“I am not!” I cry, listening to everyone at the table laugh.
“Honey,” Dad calls, and I turn my head and focus on him. “You’re not asking him to marry you.”
“Seriously, you can’t tell me what to do either,” I snap, feeling like a dork, because I sound like a dork. But then again, everyone is smiling, and no one is thinking about the fact that Harlen lost his parents way too early in life, so I’m okay with being a dork right now. “Mom, you wanna help me out here?”
“Honey, I’m sorry, but no.” She shakes her head. “I think a man should be the one to ask a woman to marry him.” She smiles, and I look around Harlen at Grandma, raising a brow.
“Grandma?”
“Gotta agree with your mom, honey. Any man I’d want with my girl better be the one to ask that question, not the other way around.”
“What happened to girl power?” I mutter, and Harlen lets my thigh go then slides his arm around my shoulders, pulling me deep into his side.
“It’s okay. Pack it in, baby, and fight another day for womankind.” He kisses the side of my head. I tip my head back, and he brushes his lips softly over mine before leaning back in his chair and smiling. Seeing him smile, I look around the table and notice that everyone, including my dad, has the same happy expression. Thank God. And thankfully, the rest of dinner goes off without a hitch, but I still wonder what Harlen’s answer would be if I did ask him to marry me.
***
Lying naked on top of Harlen, breathing heavily, my pussy still convulsing around his cock from the orgasm I just had, I lift my head off his chest and sit up. Looking down into his handsome face, I finally understand why people go to such great lengths to find what we have. It’s not about the sex, even though the sex is awesome. It’s about feeling like you belong somewhere, that you belong to someone, that no matter how insane or hard life gets, you have someone in your corner who is always rooting for you, always looking out for you.
His hand wraps around my hip and his other slides up my side, his fingers coming to rest just under my breast. “You okay?”
“Yes,” I whisper, studying my hands as I slide them down then up his defined abs, watching his muscles bunch and shift under my touch.
“What are you thinking?” he asks quietly, and I lift my head to look at him then lean forward, sliding my hands back up his chest until I’m pressed fully against him.
“Until you, I didn’t really understand why people did what they did for love,” I whisper, then continue softly running my thumb lightly over his bottom lip. “I finally understand why someone would do whatever they had to do to find this, why they would risk everything for this. Thank you for giving it to me.”
“Christ,” he mutters, sitting up, gathering me against him, one arm going around my back, and his other hand sliding into my hair.
“I love you,” I add, and his eyes flash right before his mouth lands on mine for a deep, hard kiss.
“Love you too, Angel.” He tucks my face into his neck, and I wrap my legs around his hips and my arms around his shoulders, holding him just as tightly as he’s holding me.
“I do have a question,” I say after a long moment, and he pulls his head back to look down at me.
“What’s that?” he asks, his eyes searching mine.
“Hypothetically speaking.” I squeeze him with all four of my limbs, then ask quietly, “If I were to ask you to marry me, would you say yes?”
“Hypothetically speaking.” He grins. “You’ll never know,” he answers just as quietly.
“Gah, you’re annoying.”
“Yeah, but you love me.”
“Which means I must be crazy,” I mutter, and he laughs, shoving his face in my neck. “It’s not that funny,” I grumble, and he laughs harder. “I need to shower.”
“You can shower tomorrow,” he says through his laughter, and I smack his back lightly.
“Harlen, I need a shower.”
“Tomorrow, Angel.”
“No, tonight,” I gripe, and his head comes out of my neck and his eyes meet mine, the humor gone. In its place, there’s an intensity that makes me hold my breath.
“Tonight, you’re going to sleep filled with me. You can shower tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I whisper immediately, and his face softens, his fingers sliding out of my hair to run along the underside of my jaw before he shifts us up in the bed and turns out the light. Once that’s done, he rolls to his back, with me draped across his chest, my hips wide as my legs rest on either side of his. Jerking the covers up and over us, he holds me to him, one hand on the back of my head and the other just above my ass. I lie there in the dark, listening to him breathe, to his heartbeat against my ear, doubting I will be able to sleep with him still inside me and leaking out. But before long, my eyes slide closed and I fall asleep filled with him in every way possible.