#Heart (Hashtag #6) (29 page)

“Ah, babe.” He brushed a hand over my head and let it slide all the way down my arm.

“And you know I’m not a big fan of the press and the circles we’ve become a part of, but I can use that. I can use your connections, make them my connections, too, and make an even bigger difference. Maybe someday I can open a shelter of my own.”

“I’ll buy you one right now.” He totally meant it.

“I don’t want you to buy me one.” I laughed. “I want to work for it. I want to make it happen because of what I can do. You and your mother opened those doors for me, but I want to be the one to step through.”

“You could go to vet school, open up your own animal clinic,” he said, playing devil’s advocate.

I shook my head. “It’s not what I want. If I graduate next year, stay here, and run the shelter I can still be your wife—a real wife. I can come to your games. I can sleep in our bed. I won’t be so buried under coursework that I feel like I’m isolated without my family. I feel like I just found my family, Romeo. I don’t want to lose it.”

“You will never lose this family. We’re all going to be together forever. I promise you that.” The underlying vow of an alpha came through with those words.

I knew without a doubt, without a single question in my entire being that it was the truth. Romeo would keep this family together even if he had to do it with his bare hands.

I felt tears well behind my eyes. “Please understand. I’ve been thinking about this a long time. It was hard to reconcile within myself.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “My heart wants to be here. My heart wants to see what I can do beyond the classroom. My intuition tells me this is where I belong. I’ve found my place. Yeah, my head still likes to remind me I promised to be a vet, but I’m not giving up that dream—I’m just adapting it.”

“I can’t say no to you.” His eyes glittered like sapphires expertly cut to shine the most intensely. “I can’t say no when you tell me your heart wants the life we’ve made.”

“I want it so badly I ache inside.” I’d been aching for weeks now, worrying over this decision, so afraid I’d make the wrong one.

But choosing love and family is never the wrong decision, and now that I’d said it out loud, it seemed so simple. So easy.

“Lovers gonna love,” he quipped like it was something he’d been saying for all eternity.

I’d never heard him say that, ever.

But goodness, it was so true.

“What do you think?” I chewed my lower lip as I waited to hear what he would say. No, I didn’t need his permission, but he did get a say.

“I think I really fucking love you.”

“Does that mean you’re happy I’m going to stay here and work?”

Within seconds, he had me flat on my back and was over me. “You have no idea how happy you make me. It was killing me that you were going to be that much farther away.”

“You never told me that. You always acted like you were happy.”

“I’d never do anything to hold you back, baby.”

“Make love to me. Right now.”

His teeth flashed. “I’m not sure I want to.”

Please. He couldn’t even pretend with me. I rocked my hips and brushed up against his already rigid cock.

His smile fell away. “Ahh.” When he looked at me, desire burned in his eyes and in the rigid set of his jaw.

“I want my husband inside me,” I said, bold.

“You keep making sexy demands and I’m gonna come in my shorts.” He kissed me so swift I barely had time to feel it.

Romeo sprang up to his knees and shoved his boxers down. His cock stood straight out and jerked in tiny rapid movements with the force of his need.

My tongue slid over my lips as I stared at it, and a small sound escaped from his lips. I pushed up into a sitting position, and he reached down to tug my shirt up over my head and throw it away. The ends of my hair tickled my breasts, and my nipples tightened instantly. Between my legs was already growing wet, silky moisture pooling in my core, readying my body for his sweet intrusion.

He tried to push me back down, his knees already straddling my hips. I made a sound of protest and took his cock in my hand. With a firm grip, I slid down until I hit the base, where I gave it a little squeeze, and he moaned. I jacked him gently, once, twice, a third time, but then I swooped forward and took him deep into my mouth.

There was no warning. There was no teasing lick or gradual slip. One second my hand was doing all the work, and the next I felt his swollen, smooth bead near the back of my throat.

He made a garbled sound like he was choking, but I knew he wasn’t. The way his cock jerked around in my mouth told me he really liked what I was doing. My lips fastened firmly around him and dragged upward, making sure I sucked every last inch on my way to his tip.

“Rimmel.” He said my name like a prayer as his fingers tangled in my hair. I moaned and sucked him deep once more, this time using my free hand to gently massage his balls.

“Fuck,” he rasped, and I was pretty sure I felt the fingers against my scalp tremble.

We went on like that for a few minutes, me taking him deep and fast but then releasing him slow and easy. By the time he pushed me away, his chest was slick with sweat and he was panting as if it took every ounce of will he had to not come apart right there against my tongue.

“Are you ready for me?” he asked, pushing me down into the blankets.

“So ready.”

He was so impatient he slid his fingers beneath the edge of my panties to see for himself. Pure liquid met his touch and he slid even farther into my opening. My eyes closed. He groaned.

“Baby…” It was the closest thing to a whimper I’d ever heard from him.

I knew exactly what he wanted.

I reached between us and shoved the panties down. He ripped them off my legs and then pushed my thighs as wide as they would go. He loved doing that. He loved opening me up so completely, as if the sight of me so open and vulnerable made him weak.

I held my legs there even after his large hands released my thighs.

“Oh, Romeo,” I beckoned and threw my arms up over my head.

He surged forward, knowing exactly where to go. He slid home at the very same time he grabbed my hands and linked them with his.

He ground into me so deeply that my body actually glided up on the bed.

I moaned, and he did it again, over and over. The pressure he created was so delicious and the weight of his pelvis against mine was like the cherry on top an already dreamy sundae.

My fingers griped his, and I held on as he literally took me for a ride.

He speared me over and over. The thick, hard cock seemed to hit every single one of my most sensitive spots.

I started to pant as well, and then I started to beg.

God, he was playing with me. Literally holding me down with his strength while he fucked me senseless.

My whimpers of need seemed to break into the haze he was in. He surged deep, tilted his head down, and looked into my eyes.

Slowly, so achingly slowly, he lowered until his lips claimed mine.

He kissed me through the orgasm. He swallowed every last sound of pleasure I yelled. The second my cries started to die, his body went rigid. I kissed him with renewed passion, pulled his tongue into my mouth, and sucked while he emptied deep inside my body.

He tried to hold himself over me, knowing his large size would be too much, but his arms were wobbling and his chest was heaving. With one last burst of strength, he rolled, placing himself beneath me and draping my body on top of his.

I snuggled into him, tucking my hands between us, and heaved a contented sigh.

“If we weren’t already married, I’d marry you again,” he said between deep breaths.

“That’s good considering you are marrying me again.”

“I can’t wait to put that wedding band on your finger.” He stroked my back.

“I guess we should go buy some. I want to see mine on your finger, too.”

“Yeah, we’re gonna need to make those wedding plans. My mother cornered me at the party and has called me every day since.”

I groaned. “Okay, yes. Today. I’ll start today.” Thank goodness it was Saturday.

“Don’t forget to get plane tickets for your dad and grandparents,” he reminded me. He was insistent that we pay for them to be here. It was so incredibly sweet, because we both knew my dad would never be able to afford to come. And what was even sweeter was that even after everything my father had done, Romeo was still the first one to say we needed to invite him to the wedding.

“I wish my mom was here,” I whispered.

Both his arms wrapped around me. “I do too, baby.”

I clung to him for long moments, soaking in the comfort I suddenly needed before pulling back and pushing my hair out of my face. “Might as well get up. We’ve got wedding plans to make.”

Braeden

The damn dog had to pee.

And you know what that meant?

It meant I had to haul my ass out of the warm, comfortable bed and go all the way downstairs to let her out.

With a groan, I rolled out of bed and grabbed a pair of sweatpants off the nearby chair and nearly fell over trying to put the damn things on.

Prada stood by the door and watched me struggle like she was silently amused. “What are you looking at?” I muttered.

She wagged her tail.

“You’re the only dog I’d ever do this shit for,” I told her and opened the door.

She ran ahead of me down the stairs, her nails making a light click-clacking sound on the wood as she pranced toward the kitchen.

The sun was up but low in the sky, which was gray. Surely spring weather was on the horizon. Hell, it was almost spring break.

Spring break would mark a year since Ivy and I first dropped the hate/hate relationship and admitted it was more like attraction/attraction, which we then denied/denied, but now it was love/love.

So much had happened in the last year. It was like a damned whirlwind.

There was a light on in the kitchen, the one over the sink. At first I thought someone had just left it on overnight, but when I stepped into the room, I saw Romeo and Rimmel standing by the coffee pot, making out.

Drew was right. This kitchen was downright sinful.

“Brother alert,” I said, my voice still half asleep.

Prada was by the door, so I opened it up and let her into the backyard. The air wasn’t too spring-like, and I hoped once the sun cracked through the clouds, it would warm up.

“Someone’s up early,” Rimmel said.

I grunted. “I’m not the only one.”

It was a damned shame to be out of bed this early on a weekend.

I opened up the back door again and stuck my face in the opening. “Giz, get your ass in here!”

She ignored me.

I shut the door and muttered my way over to the island, where I sat down. A steaming cup of coffee appeared in front of me with just the right amount of creamer.

“God bless you,” I told Rimmel.

She laughed.

“You look like shit,” Romeo said.

I gave him the finger. “Didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Is Ivy okay?” Rimmel worried.

“She’s fine, sis.” I assured her. Like I’d be sitting here drinking coffee if my girl wasn’t anything but okay.

I drank more coffee. Clearly, I needed it.

Rimmel went around the island, carrying her own mug that seemed a lot bigger in her hands than it did in mine, and opened the door.

“Come on, Prada!” she called. The dog came prancing through the door the next second. “That’s a good girl!”

“Why ya gotta do me like that, Giz?” I asked the dog. Her ear hair was all wild and crazy from whatever the hell she’d been doing in the yard.

She sat below me, looking up with hopeful brown eyes I just couldn’t say no to. So I pushed off the stool and grabbed her treats. She danced around while I dug one out and handed it to her. She ran off like she’d won the lottery, and I returned to my coffee.

Seconds later, Murphy came sauntering into the kitchen and jumped up on the counter.

“This house is overrun with animals,” I grumped.

Rimmel gave me a small frown, which made me feel like shit, and then gave her cat too many treats. Romeo was drinking his coffee, studying me in the way he always did when he was trying to see right through me.

I took another gulp of coffee and got up again, this time going around to Rim and pulling her into a hug. She hugged me back immediately, and it made me a little less grouchy. “Sorry, sis. I’m being an ass,” I apologized next to her ear.

“I still love you,” she told me.

“You still having dreams?” Romeo asked.

“What dreams?” Rim pulled back and stared between the two of us. I gave Romeo a WTF look.

“B’s been having some dreams about the night Zach died.”

Rimmel looked back at me with wide, sad eyes. Damn, she had some puppy dog eyes when she wanted to. First Giz and now her.

I was turning into a damn cup of Jell-O.

She hugged me again, wrapping her arms tight around my waist and holding on. I hugged her back while glaring at Rome over her head. He just shrugged.

“I’m fine. Nothing I can’t handle.” Okay, so maybe I wasn’t handling it that good, but I was working on it. “But I need some sisterly advice.”

That part got her attention, and she forgot about the dreams.

Finally. The coffee was kicking in. Jumpstarting my brain.

Rimmel grabbed my hand and towed me back to the chairs. I sat down, and she sat down right beside me, her knees bumping the side of my leg. She made a grabby motion at her coffee and Romeo picked it up, took a sip, and then gave her the mug.

When she wrapped her hands around it, the giant-ass rock Romeo put on her finger nearly blinded me.

“Ivy won’t marry me,” I announced, sour.

Romeo started laughing.

Rimmel choked delicately on her coffee and tried to cover it up but wasn’t very successful. Setting the mug aside, she gave me all her undivided attention. “You asked Ivy to marry you?”

“Uh, yeah.” I hedged.

Why the hell was everyone so damn surprised?

“When?” Rimmel asked.

“At the hospital. The night she fell.”

“Did you ask her over a bedpan?” Romeo drawled.

“She didn’t tell me.” Rimmel frowned.

“Probably because she flat out told me no. Refused. Told me no again this morning,” I muttered. And every time I asked her in between.

Talk about a kick to a guy’s ego.

“She’s pregnant with my kid, but she won’t marry me.”

Rimmel made a disapproving sound. The sound all women make when they want to tell you what you did wrong.

“What?”

“What did you say when you asked, exactly?”

I blanched. “I kinda told her we were getting married.”

Romeo laughed again.

“Dude, I will come over there and drop you,” I growled.

He smiled some more.

“Romeo,” Rimmel admonished.

That shut him up.

I beamed at him.

“So you ordered Ivy to marry you on the night you found out she was pregnant,” Rimmel surmised.

“So?”

“So you didn’t
ask
her. You probably were bossy as hell—”

“I was—” I cut her off to argue.

“Braeden James,” Rimmel warned. I stopped talking. “Why did you ask Ivy to marry you?”

I gave her a look that asked,
Isn’t it obvious?

“Is it because she’s pregnant and you feel like it would be the right thing for you to do?” Rimmel prodded.

Realization started to climb up the back of my neck.

“Had you planned to ask her before you found out? Did you tell her you loved her and that’s why you wanted to marry her?”

“Oh shit.” I groaned and scrubbed a hand over my face. I went to drink some coffee, but my cup was empty. I held it out to Romeo. “Take pity on me.”

He refilled my cup, and I drank it black.

“Lots of girls dream about the day they get engaged. They picture someone telling them how much they love them and want them. What they don’t picture is being scared out of their mind and then their boyfriend ordering them to get married because he finds out he has a baby on the way.”

“I would marry her even if there wasn’t a baby.”

“Did you tell her that?” Rimmel asked gently.

No. No, I didn’t.

Ivy thought I was marrying her out of some sense of obligation. I never gave her reason to think anything else.

A cuss word fell from my lips.

Rimmel patted my arm. “Maybe you should try asking her in a more… traditional way.”

“Get a rock, dude. A big one,” Romeo added.

Shit. I never even thought about a ring. Here Rim was walking around with a big-ass diamond from a romantic proposal on national TV.

And what did Ivy get?

She got me yelling at her over her hospital bed.

I’d have said no, too.

“The size of the ring doesn’t matter,” Rimmel said.

Romeo laughed. “And a guy’s dick size doesn’t matter either.”

“I cannot believe you just said that.” Rimmel’s cheeks turned pink.

I laughed and pulled her close for another hug. “I’d be lost without you, sis. Thanks.”

She kissed me on the cheek before returning back to the seat beside me.

“I don’t even know why I come down here in the morning,” Drew intoned, coming in the room. “Why the hell are you talking about dick size?”

“We were trying to make B feel better about his,” Romeo drawled.

“I will pull it out right now.” I warned. “Get the measuring tape.”

“Ew!” Rimmel shot up from her chair. “I’m going to go shower. Get this nasty talk out of your system before I come back.”

“Aw, sis, come back. We were having a nice brother-sister moment!” I called.

“Ew!” she said again.

Drew was pouring himself some coffee, and Rimmel held hers out for a refill before she escaped. He obliged her and winked. She snorted and poured some creamer in.

On her way past Romeo, she slowed and dragged her fingertips across his bare abs. He caught her hand and leaned down to kiss her. “I’ll be up in a minute, baby.”

“Love you, sis!” I yelled when she was gone.

“Love you!”

“What the hell are you doing up so early?” I said, turning back to Drew.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he mumbled.

“Seems to be a lot of that going around,” Romeo commented.

“What’s going on, Rome?” I felt bad because I hadn’t picked up on anything. He seemed fine.

“Nothing. Rim’s just missing her mom.”

I made a mental note to try and spend some extra time with her. I wasn’t her mother, but I loved her and that counted for something, didn’t it?

“Drew, we need to talk,” I said.

“This about my sister?” His eyes narrowed.

He was still mad I got her pregnant. To him it was all on me. I wasn’t upset about it. I understood. I’d be the same way about Rimmel.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you need to talk to me?” Romeo said.

I rolled my eyes. “Didn’t we just do that?”

“Want me to come shopping with you later?” he offered.

“Shopping?” Drew wondered. “What the hell is happening here?”

“Yeah, sure. That’d be cool.”

“I’ll leave you guys to it, then.” Romeo pushed off the counter and slapped me on the back on his way out of the kitchen.

Drew sat a few stools down. “What the fuck was that about?”

“You and Ivy are close. She’s closer to you than anyone else in her family, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then I think it’s right I ask you.”

“Ask me what?”

“I want to ask Ivy to marry me.” Drew’s eyes widened. I cleared my throat. “I know you aren’t her dad, but I think your blessing would mean a lot to her. And I’d like it, too.”

“You asking because of the baby?” He scrutinized me. Clearly, he wasn’t going to make this easy.

And clearly, I was the world’s biggest idiot if the first thing he thought was I was doing this out of obligation and I never even realized it would look that way.

“Ivy’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. Part of me always knew we were meant to be, even before we ever started dating. It’s one of the reasons I gave her such a hard time. It was easier that way, you know?”

He nodded.

“So am I marrying her because of the baby? No. I’m marrying her because I love her and I always will. Would I have asked her this early? Probably not. She’s still healing from everything he did to her. I don’t want to push. But that’s my kid. Either way, we’re heading for the altar. Now it’s just a little sooner.”