Chapter 43
EVANGELINE
I’m sun kissed and sleepy by the time we stumble out of our taxi in front of Alaric’s building. We spent all afternoon sunbathing and having sex, then shared a fantastic four-course meal on his yacht. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this utterly satisfied.
Once he’s paid the driver, Alaric wraps his arm around my shoulders and ushers me toward his building.
“Was it a happy birthday, Mr. Steele?” Nigel asks as he opens the door with a flourish.
I stifle a giggle. He was right. His doorman wasn’t going to let the day pass without calling him out.
“It was. Thank you. In fact, it may have been the best birthday I’ve ever had.” He squeezes my shoulders a little tighter and kisses the side of my head.
I’m still beaming when we reach the elevators. As the doors close behind us, I weave my arms around him and nuzzle into his chest.
“Best birthday ever, huh?”
He clears his throat and inhales. His chest expands against me, then deflates as he lets the breath out. “It really was.”
His words are like a confession. Weighted and emotional. The underlying significance tugs on my heartstrings and inspires a heaviness buried deep beneath my ribs.
“Thank you.” He ducks, his lips meeting mine in a reverent caress. He takes his time, gliding his mouth over mine, and when he deepens the connection, I match his energy, stroking my tongue into his mouth and scratching my nails against the hair at his nape.
I want him.
Again.
Forever.
We’ve worked ourselves into a frenzy by the time the elevator dings.
Panting, I pull back, smiling up at the man I can’t get enough of.
“I like riding in elevators with you.” I give him a cheeky smile over my shoulder as I head toward his apartment.
He stalks after me, crowding my back until we reach his condo, where he presses me against his door, one hand lightly cuffing my throat while the other punches the code into the keypad.
He brings his lips to my ear and whispers, “Once we’re through this door, I expect to pick up right where we left off. ”
I arch back, swaying my hips with just enough range to brush against the front of his pants.
“Why, Mr. Steele,” I tease as he opens the door, “now that you’ve entered a new age bracket, I’m surprised you’re already up for another round.”
He playfully swats at my ass as we cross the threshold, making me squeal.
“You better watch it with the age jokes, angel. You think you’re funny now, but I doubt you’ll feel the same way when you hit your mid-forties and I turn them all back on you.”
I open my mouth to retort, but then his words register, and I snap it shut again, my heart climbing into my throat.
I’m… Wait. Is he…?
A fogginess settles over me as I decode the emotions pummeling me.
He reads me perfectly, as usual, wearing a concerned frown.
“Hey,” he soothes, taking cautious steps toward me. The playful air has suddenly shifted, the mood solemn.
Before I can talk myself out of asking, I whisper, “Do you really think we’ll be together when I’m forty-five?”
That’s almost two decades from now. And Alaric just threw it out there casually. It’s hard not to hope he means it. For my own mental health, I need to discern whether he’s just waxing poetic or mindlessly flirting.
His furrowed brow relaxes, the fine lines around his eyes softening. Then he pecks me on the lips.
“Thirty-five.”
Then again.
“Forty-five.”
He kisses me three times in a row.
“Fifty-five, sixty-five, and seventy-five.”
Then, he grimaces.
“It may be a stretch to promise I’ll still be around when you’re eighty-five, angel, but I swear I’ll fight like hell to make it that long.” Grinning, he presses his forehead into mine. “I want to celebrate every milestone with you, Evangeline. From now until forever.”
A flood of emotion steals my breath and renders me speechless.
So I kiss him, pouring every ounce of gratitude and care and love I feel for this man into the action. Telling him without words that I want forever with him, too.