by Sybil Bartel
“You look better naked.”
“Wow, such a sweet talker. How’d I get so lucky?”
His other hand landed on the back of my thigh and he pulled me against his hard body. “Watch that smart mouth.”
“Or what? You’ll kiss me?”
The stairwell door burst open and André walked into the lobby. “Oh, come on, you two. Take that shit elsewhere. I got a business to run.”
I grinned. “Relax, he kept his tongue to himself.” I glanced up at Viking and my smile widened. “This time.”
“Christ.” André shook his head and held his hand out to Viking. “Hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Viking released my thigh but not my nape and shook hands with my boss. “Always,” he replied.
His serious tone gave me pause and I studied him. He was so damn striking, every time I saw him my stomach fluttered. But tonight, he looked different. The sharp edge to his jaw, his inscrutable mask, the hard set to his shoulders, they were all there, but there was something missing.
I slid my hand under his suit jacket and ghosted a caress over his perfectly pressed dress shirt and impossibly hard abs. “You ready?”
“Ja.” He answered yes in Danish.
“Not so fast, chica.” André held his arms out. “You forgetting something?”
Viking’s hand tightened on my nape. It wasn’t a warning, it was a sign of possession. Swirls of awareness warmed me from the inside and I smiled up at my man. “One hug.”
“Oh, come on, Christensen. You’re taking the best damn receptionist I ever had. I don’t get a parting gift?”
He didn’t answer André, but his hand left my neck.
I stepped into André’s arms and hugged him tight. “Thank you, for everything.”
“You know you’re familia. I always got your six.” He hugged me back then released me. “And if you ever want to come back, you know—”
“She will not,” Viking answered for me.
André held his hands up. “All right, all right. I get it.” His easy smile slid into place and he clapped Viking on the shoulder. “Take care of her.”
“She is strong without me.” Viking’s quiet response filled the entire lobby as his hand found the back of my neck again.
André dropped his smile and looked pointedly at me. “That she is. Good luck with school, chica.”
“Thank you.” Viking’s conviction and strength, his encouragement to enroll in college full-time, it made me a better person. Contentment like I’d never known settled deep in my heart.
Viking spoke to André in Danish. I picked up on the words business and good luck. Despite me telling Viking I wasn’t going to learn Danish, he was sneaking more and more words into my vocabulary. He was stealth about it too. Whenever I asked a benign question or he was going to say something expected, he would answer in Danish. If I asked what, he would repeat his answer in English. The Danish words would then just sort of take hold. And they’d more than taken hold with Conner. Half of what he said now was in Danish.
I handed my security badge to André. “Don’t replace me with someone the guys can push around.”
He took the badge but he didn’t smile. “Would I do that?”
I hoped not. He’d had weeks to find a replacement but he hadn’t. I should’ve asked him about it but I’d been busy registering for school and getting my books. “Who knows? You’ve been dragging your feet long enough on this.”
André chuckled but there was no humor to it and Viking was already leading me to the door. Part of me was sad to leave but I was excited to move on. Luna and Associates was the first and only real job I’d ever had and I’d loved it but college was no longer a pipe dream because of the man I was walking beside.
No longer a step behind him, I now walked next to Viking. He was still hypervigilant but he kept me at his side and always with a hand on me. He led me to the Jag parked in front and opened the door.
I grinned mischievously up at him. “Still doing the whole honeymoon phase? How long before I have to open my own doors?”
His serious gaze landed on me. “Never.”
I sucked in a sharp breath and my stomach fluttered. “Good answer.”
He nodded once and shut my door. I watched his incredibly tall frame move gracefully around the front of the car. He carried his height like it was his best asset. Impeccably tailored suit, a crisp blue shirt that made his eyes stand out and dress shoes that were perfectly polished, there was nothing Viking did halfway. Including giving me a wardrobe of new dresses when I’d moved in with him, all perfectly sized. He’d simply said he liked my legs.
I smoothed the soft silk of my designer dress over my thighs as he slid behind the wheel. “Still not telling me where we’re going?”
“No.” He pulled out into traffic.
“How was Conner when you left?” Viking had hired a part-time nanny. She was a sweet older lady and Conner adored her but I was still getting used to having a babysitter at my beck and call.
“Asleep. I put him down before I came to get you.”
I smiled because I knew he hated leaving him as much as I did. In the couple months that we’d lived with Viking, he’d become everything to Conner. When Viking wasn’t working, he spent all his time with us. “How did the final transition with your project manager go?” I’d learned that Viking had two offices for his construction company, one in Orlando and one in Miami. He’d been working mostly out of the Orlando office and had a project manager for the Miami office, but he’d spent the last two months transitioning his PM to work the Orlando office while he took over Miami.
“Everything is all set.”
“He didn’t give you a hard time about leaving Miami?”
Viking glanced at me. “He likes the Ocala house.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “You gave him your house?”
“Not mine. The house on the back of the property.”
The one Jannat and her children had lived in. I still felt bad but I couldn’t bring myself to live somewhere he’d lived with her. I understood that they’d had two separate residences but she was still in his house and he in hers and it felt… tainted. He’d picked up on my feelings and said, in time, I’d enjoy spending weekends up there but he didn’t push for it to happen. “How’s Jannat?” I asked quietly.
“Fine.”
He never mentioned her and I didn’t know how often they communicated. I had no reason to be jealous but I was. She’d always be his first wife. “I’m glad.”
Viking didn’t respond. He pulled up to the valet at Pietra’s.
My heart missed a beat then picked up tenfold. “Why are we here?”
“You did not get to finish your meal.”
I stared at him like he was a fucking alien. “Are you that insensitive or is this some kind of immersion therapy?”
“The latter.” He got out of the Jag.
He was opening my door before I could catch my breath and give myself a pep talk. I wasn’t afraid of anything, not with Viking by my side. I knew the LCs would be crazy to come after me and Candle was in jail, but that didn’t mean the part of my brain that processed fear was on board. Anxiety morphed into irritation and without an ounce of grace, I got out of the car and glared up at Viking. “You are not finger-fucking me in a goddamn booth.”
He smiled. He fucking smiled. Brief and condescending and all lips, it was still a smile and I should’ve known right then he was up to no good. But he didn’t say shit. He put his hand on my nape and led me to the hostess like this was the best idea he’d ever had.
And to top everything off, Goldilocks was working just like that fateful night.
“Good evening, Mr. Christensen, Miss Walsh.” Clara smiled at me.
Viking tipped his chin and increased the pressure on my nape.
I didn’t smile back. “Hi,” I muttered, being a complete bitch.
“Right this way.” Thankfully, she led us clear across the restaurant to
a booth in the opposite corner from the last time we were here. She gestured to a seat for me, rattled off an “Enjoy your evening” and practically ran away.
Staring after her, I didn’t notice until I started to sit what was on the table in front of me.
My breath caught.
I glanced up at Viking. “What is that?”
His expression didn’t change but his voice turned bedroom soft. “Have a seat.”
I looked at the small red box with gold on it. I’d been poor my whole life but I still knew where that box had come from. “Neil?” I asked nervously.
His hand moved to my back. “Sit,” he quietly commanded.
A tremor raced up my spine. “What are you doing?”
He kissed the soft skin right below my ear. “Marrying you.”
His words, his scent, his touch, his everything—I closed my eyes and fought tears of joy.
He wrapped his steady hand over my shoulder, gently pushed me down to my seat then took his. “Open it.”
I didn’t want to. I wanted this moment to last forever. I’d never dreamed this would be my life but this one, incredible, perfect moment—it was every hope I’d every dared to wish for but more. So much more because it was Viking.
I traced the gold design on the box and with a shaking hand, opened it.
A brilliant round diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds caught the light and sparkled with everything good that Viking had brought into my life. Tiny diamonds cascaded down the band and the pure elegance of the ring was more than I ever could’ve dreamed. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
With a dexterity that belied his large fingers, he took the ring from the box and slipped it on my finger. His thumb stroked across the diamond and his piercing gray-blue stare took me in. “You are beautiful.”
He’d kissed, licked, or bitten almost every inch of my body, but this? Putting his ring on my finger, telling me I was beautiful? Heat hit my cheeks and I blushed.
Engaged.
To Viking.
The waiter appeared and Viking ordered. I didn’t remember the meal or the conversation. I was caught in the intense gaze of a Viking warrior, wearing his huge engagement ring, and I was fucking floating.
Except for his hand on my thigh, the ride home was a blur. When he cupped the back of my neck in the elevator, it was different. His movements, his presence, the way he quietly spoke to the nanny and walked her out. The way he locked the door and turned to me. His stare. His scent. His height. It was all different. It was more. So much more. I stood like a deer in headlights in the middle of the foyer, feeling the weight on my left hand like this was the best life had to offer and it was only beginning.
Without a word, he circled me. The zipper of my dress slipped down my back and chill bumps raced up my spine. His warm lips brushed across my neck and he pushed my dress off my shoulders. It fell to my feet but I stood perfectly still because even this, him undressing me in the foyer, was different.
Slow and gentle, he unhooked my bra and pushed it down my arms. Then his thumbs dragged my thong down my legs. I stepped out of my underwear and dress and his hands skimmed up my calves, my thighs, over my hips and around my waist as he stood back up to his full height. His touch reverent, his fingers framed my jaw as his palm caressed the length of my neck. “Walk into the bedroom and get on the bed,” he quietly commanded.
His heat left my back and I glanced over my shoulder.
Eyes hooded, he’d untucked his shirt and was unbuttoning it.
My heart pounding, my pussy aching, I did exactly as he said. My knee hit the mattress and the sound of a zipper filled the room. I shivered as large hands caught the backs of my thighs and steadied me.
Still in my high heels, one foot on the floor, one knee on the bed, I shuddered when Viking’s tongue stroked the length of my core.
My head fell back with a moan and I shamelessly pushed into his mouth.
Spreading my legs wider, Viking didn’t kiss me, he fucked me with his tongue. Stroking, licking, sucking, probing, he pushed my chest to the bed and brought me to the edge. Then he suddenly withdrew.
“No,” I cried out.
Flipping me to my back, he crawled up my body and plunged his tongue into my mouth, giving me a taste of my own desire. His hard cock rubbed through my wet heat and slowly, inch by torturous inch, Viking sank inside me. Filling me completely, he gently rocked his hips into mine.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and curled my fingers in his short hair. “Neil,” I breathed.
His full lips brushed against my ear and his deep voice softly gave me a command. “Give me a child.”
The memories of Conner’s birth swept in and took me so off guard, I stiffened.
Deep inside me, his hips flush with mine, Viking stilled and took my face in his hands. “Why does this frighten you?”
His perceptiveness, his hold on me, having him inside me when the memory surfaced, I couldn’t help it. Tears welled and I tried to turn away.
“Ariella.”
I swiped at my face. “I’m good.” Oh God. Why was this happening now?
He pulled out of me and sat up, taking me with him. His strong arms lifted me onto his lap and wrapped around me. “Explain.”
Embarrassed by my reaction, I shook my head. “I’m fine. It’s nothing. I want to have your children.” I did. I had no reservations about that. Viking was incredible with Conner and he was the type of man who deserved a bunch of kids. And I’d always wanted Conner to have brothers or sisters.
“There is more.”
He was right. He was always right. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Know what I’m thinking.”
He brushed my hair off my shoulder then tucked an errant strand behind my ear. He’d never done that. The gesture was so sweet and so intimate, I leaned my head against his chest and fought more tears.
“I do not know what you are thinking but your body language told me you were fearful and now your eyes tell me you are sad.”
I ran my hand over the hard muscles in his forearm. “Do we have to talk about it?” The thought of Viking crawling around in my head, knowing my fears, it felt like a line I didn’t want to cross. My weaknesses were my own and Viking wasn’t Jason. He’d never abandon me like that.
Viking grasped my chin and brought my gaze up to meet his. “Nothing you say will change how I feel.”
I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard him use the word feel. Something close to anxiety prickled across my skin and I didn’t know what exactly he meant. How he felt about having kids? How he felt about me?
We’d never exchanged I love yous and I wasn’t sure if we ever would. I loved Viking. I loved him with all my heart but I knew actions were more important to him than words. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to hear those three words from him, I did, desperately. But hearing them would come at a price. It would change who Viking was. It would change who he was to me. Viking was impenetrable and unwaveringly stoic and ferociously alpha. He shouldn’t have to tell me he loved me. He lived it. He protected me and my son with his life. There was no better gesture of love he could make. So hearing him make himself vulnerable with three little words wasn’t something I was sure I could handle.
I swiped at my face and aimed for a joke. “How you feel? Are you getting all sappy on me? You’re going to talk about your feelings now?”
He stared at me and I wanted to take the stupid words back.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “You just took me off guard.”
“You did not think I wanted more children?”
I loved how he didn’t say children of his own and not that we’d ever talked about it but you didn’t have to be a genius to realize he adored kids. “Pretty sure I figured that one out.”
He studied me a moment then asked perceptively, “What happened when Conner was born?”
“Nothing. My water broke.” I’d freaked the fuck out. Jason had gone out for drinks with a buddy
the night before and hadn’t come home. “I drove myself to the hospital.” I’d called Jason a thousand times on speed dial but he’d never answered. “I had the baby then I went home.” Hours after he was born, because I didn’t have health insurance and I didn’t know what else to do.
Viking’s voice hardened. “Where was Tanner?”
“He met me at home.” Two days later, shocked as fuck I’d had the baby. No explanation for where he’d been, he’d apologized but he also lit into me for not leaving a message, which told me he’d seen my missed calls but never bothered to answer.
Viking’s eyes narrowed. “Why did he not drive you to the hospital?”
“I went into labor early.” Weeks early.
“Why wasn’t he at the hospital?”
“The whole thing happened pretty quick.” I was told five hours of labor was fast but it had felt like a fucking marathon of pain.
Viking inhaled and let it out slowly. “I know you are not telling me the whole story.”
I didn’t disagree, I couldn’t. “It doesn’t matter now. I have Conner and he’s healthy.”
Viking cupped my face. “I do not need to tell you that would never happen with me.”
“No, you don’t. I know you would never miss the birth of your son or daughter.”
“Do you want more children?”
I laughed. “Now you’re asking?”
He didn’t smile. “Yes.”
I kissed him once and put my forehead on his. “Yes, I want more children. Thank you for asking. And for the record, you make a great dad.”
“I am not Conner’s father.”
My chest constricted and I pulled back, dropping my gaze. Part of me wished he was. I hated to say that. I loved everything about Conner, but I’d made a shit decision getting pregnant with Jason. “I know.”
“I want him to take my name.”
Surprised, I glanced up at the most incredibly complex man I’d ever met and my heart filled with an indescribable feeling. “As in…?”