8. Jordan
CHAPTER 8
Jordan
One week later…
D awn is barely breaking; a pale, wintery light is starting to filter through the thick, dark curtains.
I’m barely awake, and there’s already a smile tugging at my lips at the warm feel of soft, silky skin under my fingers.
Trudy is still fast asleep in my arms, and we’re all over each other, a tangled mess of limbs, blankets, and sheets.
I never thought happiness like this could exist. On the rare occasions when I found myself pondering on what that elusive joy could be made of, I never imagined it would be born of such a simple thing as waking up holding my woman after a long night of loving, and yet here I am encompassed by this feeling of utter bliss and it's all because of this precious being sleeping on my chest.
I close my eyes, squeezing her a little tighter to me, breathing her sweet strawberry and vanilla scent in and feeling the tickle of her hot, relaxed breath against my neck. The steady beating of her heart softly thrumming against my skin is the best sensation in the world.
No pleasure at a tech discovery I’ve made or step forward in programming I’ve accomplished can compare to what I’m feeling now. No victory in a boardroom or launch of a new product, no matter how gratifying, can hold a candle to the happiness that’s been living in my heart since Trudy became mine.
Seven days and seven nights of utter perfection and not even a moment of fear, doubt, or trepidation, just excitement for what the future can and will hold for us and trust that I could not have ever put my heart in better hands than her soft little ones had I searched the earth far and wide at the specific purpose of finding my other half.
She’s the only one for me, and I thank whatever deity, star, universal force, or whatever brought her onto my path or me on hers. She’s my one and only. I knew it from the first moment I laid eyes on her, even if I couldn’t explain how or why and I was right. Nothing and no one has ever felt this much like a part of me in my life.
We come together, and we just make sense, not because we’re that much alike, but because we are complementary in every way that counts. Ours is a perfect collision of body, spirit, and mind. We talk, we laugh, we love, we bicker even, and no matter what we do, there’s always such chemistry between us, a harmony of intents that I’ve never shared with another person before. She brings stuff out of me that I didn’t even know was there.
I could spend the rest of my life just like this, with Trudy in my arms, her golden curls tickling my nose, her gentle weight settled on my chest, skin to skin, breath to breath, and heart to heart, forever, the world starting and ending on my king-size sleigh bed, and not ever going past the walls of this suite of rooms.
Only one thing could make this better and that’s what happens a few moments later when her long blond lashes start to flutter, and her beautiful big brown eyes slowly come open, and she smiles at me. Now, this… this is paradise.
She reaches for me, hands coming awake on my back as she pulls me closer, and then my lips cover hers as we whisper good morning . A man could not want for more. But I've always been spoiled and maybe even a bit entitled; it comes with the job description and the silver-spoon-in-mouth background, so I do want more because we both deserve it.
I want to build a life with this woman, and I want that life to be the happiest I can make for her.
I want a family. I want a future.
I want a forever with her, and I want it to start right now.
That's why I break the kiss when I feel the tip of her tongue teasing mine, and I retreat from the temptation of her plump, inviting lips and the snare of her lovely, lush body before things heat up too much between us.
If there's a thing I've been able to observe since Post-Valentine's Day and the first kiss we shared, it's the fact that it takes very little for us to explode in an inferno of passion for each other whenever we go down this road.
Right now, no matter how much my body is screaming for me to slowly slip into her tight haven still wet from my seed, I've got something more important to do with her. Something more important to say…
I gently caress her cheek, my fingers loving the feel of her peachy softness. She’s fast to roll out of bed in the morning after I get a good dose of loving, saying that she looks a sight and needs to put herself back to rights.
I haven’t been able to convince her yet that, to me, just as she comes awake in my bed every morning, she’s the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever beheld and that nothing could ever compare. The sleepiness in her eyes, the flush on her cheeks, the crazy flyway curls going in ten different directions, her lips swollen from my kisses, her supple neck reddened from my beard and her curvaceous body, still warm from my touch, only add to that beauty.
But I will persuade her to my way of thinking before long. After all, she always jokes that I also look hotter to her in the morning, so she knows what I mean.
I plant a kiss on her forehead.
"Hey there, beautiful," I whisper in her ear, kissing her there as well. She shivers a little. I don't know if it's from the cold or my touch, but then she burrows into me.
I feel one of her hands run the span of my back and slowly move lower until she reaches the uppermost part of my butt and delivers a pinch that makes me jump a little and chuckle against her.
“Hey there, handsome,” she murmurs.
We kiss for a bit more, my smile growing against her grinning mouth.
I love this woman so much.
I cup her face and tilt it upward until she’s staring into my eyes.
No more waiting.
“Baby, I need to tell you something. It might sound… I don’t know… premature, I guess… or… or crazy, yeah… let’s go with crazy, alright?! But I need you to hear me out, okay?”
Crap, what am I saying?! I’m already mangling this.
Trudy giggles. “Jor, you’re babbling. What’s up?”
I sigh. “Just listen to me… it’s important.”
She nods, still smiling. “And premature and… crazy?”
I huff out a breath. “Yes… but it’s also true and right, so listen.”
Her smile gets bigger, eyes focused on mine. “I will.”
I sit up in bed, pulling her with me.
She wraps herself in the sheet, her curious gaze still on me.
I take both her hands in mine and stroke their backs with my fingers.
"Trudy, baby. I know it's only been a week since we started seeing each other and that we've known each other for less than a month, but I need to tell you that you mean the world to me. I'm not good at giving big romantic speeches. I don't have much experience with them since I never had use for them before I met you. I wish I could make this pretty and poetic and whatever flowery thing your heart would want to hear. I want you to know I would say it if I had the ability…"
She shakes her head, hands squeezing mine. “I don’t need flowery words. Just the truth will do, okay? Tell me what’s in your heart, and just because it comes from there, to me, it will be as pretty and poetic as you wanted it to be.”
I smile down at her, leaning down to kiss her fingers.
I sigh. Why am I so damn nervous when I’m also this fucking sure of things?
“In a nutshell?” I ask, hoping she’ll take pity on my sorry ass.
Trudy laughs a little. “Sure.”
"I love you, baby. And it's not just words. I mean it. I fucking love you so much the idea of not having you with me every day for the rest of my life kills me. I need you to be mine always, and I want us to be everything to each other. I want us to have everything, to live together, build a life together, and make babies. I want all of it. With you. And I can't wait. I mean, I could… I guess. But I don't want to. I want for our forever to start today, now, this very second. And I want you to know that I'll be asking you to marry me properly soon. Not today because I don't have a ring yet. But soon, I'm going to ask you to be my wife and tie our lives together forever, so you can make me even happier than you've accomplished up to this day. But I don't want to wait for that day even if, according to the plans that I just fucked up beyond recognition, that day was going to be two days from now as soon as your ring got here, but I just can't put it off any longer. I need you to know these things now, to share them with you, and, like I said, it's crazy, but, well, that's what I have in my heart for you, and what I need from you is a promise right now that your answer is going to be yes when I ask.”
I finish talking and hold my breath as I stare at my woman, eyeing me with what looks like shock for a few moments.
I start to get worried that I definitely botched things beyond the possibility of ever fixing them with my insane non-proposal , but I can’t take the words back, they are the truth, after all.
I call her name softly. I need that answer, and her silence is making my heart thunder in my chest.
Trudy comes out of her stupor and bursts into tears, throwing her arms around my neck with such force that we almost fall off the bed; then she proceeds to kiss all over my face.
"I love you! I love you so much, Jordan! Please, for the love of God, never attempt to sound pretty or poetic ever again in your life unless you want to kill me! That was so beautiful that I hope I never forget a word of it… if that's what you say when you're just winging it, I can't imagine what you could come up with if you really put your mind to it. And yes, you crazy, silly man! I will say yes when you ask me. Of course, I will! I want the same things with you… for us… forever!, You just made me so happy, love! So happy…"
I push her away from me a little, still holding her in the protective circle of my arms, her legs surrounding my waist as she sits on my lap.
“You promise?” I ask, and there’s something thick lodged in my throat that makes it difficult for me to talk.
Trudy dries her tears, sniffling. “I swear!”
I pull her closer again and kiss her hard.
We fall back to the bed, me hovering over her, my cock ready for action, her legs spread open around my hips.
Then, a sudden thought pops into my head, and I break the kiss, fingers caressing her breasts.
“And I want a short engagement!” I tell her.
She looks stunned for a moment, then starts laughing at me. “Of course you do! And what you want, you get, right?”
I look down at her, grinding my hardening erection against the soft roll around her tummy. “Damn straight!”