“Don’t,” I whisper, my hands scrabbling up his arms to wrap around his neck. I press into him but it’s not enough. Until my breasts are crushed against his chest and my heart can feel the eager, desperate thump of his, “I hurt you when all I wanted to do was to protect you.”
He laughs then and it’s a gruff, choked sound that engulfs me. “I’m not used to that yet, baby girl.”
“To what?”
“To someone wanting to protect me. To someone thinking of my feelings. It’s usually the other way around.”
I laugh then, because it mirrors what he said to me that fateful morning when I asked him to come with me to the wedding reception. “Then you better start getting used to it, Mr. Grayson. Because I want to look after you and care for you like it’s my sole purpose in life.”
“So you forgive me for acting like an immature asshole,” he pounces on my softening tone, “and storming out on you when I should have stayed? Not once, but twice?”
“I do.”
“And will you stop fucking calling me Mr. Grayson soon?”
I scrunch my nose. “Do I have to?”
He shrugs, a naughty smile curving his lips. “Actually, I don’t care. As long as you call me Daddy when we are alone.”
“Yes, Daddy,” I whisper. But before I can lean in and kiss him, he shrugs me off.
My protest dies halfway on my lips when he sinks to his knees and holds up the ring, now out of its box. In his rough palm, the sapphire and the diamonds look extra shimmery. But that can hold my attention only for so long.
It’s the second time he’s kneeled in front of him and God, the sight undoes me like nothing else.
“Not sure if these old knees can take too long of this, little bird. Say yes to Daddy, won’t you?”
Laughter bursts out of me. “I don’t believe the lies about your stamina, Daddy. I know how long you can last.”
“If you say yes and put me out of my misery,” he grabs my hip with one hand and presses his face into my belly, “I can give you a fresh demonstration.”
I jerk when he nips at the curve of my hip. “What if I want more than just to be your wife?”
“You want to be a mom to Sophie? Because, baby, you’ve been in that role unofficially for a while now.”
I laugh, sink my hands into his hair and tug. A little roughly. Head bent, he gives himself over with a little groan.
Mine,my heart whispers repeatedly.
I can touch him and kiss him and caress him all I want.
I can sleep by his side every single night in that enormous bed. By the look in his eyes and the gruffness of his admission, I’m already the center of his world.
But still... my heart longs for a little more.
Am I being greedy? Selfish? What if he’s completely against the idea of children? Try as I might, I can’t keep this last wish to myself. “I was a single child, and I always wanted a big family.”
His brow clears and a new, naughty light fills his eyes. “If you’re thinking about babies, I’m already ahead of you, baby girl. Why do you think I’ve been fucking you raw since day one? I mean, other than the fact that your pussy feels amazing and you didn’t throw a single objection in my face?”
“And you aren’t just saying you want babies, because you think it’s what I want? Because, Nathan,” his name tingles on my lips, “I don’t want to force you into—”
“You know why I kept Sophie’s mom in my life for nearly a decade even though our marriage lasted like a whole month?”
I shake my head, my chest twisting at the ache in his voice.
“Because Sophie made me a dad. Because she made me realize that I had all this love I wanted to give but I couldn’t trust a woman with it. Until you, baby girl.”
“So you want to make a family with me? Build our own world?”
