I was a goner.
He brushed his lips past mine before he pulled away, ending the embrace before I was ready for it to stop.
My hands moved to his chiseled stomach, and I felt his hard physique. His stomach was just as hard as his chest. He was a tall wall with lots of curves. Made of brick and concrete, he was stronger than a stone fireplace that stood the test of time. “So…what kind of pitch did you want to make?”
“I don’t consider it to be a pitch…but a compromise.”
“What kind of compromise is there?” I wasn’t asking Hunt for something he couldn’t give. I just couldn’t decide how much risk I was willing to take. If I chose Thorn, maybe I’d forget about Hunt in time. But in the beginning, it would hurt. It would hurt a lot.
“Thorn is offering you more than I am. What if I offered you the same thing?”
“How is he offering more?” Hunt was already loyal and honest. I trusted him just as much as I trusted my best friend. There was nothing more he could do to change my mind. It all came down to what I was willing to sacrifice.
“He’s offering you security. And I’m willing to give you the same thing.”
I had no idea what he meant by that, so I kept staring at him. “What does mean, Hunt?”
“Marriage, kids, partnership…I’ll give you all of it.”
Now my heart was beating even harder, thumping against my ribcage. Even though my pulse quickened, I felt like I wasn’t getting enough blood to my extremities, enough air to my lungs.
“By choosing me, you’re risking the perfect business relationship. You trust Thorn to be your partner, to be your friend. You trust for it to last because your relationship isn’t based on lust. Well, I can give that to you. I’ll marry you, Titan. I’ll have kids with you. I’ll give you the exact same relationship he’s willing to give you. You can trust me to be your partner in life, to stand by your side every single day and remain loyal to you. I’m very wealthy, and together, our holdings would be impressive. I’m just as good of a candidate as Thorn. But I’m better—because I can satisfy you. I can fulfill all your fantasies—and you can fulfill mine.”
When Hunt said he had an arrangement, this wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought he wanted to extend our time together, explore some new sexual realm. I had no idea he would even consider this. “I…I wasn’t expecting you to say this.”
“Well, now I’m saying it. What do you think?”
“What do I think?” I asked incredulously. “You just proposed to me.”
“I didn’t propose—I asked you to marry me.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” I snapped.
“I don’t have a ring. But I can get you any ring you could possibly want.”
I stepped back and dragged my hands down my face. “I just…wow.”
“Is the idea of marrying me that surprising to you?” he asked coldly.
“No…I just didn’t think you’d ever make an offer like this. Are you really willing to sacrifice falling in love with someone and starting a family just to be with me?”
His eyes bored into mine as he stared me down. His arms remained by his sides, but they shook slightly, the muscles and tendons flexing automatically. It was an aggressive look, full of irritation and anger. “I’ve already fallen in love.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
I forgot to breathe.
He kept staring at me, not ashamed of the declaration he’d just made.
I held his look, but I felt my confidence slip away. I suddenly felt dwarfed by his size, swallowed by his power. I finally took a breath because I needed it to stay grounded. My knees were locked, and I was about to topple over. “Oh my god…”
“And I know you’ve fallen in love with me.” He moved closer to me, his face pressed to mine. “Tell me.”
“Diesel…”
“Tell me that you love me.” He moved his hand to my neck, and he gently lifted my chin so I was looking him right in the eye. “I know you already do, baby. You may as well say it.”
“How do you know…?”
“I can tell just by looking at you…watching you look at me.” His thumb slid over my pulse, and he felt my frantic heart rate. His eyes scanned over my face, sometimes looking at my lips and sometimes looking into my eyes. He knew what was coming, but he was patient enough to keep waiting for it.
My chest rose and fell faster, and my eyes burned with an emotion I didn’t know I had. Both of my hands gripped his wrist as his hand continued to hold my neck. This was a something I never wanted to happen, an outcome I never could have predicted. But now, we were both here, our hearts hanging out of our chests like open wounds. “I love you, Diesel Hunt. I love you so much that it scares me.” The second I blinked, a tear from each eye streaked down my face.
His thumb caught one of my tears and wiped it away. His expression didn’t match mine, full of emotional turmoil. He smiled in his handsomely classic way, feeling victorious once he heard my confession. “Baby…you’re so beautiful when you cry.” He leaned in and kissed the other tear that stopped halfway down my cheek. He moved his mouth to mine as he kissed me, his hand sliding into my hair. He fisted it as he kissed me in front of the elevator, his other hand gripping the small of my back.
I fell into him completely, finally handing myself over to another person. I’d kept myself so rigid and tight for so long, stopping myself from ever letting anyone in besides Thorn. But now the dam had been broken. My feelings poured out, and I let his feelings pour in. I kissed him back and tasted my own tears on his tongue. Now I was more vulnerable than I’d ever been before, letting Hunt see me completely for the first time. I had nothing left to hide because he saw all of me.
He scooped me into his arms and carried me into his bedroom. Right now, that was the only place I wanted to be. I wanted to sink into his mattress, his heavy weight pressing into me. I wanted that mouth, that cock, those eyes… I wanted him to smother me.
He yanked off my clothes and dropped his sweatpants before he crawled on top of me. He didn’t waste any time getting inside me. With a single thrust, he was buried between my legs, plunging his lust and love deep within me.
“Diesel…” I locked my ankles together around his waist with my arms around his neck. My fingers were digging into his short hair, pulling on the strands in my desperation to get a hold of him, take as much of him as I could.
“Baby…” He flattened me into the mattress, thrusting deep as he pushed his way inside me. He held his body only inches above mine, his thick arms supporting all of his massive weight. He ground himself inside me, rubbed his pelvic bone against my clit, and gave me the most seductive kisses. “Tell me you love me.” He commanded me with his eyes, just the way he did when he was in charge.
“I love you…”
He groaned and rocked into me harder.
“Tell me you love me.” My nails trailed down his neck to his back. I gripped the backs of his shoulders and dug deep.
“I love you, Tatum Titan.” He kissed the corner of my mouth as he kept moving, kept grinding.
Hearing him say such a beautiful thing was the biggest turn-on. It aroused me more than whipping him. It satisfied me more than tying him to a chair and forbidding him from touching me. He gave me a new kind of high that I couldn’t stop riding.
I moved with him as I lay underneath him, sharing hot kisses and sensual touches. My ankles pushed down on his ass, driving him deeper inside me. My moans grew louder, more uncontrollable. I panted and breathed, my nails cutting through his skin and sweat. I was about to come, and it was going to be an orgasm the likes of which I’d never had before.
My body tightened around him, and I gave his length a hard squeeze as I came. I flooded every inch of him with my overwhelming arousal, lubricating him so his thick cock could fit inside me even better, even deeper. “Diesel…” I came with a scream, pulling him farther into me. “Come with me.”
He looked me in the eye as he kept
thrusting. “No. I’d rather watch you—over and over.”
* * *
I opened my eyes the next morning and looked right into Hunt’s face.
His eyes were heavy-lidded and barely open, but he wore that smile I’d fallen for. “Morning.”
“Morning.” It was the first time I hadn’t set my alarm. His didn’t go off either. I never took time off work, but right now, work didn’t seem important. If there really was a catastrophe, Jessica knew she could call me.
“I like waking up to you.”
“Me too…”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead and pulled my body closer to his. He hooked my legs over his waist, the way he preferred to cuddle with me. His strong muscles were warm like a furnace, and he heated the sheets with his natural body temperature. It would be perfect on a winter day. “How’d you sleep?”
“Good. You?”
“Really well. I finally don’t feel tired.”
“Really? Because we went to bed pretty late.”
“Well, I slept like a rock. Making love to you can be exhausting…and exhilarating.” He moved his hand into my hair and kissed the corner of my mouth. “Hungry? I’ve got some good stuff here, not just celery and water.”
My eyes squinted at the insult. “When have you ever seen me eat celery?”
“With a Bloody Mary, I’m sure.”
“I don’t drink Bloody Marys.”
“That’s right…just pure whiskey.”
“I’m a whiskey woman.”
“No, you’re my woman.” He scooted out of bed then pulled on his sweatpants. “How about I make you breakfast in bed?”
“You don’t need to do that. How about we make it together?”
He pulled one of his shirts out of a drawer and tossed it at me. “If you wear this.”
“I’d love to.” I pulled the cotton t-shirt over my head then followed him into the kitchen. We put on a pot of coffee, whipped up some eggs and veggies, and then sat down at the dining table.
Hunt ate shirtless. He was usually bare-chested around the house, which I preferred. He sipped his coffee and placed a few bites in his mouth. His gaze always found its way back to me. It felt like a regular day, but so much had changed overnight. Now everything was different. “When are you going to talk to Thorn?”
“I don’t know. Maybe tomorrow.”
“How do you think he’ll take it?”
“He’s already given me his blessing. Said I didn’t owe him anything.”
Hunt showed a small smile, the kind that reached his eyes. “That was big of him.”
“He said a lot of sweet things, actually. Said if I didn’t want to be with him, you were the next-best choice.”
“Now I kinda feel bad for being such a dick to him.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Thorn doesn’t hold grudges. He doesn’t care about those sorts of things.”
“Well, if he’s gonna be an integral part of my life, I’ll have to spend time with him. Maybe we can go to a strip club or something…”
I smacked his arm playfully. “No strip club.”
He chuckled. “You know you’re the only woman I want to see strip.”
“That’s more like it.”
His hand moved to mine on the table, and he held it. He kept enjoying his breakfast with a single hand, like showing this kind of affection was perfectly normal.
“Are you sure you really want to do this?”
He drank his coffee as he looked at me. “Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
“You’re committing to me for the rest of your life. It’s a big deal.”
“Doesn’t scare me.”
“How does it not?”
He took another drink of his coffee before he set it down. “When you told me about your arrangement with Thorn, I was judgmental about it. Told you I didn’t like it. But the more I got to know you, the more I began to understand it. Why wouldn’t Thorn want to have you as his wife? You’re perfect.”
“So not perfect, but whatever.”
“So, why wouldn’t I want that? Why wouldn’t I want to have a partner like you? Being married to Tatum Titan would be one of my biggest accomplishments. People would see you on my arm and wonder what I did to get you. You’re successful, smart, and beautiful. I couldn’t do any better. And the fact that I actually like you just makes it better. I’m never gonna find another woman like you. Even if our attraction and lust die someday, I know I’ll still love you and respect you—forever.” He squeezed my hand.
It wasn’t the proposal that women fantasized about, but it was exactly what I wanted. I wanted a partner I could rely on, someone that I could trust. When time wore down our bodies and sucked away our beauty, there would still be loyalty and respect underneath. We would still take over the world—as partners. “If you’re sure.”
“I am sure. Are you?”
My fingers wrapped around my mug, feeling the heat from the ceramic material. “I think it’s the best of both worlds. It’s exactly what I want…and I can be married to someone I love as well. Thorn and I are very close, and he’s a handsome man…but I’ve never felt that way about him. He’s never felt that way about me.”
“So how is this going to work?”
“You should be more specific.”
“Transitioning from him to me.”
“Thorn said we should break it off mutually so it doesn’t hurt either one of us. And he said he wanted me to wait awhile before I start seeing you publicly. Could hurt me as well as him.”
Hunt nodded. “True. How long?”
“Thorn and I were together for a long time…so at least six months.”
Hunt whistled under his breath. “That’s a long time…but reasonable. And how will our relationship work? Will that have rules?”
“You know me, Diesel. I love rules.”
He squeezed my hand. “I do.”
“I’d still like to be in charge sometimes…if you’re open to that.”
He grinned. “I’m open to that anytime. But the same goes for me, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then perfect. Half and half. What about kids?”
“I’m getting old, from a pregnancy perspective. I need to have our first child by the time I’m thirty-two.”
“Damn, then I’m gonna have to knock you up as soon as we’re married.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Sounds fine to me. You know I love giving you my come as it is.”
“You want children, right?” I asked. “Because if you don’t want children…”
“I do,” he said quickly. “Honestly, I’m surprised you do. That sounds like something you might not be interested in.”
“I’m very interested. I don’t have a family of my own, so I need to make one.”
His eyes fell, his eyebrows furrowing. “That’s not true. You have Thorn. You have me.”
“I know…but someone of the same blood.”
“Blood doesn’t bind people any closer together than water.” He grabbed his mug again and took a long drink.
It took me a moment to understand what that meant. Hunt didn’t have a relationship with his father or his brother, and he probably never would. I squeezed his hand, our fingers intertwining together.
“How are the last names going to work?”
“I’m not changing my last name,” I said firmly.
“Our kids are going by Hunt, not Titan.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“At least compromise with a hyphen. Hunt-Titan.”
“Titan-Hunt.”
“Nope.” He glared at me. “You’re lucky I’m letting you have the hyphen at all.”
“Lucky, huh?” I asked. “We can revisit the conversation later.”
“Prenup?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Definitely.”
He didn’t make an argument against it, probably knowing it was much simpler to protect our assets now. If we ever divorced, it would be a nightmare. “Okay.
I think this worked out in Thorn’s favor?”
“How so?”
“One day, he’s gonna meet someone and fall hard. He’d regret being married.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “Thorn isn’t really the romantic type.”
“I wasn’t the romantic type either. I couldn’t picture myself ever getting married. But then I met the right person…and all of that changed.”
My eyes softened.
“And when he meets the right person, he’ll be glad you met me.”
* * *
I waited in line until I ordered my coffee. It was a beautiful day and I was in a good mood, so I wandered across the street from my building and decided to treat myself to a maple latte. People indulged in comfort food when they were sad, but I seemed to have the opposite problem.
Now that I was happy, I wanted the sweeter things.
I hadn’t spoken to Thorn about it yet, but we were bound to cross paths today or tomorrow. And he probably had a suspicion this was going to be my answer anyway. I finally moved to the front of the line, ordered my coffee, and then stood off to the side as I waited. A few people stared at me, some even snapping pictures on their phones. I didn’t consider myself to be famous, but anyone who worked in the business world knew exactly who I was.
“Titan.” Brett appeared in front of me, wearing the same smile that Hunt possessed. With the same structured jawline and masculine features, it was surprising that I hadn’t realized they were related the moment I was in the same room with them. “Midday coffee break, huh?”
“I need some gas. I’m running on empty.”
“I know what you mean.” He was in dark jeans and a black jacket, looking casual and cool.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just finished a meeting with a client. I’ve been working on the next model for the Bullet. I’ve been picking people’s brains about it.”
“Cool. I’m sure Diesel had an opinion or two.”
Brett’s eyes narrowed when I said his first name.
I tried to pretend that I did it on purpose and hadn’t said anything I shouldn’t. “Run it by me when you’re finished. I might want an upgrade by the time you’re done with it.”
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