They were naked, in the bed inside his suite, facing each other.  Alex had been inside of Kari for nearly half an hour, fucking her in a slow-motion fuck.  But their reasons were different.  Their entire purpose was to be with each other far more than to have orgasms.

Alex’s right hand was behind her neck, and his left hand was squeezing her ass, as his dick continued to stroke her wet, tight space.

She was staring at his handsome face, and she was rubbing the side of that face.  They were so relaxed that both of them were drowsy.

“You were out on the search.  Weren’t you?” she asked him.

Alex continued to stare at her.  He had already decided he was going to be completely honest with Kari about what happened.  She came all this way to see about him.  It was the least he could do.  “The shooter is dead,” he said.  “But I was looking for who hired him, yes.”

“Did you find him?”

Alex hesitated.  “Yes.”

“Did he say why he hired somebody to kill you?”

“Didn’t get a chance to hold a conversation.”

“So we don’t know?”

Alex shook his head.  “No.  Still unanswered questions.”

Kari exhaled.  It was becoming their new normal, whether they wanted it to or not.  “Is this guy who hired the shooter in the same boat as the shooter?” she asked.

Alex studied her.  Would she tire of his lifestyle and leave him?  Was that the risk he was taking for being so honest with her?  “Yes,” he said.

But Kari didn’t frown, and she didn’t show any disapproval. “Good,” she said.

He smiled.  “Oh, it’s good?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” said Kari.  “If you end it, then he can’t try it again.”

Alex frowned.  “Why you little gangster,” he said, and they both laughed.

But it was a fleeting laugh, because they both knew the stakes.

And that was why Alex wrapped her in his arms, and she wrapped him in her arms, and they kissed and fucked even longer.  They fucked, slowly and tenderly, until they came.

And then they fell asleep.

 

And later that next day, Alex watched as Kari, fully dressed, placed her cell phone and her earphones back in her purse and prepared to head back to Florida.  Only this time, his plane was taking her back.

“I can easily take a commercial flight out, Alex,” she said.

“Oh, no, you can’t,” he responded.  “Your flying commercial days are over.”

“But the time, and the expense!  Your flight crew will have to travel twelve hours just to get me home, then twelve hours to get back to Germany to be at your disposal.  It’s too much, Alex.”

“For whom?  My flight crew?  What the fuck else they’ve got to do?”

Kari smiled.  “You know what I’m saying!”

“Yes, I know what you’re saying.  But hear what I’m saying.  It’s my job to look out for you.  Let me do my job.”

Kari smiled.  “Will do,” she said.

“I only wish I could go back with you.”

“Negotiations continue?”

“They continue.  This incident yesterday isn’t helping.  But I’ll get what I want in the end.”

Kari smiled.  “That’s right!”

“Hopefully, it’ll be sooner rather than later.  And then I’ll be home.”

Kari smiled.  “Can’t wait.  In the meantime, I’m ready.”  She grabbed her carry-on case along with her purse, the only two things she came to town with, and Alex took it from her so that he could carry it.

“I meant to tell you,” he said to her as they headed for the suite’s exit, “but I’m going to cover your expenses for this trip.”

Kari would have normally said no way.  She had it.  But only she didn’t really have it.

“Especially since,” Alex added, “you refuse to use that credit card I gave to you.”

Kari smiled as they stood at the door of his hotel suite.  She wasn’t about to use that card!  But she wasn’t about to turn down his offer to cover her expenses, either.  “Thanks,” she said.

Alex was surprised. “Thanks?  That’s it?  No fight?  No I Am Woman Hear Me Roar battle cry?”

Kari hit him on his muscular bicep.  “Very funny,” she said.

“I’m serious!  What gives?”

Kari smiled. “I can’t afford this trip,” she said honestly.

She expected Alex to laugh.  But he didn’t.  His heart went out to her instead.  And he realized, right then and there, just how independent from him she really was.  In her world, she was on one side, and he was on the other.  And she was right: on her side, she couldn’t afford to hop a plane to Germany!  A trip like that could set her back months, if not years!  But she came to see about him anyway.  That was Kari.  That was the woman he adored.

“We’d better get going,” she said.  “It’s noontime here, which means it’s five am Florida time.  I would have loved to be back in Florida before Jordan gets out of school.  But at least I may get home before dark.”

“You will,” said Alex.  But he lingered, staring at her.

“Anyway,” she said, about to open the door, unsure why he was looking at her so oddly.

But just as she was about to turn the knob, he said it.  He just said it!

“Marry me, Karena,” Alex said.

At first, Kari froze.  She couldn’t move a muscle.  Then she turned, very slowly, and looked at him.  Was this some kind of a joke?  Alex told jokes every now and then.  Was this one of those times?

But when she turned, and saw the seriousness on his face, she realized it was no joke.  This man was serious!

“I don’t want to live without you, Kari,” Alex said honestly.  “I can’t.  There’s no two ways about it.  I can’t.  Will you marry me?”

Kari knew it was on the spur of the moment.  He didn’t even have a ring!  But neither one of them were big on ceremony anyway.

She smiled, dropped her bag, and fell into his arms.  “Yes,” she said.  “Yes!”

Tears were in her eyes when they stopped embracing.  “When you get back home,” he said, “we’ll go ring shopping.  Or I can have my jeweler bring you his finest selection.”

“No,” Kari said, shaking her hand.  “I’d rather do it with you.  It’ll matter more to me if we do it together.”

Alex smiled.  That was what he wanted too.  “Good,” he said. “Then it’s a date.”

Kari continued to stand there.  She was so overwhelmed with emotions that she didn’t know what to say.  Or to do.  Or even how to act!  Tears were still brightening her eyes.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Alex asked.  Afraid she was having second thoughts already, he became concerned.  “What’s the matter, babe?”

Kari shook her head, and then looked at Alex.  “It’s just that it’s never happened before,” she said.

“What’s never happened before?” Alex asked.

“No man has ever asked me to marry him.  And for a man like you, a wonderful, caring, honest man like you to be the one to ask me is . . . it’s everything, Alex.  It’s everything!  I’ve struggled so much.  I’ve never fitted in no matter where I go.  I can handle all of the criticisms and upturned noses and the way people look down on me.  But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.  It hurts.  A lot.  And for a girl like me to get a gift like you is just so beyond what I thought could ever happen that I just can’t believe it!”

But Alex was shaking his head.  “No, Karena, no.  I’m the one in disbelief.  I’m the one who’s getting the gift.  You only want me.  Not what I can do for you.  Not who I am and what power I wield.  You just want me.  That concept is so foreign to me, darling, that I couldn’t even comprehend it before I met you.  I’d rather be poor and have you, than rich and have a thousand women.  So don’t you dare think you’re the winner.  You got the bargain.  I got the prize.”

Kari smiled the most wonderful smile to Alex, and then she fell into his arms again.  “Oh, Jordan!” she suddenly remembered.  “Can we Face Time him?  Can we tell him the news while we’re together?”

“Of course we can!” Alex said.  “Set it up.”

 

And she did.  They had to go through Faye and Benny since Jordan was staying with them while Kari was out of the country, and Faye and Benny had to wake Jordan up.  They handed him the phone, and then left him alone, for privacy, in their guest bedroom.

“Look at him,” Alex said with a grin when Jordan’s handsome face came on the line.  He wore pajamas and was still half-asleep.

“Hey, Ma,” he said.  “Hey, Mr. Drakos.  Everything okay?”

“Everything’s great, Jordan,” Kari said.  “We’ve got some news.”

Jordan had almost fallen back asleep.  “What news?” he asked sleepily.

Kari smiled.  And then she became teary-eyed again.  Her son was going to have a father!  She could hardly contain her joy.

“Let me tell him,” Alex said.

Now Jordan, although still not fully awake, was getting concerned.  “Tell me what?” he asked.

“Jordan, I asked your mother to marry me.”

Before Alex could add, and she said yes, Jordan woke up then.  He jumped up from his bed and began bouncing up and down like a pogo stick.  “You asked her!” he cried as Alex and Kari laughed.  “You asked her!  You asked her!  You asked her!  I told them you loved her.  I told them!  I told them!”

Faye and Benny, who had left the bedroom to give their godson some privacy, came running back into his room.  “What’s wrong?” Benny asked.  He and Faye thought Jordan had just received some horrible news!

But then they saw that smile on his face.

“He asked her!” Jordan said to his godparents. “Mr. Drakos asked my mom to marry him!”

And now Faye and Benny were jumping up and down like pogo sticks, too.

Alex and Kari were laughing unlike they had ever laughed before.  To see his future stepson this happy to have him in his life brought joy to Alex’s heart, the kind of joy that almost had him teary-eyed too.  He couldn’t recall when he’d been this happy.

And when it was all said and done, and Faye and Benny and Jordan especially congratulated them over and over, they said their goodbyes.

And then the newly engaged couple looked at each other.  And they kissed.  For the first time they kissed, not just as Alexio and Karena, but as future husband and wife.