“Honey…I’m home!” Angelique called out, kicking her shoes off at Mike’s front door. She lifted her face, sniffing at the delicious aromas permeating the air. “Something smells wonderful.” She entered the kitchen and peeked inside the black iron Dutch oven he loved to cook in. “Mm, beef stew.” She closed her eyes and inhaled, catching the subtle scents of several different spices, as well as a fine wine in the thick gravy. “Mmm, that’s gonna be so good.” The sound of her voice barely covered the growling of her stomach. She’d chosen the perfect day to work through lunch, what with the overabundance of calories this meal promised.
“Mike?” she called, wondering why he hadn’t made his usual appearance by now.
“In here!” he called, from the back of his house.
Resisting the urge to sneak a taste or two, she covered the pot and made her way to his voice.”
“Where are y—” Angelique stopped inside the doorway of his bedroom, shocked into silence at the room’s transformation. Muted light from dozens of candles bathed every surface in a soft, luminous glow.
“Oh…” she breathed, as he appeared before her, sexy as hell in black jeans and a white dress shirt, buttoned down just enough to show a little of that sexy, broad chest of his. Her gaze travelled to his bare feet. Ah, that’s good. No boots to remove.
He walked up to kiss her then handed her a half-filled glass of wine.
“What’s going on here, Mike?” she said, taking the wine, her stomach filling with butterflies at the sight of him, all sexed up with his engines revving and vibrating. Or was she the one revving and vibrating?
“We’re celebrating,” he said, lifting his right arm to tap his own wine glass to hers.
“No sling!” She only just realized he’d been holding a glass of wine in each hand. “Oh, baby, that’s wonderful.”
“It is, isn’t it?” He placed his glass of wine down on one nightstand next to his massive bed. “I figured now that I can use both arms, it was time to do something I’ve wanted to do for over six months.”
He let her have one more sip from her wine before taking her glass to set it beside his. Both hands flew to her mouth as he produced a small, deep blue velvet box and knelt before her.
“Oh…oh.” She struggled to calm the rapid thud of her wildly beating heart.
“Angelique Therese Baptiste, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He opened the box to show her the emerald solitaire, flanked by a cluster of diamonds totaling at least a half carat on each side.
“How did you know?” She squealed, truly delighted with the gorgeous ring.
“You answer my question first, and then I’ll answer yours.”
“Oui, monsieur. Absolutely! Of course I’ll marry you.” She squealed again, covering his face with kisses.
“Bon. Now as to your question,” he said, taking the ring out of its dove gray satin lining and slipping it easily onto her finger. He stood up, holding both her hands in his own. “You remember when we dropped off your watch to have it repaired in October?”
“Yes, and you picked it up for me a week or so later.”
“That’s right. The woman who’s owned that shop for twenty years said you went by often and always stopped in front of the emeralds. Now, she said you’d told her, on countless occasions, that if you ever got an engagement ring, you wanted the main stone to be an emerald. She also said that a few months earlier you’d seen this particular ring and fell in love with it.”
He brought her hand up to kiss the finger with the ring on it. “What I need to know is if that woman was just feeding me a line of bull to make a sale, or is that really how you feel?”
“It is absolutely true, Mike. The second I saw this ring I hoped it would be mine one day.”
He nodded, seeming to be satisfied with her answer. “And now it is, along with my heart, Angel.” He lowered his mouth to cover hers in a heart melting kiss.
Stop here for Sweet ending…
Continue for a tad more Heat!
She let him kiss her, waited for the kiss to work its usual magic on her by turning her insides to mush. Within seconds she wanted him…needed him as near to her as possible. She pushed him gently to a seated position on the bed, ever mindful of the incision from his surgery, while unbuttoning his shirt. She pulled it away from his shoulders and down his arms, in a rush to have him bare-chested and at her mercy.
“Someone’s in a hurry today.” Mike laughed as she pushed him back on the bed and tackled the snap and zipper of his jeans. “It took me hours to get myself ready for tonight, but does she notice? No! She just commences to ripping my clothes right off of me, without even a ‘Looking good tonight.”
She paused, letting her hands fall away from the waist-band of his jeans, already half-way down his hips. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No.” He grimaced, pushing down the front of his jeans, she suspected to relieve the throbbing erection inside his boxer briefs. “Hell no. I’m dying here, babe.”
She grinned down at him and proceeded to pull his jeans down his hips so he could kick them off his legs. His erection, now free from the confines of the tight jeans, bulged invitingly behind the briefs. “Mm, baby. Looking good tonight,” she said, before licking her lips.
Mike groaned then sat up to pull her close. He slipped his hands under her dress. “Now you.” He took the time to caress both her silk-clad butt cheeks with his hands before lifting the clingy black knit of her dress over her head. His arms dropped to unclasp the front closing black lace bra, freeing her glorious pale orbs from their bondage. Leaning forward, he covered one nipple with his mouth while brushing his thumb lightly over the other.
Angelique’s breath released in a quick rush of air as Mike growled low in his throat, sending a frisson of need coursing through her.
In one quick movement, he had her on her back as he leaned over with his weight on his left elbow. He kissed her again, letting his right hand familiarize itself with all the parts of her body it had missed out on up until this moment. “Mmmm…” he growled. “You’re in for a real treat, lady.”
“I seem to remember you treating me a couple dozen times over the last month,” she said.
“Yeah, but I’ve got my right hand back now,” he said, slipping off her black silk panties with one swift movement.
“Oh…oh…my…” Angelique sighed with pleasure as he began a skillful exhibition of manual dexterity. Within a few short minutes he brought her to the precipice of need and over the edge. “Oh…Mike,” she moaned low in her throat, before her insides clenched and shattered from the monumental climax.
“Geeeeze…” she groaned, with a last prolonged shudder, panting and straining for enough mental capacity to regain her power of speech. “What were you doing down there?”
His laughter rumbled deep in his chest. “It’s a matter of having the touch. Kind of like when you make a wine glass sing.”
She whimpered as he kissed her, starting the slow burn all over again.
“Hey, babe?”
“Mmm?” She indeed felt like a fine crystal wineglass he’d ‘played’ perfectly.
“I’m good with my left hand…”
“Yes indeed,” she purred.
“But with my right, I’m better.”
“Mm…you are…perfection…is what you are,” she said, reaching over to remove his briefs before straddling him.
“I’ll take that,” he said. “And I’ll take this, too.” He placed both large hands around her waist to pull her forward. "You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to touch you like this…to do this with both hands over the last month,” he said, lifting her until she’d settled around him, encompassing the considerable length and breadth of him.
She sighed with satisfaction, loving the feeling of him deep inside her. “Oh…I think I do.” She began to move slowly, gliding over skin slick with her own pleasure, riding him until they were both panting, both grasping—reaching for release—and finding it together.
Afterward, they lay entwined, snuggling close, as heartbeats calmed, gasps reverted to deep, even breathing, their needs satisfied, and sated…for now, at least.
“Angel,” he whispered.
“Hmm?”
“I doubt I’ll ever be a rich man.”
“No, huh?” Her face registered feigned surprise.
“Smart ass. This is serious business.”
“Why would you think I’d ever want to be rich?”
“Doesn’t everybody these days?”
Her fingers toyed with the dark silky hair on his chest. “In my younger days I may have thought that was important. Now I know better.” She craned her neck to see him, to touch the face of the man she adored. “I just need love, and everything that goes along with it.”
“Like what?”
“Honesty, trust, fidelity…”
“Oh, you mean I can’t go chasing skirt with the guys anymore?” He made an attempt to look upset about it.
“You can try, but you may want to think twice.”
“Why’s that?” He raised himself on one elbow to gaze down into her beautiful green eyes.
“Well.” She traced her nail gently along his jawline. “I hear male castration is quite painful, especially without anesthesia.” Laughter rumbled in his chest, causing a deep, stirring need in her to be as close as possible to him.
“Just as I thought.”
A moment later her mouth found and melded with his in a lingering kiss.
She pulled back slowly, finished the caress with a gentle tug and nip at his lower lip.
He rolled onto his back, using his left arm to bring her with him. She rose above him again then lowered her head so that her dark hair fanned out across his chest. “What was it you were thinking?” She purred, enjoying his reaction to her kiss.
“Like I was saying, I always suspected my Angel had a little devil in her. Are you gonna be one of those wives who gives her husband trouble?” He groaned, as her long, silky locks skimmed the super sensitive skin of his chest, abs, and belly.
She lifted herself to stare into eyes the color of rich dark chocolate, thankful for the fates that had brought this man to her.
“Some, I’m sure. But I’m willing to bet it’ll never be more than a man like you can handle.” She trailed her finger over his chiseled abs. “So, what do you think, big man? Are you worried?”
Mike slipped his hand to the back of her neck and gently tugged her closer. He gave her a devastatingly handsome grin before answering in his deep, rich rumble of sexy baritone.
“About you and me? Not even a little.”
Thank you for letting me share Green Eyed Temptation with you. I hope you enjoyed reading all about Angelique, Mike, and Liam.