Of all the ways Kellan had considered proposing to Isabella—and he was pretty sure he’d contemplated every possibility in existence—the verbal landslide had not been part of the plan. But she was staring at him, those gorgeous brown eyes of hers wide at the words he’d just tossed into her lap like a hand grenade full of hi-I’m-an-idiot, and yeah. Yeah. He needed to salvage this conversation, stat.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. I mean, I know we’ve only ever talked about getting married in really general terms.” Even then, the conversation had been after they’d split a bottle of champagne at Kylie and Devon’s reception last month and both agreed that, eventually, getting married was something they’d like to do. Focus, jackass. You’re proposing, here. “But, I love you. I love your dedication to your job. I love how you’re fierce, but kind at the same time. Christ, I even love your bedhead. I’m goddamn crazy about everything you do, Isabella, and I want to be crazy with you forever.”

He realized—too late, of course—that he was still standing, and crap, he was seriously botching this. Getting down on one knee, he fumbled for the ring box, which he’d jammed into the back pocket of his jeans as soon as he’d heard her key in the door.

“Oh God,” Isabella whispered, her eyes filling with tears. Kellan prayed that was a good sign, his untrustworthy hands shaking as he opened the box.

This might not be how he’d planned to propose, but right now, he had to go with what he knew.

And he knew the woman in front of him by heart.

“I’m not fancy, and I’m not good at this romance stuff. But I promise, I’m always going to have your back, and I’m always going to love you more than anything. Isabella, will you marry me?”

For just a breath, she didn’t answer, and oh shit, maybe he’d really blown this. But then she smiled, getting down on her knees right along with him as the tears spilled over her cheeks, and Kellan was certain his heart would jailbreak from his chest, right there on the spot.

“Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes,” Isabella said, letting him slide the ring on her finger before throwing her arms around him so hard, they tumbled to the floor in a mass of arms and legs and deep-down laughter. “Of course I’ll marry you! Is this why you’ve been so weird this week?”

He balanced his weight between his forearms and knees, not willing to separate their bodies but not wanting to crush her, either. “Yeah. I’m sorry.” He capped the apology with a soft brush of his lips over hers. Damn, he hated that she’d worried, even for a second. “I didn’t mean to shut you out, but I guess I was kind of nervous.”

“You thought I’d say no?” Her lips parted in surprise, and he stole another kiss before answering her with the truth.

“No. At least, I was pretty sure you wouldn’t. But I wanted it to be perfect. Like you. Like us. I know it wasn’t, but…”

Isabella cupped his face between her palms, her touch as insistent as her dark, sparkling stare. “Did you mean what you said when you asked me?”

He didn’t think. Didn’t have to. “Yes.”

“Then it was perfect.”

She arched up, slanting her mouth beneath his in a slow, sexy glide. He opened readily—God damn, she turned him on like nothing else, taking control then surrendering in a give and take that could only belong to them.

Kellan’s cock twitched in recognition of exactly how well he fit against Isabella’s lush curves and lean muscles. “You know, I’m just taking a swing in the dark here, but I’d guess it’s never too early to start practicing for our wedding night.”

“Mmm.” She nipped at his bottom lip, sending another spike of arousal between his hips. “That does seem like sound planning.”

In a flash, she shifted, one hand slipping into the sliver of space she’d created between them. Her fingers pressed over his cock, her touch making him moan even through the barrier of his jeans and boxer briefs.

“Wait.” The primal part of his brain that wanted to be balls-deep between her legs sent up a nasty protest, one that Isabella echoed by way of a pouty sigh that did nothing to make him want to heed his own request.

Still, somehow, Kellan managed to shake his head. “I screwed up proposing to you,” he started, and she cut him off with an arch of one caramel-colored brow.

“You did no such thing.”

He laughed. She was nothing if not fiery, and God, he loved it. “Can you throw me a bone here, sweetheart? I’m trying to be romantic. The least I can do is take you to our bed and seduce you properly now that you’ve agreed to marry my ass.”

“Oh.” A provocative smile curved at the edges of Isabella’s mouth, and she looked up at him through the dark sweep of her lashes. “Well, I’m all for being seduced by you.” She proved it with a slow thrust of her hips that brought his cock to full attention. “But I kind of like this spot right here.”

“You want to stay here?” Kellan asked. He was all for spontaneity, but… “We’re in the middle of our living room.”

“Have you forgotten that the first time you ever seduced me was in this living room?”

They’d had incendiary, adrenaline-fueled sex standing up in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, hidden by nothing but shadows and streetlights. He’d have to be dead and buried to forget that. “No. And for the record, you seduced me that first time. That dress was a fucking menace.”

Isabella laughed, a throaty sound that he felt like a touch. “You may be right. But I love that memory of how we started, so please. Can we stay right here?”

“Yes,” Kellan said, loving the way her pupils flared at both his answer and the way he returned the favor of her thrust. But rather than leaning in to kiss her, or even reaching in to slide off either of their clothes, he pushed up from the floor to find his feet.

“That’s not quite what I had in mind.” Isabella’s voice was all sass, but he shook his head.

“Patience. I promise, this will be worth it.”

With quick motions, he dimmed the overhead lights until they were at their lowest setting, glowing like candlelight. Despite the fact that it was the end of May, he flipped the switch for the gas fireplace, the flames dancing to life with a soft whoosh. The golden light played on Isabella’s features, making her hair glint and her eyes shimmer as she turned to one side to watch him. The ring—which he’d known was perfect for her the second he’d seen it even though the words “emerald cut solitaire” and “platinum band with tapered setting” had never been in his wheelhouse—threw off glimmers and sparks, and he grabbed the thick, oversized throw blanket from the back of the chair beside the couch as he returned to the spot where Isabella lay stretched out on the plush throw rug.

He unfurled the heavy fleece in front of the fireplace. She didn’t waste any time relocating, and between the throw rug and the blanket, they had a pretty nice cushion against the hardwood floors. Propped on her side with one hand behind her ear, the firelight outlined the silhouette of her curves, making her simple T-shirt and jeans sexy as sin.

“You are so beautiful,” Kellan said, lying on his side to face her. A scant inch separated their bodies, the anticipation sending goose bumps over his skin even though he was far from chilled.

“You make me feel beautiful.”

From anyone else, the words might have seemed over the top. But Isabella delivered them with nothing more than undiluted honesty, and Kellan answered the only way he knew how. Knotting his fingers in the warm brown fall of her hair, he pulled her close, coaxing her lips open with his own. A noise drifted up from her throat, caught somewhere between a sigh and a moan, growing deeper as her tongue searched for his. Kellan kissed her deeply—he was never anything other than all-in with this woman—licking, giving, taking, until finally, he pulled back on a ragged exhale.

“You’re overdressed.” He ran a finger beneath the hem of her T-shirt, and fuck, even the friction of cotton on skin turned his cock to steel.

“So are you,” Isabella pointed out, brazenly reaching for the button on his jeans.

A dark, dirty urge shot through him, and he watched as his hand leaped out of its own volition to stop her progress. “No.”

Her brows kicked up, but Kellan held strong. “I’m going to strip you naked,” he said, letting his gaze do the job before lifting one corner of his mouth in a half-smirk. “Then I’m going to taste every part of you until you’re hot and wet and begging for more than just my mouth.” His tongue edged over his bottom lip, his smile picking up intensity at the sound of her hot little moan in reply. “And then I’m going to fuck you until you forget everything other than how good I feel inside of you.”

“Kellan.” Isabella’s whisper was all plea. Hooking his hands beneath her arms, he tugged her up to a seated position, pulling her T-shirt over her head in one sweeping movement as she kicked her way out of her shoes. Her lacy, wine-colored bra nearly smashed his resolve—really, the hint of her tawny brown nipples peeking through the fabric was just fucking unfair—and the matching panties he discovered upon removing her jeans sent a heavy breath past his lips.

“Jesus, baby. You’re perfect.”

A rare blush spread over her skin, and hell if that didn’t turn him on all the more. Kellan took a few seconds to drink in the sight of her kiss-swollen lips, the swell of her breasts, and the gorgeous flare of her lace-clad hips before lifting his T-shirt over his head and sliding between her knees. Although he felt a small pang of remorse that Isabella’s bra and panties had to go, he was nothing if not a man of his word. With only a few methodical moves, she was finally bare, and Kellan eased her back against the softness of the blanket.

“Mmm.” Her lips vibrated beneath his slow, lazy kiss. If she felt the least bit uncomfortable at her sheer nakedness when he was mostly dressed, she didn’t show it. In fact, the nuance seemed to make her that much hotter, her body beginning to rock under his weight in a rhythm that left nothing to the imagination. Kellan parted from her mouth, stringing a trail of wet, open-mouthed kisses on a path over her neck, then her shoulder, before capturing one brown, beaded nipple between his lips.

Isabella’s fingers found his back and dug in hard. “Ah,” she cried out, arching into the connection.

A provocative thrill uncurled low in his belly at having drawn such a wanton sound from her. “Don’t hold back, sweetheart. I want to hear how bad you want it.”

She didn’t. Kellan went from the barest brushes of his lips on her body to hard pulls of his lips and tongue, tasting and teasing and sucking her nipples until she ground her hips against his in hard, fast thrusts.

“Please. Please make me come,” Isabella murmured, her voice thick with need.

Kellan pulled back, her frustrated groan nearly wrecking him. But then he kissed his way lower, and her breath coalesced into a throaty sigh.

“You want to come?’ he asked, although the damp spot on his jeans and the way her hips rose to meet his mouth answered the question far before she could speak.

Isabella nodded, her hair sending the sweet scent of coconuts into the air. He kissed lower, over the expanse of her belly, before darting his tongue out to taste the top of one hip. Kellan’s restraint waned at the sight of her in the firelight, her bare sex slick with desire and her thighs parted in clear invitation to the very spot he wanted to be.

And he was powerless to resist.

“Then let me give you what you need. Let go and come for me, baby. I’ve got you.”

He lowered his mouth to her pussy, tasting her with a long, slow slide of his tongue. A guttural sound broke from her throat, and he smiled against her skin. She tasted musky and primal, her body trembling even as she begged him not to stop. Kellan forced himself not to rush, teasing her with deliberate flicks of his tongue over the seam of her body before closing his lips over the rigid knot of her clit.

Isabella’s hips jerked upward, her hands spearing into his hair as he palmed her luscious ass with both hands. “There. Oh God, there.”

She held him in place, pumping her sex against his mouth, and the taste and sounds of her arousal made him dare her to the edge just so he could push her over. He suckled her clit in firm pulls, adding in strokes of his tongue, then a thrust of his fingers inside her hot, wet pussy. Her inner muscles clamped down as she arced up even higher, and she murmured filthy encouragements in both Spanish and English that Kellan followed to the goddamn letter. He fucked her with his fingers, then his tongue, thrusting in and out until her body quickened beneath his touch.

“Yes. Kellan…”

The rest was lost on the tide of her orgasm. Her body pulsed against his fingers and mouth, his cock aching fiercely in jealousy as Isabella came undone on his tongue. He worked her through every wave, softening the contact between them with each touch and sliding back up her body to give her space to come down.

Which, as it turned out, didn’t take longer than a few breaths. “So, now do I get to have my way with you?” she asked, a sly smile hooking at the corners of her mouth.

Kellan’s belly tightened in anticipation, his balls a close second. “I suppose turnabout is fair play.”

“Good.” In less than a heartbeat, she’d hooked one leg around his waist just above his jeans and guided him firmly onto his back. Isabella shifted to straddle him, splitting her weight between her knees and his thighs as her fingers made quick work of the button fly on his jeans. He helped her as best he could, shoving at both the denim and his boxer briefs until both articles of clothing hit the floorboards a few feet away.

Isabella moved back over him, this time straddling his waist. Her fingers trailed across his skin, her eyes following suit. Her gaze hitched when she got to the jagged scar on his shoulder, but he refused to let the what-ifs of the night he’d received it ruin the moment now.

“Hey. Look at me,” Kellan said. Something in his voice must have told her he was serious, because she did what he asked without pause. “I’m right here. I’m never going to leave you, okay? Ever.”

She nodded slowly. “I know.” Leaning forward, Isabella pressed a kiss over his mouth. The gesture started out reverent, soft and sweet, but all too quickly, it deepened into something altogether sexy. Brash, greedy strokes of her tongue combined with the friction of her tightly beaded nipples over his chest. The feel of her, skin on skin, made his cock throb, the sensation turning to full-blown need as she broke from his lips to sit all the way up.

“Do you want to be here?” she asked, skating her fingers over her breasts, then her belly, before her left hand dipped between her legs. Her ring glittered in the ambient light, as perfect as the rest of her. She circled her forefinger over her clit, and a near-growl vibrated in the back of his throat.

“Isabella,” he warned, and she moved back, settling the cradle of her hips right against his cock. The friction, hot and wet, sent his breath through his teeth, and fuck—fuck—he wasn’t going to last much longer like this.

“I want you, too, Kellan.” Another glide, the head of his cock disappearing in her folds. “I want you forever, baby. Right here with me.”

With a firm push, she pressed back and down, letting him fill her in one seamless stroke. Kellan sent up some lightning-fast thanks for birth control pills, because Christ, he loved being inside Isabella without barriers. Her inner muscles squeezed him from every direction, the pressure so intense that it skirted the dark edge between pleasure and pain. She lifted up an inch or two, only to erase the space she’d created a heartbeat later, rising and releasing in a purposeful rhythm.

“God. You feel so good.” Her breathing grew heavier, along with her lids. She rolled her hips, leaving Kellan to watch as she fucked him in a slow grind. The sight of his cock disappearing into the slick tightness of her pussy made him harder still, and he gripped her hips, urging her not to stop.

“There. That’s it. Take what you need.”

“What about…you?” Isabella asked, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth without slowing her movements. “What do you need?”

Kellan levered up, aiming for that spot hidden deep inside that would make her scream.

“Just you, Isabella. Just you.”

The words seemed to loosen any inhibitions she had left. Throwing her head back, she began to move faster, rocking against him again and again. He drank in everything—the raw pleasure on her face, the heat of her skin as their bodies came together more forcefully now, the erotic sight of her fingers returning to her clit to bring her over the edge again. The squeeze of her sex triggered a tingle in his balls that grew like an avalanche, and he arched up off the blanket, filling her to the hilt as an explosive orgasm razored all the way up from the base of his spine. For a minute, Kellan couldn’t move, couldn’t think or breathe or even see. But Isabella was right there with him, sprawled over his body, inhaling as he exhaled, carefully extracting their bodies so she could snuggle in at his side, and that was when he knew.

He might be tough. He might have survived multiple tours in the Middle East, more blazes than he could count, and enough terrifying situations to fill a football stadium.

But without this woman, he couldn’t survive.