Sext God

“No… maybe a soda water,” I answer, shaking my head.

“Everything okay?” he asks me, his eyes full of concern. I lean forward in my chair, pressing my fingers lightly on his knee.

“August… I think I might be pregnant.”

His mouth is open. “Pregnant? Are you sure?”

I shake my head. “No… Of course I can’t be sure. I'll have to take a test. But… gotta be three weeks late. We have just been so busy, I wasn't even paying attention. But it's got to be at least three weeks.”

I am so distracted, mentally calculating over and over again, I barely notice it when he takes my hands in his, draws me closer to him. He strokes my cheeks with his hands, kissing my upper lip, then my lower lip, sighing deeply.

“Dahlia! That's so amazing!”

“But we have to go to Malta!” I object. It sounds silly when I say it, but still. “I mean… Greece is right there? Italy?”

“We can go anywhere you want,” he says quickly. His voice is urgent and sincere.

“But, Malta… it's a cruise?” My voice trails off.

“There's time for that, Dahlia. All the time in the world,” he smiles. As I watch him, he smiles broader, his cheeks creasing, his eyes dancing.

“But school? Your new app… I mean we are so busy. What if we get into the —”

“Marry me.”

My breath chokes my throat.

“What?”

“Oh, what am I thinking,” he blurts out, distracted. He looks around at the other people in the room, though I'm not sure what he's looking for.

Then he stands up abruptly and dashes to the other side of the room. He moves quickly from table to table, quickly investigating each of the auction items. Other guests have started to watch him as he darts toward the bidding table and scribbles on the paper. He talks to the official, bending his head forward and then shaking his hand.

Just as suddenly, he strides back across the room to where I sit. He pushes his chair to the side to make room and drops to his knees in front of me. Taking both my hands in his, he looks up into my face.

“What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Dahlia Cox, I'm asking you to marry me.”

“But —”

He squeezes my hands, and I stop talking immediately.

“Dahlia, I don't know where I was before you. I can't remember a time before there was you. You changed my life, and I didn't even know it. I didn't even understand. You brought me back to life, Dahlia.”

“Oh," I say.

He smiles, the most beautiful smile I've ever seen.

“And so I want you — I need you — to be my wife. Let me care for you forever. Let me raise this baby with you, and all the babies we will have after.”

“Oh, August…” I breathe, suddenly dizzy.

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s so... I mean…”

“Tell me,” he growls. My body shivers in response. That voice. That low, sexy, commanding voice. “Tell me, Dahlia.”