“Will…” Aurora trailed off, still seeming to be in disbelief. “If I hadn’t just seen…”
I laughed and shrugged. “I’ve never seen him react to someone like he does to you.” I walked to the private bathroom at the back of the office and turned on the shower. After stripping off my shirt, I poked my head out to see Aurora giving me a wicked smile and gliding toward me. I pointed at the couch on the opposite wall and glared. “Be a good girl and sit your cute ass down while I clean up.” She bit her bottom lip as she considered my demand, and I repressed a groan. The blue balls I was suffering from were making me seriously regret my decision to wait to have sex again until I was making love to my fiancée.
Finally, she kicked off her shoes and padded over to the tan leather loveseat. I hurried through a shower and dressed in one of the two extra sets of clothes that I kept in the office for whenever I decided to hit the Lennox’s gym in the morning before work.
Once I finished up, I checked the time and realized we were already half an hour from the reservations I’d made for a late lunch. I sighed, grateful to be getting the day back on track.
Aurora was reading on her phone when I walked out of the bathroom, and she glanced at me, her eyes heating as they swept over me from head to toe. I hoped my dick didn’t get so hard it broke off before the day was over. I sat in my desk chair and sucked in a breath as my stiff cock pressed against the metal teeth of my zipper when I bent over to put on my shoes.
Task completed, I adjusted myself behind the desk before rising to my feet. “Let’s go, baby.”
I took her to a long, leisurely lunch at her favorite restaurant, where we talked and laughed, reminding me of every reason I loved this woman. Our insane chemistry wasn’t the only reason we were compatible. I was also drawn to her intelligence and sense of humor. I enjoyed being with her, in the bedroom and out.
After our meal, I insisted on taking her shopping. She finally acquiesced but stated firmly that she would pay for whatever she bought. I remained silent on the issue.
We were in no hurry, so we held hands and wandered in and out of the shops. Per my request, she selected a beautiful blue cocktail dress with matching strappy stilettos that I knew I’d be fucking her in later. She wouldn’t let me see her in it when she tried it on, wanting it to be a surprise, and laughed when I grumbled. While she was changing, I found the clerk and paid for everything, including some silk and lace items that I’d picked out. When she got to the checkout and learned what I’d done, she turned to face me with a thunderous expression and opened her mouth to verbally flay me alive.
I grabbed her and slammed my mouth down over hers. Her arms flew around my neck, and I plundered her sweetness with my tongue, drinking from her like she was my first drink after a lifetime of thirst. When I finally forced myself to tear my mouth away, I was satisfied to see her eyes dazed with passion, her lips pink and swollen, and her skin slightly flushed. By the time the fog cleared, she was already settled in the car, and we were only ten minutes from home. She vowed to make me pay, but I just shrugged and hid my smile. I was confident she’d be singing a different tune when I had her naked with exception of her ring and those sexy as fuck shoes.
The sun was hanging low in the sky when we took all the bags back to our house, and I insisted that she change into her new outfit for dinner. When she sauntered out of the bedroom in the clingy backless dress with a short skirt that made her legs look a mile long, I almost demanded she go right back in and change. I didn’t like the idea of other men seeing so much of her skin. And it was entirely too snug. No man who saw her would be able to look away from her mouthwatering tits.
However, when I was ultimately able to drag my eyes to her face, I knew I was fucked. She looked excited and nervous as she waited for my reaction. No way in hell was I going to give her any reason to doubt how fucking gorgeous she was. “You look incredible, baby.” Her eyes warmed and lit from within as she gave me a bright smile. I was just going to have to constantly remind myself that she belonged to me so that I didn’t put my fist in some motherfucker’s face for staring at my woman.
“I can’t believe I’ve never done this before,” Aurora whispered as she snuggled into my side. I tightened my arm around her and dropped a kiss on top of her head, then nuzzled my nose in her silky hair.
“What do you think?” I asked softly.
She sighed and lifted her head so that I was looking down into her beautiful face. “It’s incredibly romantic.”
The sun was just disappearing as we glided along the river that surrounded a hotel that transported you to Italy with authentic gondola rides. The ring was burning a hole in my pocket, but I wanted to wait more than a few minutes into the ride before proposing. It was a gorgeous night, and I was enjoying the serene moment with my girl cuddled into my side.
My excitement got the best of me, though, and after only a short interval, I urged Aurora to sit up and face me. She was looking at me quizzically, and I opened my mouth to start my carefully rehearsed speech. I didn’t get one word out before a deafening crashing sound startled us. In the next instant, we were soaked to the bone as buckets of rain emptied from the sky.
“Holy shit!” Aurora gasped as the cold precipitation drenched her and immediately started shivering. I dragged her into my arms to help keep her warm as the gondolier frantically paddled toward solid ground.
I was utterly stunned at the turn of events. Not only was it extremely rare to have rain in Las Vegas, but a storm of this magnitude was even less likely. But what really had me dumbfounded was the fact that this unusual occurrence had chosen this moment to make an appearance. I was tempted to shout, “What the fuck?” to the universe.
Aurora started shaking, and I held her tighter, worried she was getting too cold. Until I heard her muffled laughter from where she’d buried her face in my chest. Her small giggles grew into loud belly laughs and stole her breath. It was impossible to remain angry with the sound washing over me, leaving only love and joy behind. I shook my head even as I smiled at her and kissed the tip of her nose.
At last, the gondolier was able to pull up next to the grassy area on the side of the river where the hotel sat. I placed both hands on the ground and hauled myself from the boat before turning back and grasping Aurora’s waist and lifting her up to stand next to me.
The rain was letting up, and the man decided to make his way back to the dock where we’d begun our ride. I gave him a hefty tip and waved as we dashed to the hotel where we’d have shelter from the rain.
We were both laughing as we entered and shook off some of the water. “I must look like a drowned rat,” Aurora groaned.
I yanked her against me and whispered in her ear, “You look unbelievably sexy, baby, but we need to get you changed into something that isn’t glued to your every delectable curve before I kill someone for looking at what is only for me.”
Aurora shivered, but from the flames in her eyes, it was clear it wasn’t from the cold. My plans had gone to shit, but I had a sudden idea of how to salvage my romantic proposal. I led her to the gift shop where we bought a set of sweats for each of us. It wasn’t exactly fancy, but they were dry, and I was pretty sure our attire wouldn’t affect Aurora’s answer to my question.
We quickly changed and used the shopping bags to hold our wet clothes. By the time we made our way to the front entrance of the hotel, the rain had stopped. I glared at the sky and mentally cursed a blue streak.
“Looks like it’s let up enough for us to get back to the Lennox,” Aurora surmised as she took a tentative step outside. “I think a hot bath is in order.” She threw me a saucy wink, and I almost abandoned my idea for hers.
No, I thought. I promised to sweep her off her feet and that didn’t mean asking her to marry me in a bathtub at home. “I just have one more thing to do,” I told her as I took her hand and set out for the hotel that sported a replica of the Eiffel Tower.
When we arrived, Aurora was looking at me with a speculative
stare. I was pretty sure she was debating whether I’d lost my mind. Today had certainly been off, and I hadn’t been myself, so I could understand why she might wonder.
“Trust me,” I murmured as I brushed my lips over her cheek before giving her a soft but promising kiss. She sighed as we parted and nodded her head, then gestured for me to lead the way. I grinned and turned to enter the hotel, heading for the elevator that would take us to the summit. What could be more romantic than asking the woman you love to marry you from the top of the most iconic symbol of romance?
I paid for tickets and thanked the universe for the first thing all day that went my way when we ended up alone in the lift.
The doors slid closed, and I gently enveloped Aurora in my embrace, lowing my head to give her a tender kiss. Cradling her face in my hands, I poured all my love into the kiss. She melted into me, and I felt the same outpouring of emotion from her.
It was a long ride to the top, so I took advantage of the time, backing her into the wall and deepening the kiss, letting it turn a little wild. When the elevator suddenly jolted, it shoved our bodies closer together and I groaned at the heat of her pussy surrounding my cock. The kiss started to get out of control, and I was on the verge of fucking her right there against the wall. In the next moment, there was another jolt, but this time, the lift came to a sudden halt and the lights went out, blanketing us in darkness.
After a couple of beats, the emergency lights flickered on. “Hello?” A tinny male voice sounded from the little speaker above the floor buttons. “Are you alright?” they asked.
I took a deep breath and tried not to snarl when I answered. “We’re fine. What’s going on?”
“We aren’t sure, sir. We’re working on figuring it out. Hopefully, you won’t be stuck for long. Thanks for your understanding.”
My mouth opened to spit out a caustic remark when Aurora’s hand slapped over it and held it back. “Please keep us in the loop. Thank you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Aurora eyed me curiously when I started pacing to exert some of my frustrated energy. “What’s going on with you, Will?” she asked as she leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms under her breasts. It was almost enough to distract me from the disaster the day had turned into. “You’re the most calm and rational person I’ve ever met. I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve seen you this angry and agitated.”
Several vague answers were on the tip of my tongue, but as I drank in the sight of her, it suddenly became clear that I was a fucking idiot.
“I had the perfect day planned,” I explained.
She tilted her head to side and examined my face. “Today has been wonderful, Will,” she said with a genuine smile.
I shook my head and snorted. “Today has been a series of clusterfucks. But the biggest one was my own stupid ideas of what this day should be.”
She lifted her brow but waited for me to continue without comment.
Sighing, I took her hands in mine, my thumbs brushing lightly over the backs. “I wanted to sweep you off your feet. To make this day the perfect fairy-tale proposal.”
Aurora gasped softly. “Proposal?” I nodded, and we stood there in silence for a few moments. My heart was pounding so hard, I wondered if she could hear it. The look in her eyes shifted, and when she started to say something, I had a sense of where she was going and cut her off with a quick, hard kiss.
“Just listen, okay?” She contemplated my request briefly before nodding. “I should have known better. I should have listened to my heart, the part of me that truly knows you, instead of my head.”
I drew her hands up to my mouth and placed a soft kiss on each one before continuing. “I was being a fucking idiot, baby. I should have realized that the only thing you wanted was sincerity, and all this bullshit I had planned were just shallow gestures.”
“It was sweet—” She tried to interject but stopped when I frowned at her. Her eyes rolled so hard I was surprised they didn’t get stuck in the back of her head. She inclined her head in a gesture that encouraged me to continue.
“It was ridiculous. So let me try this again. The right way.” Slowly, I lowered myself down onto one knee and stared up into the gorgeous face of the woman I wanted to spend eternity with. The woman I couldn’t live without.
“Aurora, you own me, heart, body, and soul. You are everything I hoped for in my life, but so much more than I could have ever imagined. I knew the moment we met that you were the one for me. You were meant to be mine. To be the love of my life, my wife, the mother of my children, the person I grow old with. The one I argue with, the one I burn up the sheets making up with”—I grinned when she blushed bright red—“the only one I’ll ever want.”
Tears gathered in her eyes and slipped down her cheeks, but I didn’t worry because she was beaming down at me, happiness shining from her eyes.
“Will you marry me, Aurora?” Before she could answer, I added one more thing. “Just to be clear, baby. We are getting married. This is just a gesture to show you how much I love you.”
Aurora rolled her eyes to the ceiling and grumbled, “It was so perfect right up until you let the caveman out.”
I shrugged, unrepentant. I wanted to make this romantic for her, but I also needed her to know that there was only one outcome. We were getting married. Period.
She chuckled before returning her gaze to mine, her eyes sparkling with love and joy. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
I surged to my feet and lifted her into my arms, spinning her around before pressing her into the wall once again and kissing her deeply.
A sniffle broke the silence, and we both pulled back to look at each other with surprise. I glanced around the small space when we heard it again.
“That was so beautiful.” The voice from the intercom piped up. Another sniffle and a sigh, then he spoke again. “We fixed the problem; would you two still like to ascend to the top or come back down?”
Aurora and I locked eyes for a moment, then the tension broke, and we dissolved into laughter. After a minute, I yanked her back into my arms and sealed my mouth over hers once again. We were interrupted by the clearing of a throat. “Since there are cameras in the elevators”—he emphasized the word cameras—"seems like we should bring you back to the ground floor so you can find some—um—privacy.”
My stare was locked with Aurora’s, and I grinned devilishly. “You’re quite right. We need to get home so I can make love to my fiancée.”
Aurora blushed bright red, and the voice on the intercom coughed awkwardly.
I drew her in close just as the elevator began to move again, taking us down to the ground floor. “I love you, baby. I can’t wait to marry you,” I whispered.
Her face softened, and she melted into me. “I love you too, Will.” She glanced down, and when her eyes lifted back up, they were shining and open, completely honest. “I’ll marry you whenever and wherever you want. I just want to be your wife.”
Even though I knew I’d never take away her dream of being married in The Chapel of Dreams, it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me, and I crushed her to me, kissing her with everything I had in me.
Neither of us noticed when the doors slid open and all the people outside broke into applause.
Epilogue
Aurora
“Wake up, sleepyhead. You don’t want to miss this.” Running my fingers through Will’s blond hair, I waited for his green eyes to pop open.
“Miss what?” he grumbled, his strong arms wrapping around my waist to pull my body on top of his.
“History in the making.” I wiggled the small pink box I was holding in front of his face. “For the first time in our relationship, I want you to watch me pee.”
He rolled off the mattress, swept me up into his arms, and whooped, “Hell, yeah!”
I giggled as he carried me into the bathroom, gently setting me down near the toilet. Snagging the box from my hand, he ripped it open and yanked
the cap of the little white stick. “Here you go, beautiful.”
“Thanks,” I whispered, heat filling my cheeks as I kept my eyes on his while I did my business. It was a little awkward, but I wanted my gorgeous husband to be with me during every step of my pregnancy just as much as he wanted to be a part of the entire process.
“It’s going to be positive,” he murmured into my ear after I’d washed my hands. His arms were wrapped around my body, his hands resting over my lower belly as we both stared down at the test.
I was barely a day late, but I had a feeling he was right. There had been something extra special when we had made love on our wedding night—more than just because it was our first time as husband and wife. I couldn’t help but think about it when my period didn’t come right on time two weeks later. I’d run out and bought the test between meetings and had barely been able to keep it a secret last night. But I’d really wanted to surprise Will with it this morning.
“You’re right. I’m pregnant,” I cried, tears streaming down my face as Pregnant 2-3 popped up on the indicator screen. “And I’m pretty sure you knocked me up on our wedding night since it says I’m two to three weeks along.”
“It looks like I put all that practice leading up to the wedding to good use.” He turned me in his arms and flashed me a smug grin.
“All that practice?” I echoed, shaking my head and laughing. “It only took me two months to pull together the perfect wedding when it would’ve taken anyone else at least a year.”
“Because you’re a fucking miracle worker.” His gaze dropped to my stomach and filled with awe. “In everything you do.”
I rose on my toes and brushed my lips over his. “Maybe, but I didn’t do this on my own. This little miracle is as much your doing as it is mine.”
Vegas, Baby: Complete Series Page 33
