Before I know it, my seat belt is off, and Royce yanks me out of my seat and onto his lap.
“Say it.”
“You can’t demand it,” I tease.
“Baby…” His voice comes out rough and deep, with so much emotion in it. “Say it.”
“I love you,” I whisper for the first time to someone outside of my family.
He stares at me hard for half a second before his mouth hits mine. His tongue pushes in, and I kiss him back just as fiercely. I don’t know why I ever fought this. His hands tangle in my hair, and all I can think is that this love is what I’ve been waiting on my whole life.
“We’re getting married,” he tells me as his lips move to my neck.
“You’re bossy.”
Normally I would get mad, but something about the way he’s so assertive and sure of what he’s saying does it for me. I feel myself smile and close my eyes, loving the feeling of his lips on me.
His grip on my hair tightens, and my pussy clenches. God, what this beast of a man does to me.
“Say you’ll marry me,” he pushes, and I moan at the strong grip he has on me.
He’s tough, and it goes straight to my core. I’m not used to someone being so firm with me. I like it, and he smiles, knowing damn well I’m getting off on it.
“I’ll marry you,” I tell him, because it’s what I want. It might be crazy fast, but I don’t care. This man was made for me. “We could fly to Vegas tonight.”
He smiles and then leans forward, giving me a soft, sweet kiss. It’s the complete opposite of what we were just doing. Then he’s putting me back in my seat and going back into my parents’ driveway.
“What are you doing?” I ask, wondering what the hell is happening.
“I’m going to go ask your dad if I can marry you.”
He’s giving me that cocky grin with his deep dimples, and I melt. I once wanted to smack that look off his face, and now all I want to do is kiss it. He gets it. He understands what my family means to me.
“I love you,” I tell him again.
“I love you, too,” he says before getting out of the car and taking me with him.
Epilogue
Royce
Two years later
“What are you two in here doing?” I ask, seeing Pandora and our daughter, Lavender, playing.
“I’m teaching her how to throw a punch,” Pandora says, holding up her hand for Lav to hit.
“Hey, I’m the fighter in this family. I should be the one doing it.” I lean on the doorframe and cross my arms. The sight of the two of them together completes a piece of a puzzle I never knew I was building. We’ve talked about having another one, but Pandora says Penelope has enough for the whole family.
“Nah. I want her to be good at it.” Pandora winks at me, and I growl, getting on the floor with the two of them and lying on my back while Lavender crawls on me.
We kept my loft in the city for Pandora to work a few days a week. I do most of my consulting from home now, so I’m mobile. We have our house on “the compound” as we love to call it, and stay out there the rest of the time.
I stopped fighting after Lavender was born. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, but having kids changed our perspective on things. Suddenly it wasn’t just me and Pandora fucking in bathrooms in the basement of dingy bars. Although we still manage to do that on date night. I wanted to give our little girl the world, and that included my time, too. Once I made the decision to step out of the ring, I never looked back. Getting in the ring was a good time, but it’s not a sport you can really work at long term, and I was ready for it to end.
But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, and that’s my love for Pandora. If anything, it’s grown over the past two years to a level I can’t even comprehend. I never knew love could be like this, and every day it grows stronger. Pandora’s dad told me that it’s that way for him and her mom, too. I see it when they’re together, and that’s what I want for us.
“Are you all packed up?” I ask, sitting up to kiss Pandora.
“Yep. It’s nice having stuff at both places, though, so all we have to do is grab the essentials.”
I reach out and grab her breast, and she giggles. “What? Just the essentials, right?”
“You play your cards right, and we can have a babysitter tonight.”
“Your sister is having baby fever again,” I say, picking up Lav and taking her over to the changing table.