Page 59 of Sweet Hate (If You Dare #1)

AXEL

I t’s been two months since the fire, and I’m starting to think that it might have been the best thing to ever happen to me, as messed up as that sounds.

Not only did we manage to get everyone out, and the two kids I helped survived, but that fire gave me Haven. Not as a best friend. Not a friend with benefits. But as my everything.

It helped her realize how she really felt about me. I like to think she’d have gotten there on her own, but let’s just say the little nudge she got was much appreciated, even if I had to break a few ribs and take a knock to the head to get her there.

I’m lying on our bed—yes, our bed—watching her style her hair before we head to the firehouse.

The hospital would only discharge me if I had someone to watch over me for the first week or so, and Haven straight up announced she was moving in with me when my mom offered to bring me home while I recovered.

And she’s just never left. I convinced her to release her Airbnb because it makes a lot more sense for her to live above the bakery with me.

She meets my eyes in the mirror and gives me a huge smile. The way my heart trips over itself at the sight would be embarrassing if I wasn’t so proud of how gone I am for my girl.

I love that I can be open about it now.

No more hiding.

“How do you feel about doing your speech, babe?”

Petrified, but not about the speech she’s referring to.

“Not thinking about that right now. Come sit on my face, Sprinks. I’m hungry,” I wiggle my eyebrows at her, but she’s not having it.

She walks toward me and grabs my hand to tug me up off the bed. “No way. We’re not going to be late to your ceremony, Captain .” She grins up at me smiling as I wrap her in my arms.

“Aren’t good girls supposed to listen to their captain's orders?”

“Aren’t good captains supposed to be on time for their swearing-in ceremonies?”

I growl as I grip her by the hips, pulling her flush against me, pressing my semi-hard cock to her pussy before falling back onto the bed with her on top.

“Hey, be careful! You’re still recovering!”

“I’m fine, Sprinks. I just need a snack before we leave.” I lift her up until she hovers above me. “Fuck me, woman, where are your panties?” I growl out.

The wicked giggle she lets out has me harder than stone.

“Oh, I don’t know, I thought maybe I’d go without today and give you a little something to think about while you’re doing your speech.”

“No, no way. No way in hell you’re doing that with all those fuckers around.”

She opens her mouth to protest, but it quickly turns into a moan as I get to work feasting on her.

It’s my favorite thing to do, and I can’t stop doing it now she’s mine.

My tongue flicks her clit before sliding down to spear into her.

I moan when I find my girl soaking for me.

As my tongue moves in and out of her, I snake my thumb up to work her clit roughly, just the way she likes it.

Her thighs tighten, gripping my head in place as they quiver. She yanks on my hair, moaning and chanting my name over and over. I can tell she’s close, so I double down, my hard cock aching painfully inside my pants.

I shift her slightly, gripping her ass, sure I’ll be leaving my handprint on her creamy skin. Replacing my tongue with my fingers, I drive them into her while blowing and sucking on her clit.

Just as my teeth close around the perfect little nub, my girl breaks apart on my face, flooding me with her juices. When she falls over me, her delicious cleavage spills from the square neckline of her dress, as she struggles to catch her breath.

I maneuver us both until she’s cuddled in my arms, and I can admire the pink flush I put on her breathtaking face.

She’s so beautiful. And she’s finally mine.

I’ll never get tired of this. Of her.

She’s my everything.

Her aqua eyes sparkle as they stare into mine, reflecting my love for her, and I know I can take on anything as long as she’s by my side. Gone is my aversion to relationships or family. Apparently that fear had nothing to do with my job and everything to do with not having my girl.

Although she has threatened to castrate me if I ever scare her like I did again.

I don’t know if it was my near miss in the fire or what came after, but I see it all so clearly now.

Despite fooling myself into hating her and thinking I had forgotten her, I never let her go.

I live above the bakery, for fuck’s sake. I could’ve lived anywhere, somewhere far more convenient for work. But this was where I first laid eyes on her when we were kids. It’s the place that gave me my everything. To some degree, I had to be here to stay close to her, even when she wasn’t around.

“I love you, Fireman,” Haven whispers as she pushes up to place a soft kiss on my lips.

I grin back at her, not sure this will ever get old. Rolling us over, I cage her beneath me.

“I love you too, Hurricane. How about a little truth or dare?”

“What, now? We’re going to be late, Axel.” She groans as her hands shove fruitlessly against my chest. It’s cute she thinks that’ll do anything. “You big lug, it’s like trying to move a mountain!”

I roar with laughter at her indignant expression and damn does it feel good.

“Just one round, Sprinks. Promise.”

She sighs in resignation. “Fiiiine. Dare.”

That’s my girl.

“I dare you to marry me.”

“Wait, what?”

Her big eyes go wide with shock as I vault off the bed to grab the ring box sitting inside a tambourine in my nightstand.

On one knee by the side of our bed, I look up at her and flip open the box to reveal the intricate pink diamond solitaire I picked out, the platinum band twisted like leaves and branches around it.

I swallow past the lump of emotion in my throat, staring at my girl's glassy eyes before I suck in a deep breath and dive into the speech I’ve been preparing for weeks.

“Haven, you crash landed into my life in a blaze of Alfredo sauce and flaming glory and brought color back to my world. I may be the fireman, but you’re the one who rescued me.

We wasted so many years because I was a total idiot.

I can’t lose you again.” I brush my lips over her knuckles, the small contact instantly calming my racing heart.

Swallowing hard, I tighten my grip on her hand. “ I need you Sprinks. Anywhere you go, I want to go too. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” I smile then. “And I even got you a tambourine, so I gotta be your favorite Verona now for sure. Marry me, please?”

I give the tambourine a little rattle as my girl's shoulders shake with laughter, tears streaming down her face. She nods frantically as she grabs me by the shirt, tugging me up off the floor to kiss me again.

Swiping the tears off her cheeks, I kiss her deep before sliding the ring onto her finger.

As I lift her hand and skim my lips over the promise I’ve placed there, a sense of satisfaction burns in my chest.

Fuck if this isn’t the best feeling in the world.

It may have taken over a decade, but my girl is finally mine.