“Come here.”
Oh she’d be coming real soon given the size of his erection. The guy was naked—that had been the instruction she’d replied to him. He’d chosen to sit on a dining chair, his cock armed, fully loaded and aiming right at her. He gestured so she walked forward, hitching her skirt to sit on his lap. She chose to straddle him face to face—but didn’t take him yet.
“Do you know what today is?” he asked, idly stroking the inside of her thigh—her weak leg. It’d never be as strong as the other, but that no longer mattered. She shook her head.
“Random fire drill day.”
“Really?”
“Well it was a year ago.”
“So it’s a year since we met?” She slid her hands up his chest and curled them over his gorgeously broad shoulders.
He nodded. “Happy anniversary.” He wrapped his hand round the nape of her neck, pulling her close to kiss her tenderly. Lovingly. But at the same time, the tease lifted her dress to her hips.
“I love you.” He kissed his way down to her collarbones.
But she sensed something wasn’t quite right. He was too tense—not in a purely sexual way. A worried way.
“What’s wrong?” She drew back to look into his eyes as she asked.
He licked his lips and looked her straight in the eye. “Marry me.”
Warmth burst in her chest. It was like all the fireworks in the world had gone off, lighting her from the inside out. “Yes.”
He lifted something from the table beside him. A jewellery box. She hadn’t even noticed it when she’d come in. She’d been too excited about seeing him.
Now she looked at it and then, concerned, looked at the diamond that she still wore on her right hand. Tom’s diamond.
“Shall I take this off?” she whispered. “I should take it off. I’m so sorry. I should have done that months ago.” But it was just there. Part of her. She wasn’t an accessories girl—didn’t wear a different necklace with each outfit. She just wore what she had—which was Tom’s ring. Now she realized how insensitive that might have been.
“No.” Xander’s hand gently covered hers.
“You don’t mind? It doesn’t bother you?”
Xander shook his head. “I feel sorry for him. He had everything. He had you. And you are you, in part, because of him. Loyal, loving. Strong. I’d like to have met him. He sounds like he was a nice guy. And though he’s gone, he’s a part of you and I don’t think you should have to forget about him. So if you want to, wear it.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Xander.” She’d never met a man more generous. More accepting. More loving.
“I don’t feel the need to give you a bigger diamond.” He grinned wryly but his eyes were somber. “To compete. There’s no contest. He’s dead. I’m here now. And I know how happy you are with me.”
He opened the box. The ring he’d selected for her was a sapphire, the blue the exact shade of her eyes. Diamonds sat on either side.
“You can wear both rings,” he said. “One on each hand.”
It was beautiful. But she could hardly see it through her tears. “I don’t deserve this,” she struggled to speak with the huge lump in her throat. “The love of two fine men.”
“You do.” He took the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. “Everyone deserves more than one shot at happiness.” He drew in a breath. “Even me.”
“And I’m so happy,” she whispered.
“You love me.” His eyes burned into hers and she read the rawness in them. “You need me.”
She nodded, cupping his jaw. “And you love me. You need me.”
“More than you’ll ever know.”
She lifted up a fraction and slid onto him, locking tight onto his body. He looked up at her—the most gorgeous, confident, vulnerable smile in his eyes.
There was a time for play and a time for nothing but love. This was nothing but slow, sweet love. He was her beautiful lifesaver.
“I love you so much.” She held her breath as the sensations build so unbearably.
“Breathe for me,” he said hoarsely. Holding her, rocking her to pleasure. “Breathe for me.”
“Kiss me so I can.”
And, as always, he did.
THE END
Be sure to read all the titles in the ‘Be for Me’ series:
BREATHE FOR ME (Xander)
BEG FOR ME (Logan)
BARED FOR ME (Rocco)
BOUND FOR ME (Connor)
BLAZE FOR ME (Austin)
BROKEN FOR ME (Hunter)
To keep up to date with Natalie’s release schedule, subscribe to her newsletter.
And if you’ve enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review online with your favorite e-book retailer.
Now read on to learn more about the other stories in the series...
BEG FOR ME
One mistake means she’s his to marry?
No one needs an image overhaul more than Logan Hughes. His notoriety has reached epic proportions thanks to a sex clip circulating on the Internet. But when his newly contracted social media manager inadvertently tweets his happiness at his engagement, he—along with the rest of the world—is astounded.
With one wrong click of a button Min Jones just committed career suicide. Mixing up her client’s account wouldn’t have been so bad if he had only a few followers... unfortunately he has almost a million. Summoned to meet with him face-to-face, she’s more tongue-tied than ever when he announces that his engagement is to stand and that she’s to be his supposed fiancée.
With her career on the line Min agrees but she isn’t going to hide away meek and mild. If Logan Hughes wants a fiancée, he’s going to have to play by her rules and that means he’ll have to learn to handle some restraint…
Read BEG FOR ME now.
BARED FOR ME
Danielle Hughes’ longstanding crush on Rocco St Clair has turned her into a virgin spinster ahead of her time. She needs to quit craving the impossible and get control of her life. But this time, running away has gotten her more than she bargained for...
When you owe a man everything, you don’t repay him by sleeping with his sister—no matter how much you might ache for it. Rocco St Clair owes Logan Hughes, so when Logan asks him to mind his runaway sister for the night, he can’t say no. It’s only one night, right?
But Danielle Hughes is temptation incarnate. Forced together in the one hotel room, she’s testing his resolve every innocent way she can. Rocco is determined not to break and take what’s forbidden.
But when control is broken, all will be bared.
Read BARED FOR ME now.
BOUND FOR ME
No names, no repercussions, no regrets...
Tense and tired from working back-to-back bar shifts, Savannah Nash finally lets her guard down, escaping into a moment of passion-fuelled fantasy with the six-foot-two, muscle-packed piece of temptation who’s celebrating his last night in town.
Best. Ever.
But then she discovers who her ultimate lover really is. He’s the reason she came to Summerhill, he’s the one she wanted to make pay.
Revenge or a repeat?
Connor Hughes knows he should have confessed his true identity to the town’s newly crowned ice-princess sooner, but the delicious discovery that the so-called ‘frigid ball-breaker’ is actually hotter than molten metal, makes him question what else she might be hiding. Sure enough, turns out she has his company on her hit list.
Not. Happening.
The woman might hate him, but she also wants him, and he knows exactly how close to keep this enemy.
Bound together by lust and distrust, it’s not just bodies, but hearts, that are about to get burned...
Read BOUND FOR ME now.
BLAZE FOR ME
See. Want. Have…
When Austin Tate busts Nicoletta Valeri in a blistering moment of voyeuristic orgasm-envy, it’s the perfect chance for some much-needed payback, but instead she’s lit a fire in him that can be extinguished by only the one thing…
Read BLAZE FOR ME now.
BROKEN FOR ME
Desire. Denial. Desolation...
Nothing is more important to Luisa Williams than her freedom to explore new destinations, new jobs, new connections... She never spends more than a few weeks in any one place because life is too short to stand still.
But when she meets Hunter Shaw, her instinct is to stop and stare and—to her horror—move closer. Her wild attraction to him stuns her, but his silent inscrutability puts her on edge. She suspects he sees that she hides secrets...
Retrieval specialist Hunter Shaw’s survival depends on his ability not to become emotionally involved with anyone or anything. He has intimate understanding of loss and betrayal and isn’t about to score himself a repeat of either. But he sees suffering in the eyes of the capricious, determined, gorgeous woman who so defiantly turns her back on him. Still, her hidden desolation isn’t his problem, right?