When they returned to Ryan’s home, he carried her up to the bedroom and left the room. She glanced out at the rain that continued to fall but no longer in hard, dangerous pellets.
“Parker,” she turned to see Ryan right behind her.
“How the hell do you move so quietly?” She gasped, clutching at her chest. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“I’m trying to be romantic here,” he said with a grin and dropped down to one knee. She stared at him, and her brain refused to make sense of what was happening.
“What are you doing?”
“Proposing?” He frowned. “It’s on one knee in the human world, no?”
She laughed and nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “Yes.”
“I knew. My tiger knew. We knew you were the right woman for us.” He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small leather box. When he flipped it open, she almost stopped breathing. “I don’t ever want you to be apart from me. You’re my mate. I want you to be my wife. You’re already my everything.”
She gulped. “Really?”
“Yes,” he said with determination. “I love you. I will never love another woman the way I love you. I never want to. Will you marry me?”
“God, yes!” she blurted and nodded like a lunatic.
He chuckled and slipped the teardrop diamond ring on her ring finger. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back up to his feet. And kissed him. It was magical. It was beautiful. She knew this was the man she’d always hoped she’d find. Ryan Wade was her one.
He pulled back from their kiss and smiled at her. “I’m going to prepare you a bath.”
“You mean us, right?”
“Yes, us,” he said. She watched him head into the master bathroom and glanced down at her ring. This was happening. She finally had someone to love her. To give her a family.
Parker loved the idea of finally being part of a family. Of having her own with Ryan. There was no longer any hesitation. No longer any fear or even need to run off and put her life in danger because she needed to feel useful. She was useful and appreciated in his pride. In his family.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, removing her clothes and pulling her to the bath.
She slipped into the warm water and sighed. “Just how much I like your family. Your pride.” She tugged him into the bath with her and water sloshed all over the place. “You.”
He chuckled and kissed her neck. “I’m glad you like me.” He sucked on her collarbone and down to her chest. “I like you, too.”
She moaned, sliding her fingers into his hair and holding him over her breast. “I more than like you.”
He growled at her nipple, and she whimpered. The grazing of his teeth on her skin made her pussy contract. He raised his head and met her gaze. “I more than like you, too.”
With a single swift lift, he sat her on the edge of the tub, spreading her legs wide. God. This man was going to kill her with orgasms. It didn’t compute in her brain how much he liked having his face in her crotch. This was so unlike any man she’d ever been with. He swiped his tongue on her sex and she lost all train of thought.
Shudders racked her to the core. She wiggled her hips closer to his face and sighed. He glided his tongue over her clit, and she lost it. Sucking in a hard breath, she unraveled. Pleasure warmed her and made her pussy grasp at nothing. She was shaking, her lungs burning from lack of air and he didn’t stop.
Still riding her orgasm wave, she barely noticed him flip her onto her stomach. The head of his cock slipped into her pussy and in a smooth glide he was deep inside her, her channel locking around his length.
“God,” the word fell from her lips.
“So good,” he mumbled.
Stroking deep and sure, he slammed his cock into her over and over, until she was once again gasping for air. His hard length felt like he was branding her from the inside. The harder he thrust, the hotter she felt.
He gripped her hip, digging his nails into her flesh. She whimpered at the pain but pressed back into each of his drives, her body begging for him to make her come.
His slick body caged her over the tub. A whimper floated up her throat at the feel of his tongue licking her left shoulder and his teeth grazing her neck.
“Ryan, please,” she gasped.
“Soon, baby girl,” he nibbled at her neck.
Gripping the side of the tub, she held on for dear life as he thrust harder into her. He slid a hand around her hip and fondled her clit. She moaned, her body jerking against his touch.
He bit down at the back of her neck, and she lost all sense of time and what was going on. All she knew was that her body shattered. The knot at her belly unraveled, and she screamed his name while he continued biting her.
He growled against her skin and came hard, his cock expanding in her channel and filling her with his heat. Branding her. Owning her from the deepest part of her body. The hand he had on her hip scratched her and the one on her clit pressed harder, dragging her orgasm out until she was a twitching mass of nerves.
Sucking breaths to try not to pass out, she felt him pull out of her and then she was on him, lying in the cooling water. He’d slipped right back inside her, and she didn’t complain. He belonged in her. It felt right for them to be locked into each other.
She lay her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Then she opened them again and glanced at her hand. Nope, it didn’t all go away. This was real. He was real. And it was perfect.
Epilogue
Parker had papers to sign at her lawyer’s office, so she dressed for success. It was a big day. The day her William G. Nolan Foundation became a fully functioning non-profit. She bounced in her sky-high, clear Louboutin heels and turned to Ryan.
“You’re bouncing like a kid who’s going into their birthday party,” he chuckled.
She hugged him hard and kissed him. “I’m so excited. I know this is the right thing to do.”
She glanced at them in the elevator’s mirrored walls and loved how in sync they were as a couple. He’d worn a dark blue suit to match her dress. His tie matched her handbag. All in all, they had some great fashion sense.
When the doors to the elevator opened, she squealed and tugged him toward Kirk’s office. His assistant took them to a conference room and there they waited for Kirk to arrive.
“You’re sure you’re not taking on too much by also handling the community development of the pride?” Ryan asked, squeezing her hand.
She shook her head. “I can do it.”
Her engagement ring sparkled against the room lights. Ever since they’d become mated and humanly engaged, she’d realized how excited she was to help him make his pride a community everyone was happy and proud to be a part of.
“Ms. Nolan,” Kirk greeted, walking in the room with a stack of papers and stopped to glance from her to Ryan. “And Mr.—”
“Wade. Ryan Wade,” Parker replied. “He’s my fiancé.”
Kirk nodded. “Good to meet you, Mr. Wade. And congratulations to you both. Ms. Nolan, I have the papers that will get the building you need to start the offices for the foundation. I’ve also got a list of candidates to help get the staff you need to keep the operations going.”