Weakly turning my head to look at him, I knew my eyes shone with happiness as I lifted a hand to trail my fingers down his whiskered jaw, his trim beard soft under my fingers. “Wow,” I said because nothing else really covered it.
The bed shook as Luka laughed, the rich sound bouncing off the bedroom walls. “Yeah, gorgeous. WOW! Was it worth the wait?”
“Absolutely,” I giggled, rolling toward him, his strong arms surrounding me as I snuggled against his hard chest. “I’m pretty sure I’m ruined now. A total flippin’ mess and I don’t even care,” I declared against one of his pecs.
“You’re MY mess, so who gives a shit?” Luka returned easily, dropping a kiss to the crown of my head. “And there’s nothing ruined about you. You are the most unspoiled, innocent thing I’ve ever had in my life. But believe me, hummingbird, it’s going to be my fucking pleasure to corrupt you.”
I giggled. “Literally.”
Luka’s only answer was a sharp slap to my bare ass and a low chuckle.
“Thank you, Luka. You made my first time more special that I ever could have imagined,” I whispered, my body still humming as I tried to process everything that had just happened.
“That’s good, gorgeous, but I plan to make all your times special. I hope you meant what you said earlier because I’ll never let you go now. You’re mine and I’m yours. End of story. And I really hope you also were serious about wanting this house because I’m never going to want to sleep in another bedroom as long as I live. We just started making our memories right here, hummingbird.”
Nodding, I propped my chin on his chest as my gaze collided with his. “I meant every word, Luka. Whatever this is, I’m in.”
“This is the beginning, Michelle. Our beginning.”
Chapter Nine
Luka
Sitting beside my girl two months later with her hand clasped in mine as our plane began its descent toward the Denver airport, I knew I’d never been happier. For the first time in my life, I could say with no doubt in my mind at all that I was in love for the first and last time. The woman seated beside me was my everything. Together, we’d struggled to overcome her fear of relationships, and we’d come out the other side, stronger than fucking ever. I’d known all along that with time and patience, my relationship with Michelle would blossom into something beautiful, and I hadn’t been wrong. What we had couldn’t be replaced or replicated.
It had taken her a hot minute to get comfortable with her feelings for me. It had taken even longer than that for her to tell me she loved me. But once she’d committed, she’d been in it with me. And she had never looked back. Neither had I. The me I was before her wasn’t even something worth remembering.
Two weeks ago, I’d moved her into the house I bought for us, but that wasn’t enough. Not nearly. I wanted more. Fuck, I wanted it all.
This girl was meant to be my bride.
And now, as we flew through the air so that she could meet my family for the first time, I was surer than ever of what I was about to do. Because when she met my folks, I wanted her to do that as my fiancée, not my girlfriend.
There were just a few small technicalities to take care of. Like proposing.
I had the ring. I’d bought her a cushion-cut halo engagement ring in a platinum setting a month ago when I’d seen it in the jewelry store window next to her office. I’d had to swear the shop girl there to silence since she’d graduated high school with Michelle, but I’d gotten the ring. It was perfect and fit my girl to a tee.
All I needed was to wait for the signal I’d pre-arranged with the lovely airline we were using today. When I heard the pilot’s voice come over the loudspeaker, that would be my cue.
I just had to be patient. It couldn’t be long now. We were due to land in less than fifteen minutes.
“Ladies and gentleman, this is your flight captain.” I finally heard the deep disembodied voice of our pilot announce over the intercom, “As we make our final approach toward Denver International Airport, we have a passenger on board this afternoon that has a special request to make of the beautiful lady flying with him. Mr. Templeton, take it away. Passengers, please be advised that our flight will remain in the air until the lovely lady gives her gentleman an answer.”
Jesus, this was my moment. Glancing beside me, I saw the confusion blanketing Michelle’s pretty face and quickly unfastened my seatbelt to go to a knee in front of her.
“Luka,” she hissed, pinching my arm as people began turning and looking in our direction. “What the hell are you doing? Get up,” she squawked, tugging at my suit jacket.
“Michelle, you know I love you, right?” I began, settling one hand over her knee as I stared up into her alarmed emerald eyes.
Michelle’s eyes softened as she smiled at me. “Of course, I know that. You tell me a hundred times a day. I love you, too. We love each other. Now, get out of the aisle before one of the flight attendants trips over your leg or something, and tell me what the heck the pilot was talking about. Don’t you think it’s weird there’s another Mr. Templeton on board this flight? It really is a small world, y’know? I wonder what’s going on?” she asked, craning her neck to look over her shoulder.
Fishing out the black velvet ring box I’d been carrying in my pocket for the last four weeks, I cracked it open. “Michelle,” I called softly.
“Hmmm,” she hummed, still looking around for the ‘other’ Mr. Templeton.
“Hummingbird, I’m going to need your attention for this,” I chuckled when she still didn’t turn around.
“What?” she whined, jerking back around to face me in her seat.
The moment her eyes spotted the ring, my mind instantly memorized her facial expression. Her eyes went wide and her pupils dilated as she lifted a hand to press against her chest.
“Luka,” she whispered as the people around us began to murmur, their growing excitement almost a palpable thing.
“Michelle, I love you,” I reiterated, plucking her ring from the box. “I fell in love the night I met you, and every day since then, I’ve fallen a little further under your spell. And, baby, I’ve enjoyed every second of the plunge. You are it for me, and I’m a lucky fucker. My perfect woman came wrapped up in a beautifully delectable package. You’ve given me almost everything. Give me this one last thing,” I requested quietly, holding up her ring. “Be my wife.”
“I…you…Luka, this is fast. Two months is fast. Oh, my God,” she squealed breathlessly. “That ring! It’s so beautiful! But still…We’ve only had two months together,” she rambled. “It’s all happening so freaking fast!”
“Does it matter how fast it is when it’s right?” I asked, watching her face. I could see she wanted this; she was just fighting it. Much like she’d fought us in the beginning. It was my job—my honor—to get her past the doubt. “Baby, we aren’t landing this plane until you say yes.”
“Pardon?” a woman behind us yelped.
My eyes lifted from Michelle’s to the female passenger behind us. “You heard me.”
The travelers around us shifted in their seats, their voices a low rumble of sound as they chattered in unison.
“Lady, I’ve got an important business meeting in mid-town Denver in two hours!” someone yelled from a few rows behind us. “If you want him, then let him put a ring on it!”
Another person shouted, “And I’m supposed to be at a banquet by seven!”
“I’ve had to go potty since before the seatbelt sign came on!” a childlike voice added.
“And I think my water just broke!” An obviously pregnant woman groaned across the aisle from us.
Both Michelle and I turned horrified eyes toward the heavily pregnant lady, cringing at the pain we witnessed on her face. “What the crap are you even doing here? Isn’t there a ban of flying past your seventh month when you’re pregnant?”
“Inadvisable, but no actual ban.” The woman panted, wiping her sweaty brow with the back of her hand. “It was an emergency. My husband
couldn’t get leave from the Army and I refuse to have this baby without him.”
“Where is he?” Michelle asked worriedly.
“He’s stationed at Ft. Carson, but he’s meeting me at the airport,” she wheezed, turning her head to look at Michelle. “Please say yes,” she squealed as a contraction claimed her body.
Michelle’s startled eyes turned back to mine. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes!!! I’ll marry you,” she babbled, jabbing her hand toward me and wiggling her fingers as I slid the diamond on her finger, a chorus of loud cheers echoing around us. Even the laboring mom-to-be managed to give us a feeble thumbs-up.
I caught my breath as my wife-to-be used her Herculean strength to haul me off the floor of the plane and into the seat beside her. “Okay,” she yelled to the amused flight attendants clustered at the beverage station. “Tell him to land this thing. I don’t want to see childbirth until I have to live it!”
“Good call,” the woman behind us muttered.
I laughed as I leaned my head toward my hummingbird. “Kiss me, wife,” I growled against her cheek.
“Not your wife yet,” she retorted through her own chuckle a split second before her lips touched mine.
“Close enough,” I whispered into her mouth.
“For now,” she breathed her eyes drifting closed as cheers erupted around us again.
Epilogue
Four Months Later
Michelle
I was getting married at sunrise in the back yard of the dream home Luka had purchased for us, and I didn’t give a single damn if it inconvenienced my guests.
Everyone that mattered to us understood. This was our day, and sunrise would forever more be a very special part of the day for us.
Sunrise was when I realized that love was stronger than fear, that want and need were not mutually exclusive concepts, and that I had the power to write my own destiny—one not clouded by the mistakes of my parents.
Adjusting the train of my dress, I laughed as Ashlyn yawned behind me and bent to straighten the yards of tulle and lace. “Oh, my God, this is really happening, isn’t it?” I asked out loud as I stared at my reflection in the glass of my grandmother’s antique cheval mirror standing in the corner of the room.
“It’d better be. I didn’t help you cram your preggers ass into that dress at the butt-crack of dawn for shits and giggles,” Ashlyn sassed, winking at me.
Feeling overcome, I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Bitch,” I choked brokenly, blinking hard.
“Don’t you dare cry and ruin your face,” Ashlyn warned, diving for a tissue to blot my eyes before my mascara could run.
“Stupid hormones,” I sniffled, pressing my palm to my belly. I was only three months along, but I could already feel the slight swell of my child. My obstetrician had declared that normal in small-boned women. “I’ve never been so quick to cry in my life.”
“I know, babe, but I hear it’s completely natural. I just can’t believe Luka hasn’t noticed something’s up with your weepy ass,” Ashlyn noted with a shake of her head.
I stuck my tongue out at her. “He’s been preoccupied with planning the wedding and opening the new restaurant. I’m telling him tonight.”
“Cool wedding gift, mom,” Ashlyn teased, nudging my arm gently as she lifted a hand to pull my lace veil over my face, her gold wedding ring catching my eye.
“Speaking of surprises, I’m still having trouble believing that you beat me to the altar. With Dillon the Dick, no less,” I giggled, grabbing her hand and squeezing. “Less than a year ago, we celebrated every Saturday morning because we knew by Saturday night we’d be tearing it up in a club. Now, we’re both going to be somebody’s wife, and I’m going to be a mom in seven months’ time. How wild is that?”
“There’s no doubt that our lives have taken a strange turn, but I wouldn’t change our direction for the world,” Ashlyn declared with a satisfied smile.
“Me either. I’m so stinkin’ happy, Ash,” I squealed, bouncing in my white designer heels as I smoothed my hands over my Vera Wang wedding gown. The faint strains of the wedding music started outside. A quick glance out the window confirmed that the sky was beginning to lighten, heralding the dawn.
“They’re playing our song, bestie,” Ashlyn noted. “You ready? Last chance to make a break for it. I’ll drive the getaway car toward Cuba if you’ve changed your mind.”
“Not a chance,” I denied, throwing back my shoulders as I took the rose bouquet she held out to me. “That’s my future waiting out there,” I said, lifting a chin towards the window.
“Then let’s go get him, sister,” Ashlyn returned, leading the way out of the master bedroom and down the hallway. Carefully, I navigated the staircase, keeping one hand on the rail as I followed my best friend through my house to the back door. Over her shoulder, I could already see our fifty guests sitting on padded folded white chairs. Nodding once to Ash, I watched as my girl walked down the aisle, taking her spot in front of the minister.
Finally turning my gaze toward my future husband, I sighed as I took in Luka, handsome as hell in his custom black suit. From gleaming ebony hair to the tips of his shined black shoes, my man looked every inch the hunk he was as he waited for me to come to him. Hearing the wedding march begin, I began walking down the ivory rug that had been laid out for me.
“Hey,” I breathed when I’d reached his side and he’d taken my hand in his.
“Hey, back,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine. “I still can’t believe you made me wait until sunrise to make you mine, hummingbird. Please tell me you’re ready to make this official with me?” he asked, the question for my ears alone.
Glancing toward the east as the sun crested over the valley beside our house, I nodded. “Absolutely.”
As we stood in front of the people that meant the most to us in the world, Luka and I solemnly pledged our love and our lives to one another, promising each other an entire lifetime of sunrises.
And when the minister pronounced us man and wife and Luka’s lips covered mine, no sun had ever felt warmer on my face.
Sunrise had arrived, and my future was staring me in the eyes.
THE END
More by Sarah O’Rourke
Want to read more about Sarah’s books? Visit us at www.amazon.com/author/sarahorourke
or click the titles below.
Fiction by Sarah O’Rourke
Passion in Paradise Series
Cain’s Salvation
Hard as Stone
Ready, Willing and Abel
Man of Honor
The Homespun Holiday
Tangled Hearts
Wed by Wednesday
Claimed
Paradise Found
The Sizzle Series
Sizzle
Scorched
The Sizzle Saga with New Epilogues
Others
The Estate
Slave to Passion
Stranded
Heartbeats
One More Night (Part of the Passion, Vows and Babies Kindle World)
Cat Scratch Fever
Saving Liberty (Part of the Special Forces: Operation Alpha Kindle World)
Non-fiction Humor by Sarah O’Rourke
The Bunny Tales
Acknowledgements
We just want to take a quick moment to thank some awesome folks that make our lives so much better!
To our families – Thank you for putting up with the late nights, cold meals and crazy mood swings that come along with writing a book. Without you, this would all be meaningless.
To our beta readers Jane Graf, Jane Wells, Joann Hohl, Theresa Esterline, Tonya’s A Booklover, and Mila Grayson – Thank you for taking time out of your extremely busy schedules to offer us insights about Until Sunrise. Because of each of you, we feel like we wrote a better book and we can’t thank you enough for that.
To Aurora Rose Reynolds – Thank you for allowing us to come into the Happily Ever Alpha Kindle world and pl
ay with your characters. It was truly the honor of a lifetime.
To our fabulous Sarah O’Rourke Crazy Crew and its crazy captain, Shay Lich – Thank you wonderful peeps for always bringing a smile to our faces! You guys are the most dedicated, hardworking group of nutballs on the planet!
To all the bloggers out there who’ve helped promote our work and spread the joy of reading – We adore each of you. Thank you for doing what you do.
To our readers – We can’t express enough what it means to us that you spend time reading our words. We love you.
Crazy One and Crazy Two
* * *
[AO1]Maxim covers are all women.
[AO2]Usually used twice in same sentence
[AO3]I swear ALLLL the time, but him swearing so much threw me off. It made him seem less sophisticated. Not sure why it rubbed me the wrong way, but it just did.
[AO4]
[AO5]These two red highlights seem too repetitive ~ see a few paragraphs down…
[AO6]
[AO7]Double use of “thought” in the same sentence
[AO8]I’m assuming there’s only one French chef? If there are two, please put back to Francois.
[AO9]Double “as I”
[AO10]You mention 45 earlier, I think…
[AO11]Double use of “shape”
[AO12]You use both grey and gray, so I made them consistent. All with an E. You can find-and-replace if you prefer A.
[AO13]Two “tonights”
Happily Ever Alpha: Until Sunrise (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 14