Forty Candles

by Virginia Nelson

  Then he pushed inside her and she arched into him. Clutching him close, fingers sliding a little on his sweat slicked arms, she would swear her eyes rolled back from the perfection of having him inside her, connected to her, again. Then he began to move and she couldn’t think, couldn’t talk, couldn’t do more than move with him in a dance they’d apparently not forgotten the moves to.

  When he groaned and jerked above her, she shattered again, feeling as if she was splitting into all the pieces he mentioned. Her breath came out in sobs of air and her muscles twitched and yet she refused to let him go. As if he was equally unwilling to allow even a molecule of space between them, he hugged her close. His soft whisper in her ear, “Please don’t leave me again,” broke her heart and mended it all in one phrase.

  “I won’t. I can’t promise this will work or that I’ll be any good at it, but I’m going to try. I love you, Jack. I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.” She wasn’t sure if he heard all the words, since she still couldn’t breathe right and it seemed like she was shivering from the overload of emotions and sensations.

  “I did it wrong the first time. I’ll do better this time, too.” His fervent promise had her rubbing his bald head to make him turn to face her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “My proposal.” He grinned at her, looking much more at peace. The fact he’d been hurting before—that was on her and she owned it. But if she was taking responsibility for things, she gave him the happiness that now turned his lips up and lit the depths of his eyes. That was her, too.

  “There was nothing wrong with your first proposal, you idiot. I messed that up. It was me. You were fine.”

  He shook his head before biting her nipple. “No, baby, I knew you. I should have known not to do it that way. Don’t worry, I’ll get it right this time.”

  She buried her face in his chest, hiding her expression and blinking back fresh tears. No, he wouldn’t do it right. He’d been perfect, he’d always been there. She’d been the one to fuck up.

  Which meant that, this time? She’d be the one to get it right.

  Chapter Ten

  Jack wasn’t sure why the chief picked him to go to the conference. Based on the website, the big discussion was about riot management…not something that often became useful in a small town and Jack had no plans to move.

  Still, he’d never seen Canada, although he’d heard good things. He wasn’t much for cities, but, well, since he and Chloe finally worked things out, he felt like he could do just about anything.

  Funny how he’d spent such a big chunk of his life waiting for their life together to get started. Now that it had…

  He couldn’t wait to see her face each morning. Couldn’t wait to hear about her day and what she thought of her day. She’d always been his friend. He’d laughed at her jokes, wanted to be by her side, and settled for a half-life.

  Now they’d been together for months and part of him…

  Waited for the other shoe to drop. He hated himself for borrowing trouble, but he’d been stalling popping the question for fear of rocking the boat. What if it made her backtrack again? Could he live with her walking away? Now that he’d experienced living with her, loving her without restrictions, he wasn’t sure if he could go back to being without her.

  It was weak. He should be ashamed of himself.

  Yet he carried the damned ring around in his pocket and hadn’t given it to her. He’d stroked the box so many times, he’d worn the fuzz off it.

  He shouldn’t worry. He should trust her, trust their love.

  Instead? Like some feebleminded teenage girl scrawling names in a notebook, his palms sweated and he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

  Chloe, will you marry me?

  Simple question, but he knew it’d driven her away once.

  Parking his truck, he squinted up at the hotel. Seemed odd that they were holding the convention in an indoor waterpark, but he sure wasn’t complaining. One thing he loved without hesitation was swimming.

  Checking in, he headed up to his room, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He pulled his phone out and thought about texting her. Just a hey, how ya doing? kind of text.

  Too many times lately, he hesitated. Always worried his next move would be the one to make her run. Part of him started to wonder if he could take the constant worry…

  Using his keycard, he opened the door and slammed to a halt.

  Rose petals strewn all over the floor—had they assigned him the wrong room? Then he caught a whiff of her.

  What kind of desperate fuck was he to recognize the smell of her?

  Ignoring his own insecurities, he closed the door behind him and followed the sound of running water to the bathroom. A huge hot tub of a bathtub filled the blue tiled space, lit by candles and scented with the roses and his woman. “Chloe?”

  Lifting one bubble clad leg out of the water, she smiled the secretive and mysterious smile that always hardened his cock. “Hey, handsome. Surprised?”

  “There’s no convention?” He dropped his bag on the floor, the heat of the room soaking through his clothes. Well, that explained the water park anyway.

  “Nope. You always said you wanted to go to Niagara Falls for a honeymoon. And that you’d do it at a water park so you and your bride could ride waterslides. Thought it would be a romantic getaway.” She moved in the water, coming closer and leaning over the edge of the tub to wiggle a finger at him. She wanted him to come closer. He pulled off his shirt and kicked off his shoes.

  Part of him thrilled that she’d planned this for them.

  Part of him bit back disappointment. Yes, he’d wanted this for a honeymoon and with her…had imagined it on particularly lonely nights. But in his fantasies, she was his bride, not his lover. He didn’t tell her, though, instead unbuttoning his pants. “I’m shocked you remembered that.”

  She stood, water sluicing down her body and his breath caught. Funny how she could still do that after all this time—take his breath away.

  “I remembered. Come here.” He managed to strip the rest of the way and moved to join her in the water, but she pushed him to sit on the bench, knee-deep in the water.

  When she knelt between his legs, he grinned at her. “Hey, while you’re down there.”

  Instead of snarking back, her hand rose out of the water holding a box.

  “I know, you’re supposed to give me a ring. But we’ve done none of this the way it is supposed to be done, so why start now? When I was a girl, I met a boy who became my friend. You were my first love and I want you to be my last love. I might not have treated you right, not for a very long time, and we might hit hard times. But I know, and I’ve always known, that no matter what happens, if we’re together we can get through it. I guess what I’m saying is, Jack, would you marry me? Will you make love to me until we’re both old and drooping? Will you put up with my mistakes, let me lean on you when I’m all wound up and scared, and let me do the same for you?”

  She finished her speech and chewed her lip and he couldn’t move. Chloe offering sex? Not shocking. Okay, he couldn’t say he’d come to expect it, but he’d accepted she might never offer more. She said she loved him, but trusting him? That took more.

  Her kneeling in the bubbling water and holding up the ring? She wasn’t running from him.

  “I told you I owed you a decent proposal. You’re cheating.” He shouldn’t joke, but everything he’d ever wanted was right in front of him. If he lost it after getting this close…

  Well, he didn’t know how he’d come back from that.

  Her hands slid up his legs, warm and wet from the water. He hissed out a breath as his body came to instant readiness to take her. To plunge inside her and lose himself in all that was his whirlwind, Chloe.

  “You’re worried I don’t mean it. I figured that might happen.” She kissed the head of his cock and then wrapped her arms around his waist. “I kept wracking my brain, thinking of how to prove to you I wasn’t running agai
n. That I was in this for us and I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  Delving his fingers into her hair, he hugged her close. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’d you come up with?”

  Her eyes met his. Somehow, no matter how much time had passed, she still had the scared eyes of the little girl who felt like she didn’t deserve love. Maybe that was what kept him chasing her. He’d been trying to prove to her that someone loved her for years—him.

  “I can’t.”

  “You can’t?” He’d forgotten the question.

  “Yup.” Her fingertips traced one of his nipples and he watched, spelled by her. “I can’t ever prove to you that I’m all in. Instead, I’ll just have to prove it every day.” Her fingernails dragged down the inside of his thighs and he clenched his teeth against the sensual pleasure of it. “I can prove it with my body. I can prove it with my love. I can prove it by doing just what you’ve been doing for years…one day at a time.” With that, she took his cock in her mouth and sucked hard. He couldn’t help it, his hips jerked into it and his hand clenched in her hair.

  “You don’t have to prove anything.” He wasn’t sure how he managed the words when all the blood had raced from his brain to his dick.

  “Oh, but I do.” She stood and he eagerly tugged her closer so he could suckle at her lovely tits. “And I will. But the first step is the wedding. Your family is here.”

  He let loose the nipple with an audible pop of sound and wasn’t proud that his voice raised an octave when he squeaked, “Here?”

  Low laughter, laced with her own rising desire, answered him. “Not here, like in the room. Here at the hotel. I hauled everyone up here, hired a sitter for Stark... We’ll be married at dinnertime, have supper and a brief get together, then you and I are on a week-long honeymoon. Surprised yet?”

  He was more interested in pulling her leg over his so he could investigate the folds of her. “You’re sure?” Keeping his eyes on his task, he slipped one finger inside her. Somehow, he feared his face might give away his worry she’d change her mind.

  As if she knew, she captured his face and tilted it up. “You never answered me.”

  Using his thumb, he circled her clit while moving the finger in and out of her desire drenched pussy. “About whether I’m surprised? Yes, I’m surprised.”

  He knew what she meant. Although her eyes were clouding with desire, she caught his wrist and stilled his play. “Jack Reginald Sparks, will you do me the honor of marrying me? Forever and ever, I do, the whole shebang? Will you let me love you for the rest of our lives so I can show you how much I should have loved you for the first part?”

  Instead of answering, he removed her hand and increased his speed. “Be sure.”

  Her eyes closed and she arched back. He caught her waist, bracing her weight so she wouldn’t slip, and used the other hand to bring her closer to her peak.

  “Please. Let me love you.” The bucking of her hips became unsteady, his responsive girl getting close to falling apart just for him.

  “Are you sure?” Sucking her nipple deep, he could feel her whole body shake as she tumbled over the edge.

  Then her fingers caught his face and she kissed him deep, straddling his lap. “I’m sure. Marry me. Don’t make me beg?”

  The idea amused him. “How would you beg?”

  Taking the challenge, she slipped off his lap and again sucked his cock into her plump red lips. Her fingers found his balls and then he couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. The orgasm started at his toes, tightened his balls, then seemed to sear like lightning through him. Usually, he’d pull away from her, but she’d not allowed him the moment of control, instead working his body like only Chloe could. Licking her lips, she smirked at him in a satisfied way. “Well, Jack, I’d have to get down on my hands and knees if I wanted to do it right. Are you going to answer me or what?”

  He slipped into the water, pulling her close to him. “I want to marry you. I want to be with you. But I don’t want to be why you do it. I love you so much and I do believe you love me too. However if what you need is not rings and promises, I can live with that. I think what I’m saying is, Chloe, you don’t have to do this. I want you. No ceremony, no ring, no piece of paper will make me love you any more or less.”

  She giggled, which seemed like a less than serious response to his very serious declaration. “I know.”

  He pinched her ass and she wriggled against him in the water. “You know what?”

  “I know that now. I know that, which is why I’m trying to give you what you need…because what I need is you and I’m not scared anymore. How can I be scared when I’m with you?”

  He kissed her forehead and whispered, “How long until we’re supposed to do it, then?”

  “Well, you stubborn ass man, if you ever accept my proposal…we have a couple hours until the little wedding I planned. Why?” She looked worried. As if she wasn’t sure if he’d be the one to walk away this time.

  He bit her earlobe. “Because, I want to hold you. I love you, Chloe. I will happily marry you. But first? Let me hold you for a while and let’s just be together. Even more than I want to marry you, I want to just feel you in my arms. Can we do that?”

  Her smile was beatific and her arms wound around his neck as if she’d always been there. “I will, Mr. Sparks.”

  And Jack let go of all his worry about tomorrow, about whether or not they’d make it, and simply lay in a hot tub of bubbles with the one woman he’d ever loved.

  Life probably got better than that…but he wasn’t sure he cared. He, after all, was a simple man.

  About the Author

  Virginia Nelson, USA Today bestselling author, likes knights in rusted and dinged up armor, heroes that snarl instead of croon, and heroines who can't remember to say the right thing even with an author writing their dialogue. Her books are full of snark, sex, and random acts of ineptitude—not always in that order.

  For more information on other books by Virginia, visit her website: www.virg-nelson.com.

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