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She trembled in his arms. “I can do faith, and I can certainly do the loving you back thing in spades.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Good. But to make it happen, we need to do things in the right order, baby.”
Her eyes returned to the alluring shade of grey, which had captured his heart, body and mind the moment he saw her. “What order is that?”
“First, I fuck you, right here, right now. Then I get on my knees and ask you to marry me. You say yes. Then I fuck you again. Then we get engaged, have lots and lots of sex between then and whenever we decide to get married… and when we’re ready, we decide how to have a baby.”
She tilted her head to one side, her eyes shining. “I really want to find a flaw in that plan…”
He smiled. “But?”
“But I can’t,” she whispered and curled her arms around his neck.
EPILOGUE
SEVEN MONTHS LATER
Leia opened the front door to the condo to find Noah pacing the living room where she’d left him two hours before.
He caught sight of her and changed course, taking her in his arms the moment he reached her.
“Show me,” he demanded hoarsely.
“I’m still really sore, Noah. Can’t you wait till this evening?” She couldn’t resist a light tease.
He caught her left hand and meshed it with his. Her enormous square-cut diamond engagement ring glinted in the sun. “Oh, baby, did it hurt a lot? I chose that place because they’re supposed to be the best. Shit, I knew I should’ve come with you.”
“Noah!”
He grimaced. “Sorry. This no cursing rule is fu… messing with my head. Please show me. I promise I’ll be really gentle.”
Fighting laughter, Leia turned and headed for the bedroom. Dropping her purse on the bed, she faced him.
“Ready?”
He nodded.
She slowly unzipped the blue and white summer dress and dropped it to the floor. Raising her arm, she angled her body toward him.
He fell to his knees and read the new words etched into her skin.
From a Broken Acorn…
…The King of Oaks and Owner of My Heart
He looked up, his eyes glistening. “Darling, it’s beautiful.”
He gently kissed the words, his mouth trailing his name over and over. She handed him a bottle of antiseptic. As he gently applied it, she watched beautifully turbulent emotions wash over his face.
God, she loved this man…
“So, the tattoo artist who did this was a woman, right?” he asked with deceptive nonchalance. Another kiss, this time on her hipbone. He capped the bottle and handed it to her.
Suppressing a smile, she spoke the word that would soothe her alpha beast. “Yes.” And then because she couldn’t resist teasing, “But she had these huge tattoos on her arms of women in various forms of undress. I may be wrong, but I think she’s into chicks?—”
His growl of warning made her dissolve into giggles.
“If you think that this unbelievable miracle happening in our lives”—he caressed a hand reverently over her four-months pregnant belly—“excuses you from punishment, baby, think again.” He kissed her stomach and Leia felt the tiniest kick, a fluttering, really.