“Done,” she repeated.
His mouth fell open as if he were going to say something and then he stopped himself. “Did you just agree?”
“Yes.”
A huge grin spread. “You’ll move in? You’ll take over the catering side of the business? You’ll marry me?”
She held up a finger. “That last part is not official until you wow me with a proposal.”
He smiled even broader. “Done.” And then he kissed the sense out of her until she forgot who she was and didn’t even want to come up for air.
Chapter 30
Two months later…
* * *
Elizabeth was miserable. She’d had the flu for four days. Nothing would stay down, and she hardly wanted to get out of bed. Even though Flynn still hadn’t proposed to her, this was the first time one of them had been sick, so they’d put the whole in-sickness-and-in-heath concept to the test in a big way.
Flynn had doted on her every day, telling her not to worry about work, holding her hair back when she vomited, and drawing her more than one bath a day because the warm water made her feel almost human most of the time.
She was lying in the tub now, breathing slowly as the nausea subsided once again. When she opened her eyes, she was shocked to find Flynn entering the bathroom. He had three things in his hands, a dozen red roses and two presents. One of the boxes was longer like a necklace. The other was clearly ring-sized.
Her breath caught. Surely he wouldn’t ask her to marry him while she was sick and naked in the tub. She didn’t have the energy to even celebrate such an event between the sheets.
They’d had the most amazing sex for the last ten weeks until she got sick. Every room of the house. She’d submitted to him on every damn surface, even adding bondage and impact toys she never would have expected to tolerate after what happened to her. But this was Flynn. She trusted him completely. Phil no longer held any power over her.
“Flynn?”
He looked nervous. He was never nervous. Yeah, he was going to propose. “Hear me out. I have my reasons.”
She nodded, though she couldn’t imagine what his reasons would be. This wasn’t the time or place for the proposal she’d hoped for.
He set the roses on the counter, but she immediately recoiled, bile rising in her throat at the smell. “Shit,” he muttered, quickly removing them from the room. He was back two minutes later. “Sorry. Guess the smell didn’t agree with you. I put them outside.”
She moaned. “I’m sorry, Flynn. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.”
He held out the smaller box. “Open it.”
Her hands were wet, but she took it from him, not even close to understanding his game plan. After removing the soggy wrapping paper, she slowly lifted the lid while he lowered to one knee.
A tear fell down her face as he took the box back, held it so that she was staring at the diamond solitaire, and swallowed deeply before saying. “Elizabeth Kepler, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
She was crying now, which upset her stomach, but she forced herself to keep the urge to vomit at bay. “Yes, Flynn. Yes, Sir. I’d be honored.” She’d be even more honored if she had any freaking clue why he was doing this now.
“I would have waited for you to feel better. I had a whole plan. My entire family was in on it. It was going to be amazing, but then you got sick, and I couldn’t wait any longer. So here we are. I promise to reenact my original plan when you’re feeling better.”
“And you were so impatient that you couldn’t wait until then?” She was beyond confused.
He took the ring out of the box and set the box on the counter. His fingers were shaking as he slid the gorgeous diamond on her wet finger. “Yeah, circumstances caused me to move up my plans.”
“Circumstances?”
He held out the second box without delay. “Open this one.”
She took it from him, skeptical. After once again removing the soggy paper with her wet fingers, she nearly dropped the box into the tub.
Flynn had to reach out and catch it.
She stared at it, knowing exactly what it was, heart racing, denial her first thought. “A pregnancy test? You think I might be pregnant?”
He nodded. “Maybe I’m wrong, but I spoke to Shelly and my mom and they both agreed it was the most likely explanation for the reason you’ve been so sick.”
“I have the flu,” she insisted, not willing to let herself hope for such a miracle.
“Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. There’s only one way to find out. Think about it. You don’t have a fever. You don’t have a sore throat or a cough or congestion or any other symptoms. All you have is this unrelenting nausea.”
“And you think it’s morning sickness? But I have it all damn day,” she pointed out, her body shivering now as though the water had cooled.
“I googled it. Some women experience morning sickness all the time. It usually only lasts for the first trimester, but it can happen at all hours.”
She gasped. “The first trimester? That’s twelve weeks?” She couldn’t imagine being this sick for that long. On the other hand, she’d be grateful every single time she leaned over the toilet if it meant she was pregnant.
“You gonna get out of the tub and pee on this stick?” He was already tearing it out of the box and reading the instructions. “One line not pregnant. Two lines pregnant,” he announced triumphantly.
It was difficult not to absorb his enthusiasm. She also worried he would be incredibly disappointed if it were negative. “Flynn…”
“E, I’m good either way. I just think it’s time we knew. If you’re pregnant, great. If you’re not, you need a doctor.”
“Sounds like I’ll need a doctor either way.”
“True.” He stood and held out a hand.
She took it and let him help her out of the tub. She also let him dry her off. He did so often, obviously enjoying the act of service. Since she also loved the attention, she never complained.
He nodded toward the toilet. “Don’t think about it. Just do it.”
She padded toward the commode, and took the small stick that would define the rest of their lives from his hand. They’d thrown all modesty out the window as soon as she moved in, so peeing in front of him didn’t bother her. It might have been a bit weird and awkward since she had to hold the stick between her legs, but she did it and then she even handed it back to him.
A minute later, she was bundled in a towel, and the two of them were sitting on the edge of the bed. Their fate was still in the bathroom on the counter. A timer was set. She had never been so nervous, and the clock ticked very slowly.
Flynn wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close. “I love you so much. I mean it that this isn’t a deal breaker. If it’s negative, we try again. We have other options we can explore.”
She started breathing heavily. From the moment they’d had the original discussion and stopped using condoms, she’d found herself longing for a family she’d never allowed herself to imagine. Every time she held Adriana, she fell deeper under the spell. One time they’d even kept the baby overnight so that Shelly and Matt could have one night alone for their anniversary. The two of them had lasted about eight hours total, arriving super early in the morning because they couldn’t sleep without their infant.
Elizabeth couldn’t blame them. The baby was precious. There were no words. And Elizabeth’s biological clock had kicked into overdrive.
“They say being around another baby can change your hormones and make you more fertile,” Flynn had told her that day. She hadn’t believed him. She hadn’t permitted herself the kind of hope she was feeling right now.
Flynn’s alarm went off on his watch, and he turned her to face him. “You’re mine either way. Forever. In sickness and in health. Understood?”
She nodded, but words wouldn’t come.
“Tell me.”
“I’m yours,” she murmured.
“Alwa
ys. No matter what. We’ll get through everything life tosses at us together.”
“Always.”
He gave her a long hug, finally letting her go and leaving her there to pad across the room that was suddenly much larger. Five seconds later, he returned with the stick in his hand, swinging at his side.
“Well?” She asked.
“I didn’t look at it yet.”
She waited.
He held it against his thigh.
“Are you planning to?” The suspense was killing her. One way or the other she needed to know. Now.
Flynn took a deep breath and lifted the stick in front of his face. He blinked several times and shook the stick as if that would change anything.
Those seconds caused her to accept the fact that it was probably negative.
But then he smiled. Small at first and then broader. And then he dropped the stick, rushed across the room, and grabbed her off the bed to hold her in his arms. “We’re going to have a baby.” He spun her around.
She couldn’t process his words, or maybe she wouldn’t allow herself that kind of happiness yet, but what she did know was that she was going to vomit. “Flynn. Stop. Put me down. I’m going to throw up again.”
“Shit. Sorry.” He set her on her feet and she ran to the bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time for the last five saltines she’d eaten to expel themselves from her stomach.
Flynn was right behind her, holding her hair back and then wiping her face with a cold wet washcloth.
When she was certain the nausea had passed, she sat back, leaning against the wall, grinning. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He raced from the room and returned a moment later to hold out the stick. Two lines.
“I can’t even allow myself to believe it.”
“Believe it, E. It’s true. We’re going to be parents.”
She glanced around the room. “You just proposed to me while I was naked and sick in the bathtub.”
“I wanted our baby to at least know his or her parents were madly in love and already engaged before we knew we were pregnant.”
Elizabeth giggled. She couldn’t stop. For the first time in days she didn’t even feel nauseous from the movement. She sat there on the bathroom floor, knowing she would never forget this moment in her entire life. She memorized it. Her entire world had changed in less than five minutes in their master bath. Naked. Even the towel was no longer securely wrapped around her.
“I love you, Elizabeth.”
“I love you too, Flynn.”
“We’re going to be okay, you know. No matter what. As long as we’re together, we can do anything.”
She knew what he meant. Hell, this man had taken her ugly world and turned it into something beautiful in such a short time. He’d erased all the bad that happened to her by replacing it with good. He was solid and trustworthy. Even when he dominated her, he took care to make sure she was on the same page every step of the way. She hadn’t had a single nightmare from the moment she started sleeping in his bed.
She had started submitting to him at Zodiac the next time they’d returned. The world hadn’t stopped spinning. No one batted an eye. She got several compliments on her gracefulness and beauty in fact. Lots of people were switches. It wasn’t something worth confessing on a neon sign. It just happened, and then she felt another weight lift off her shoulders.
Life wouldn’t always be perfect. It would have its ups and downs. There was no guarantee she wouldn’t have a miscarriage, or something else could go wrong. They were realists. But they would be okay together. Better than okay. They could survive anything as long as they had each other.
I hope you’ve enjoyed Tempting Elizabeth. Please enjoy the following excerpt from Raising Lucy, the first book in my Surrender series.
“It’s done.”
I spin my desk chair around to find Julius, the manager of my club and the only man I would trust with the task I’ve assigned him. He drops a thick file on my desk. “You’re sure?” I lift a brow, my heart pounding. If I pull this off…
Julius narrows his gaze. “Roman, you insult me.”
I blow out a breath and open the file. Her picture is on top. I run my hands over the page, caressing it. Julius Polk is one of my oldest friends. He’s also one of only two people who do not call me Master Roman or Sir. The other is our mutual friend Claudia Renault. Everyone else in my life refers to me using a respectful title.
“You think she’ll be here tonight?” I ask, not lifting my gaze from her photo.
“I can’t guarantee that, but if she doesn’t show, we’ll move to plan B or even plan C. This will work.”
I nod.
Julius leaves me alone once more in my enormous office on the second story of my Seattle fetish club, Surrender.
I close my eyes, willing my heart to slow down. This reaction is so unlike me. I don’t want any of my employees to see me nervous. I have a reputation in Seattle as one of the most severe Doms. I’ve earned that reputation intentionally. It’s not just a reputation. It’s my life. I’m demanding. I’m strict. I get what I want.
And I want Lucy Neill.
She is mine.
She is my girl.
My life.
My world.
She just doesn’t know it yet.
Also by Becca Jameson
Canyon Springs:
Caleb’s Mate
Hunter’s Mate
* * *
Corked and Tapped:
Aria
Grace
Brooklyn
Jade
Clara
Rose
Ivy
Maddie
Blaire
Devin
Paris
Andrea
Volume One: Friday Night
Volume Two: Company Party
Volume Three: The Holidays
* * *
Surrender:
Raising Lucy
Teaching Abby
Leaving Roman
* * *
Project DEEP:
Reviving Emily
Reviving Trish
Reviving Dade
Reviving Zeke
Reviving Graham
Reviving Bianca
Reviving Olivia
Project DEEP Box Set One
Project DEEP Box Set Two
* * *
SEALs in Paradise:
Hot SEAL, Red Wine
Hot SEAL, Australian Nights
Hot SEAL, Cold Feet
* * *
Dark Falls:
Dark Nightmares
* * *
Club Zodiac:
Training Sasha
Obeying Rowen
Collaring Brooke
Mastering Rayne
Trusting Aaron
Claiming London
Sharing Charlotte
Taming Rex
Tempting Elizabeth
Club Zodiac Box Set One
Club Zodiac Box Set Two
* * *
The Art of Kink:
Pose
Paint
Sculpt
* * *
Arcadian Bears:
Grizzly Mountain
Grizzly Beginning
Grizzly Secret
Grizzly Promise
Grizzly Survival
Grizzly Perfection
Arcadian Bears Box Set One
Arcadian Bears Box Set Two
* * *
Sleeper SEALs:
Saving Zola
* * *
Spring Training:
Catching Zia
Catching Lily
Catching Ava
Spring Training Box Set
* * *
The Underground series:
Force
Clinch
Guard
Submit
Thrust
Torque
The Underground Box Set One
The Underground Box Set Two
Saving Sofia (Special Forces: Operations Alpha)
* * *
Wolf Masters series:
Kara’s Wolves
Lindsey’s Wolves
Jessica’s Wolves
Alyssa’s Wolves
Tessa’s Wolf
Rebecca’s Wolves
Melinda’s Wolves
Laurie’s Wolves
Amanda’s Wolves
Sharon’s Wolves
Wolf Masters Box Set One
Wolf Masters Box Set Two
* * *
Claiming Her series:
The Rules
The Game
The Prize
* * *
Emergence series:
Bound to be Taken
Bound to be Tamed
Bound to be Tested
Bound to be Tempted
Emergence Box Set
* * *
The Fight Club series:
Come
Perv
Need
Hers
Want
Lust
The Fight Club Box Set One
The Fight Club Box Set Two
* * *
Wolf Gatherings series:
Tarnished
Dominated
Completed
Redeemed
Abandoned
Betrayed
Wolf Gatherings Box Set One
Wolf Gathering Box Set Two
* * *
Durham Wolves series:
Rescue in the Smokies
Fire in the Smokies
Freedom in the Smokies
* * *