Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Shannon
“I found a truck,” I tell Jamie, rushing into our bedroom with his laptop in my hands.
We moved into an apartment his father owns on the Philadelphia waterfront after graduation, where we’ve lived for the past six months. Jamie said he couldn’t live without me by his side, and he meant it. Since that day in the game room, we have been inseparable.
“I want to buy it.” I add, “But the seller says it needs some work. You’re good with just about everything. Any chance you know how to fix engines?”
With a goofy look on his handsome face, he rolls his chair out from in front of his computer desk.
Jamie spends a lot of time in his office now that he’s working on expanding the world he created in Quest for Shanaya.
The game is so popular among beta testers that he’s about to launch the full version to the world in the next few months.
“Let me see.” He meets me at the center of the room, taking the laptop from my hand. “Not a terrible deal considering its condition.”
Jamie glances at the listing I found online for a food truck. It’s an old metal truck with a pop-up awning that’s rusted in certain places and could use some TLC. It needs a lot of love, actually.
“So, the owner says it needs a lot of work, but the price is right.” I press my hand to his shoulder, and he peeks up at me with wide blue eyes. “Don’t you think?”
He sets the computer on the floor and pulls me onto his lap. “Just let me buy a new one for you, Shan. Then you can use the money you saved to get started. You’ll need equipment and supplies to open Shake-and-Cake.”
“Jamie, no…” I brush my fingers down his arm, and tiny bumps dot along his skin. “I don’t want a handout. I have to do this on my own, but this is all I can afford.”
Jamie has more money than he knows what to do with, and I have just enough to buy a shitty truck.
Now that he’s the Chief Technology Officer of his dad’s new company, JMG Developers, named after him and his siblings—Jamie, Mike, and Grace—he’s even wealthier.
They’re building their second tech empire, and the game Jamie created for me is their star product.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” he says, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”
I close my eyes and kiss him back, my skin burning from his touch. “I want to buy it,” I whisper against his lips. “Do you think you can fix the engine? Maybe help me salvage some exterior metal that’s rusted and give it a little shine?”
“Killian is good with cars,” he says, leaning back in the chair to look into my eyes. “I can call him. He owes me a favor.”
“I thought Killian was only good at stealing cars,” I quip.
Killian Kade stole my sorority sister’s car from the covered parking lot on campus. She waited months to tell us the truth, and I don’t blame her. What Killian did was unreal. But he had a good reason, or at least she thought so.
Jamie chuckles at my comment. “Killian’s good at that, too. If he can’t fix the truck, I’m sure one of his friends can. They own an auto body shop in South Philly. I’ll make him give me the friends and family discount,” he finishes with a wink.
I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him hard, my head swimming.
He squeezes me tight, muttering all the dirty things he wants to do to me between breaths.
We sink into each other, our mouths melded together, our bodies fused as one.
Without breaking the kiss, I push my skirt over my hips and slide my panties to the side.
Jamie’s already unbuttoning his jeans, his hard cock fisted in his hand.
I moan as I lower onto him, and Jamie grips my hips, digging his fingers into my sides. He hisses as he fills me completely. The sexy expression on his face sends me over the edge. Jamie has the body of a Greek god and the mind of a genius. He’s the perfect combination—smart, sexy, and all mine.
I press my hands on his shoulders, moving in unison with him. Jamie leans forward to pull down my top, and when he sucks on my nipple, an intense pleasure rocks through my body.
“Oh my God, Jamie,” I cry out, riding him even harder, chasing the high we’re both craving.
“That’s it, Shan,” he says, his voice deep like gravel, his breath warming my nipple. “Come for me, baby.”
“I forgot to take my pill,” I warn.
I’ve been so busy lately planning for my new business that I keep forgetting to do routine things.
“I don’t care,” he growls. “You’re mine. Forever. Always.”
I smile at his words and press my lips to his.
He slips his tongue into my mouth, each kiss bringing me closer to the peak of my climax.
My orgasm floods through me, the sheer intensity of it causing my body to tighten as I find my release.
He grips my hips, his fingers pressing hard into my skin.
Jamie’s not far behind me, and when he comes, his entire body trembles, shaking through me.
I collapse on top of him, out of breath and unable to speak, resting my head on his shoulder.
“I have a surprise for you,” he says, still a little winded.
I perk up at the mention of a surprise. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
He waves me off as if it’s nothing and lifts me off his lap. I fix my skirt and panties into place as he stuffs himself back into his pants. Jamie rolls the chair back over to his desk.
He has four computer monitors on his desk. I do not understand what any of it means. Some of it is code, I think. I can’t even read HTML without asking him a hundred questions, and that’s nowhere near as hard as the other languages.
Jamie pats his thigh for me to sit and then hooks his arm around my back to keep me in place. “I wrote a new ending to Quest for Shanaya.”
“How come? I thought it was ready.”
He flashes a devious grin. “Because Shanaya’s life is about to change.”
“Oh, is that so?” I raise an eyebrow at him, curious about his recent addition. “Let me play my game.”
“Your game,” he snorts.
“Am I not Shanaya?”
He nods and then kisses my cheek. “I made a few changes since the last time you played with me. I think you’ll like what I did.”
Instead of playing on a gaming console, he resumes the game from his computer. Quest for Shanaya and the entire Dragonbane World appears on the screen. I already slayed the dragon, drank his blood, and secured my position as the Queen of Dragonbane, but Jamie still hasn’t joined me.
His character, the Lord of Winterbourne, is one kill away from becoming worthy of my hand in marriage.
And that’s when it hits me—the reason Jamie has waited so long to win his own game.
He should have won six months ago. Hitting the buttons on the keyboard, Jamie looks focused, determined to win this time.
Instead of playing the game, he enters a few commands.
Cheat codes he could have used months ago.
If anyone knows how to beat the last level, it’s Jamie.
As his character approaches Queen Shanaya, my throat closes up.
Jamie takes my hand in his, using the other to touch the side of my face.
With one eye on the screen, I look at Jamie, wondering if the game will imitate real life.
“You’re the queen of my world,” he declares, his tone soft but serious. “And now that I’m king, I want to be at your side. I want us to rule together.”
Jamie is my life, and I couldn’t imagine spending a single day without him in it.
The corner of his mouth lifts as he reaches into the drawer in front of him. My jaw drops when he raises his open palm to reveal a robin’s egg blue box from Tiffany.
He holds it out to me in offering. I tug on the bow and drop it on the desk. Jamie flips the lid to reveal a small black box. As he cracks open the top, I gasp at the sight of the massive diamond ring nestled inside the velvet.
“I love you, Shannon. You’re the love of my life.”
He turns in his chair to hit a button on the keyboard, and after he does, the Lord of Winterbourne drops to one knee in front of Queen Shanaya. Jamie takes the ring from the box, and then slides me off his lap, sinking to the floor on one knee to mirror his counterpart.
“Shannon, will you marry me?”
I nod, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
Covering my mouth with both hands, I stare down at him in awe. My eyes move from Jamie to the Lord of Winterbourne, who’s frozen in place.
“How come your character isn’t moving?” I ask Jamie, assuming he’s following the lead.
“Because the game is on a loop. I have to satisfy the requirement before I can close it.”
“Speak in English, please,” I say, laughing.
“Give me your hand…” he says with a wicked smirk, “… and I’ll show you.”
I do as he says, and he slides the ring onto my finger, the weight of the platinum and diamond now making this real.
He leans over to tap a few keys, and then his character finishes proposing to Queen Shanaya. She says yes, and instead of the game ending, the throne room disappears, whisking the characters away to another place in the Dragonbane World.
“What’s wrong with it? Is it broken?”
Jamie shakes his head. “No. Just like our love story, the game has no end. It’s on a never-ending loop.”
I shoot him a confused look. “I don’t get it. Doesn’t a game have to end? Won’t your fans get mad?”
“It has multiple endings. Depending on which experience the user chooses, they can live in the Dragonbane World forever.”
“Won’t you lose money?”
“Nope. That’s the beauty of it. The user has to pay to unlock each world. It’s a game with infinite endings and unlimited possibilities.”
“You will be famous, Jamie.” I smack a kiss on his cheek and smile. “This is genius.”
“It’s all because of you, Shan. I couldn’t have coded this without my muse.” He gets up from the floor, and I sit on his lap again. “How do you feel about dressing as Queen Shanaya for the release of the game?”
I laugh so hard it shakes through him. “Are you serious? You want me to dress up as a video game character?”
He nods, his expression serious. “I’ll wear the Lord of Winterbourne costume if you will come dressed as my queen.”
I admire the giant rock on my finger for a second before my eyes meet his. “As long as I don’t have to get married in the costume, we have a deal.”
He chuckles. “I would never ask you to do that. But I might beg you every time there’s a convention. Fans get kind of attached to the characters.”
“Did you have a crush on a character when you were younger?”
Jamie smirks. “Yeah. I guess my first crush was on Sonya Blade from Mortal Kombat.”
“I liked Johnny Cage,” I admit, and he laughs.
“Lara Croft…” he adds, “… was another one I had a crush on. She’s way too cliché, though, because every guy had a hard-on for her.”
“Well, now you have Queen Shanaya to sit on your boner,” I joke.
Jamie laughs against my neck, hugging me against his chest. “You’re so perfect, Shan.” He stills for a second and then continues, “Now that you’ve made me the happiest man on the planet, it’s time to make your dreams a reality.”
“Don’t buy me anything,” I warn. “The ring’s enough.” I hold it up to examine it again. “This thing probably costs more than my parents’ house.”
“Nah, not that much,” he says.
“Close enough?”
He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about the money. What’s mine is yours.”
“I’m serious about doing this on my own, Jamie. Promise you won’t get involved.”
“I promise. But at least let me call the seller and make the arrangements with Killian.”
I plant a quick kiss on his lips. “Okay, but that’s it.” I slide off his lap, holding my hand out to him. “C’mon, let’s get in the shower.”
“Whatever you say, Queen Shanaya,” he jokes, taking my hand.