Jake
Hannah gasped his name, fingers digging into his back, legs tight around his waist, holding him close—closer—like she needed him just as much as he needed her. And God, did he need her.
It wasn't just the sex. Wasn't just the heat and slick, the way she moaned when he hit just the right spot, the way her nails raked down his spine, sending fire through his veins. It was her. The way she looked at him now. Without fear, without walls. The way she trusted him now.
No more secrets. No more lies.
He thrust deeper, a groan torn from his throat as her body clenched around him, hard and bare inside her. No barrier between them.
"Jake," she gasped, her head falling back against the pillows.
"Yeah, sweetheart," he rasped, his lips brushing her neck, her collarbone, the soft swell of her breast.
She was everything.
And he was about to spend the rest of his life proving it.
He buried his face against her throat, breathing her in.
Hannah whimpered as he rocked into her again, her body trembling beneath him.
Jake had been looking forward to proposing for weeks.
Every time he caught Hannah laughing in the bakery, or singing off-key in the car, or curled up against him at night, he thought about it.
Thought about how she'd look with his ring on her finger.
Thought about the moment she'd say yes and he'd get to spend the rest of his life proving that he was exactly where he was supposed to be—with her.
He had it all planned.
But now, her body wrapped around his, her lips gasping his name, he realized something else.
They'd made a promise—no more lies, no more secrets.
And suddenly, this—this—felt like a secret.
So, as her body trembled beneath him, as he buried himself deeper inside her, he pressed his forehead to hers and murmured, "I have to tell you something."
Hannah whimpered, her fingers digging into his shoulders, her thighs tightening around him. "Tell me later."
"No." He slowed, dragging another gasp from her lips, but his voice was steady.
Her brows furrowed slightly, but her body responded before her brain could catch up—hips rising, thighs tightening, breath hitching.
Jake groaned, gripping the headboard for control, but his voice was steady when he spoke.
"I'm gonna propose next month." Another thrust. Slow, deep, meaningful. "Took your grandmother's ring to be reset. Got the whole thing planned."
Hannah gasped, her eyes wide, her hands tightening on his shoulders, her entire body tensing around him. "Jake—"
"Romantic as hell," he murmured against her lips. "Lake house. Candlelight dinner. Fairy lights strung up everywhere." Another deep, deliberate stroke. "Gonna get down on one knee, tell you how much I love you, tell you I'd spend forever making up for every mistake—"
She cried out, her body clenching so hard around him that he nearly lost it.
Jake groaned, his head falling forward, forehead pressing against hers, squeezing his eyes shut against the tight pressure of her around him as pleasure caught her.
Her body arched, her nails biting into his skin as she shattered around him. "Yes," she gasped, and then again, desperate and breathless, "Yes, Jake. Yes."
Jake groaned, his control slipping, his body pounding into her, chasing hers over the edge. "I love you." His voice was low, a promise, as he came deep inside her. "Always."
The world blurred, their bodies tangled, breaths heavy, hearts pounding as they came back to earth.
Hannah let out a shaky, breathless laugh. "You just proposed while inside me."
Jake grinned, pressing lazy kisses to her bare shoulder, her jaw, the corner of her mouth. "Technically, I didn't, I just told you about the proposal I planned."
She laughed again, pure and real, and something deep in Jake's chest cracked open at the sound.
"Guess we'll just have to do it twice," she murmured, tracing her fingers over his jaw. "One proper, down-on-one-knee proposal… and one where you're buried inside me, making sure I really mean it."
Jake groaned, flipping them so she was on top. "Sweetheart, you say things like that, and we're never getting out of this bed."
Hannah smiled down at him, all flushed cheeks and messy hair and so fucking his.
"That a promise, firefighter?"
Jake slid his hands down her back, gripping her hips, holding her exactly where he wanted her.
"Forever," he whispered.