Otherwise Engaged (23 page)

She pressed
against him, and he scooped her up, carried her over to the bed, and lay her
down on it.

She watched as
he unbuckled his pants, letting out a groan of relief as his pants and boxer
briefs pooled around his ankles. Kicking
those aside
,
he pulled off his shirt and dove onto the bed, leaning over her.

“I’ve never
wanted anyone this much,” he said before kissing the sensitive skin around her
nipples. “Anyone.”

She responded
with a sigh and by opening her legs farther, welcoming him in. He slipped
between them, pressed her thighs to his sides. Before he could think of a
condom, he was inside her, pushing against her hips, demanding her rhythm meet
his, fast-paced needy strokes being all he was capable of.

“Shit. Condom,”
he said against her ear through ragged breaths.

“Don’t stop,”
she said in a pleading tone. “We’re covered.”

He drove in
farther and harder, driven like a mad man with need for her. He pumped into her
all the desire he’d felt for her since San Juan. She was so soft and warm and
perfect. The perfect fit. When he came, it took them both by surprise.

“Sorry,” he
said, lying next to her. “It’s been so long, and I’ve been fantasizing about
that so much.
Every single day.
And night. Since the
last time I was with you.”

“No need to be
sorry. It was so good just to be with you again,” she said. “Besides. We have
all night. I’m not going anywhere.”

“No,” he said,
wrapping his arms around her possessively and kissing her neck. “You’re not.”

That night,
after more sex than sleeping took place, Rain intentionally and gladly shared
his very own bed with a woman for the first time in his life.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The next
morning, Daphne woke up to Rain’s grin. He lay next to her with his arm loosely
draped around her waist, his head propped up on his hand and his arm bent at
the elbow, propping up his torso. He looked down at her, grinning like a loon.

“Good morning,”
she murmured.

“Morning, you.”
He bent to kiss her temple.

“What time is
it?”

“Noon.”

“Shit. It’s not
morning anymore.”

He laughed. A
sound she’d missed so much. “I guess you’re right about that.”

“What are you
doing?”

“Watching you
sleep.”

“Instead of
cooking breakfast?” she teased. “I distinctly remember getting fed the last
time this happened.”

He rolled onto
his back and pulled her on top of him. “I was thinking we could go out this
morning.”

“Oh yeah?” She
rubbed against his stomach.

“Mm hm,” he
said, his hands going to her hips, fingers digging into her buttocks as he
pressed her more firmly against his stomach.

“That sounds
good,” she whispered. He somehow knew all the right ways to drive her crazy.

“To me, too.”
He pushed her lower, so that his erection rubbed against and between the two
folds of flesh between her thighs. She gasped every time its head hit the exact
right spot.

“What are we
gonna
have?” she asked, eyes closed.

“Bacon.” He
touched every sensitive spot down there with another stroke. “Eggs.” Stroke.
“Sausage.” Harder stroke.

She laughed and
moaned at the same time.

“Anything you
want.” He pushed against her until she was on the edge of orgasm. Then he
pulled back. She sat on his penis, driving it into her. She rode him.
Hard at first.
And then slower, sweeter.

“I want you,”
she murmured. She put her hands on the bed on either side of his head and leaned
closer to him without separating their bodies.

“You already
have that.” He kissed her gently before taking her breasts into his hands.
“You’ve had me for longer than either of us knew.”

“I love you,”
she whispered.

He pushed her
hair away from her face, left his hands tangled in it, looked deeply into her
eyes, and said with so much sincerity she felt warmth radiate from her heart
and through her body, “I love you, too.” Pulling her close, he kissed her
softly while her hips continued to rock against his. She looked down at him,
wondering how it was possible to be this happy. No one ever got everything they
wanted, and Rain was all she wanted. He was all she’d wanted for a very long
time.

When they
finally made it out of the apartment, they went to the same place for brunch
that they had a few months ago when they’d decided he would go to the wedding
as her date. Things were different this time around, though. Whereas last time
had been tense and slightly awkward, this time they couldn’t keep their hands
off each other. Last time, they’d sat across the table from each other. This
time, he pulled his chair around to her side of the table and kept his arm
around her except for when he needed it to eat.

They were one
of those couples she’d always hated on when she was single and angry about it.
Obnoxiously in love.
Oblivious to everyone else around
them
. He kept feeding her orange slices and other bits of
food. She thought she could die right that moment knowing what true happiness
felt like.

“What should we
do for the rest of the day?” she asked, still feeling a slight need to test
him. Not able to believe that something so good could be true. She was feeling
him out to see if he’d want her around for the rest of the day.

“My parents
usually like for me to come over for Sunday dinner. You want to come with?” he
asked, holding an English muffin covered in poached egg at her lips.

She took a
bite. “I’d love to.” Leaning against his side, she asked, “Whatever will we do
until then?”

“I can think of
a few things,” he said with a grin.

“Oh, can you
now?” She sipped her coffee.

“Yeah. And some
of them don’t even involve you being naked.”

“Like?”

“We could take
a walk around the mall. I haven’t done that in a while. Then I was thinking we
could go over to Georgetown.”

“Sounds good.”
She leaned unnecessarily close and whispered into his ear, “But I wouldn’t mind
the things that involve me being naked, either.” They had a lot of lost time to
make up for.
In more ways than one.

“Well. Let’s
get started. We better get that check.” He looked around for their server. “We
have a busy day ahead of us.”

After spending
some time at the mall and in Georgetown, they went back to her place so she
could pick up a change of clothes. They got delayed there for a blissful little
while. When they made it back to his place, they spent the rest of the
afternoon making love. A little before it was time to go to Rain’s parents’
house, they showered and changed. Then he drove them out to Vienna. Daphne was
still too drunk on Rain to be nervous about this. That was despite the fact
that she had only seen Rain’s parents once recently, after the race. At that
time, they’d had no idea how close she and their son were. Then again, at that
time, neither had she.

“You’re quiet
over there,” Rain said. He removed a hand from the steering wheel, took her
hand, and kissed it.

“Just
thinking.”

“About?”

“Having dinner
with your parents.”

“It’ll be fine.
Fun. You know that, right?”

“I hope so,”
she said.

“I know so.”

When they
arrived, his parents seemed thrilled to see her again. Rain’s mom hugged Daphne
just as enthusiastically as she hugged Rain. They pulled her into the house
along with Rain. Rain’s dad wanted to hear all about her job. He loved learning
new things. They discussed an article he’d read in a newspaper about mixed
income housing. She couldn’t believe what a great time she was having. The best
part was, every time she snuck a glance at Rain, he was looking right back at
her and giving her a huge smile. She couldn’t help but return it.

When it was
finally time for dinner, they sat down to a delicious meal of lemon grass
chicken, and they had Thai iced tea to drink. She and Rain’s mother talked
about the recipe for the entire menu, which was excellent. Daphne even used a
few of the Thai words she’d learned from Rain to the delight and amusement of
everyone, especially Rain’s mom who corrected her pronunciation in a friendly,
helpful manner.

When it was
time for dessert, Rain stood and let them all know he had an announcement to
make.

“As you two
know, Daphne has been special to me for a long time,” he said. His parents gave
him knowing nods. Daphne had the idea they’d had a conversation she didn’t know
about. “I love you more than anything in this world, and I can’t even express
how happy I am right now,” he said.

Daphne put a
hand over her heart and tried to steady her breathing. She’d never felt
anything like this. It was like her heart was trying to lift right out of her
chest.

Rain came over
to Daphne’s side of the table and knelt by her chair. Her heart sped up even
more, which she hadn’t thought was possible. Rain pulled a small, black, velvet
box out of his pocket. “I can’t imagine ever being this happy with anyone else.
In fact, I can’t imagine ever being happy again without you. I’m willing to do
whatever it takes to be deserving of you for the rest of my life. Whatever you
want, it’s yours.”

“You,” she
breathed. “I just want you.”

He gave her a
nervous little smile and opened the box to reveal a large, glittering diamond.
That thing wasn’t a rock—it was a mountain. “Marry me then. Daphne, will
you be my wife?”

She nodded, not
trusting herself with words at the moment, and held out her trembling left
hand. He pulled the ring out of the box. Slipping his warm, strong hand around
her trembling one, he used his right hand to slip the diamond onto her ring
finger. She grabbed him around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug.

She heard
Rain’s mom clap her hands together and murmur something happily, but her eyes
were squeezed close, so she couldn’t see a thing. Warm tears of joy trickled
down her cheeks. She pressed her face into Rain’s hair. “I can’t believe this
is real.”

Rain tightened
his hold on her. “I love you. So much.”

“I love you,
too,” she said in a shaky voice, trying to ward off more tears.

When she
finally recovered enough to pull back and look at his parents, they
congratulated the two of them. Her future mother-in-law peppered her with questions
and hints, starting with setting a date and ending with hints about how much
she looked forward to being a grandmother.

Later, when it
was just Rain and Daphne back at his apartment in D.C., he held her close and
murmured into her hair how much he loved her and never wanted to leave her side
again.

“I can’t
believe how quickly all of this happened,” Daphne said. “I have to call my mom.
There’s so much I have to do.” Her head spun. Just a day ago, she hadn’t even
known where her relationship with Rain was going. Now she was engaged. She
looked down at her huge, blinding ring again.

“We could go
see her,” Rain suggested.

“My parents
live in North Carolina.”

“Let’s go. Take
the day off work tomorrow. We’ll drive down tonight.”

She grinned.
“Okay. Why not?”

“Exactly,” he
said. “Why not?”

“Is this what
life like you is going to be like? One adventure right after another?” she
asked.

“I hope so. All
I know for sure is life with you is the only kind of life I want to live.” He
kissed her cheek.

“Me, too. Let’s
get packed. And I’ll call my parents. Make sure they’re home.”

“Okay,” he
said. He went to his room to pack his suitcase. Daphne went to get her purse so
she could dig through it and find her phone. She had so many people to call.
Bettina. Her parents. Carolina. That last one made her a little nervous, but
based on what Rain said earlier, Carolina would probably be okay with it. One
thing was for sure. She had to be told.
And soon.
Even
if she
was
with Manny, the news would probably be big
to her.

Little did
Daphne know, Carolina had huge news of her
own.

“You’re what?”
Daphne asked.

“I’m pregnant!”

“Congratulations.”

“Yeah, Manny
and I didn’t want to wait to start a family. I still can’t believe it happened
so fast, though.” Carolina went on to tell her about the day she’d found out
and the due date and that Daphne would have to come up for her baby shower.
Then she asked Daphne to be the baby’s godmother.

“Are you sure?”

Carolina
laughed. “Of course I’m sure. We talked about this. You made a promise to me,
remember?”

“Of course.”
She hadn’t known Carolina was serious when she’d made that promise, but she was
happy to be godmother. “I’d love to. I’d be honored.”

After she got
off the phone with Carolina, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from
behind. She sank back against Rain’s chest and closed her eyes.

“Did you call
your parents?” he asked before kissing her neck.

“Yes.”

“What did you
tell them?”

“Not much. I
want it to be a surprise.”

He chuckled.
“I’m sure it will be.” His hands slipped under her shirt, ran across the flat
expanse of her abdomen. “So that means they have no set time to expect us
there?”

“Mm. No. Why?”

“‘Cause I’m
thinking we should take a little detour by way of my bedroom.”

“That seems far
right now.” She turned in his arms. “How about by way of your couch?”

“Works for me,”
he said. Carrying her over to the couch, he lay her down and crouched over her.
“Thank you.”

“For?”

“Being here.
Right now. With me,” he said, punctuating every word with a kiss along the
border between her skin and the neckline of her blouse.

“Mm,” was all
she said, feeling more grateful for that moment than words could
express.
She pulled off his shirt and pressed her hands
against his chest. She thought about how everything she’d gone through had come
to this moment. If one thing had been different, she might not have her hand
pressed against his chest, staring at the ring he’d given her. Rain Foster
wanted to marry her. Whatever it had taken to get to that moment was worth it.

She pressed her
hips to his. Pressed her hands to the sides of his face.

“What?” He
pushed a few strands of hair away from her face.

“I want this to
last forever.”

He grinned and
said, “Me, too,” before covering her mouth with his.

THE
END