AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When the last patrons finally left, I didn’t waste any time. The guys knew I wanted to leave as soon as possible. They urged me to, even as the fights were still happening, but I needed to convince myself. To make sure everything went okay, that it was a triumph.
For almost eleven at night, there was an annoyingly high amount of traffic on the streets of Queenscove, and it made the drive more aggravating than it should have been. But as I step through the door of my penthouse and catch a glimpse of silky light brown hair flowing gently in the breeze, all that annoyance dissipates.
She stands on the terrace, leaning against the railing as she looks toward the sea, the moon lighting a trail across the soft waves. The doors are open, and the sheer curtains flow inside the space on the same rhythm as her hair. Even now, three or so months later, I still can’t believe how close I came to losing her. How lucky I am that I get to watch her like this… peaceful, healthy.
I don’t know when I started walking again, but I’ve passed the threshold onto the terrace, and Annika slowly tilts her head to the side. An invitation.
Two more steps, and I’ve closed the distance between us, slid my arms around her middle, and buried my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her intoxicating scent. She leans into my hold, laying her forearms on mine.
“So… how did it go?” she asks hesitantly.
“Better than I thought. It’s all going to be okay,” I say between kisses I dot along her neck.
Her body relaxes against mine, like this whole time I was away, she’s been in a constant state of tension. Maybe she was. I think I was too. I slide one hand down, stopping on her belly, where a bump has appeared. She hasn’t popped yet, but the slight curve of that belly is unmistakable.
“Let’s go to bed,” I say, reluctantly pulling away from her neck.
“Can we sit here for a bit? Please?”
I’m not sure why she’s asking for my permission.
I pull her with me as I head to one of the outdoor armchairs, sit down, and guide her on my lap. We’re still facing the view, the calmness of the sea and quietness of the late hour almost hypnotizing. Although she’s the one truly hypnotizing here, because it’s her I can’t tear my eyes off.
She turns to me when my gaze burns her skin, and I don’t get to take the next breath before she captures my face in her soft palms and presses her lips against mine.
I never really enjoyed kissing that much before her. It was always a means to an end, and if I could avoid it, I usually did. But with Annika, it’s addictive, her supple lips, the way she nibbles on mine, before she takes me like she wants to eat me alive.
I could kiss her forever.
I could kiss her for the rest of our lives.
“Annika…” I say against her lips.
“Mmm?” She doesn’t break the kiss.
“Marry me.”
ANNIKA
Did he just ask me to…?
I freeze against his mouth, wide-eyed, as I slowly pull away and break the kiss.
No… he didn’t actually ask me.
His blue eyes sparkle with something like hope in the light of this bright moon.
“Are you asking me, or…?”
“I don’t think I can give you the choice. I want to marry you, Annika.”
“What if I don’t want to marry you?”
Something dark flashes in his gaze.
“Don’t you?”
“I need to know why.”
