Now or Never

by Nyora René

  “Breeeenndooonnn,” she whined, stomping her feet, wobbling a little when she slightly lost her balance.

  He chuckled darkly in her ear as he steadied her. “Patience, baby, the reward will be everything you could ever imagine, love.”

  She grumbled, but kept walking. “You’d better back up all this talk, I know that.”

  He swatted her on the bottom, the heat from his palm spreading throughout her body as the sting radiated and went straight to her clit, making her falter again.

  “Behave and I’ll definitely reward you. Besides, we’re here,” he said, stopping and moving around to remove her blindfold.

  Crystal blinked several times to clear her eyesight, and then her eyes widened.

  “Are you serious?” she asked, smiling widely at Brendon and draping her arms around his neck.

  He returned her embrace and placed a chaste kiss on her ruby red lips. “You said you wanted to dine here one day, so here we are.”

  Here was Dinner in the Sky, a restaurant that seated you at a table and then hoisted you one hundred and fifty feet in the air along with waitstaff and your food. Crystal bounced on the tips of her toes and clasped her hands, looking around.

  “Will it be just the two of us?” she asked as they walked into the building.

  Crystal received another surprise. Her sisters and their dates were waiting for them, along with one of his former teammates, Albert, and his wife, Corinne.

  Crystal walked as fast as she could in the dress and heels and embraced her sisters and their dates, saying hello to Albert and Corinne, both of whom pulled her into warm embraces. Turning to Brendon, she smiled at him, her heart full. She walked back over to him and kissed his cheek.

  “Thank you, but what’s all of this for? Are we having a private celebration for the tiny home opening?” she asked him, looking him in his eyes as she caressed his cheek.

  An older black gentleman approached and interrupted whatever Brendon was about to say. “Mr. Marks, your table is ready, if you and your guests could please follow me.”

  The group followed the man outside and sat at their table, listening to the staff as they instructed them on how to correctly put on their harness. The staff walked around, making sure everyone was safely and correctly strapped in before they got into positions themselves. With a slight lurch, they began to rise slowly and Crystal’s heart lifted, as well, until it was lodged in her throat.

  She reached out and grabbed Brendon’s hands, squeezing tightly as she closed her eyes. Maybe telling him this was her dream was a mistake.

  “Open your eyes, baby girl, the view of the city is breathtaking,” Brendon murmured in her ear, squeezing her hand.

  Crystal opened her eyes and gasped. The scene around her was straight out of a movie. The city lights shined brightly, and the view of the Seraphina River was amazing. They had a bird’s eye view of Springfield below them. The ambience from the candles on the table and the vases of pink and white roses competed with the natural beauty of the sun setting.

  Tears gathered in her eyes as she looked at Brendon, the love of her life. “Thank you, baby, this is amazing.”

  He kissed her cheek and then ran the back of his hand across it. “Anything for you, my love.”

  The waiters immediately began dispersing their food and everyone chatted as they ate. She had grilled lobster with asparagus and twice baked potatoes. A nice white wine accompanied her meal. Brendon had mahi-mahi over steamed rice with broccoli on the side. The mahi-mahi reminded her of her trip to Zanzibar, and she reflected on how far they had come.

  Over the last year, they’d had many disagreements, especially when she refused to move in with him six months into their relationship, but true to their word, they didn’t run away from the difficult conversations. They talked then and there, always being respectful of the other’s opinions and feelings.

  She looked around at their family and friends, smiling at how happy everyone looked. When she turned back to Brendon, another surprise waited. While she’d been admiring the scenery and lost in her memories, the wait staff had removed her plate and replaced it with another one, but this one had a black ring box sitting open on it.

  Everyone quieted and Crystal’s wide eyes were glued to the large vintage ring that looked to be at least five carats, with a center pear-shaped diamond surrounded by two rows of round diamonds. The white gold band was wrapped with two rows of round diamonds and a row of baguette diamonds in the middle.

  Lifting tear-stained eyes to Brendon, Crystal opened and closed her mouth several times, bringing trembling fingers to her lips.

  Eyes steady on her., Brendon cupped her cheek. “Crystal Jasmine Harris. I’ve known you since high school and been in love with you since then, I just didn’t know it. We’ve wasted so many years, but I don’t want to waste any more time. I love you today, but not as much as I’ll love you tomorrow. My love for you grows daily, astounding even me at how deep it is. I never knew love could be transformative, but you have transformed me into a better man. You are truly my other half. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife, bearing my children, and loving me through sickness and in health, through good times and bad times, until the end of time?”

  As he spoke, tears streamed down her face until she was sobbing into his hand. “Yes, Brendon, I will absolutely marry you. You are my very own fairy-tale hero and the owner of my heart.”

  Brendon slipped the ring on her finger and sealed their engagement with a kiss as all around the table their family and friends cheered and congratulated them. The wait staff popped bottles of champagne, but the celebrating was lost on Crystal and Brendon as they kissed through it all.

  Pulling back, Brendon cupped Crystal’s face. “I love you, baby girl. Always have and always will.”

  She smiled back at him. “I love you too, now and forever.”

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank my loving and supportive husband for cheering me on and encouraging me throughout the writing process. Thank you for all those times you kept the children occupied and allowed me to work in peace and quiet while you held down the household. To my amazing children, thank you for being my motivation and showering me with hugs and kisses. Those moments of affection were much needed.

  Thank you to my parents and siblings who always encourage me and are some of the best hype people I’ve ever met. Your support means everything to me.

  To my friends who always hype me up and give me moral support when I get tired, thank you.

  To Sharon Blount who would call and ask, “Want to do a writing challenge?” Those moments kept me writing when I didn’t think I had anything else to say for the day. Somehow, after those thirty minute challenges, I always found more inspiration.

  To Kellie McCrae, a HUGE thank you. There would be no Now or Never without your constant nudging and questioning. You helped me flesh out this book by simply asking question after question. No matter what answer I gave, you always made me think further and explore more.

  Finally, to my readers, there is no Nyora René without you. Thank you for the support and the inspiration to keep writing.

  Excerpt from

  Love Rekindled (All or Nothing #1)

  Looking for more smoking hot contemporary romance? Check out the All or Nothing series by Nyora René, and start with Love Rekindled. After Charmaine and Malcolm break up, will they get a second chance at love?

  _____

  “Yes, you’re selfish, you refuse to compromise. Why do I have to give up everything?” she asked, arms folded across her chest.

  Malcolm’s chuckle was sad, though he didn’t find anything funny.

  “See here’s the thing, love, I thought us was everything. I thought our love for each other and our future together was everything. I thought the life we were building together was everything,” he said gutturally as he rubbed his chest, attempting to massage away the heaviness that sat there like a boulder.

  An unnatural stillness came over
them. He looked into her deep brown eyes, eyes that usually held happiness, but now held pain and anger. The romantic meal that he had prepared for them growing cold. The tension between them becoming more unbearable as the seconds ticked by.

  “Mal, I love you. Please don’t do this,” she implored him, biting her bottom lip.

  He tried one last time to change her mind.

  “Think long and hard before you make a decision that could be permanent. How many guys out there are ready to make commitments? Ready for kids? Ready for permanence? Most guys our age are playing the field. Think long and hard about the life you’re sentencing us to. Think about us.” His voice trailed off and left silence in its wake.

  Her right eyebrow rose, and her head tilted to the side, and he knew immediately that he had said the wrong words.

  “So, I should just throw my dreams away and get married because according to you my opportunity for a loving and lasting relationship are, what, slim? And I’m not sentencing us to anything, you are.”

  “I guess this says it all then. I guess this is it,” he said, his voice heavy and full of resignation.

  Charmaine let out a long-suffering sigh. Closing her eyes, she shut him out.

  “Yeah, I guess it is. I’ll pack my things and get a hotel room,” she said softly.

  Did she really think he’d make her get a hotel room just because they were breaking up? “As upset and disappointed as I am, you know good and well I’m not letting you go to a hotel.”

  “You don’t have a choice in this. I think it’s best if I just leave now. This is already painful enough.”

  She rose from the table and he stared at her before casting his gaze over the table. He’d gone all out tonight in preparation for them celebrating her move to Houston, only to have her drop this bombshell.

  His gaze left the table and finally met hers, hoping that she would change her mind, but all he saw was resoluteness in the rigid set of her clenched jaw.

  Charmaine strolled forward. Just as she reached him, she leaned down and angled her head to plant a kiss on his cheek, but the kiss never landed. Instead, Malcolm planted both hands on her hips and pulled her down onto his lap.

  Gazing into her luminous brown eyes, Malcolm let her see the love and passion that he had for her. When her chest rapidly rose and fell, and she began to squirm in his lap, only then did he give into the heat that always took hold of them whenever they touched. He poured his heart into the kiss, knowing that this would be his last chance. Charmaine didn’t want the same things that he wanted, and he refused to hold her back, so he kissed her like there was no tomorrow, cupping her face in both hands and letting his tongue take one last journey of her mouth, imprinting her taste on his tongue.

  Briefly pulling back, Malcolm tugged at her bottom lip before delving his tongue back into paradise. There would be no love like theirs without her because she was everything, his everything.

  As they fell into the kiss, he clutched her tighter to his body in a desperate embrace and gave her everything in that kiss because that was the kind of passion she inspired in him. He would never find another like her and he kissed her with all of the love, despair, and hunger that he felt in that moment.

  On and on the kiss went until kissing wasn’t enough and his hands moved from her face, down her neck until he was cupping her breasts in both hands, squeezing and molding their firmness until she went limp against him in surrender. She draped both arms and around his neck and clutched his head in both hands. Her curvy body arched closer to his and he moved his hands to her waist to pull her even closer so that not a sliver of space was in between them.

  They explored each other and made love to each other’s mouths until Charmaine pulled away, gasping for air. The tears in her eyes reflected the tears in his. He placed his forehead against hers as their breathing synced and calmed from the staccato rhythm inspired by their passionate embrace.

  “I’ll always love you, Malcolm. Always,” she whispered gutturally, and he almost lost his composure at the pain in her voice. He couldn’t breathe after that, could only spasmodically clutch her waist and try to find his equilibrium. After a beat, she gently rose to her feet and leaned on the table. He clenched both fists to avoid snatching her back into his arms. Back where she belonged.

  He cataloged her every feature from the top of her head to her feet. The silky caramel skin that felt like heaven when pressed against his. The long straight hair that she always spent hours making sure was just right. Her small upturned nose and high cheekbones that added to her allure. He imagined the high, firm breasts hidden behind the sexy little black lace dress she wore. His hands were already missing them. He glanced at the flat stomach that he had hoped would one day cradle and grow their children. Her curvy hips that he loved to grip, and those gorgeously long legs that he loved to feel wrapped around his waist as he made slow, sweet love to her.

  He craved every luscious inch of her five foot nine frame. He knew that he would probably regret it, but he just couldn’t handle the distance between them anymore. Malcolm wanted her here with him, working on their future together.

  As Charmaine turned and walked away from him, he could only hope that one day, he would find someone who could complete him as much as he thought Charmaine did.

  * * *

  Get your copy of Love Rekindled today.

  Also by Nyora René

  Love Rekindled (All or Nothing #1)

  When NBA superstar Malcolm James and singer Charmaine Mouton meet again after their split five years before, there’s still plenty of chemistry. But can they make love work the second time around?

  * * *

  Ready for Love (All or Nothing #2)

  Denise Mitchell plays hard and lives life to the fullest. Can she keep her relationship with NBA superstar Drew Smith casual, or will he convince her that they have much more in common than great sex?

  * * *

  Endless Love (All or Nothing #3)

  After seven years, Lena Martin and Jacob Jones have created a wonderful life together as husband and wife. When life throws them a curveball, will the couple be able to recover and maintain the love they have for each other?

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  About the Author

  NYORA RENÉ has always been an avid reader. She discovered a whole new world full of possibilities when she developed a love of reading. Nyora’s favorite books involve handsome, alpha male heroes, and beautiful strong heroines. When Nyora decided to follow her passion and write books, romance was the natural choice.

  Her goal is to create wonderfully strong characters who are lovable and real, the kind of characters she would want to read about. In addition to writing and reading, Nyora loves to spend time with her family and friends. She also loves shopping and traveling. She hopes to one day visit all 50 states, and has already checked off half of them. Check out her website or email her at nyorarene@gmail.com.

  To receive updates about upcoming projects, sign up for her newsletter or follow on social media.

  www.nyorarene.com