"So you gonna wear my ring now?" he asks, looking into her eyes.
She puts her hands on her hips and glares at him. After a second, she lets out a huff and pushes a strand of hair out of her face. "Yes."
Pink gets down on one knee and pulls out a box. It"s the one he bought the same day I got Zoey"s. I squeeze her hand a little, feeling the cool band on her finger, and it makes me smile.
Elle puts her hands over her mouth, looking down at the simple gold band with little pink diamonds all around it. Pink could have gotten her a 50-carat diamond, but he knew Elle, and he knew this would mean more to her.
"One diamond for every baby I"m gonna give you, Prinzessin," Pink says, waiting for Elle to answer.
I wrap my arms around Zoey as we watch the tears stream down Elle"s face and she launches herself at Pink. They"re kind of adorable, those two.
"Double wedding!" Zoey shouts and fist pumps the air.
"Whatever you want, cupcake," I say, kissing her forehead. "Let"s get this s.h.i.t delivered so I can take you upstairs and we can talk about your punishment."
"Punishment?" She looks up at me with big eyes, then smiles.
I have a feeling she won"t take this lesson seriously.
17.
Zoey
Before the door even shuts fully, Drake"s big hands are cupping my face, his mouth coming down on mine. His tongue pushes into my mouth, commanding me to open for him. I can taste the sweet desperation he pours into it. I can feel his pain and worry. All the emotions he"s been holding back while we finished everything come through the kiss. That this man loves me makes my heart squeeze.
He pulls away, resting his forehead against mine.
"I can"t lose you, cupcake. f.u.c.k, I swear I"ve never been so scared in my life than when I saw his hands on you."
He closes his eyes like he"s in pain and seeing it all over again. I rub my hands against his chest, trying to calm him.
"Like the Hulk would ever let something happen to me," I tease, making a half-smile pull at his lips.
"I love you so d.a.m.n much. You"re my family now. I need you. I need this. I haven"t been so f.u.c.king happy in my life, and to think it could have been taken from me today... It makes me want to-"
"I"m here, Drake. No one is taking me from you," I rea.s.sure him, rubbing my hands up and down his chest, trying to calm him.
"Tell me you"ll never leave me."
"Never," I say instantly. I can feel his body relax at my words. Then he starts peppering kisses all over my face. It makes me giggle. I can"t even imagine what we look like together. This big, scarred, and tattooed man leaning down over me, cupping my face, placing kisses everywhere he can. It makes me melt.
My phone starts to ring, and Drake grunts in annoyance.
I swing my bag around from my shoulder and start digging through it. It"s probably my sister. I just left her minutes ago. What she could need already, I have no idea. I"m shocked Pink has let her up for air to even use the phone.
"Front left pocket," Drake mutters, and I can tell he"s not happy about being interrupted. I reach into the pocket and pull it out. The name Brett Ensore shows across the screen. Elle must have programed the number into my phone in the event I had any questions I needed to ask when I was working on the project, and I actually hear Drake growl. A G.o.d"s honest growl coming from deep in his chest.
"That was s.e.xy," I say, looking up at him, but his eyes are still narrowed on my phone.
He grabs it from my hand and answers it.
"Zoey"s husband. How can I help you?"
I look at him in confusion. We aren"t married yet. I see his jaw visibly clench.
"Yes, she"s married. Did you not see the ring on her finger?" He does the growl thing again. I look down at the ring and smile. I did have it on when we dropped off the laptop. It is kind of big and hard to miss.
"No, she won"t be working with your company again. Call her phone again and I"ll come down there." He pulls the phone away from his ear and hits the end b.u.t.ton. Elle would be so mad if she heard that. I usually don"t talk to clients much. That"s her job. I"m actually surprised the guy has my number. All calls usually go straight to Elle.
"f.u.c.k. For a smart guy, he can"t take a f.u.c.king clue." He slips my phone into his own pocket like he doesn"t want to give it back to me.
I look at him in bewilderment.
"First time I take you out of the house and someone is. .h.i.tting on you. A f.u.c.king billionaire at that." He shakes his head before running his hands through his short hair, looking a little stressed again.
"What are you talking about?"
"The man was. .h.i.tting on you when we dropped off the laptop, and he just called to try to get you to go out with him."
"No, he called to offer me another job, which isn"t surprising. I"m quite good at what I do."
He shakes his head like he can"t believe what I"m saying. "Elle is right," he states, confusing me further.
"Yes, she usually is," I agree, because, well, she is.
"You don"t even see it."
I look around the room to try to understand what he"s talking about. "See what?"
A half-laugh leaves him, pulling my eyes back to him. "Elle said men hit on you all the time and you just don"t see it. Never give them the time of day."
"What? That"s not true. No one hits on me."
He grabs me by the hips, lifting me up. I drop my bag, and all its contents loudly clatter to the floor. My legs go around his waist, my arms around his neck.
"It"s alright that you don"t see it, cupcake. You keep not seeing it, because you"re about to marry a bodyguard, and I"ll make sure those f.u.c.kers don"t get anywhere near what"s mine."
I smile, wiggling against him.
"You were jealous?" I question, liking the idea of him getting jealous over me. Now that I think about it, I"m not sure I"d like some woman calling his phone, either.
"Cupcake, I"m jealous of everything when it comes to you. The food you eat, that computer that you can stare at for hours, anything that takes your attention from me." His mouth comes to mine, and he kisses me deeply. "Jealous of these f.u.c.king clothes that get to be wrapped around your sweet, lush body all day," he says against my lips.
"Then you should probably rip them off me," I say, taking his mouth in an even deeper kiss.
I feel my back hit the bed, and he starts to rip my clothes from me, Hulk-style.
"I don"t want women calling your phone, either." I feel him laugh against my neck as he places open-mouthed kisses there.
I give him a smack on his giant bicep.
"Cupcake, I don"t talk to many women except Pink"s sisters," he informs me before taking my earlobe into his mouth and sucking it, making me moan his name.
"Would never even think about another woman now that I"ve tasted you. f.u.c.k, who am I kidding? I knew no one else would ever do when your picture landed on my desk. Lit up my world. I was going through the motions and didn"t even realize how lonely I was until you came into my life. Made me want something I didn"t know I needed. Even if you left me, I"d spend every moment of my life trying to get you back. But I won"t let that happen. I"d never let you come close to thinking about leaving me." I hear a click, then feel metal around my wrist, then hear another click. "No one could ever give me what you have. I wouldn"t even try to replace you. I"d just spend my days and nights trying to get you back."
He leans up, looking down at me, his eyes all soft. I can feel tears pool in my eyes. No one has ever made me feel so normal and so extraordinary at the same time.
"You"ll never be rid of me."
I go to wrap my arms around his, and it"s then I notice I"m cuffed to the bed. My eyes widen.
"I"m going to show you just how much you do for me. Only you. You"ll never question what you mean to me." His mouth comes down on mine, and like every day of the rest of our lives, he shows me just how much I mean to him.
Epilogue.
Drake.
5 years later...
"That"s disgusting. I won"t eat it."
"Yeah, me neither. It smells gross," Zoey adds, pushing her plate an inch away from her.
I lay my head in my hands and pray for strength. My wife and my almost-five-year-old daughter will surely be the death of me. Never mind the fact that Zoey is nine months pregnant with our second girl, and it"s only going to get worse.
"Girls. It"s just a vegetable medley. Why don"t you both try it?"
Zoey looks over at Amelia and shrugs her shoulders. Amelia lets out a deep breath, and they nod to one another, as if agreeing to take one for the team.
I bite my lip to keep from smiling as they both try what I made for dinner. I try to cook healthy for all of us, but sometimes my efforts are wasted. I"ve somewhat retired from the security firm, only coming in to make sure everything is in line. I don"t take on any more cases. I just make sure everyone is doing what they"re supposed to be doing, but I"m okay with it because it allows me to take care of my girls. Zoey still works when she wants, taking on jobs that interest her when it suits her. We"ve both got enough money to not have to worry about it, so we get to spend time with our daughter and each other.
Amelia makes a humming noise like she likes it, and Zoey looks at her skeptically. After a second, she picks up her fork and tries it, too, making the same exact face as Amelia. I can hardly hold back my eye roll. They"re so alike. G.o.d help me, I love the two of them more than life itself. I don"t know how my heart can possibly have any more room for love, but seeing Zoey round with our next little girl, I"m already head over heels for her, too.
After everything settled down from the stalker drama, we got married in a double ceremony just like Zoey wanted. It was a big wedding and lots of fun, but in the end I was just happy to have my cupcake beside me.
Zoey got pregnant about a minute after we met, and I couldn"t have been happier with our little girl. We decided to wait a while after Amelia was born, thinking we needed some time to adjust to kids. After she was a couple years old, we started trying again and finally got pregnant with our baby girl on the way now. I should be terrified of having another girl, but I couldn"t be more excited. I hope our new bundle of love is just like her mama, too.
Reaching over, I rub her belly and then look up into Zoey"s eyes.
"Thank you," I whisper, and she looks at me, c.o.c.king her head to the side.
"For what?"
"For this." I look between her and Amelia. "For everything. I"m a lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
"Ooooooh! Daddy said a bad word."
"She"s right, you did," Zoey agrees, and I just smile at them.
Life is too d.a.m.n good.
Fifteen years later...
"Oh, f.u.c.k!"
"Shhh. The girls are downstairs. They"ll hear us."
"Oh, f.u.c.k," Zoey whispers.
I smile against her p.u.s.s.y and then start licking her again. I get lost in her sweet honeysuckle, licking her in long thick strokes just the way she likes it. She lies back on the bed, grabbing the pillow and putting it over her face. She"s trying to be good, but I really am torturing her.
Our oldest, Amelia, is home from college and took her sister, Brock to the movies with her. I guess they got back early, because we heard them downstairs just as things were getting hot. I jumped up and locked the door but refused to let Zoey go. They"ll be fine without us for a while.
Zoey makes mumbled noises into the pillow as I eat her p.u.s.s.y. I bring up two fingers and push them through her wet folds, and then deep inside her. She moans and clenches around them, and my d.i.c.k throbs in response.
Sucking her c.l.i.t into my mouth, I graze it with my teeth, making her legs shake with need. I curl my fingers up, hitting her G spot, and start to work them in and out of her. Flicking her little nub with the end of my tongue is enough to send her over the edge.
Her legs tense, and her back bows off the bed while she screams my name into the pillow. Even after all these years, I haven"t gotten tired of that sound. There"s never been another woman who"s caught my attention or made me question for one second my devotion to Zoey. She"s the only woman who ever saw me for who I am, and she"s my reason for breathing.
Kissing the inside of her thighs, I rub my nose against her, just letting her ride her o.r.g.a.s.m to its end while I pet her and give her little pecks of love.
"Mom?" I hear Brock"s voice and then a knock on the door.
Zoey giggles into the pillow, and I turn my head back toward the door. "Go away!" I yell as I climb up the bed and on top of Zoey. She"s shaking with laughter, and I move the pillow to whisper in her ear. "That was your fault this time."
"What are you guys doing in there?" Amelia shouts from the other side of the door, and I roll my eyes.
"There"s money in my purse. Go get ice cream. Leave us alone!" Zoey yells, and then I hear the girls head back downstairs.