Someday, even if nottoday.
“I know it hasn’t been easy, and if this last week is anything to go by, it will only get harder,” Jamie said into the stunned quiet, never looking away from Kyle’s wide green eyes. “But I’m realizing more and more that I can’t live this life without you. What’s more, I don’twantto.”
“Jamie…what are you….” Kyle said, voice trailing off as he stood frozen in shock while the rest of his—their—family watched from the sidelines with stunned expressions on theirfaces.
“I was going to wait for the perfect moment, but I’ve come to realize that might not ever happen. I want you to know I’m a better man because you’re in my life, and I don’t ever want to let you go. Kyle Brannigan, will youmarryme?”
Kyle’s answer came swift and sure as a bullet, falling from his lips in a rush ofair. “Yes.”
Jamie took the ring out of the box and set the box aside. He slid it onto Kyle’s ring finger with the knowledge that Kyle would only be able to wear it inside these walls, in this small little world they’d built. But that world included each other, and they would always beenough.
Jamie only got a couple of seconds to admire the ring on Kyle’s finger before Kyle leaned down and kissed him soundly on the mouth. Jamie opened up to the kiss, dimly aware of the cheering and demands for toasts happening around them. After a few seconds, he broke the kiss and got back to his feet, reaching for Kyle’s left hand as hedidso.
“I wanna see the ring!” Valentina demanded, making grabby hands from the other side of thetable.
Tatyana whacked at her sister’s arm, her personal tablet pointed unerringly at Jamie and Kyle. “Stop messing up myvideo!”
“Can see ring later,” Alexei retorted. “Wait any longer, turkeygetcold.”
Jamie snorted out a laugh as he pulled out his chair. “Let’s eat before Alexeiriots.”
“Lyosha can starve for all I care,” Kyle said as he stared down in wonder at the engagement ring on hisfinger.
Jamie couldn’t keep the smile off his face throughout dinner and well into dessert, never more than an arm’s length away from Kyle. The Dvorkin family was beyond ecstatic about their engagement, even if the happiness was somewhat muted by the cold hard facts of still needing to hide theirrelationship.
“Is okay,” Evgeni said when he and Jamie were in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. “We understand. Will tell Phaedra not to say. Tell her to keepsecret.”
Jamie watched as Alexei grabbed the last piece of pumpkin pie and smothered it with homemade whipped cream before tossing the empty pie tin in the trash. “I wish things could bedifferent.”
“You make my son happy. Little secretworthit.”
It wasn’t a little secret by any means, but it was theirs. Jamie trusted that the Dvorkins and Sean would never tell, the same way his team wouldn’t, and Phaedra could keep a secret better than most childrenherage.
“He makes me happy,” Jamie confessed, glancing across the room at where Kyle was playing video games withPhaedra.
Evgeni’s smile was wide and joyful, gray eyes crinkling at the corners. “Good. Is good you have eachother.”
Cleanup didn’t take very long, and all the food was packed away in the refrigerator for leftovers through the weekend. Kyle’s parents and sisters were staying at the St. Regis through the holiday weekend, their trip to D.C. paid for by Jamie. Sean was staying at Alexei’s apartment for the time being until they agreed on a new place to move in together. The family had plans to check out the holiday activities in the megacity tomorrow and do a bit of shopping before coming back to the condo to eat theleftovers.
Goodbyes didn’t take very long. Jamie and Kyle saw everyone to the door around 2100, going through a gamut of hugging before the door slid shut behind them. Jamie set the security and turned around to find Kyle staring at him with a hungry look in his green eyes. An instant heat coursed through Jamie’s body, the desire he’d kept at bay to spare everyone’s sensibilities since getting down on one knee roaring back in fullforce.
“Do you know how hard these last few hours have been for me?” Kyle asked as he wrapped a hand around Jamie’s shirt collar since he hadn’t worn a tie. “I’ve wanted to go to my knees for you since you put the ring on myfinger.”
Jamie caught Kyle’s left hand in his, raising it to his mouth. He pressed a kiss over it, the diamond cool against his lips, but the platinum having taken on a bit of warmth from being worn against skin. He liked the ring on Kyle’s finger, liked the sense of ownership itimplied.
“I do like you on your knees,” Jamieadmitted.
“So put methere,sir.”
The open honesty and want in Kyle’s face, in his eyes and voice, went straight to Jamie’s cock. He was glad everyone had pitched in to tidy up the kitchen and put away the massive amount of leftovers before leaving. Jamie would never live it down if they had to throw out all the food because he and Kyle had forgot to put it away before spending hours fucking incelebration.
He caught Kyle’s mouth in a fierce kiss that Kyle yielded to instantly. The way he arched against Jamie, letting Jamie take command of the situation, would never get old. Jamie broke the kiss and started to lead Kyle toward their bedroom, pleased with the way he never fought being manhandled. He always went willingly, and for that, Jamie would be forever honored at the implicit trust itshowed.
The attending computer turned on the lights to a dim setting at their arrival. Jamie had lost his blazer somewhere in the hallway and Kyle’s shirt was tossed near the guest bathroom. They’d find everything tomorrow. Right now, the only thing that mattered was eachother.
Kyle hooked his left hand behind Jamie’s neck, the press of the ring a new sensation Jamie couldn’t get enough of. “How do you wantme,sir?”
A simple question that offered up countless possibilities, because Kyle would never say no to anything Jamie wanted. The limits Jamie set for himself were as much for his own sanity as for Kyle’s safety. With that in mind, Jamie kept working on the buttons of his dress shirt as he tilted his head atthebed.
