Authors: Jennifer James
“Maybe those are cheesy sentiments for a man’s tattoo. But they mean something to me, something important. Something only life or death conflict could have taught me. The last year of my life has been the happiest I could ever imagine being.”
My arms went around his neck and hugged him tight. I’m a sucker for romantic declarations from Tom. They don’t happen very often.
“You’re breaking our anti-Valentine’s Day rule, you know.”
“I know.” He rubbed my back and kissed the crown of my head. “I’m about to crush it.”
“How?” I wiped my eyes on the sleeve of my shirt. Tom caressed my sides and squeezed my hips.
“I was going to wait until tomorrow but I can’t. I’m going to go crazy with anxiety if I don’t ask you, so….” He went to one knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket.
A princess-cut ruby, unconventional and perfect, two heart-shaped diamonds on either side, with the points of the hearts pointed out along the band.
“Marry me, Abby. Let’s have kids who grow up to be even bigger geeks than we are. I want to come home to you every night and wake up with you every morning. Be my wife.”
“Had to be red and white didn’t it?” My hand shook when I reached out, and he grinned. “I would love to be your wife.”
“Valentine’s Day was the worst day of your life once. I wanted to try and turn it around and make it one of your best instead.”
“You did that last year.” The ring fit my finger perfectly. I stared at it and felt faint from the rush of blood through my veins.
He stood up and gave me a bruiser of a kiss. When he finally backed away, he cocked one eyebrow and dragged me to the bed.
“What, want to get started on the kid thing already?”
“Absolutely. Practice makes perfect. Besides, no one will be here for at least an hour.”
He tugged my shirt over my head, but I stopped him before he undid the clasp on my bra.
“One thing first.”
He groaned and rolled his eyes.
“Admit you’re the bigger nerd.” I unbuttoned the fly of his jeans and put my hand inside to give him some persuasion.
“Never.” His quick intake of breath told me I had his attention. He tried to distract me right back with nibbles along my neck, but I ducked my head and yanked his jeans and boxers down.
“You’ve got an entire room devoted to gaming. Dual screens for your computer. Headsets, mega ultra-processors in the computer, subscription accounts, action figures, posters; you use weird lingo no one else can understand, have a comic book collection large enough to supply a small store…. Your spare bedroom is more stocked with gear than mine.”
Tom shut me up by capturing my lips and tongue with his and kept it up until he removed my bra, and I lay on the bed. He kicked his own pants off and shucked his shirt. I smiled like a fool at the sight of him naked. God, he was gorgeous.
“Fine. I’m a bigger nerd.” He crawled onto the bed, my jeans went down my hips, and he licked a line along the tiny strap on my panties. “But you’re going to marry this nerd. So you must like it.”
“Yep, I’m a nerd lover. Sue me.” Then he moved his mouth over the front of my underwear and bit down, and I gasped and arched off the bed. “We don’t have a lot of time before the guests arrive.”
“I don’t care.” My panties flew across the room.
“I don’t want them coming in and hearing us.” One finger moved into my wetness, and I gasped at the intrusion, bringing my ass off the bed. He took my nipple between his teeth and bit it lightly.
“Abby, hush. I want to have sex with you. Right now.” He slipped his finger in and out a few times to make his point. “I don’t care if they hear or not. If you don’t stop talking, I’ll find a way to keep your mouth full.”
The innuendo brought a grin to my lips and I licked them. “Really?”
“Really.”
I rolled him onto his back and kissed my way down his chest, to his belly button, lower still. He propped himself up on his elbows and watched me.
“You want me to be quiet and get down to business?”
I licked the tip of his erection, and he sucked in a breath, nodded. “As you wish.” Tom moaned and let out a laugh. I stopped him pretty quickly with a well-placed flick and tightened my grip. Looking down the line of his body brought fullness to my chest, happiness that burned in my gut and heart. Two years ago I’d been so hurt and angry thoughts of a normal relationship hadn’t occurred to me.
Cupid is still a stupid fantasy and Valentine’s Day only an excuse to sell teddy bears and chocolates, but Tom is real. We are real.
I have everything I need and more than I could have hoped for.
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
For a girl whose first book was called “The Scariest Forest Ever,” the jump to romance may seem to be a far one. But a love of happy endings and the stories she kept making up in her head for strangers on the street lead to an unhealthy amount of time spent behind the keyboard typing away and giggling mischievously over sassy heroines, sexy heroes, and healthy sprinklings of geek humor.
With time split between a day job staring at teeth, two little girls, college courses, workaholic husband, and too many voices in her head, Jennifer still finds time to sneak off and devour all the books she can find – even if it means hiding in the closet to read them.
She insists on her jokes being dirty, drinks spiked, and tattoos placed in intriguing, muscular places you can only find when the clothes come off.
You can visit Jennifer at
http://www.authorjenniferjames.com
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