A REASON FOR MARRIAGE

Heart tattooing the inside of her chest, she straightened her spine and reached behind her back to snap the bra open. Her nerve endings were singing, her body flooding with liquid heat. She lifted her arms and pulled the bra off first one side and then the other before letting it fall to the floor behind her. She felt the heat of a blush rising up her neck, but she refused to acknowledge it. Instead, she tilted her chin up and put her hands on her hips, daring him to look his fill.

She didn’t know what to expect next, but Simon clearly did.

“That’s it,” he said. “I forfeit.”

Shoving the cards aside, he reached for her. He stroked the skin of her shoulder, his fingers so gentle and light that she shivered, little goose bumps rising in the wake of his touch.

“You are amazingly beautiful,” he said before his mouth came down on hers.

She wanted him inside her, on top of her, tangled up with her, loving her with the fierceness and ruthlessness that were the hallmarks of his personality.

She wanted him, all of him. Desperately.

Sara speared her fingers into his hair, loving the texture. Simon urged her closer until she was sitting with her legs on either side of him. Then he put his broad hands on her bottom and pulled her against the ridge of his erection.

Sara gasped as sensation streaked through her at the simple contact of their bodies through the thin fabric separating them.

He flexed his hips, pressing hard into her center, and her body responded with a surge of moisture. The kiss deepened, their tongues tangling with urgency. The kiss was hot, intense, and deep-but it wasn’t enough. She tried to get closer, couldn’t stop the moan that vibrated in her throat.

Simon broke the kiss.

“No,” she said, “Kiss me, Simon. Don’t stop kissing me.”

He fused his mouth to hers again. And then he was lifting her, pushing her back onto the bed, coming down on top of her. His body was big and hard, and she loved the feel of him pressing into her.

When his hand closed over the slope of her breast, she arched her back, thrusting into his hand. He pinched her nipple, softly, expertly, until she was a quivering mass of sensitive nerve endings.

“Simon,” she said, her voice breathy and thick. Tears pressed against the backs of her eyes. Tears of joy.

“I know,” he replied before kissing his way down her neck, over her collarbone. His fingers shaped her ribs, the slope of her breast, the soft skin of her abdomen. The moment his mouth closed over her nipple, she cried out. The pleasure was so intense, so unbelievably intense, as he sucked the hard, tight bud between his lips. Her fingers clutched in his hair, on his shoulders.

He slid a hand down her abdomen, beneath the silk of her panties, found the hot, wet center of her body. He groaned as his fingers sank between her legs.

Those fingers, those clever fingers that handled the cards so expertly, began to play her body like a fine instrument. Two fingers pinched and kneaded her clitoris, making her cry out with the pleasure. And then he was dipping lower, inserting a finger into her body, joining it with a second one as his thumb took up the rhythm above.

His mouth played her nipples while his fingers stroked her-and Sara came unglued at the seams. Her body tightened painfully, so very painfully, as she flexed her hips and tried to make his hand move faster.

She could feel the release gathering, feel it coming, feel every cell of her body vibrate with energy and need- And then it happened. She reached the peak and fell off the other side, sobbing and gasping the whole way.

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“You clearly have something on your mind and I don’t know why you won’t tell me what it is,” Sara said minutes later after they made love and finally caught their breath.

Simon placed a kiss on her forehead,, “I do?” he asked,

“You know you do,”

“So you’re a mind reader now. Sounds good,” he teased.

Sara chuckled, but she wasn’t going to let him distract her now, “Whatever it is, I want you to tell me what it is. Your attitude has been driving me crazy all day,”

She felt him stiffen, and just as she was about to accept that he didn’t want to open up to her, he dropped a question that made her heart leap.

“Will you marry me, Sara?”

She lifted her head to stare at him, “What?” she managed to burst out, eyes wide and disbelieving, her cheeks paling even more before colouring with a deep flush.

Not the most encouraging reaction to his first marriage proposal-the only marriage proposal Simon intended ever making. If Sara didn’t accept him, then he couldn’t see himself ever wanting to marry anyone else.

“I asked if you would become my wife,” he replied. “I know you said you decided against it a long time ago and that’s why I was nervous to ask, but think about it. Don’t turn it down without due consideration,” he added quickly, when Sara seemed to be searching for the right words in answer to his proposal. No doubt a refusal that she hoped would cause the least embarrassment for both of them.

“Are you serious?” she finally managed to ask.

He nodded tersely. “Think about it, Sara. We love each other, right? I’m very wealthy. Socially acceptable. We’re having a baby, and once we are married you can have as many babies as you want. One a year if you want to- Sara…?” he prompted sharply as she sat up on the bed and buried her face in her hands. “Sara!” He sat up too. “Do not cry, my Sara,” he pleaded. “I hate it when you cry.”

Sara didn’t doubt that for a moment. She could hear the distress in Simon’s voice, and the way he became tense whenever he was disturbed or upset.

But what he had just said was so unexpected, so totally beyond the realms of what she had expected him to say, that she couldn’t quite take it in.

“I’m not crying, Simon,” She gave a firm shake of her head and took her hands from in front of her face to look up at him. His expression anxious. “I was laughing.”

“Laughing?” he repeated incredulously, “I propose marriage and you laugh!” He scowled darkly. “Is the idea of marrying me so amusing, then?”

Sara sobered completely when she saw Simon’s hurt reflected in those deep green eyes. “No, of course it isn’t. I just- It was- I didn’t expect-”

“For me to propose to you?” he guessed. “If it is any consolation, it was the last thing I expected of myself when I made this move to New York,”

Yes, Sara could imagine it was. She doubted that Simon had seen himself married to anyone, in his near future.

“I don’t care what I decided long time ago, Simon. I love you so much that I just want to be with you all the time,” she admitted softly. “With or without marriage.”

“And I will settle for nothing less than to be married to you for the rest of our lives,” Simon told her firmly. “Does that mean you accept my marriage proposal?”

“Yes, Simon. Of course I accept,”

Simon felt the last of his tension leaving him as he grinned down at her. Then he gave a triumphant laugh as he drew her fully into his arms and hugged her tightly against him. “I love you so very much, Sara McCall-soon-to-be-Hamilton!” he murmured huskily, and at last he claimed her mouth with his own.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

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THE END

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