Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-two
Bella
It’s been six weeks since we sat down with my parents, six weeks of living with Reed, six weeks of pure bliss — the best six weeks of my life. If I thought I loved this man before, it is nothing on how I feel now.
I look at him as he approaches me. I’m currently lying on a sun lounger under an umbrella that is shielding me from the fierce Mexican sunshine. He’s whisked us away for a few days, saying we both need a break, some time alone. And he’s right, we do.
It’s like we’ve been living in a glass house the last few weeks, everyone having an opinion on our relationship.
We need a break from the gossip that’s been going round at work, the whispers, and the rumours, all of which have not been helped by the obvious hostility between Reed and my father.
I hope that one day he’ll come round, but that day is not going to be anytime soon.
Water droplets hit my hot skin, making me squeal at the cold water. Reed is leaning over me, having just got out of the pool from his swim.
His finger traces over my nose, a smile lifting the corners of his lips.
“You have freckles here,” he murmurs.
“By the end of this trip, I’ll have freckles everywhere.” I used to hate them when I was younger; the minute I went out into the sun, they would pop up all over me. Now, I’m used to them and if the way Reed is eyeing them up, I’d say he likes them. A lot.
“Hmm, is that right? I’m definitely going to have to check that out later. I want to kiss every one of them.” He lowers himself beside me on the lounger. “Move over,” he demands, already beginning to stretch out beside me.
These sun loungers are big, but they’re not really designed for two people.
“Reed,” I half laugh, half yelp as his cold skin hits mine. “You’ve got your own one right there,” I say pointing at his sun bed right next to mine.
“It’s too far away,” he nuzzles the skin behind my ear, placing gentle kisses along my neck.
“People are looking,” I whisper, conscious of the guests around the pool, some of them with their eyes firmly locked on the two of us.
“Let them,” he mumbles into my skin. “You look fucking hot in this.” His fingers pull at the string holding my bikini top up.
“You said that this morning when I put it on the first time, and when you pulled it off immediately after. It’s why we were late for breakfast.”
“Worth it,” he rasps in my ear. He pushes his hips into my thigh, his cock already hard.
“Reed,” I moan. “We can’t here, they’ll throw us in jail.” He laughs quietly at my words.
“Let’s go back to the room.” He jumps up from the lounger, pulling me along with him and subtly adjusts himself in his trunks. “I need to be inside you.”
He doesn’t even give me time to throw on my cover-up before he’s dragging us along the path and to our suite.
The minute the door closes he pounces, pinning me against it and holding me in place with his hips. His hard cock nestles between my thighs, just the thin layers of swimwear separating us.
“I can’t get enough,” he breathes. “No matter how many times I’m inside you, how many times I make us come, it’s never enough.”
“I feel the same, it’s like I’m not complete without you inside me.” He groans at my words.
“Get on the bed,” he commands, loosening his grip on me so I can slip past him.
I lie on my back and spread my thighs, giving him a glimpse of what he can’t quite see yet with my bikini still on.
He pauses on his route to the bed, and drags his hand down his face.
“Fuck, I wasn’t going to do this now, I had it all planned. I wanted something romantic but I need to make you mine. I can’t wait any longer.”
He spins around and riffles through one of the drawers in the dresser. Finding whatever it is he’s looking for, he clasps it in his hand and walks towards me.
Climbing on to the bed, he hovers over me, placing one hand by my head to hold him up, while the other comes up between us. He has something pinched between his pointer finger and thumb.
I focus my gaze on it and gasp. I swear my heart stops before it starts again, this time beating double its normal rate.
“Reed,” I breathe.
“I need you to put this on, baby girl. I need you to wear this and never take it off. I need you to be mine.”
Holy shit, this is really happening.
Reed Burke is asking me to marry him. Well, not really asking, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, and let’s be fair, my man doesn’t ask. He takes. And right now, he’s taking me.
I lift my hand up, my left hand, and place my ring finger near him so he can slip the ring onto my finger. It’s a perfect fit — which of course it is, this man doesn’t do anything by half.
He lowers his head to mine, resting our foreheads together.
“Mine,” he rasps.
“Yours,” I breathe. “Forever.”