Paige
twenty-two
Iwake up wrapped in Hayes’s arms, his sleeping form covering me completely in a safe and secure wonderland of carnal bliss.
My body aches, but in a luscious way I’ve never known.
I smile, knowing it’s the echo of Hayes making love to me resonating through my body hours later.
Despite the ache, I want him again. He’s awakened a hunger in me, and the only way to feed it is by joining our bodies again.
I can feel his hard length pressed thick and warm against my backside and it stokes the need to be filled by him again.
I gently sway my hips against him, my bottom sliding against his…
I feel a blush creep up my cheeks and I hate the bit of innocence that lingers.
I am a woman who has been with a man, and I am capable of using dirty words.
Cock. His beautiful cock. I don’t even have to say the word out loud to know I like the taste of it in my mouth almost as much as I like Hayes’s cock in my mouth.
Yes, his long, thick, perfectly formed cock that fit so perfectly inside of me that I know he was made especially for my body.
I whimper with the visceral memory of being filled by him.
Hayes stirs and kisses my hair. “What’s the matter, angel?”
I roll my hips as the need increases, my body humming and longing for him.
“I need you again. Please,” I beg, the desire unfolding and taking me over.
Hayes unwraps his body from mine and rolls to the side of the bed. I hear the foil rip and then he’s back and pressing against my backside, one arm slipping beneath me.
“Hold on.”
He waits for me to grip the sheet before he angles his cock against me from behind and pushes in. The instant stretch forces a gasp from my throat, but it feels better than the first time, and I’m quickly pressing my hips back against him to be closer.
“Mmm yes,” I moan in a hoarse whisper.
I press my face against the bed and ride out the coveted fullness with the smooth press of Hayes at my back.
I didn’t know you could have sex while spooning, but this is incredible and so intimate for not being able to look into his eyes.
I still feel him from my head down to my feet that tangle with his.
His hand circles my hip and presses between my legs to caress my center.
Electric sparks surge through me, snapping nerve endings and creating a heady euphoria of feeling.
I’m wild with desire, my body moving faster against Hayes as it builds.
The noises coming from me are foreign, every oh and yes from a sex-crazed woman.
I struggle to breathe at the precipice, his fingers pressing firmly and circling like that elusive release.
He moves slightly, the angle of him in my body intensifies, and I’m jolted straight off the cliff.
I scream his name and claw at the bed, feeling him tense and explode right along with me.
Our breaths become ragged shrapnel, sweat mingling and slicking against our skin.
“Fucking hell.”
I’m not even sure which of us says it, because it’s exactly what I was thinking.
I rouse him from sleep two more times throughout the early morning hours.
I beg for him again when he brings me breakfast in bed.
I’m insatiable now that I know what I’ve been missing, and my body seems to want to make up for lost time. Each time he rises to the challenge, and each time it gets better.
When we collapse on the bed after what he cheekily called an afternoon delight, though it wasn’t even noon, he rolls me on top of him and strokes my hair as we breathe.
“You’ve ruined me. There is not a single woman who could come close to how perfect you are.”
“You better not be looking for anyone else,” I joke, my cheek pressed against his chest.
He smooths my hair away from my face and tucks it behind my ear.
“Is that you taking this to the next level?”
I turn my head so I can see his face.
“I’m not sure what that means, exactly. How do relationships level up? Is it like a video game? If it is, I think you’re a maxed-out character and you’re power-leveling me with all this sweet lovin’.” I wiggle my eyebrows at him and smile.
He laughs, the sound booming and shaking me on top of him. “I like your analogy, though I hadn’t pegged you as a gamer girl.”
“Alex was a gamer, so I had to learn a thing or two in my time.” I grow quiet and trace a pattern on his chest before speaking again.
“I’ll have to get used to the idea that you might have to find someone else eventually, when I go home and my mama inevitably chains me to her side and makes me a business deal bride.
” I pout, still unhappy with my parents.
He drags me farther up his body and kisses me. It stills the unpleasant thoughts from swirling through my head the same way my finger moved through the light dusting of hair on his chest.
“I know how we can make it so your parents won’t have a say in who you marry or for what reason. You wouldn’t have to marry Garrison, that walking piece of garbage.”
I sigh deeply, the name alone stealing my post-coital mellowness and sinking me into the pit of helplessness that surrounds my uncertain future.
“Garrison said it was a done deal whether I liked it or not. Mama pretty much said the same thing. I’m just delaying the inevitable by hiding out here and refusing to be a part of it. What happens when I have to show my face in Savannah again? The problem will still be there waiting for me.”
“They can’t arrange a marriage for you if you’re already married.”
My eyes widen as I inhale sharply. “Are you…?”
“Marry me and I’ll make it all go away.”
I blink slowly, wondering if I’m dreaming or suffering orgasm-induced delusions. “You’ve known me for a week. We barely know each other. Things could change so fast and you’d be legally stuck with me.” I bite my lip as my mind races.
“I’m willing to take that risk.”
He rolls me to my side so we’re facing each other.
“I love everything about you. You are sweetness and steel, a stronger, more resilient woman than anyone could imagine. You’re smart, funny, poised, and we just work.”
I tuck my head under his chin so I can think without meeting his eyes. He loves everything about me, but does he even love me?
I’ve always dreamed of a relationship built on love and support.
My mama and daddy may have had an arranged marriage, but they really are a good team and I know they love each other, despite the beginning of their relationship.
I think part of why I hated the idea of being married off for business is that love would be removed from the equation entirely, leaving only calculation and heartlessness.
Not to mention, a man who tried to prey on me as my partner. Gross.
Marry me.
Could Hayes and I have developed the support and love a marriage needs to be long-lasting and happy?
I told him once that I am a true-blue kind of woman.
I want to marry for life and be unwavering in my commitment.
I don’t take the idea of marriage lightly.
Probably why I was willing to give up everything to avoid the arrangement my parents made for me.
I’ll make it all go away.
Could this really be the answer I need? Hayes is certainly right about one thing.
Mama and Daddy can’t marry me off if I’m already married.
Marrying him would completely erase the problem at home, so I would be doing more than just running from it.
I would be taking it into my own hands and solving it by any means necessary.
As for love, well, I know he has already made his way into my heart and claimed me. I just hope the same is true for him.
Granted, Hayes isn’t the worst option when I imagine what I would want in a husband. He’s a freaking billionaire, a talented businessman, a kind and generous person, and he wants me without the strings of a business deal attached. I could do far worse.
I laugh to myself and Hayes pulls away so he can see me.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re kind of like top-shelf marriage material. No, you’re the reserve stuff that has to be held onto for years before you break it out.”
He gives me a grumpy look.
“Are you calling me old, Miss Fairchild?”
“Not old, perfectly aged,“ I clarify. I lean in and kiss the tight line of his mouth. “So, how do we do this?”
“Is that you saying yes?”
“You didn’t exactly get down on one knee and ask me, so it’s a fitting answer.” I raise an eyebrow at him.
Maybe the romantic in me is a little disappointed at the pragmatic proposal of his. It’s not what I had in mind when I imagined the love of my life asking me to be his wife, but it will have to do. We can get to the love of our lives part later, right?
Hayes runs a hand through his hair and looks up for a moment. His eyes brighten and he kisses my nose.
“Stay put. I’ll be right back.” He jumps out of bed, pulls his pants on, and walks out of the bedroom.
“Well, that was weird,” I say out loud to the empty room.
If he’s going to leave me here, he’s going to get a prize when he comes back. I roll out of bed and walk naked to the closet.
A few minutes later I hear the click of Cerberus’s nails on the bedroom floor. I walk out of the closet in the red lace baby-doll nightgown I bought the first day I was with Hayes.
“Hey, buddy, where’s your daddy?” I ask as he walks around the bed and sits.
He’s wearing a sheet of paper hanging around his neck by a red ribbon. I walk over and squat in front of the big, proud dog, lifting the paper to read it.
Bring me up from the depths of hell, my angel, make me pure and light.
Our souls are entwined forever, my heart lost to you at first sight.
Grant me my ardent wish, the most beautiful life.
Marry me, Paige, please say yes, be my wife.
“Oh,” I warble, the tears springing to my eyes as I read his handwritten poem. I throw my arms around Cerberus’s neck and bury my face in his sleek fur.
“Damn it. I knew I should have signed it so you would know it was me, not the dog, asking you.”
I look up and run my fingers under my eyes to remove the tears.
“He had such a good delivery, you can’t fault me for thinking it was all his idea.”
Hayes meets me on my knees with Cerberus beside us and takes my hands, his green eyes burning with intention.
“It’s definitely me asking. I know it’s crazy and fast, and there are so many reasons not to, but this feels right.
Do you think you could grow to love me? To not just be my bride, but my partner in everything?
I want to rule beside you, take over empires with you, fight for you.
Do you think you could spend your life with me? ”
My jaw has come unhinged, dropping lower with each romantic pledge. This ruthless businessman just went all emotional on me. How did I manage to find this perfect man?
“When you put it that way, it’s pretty hard to say no.”
“Say the words, Paige.”
“We really are crazy.”
He raises an eyebrow at me.
“Yes—on one condition.”
His chest inflates only to freeze with the breath in his lungs. “Continue.”
“We’ll never treat our relationship as a business deal. Deals can be undone and businesses can fail. I don’t want to fail with you.”
“Never.”
“Then, yes, I’ll marry you.”
Hayes smiles and pulls me to his chest, his lips crashing against mine and claiming another little piece of my heart.