“She showed up tonight stoned out of her mind and wasn’t any use to me, so I sent her home. Then you pulled into the garage, and like I told Cathy, as soon as your heels hit the pavement, you had my attention. And your long beautiful legs,” I press against her to stare down into her eyes, “sent shivers of desire through me. The way your cute little ass twitches in those heels tried to give me an idea, but my cock got hard, and all I could think about was …” I lean over to kiss her, but she turns her face away.
Ouch. That hurt.
Zella
“Don’t,” I tell him. “Let’s keep this strictly business.”
He sighs but doesn’t relinquish his position. “Before I proposed, I asked for you to trust me.” I hear the struggle in his voice. “Trust is a two-way street, just like honesty and loyalty. I’m giving you a level of my trust I have never given anyone else. Not even my SEAL brothers, but it’s the same kind of trust. Uncompromising. I’m opening up to you and laying everything on the line. No secrets between us.”
“Why me?” I shake my head, stunned by his willingness to commit blindly to a stranger.
“Two reasons. The first is, now that I know who the perfection in hot pink is, you’re the logical choice. You are emotionally committed to Cathy too. You already understand the evil of my stepmother. But the second reason is why we are up here on the roof playing catch up. It’s why I didn’t … no, couldn’t … wait and clear the air and lay out a game plan before going public. Because as bad as we need to talk right now, and as important as it is that we are on the same page, I can’t stop thinking about how perfect your pussy is.”
Damn, that soaked my thong.
He cups my face between his hands and stares into my eyes. “I’m a SEAL, a special warfare operator, trained to control my emotions and my actions regardless of the circumstances. My word is my bond. If you tell me you honestly don’t want a physical relationship with me, I will honor your decision. No questions asked. But it will be damn near impossible for me to do.”
His stern gaze reaches into my soul, trying to pull out the truth. I sigh, struggling with my acknowledgment of it. “We can’t pull this off without it.”
“No, we can’t, but I’m not talking about in public. I’m talking about in private.”
“Oh,” I try to look away, but he holds my eyes.
“With Nancy, the actress I hired, it would have been strictly business. She would have been my fake fiancée. But Rapunzel, I know this sounds nuts, but I promise you, I’m not nuts. When I saw you standing there in the wedding gown, the plan that had been trying to formulate from the beginning came together like a beautiful puzzle. Not only are you perfection, and the perfect person to pull off this mission with, but you are perfect for me. The proposal was spontaneous, and it was real.”
My breath vanishes as my heart races. My mouth falls open. Did he propose for real? What the holy hell?
“I want to marry you, and when this is over, I don’t want to divorce you. I want to live the rest of my life learning everything about you.”
There isn’t a single word to be found. My mind has been so thoroughly fucked. I’m speechless! I stare at him, and he smiles at me, knowingly, content, at peace, with no stress, no doubt, committed to his decision. It’s remarkable, really. How can he be so confident? We are total strangers. How can he possibly think we can marry and live happily ever after?
Sure, we have undeniable chemistry, but that’s physical and will fade. Won’t it? I don’t know. It always has before. But everything about d’Artagnan turns me on, whereas before, it was more horniness than attraction.
As bad as I want to keep this strictly business, I know that attraction will be impossible to deny. I have already proven in the elevator, my resolve with him melts.
Right now, wrapped in his arms, I’m so turned on, I would fuck him again!
My God! He’s a total stranger. No amount of chemical karma can overcome that. That takes time.
Finally, I manage to ask, “You’re really proposing?”
Chapter 15
d’Artagnan
My lips smother hers before she can think of all the reasons why she should flee. The anxiety in her eyes was real. I pushed too fucking hard, too fucking fast. Goddammit!
For a man who rarely shares his true feelings and controls his emotions, I just spewed more raw truth at her than even I was aware I felt. In my lifetime, I’ve been to hell and back, physically, emotionally, mentally. But staring into her eyes, seeing the truth she doesn’t know is there, and once I started speaking freely about what I felt inside, I couldn’t stop. That zing she gives my heart. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It’s insane, but I know Rapunzel is my forever love.
But she’s young. She hasn’t experienced life and the world as I have. She needs time to learn to love me. I’ll give her all the time my life has left just to hold her and be with her. I’ll wait patiently for her to catch up.
My tongue roams inside her mouth, tasting her sweetness, as I hold her face steady. Her tongue remains disengaged. Her body is tense. Her heart must be frightened. Fearing I will suffocate her with my feelings, I release her.
Taking a step back, needing to put some air between her body and my hard dick, I tell her, “I will give you all the time you need, but I will not initiate a divorce. If you want one, you’ll have to be the one to file.”
She raises a hand to her lips as her big blue eyes stare at me. “How long until your birthday?”
“Twenty-one days.”
