basis of three weeks of acquaintance?”
I snarled, pressed down the gas pedal. I needed to look into her eyes, let her see into mine. “Yes. For a multitude of reasons. The biggest one: I’m not willing to let you go. Ever. Everything else? We can work on that. Talk it out. Fight about it. Scream. Yell. Anything you want. But leaving you? Or letting you leave me?” I shook my head. I turned to look at her as we slid to a stop at a red light. “Not happening.” I let go of her hand and slid my hand behind her neck. Pulling her towards me, I ravaged her mouth.
We were both breathing hard when the horn sounded from behind us. “Ever,” I said softly.
She nodded, her eyelids low, her gaze hot. “You’re my choice, Ryker. Now until forever, you’re the one I choose for me. Selfishly. Brazenly. Wholly. You are mine.”
My belly settled. I nodded. “Right back at you, cupcake.” I drove into the underground garage of my building.
Tonight, I wanted nothing more than to chill with my forever woman in my arms. Just be with her. Hold her against me. Rest in the knowledge that we were good. Strong. And together.
“One last elevator ride for the day, cupcake.” I opened the car door, pulled her up into my arms. “Then we’ll kick the rest of your clothes to the side, get into our jammies, and watch a movie we both fall asleep to within the first half hour.”
She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, smacked a kiss to my cheek. “Heaven.”
I smiled as I carried her across the garage to my private elevator. “Action? Romance? Horror? What’s your flavor?”
She tipped her head to the side. “Action?”
I nodded. “Sure. Although what action movie do you know of that’s also sappy?” I hit the button for the penthouse floor. Shuffled her around so I could lay my palm against the biometric plate.
She shrugged. “I’m not a huge romance movie fan. And besides, most of the Marvel movies can be quite poignant. Like the death scene in Infinity War: End Game?” She clutched at her chest dramatically. “Gets me right in the feels when Iron Man takes the gauntlet and says, ‘I am Iron Man,’ right before he snaps his fingers and dies.”
I chuckled. “Well, thanks for ruining that one for me.”
She gasped, eyes wide as she stared up at me. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “I’ve been a bit busy. Haven’t gotten around to getting that one watched yet.”
She heaved a sigh. “Well, dang it, hero!” She slapped my shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me to shut up?” Her eyes lit up. “Oo, or kiss me to make me stop talking?” She puckered her lips.
I swooped in, took the offering.
The doors slid open.
“Sweet fuck, you two are always sucking face!” Rafe said.
I had Willow down on her feet and behind my back before his words fully registered. My gun was out and pointed at him.
He raised his eyebrows and his hands. “Damn, bro. Ease up.”
Adrenaline surged through my system in waves. “What the fuck are you doing up here?”
Mas stood up in the living room. My mom was sitting with him and the rest of the Amatucci family. “We have come to finish our discussion from earlier,” Mas said once he was close enough.
He eyed Willow up and down. “Good, sorella. I’m glad I don’t have to beat you.”
I swung the gun, aimed it at the deadliest family member in the penthouse. “Excuse me?”
Mas chuckled. “I told her I would paddle her ass so hard she wouldn’t sit for a month if she allowed herself to be hurt. She is in good condition.” He turned back to the living room, uncaring that a loaded, cocked, and readied firearm was pointed at his back.
He waved us forward.
Willow came up, slid her hands over my arm with the gun. “Come on. Let’s get this done, then I’m stealing you for at least twenty hours.”
I uncocked the gun, put it back in my inner pants holster. “Twenty hours?”
She nodded. “Girls night tomorrow, remember?”
I groaned. “Can’t you postpone?”
She laughed as she wrapped her arm around my back. “Nope. You go spend time with my brothers, I’ll spend time with yours and my sisters, and we’ll all be the better for it. Normal things. Mundane things.” She patted my gun. “That was hot as fuck, by the way. I didn’t even know you had it on you.”
I admit to being hot right before we get to have a