“I love you,” he whispers, pressing his forehead to mine.
“I love you too. I’m sorry it took this long to get back here.”
“We both were stubborn,” he adds, shifting his hips deeper.
“Fuck, you feel good.” I close my eyes and focus on how he feels.
“You’re my wife, Marina Hutton. Forever and always.”
“Steel,” I moan as I open my eyes. “Marina Steel,” I tell him.
I never took his name when we got married initially. There was a lot going on and we were keeping things quiet, so it just didn’t happen. But I wanted to. I dreamed of the day I could be Mrs. Arlo Steel.
Arlo’s eyes clench close and his teeth grit together, jaw popping. “You can’t say things like that if you want this to last longer,” he growls as he opens his eyes to look at me.
“You like the idea of me being Rina Steel? Yours for the whole word to see?” I smirk as I swivel my hips. I’m so close my legs are tightening on his.
“I fucking love it. Seems like you do too, judging by how wet you are. Are you going to come for me? Come with me?” He grunts as he thrusts. Well, as much as he can in this position, but it’s enough to send me over. My clit grinding against his pelvis, mixed with his movement, sends me spiraling. I vaguely hear him moan as he pulls me as close as I can get to him.
There isn’t an inch of space between us. Every bit of skin is touching, and it somehow still feels like I need to be closer. We collapse into each other, panting and catching our breaths.
“I’m going to need this as my wake-up call every morning,” he says seriously.
Laughter bubbles up out of me. “I’d never get out of bed and work if we started every day like this.”
“How about just the weekends?” he counters.
I sit up and look him in the eye. “I think we can make that happen.”
“So, we’ve established you’re my wife. How far are we taking this? Living together immediately? Working up to that and enjoying breakfast in bed on the weekends?” He asks the second part to bring a levity to his question. He still doesn’t want to push me but does want to know what all of this means.
“Well.” I smile. “Your house is pretty small. And my workshop is here. It would make sense for you to move in, right? Sell your house and turn this into our home?” I want him to know I’m all in. He could move in tomorrow, and I wouldn’t bat an eye. I can’t imagine sleeping alone after the last few months together.
“You’re serious?” he asks in shock.
“A thousand percent.”
He shifts, reaching over the side of the bed, fumbling with the nightstand. When he comes back to me with a familiar box, I don’t think my smile could get any bigger.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Marina Steel, will you continue to be my wife? The person I love more than anyone. Who I want to wake up next to every single day and never take a single moment for granted.” He opens the box, revealing the small diamond ring he got for me all those years ago.
“Yes, holy shit, yes!”
His kiss takes me by surprise, but no words are needed. We’re doing this for real, and we’ll never have to be without each other again.
Chapter 44
Arlo
It’s been a month since our lives changed for the better.
Tyler is sitting in jail and won’t be getting out for a very, very long time. I moved into Rina’s house three days after everything happened, and we haven’t looked back.
But today? It’s time to give her something she’s always wanted but never made a fuss about.
First stop on the long list of shit to get done is a long talk with Ledger. Pulling up to the house he shares with Ainsley, I’m nervous. I never repaired our relationship from when we were kids, and I regret that. And now that Rina and I are married, I don’t want what I did hanging over us. I want to be a real part of the family, not someone he has to put up with.
