My voice softens as I start to believe… “You sent her my song?”
“No, she heard it online and called me about it a few weeks ago.”
“A few weeks ago? But we weren’t together then!”
“No, we weren’t. And I told her that,” Colin answers, his voice dry. “Which is probably why you got a call from Wyatt soon after that, asking after your publishing rights.”
I sit up in bed, my wrist straining against the ropes. “I can’t believe this. You’re serious!”
Colin shakes his head at me, like I’m the crazy one. “I told you I was going to make every single song you gave me a number one hit. Think you’re ready to start believing me about that new, Liz?”
Yes! And believing made me really start tugging on the ropes.
“Let me out of here,” I say. “I got to figure out what I’m wearing… alternative arrangements… how not to faint when I meet her—oh, my God! I can’t believe Roxxy RoxX is going to record my song!”
I twist my wrists inside the ropes, straining to get out, but Colin just sits there.
“Who said you were invited?”
“Colin this isn’t funny. It’s Roxxy RoxX. There’s no way I’m not going to be there.”
“But you see there is a way. Because you’re still tied up, and if I don’t let you out of there, then you’re going to miss the recording session.”
I shake my head. “You wouldn’t…”
“Liz, Liz, Liz,” he says, shaking his head. “I think I’ve more than proven how far I’ll go to get what I want. I’m a little surprised you haven’t figured that out by now.”
I stare at him.
“This is about that Viking Shifters video game, isn’t it? You’re still pissed because I beat you.”
The smug smile drops completely off Colin’s face. “You didn’t beat me. You distracted me with your breasts—”
“I’m not the one who insisted we play naked. I would have been totally cool with beating you fully clothed.”
“Oh, wait for the rematch, Liz,” Colin snarls at me over his shoulder. “Wait for it! Because I love you, but I am going to crush you next time.”
It’s been three weeks since we reunited. I should be used to hearing those three words coming out of his mouth. But it stills sends a little thrill though me every time he says them.
However, that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop riding him about losing out to me at his new favorite video game. “I mean… sure, if that’s what you want to believe… it’s good to have dreams, I guess. In the meantime, I can see why you’ve been so reluctant to let me out of these ropes. Too scared of getting beat again. I totally understand.”
Colin opens his mouth, the nerd he still carries around inside of him despite the Lasik, and the movie star hair cut, and the wardrobe that costs more than my grandma’s house, ready to defend his gaming skills.
But then he stops and shakes his head. “No, I know what you’re trying to do here, Liz, and it ain’t going to work. There’s only one thing and one thing only that will get you untied from that bed.”
He pauses, and I wait to hear his newest demand, wondering what it can possibly be this time. We go through this every dang time we leave the house. So far he’s made me beg, pay for my release with “his” mouth, and make him a batch of fried chicken among other things.
Which is why I’m fully unprepared when he pulls a black velvet box out of his pocket.
“Wear this when we go into the studio to record…”
I stare at the thick band encased in diamonds, my breath completely missing in action.
“It’s an engagement ring,” he says, maybe mistaking my lack of response as confusion. “I was going to try to get you something a little edgier, like an emerald ring, but you color your hair so much, I figured I better go with diamonds because they match everything.”
I shake my head. “We’ve only been together for three months.”
“Yeah, and we know each other better than a lot of couples who’ve been going out for three years.” His eyes soften. “We understand each other, Kyra, and I don’t care how short a time we’ve been together. I already know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“I already know that, too,” I tell him. Because it’s true. I can no longer imagine ever wanting to be with anyone but him. Can’t imagine there’s anyone else out there who will ever get me the way Colin gets me.
“But what about children?” I ask him.
He pauses. “You still want them, right?”
I nod. “I want them bad.”
“Good then, we’re on the same page about that,” he says.
“But we can’t… do what we do with children running around.”
“No, we can’t,” he agrees. “But kids need a lot of sleep, and you know what they say: ‘When the child sleeps, mama should… let daddy play rough with her.’”
I chuckle. “That’s not what they say at all.”
“No,” he says, unleashing that beautiful grin of his on me. “But you know what I mean.”
I do, but I still have to ask, “Do you get that kids would change our lives in ways that wouldn’t be sexy?”
He nods, his expression turning a lot more serious. “Yeah, I do, and when I think about not being able to have sex with you for a while because you’re healing up or too tired or the kid’s crying in the next room, I still want it. I still want that with you. I love you, whether you’re Kyra tied up by me or by one of our four kids. When we’re being kinky and when we’re just chilling. Even when you’re cheating at Viking Shifters. I love you, and I want to be with you forever.”
That is easily both the craziest and sweetest thing a man has ever said to me.
And my heart feels impossibly soft, even as I say, “I didn’t cheat, and we’re only having two kids.”
“Three. We’ll split the difference.”
“Two. You’re not the one who has to carry them,” I remind him.
Colin just throws me a wicked grin. “You know what, Liz, I’m not going to argue with you about this now, cause we both know I can convince you to come around to my way of thinking at a later date.”
He presses on before I can tell him there’s no way in hell I’m carrying four of his overly long children.
“But there’s a main question on the table here. One you still ain’t answered. You going to marry me or not, woman?”
I think about it. Honestly think about it. How Colin came into my life and changed it for the better. How he opened me up to things I didn’t even know I was capable of. How he’s taken me to places I’ve never known, in bed and out. How he’s made all of my dreams come true, even the ones I didn’t dare to dream or couldn’t fathom.
I think about all of that and smile as I give him the perfect answer. “No.”
A slow, devil coyote smile spreads across Colin’s own face, and he pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Ginny,” he says into it. “See if Roxxy can push the session back an hour or two.”
Then he hangs up and says to me. “I’m going to make you pay for that.”
If you liked this story, check out the other books in the 50 Loving State series:
THE OWNER OF HIS HEART
HER RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE
HER VIKING WOLF
***THE WILD ONE (Roxxy RoxX’s story)
HER PERFECT GIFT
***HIS ONE AND ONLY (Beau’s & Josie’s story)
WOLF AND PUNISHMENT (The Alaska Princesses Trilogy, Book 1)
WOLF AND PREJUDICE (The Alaska Princesses Trilogy, Book 2)
WOLF AND SOUL (The Alaska Princesses Trilogy, Book 3)
***HER RUSSIAN SURRENDER (features Josie’s BFF, Sam McKinley!)
Theodora Taylor writes hot books with heart. When not reading, writing, or reviewing, she enjoys spending time with her amazing family, going on date nights with her wonderful husband, and attending parties thrown by others. Visit her at theodorataylor.com and/or friend her on Facebook.. And, if you
love IR as much as she does, sign up for her Interracial Romance Weekly Bestsellers Newsletter!
***Indicates a novel with characters who either guest-starred or were mentioned in this one.
His For Keeps: (50 Loving States, Tennessee) Page 28
