Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“For what?” She poured the sauce into a gravy boat.
“I told you to run. I made it very clear that you were to get out of there.” He carried over the bowl of plantains.
She set the rice and green beans on the table. “It was a good thing I didn’t, you would most likely be dead.”
“I doubt it, but you helped. Still, that’s beside the point. You made me a promise.” He began carving the roast. It smelled delicious. “I owe you a punishment and I’m collecting tonight.”
Her eyebrows shot up. Her face flushed a soft rose. “I don’t think so. Not when I saved you. If anyone is getting punished around here, it’s you. You walked into that house without backup. You deserve it way more than me, and I think tonight’s the night.”
He laughed as he put the meal on the table. “I have news for you, baby. You’re quite a bit smaller than I am. In some things, such as this, brawn wins every single time.” He sank into the chair opposite her, his body hard.
She loved this game between them as much as he did. He’d always thought, even if he found the right woman, the one his leopard claimed, she wouldn’t want his kind of play. He doubted that many women would even try, but Sonia was as hot as he was just talking about it.
Her eyes had darkened with desire. Her breathing had changed. Her nipples were hard beneath the T-shirt. His woman. So beautiful. He reached into his pocket and found the box. That small velvet box. He slid it across the table to her.
Her lips parted. “You aren’t even going to wait until after dinner?”
“I have more surprises for after dinner. This is more suited to now.” He watched her face carefully. She was unsuspecting.
Very slowly she opened the lid. Her eyes went wide with shock. Very slowly her lashes lifted until she was looking up at him. “Joshua?”
“Askin’ you to marry me, baby. I want you with me here, every night. I can’t sleep without you. Can’t think without you. I’m so in love with you it’s crazy. I hope you feel the same way about me.”
She bit her lip, staring down at the ring.
“There’s a little gold chain, Sonia. You’ll have to wear it around your neck rather than on your finger, just to be safe. If you shift, your leopard will wear it. I measured her neck to make certain it would fit.”
“Aren’t you supposed to get on your knee?”
He put down his fork and leaned toward her, staring her straight in the eyes. “I plan to get on my knees tonight up in our room. You’re going to be screamin’ yes and my name over and over for hours. Right now, I’m not makin’ you do that. You just have to say it once for me right now and I’ll be happy.”
She took the ring from the box and held it in front of her. The gold chain slithered onto the table. She put it around her neck. “Yes, then. The answer, right here, this once, is yes. I can’t promise I’ll be saying that again tonight. You might be, though. Begging, I mean.”
He grinned at her. He couldn’t help it. She looked beautiful with his ring settling between her breasts. “Take the tee off, so I can see it against your skin.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You just want to see my breasts.”
“That too. Take it off for me.”
She did it slowly, pulling it up inch by inch until the undersides of her breasts peeked at him. As she pulled it up farther, he could see the ring nestled between the two soft mounds. She tossed it onto the chair beside her and continued eating, looking every inch a queen without her shirt on.
“You know, Joshua, it doesn’t make sense that you think I’m going to say yes over and over tonight when I already said it now.”
His woman. Smart. He fuckin’ loved that about her. “You’ll be saying no first and giving me all kinds of grief when I tell you the rest of your surprise. Not the little gifts I’ve got waiting for you – well, technically, they’re for both of us; those are engagement gifts – but the rest of your surprise.”
Now she had her fork down. “What rest of the surprise?” Clearly she knew him now; her voice was wary and the look on her face full of suspicion.
“We’re getting married right away. We fly out tomorrow, and we’ll get married in Vegas. Molly’s going to stand up for you. Bastien is coming along so they can have time away together.”
“I’m not marrying you right away, Joshua. Are you nuts?”
He was calm. He had expected her objections. He continued eating, watching her. Thinking she was the most beautiful woman in the world and he loved her so much he could barely breathe with it.