Chapter 54
Idropped a dollop of frosting onto the cake I’d made—chocolate, my favorite. Sidney had made it for me several times already, and I figured it was about time I made an attempt at returning that favor.
I chewed my lip, playing the icing tutorial again, trying to smooth everything out like the baker in the video did. I was…moderately successful. At least it would taste good, if my illicit sampling was anything to go by.
Sidney made this look so easy, and I regretted not making him teach me more about baking in the past. The piping bag was staring at me—a challenge awaiting my unskilled attempts to wrangle the tool to create something beautiful. I’d made an absolute mess trying to get all the icing into the piping bag. Who the hell designed them and why did they hate everyone?
I squeezed the first experimental swirl along the base of the cake, and let out a relieved breath when it didn’t too closely resemble something I’d have to pick up after puppies. Working around the rest of the cake, I held my breath and willed my hands to not shake. It had to be perfect because Sidney was perfect, and this cake was going to ask a very important question for me.
With the ring of swirls around the base completed, I turned to the most daunting portion. The words. I used a chopstick to trace out the letters and picked up a container of red and silver sprinkles.
“Please don’t fuck this up,” I said to myself as I peeled off the safety seal on the sprinkles. I took a small pinch and laid it on the first ‘M’. It didn’t look too horrendous. I worked in painfully slow increments, filling in each of the letters until they stood out against the chocolate frosting. Whenever a few of the disagreeable sprinkles tried to ruin my confectionary masterpiece I smothered them in an extra bit of icing.
I read over the finished cake, double-checking that I hadn’t somehow misspelled it. A spark of excited energy whipped up my spine.
Holy shit.
It was real.
I beamed at the cake, marveling at the simple question that could change my life.
M-A-R-R-Y M-E-?
I added the ring I’d bought this morning—a sleek gold band with a flat, rectangular ruby embellishment at the top—to the small space between the words.
An accidental bonding was definitely not the same as a marriage proposal or bonding on purpose, and we deserved the opportunity to do things with intention. Even if Sidney hadn’t thought to ask me himself quite yet. I knew he was letting me settle in, wanted me to be sure, but dammit, I had no idea I could be as happy with anyone as I was with him, and I’d made up my mind yesterday that I was ready to make it official on every level.
The alarm on my phone buzzed—my ten-minute warning for the end of Sidney’s shift, which meant he’d be home sometime in the next twenty minutes or so. We had a date planned at a fancy restaurant, which would make the cake all the more surprising when he got home.
I jumped into the shower for a quick rinse, tucking my dark curls under a shower cap to save time, to make sure I didn’t have any chocolate smears or lingering flour stuck to me. I toweled myself down with the speed of an Olympic sprinter and pulled on the knee-length red dress I’d set out for the evening along with the outrageously expensive shoes he’d bought me. Next was waterproof mascara because no matter what his answer was, I was going to cry. I topped off the look with the bold red lipstick we both loved and set off to nervously pace the kitchen until he got home.
The door swung open before I could wear a path into the linoleum.
Giddiness filled me. Sidney looked me in the eye first, his gaze full of sweet warmth and affection, and then when he looked down at my dress and the curves of my body, blazing heat replacing that warmth. He tossed aside his bag, crossing the short distance to me so he could catch me as I jumped up into his arms. He held the undersides of my thighs and grinned up at me.
“You’re trying to give me a heart attack, looking like that when I come in the door.”
“No dying,” I murmured, dipping down to steal a kiss. I lingered with soft presses and teasing nips until he shuddered. “I made you a cake.”
“My little baker. New hobby? I thought you were resting today.” He caught one more peck on my lips. “Is it chocolate?”
“Is there any other flavor?” I laughed.
“Plenty, but none of the others make you do your happy dance when you eat them, so none of them are my favorite.” Sidney nuzzled my throat, breathing deep. “Smells like cocoa and honeysuckle in here. Might have to delay dinner so I can take advantage of you first.”
I giggled and wiped off some of the red smudge I’d left on his mouth after he lowered my feet to the floor. He turned to the cake sitting on the table, his eyes flaring wide before he let out a delighted laugh.
That wasn’t quite the reaction I’d anticipated, but he sounded happy so I tried to roll with it.
“You can’t laugh at my cake. I worked really hard on it.” I pushed my bottom lip into an exaggerated pout. “I learned how to pipe and everything.”
“Not laughing at the cake.” He squeezed me tightly. “It’s almost as cute as you. It’s just what’s on top that made me laugh.”
“That’s even worse!”
“The answer to the cake question is yes, of course.” Sidney chuckled and kissed my nose. “But do me a favor and go into the back of my sock drawer.”
I raised one eyebrow in question. “You’re being weird, but okay.”
He loosened his grip enough for me to scamper into the bedroom and rustle around in his drawer. My fingertips brushed velvet. I snared the small box out of the back corner, jaw going slack as I opened it to see the ring that sat there.
“Oh my god.” A heart-shaped red stone was set into a slim gold band with leaf embellishments and small round diamonds set here and there. “Sidney!”
Tears erupted, unbidden.
He cradled my cheeks, thumbs stroking away the tears. “Those had better be happy tears.” Sidney let his forehead rest against mine. “I’ve been carrying that ring around for over a month, waiting for the right moment, and you beat me to it.”
“You were taking too long,” I protested, a giggling hiccup following the words.
“To be fair, I was going to ask you tonight at our fancy-schmancy dinner.”
“Oh.” I brightened. “You should totally still do that. We’ll get free dessert!”
He snorted and burst into laughter, snaring me tightly. “God, I love you so fucking much.”
I nestled against his chest and breathed deeply of his sweet citrus and clove scent. Notes of my own honeysuckle wove through it. I was usually too distracted by him to notice, but I loved him carrying around that tiny bit of me.
“I love you, too.” I traced patterns on his back with my fingertips and let myself indulge in his proximity.
“Think we should sample the cake?” Sidney asked.
“What if it’s terrible?”
“You’ll never know.”
I looked up at him, a grin on my lips.
“Even if it somehow turned out terrible, which I doubt, I’d eat it anyway because you made it for me. You can’t stop me.” He beamed at me. “You should also put that ring on my finger. I’ll keep yours for tonight.”
I giggled and pulled away, picking up the ring off the cake. I licked off the bits of icing stuck to it. Sidney held out his hand, dramatically wiggling his fingers until I laughed again and took hold of his hand, sliding the gold onto his ring finger.
“Claimed!” I kissed his knuckles. “Go shower and change. I’ll cut us some skinny pieces of cake so we don’t ruin our dinner.”
Heat flashed in his eyes. “It’s not the only dessert I’m going to eat before we leave this house.”
“Hmm, well, you should definitely eat that dessert first.” I grinned. “I’m not letting you out in public smelling like pussy. That’s only for me to enjoy. Also, I’m pretty sure I don’t want cake anywhere near my downstairs.”
Sidney laughed as he backed me up toward the table and spun me around, pressing me down onto the surface. “Order of operations has been noted.”
He reached under my skirt, and I hid my amused smile when his hands found nothing to remove. A low growl rumbled in his chest.
“Someone’s efficient.” The skirt was flipped up to expose me. He traced over the love bites he’d left on my thighs the night before and gave my butt cheek a smack. “Naughty kitten giving me all sorts of treats tonight.”
I swayed my hips. “You love it.” I squeaked at the nip he delivered to the other cheek.
Sidney knelt on the kitchen floor, not wasting a second, licking into my slick heat. He pushed my ankles further apart and spread me with his thumbs while I gasped and wiggled, holding on to the table to steady myself. I whined, pressing my cheek to the cool wood.
He was always more than I anticipated, no matter how many times we came together. His eager touches always undid me from the first moment.
Sidney pressed one hand between my thighs, rubbing my clit with his thumb, freeing up his tongue to delve into me.
“Ah, fuck.” I white-knuckle gripped the table. I wobbled on my toes and angled my hips, each circle of his thumb sending sparks of pleasure that made my legs weak.
Clove and ginger filled my senses, the heat of our scents coaxing a vibrant thrill through me.
I chanted his name—Sidney, Sidney, Sidney—every flick and dive of his tongue breaking apart the word. He’d always been good at unraveling me, and he was nothing if not determined, and seemed to have made it his goal to learn every possible way to undo me.
His hand wrapped around my ankle, lifting it to prop my foot over his shoulder, first one and then the other so I hovered in front of him, clinging desperately to the table.
I moaned, trying to properly balance myself, my leg muscles trembling with the effort, the sensation of each lick heightened because of the strain. He purred as I clenched around his tongue and pressed more firmly with his thumb, the demanding touch sending me cascading over the edge with a wild string of curses and bucking hips.
Sidney didn’t relent until I let out a pleading sound, my body tensing as I came again with a choked-off cry. He gave me a few more slow licks and pressed a kiss to the back of one thigh before helping me get my feet back under me. Bracing firm hands on my hips until my breathing settled, he pulled me up to standing and kissed the side of my neck.
“Never going to get tired of what you sound like when you come.”
I leaned back against him to catch my breath, locking my knees to stay upright. “I’m gonna need recovery cake.” I laughed and spun in his arms, lifting onto my toes to kiss him.
“You refuel. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Sidney patted my butt and disappeared to shower.
I fetched a fork from the silverware drawer and sat down at the kitchen table to sample my confection. I wiggled happily, each mouthful infusing me with sugar to stem the tremble of my thighs and the needy clench of my belly.
Tonight was going to be the fucking best.