Filed To Story: Craving The Wrong Brother Book PDF Free by Elysian Sparrow
Would she say yes?
Every time the answer didn’t come, I shoved the ring back into its box and hid it again. Then picked it up the next day and repeated the cycle like a lunatic.
Until two days ago.
We’d just finished a morning run. She had that flushed look on her cheeks from the wind and exercise, her hair damp at the edges, and we were walking past some wedding boutique downtown. I wouldn’t have noticed it, except she slowed, and her eyes landed on one of the dresses in the display.
And she just… stared.
Not long. Not obvious. Just enough for me to notice.,
And I decided I was being ridiculous.
This is Sloane. My Sloane. My bunny. Why the hell would she say no?
So now here we are.
I’m standing on the edge of the East River, back still aching from the tattoo that’s healing under my shirt, with one hand holding her birth control pills and the other holding an open velvet box/
She’s got both hands covering her mouth. Her eyes are wide. Wet. She looks like she’s either about to cry or about to bolt. I can’t tell which-
“Oh, my god,” she says softly. “Oh, my god, Knox. Are you asking me to marry you?”
“Yes,” I say. “I am.”
And before I can stop myself, the rest comes spilling out.
“You don’t need to give me an answer straightaway,” I add quickly. “I really don’t care what you say or choose today, Sloane. I just need you to know how I feel about you. How much I want matching surnames and all the other legal bullshit that comes with that certificate. I want us to be legal. Probably the most legal thing I’ll ever have. I want to be able to walk into a room and announce you as my wife. I want to write you into everything I own. That cute smile of yours-” My voice breaks for a second. “It’d be nice to have duplicate copies. Tiny Sloanes running around. Maybe not ten. Just enough to keep you entertained when I’m out of the country or something.” I shake my head, feeling like I’ve said too much. “I’m babbling, aren’t I?”
She sniffles and brushes tears from her face. “No. No, you’re not, Knox.”
I can’t stop now, anyway. Moving closer, I say, “The truth is, I want to make you as happy as you make me,
Sloane.”
She opens her mouth like she’s about to say something, then closes it again. Then opens it a second time. A slow smile forms.
“Are you really going to throw a diamond ring into the river if I say no?” she asks.
I raise a brow. “Want me to show you? I’ll toss it right now. But then I’ll buy another one in a month and try again. If your answer’s still no, I’ll try again the next month. And the next. Until you say yes.”
I’m close enough to touch her now. I can see the tears still clinging to her lashes, the way her chest rises and falls with every breath.
“That’s really romantic, Knox,” she says.
“It is?”
“Very sweet.”
Then, without taking her eyes off me, she snatches the pills out of my hand and flings them behind her.
I swear, in all my life, I’ve never been this hungry to kiss someone. It’s like the oxygen in my body is burning up just from holding back. I want her mouth. Her skin. All of her.
But I have to control myself and wait.
“I feel like you thought I was going to say no,” Sloane says. “You have this strange look in your eyes.”
“You’re unpredictable.”
“Really?”
“I don’t always know what’s running through that pretty head of yours.”
She grins. “You’re right. Because at this moment, I’m wondering why this behemoth of a man that I love is holding a ring before me and isn’t on his knees yet.”
That earns a laugh from me.
And I don’t waste another second.
Without taking my eyes off her, I lower myself down on one knee.
“Sloane Mercer,” I say. “My dearest bunny. The love of my life. Will you marry me?”/
She screams.
It’s not a delicate sound. Not a whimper. A full-on scream that echoes against the water. Then she starts jumping-literally jumping up and down like her feet can’t stay on the ground.
I laugh. I can’t help it.
“Yes, yes, yes!” she says, finally stopping to catch her breath. “I’ll marry you, Knox Hartley. Put that damn ring on me!”
I rise to my feet, take the ring from the box, and slide it onto her finger.
It fits her just as I knew it would.
The moment it’s in place, I don’t think. I just move. One arm goes around her waist, lifting her clean off the ground. The other tangles in her hair, gripping it so tightly I’m probably pulling at the scalp. But she doesn’t care.
Neither do I.
I crush my mouth to hers, and it’s the hungriest kiss we’ve ever had. All teeth and tongue and need. She matches me perfectly, alway around my neck, legs lock around my waist, and she’s clinging to me like she never wants to let go.
Her arms fly
She moans into my mouth, and I swallow the sound, groaning back. Our tongues tangle together, desperate and messy. We’re barely stopping to breathe, just panting against each other’s lips before diving back in.
Her taste, her sounds, the way she feels pressed against me-it’s driving me crazy. I could kiss her like this forever. Would, if we weren’t standing on a public street.
When we break apart, she doesn’t try to get down. Just slumps against me, face buried in my neck. Her breath is hot on my skin, and she fits right there.
I start walking us back toward the car, holding her in my arms.
“Two kids?” she says, lips moving against my neck when she talks. The feel of her breath there, with her mouth almost touching my skin, sends electric shocks through me. My dick starts to get hard, which is probably not the best timing when I’m carrying my fianc?e down a public street, but I can’t help it. Everything about her gets to me.
“Fine,” I say. “Two kids.”
“No junior names type of shit, right? I hate those names.”
“I’ll let you pick out all the names,” I say, still walking. “Call them whatever you like.”
“It’ll be unique and modern. Like Beyonc?’s Blue Ivy and Rihanna’s Riot Rose.”
I pause mid-step, processing that last one. “Riot Rose? What the hell does that even mean?”
“Doesn’t matter. The point is, it’s unique. It means something to them. It’s not just ‘Knox Junior’ or some boring traditional name.”
“Right.” I resume walking. “Have at it. Whatever rocks your boat, sweetheart.”
“And I’ll still be your biggest baby, right?”
I nod, unable to fight a smile. “You’ll always be my biggest baby. Kids or no kids.”
“I’ll be so fat when I’m pregnant. Like, really fat. Are you prepared for that?”
I laugh, the sound echoing off the buildings around us as I hold her tighter. “I’ll love you in sickness, health, thickness, lankiness-whatever you throw at me. You could gain two hundred pounds, and I’d still think you were the most beautiful woman alive.”
She scoffs, but I can see the pleased smile she’s trying to hide. “Save your vows for the wedding, Knox.”
“Those aren’t vows,” I correct her. “They’re facts.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Well, facts don’t need faith. They just are. Vows are promises about the future, things you hope you’ll be able to keep. But what I just said? That’s not hope. That’s certainty. I have all the faith in the world in my ability to keep loving you no matter what life throws at us.”
She’s quiet for a second, then mutters, “Damn. Who knew my future husband was a Gandhi?”
I laugh out loud. “You have uncovered my secret ancestry.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
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