33. Hunter

TWO WEEKS LATER

Elodie and I ride the elevator up to the top of the Skyrise skyscraper.

“What are we doing here?” Elodie asks. “I need to get back to the kitchen. I have so much work to do. And oh my God.” She slaps a hand over her eyes. “I sound so ungrateful. I’m sorry. I want to be here with you, but I also want to work. Does that make me a bad person?”

“Not at all.” I chuckle. She’s so cute when she’s flustered. In the two weeks since she moved in with me, her online bakery has taken off. She sells out every day and has already hired two people to help her bake and fulfill the orders, but it’s not enough. The limited availability is making her even more popular, especially when Stella’s posted numerous photos with her cookies in the background, a subtle nod to her sister’s business.

“It’ll just be for a few minutes. There’s something I want to show you.”

“And this something couldn’t wait?”

I shake my head and the elevator doors open to reveal the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the city.

“Where is everyone?” she asks, glancing around the empty space.

“On a lunch break.”

She gives me a deadpan expression. “Right, because that’s normal for a tourist attraction.”

I laugh and guide her to the glass square on the floor, the same one we went to as a team to overcome Marcus’s fear of heights. Using the map on the floor that shows the cardinal directions for orientation, I position her facing the southeast windows.

I point to the outside. “About five thousand miles that way is Rome.”

“That’s about five thousand miles too far away,” she jokes.

I grin. “The moment things calm down for your business, we’re going there. Just like we’ll go anywhere in the world on your bucket list. Just like I promise to always save a seat at any table for you and to support you in everything you do.” Holding her hands in mine, I continue. “I promise to always lift you up and help you pursue your passions. And when things get tough, because sometimes life likes to play with us, I promise to always see the best in you and fight for us.” With hands far steadier than I thought they’d be, I take out the velvet box from my pocket. Getting down on one knee, I open the box, and her gasps echo around us. “I knew the moment I met you that you were the one. There was this instant, invisible string that tied our souls together when I helped you on the stairs. Now that I finally have you back, I can’t go another second without having my ring on your finger, without claiming you as mine, and me as yours. Will you marry me?”

She collapses to her knees in front of me and grabs my face in her hands. “Yes, yes, yes, a billion times yes.” She kisses me as if engraving her answer on my lips one letter at a time.

The kiss fractures me, every feeling I've ever known exploding in a supernova of light. In the blinding brilliance, I see only her, a love so fierce it breaks me atom by atom, only to reform me stronger, each fragment held together by the unyielding force of her adoration.

Love is too simple of a word for what we have. It’s a mere whisper, whereas this is a roar that’s all-consuming. As if the universe weaved our souls together in something that transcends all possible definitions and time.

I wrap my arms around her and stand, lifting her in the process. Her legs lock around my waist, and I keep kissing her, prolonging this moment of pure joy. She gasps again when my hands work their way under her dress and trace the edge of her thong. My thumb brushes against her clit and she lifts her hips, chasing my touch. I draw three circles around it, slowly, as if we have all the time in the world, before trailing my thumb further down to her slit. Her thong is already soaked through, and we haven’t even started.

I drag myself away from her lips and say, “I love how wet you are for me.”

“More kissing, less talking.” She grips the back of my head and pulls me to her lips, as if she can’t bear to be separated from me for mere words. As if she’s feeling everything I’m feeling.

I toy with the edge of her silky thong, the only thing separating me from having my way with her. Pressing onto the material, I work my finger inside of her, thong and all coming along for the ride.

She moans and I hum my approval in her mouth. I back us up until her shoulders hit the floor-to-ceiling windows. One-handed, I unbutton my pants and pull them down just enough to free my cock. A sharp tug and her thong rips at the hips. I pocket the material and rub my dick up and down her slit.

She pulls on my hair, and I drag myself away from her lips.

“What if someone comes in?” she asks.

“Who the fuck cares? I need to fuck my wife. ”

“Your almost wife,” she teases, but I hate the sound of almost in that sentence.

“Keep that up.” I nip at her neck. “And I’ll take you to the courthouse right now to make it official. Actually, that’s the best idea I’ve ever had. Let’s go.” I set her on her feet, and smooth down her dress before taking a single step toward the exit.

“Don’t you dare take another step,” she says.

“Or what?”

She pushes me gently until my back is against the windows. “I want to fuck my fiancé before you become my husband. It’s on my bucket list.”

“Oh really?” I ask, watching intently as she pulls off her dress and bra and reveals her gorgeous body.

“Really. I always wanted to fuck you with just my engagement ring on.” She sinks to her knees. “And to give you a blow job.”

I grip her hair in my right hand. “And after?”

“We’re going to the courthouse and then I’ll fuck you again, but this time as my husband.” She takes me into her mouth, all wet and hot and slow in a way that’s made to torture me. My knees buckle, and I lean heavily on the window. Tilting my head to the ceiling, I shut my eyes, lost in pleasure. Her hand grips the base of my cock as her tongue swirls around the head.

She pulls back and the cold air of the room hits my dick.

“This,” she says, “is the only time your fiancée is going to suck your dick. I want you to watch me. ”

I snap my gaze to hers, anchoring myself in her stormy green eyes. She nods in approval and trails soft kisses down my length, nipping me with her teeth every now and again, driving me wild with need. She palms my balls, the underside of her ring cooler than the rest of her hand. Oh, shit. The reminder that my fiancée is here, getting me off, slides me right to the edge of an orgasm. I should be unnerved that the base of my spine is already tingling, and it hasn’t even been a minute with Elodie’s mouth on me.

I tug on her hair, and my dick pops out of her mouth with an obscenely sexy sound. “I’m about to come.”

“That was the point.” She grins and guides me back into her mouth.

I huff out a laugh and pull her to a standing position. “No, I want to come inside my fiancée.”

“But I want you to come in my mouth.”

“You’ll get it.” I switch our positions so that she’s next to the window and spin her around so that she’s facing it. “Hands on the glass. Don’t move them.”

“But—”

I slap her ass. “Do as I say or no orgasm for you.”

She complies, and I slap her ass again just for the hell of it before entering her in one swift motion. She cries out at the tight fit. I take a moment for both of us to adjust, so that I don’t blow my load before she comes .

“Fuck me like you mean it,” she demands, pressing her hips back into mine.

“Challenge accepted.” I pull out and slam back into her.

Her breasts sway with the force of my movements. I’m not gentle; I’m too desperate for that. But her moans are a symphony to my ears. I rub her clit, needing her to get to where I am. It’s a test of my restraint to delay my pleasure, my orgasm. But it’s a test I’m willing to go through if it means I get to feel her pulse around my cock.

Her hips slam into mine, searching for more. I pick up the pace and fuck her harder, giving her everything she wants, everything she needs. My free hand snakes to hers, the one with my ring on it, and I entwine my fingers with her own.

“Come for me,” I demand, pinching her clit with my other hand.

That’s all it takes for her to fall over the edge, and I follow right behind her when she strangles my dick with her orgasm. Bliss unlike anything I’ve ever felt crashes into me. My arms and legs tingle as euphoria takes over, disconnecting my mind from my body.

When I come down from the high, I massage Elodie’s ass before cupping her pussy. “Push out.”

“Wh…what?” she asks, turning her head to look at me over her shoulder.

“I want to see my cum.” I swirl my finger in her abused pussy, and her eyes widen in understanding .

She does as I ask, and when my cum trickles out of her, I catch it on my awaiting finger. Bringing it to her mouth, I say, “You wanted my cum. Here it is.”

She sucks on my finger without hesitation and moans around it. “More,” she demands.

Who am I to resist my fiancée? When she’s had her fill, I help her redress.

“Are you ready to become my wife?” I ask, kissing each of her knuckles, pausing on her ring finger.

“I’ve been ready since we met.” A blinding smile blooms across her face as she skips to the exit. “Come on, husband. What are you waiting for? Let’s get married.”

“Lead the way, wife.” I bow dramatically with my arm out.

She giggles and says, “You know what we’re missing?”

“Our family?”

“No, silly,” she says. “Your jeggings. I’m quite attached to them.”

“You’re evil.”

“But you love it,” she singsongs.

“I do,” I agree simply, catching up to her and taking her hand in mine. “I love everything about you.”

Her face softens. “As do I. Never thought fake dating you would lead to this.” She gazes at her ring. “But I’m not mad about it.”

I laugh. “That’s a winning endorsement right there. ”

She nudges my shoulder with her own. “I thought so.”

With her hand in mine, we enter the elevator to begin our new chapter together. We started as a plan drawn up in desperation, a Hail Mary pass. But somewhere along the way, we completed the greatest touchdown of all—a real, heart-stopping love story, celebrating something far more beautiful than any ties we could’ve ever faked.

Thank you so much for reading!