down to his, using her body to further stimulate his that was already hungry for hers.
Dinner was the last thing on either of their minds. But when she broke their kiss to meet his eye as she loosened his jeans, Poppy could tell he hadn’t expected them to satisfy their cravings there and then.
“Do you love me?” she whispered on his mouth before sliding lower to impale her body on his beneath her skirt.
“God, yes,” he panted, grinding out the words from behind his clenched teeth. “You’re fucking amazing.”
“Or maybe I’m just fucking,” she said, hiding her words in a quiet laugh.
Moving as fast as she could while trying to control her breathing wasn’t easy. They had to be quiet. The desk was their only shield from the open doorway at the other side of the room. Yes, they were at the opposite end of the house from the dining room where their families were, but that didn’t mean no one would come looking for them or that the staff wouldn’t wander by.
At least being in control of their pace meant that she could concentrate rather than just handing herself over to the moment, which was when she tended to make the most amount of noise. Either her love wanted to increase her struggle or he was close to the cusp himself because he took her into his arms and rolled them over, so he could control their union.
“Baby,” she whispered, grabbing for his ribs. Her body moved to his and away, matching his tempo, breathing through her need. “Oh, God.”
Squeezing her eyes closed, Poppy sealed her lips, desperate not to draw attention to what they were doing. The orgasm hit her hard at the same time something thumped the floor. She didn’t even realize it was the side of her own fist pounding at the floor beneath them until she opened her eyes to witness Turner’s climax. It was as he began to descend that the dull ache in the side of her hand betrayed what she’d done.
Poppy didn’t care about noise or who might have walked by. For those seconds, lying beneath him, her world was perfect. As he adored her, she stroked his face and caught sight of the ring on her finger. They were engaged. It was real. He’d proposed and she’d said yes.
“Babe?” Turner asked, curling his fingers around hers to kiss the heel of her hand. “What’s in your head?”
“I’m happy,” she said, another tear trickling from her eye, though it went horizontal across her cheekbone. “For a second there, we almost missed this. We almost lost each other.”
“It won’t happen again,” he said, kissing her palm. “We know what we have, how rare it is.”
“Yes,” she said, meeting his eye as she smiled. “I am so grateful for you. Thank you.”
He put her hand on the floor and ducked to kiss her lips. “You’re welcome… You think we can skip dinner and just raid the kitchen later.”
“Are you kidding?” she asked, pushing him away so they could begin fixing their clothes. “We have to tell everyone the news.” She showed him her hand. “I’m engaged, you know.”
On a laugh, he just helped her to her feet. The families, both families, needed some good news. It was time to celebrate and put the stress in the past.
TWENTY-FIVE
Poppy was with her sisters, both Maddox and Granger, on the music room deck. They’d got all the way to Saturday without any hiccups. Violet was winding down from everyone learning about her affair. The press had packed up and left the gate on Thursday after Holden withdrew the bounty and stopped feeding them information intended to tantalize. The family statement went out on Friday and after a slew of calls, dealt with by Tiller and Preston, all seemed to have gone quiet.
“I’m jealous,” Casey said, sitting up on her reclined lounge chair to reach across to Poppy who was sharing a double wide patio bed with Charley. “Let me see the ring again.”
Poppy had grown up admiring her grandmother’s engagement ring. Just because it wasn’t new to her eyes didn’t mean it wasn’t special to her heart.
Holding out her hand, she kept her face angled toward the sun as Casey admired the engagement ring.
“I’m glad you got the hand-me-down ring,” Violet said.
The women were enjoying an afternoon in the sun. The patio furniture had been set up, they’d requested sangria and had been soaking up rays for around an hour. Val and Grammie had taken the twins