by K. R. Haynes
Seeing his eyes dart to Mick then back to her, Chloe swallowed hard. Traitor, she wanted to say to Mick when he glanced in her direction. He had told on her. Randall knew about her little white lie. Play it cool, she told herself. Don’t admit anything unless he asks, then tell him the truth. Good plan.
Mary J and Mick vacated the room pretty quickly after saying their good-byes, leaving her finally alone with Randall.
“How are you really feeling today, babe?” she asked him.
“How am I feeling? Like shit, precious. Now get your ass up onto this bed and lay down with me.”
She must have had a stunned look on her face after hearing his not-so-subtle order, going by the smug smirk he gifted her with. Chloe couldn’t help but be hesitant in lying down with him. Christ, he was still recovering from his injuries and was probably still in a lot of pain, not that he would tell her of course due to the stupid male pride thing he had going on.
The doctor had already warned them both that physical contact had to be kept to a minimum until Randall made a full recovery. But she missed him. She missed the way his arms felt wrapped securely around her. She missed the way his warm breath tingled her skin when he murmured against it. Randall might need the closeness from her, but she also needed it from him, too.
So carefully she climbed up onto the hospital bed to lie down beside him, and mumbled to him about how the nurses would not be happy with this. “I don’t give a damn about the nurses, little girl. Come. Here. Now.” He held his arms out wide for her to crawl up into. Chloe laid her head down near his shoulder and sighed when his arms came around her.
“I’ve missed you, precious. Missed your warmth, missed your scent. Hell, I’ve just missed you full stop.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Jon. I felt so lost without you.”
“Never again,” he vowed to her.
“Never again,” she vowed back to him.
Kissing the top of her head moments later, he said to her, “There is one thing I’d like for you to clear up for me, little girl.” Chloe winced inwardly as his hand roamed over her denim-covered ass.
“What’s that?” she asked him meekly.
“What’s that? Well, for starters can you please explain to me why you are suddenly my wife?” His hand lightly tapped her ass as he spoke. Luck was on her side as she was aware Randall didn’t have the strength in him to give her ass a firm smack, not yet, at least. But later? Hell yes, later he most definitely would smack her ass soundly and she would relish every second of it, too. “I know I’ve been out of it for the past week or so but I’m sure I would have remembered attending my own damn wedding. Don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Jon. I never meant any disrespect to our relationship or to you. It was, well hell, it’s the only way to make sure they let me see you.”
“Hmm, so you lied to see me, huh?”
Chloe popped her head up then to stare down at him. She realised then that he would be able to see all the unspoken love she held within her eyes and within her own heart for him and him alone.
“I had to see you, Jon. There’s a difference.”
Lightly he tapped her ass again. Chloe wished then she could feel the heat rising in her flesh from his touch. Who would have thought she’d be wishing for that? But she did enjoy the feel of his hand caressing her butt while he continued to address her. “Honestly, Chloe, I’m rather flattered that you lied to them. I needed you here with me. Even when I was unconscious I could feel your presence around me. You, my precious, made me want to live not just for me but for us as well. Maybe that makes me a selfish bastard for always wanting you here with me.”
“No. Don’t say that.” Her words became forceful as she spoke to him. Cradling his face in her hands, Chloe stared him right in the eyes and said, “You’re far from being a bastard, Jon. I never want to hear you refer to yourself as one ever again. If you so much as mutter it I will spank you.”
He glared up at her at hearing her forceful words. Chloe could tell he was trying to picture her coming good on her promise to spank him from the scowl on his face. Of course she knew better than to actually attempt such a thing. Her arse would be royally spanked if she even so much as hinted at topping him like that, once he was well enough to throw her over his knee that is. For now, though, she liked teasing him and seeing the adorable scowl on his masculine face. It made her heart beat just that bit faster for him and made the love she held for him grow that much fonder.
“Okay, if I’m not a bastard, what am I then, Chloe?”
She didn’t even hesitate in answering his question. “You are my thoughtful, generous lover and Dom. You have showed me nothing but love and honesty since the day I met you. You are the man who I love and adore. I won’t have you any other way, Officer Jon Randall. You will always be my man, my Dom, my heart.”
He stared up at her, absorbing all she said. “You love me, Chloe?”
“Is that all you heard?” Shaking her head at him while smiling, she said, “Yes, I love you, Jon. I have always loved you. I’ve been too afraid to say it before now. I’m not afraid to say it anymore. I love you.”
“Good. I love you, too, precious. Always have, always will. Now, come here. I want your lips on mine now.”
Rising up onto her elbows, Chloe lowered her lips so they were almost touching his. She whispered her words of love to him while gazing into his sky-blue eyes. “I love you, Jon. Only you. Always.” Then she plastered her lips to his, a kiss so searing and passionate it took both their breaths away. Her tongue swiped greedily at his lips, before forcing its way into his mouth to taste him. The need inside her was growing rapidly with every passing second. She had to have his taste in her mouth and desperately needed her hands on his body. When she bit down lightly on his bottom lip, Chloe was surprised when Randall didn’t reprimand her for it. He didn’t even try to dominate the kiss she gave him. She knew then Randall had sensed her need for him. That she needed to feel his lips moving against hers, and to experience once again the passion that could flare instantly between them from just a simple thing like a mesh of lips upon lips.
Lifting her swollen lips away from his, Chloe tried to force some air into her lungs before she tried to speak. “I need to tell you something,” she all but panted breathlessly to him.
“And what’s that, precious, as we’ve pretty much covered the whole wife lie thing.”
“Well, earlier, I remembered everything.”
“What do you mean you remembered everything? I’m not quite following you here, precious.”
“I remembered us. I remember the first time I saw you after school. I remember my sixteenth birthday party and the present you gave me.”
“Well, ahh, shit. That’s good thing right?”
“Yes, it’s a good thing. There is one thing I want to clear up with you though.” Leaning up on her elbows, Chloe stared him right in the eyes to make sure she got her point across to him. “You may have left me once, Jon William Randall. You won’t be doing it again though. Are we clear on that, Sir?”
“Crystal clear, my precious, crystal clear.” He tugged her back down to his lips and proceeded to ravish them to the point it took her breath away. His tongue dominated hers this time, taking from her what he needed and more. Nipping her bottom lip, his tongue caressed the bite mark, soothing the sting away.
“Now, there’s one other thing I want to clear up with you, little girl.”
“What’s that?”
“You and me, we need to set a date for our wedding.”
Chloe was sure her eyes had widened from her own surprise at not only hearing the seriousness in his tone but also from what he just said to her. He didn’t just ask her to marry him, did he? There was no way that was his idea of a marriage proposal, was it?
“W–what?” she stumbled out.
“You know what a wedding is, right? You in a sexy, long white dress, me in, well hell, a suit I guess.” Cupping her face in both his hands, Randall pulled her in closer
to him so she could rest her forehead against his own. “I can’t very well have you going around telling everyone I’m your husband, till I am actually your husband in the eyes of the law, now, can I?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
“Are you telling me we’re getting married?”
“Ah, so I take it you’re not so keen on the idea. Pity, I was rather looking forward to our wedding night,” he said with a wink.
“Oh, I’m keen, Jon. And damn straight you will be wearing a suit, and a tie, for that matter.”
Leaning up, he kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Whatever you say, precious, whatever you say. As long as you’re naked and cuffed to my bed at the end of the night, I could give a flying fuck if I’m dressed in a monkey suit.”
She smiled down at him then. He smiled right back up at her. “I love you, Chloe, forever.”
“Forever,” she returned to him. “Forever.”
* * * *
Randall lay back down in the most uncomfortable hospital bed he had ever been in. The damn thing even had the nerve to creak underneath his and Chloe’s weight. Cradling Chloe closer to him, she had already drifted off to sleep. Thoughts of getting married swam around in his head.
“Well hell, never thought that would ever happen,” Randall murmured quietly to himself.
Smiling at that fact alone, he couldn’t be more thrilled if he tried. The thought of having Chloe always by his side, until the day God took him from this earth, made his love for her grow deeper and become more precious to him than his next breath. He swore he couldn’t love her any more even if he tried to. Then when Chloe had agreed to marry him, he had seen the light in her eyes and the love she held in her heart for him through them. Randall knew in that moment that he could in fact love her even more. He could love her with both his heart and his soul. Feeling his eyes become heavy, he let them drift closed.
His hand splayed across Chloe’s hip showed his ownership of her to any who entered the room. Medical staff included.
Yeah, sure, he knew there were still things to be sorted out, cases still yet to be solved, including Chloe’s unsolved attack/stalker case. He knew Jake was still on the hunt to track down the whereabouts of Myke Dillon, who was the only viable suspect they had so far as Chloe’s stalker. The skin scraped from her fingernails came back with a DNA match confirming Myke Dillon was the one who attacked her. Now they just had to locate the bastard. With Jake on the case, Randall knew it was only a matter of time until they caught the bastard.
Mick, on the other hand, had his own little mission Randall had given him. To figure out if there was indeed a mole within the Bomb Squad. Murphy’s death, caused from the bomb explosion that led to Randall being hospitalised, reported as suspicious, also left no doubt in Randall’s mind that the bomb left at the vacant warehouse had been planted there. With Jake’s help, he and Mick needed to figure out who was behind it all. But that all needed to wait until he was discharged from hospital.
For now though Randall was going to enjoy the feel of his woman’s warmth seeping into his own body. Take pleasure in her soft, feminine scent floating around him and revel in the love she gave him. Randall found himself surrounded by Chloe’s spoken love.
He knew then he would sleep soundly tonight, knowing his Chloe would always be just that. His.
In every way she was his and he was hers. Always had been and always would be.
Nothing would ever change that fact alone. Nothing.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K. R. Haynes currently resides in Tasmania, Australia. Recently, she has turned her love of reading all types of erotic romance novels into a passion for writing. When not writing and brainstorming new ideas for future books and characters, K. R. Haynes enjoys cheering on her favorite AFL team, the Adelaide Crows, reading, and loves catching up with friends and family for a good laugh and a hearty gossip session. And after a long, hard day at work, she loves nothing more than a glass of her favorite Tasmania white wine to end what hopefully was a perfect day.
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