Authors: Rowena
Over the past few days, I’d been thinking about how to bring it up—how to get us back together and talk things through, and how to set up a proposal, but now, partly because of my dad’s intrusion, the two of us tucked inside my Ferrari somehow seems like the best time.
“My sweet, brave Nina—my oldest friend and intermittent lover…” I earn another punch in the arm for that, and I’m impressed by her aim since her eyes are glued to the ring box.
I flip it open and her trapped tears catch the light of the diamond.
“Will you marry me?”
She finally looks up and stares at me for at least ten seconds—the longest ten seconds of my life.
“You’re kidding me,” she says.
“How could I possibly be? I have been denying how I felt about you for years, and now my love for you has not only come to the surface but stared me in the face relentlessly. I love you, Nina—this version of you and Nina 1.0. I can’t imagine my life without you again. Even before I found out about Bianca, I realized how much better my life was with you in it. You really do make me feel complete.”
She is breathing hard and flicking away fallen tears.
Still, she manages to say lightly, “Well, when you put it like that…”
I slip the ring on her finger and grab her to me, squeezing her so tightly, she can barely get the words “I can’t breathe” out, but I relax my grip when I hear her strangled whisper.
I can’t get enough of her soft curves against me, and out of the blue, it occurs to me how much more of her I might get to know—a pregnant version of her. I suddenly remember our little mishap in my bedroom and find myself imagining her belly growing with our second child.
Just when I thought my chest couldn’t swell more with love and joy, it does; I might get a second chance to be there from the beginning.
Until we know for sure, though, for now, it’s just her, me and Bianca, and I am more than fine with that.
I finally release her.
“I have so much to learn about my daughter,” I begin. “What’s she like, generally?”
Nina graces me with a sly glance.
“Tantrum-prone. Like her father.”
I grin.
I’m not sure if she’s pulling my leg or not, but the thought of Bianca being anything like I was as a kid? Nina’s life has definitely not been boring the past few years if that was the case.
“I get to name our second kid,” I say. “Since you named the first one without my input,” I add quickly.
“I’m gonna get my way in something,” she says.
“You did for the past few years! Anyway, most likely, you will—women have valuable opinions sometimes.”
“Wow. You sound like your dad.”
“Regardless,” I continue, “in the most important ways—the best way—I have already won. You and me, Nina—the two of us with Bianca and whoever else comes along—we’ll be a family. I truly can’t think of a single thing better than that.”
A sense of duty alone is one thing; passion, love and commitment together all at once is quite another.
E
very time
I think I can’t get happier, I’m proven wrong.
My wife is wobbling around our mansion with a swollen belly, our second child happily kicking her at this moment and it’s making her smile at me in a way that makes her eyes twinkle, sending my heart leaping.
Nina has redecorated a bit here and there, sending me a sly glance each time I let her get her way with some embellishment or other.
In fact, she’s gotten away with changing quite a bit here in the mansion, but I’m not bothered; whatever makes her happy makes me happy.
My dear Bianca has adjusted quite happily to her new home and room, and I haven’t seen any sign of the tantrums Nina promised me.
Perhaps having more space to roam has evened my little girl out. Or perhaps—and I hope dearly that this is the case—finally having me around and in her life as a constant has helped calmed her.
Or perhaps seeing how happy her mom and I are together has mellowed her.
Perhaps I haven’t seen anything yet. God knows I’m dreading the teenage years.
Nina has shown me every photo and video of Bianca she has, and I’m overjoyed that with the new child, I’ll get to see the whole thing from the beginning.
Bianca glances at Nina’s belly with an odd expression sometimes, and I really hope she doesn’t think she’ll be replaced in any way.
I’m beyond grateful for the second chance I’ve been given, but there’s no way Bianca has a damned thing to worry about; I love her fiercely, and if she thinks I won’t get more meddling, she’s got another thing coming.
Nina has stayed on as a teacher throughout her pregnancy, but she has agreed to leave it behind temporarily for the beginning of our next child’s life.
“How about private tutoring? Beyond our own kids?” I’ve suggested to her, just to make sure she knows I’m not asking her to abandon her Education degree or any activity she enjoys, such as droning on at the head of a class of thirteen-year-olds.
If she likes to work, so be it; she knows she doesn’t have to.
She knows I’ll do anything for her—anything to make any dream she has come true.
I close the distance between us and put my hands over hers.
“Surely, it’s not still kicking,” I say, sliding one of my hands underneath hers.
I feel the movement and my grin widens.
I kiss Nina’s forehead as I hold her and our karate-practicing baby against me.
Nina in my home always and in my life to stay—life couldn’t possibly get any better.
Again, my sweet Nina has saved me.
END
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R
owena writes
friends-to-lovers erotic romance and erotica with an element of unwillingness. She likes a bit of darkness involved as long as no one really gets hurt—at least, only in good ways. ;) Forced proximity and kidnapping romances are her favorites.
She enjoys making up circumstances in which two people are forced to confront their feelings—sexual and otherwise—to the object of their desire, feelings they have been hiding or running from because of a major barrier or conflict of interest. Usually, her characters have known each other for quite a while, so their first sexual encounter has been a long time…coming.
J
oin Rowena’s
mailing list for news about upcoming releases, sales, giveaways etc.
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F
rom THE BILLIONAIRE VOYEUR series
:
(All 3 serial parts included in a boxed set)
Jason has been in love with his best friend’s girl for a while.
The three of them have known each other since adolescence, but Scott whisked Calla away before Jason could begin to act on the tender feelings he has for Calla. But when he is kidnapped, he finds himself trapped in an unfamiliar place with Calla.
A disembodied voice tells them that the only way they’ll be freed is to give in to carnal intimacy.
How long until they give in to the demands? Or will they find another way out?
**More novella-length work coming soon!**
No man has been able to capture
young, ebony hottie
Gina’s imagination the way her
hunky, blue-eyed military best friend
, Jake, has.
Jake has had no chance to lock down a long-term relationship himself, but he’s had plenty of time to think about his beautiful brown-skinned buddy and what he wants to do to her while he’s away at war.
They both think the other sees them as nothing more than a friend, but this time, as Jake heads home from deployment, he plans to show Gina not only how much he has missed her, but how much more than a friend she’s about to become once he gives it to her
hard and without protection
.
Brandon can’t take it anymore.
His
sexy longtime friend, Lola
, needs to crash at his place for a while, and he’s not sure how he’ll handle his secret desire for her. He wants to
take advantage
of the situation, but he’s not sure where to start.
Soon, his dilemma is taken care of for him by a sleep disorder, and Lola finds herself at the mercy of her old friend’s lust, and actually longing for the moment he finally takes her
hard and raw
.
Curvy, untouched Janine
thinks she’s ready for the next important step in her womanhood, so she’s on the lookout for a
strong alpha male
to give her innocence to.
Her best friend, Josh, lives a few houses away, and when she pops by to visit him, she runs into a
hot, muscular guy
leaving his place, and she thinks he’s the one.
She asks Josh to hook her up with the
hunky stranger
and Josh agrees, but he suddenly realizes that
he
should be the one to get the
voluptuous brown beauty’s gift
, and he’ll make sure he gets to stuff his
sexy best friend hard and without protection
.
Travis is overworked and under
laid
.
He returns from a military mission with a hunger greater than ever before, and is horrified when, instead of his best friend Joey, Joey’s
gorgeous curvy girlfriend, Lisa
, shows up at the airport to take him home.
He has secretly wanted to give it to Lisa
hard and without protection
for years, and by a twist of fate, he now has a chance to turn all of his
filthy fantasies
into reality,
and he’s about to take it.
Sensual Nicole is a dirty rotten tease.
Military alpha male
Michael has finally figured out what
his best friend’s hot girl
has been up to—flirting with him and messing with his head in various ways he thought were innocent at first, but eventually realizes weren’t—the
sexy brown beauty
knew exactly what she was doing.
Now that he’s on to her, he’ll take things a step further and make sure the tease thinks twice before she messes with a red-blooded man like him—and she’ll learn her lesson
hard and without protection!
Lonely Bridget
would love to get back at her ex somehow—to make him pay for how callously he dumped her. But she’s not a vengeful person, so she simply tries to move on from the sting of rejection and get on with her life.
Against her better judgment, she decides to attend a party thrown by her ex’s best friend, Scott—
a gorgeous, muscular guy
she harbored a light attraction for but never thought of pursuing.
But Scott has other plans for the dejected, no-longer-off-limits beauty, and he is determined to pull her out of the dumps and quench his own
burning secret desire
for her once and for all.
Reese can’t get
brown beauty, Eva,
off his mind. Unfortunately, she’s his best friend’s girl, but he can’t stop the
dirty thoughts
he has of taking her
hard and without protection
, filling her with his essence. He resigns to suffering the torture silently, but Eva surprises him with a friendly visit one day and ends up stranded in his place by a sudden storm.
Now that he finally has the
delicious, nubile beauty
alone, he’s going to give her far more than a piece of his dirty mind.
Nicolette knows she shouldn’t fantasize about her boyfriend’s
sexy best friend
, Jacob, so she keeps her crush a secret until her boyfriend’s troubles land him in jail, and Jacob makes it clear that he wants her, and intends to have her.
Jacob can’t stop the
dirty, lusty thoughts
he has of his best friend’s girl, and now that he has a chance with the
young hottie
, he’s going to take it—
hard
.
Avery’s fiancé drains their financial resources, leaving them broke and depending on Chad, her fiancé’s
hot best friend
.
They have to find a way to pay
strong, muscular
Chad back for letting them stay in his condo until they get back on their feet, and Chad has a couple of
naughty ideas
how.
**
Check out Rowena’s
Amazon Author page
for the latest!**