by Lacey Black
“There’s only one female I want to sway. And I plan to do a little swaying later tonight after our son goes to bed,” he says, his voice laced with enough heat to melt the panties off a nun.
“You have a date,” I say just before his lips descend upon my ear. When his tongue snakes out and swipes the shell of my ear, I can’t help the involuntary shudder that rakes through my body. It’s the same bodily response. Every time.
“We could probably drop him and run. No one will notice we’re missing. That’s the good thing about having a few friends and my sister here. Built in babysitters,” Reid says as serious as ever.
Just when I get ready to burst his sexually filled bubble, Blake walks around the house. “How did I know I’d find you two making out in my front yard. This is a family neighborhood, man,” he says sarcastically.
“Yeah, yeah. I was just convincing Dani to slip back into the car and head somewhere else for a bit. I’m sure you’d be fine with watching Ry,” Reid says while fighting a smile.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. Get your ass back there before Carly has to come up here to get you.” Blake shakes his head while smiling as he turns and heads back the way he came.
“Let’s go. It’s clear that I’m not about to get any front yard action right now,” Reid says, feigning disappointment. At least I hope he’s feigning.
The party is lively with adults, and only a few kids in attendance. Blake’s brother, Luke, is here, along with his parents whom I’ve not met until today. His dad appears like a decent guy, but his mom looks to be a touch on the overbearing side. And not as much to Blake as she is to Luke. I’m surprised to see that she didn’t go up and make his plate or cut his meat for him when we ate dinner.
“Did you tell him?” Carly says to Blake as she slips down into the lounge chair with him.
“Not yet,” he mumbles. Blake wiggles a bit in the chair as if he’s uncomfortable with the attention Carly brought to him and Reid.
“Tell me what?” Reid asks, looking between Carly and Blake.
“I quit the Bureau last week,” Blake says confidently.
“Seriously?” Reid asks. Clearly he’s as surprised as I am by this news. Carly hasn’t said anything about Blake being unhappy with his job within the Las Vegas division of the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
“Yeah. It was time. Right before we were married, they wanted me to go to Tucson to consult with another team on a big case. I was actually considering it until they told me it was for three to four months. I couldn’t be gone that long from Carly and Nat, and definitely not right before the wedding.
“Then, they offered me another assignment undercover a few weeks ago. I just couldn’t do it. I want to be home with my wife and daughter every night, not halfway around the country doing God knows what to bring down a criminal. I’ve already missed too much of Natalia’s first half of her life. I’m not missing anymore.” He says it so confidently and with so much love.
“So what are you going to do?” Reid asks.
“Actually, I thought of starting my own security business. I’ve spent the last week talking with some contacts in the industry, and I think there’s a growing need in Vegas.”
“And I want in,” Luke says next to me. I didn’t even hear him walk up. Carly says that Luke hasn’t been the same since Blake was shot last year when she and Natalia were kidnapped following an undercover assignment that went wrong. Even though Blake wasn’t hurt severely, Luke hasn’t gotten over seeing his brother shot.
“What kind of security are you thinking?” Reid asks, clearly very interested in the direction of this conversation.
“Corporate security mainly, but I won’t rule out personal security as we start to grow and if the need is there.” Blake has that authoritative, take-no-shit appearance. He’s clearly good at his job if the FBI hired him at such a young age. I can definitely see him being successful in whatever direction he decides to take this venture.
“Corporate security, huh? What if I told you that I might know of a company looking to hire a firm to coordinate security between headquarters and a few smaller satellite offices and businesses? Would you be interested?”
“Hell yeah, I’d be interested.” Blake’s face lights up like a Christmas tree.
“Why don’t you meet me in my office Monday morning. Set up a time with your wife,” Reid says as he takes a drink of his Corona.
“Do you mean -” Carly starts before Reid cuts her off.
“No. I don’t want any favors, Reid. I don’t want you to think you have to give me a job just because we’re friends and my wife works for you.” Blake seems adamant about forging his own way in the industry.
“Lucky for you I met with my security team this past week and discussed outsourcing the job to a company specializing in security. Right now, we have our own guys hired in-house who take care of everything. They’re good–damn good–but it would be nice to not have to worry about that aspect of the company. In fact, if you’re interested, I might have a few names I’d be happy to pass along for when you’re ready to hire more employees.”
“No shit?” Blake asks as he stares wide eyed at Reid.
“Looks like the perfect opportunity has presented itself on both accounts, Blake. You need clients and I need security. Meet me in my office Monday morning,” Reid says with a smile.
“Deal.” Blake stands up and shakes Reid’s hand firmly. I can tell their working relationship is going to be mutually beneficial for both of them.
* * *
“Big man in bed?” Reid asks as I join him in his bedroom after making sure Ryan is asleep. He’s reviewing a stack of work papers in bed. His chest is bare, and even with the sheet pulled up to his waist, I can tell he’s wearing a pair of shorts. Ever since a naked Reid woke up to find Ryan in the bedroom with us, he’s been paranoid about making sure he keeps his junk covered, as he puts it.
“Yes. Sam is passed out on the floor next to him. I love how that dog snores when he’s exhausted.”
Reid laughs as he sets the papers down on the nightstand next to his side of the bed. “You coming to bed?”
“Yes, just give me a minute to freshen up,” I say as I slip into the adjoining bathroom suite. I make quick work in the shower to make sure all of my bits and parts are smooth and clean. Then, I slip into the black negligee that I found online from a New York based lingerie shop.
When I slowly open the door, I see Reid has all of the lights out except the small lamp on his nightstand. He’s lying back on the sheets with his hands casually resting underneath his head. The muscles of his arms and chest are pulled deliciously taut, and suddenly the brand new g-string I’m wearing is soaked.
“Dammit, you are fucking hot,” he says as his eyes greedily watch me walk towards the bed.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I say as I reach the end of the bed.
I give the negligee a little tug so that the material is gathered around my upper thigh, and I slowly kneel onto the foot of the bed. Releasing the material, I crawl my way up Reid’s body. His impressive bulge is strained against the material of his shorts and my mouth waters to explore his body with my tongue.
“This is new,” Reid says huskily as I slide my hands up his thighs.
“It is.”
“I like it.”
“I can tell,” I reply, nodding towards his hard-on.
“That happens every time you walk into the room. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing.”
“I had something I wanted to discuss with you tonight,” I say. I’m using my best Sex Kitten voice, and I’m just praying it doesn’t make me sound too nasal.
“You want to discuss something now?” he asks. Even though his eyebrows are both skyward in question, both of his eyes are locked firmly on my girls. Like missiles zeroed in on their targets.
“Do you remember when you said you wanted Ryan and me to move in with you?” I ask, holding my breath as I wait for his response.
Reid’s
eyes shoot up to my face. “Yeah,” he chokes out. His voice sounds gravelly and deep.
“We’re here so much anyway, so maybe it’s time that Ryan and I make this place our permanent residence,” I say. My heart feels like it’s about to beat out of my chest. “I mean, if the offer still stands,” I add.
“Are you kidding me? Of course the offer still stands. You really want to move in?” he asks, his face full of surprise and hope.
“Yeah. I talked with Trysta last night about renting the house from me. She has a friend at the casino who is looking for a place, so she’d like to bring in a friend and both of them rent it.”
“You’ve made me the happiest man on Earth right now, Dani,” Reid says as he pulls my face down and plants a firm kiss on my lips.
“That’s not all,” I say bravely.
“There’s more? Don’t keep me waiting. If it’s anything like your first surprise, I’m ready for whatever you have to say.” His gray eyes are bright and his smile wide.
“You’ve mentioned a lot lately about giving Ryan a brother or sister,” I whisper. This one is more emotional for me so saying these words is a little bit harder than telling him I’ll move in with him. Reid is apparently unable to speak words as well, and answers my statement with just the nod of his head.
“Well, I was thinking that maybe we could do that.”
“You want to have another baby?” he asks, his eyes, once again, wide with shock. Now it’s my turn to nod my head up and down.
“Nothing would make me happier than to have you move in here, and to give you another child.”
“What if we were to get married first?” I ask, fearing that he’ll say no.
God, what if he says no?
Maybe he doesn’t want to get married? We’ve talked about forever, but never marriage. What if Reid is one of those guys who is content with living together and shooting out offspring without the commitment of a formal marriage?
“Did you just propose to me?” he asks, incredulously.
“Maybe?”
“You did not just propose to me,” he mumbles, closing his eyes. The look on his face is sad with a hint of something I don’t want to dissect. Oh my God, he’s going to turn me down and call off everything else.
Suddenly, Reid whips us around so that I’m beneath him. He plants a firm kiss on my lips before he gets up out of bed. This is it: the moment he walks away. My heart slams into my chest with so much force, I’m afraid I might have cracked a rib.
I keep my eyes closed, but I hear Reid open up a drawer. He must be dressing, and I don’t want to witness it. A moment later, I feel the bed dip as Reid kneels next to my unmoved body. “Get up,” he says.
Opening my eyes, I see Reid isn’t dressed. He hasn’t added any more clothes to the shorts he was wearing moments ago. His chest is still gloriously on display as he takes my hand and helps me stand.
“I can’t even believe you just proposed to me,” he says with a smile.
“It just came to me, I didn’t mean to upset you. I mean, if you don’t want to get married, that’s okay. I don’t want to force you or for you to think that I have to have a marriage to make this work,” I say, swallowing over the emotion lodged in my throat.
“I can’t believe you proposed to me before I could propose to you,” he says as he brings his forehead down to mine.
Wait. What?
“I love you so much, Dani. You and Ryan. When you agreed tonight to move in with me, I didn’t think I could get any happier. Then you told me that you wanted another baby, and I thought my happiness was going to literally burst through my damn chest. But now? You’ve gone and done the one thing that I was planning to do soon. The one thing that would make my life complete. I could survive without more kids. I could survive with just you and Ryan forever. But what I couldn’t survive without, is you. I couldn’t survive without making you mine forever.”
That’s when Reid drops down to one knee. He pulls a little black velvet bag from behind his back, unties the strings, and drops a diamond ring into his hand. The stone sparkles brightly even in the darkness of the room.
“Danielle Whitley, you have shown me what love is. You give it freely and take it fearlessly. You are my heart and my love. You are my forever. Will you marry me? Spend the rest of your life with me?”
I have no idea when the tears started, but they did. They fall in earnest down my face landing where our hands are joined. Reid holds an immaculately sparkling diamond at the tip of my ring finger, patiently waiting for the sign to slip it on my finger. There’s only one answer to his question. “Yes.”
Suddenly, the rock is on my finger and Reid’s arms are wrapped around me. He’s kissing me passionately as his hands slowly wipe away the remaining tears. This moment is better than anything I could have possibly imagined.
And the proposal was so much better than the one I did moments before.
“Now I’m the happiest son of a bitch in the world,” he whispers against my lips. “Do you know what would make this night ever more spectacular?”
“No,” I whisper as I slide my tongue along the crease of his lips.
“Taking my fiancée, my future wife, to bed so that I can give her the baby we both want.”
The next thing I know, I’m being hoisted up into his arms and carried to our bed.
Our bed.
In our house.
Reid slides his hands up my thighs, pushing the material up as he goes. “I love you, future Mrs. Hunter.”
“I love you, Mr. Hunter,” I reply.
Reid’s eyes fire to life with my words. His lips are urgent as he pushes the rest of my negligee up and helps pull it over my head. He removes his shorts in one swift motion and throws them somewhere into the darkness.
“Please forgive me for being rushed and skipping the foreplay, but I just need to be inside of you, Dani.” Reid rips the thin material of my g-string panties and pulls them quickly from my body.
Seconds later, he’s positioned at my entrance and sliding inside. For every moment of hurried passion, he’s now slow and steady. He slides all the way in, my body stretching to accommodate him. When he’s seated all the way, we both exhale deeply.
“I’m going to love giving you a baby,” he says as he slowly pulls back until he’s almost all the way out.
“And I’m going to love being pregnant with your baby again,” I tell him as he pushes back in.
The slowness of his motions starts to turn hurried as we make love for the first time as an engaged couple. With each pump of his hips, he pushes me closer and closer to the edge of the cliff until I’m barely hanging on by my fingertips.
“I love you so much,” he whispers and slides all the way in with the right amount of force. With a firm rotation of his hips, he hits that delicious place inside me, and I’m sent soaring above the clouds, blinded by the bright lights of my orgasm.
“I love you, too,” I yell as he joins me in release.
We lie in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, and my heart feels content and full. Reid doesn’t get up to clean up, but instead continues to lie with me, his body still linked with my own.
“Do you think it worked?” he finally asks when his breathing is under control.
“Did we make a baby, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. We’ll find out in a few weeks.”
“I’m pretty good at this, you know. It only took once the last time. I’m pretty sure you’re already knocked up.” I can hear the smile in his voice.
“You’re awfully cocky, Hunter. And how do you know it was done on our first time out in the desert? It could have been the second or third time that sealed the deal,” I say with my own smile.
“Oh, I’m sure. I have super Bat-sperm.” My laughter fills the room, bouncing off the walls in our bedroom.
Reid’s arms pull me in close and his lips trail tender kisses over my chin, cheeks, and lips. I’ve never been so content in my life. I have
the man I love next to me, a wonderful son that we created together, and a whole life to look forward to.
What more could I ask for?
“We better do it again. You know…just to make sure,” Reid says as he pulls me back underneath him once more.
Okay, so maybe a little more of this.
~ The End ~
Stay tuned for the third book in the Bound Together series, Entwined, coming late 2016 and featuring Blake’s brother, Luke Thomas.
Acknowledgements
As always, this entire process wouldn’t be possible without with the love and support of so many!
Thank you…All of the bloggers who share reveals, release information, and take the time to read and review; Nazarea and the entire InkSlinger PR team; Sara Eirew for another amazing cover; Mat Wolf for gracing this cover; Brenda Wright, the formatting queen; Kara Hildebrand, for your editing expertise; Sandra Shipman, for your valuable input while this story was developing and for beta reading; Amanda and Jo (Sugar T*ts x 2); Taryn Clatterbuck, for beta reading; Holly Ward-Collins, for your love and support and for being the bestest friend a girl could ask for; My family and friends; Tiffany Marie (AKA my #1 Stalker), for planting the seed of a concert one night stand in my head; Leah Joslin for the many laughs in Louisville; Danielle Palumbo, for your amazing graphics; Lacey’s Ladies, for EVERYTHING you do; My husband, Jason, and our two beautiful kids, thank you doesn’t seem like enough. I love you.
And to all of the readers, THANK YOU for reading!
About the Author
Lacey Black is a Midwestern girl with a passion for reading, writing, and shopping. She carries her e-reader with her everywhere she goes so she never misses an opportunity to read a few pages. Always looking for a happily ever after, Lacey is passionate about contemporary romance novels and enjoys it further when you mix in a little suspense. She resides in a small town in Illinois with her husband, two children, and a chocolate lab. Lacey loves watching NASCAR races, shooting guns, and should only consume one mixed drink because she’s a lightweight.