Sweetest Venom (Virtue #2)(60)
“And what would our names be?”
He raises an eyebrow, answering drolly. But he can’t hide the amusement sparkling in his lovely eyes. “I’m surprised at you, Mrs. Klein.”
I giggle as I move away from him, kneeling on the bed with his body between my legs. Lifting my left hand, I say, “I don’t see a ring, do you?”
Ronan reaches for the notepad with the logo of the hotel lying on the nightstand. After he rips a page off, he rolls it into a long, thin line. Taking my hand in his, he ties the piece of paper around my ring finger as though it is the real thing.
“There,” he says smugly. “What were you saying now, Mrs. Klein?”
I close my hand with the paper ring, making a tight fist, and press it against my chest. Ronan’s boyishly handsome features blur as I try to speak, but the words get stuck in my throat. A river of emotions rushes through me, dragging me down, making it impossible to breathe.
Sitting up, Ronan reaches for my hand and kisses it tenderly. “Let’s run away together, Blaire. Let’s leave it all behind us. It will be just you and me, babe. Starting all over again with nothing coming between us.” He grins. “And maybe down the road, you can make an honest man out of me and marry my sorry ass.”
My lips tremble. “Ronan …”
“Why does it have to be a wish or a dream?” he whispers huskily, burying his hands in my hair, his long fingers cradling the back of my head. “Why can’t it be a reality?”
I place my hands on top of his. Dispassionately, I notice that they are trembling too. “You don’t mean it—”
“I do. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Blaire. I want to watch your belly swell with my babies inside you. I want to wake up every morning and fall asleep each night with you next to me. I once told you that one day you were going to let me love you and I was never going to let you go, that I would love you as if it were the only thing I was meant to do. Nothing has changed.” He kisses my nose before resting his forehead against mine. “One lifetime wouldn’t be enough when I’m with you.”
“Is this really happening?”
Cupping my face, Ronan wipes the tears rolling down my cheeks. “It has to, babe,” he murmurs so softly, so tenderly, it makes my heart ache with love. “Tomorrow morning we go to JFK and our new life. Making love, living, laughing. We won’t have much at first, but I’ll find work with my camera and provide for you.”
The picture he paints is so lovely, so perfect, I can almost see us living it. He would leave in the morning after making slow love to me. I would dress, run my hands over my stomach feeling a small bump full with life, and then I would walk to my bookstore. Life would be sweet. We wouldn’t have much, but we would be happy.
The old me would think I’m stupid to even consider it. She would say that love would eventually die when we didn’t have enough money in the bank to pay the bills. Sex would be replaced by obligations. Laughter by the buzz of the television. And maybe that old Blaire is right, but I also know the old Blaire wasn’t happy. She had money and security. Yet her heart remained empty.
No … I’m done listening to her. Life becomes beautiful when we learn to appreciate what we have and be thankful for it. Life becomes beautiful when we stop coveting things we don’t have and are grateful for what we do have. Life is beautiful when we choose to make it beautiful.
Mistaking my silence for hesitation, he adds, “It won’t be what you’re used to, I know, but—”
“Shh.” I place a finger on his lips, silencing him. “Those things don’t matter to me anymore.” Frowning, I think of a hiccup that could potentially mar our happiness. “But what about your exhibit? You’re about to get your big break, Ronan. You can’t leave now.”
He wraps a hand around my neck possessively as he bends forward and begins to trail kisses on my neck, my jaw, my shoulder; making me tremble with hunger for him. “I don’t care about it. Carl can keep the photographs and the money. I don’t want any of it. I want to try doing it without their help—the right way. I want to be proud of what I’ve achieved, babe. And I can’t be proud of what feels like was handed to me because of—”
“Rachel,” I finish for him.
He nods, kissing my neck. “It’s all a big reminder of a life without you.”
I place my hands on his shoulders for support as a moan escapes my mouth. “You make me want to be selfish and agree to your plan …” Ronan begins to roll his hips against me, sliding his cock between my *, lighting me on f*cking fire.
“But it would be unfair to you,” I moan, closing my eyes. “What if we waited until after your exhibit?”
“Don’t,” he breathes huskily. He licks his thumb and lowers it between us, rubbing my clit and making the room swirl, my senses coming alive with his touch. My body sings for him.
“It’s my choice, Blaire. Everything I did, I did for you. And now that you’re mine, I don’t give a f*ck about anything else. We’ll make it on our own. Your bookstore and my camera.” His smiling eyes gaze into mine as he grins cockily at me. “So what do you say, Mrs. Klein?”
Kissing his nose, happiness bubbles deep inside me. It makes me want to get up and run naked in the street, throw my head back, and shout that he’s mine. It’s all a beautiful dream, and it might be foolish to believe it, to want it so much, but we’ll figure it out. There’s no other choice for us.