Perfect Proposal (7 page)

“
I mean,” she continued, “we’ve been together long enough to
know we’ll work, right? And these days it doesn’t matter if the
bride’s pregnant or not when she walks down the aisle. Plus, I’m
almost thirty and—”

“
Whoa, you don’t have to sell me on it.” He blew out his breath
in a long, slow blow. “Are you sure you want this? Because once we
do, there’s no goin’ back. You get pregnant, and I’m in your life
forever.” There was no way in hell’s half acre he’d walk away from
her or any kid of his.

“
That’s why I’m sure,” she said quietly, any trace of
uncertainty vanishing from both her eyes and her voice. “Because I
know you’ll always be there for both of us. Because I love you, and
you love me. What better reason?”

There
were so many reasons not to have a kid these days, but the thought
of Rosie swollen with his kid in her belly, of her cradling a tiny
baby in her arms, breastfeeding it, of himself seeing part of
himself staring back at him with Rosie’s eyes. Then later, teaching
the kid to catch a ball, or ride a bike…

Closing
his eyes, he pushed fully inside her, the first time he’d ever been
naked inside a woman. The heat of her pussy incinerated him; the
unfiltered flutters of her muscles against his bare flesh nearly
pushed him over the edge without even moving.

He
lifted himself up on his elbows and stared at the spot where his
cock disappeared into her. Loving how her juices glistened on his
cock, he withdrew slowly inch by inch. He gritted his teeth against
the throbbing of her pussy around his shaft, squeezing his head as
if her pussy was afraid to let him go. If she kept this up, he was
going to be hard-pressed to give her gentle and soft, instead of
taking her like a damned Neanderthal.

Her
fingers raked his shoulders and clamped around his biceps, urging
him to fill her once more. He damned near whimpered during the slow
glide inside her heated channel. His eyes just about rolled back in
his head when she tightened her muscles and locked him inside her.
Sweet baby Jesus, there were no words to describe the
sensation.

Encouraged by her fevered entreaties urging him deeper and
harder, the slow pace he’d intended to set quickly fell by the
wayside and soon his thrusts were fierce and frantic. Her
fingernails dug into his skin in a delicious bite of pain that
centered him as she rocked against him, heels digging into his ass.
Her pussy throbbed with each pass then gripped his shaft, pulsing
as she climaxed around him. His balls tight to his body, he
stilled, letting her orgasm wash over him, only to find himself
dragged into the vortex. A part of him registered each jerk of his
cock, aware that with each spurt of his seed from his body to hers,
he was truly inside her in every way.

Awed by
the magnitude of the moment and the after-effects of her climax
without the tiny, flickering pulses being muted by a condom, he
lowered his head to the pillow beside her head. Once he finally
slipped from her body and their breathing slowed, he tucked his arm
beneath her shoulders and rolled onto his back, bringing her with
him to rest on his chest. Rose petals that had stuck to her body
and his fluttered around them, their scent filling the
air.

“
So, Mrs. Watson—” Damn, but he liked the thought of her having
his name, as old-fashioned a concept as it might be, “—what do you
think about getting married on the beach in Hawaii?”

Rosie
tried to lift her head, her body bouncing on his as she chuckled
when she failed. “Hawaii sounds heavenly. Or we could hold it in
Puerto Rico. But we’d have to fly my whole family to wherever it’s
going to be if it’s not in New York.”

The
where didn’t matter much to him, as long as he got to put his
wedding ring on her finger. He trailed his fingers along her
shoulders and down the knobs of her spine, slowing at the small of
her back to trace the outline of the butterfly tattoo that had
entranced him since the first time he’d seen it peeking out above
her jeans. “Maybe we can fly them out in Coop’s private
jet.”

“
That would be nice. Oh, and I’m not sure I want to be Mrs.
Watson—that’s your mom. Besides, I like the alliteration of
Rosalinda Ramos.”

“
How about hyphenating it? Rosalinda Ramos-Watson.” He rolled
the name on his tongue experimentally. “It has a nice cadence to
it.”

“
Or Rosalinda Watson-Ramos.” She rolled over to poke him
beneath the ribs where she knew he was ticklish. “You could always
change your name.”

“
Rosalinda Watson-Ramos it is then.” With a groan he lay back
on the pillows and covered his eyes with his arm. “I can’t believe
I ended up proposing while kneeling in a puddle in the middle of
the street. I wanted to give you a perfect proposal, one you’d
never forget.”

“
You
dundo
. Do
you really think I’ll forget today?” Straddling him, she sprawled
across his chest and pulled his arm away from his face. “And
because I forgot to say it before, thank you for today, Sam. Thank
you for giving up your plans of taking me to Paris and letting me
visit my family. Thank you for the roses, and the music, and this
suite. Thank you for wrecking your suit by getting down on one knee
in a snow storm.”

“
It was worth it.” Not that he’d point out that the suit was
already a write-off thanks to Rosie’s nephew dumping his pudding on
it.

“
You didn’t have to go through all this, you know? I was never
going to say no. In fact, I planned on asking you myself.” She held
her closed hand a foot above his chest, then opened her fingers,
releasing a fistful of rose petals to cascade over him. “I don’t
need rose petals and fancy champagne or expensive hotel suites to
know you love me. I just need you.”

Cupping
her face in his palms, he kissed the tip of her nose. “And I need
you. That’s why I wanted to give you a perfect proposal—because
you’re perfect for me.”

He moved
his hands down her back to cup her behind. “Now for part two of my
plans for this evening…”

Like
most authors, Leah's always had stories revolving around in her
head, talking to her late at night. College, marriage and raising a
family had her pushing them aside until a conversation with her
eldest son about how he needed to follow his dreams was thrown back
at her. One year later Leah was thrilled to get her first contract
for her sizzling romance Private Property from Samhain Publishing.
In January 2010, the reviewers at The Romance Studio nominated
Private Property for a CAPA award for "Best Erotic Romance." Leah
was also nominated in the "Best Erotic Romance Author" category.
Reviewers have since awarded her books numerous Top Pick and
Recommended Reads designations along with another CAPA nomination
for Deliberate Deceptions as "Best Contemporary Romance of
2011."

***

You can read
more about Leah and her books on her website
http://leahbraemel.com

Read her blog
http://leahbraemel.com/blog/

You can also
connect with Leah on:

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Leah-Braemel/95697551732

Twitter
(@LeahBraemel)
http://twitter.com/LeahBraemel

Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LeahBraemel

Private
Property

Personal
Protection

Deliberate
Deceptions

Hidden Heat (May
2012)

Hauberk Short Stories

First
Night*

Perfect
Proposal

Chronological order of the series:

First
Night*

Private
Property

Personal
Protection

Deliberate
Deceptions

Perfect
Proposal

Hidden
Heat

(*available for
free on my website)

Texas Tangle, a
contemporary western erotic romance

Tangled Past, a
historical western erotic romance

So many people
helped me develop Sam Watson and make him larger than life, that I
know I've forgotten someone…but here goes: Thanks to Anara Bella
for taking time out of her own writing schedule for our numerous IM
writing sessions as well as her suggestions in her critique. I owe
you another six hour lunch, Anara. (Seriously. I pity the
waitresses who have to wait on us when we sit down in their
section.)

Thanks to
romance reader extraordinaire and Sam-fanatic Mary G for emailing
me demanding "more Sam!" Mary, it's readers like you who keep me
writing.

Thanks also to
Tera Kleinfelter, my editor at Samhain, who gave me the nod to
write this story, and to Angela James, who used to be my editor at
Samhain, for plucking PRIVATE PROPERTY out of the slush pile and
offering me a contract so others got to fall in love with Sam too.
Thanks also to editor Rhonda Stapleton for using up all the red ink
in her pen so even someone who hadn't read any other Hauberk story
could still enjoy Sam's PERFECT PROPOSAL.

Finally,
thanks to my husband who told me "go for it" when I first told him
I wanted to try writing professionally.