Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 82060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
The fluffiness of my happy-goodness cloud got exponentially fluffier, but still, I said, “I got an earful of stories tonight.”
I knew by the light in his eyes he knew what stories I was talking about, even if he asked, “Yeah?”
“Indy was living with Lee the first day her troubles started. He was living with her a couple of weeks later when they were done, and that was it. They’ve never been apart since. Much the same with Jet, Roxie, Jules, Ava—”
“I was around for all this, babe.”
“Is that what’s happening with us?”
He shrugged a single broad shoulder. “Naturally.”
“Should I be worried this is going so fast?”
I could tell he was fighting laughter when he replied, “Again, we disagree that three hundred and sixty-five times eighteen is fast.”
“This is different, Darius, and you know it.”
Something shifted in him. I could feel it in his body, and I could see it on his face.
This wasn’t lighthearted, after-sex talk, even if that talk was about a wedding.
Now this was something very different.
“I was your first. Was I your only?”
“Yes,” I answered truthfully, if a bit mortifyingly, but that mortification flew out the window with the hot flash of possession that sparked in his eyes, making those long, long, long dry spells totally worth it.
“You weren’t my first. But after you, you were my only.”
Wait.
What?
Oh.
My.
God.
“Darius—”
“It’s me for you, it’s you for me. You were right all those years ago, Malia. We were meant to be. Not one woman would put up with what I put you through, grasping hold of the shit ton of love she has for me to get her through, except you. No other woman would wait for me to sort out my fucked-up life so I could come to her clean and redeemed. Except you. Part of me burns. I hate it that you gave up so much of your life waiting for me. But the rest of me, babe, the rest of me knows, if I didn’t know I had your brand of love waiting for me, I’d still be in that life. I’d be lost to it. I’d be someone no one would want to know. I would have lost everything. My mom. My sisters. My brothers. Everything.”
My heart was beating wildly as I refuted, “That isn’t true. Everyone believed in you. Everyone, Darius. Indy. Ally. Lee. Eddie. Your mom. My mom and dad—”
“That means a lot, Malia, but you know.” He dipped his face to mine. “You know, it was you who saw me through. You and Liam.”
“Oh no!” I exclaimed, because they were coming so fast, I couldn’t hold them back, so I covered my face with my hands to hide them.
Darius wrapped his fingers around my wrists and pulled them away.
“No hiding,” he growled. “No burying this emotion. You know it. Don’t you?”
I shook my head, fighting his hold on my wrists.
“I saw myself in your eyes every time I was with you,” he pushed. “The only time I felt like me was when I was with you. You grounded me. You anchored me to me.”
“Stop it,” I pleaded.
“I love them, all of them, and the faith they had in me. But you sacrificed your life and your dreams to wait for me.”
“The only dream I had was you.”
“You wanted to be a lawyer.”
I twisted from his hold and framed his face. “Darius, if I wanted to be a lawyer, I’d be a lawyer. Look where I am. The only dream I had was you.”
After I finished speaking, it felt like a concussion of emotion buffeted us, like the room had imploded, but it had not.
“I want you to take my name,” he said, his words raw, guttural, so much so, they scraped across my skin in the most insanely beautiful way.
“I’ll absolutely take your name.”
“I want Liam to have my name.”
“Can he keep Dad’s name too?”
“One in the middle?”
“Agreed.”
“Deal.”
Then he kissed me, pushing my legs open, and he was inside me.
This time, it was fast. Rough. Fiery.
It wasn’t making love.
It wasn’t fucking.
It was a branding.
I was his, Darius was searing that into me with his hands, his lips, his teeth, his cock.
I took it, my back arched, my thighs pressed tight to his sides, my arms around his shoulders holding on as each thrust jolted my whole body.
And I came for him on a loud mew of his name before he buried himself deep and came for me.
He stayed planted as he grunted, “I hurt you?” in my ear.
“Not even a little,” I whispered, still clamped on tight.
He was still at my ear when he said, “I want you to think about giving me another baby.”
“I don’t have to think about it. I want a little girl. Talia is getting older. I need a princess to put in frilly dresses.” I paused then added, “Though, I’d take another boy. Boys are the best.”