I heard him groan and I knew he was as turned on as I was. I was afraid the second he touched me I would burst into rocketing fireworks, my body spiraling beyond my control. I had never wanted him or loved him so much. His kisses started at my neck and moved along my ear. His fingers danced over my arms until our hands were interlocked, the ring peeking through our hands. The promise that we would spend forever together, sharing our lives, our bodies, and our hearts.
My hips danced under his, grinding against him, rising higher each time our skin blazed with contact.
“I want you, baby.” Grey spoke the words, and I shifted upward meeting his deep thrust that finally joined us in heated bliss. He bit into my neck before thrusting again.
“I love you, Eden,” he whispered in my ear, and I knew forever with Grey would be filled with passion and love, epic sex, and nights hotter than I could imagine. He was going to be my husband, and nothing was sexier than that.
I stared up at the branches overhead dotted with white lights. The Texas ornament swung against the needles.
Grey was propped on his elbow, drawing slow circles on my stomach. “God, I love you.” He smiled. I hadn’t seen him this happy.
“I love you too.”
“So do you have the whole thing planned out?” he asked.
“Planned out, what do you mean?”
“The wedding. I figured after Marin’s you would know exactly what you wanted.”
“Wait, were you thinking about us getting married then too?” I sat up.
He kissed my shoulder and shifted to give me more room next to the Christmas tree. “How could I see you walk down the aisle looking like you did, and not think about it?”
I couldn’t believe it. All that time I was worried he wasn’t thinking about it, and he was. We had been on the same page for months.
I blushed. “When I saw you in the church.” I stopped. This felt like a confession, but I needed him to know. “When I saw you…I knew then that it was you. That I wanted to marry you, but I was scared and nervous and I thought I was too young.” I lowered my eyes.
Grey’s fingers tipped my chin upward. “Darlin’, I know we had a rocky start and it wasn’t easy when you moved. Now that I’ve been here and met your family and your friends, I see that it was even a bigger deal than I realized. I guess somewhere in the back of my head I thought your life was more like mine. That you had nothing to lose, but that’s not true. Your parents are awesome. You’ve got friends here. You gave up a lot to be with me and I love you for that.”
I moved forward to kiss him. His lips felt firm and tender, just like the first time we kissed on the beach.
“I’m so happy you came here for Christmas.” I paused. “I’m sorry every single day about what happened with your parents and Pops. I hate that you don’t have them to spend Christmas with or do all those other family things with, but you have my parents now. I hope you know that. They really do love you.”
His eyes sparkled a little more than usual, and he wiped the corners with his thumb. “Thank you. I love them too. They’ve been great.”
“My grandparents were ready to take you home with them.” I laughed. “Wait, were you going to propose when I got back?”
“Yeah, I was going to do it after the big New Year’s Eve party at Marin’s, but I brought the ring to show your dad so he would know I was serious. I couldn’t ask him without showing him that I was going to take care of you.”
“He knows I can take care of myself.”
Grey sighed. “You know what I mean. It’s a guy thing, ok? We all know you can take care of yourself. It’s one of the things that drives me absolutely crazy about you.” He kissed my neck until I was gasping for air from laughter.
Finally, he released me, and I held up the ring again. There was actually an engagement ring on my finger. A big Texas-sized platinum and diamond ring on my finger. I giggled, feeling like the most girly girl in the world.
“Want to go show your parents the ring?” He nodded in the direction of the house. “I bet your mom wants to see it. She’s been bugging me about it all week.”
“Right now?” We weren’t exactly dressed for house calls. Clothes had been gone for hours. I didn’t want to feel anything on my body but Grey and the ring.
“I want them to see it. I want them to know we’re engaged. They were probably starting to think I backed out or something. Did you see your mom’s face when we finished all the presents?”
I laughed. “Yeah, now that all makes sense. She tore up the living room floor looking for a missing present. And she was acting like a crazy person this morning running out of the room every five minutes.”
“I think that was so she didn’t ruin the surprise.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to get up and I certainly didn’t want to put on clothes, but we had been living in a heated sphere of proposal sex for the past few hours. We could come up for air for a few minutes.