Open, inviting, mine.
“Yes,” I said, and I’d never been more sure of anything in my life. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He shot upward, his lips instantly connecting with mine. Electricity sparked across my skin, and my insides melted under his touch.
Home.
He was like coming home.
“I love you,” he said against my mouth.
“I love you,” I said, kissing him hard and long and probably way too intimate for the setting.
Applause erupted around us, reminding me exactly where we were and what I was doing. I drew back, but Warren held me close as we turned to face the onlookers. Every guest I’d invited to my banquet was now smiling at us.
Mortified.
“I’m supposed to be hosting,” I whispered to Warren, who laughed.
“All right, all right. Go. Work.”
I intertwined our fingers. “Don’t think I’m letting you go,” I said, and tugged him around the room with me.
After mingling with everyone–including introducing Warren to the owner of the building of my dreams—and checking on the food twice, I was finally able to steal a moment alone with Warren. I pulled him into my office and locked the door behind us.
Warren cocked an eyebrow at me.
“I can’t wait a second longer,” I said.
“Oh, thank God.” He pressed my back against the closed door.
“I’m so sorry,” I said against his kiss. “I was so stupid and scared and—”
His tongue darted over mine, stopping my apology. “No,” he said between kisses. “I was. An idiot. I—”
It was my turn to swallow his words. I sucked on his tongue, relishing the taste of him, the way he made me come alive with just as kiss.
“You really want this? Want us?” I asked, drawing back enough just to catch his eyes.
Nothing but sincerity and love shined back.
“Yes. You’re all I want,” he said, then his brow furrowed. “Are you sure you can handle being married to a Shark?” He asked. “You know what the territory comes with,” he continued. “But I promise you, you and Katherine will always come first. No matter what.”
I smiled, his words soothing every fear I ever had.
A smirk shaped my lips. “I can handle you.”
A flash of a smile before he crushed his lips on mine. His hands gripped my ass as he hefted me upward, and I locked my ankles around his back, my dress hiking up so barely anything separated us. He was already gloriously hard, his perfect cock pressing against my lace panties.
It’d been too long.
Warren kissed my lips, my neck, and nipped at the spot behind my ear. Our touches were hungry, starved, and frantic. I clawed at his dress shirt, bunching up the fabric as I shamelessly ground against him.
“Now,” I said, practically begging him. “We’ll take our time at home.”
“Home,” he growled against my neck while he unzipped his pants. “When I get you there,” he said, teasing the lace with his tip. “I’ll lay you in our bed and worship your body for hours. So much you won’t be able to see straight.”
My eyes rolled back in my head, from his words and his touch.
“Yes,” I said, unable to voice more. “Please.”
He shoved the lace to the side and plunged inside me. I threw my head back, gasping at the contact, and the sweet, sharp way he filled me.
He was hot and hard and perfect.
“God damn,” he growled, pumping as I gripped his shoulders. “I’ve missed you.”
“I love you,” I moaned, rocking my hips in rhythm with his thrusts.
“So damn much,” he agreed, claiming my mouth, sucking on my bottom lip until I keened. “Say it, Nine.”
“You first,” I challenged, our eyes locking.
“You’re mine.” The statement was branding, like fire on my skin.
“I’m yours,” I complied, trembling as he pushed me to the edge.
“And I’ll always be yours,” he said, kissing me so tenderly, such a contrast from the way he dominated me between my legs. “You’ve owned me since that first night.”
“Fuck, Warren,” I moaned, clenching around him.
“Yes,” he said, pinching my ass enough for the bite of pain to push me full-on over the edge. “Love that mouth of yours.”
I tightened my thighs around him, clenching harder until he threw his head back and hissed. He hardened inside me, his release only pressing mine farther, longer, more intense than I’d ever had before. I shook around him, quaked and trembled until I was sure my muscles were no longer solid.
We caught our breath, him holding me against the door like it was nothing. Those massive muscles of his not even flinching at what we’d just done.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, pushing the wild hair back from my face.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Shark.” He laughed, and I smiled against his lips as I bit his bottom lip. “Are you sure you’re ready for a lifetime of this?” I asked, still in awe of what lay before us.
“I’ve never wanted anything more,” he said, no hesitation or doubt or fear in his eyes.
I kissed him again, long and hard and full of my love. I let go of everything that had been holding me back before and submitted myself fully to the way this man loved me.
Loved us.
It was one hell of a place to be.
Epilogue
Warren
Katherine’s eyelids drooped, over and over, as I whispered to her old Shark’s stats until she finally drifted off. I laid her in the crib, taking a few precious seconds to watch her sleep, before quietly heading out.
Jeannine was in the living room, a bottle of champagne in one hand and two flutes in the other. The black silk robe she wore told me she had not a scrap of lace underneath, and my dick twitched at the sight.
The ring on her left finger? That made me full on hard and ready.
Mine.
It had been one month since I proposed to her that night—one month of baby chaos and bliss.
“What are we celebrating?” I asked, my eyes hooded as I greedily raked them over her luscious body. I stood my ground, wanting to draw out the moment, knowing she loved the torture as much as I did.
“I signed on the building today,” she said, her smile warming my chest. “I’m now an owner four times over.”
I took a few steps closer, allowing myself to be within touching distance but keeping my hands to myself.
“That’s wonderful,” I said, taking the flute she handed me. She quickly filled the glass, then
hers, and we clinked them in a cheers. “Congratulations,” I said before taking a sip.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a drink of her own and chasing a few stray drops with her tongue. “I pumped enough earlier today that I’m allowing myself this one glass,” she said. “And I can’t believe there will be a fourth Nine’s.”
“I can,” I said, setting the glass down on the coffee table. “You can do anything you set your mind to.”
She arched a brow. “Are you buttering me up because the season starts tomorrow?”
My shoulders sank, the heat coursing through my blood fizzling. “I’m not, but…”
“But what?” She asked, stepping close enough that her silk covered breasts brushed my chest—the soft, supple contrast to my hard muscles made a hot shiver run down my spine.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about it.”
“You’re the best winger the Sharks have,” she said, trailing a finger over my chest. “You don’t have to worry about the games.”
I growled as she played with the hem of my cotton pants. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
The tease left her eyes as she reached up on her tip-toes and planted a soft kiss on my lips. “I know, Warren.” She smiled. “I’m not worried, though.”
“Honestly?” I asked, knowing me choosing my career over her and the baby had been one of her biggest fears when we first came together.
We’d gotten ten times better at communicating since I’d almost lost her and Katherine because of so many misunderstandings, but we hadn’t actually been tested when it came to shuffling hockey and a family.
Tomorrow a new season would start, and while I knew Jeannine and Katherine would always be the most important things in my life, I didn’t know if she fully believed that yet. Even if we were engaged.
“Honestly,” she said, wrapping an arm around my neck, her body now flush with mine. “You think I’d accept this ring without believing you were giving yourself wholly to me?”
“I never want to lose you.” I pressed my forehead against hers. “Or Katherine. If you asked me to quit, I would.”