He let me work him for a long time before he grabbed a handful of my hair that was slowly but surely growing in, and yanked me up.
A savage curse escaped him as my gaze found his.
He said nothing else, just dragged me up onto his lap, and slipped his cock up and down my cleft before pressing it against the entrance to my body, waiting for me to slide down his thick length.
“Faster, baby,” he demanded, voice rough, after I started to ride him slow and tentative because I knew it would drive him crazy, would give him a hint of the unmet need he’d given me a moment before.
When I didn’t immediately comply, he let out a grumble as he dropped flat on the mattress, grabbed my hips to hold them into place, and started to thrust up into me.
Fast.
So freaking fast that the orgasm built and built then exploded through my system before I could even brace myself for it, leaving me crying out his name as I fell apart.
He followed with me, slamming deep, and coming with my name on his lips.
“Never get sick of that,” he mumbled a while later, his hands running through my hair.
“Me either. But I’m still going to make you pay for that eventually.”
“Love, I’m fucking looking forward to it,” he told me, making a giggle escape me. “You got anything going on tomorrow?” he asked.
“Ah, nope, not that I can think of. Why?”
“Because I have a surprise for you.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“If I told you that, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” he said, rolling his eyes at me when I pushed up to look down at him. “It’s a good surprise, I promise,” he told me. “But you will have to wear a blindfold,” he warned me, knowing that was the kind of detail I would need ahead of time.
“Ah… okay.”
“Just for a couple minutes,” he assured me.
“Okay,” I agreed, nodding.
I had no reason to be worried.
I trusted him.
Literally with my life.
I could trust him with a blindfolded me if it meant some kind of fun surprise.
“Okay,” he agreed, eyes soft.
Cary - 8 months and 1 day
I knew the blindfold was making her anxious.
In general, surprises put her a little on edge. Which was understandable after all she’d been through.
But I knew this would be worth it.
So many pieces had just fallen into place at once.
First, I was going through some of my old shit, and I found it.
The letter.
And it lined up with a very specific date.
And then I saw the ring.
It was like the universe was pushing me to do it now.
Sure, I could have waited another year for the next anniversary of the day.
But it felt right.
I had no doubts about us.
She hadn’t shown me any either.
It was now or never.
So I got the plan into motion.
I reserved the hotel.
I got the blindfold, with some help from Billie.
“Not too much further,” I assured her, giving her hand a squeeze as we moved through the eerily silent lobby.
I’d reached out to them before and asked them to not spoil the surprise. They’d been all-too-happy to agree. Everyone wanted to be a part of a big, romantic event.
We’d moved into the elevator.
“Don’t be nervous,” I urged, even if my own nerves were a little raw.
I’d never been a nervous person. I didn’t stress about shit.
But if there was one thing a man could worry about, it was the love of his whole damn life turning down a future with him.
“I’m only a little nervous,” she admitted as the doors opened, and we made our way across the hall.
It was the first room we’d stayed in.
Not the one I’d killed Raúl in.
Both were significant to us, but I didn’t think the place I murdered someone in screamed romance.
I slipped the keycard into the door, praying she didn’t know the secret yet.
Pushing the door open, I saw something unexpected.
Hope.
In the middle of spreading pink rose petals—Abigail’s favorite—not only over the bed, but the nightstands and the desk. And that was on top of the dozen or more vases of flowers spread around everywhere. And the bucket of champagne and flutes.
Hope.
The woman who claimed not to believe in love. And yet always found herself wrapped up in everyone else’s love stories.
Her finger rose to her lips as she silently grabbed her keys and tiptoed toward the door.
Thank you I mouthed to her as she passed.
She completely ignored that. And, I imagined, would pretend like she had no part in this big event if I ever brought it up again.
The door closed, prompting me to move Abigail into place as I moved around her.
Reaching into my pocket, I drew out the ring, then got down on my knee.
“Okay, love, take off the blindfold,” I encouraged.
Abigail took a slow, deep breath, then reached up to pull it off.
Her eyes fluttered open a second after the blindfold moved away. And I got to watch the surprise and disbelief as her eyes moved around the hotel room. And then, finally, fell on me.
“It’s November tenth,” I told her. “This is the date of the first letter you sent to me,” I said, watching as her lower lip trembled a little as I flipped open the box. “And this is the ring,” I added as she moved closer to look in the box.
She’d told me once, a year or so into writing, about this ring she’d found at a store, one she talked about with so much longing. Because she knew she wouldn’t be allowed to buy herself something like it.
I imagined the one she saw was fake, but the one I’d come across was genuine. A simple round diamond on a band made of rose gold vines with little pink diamond side stones dotted on the vine like flowers.
“Oh my God,” she hissed, dropping down onto her knees in front of me, both hands reaching toward the box. “How did you…” she started, looking up at me with tears in those gorgeous gray eyes of hers.
“Fate,” I said, shrugging. Because there was nothing else I could have called it.
I’d never seen a ring like it in my life before.
And what were the chances of me coming across the exact replica of the one she’d once wanted so badly just at the right time?
It seemed a hell of a lot like a grand design to me.
“Fate,” she agreed as the first tear slid down her cheek. “Yes,” she said, nodding. “Yes, it was fate. And just… yes. A thousand times yes.”
I slipped the ring on her finger before sealing my lips over hers.
Only to move back when she, unexpectedly, let out a laugh.
“What?” I asked, smiling when she struggled to compose her face.
“It’s just… I’m really, really glad you went to prison,” she said, smiling.
“I never thought I would say this, love, but so am I.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
IF YOU LIKED this book, check out these other series and titles in the NAVESINK BANK UNIVERSE:
The Henchmen MC
Reign
Cash
Wolf
Repo
Duke
Renny
Lazarus
Pagan
Cyrus
Edison
Reeve
Sugar
The Fall of V
Adler
Roderick
Virgin
Roan
Camden
West
Colson
Henchmen MC Next Gen
Niro
Malcolm
Rowe
The Savages
Monster
Killer
Savior
Mall
ick Brothers
For A Good Time, Call
Shane
Ryan
Mark
Eli
Charlie & Helen: Back to the Beginning
Investigators
367 Days
14 Weeks
4 Months
Dark
Dark Mysteries
Dark Secrets
Dark Horse
Professionals
The Fixer
The Ghost
The Messenger
The General
The Babysitter
The Middle Man
The Negotiator
The Client
The Cleaner
The Executioner
Rivers Brothers
Lift You Up
Lock You Down
Pull You In
Grassi Family
The Woman at the Docks
The Women in the Scope
The Woman in the Wrong Place
Golden Glades Henchmen MC
Huck
Che
McCoy
STANDALONES WITHIN NAVESINK BANK:
Vigilante
Grudge Match
NAVESINK BANK LEGACY SERIES:
The Rise of Ferryn
Counterfeit Love
OTHER SERIES AND STANDALONES:
Stars Landing
What The Heart Wants
What The Heart Finds
What The Heart Knows
The Stars Landing Deviant
What The Heart Learns
Surrogate
The Sex Surrogate
Dr. Chase Hudson
The Green Series
Into the Green
Escape from the Green
Seven Sins MC
The Sacrifice
The Healer
The Thrall
Costa Family
The Woman in the Trunk
The Woman in the Back Room
DEBT
Dissent
Stuffed: A Thanksgiving Romance
Unwrapped
Peace, Love, & Macarons
A Navesink Bank Christmas
Don’t Come
Fix It Up
N.Y.E.
faire l’amour
Revenge
There Better Be Pie
Ugly Sweater Weather
I Like Being Watched
The Woman with the Ring
CHAPTER NINETEEN
JESSICA GADZIALA IS a full-time writer, parrot enthusiast, and coffee drinker who has an unhealthy obsession with acquiring houseplants. She enjoys short rides to the book store, sad songs, and cold weather. She lives in New Jersey with her parrots, dogs, bunnies, and a whole flock of chickens.
She is very active on Goodreads, Facebook, as well as her personal groups on those sites. Join in. She’s friendly.
CHAPTER TWENTY
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