Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

I wrapped my arms around her and placed my chin on top of her head. Miles and miles of Douglas Firs and Redwood trees cushioned the ground down below in bright green. On the left, the Pacific went on for miles. I could see the seagulls in the distance and the waves crashing against the shore. The air was colder up here, fresher, and the clouds drifted around us, so close we could reach out and touch them if it were possible.

“I feel like I’m on top of the world,” she said, taking a step closer to the cliff’s edge.

I tugged her back against my chest. “That’s close enough.”

“Now look who is nervous.” Her fingers lazily scratched my arms as they dragged up and down, putting me into a deep trance, just like the view did.

“You might feel like you’re on top of the world, but you’re my world. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Such a romantic, who would have thought,” she said.

We stood there on the high cliff of Strawberry Rock, on top of the world, with me holding her tight as we watched the waves hit the shore and birds fly in the air. I had been here before, but it didn’t compare to experiencing it with Quinn. The view was different, broader, bigger, and I appreciated the beauty more.

Ever since she came back into my life, I carried the diamond ring around in my pocket. I debated on slipping it on her finger while she slept, so when she woke up, she had no choice but to say yes. I was terrified of giving her choices; a part of me was nervous she wouldn’t pick me. Like she said, I didn’t want to wait any longer to start our lives.

It was too soon to propose, but I didn’t care. Now was the perfect time to see if she genuinely wanted to be mine forever. We had a lot to overcome. My job wasn’t safe and there was the issue with Brian. She’d have to deal with violence.

Quinn could. She was strong, stronger than she gave herself credit for.

“I’m so proud of you,” I repeated and moved in front of her so she could see how serious I was. “Do you get that? Do you understand what you accomplished today? You’re remarkable, Quinn. You always have been. You always will be.”

“I cried the entire time,” she scoffed. “Nothing brave about that.” Quinn’s hair danced around her shoulders as the breeze blew. She gathered her hair and tied it in a knot on top of her head. Even when she wasn’t trying, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

“You’re wrong. That’s what makes you brave. Even through fear, through tears, you pushed yourself.” I dug into my pocket and pulled out the plum-velvet box and got down on my knee. I never imagined myself falling to my knees for anyone, but I’d do it for Quinn. I opened the box and swallowed.

“Holy shit,” she said for the second time today, covering her mouth with her hand. “What are you doing? What is that diamond? Oh my god. I’m going to

faint right off this cliff. What…Jaxon?” she finally came to a stop after her rambling.

I grabbed her left hand and saw the naked ring finger, something that should have had my ring on it forever ago. “I don’t want to wait. I know we have a lot to overcome, but there is no doubt in my mind that you have always been the person for me. Your road to having undeniable faith in me is long; I know that, but I really want to walk that road with you, Quinn. I’ve loved you since we were teens, and I’ll love you when we have teens of our own. Marry me? Marry me like you were supposed to all those years ago and let me prove to you that I’m better than the man you were made to doubt?”

Her silence had me clearing my throat and rearranging my knee on the ground when the bone started to hurt. The whites of Quinn’s eyes showed, and I honestly couldn’t tell if she was breathing. She…. stared, unblinking.

I was getting worried.

“Yes!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Yes, yes, yes! Oh my god, I’ll marry you!”

I blew out a breath and slid the ring on her finger. The kaleidoscope of the yellow diamond shined different shades, casting reflections of light against my black shirt. The rock looked huge on her finger, just the way it should look.

“Holy mother of diamonds,” she said, captivated by the size of the diamond I stole from a criminal. “This is real?”

I reared back as if I had been slapped. “Of course it’s real. What kind of man do you take me for?”

“The kind of man that’s going to be my husband.” She threw her arms around my neck and laid the best damn kiss I had ever received against my lips. The kiss turned frantic, needy, and desperate. I pushed her against the rock wall, shoved my knee between her legs, and she rubbed her clit against me, seeking relief.

My hands gripped the curve of her hips, and I grunted when she made a sound that hummed in the back of my throat. She tasted even better since she was my fiancé, sweeter, like honey dripping from the comb. I wanted to eat her up for the rest of my life.

“Jaxon.”

My name falling from her lips and the fact that she said ‘yes’ to me, shattered any self-control I had. “I’m going to fuck you right against this cliffside, Quinn.”

“Jaxon, someone could see.” Quinn’s rubbed her perk nipples against my chest. She snatched my hands and laid them on her chest, forcing my palms over her mounds. My cock flexed, and my sack ached to come.

“I think you like the idea of someone catching us,” I murmured against the soft curve of her neck and bit the skin into my mouth, sucking it so hard, blood came to the surface right under the skin.

She was marked, claimed, and fucking mine— at last.

Chapter Twenty-Two