that color, because it was a way of training yourself to realize that you don't get what you want, so you have to embrace your flaws, and look beyond the surface to what really matters." "What matters?" Her throat moves as she swallows. "You." My phone buzzes. I glance at the device placed face down on the table; so does she. I walk toward it, pick it up, then glance at her. Her breath catches. Holding her gaze, I pitch it toward the wastebasket. The buzzing cuts out. She blinks. "Don't you need to check who that was?" "You come first." Her gaze widens. "It could have been a potential merger or acquisition deal worth millions." "Screw that," I growl. She grabs a strand of her hair and tugs, "Wow, you sure can be intense, huh?" "Better get used to it Bird." I chuckle. "You are all that matters to me. Your smiles. Your laughs. Your sighs. Your little moans when you come, the soft mumbles when you talk in your sle ep, the little crease..." I touch my lower lip, "That drives me crazy. The de ep lines..." I rub the center of my forehead, "That form when you are arguing with yourself. The heated fires in your eyes when you are angry. Your scent which de epens when you are aroused." I lick my lips, "The way you chew on the strands of your hair—" She releases the tendril, purses her lips. "It's gross, but hell, I love every single quirk about you. Especially this sexy, professional look with the fuck me pumps." She giggles. "These are 1-inch wedges." "It kind of went with the entire speech." I smirk and she firms her lips. "Especially that." "What?" I jerk my chin up. "The way you challenge me. You never give an inch, always push my buttons, and when you grab my dick and squeeze it..." She reddens. "... Hell, you are the only woman who has had me by the balls and all I could think of was, she can take the fucking lead in bed if that is what she wants." "Anytime?" Her gaze widens.
"Sometimes." I growl. "Next time?" She bites on her lower lip, and my dick twitches. "On one condition." "Oh, no, no, no." She backs away, arms raised. "You're not making this into a deal." "You started it, Babe, better deal with the r epercussions now." "So?" She draws in a breath. "So." I draw my shoulders back. "Summer, you're my fucking other half, so get your arse here, so I can put this damn ring on your finger, then bend you over my desk and spank you until you are on the verge of climax; then bury myself balls de ep inside of you and claim you again and again and again until you want to come, and then I won't let you, not until I've fucked every damn orifice in that sexy little body, so you have no more thoughts filling that over- stimulated brain, and you've run out of anything to say, and then, if you are good, and perhaps if I feel like it... I might..." My groin hardens. "Let you come at the same time as me." Her mouth opens and shuts. I angle my head, "Is what I think I might have said." "Huh?" "When actually... No... In reality, what I want to say... I mean..." I draw in a breath. Fuck, get a grip on your emotions man. "You... You okay, Sin?" Nope. I've never been better, never as good as now, when everything is so clear to me. I square my shoulders, "What I actually want to say is that I loved you when I hated you. I loved you when I didn't want anything to do with you. When I thought I wanted revenge for something that wasn't your fault, and now when I know I love you... I can't stop thinking about you... The truth is, I am crazy about you Summer. I can't live without you. Not for one second more. So, what do you say, Bird, will you be mine?" Her eyes shine. Her chin wobbles. Fuck. I went too far. That will teach me to try and restrain myself. All it did, was bottle up my goddam true emotions and then it all surged forward... into the worst, terrible, unintentional, proposal. I am done. So done. I swallow. My heart hammers; my pulse pounds. Adrenaline laces my blood. If she turns me down... I'll... I'll... fucking let her go, that's what. Then I'll haunt her for the rest of her life, while I jerk off every night to the images of her gorgeous face. Her lips tremble, her chin quivers, then tears stream down her face. "Fuck, Summer. Don't cry." "Cry?" she sniffles. "You think I'm upset?" "Aren't you?"
"Nope." She swallows, "That... that was the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. You didn't hold back. For the first time, you said what was on your mind without thinking, with real feeling. You were there, present, for every single second of that proposal." She wipes her face. "The first part wa-a-s a little con voluted, and very obscene, by the way." "Why you little tease." I growl "I forgive you for it." I blink, "You do?" “Y ep." She nods. "I know how it is, sometimes your mind is racing forward and then the words pour out. It's called, obeying your instinct." "Eh?" "It's okay, Sin." She pats my cheek, "I'll take it, both your proposals, and also..." She holds out her fingers. I chuckle, slide the ring onto her left ring finger. She glances at it and fresh tears pour down her cheeks. My heart stutters; something hot stabs my gut. "Bloody hell, Bird, don't cry. I can't deal with your tears." "Sorry." She sniffles. "It's just... It's so..." "Gorgeous?" "It's—" "Stupendous?" I smirk. "You love it, I know." "Sinclair Sterling, shut up and kiss me already." "With pleasure." I spring up, wrap my fingers around her nape, tug her to me and lower my lips to hers. She moans, that little throaty whine, and my cock thickens. I kiss her de eply, nibble on her lower lip until her mouth opens, then thrust my tongue inside her honeyed mouth and draw on her essence. She twists her fingers on my lapel, pulls herself closer, until she's folded into me, her breasts crushed against my chest. The blood rushes to my groin. Fuck. I need her. Want her. Now. I slide my other arm around her waist, down to her— Paws patter on the wooden floor, the door pushes open the rest of the way and Max rushes, in barking wildly. She lurches closer, and I steady her. "What the—" I glance down to find Max, clawing at my wife's skirt. She drops down and scoops him up. He licks her cheek and she giggles. I frown. So now I am jealous of a dog? I lean in close and whisper, "Be home before me and undressed, on the bed, legs wide apart, pussy showing, with your fingers in your—" "Shh!" She presses her lips to mine. Soft, Sweet. My heart fucking melts. "I'll be there." She murmurs. "Promise?" "What do you think?" I laugh. Saint appears at the entrance to the conference room. "The fuck happened to you?"