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“Tori.” He smiled expectantly.

“Guy…” She paused so long he raised an eyebrow. Tori closed her eyes and sighed. She mentally cursed herself for being such a coward when he was being so patient with her. Forcing her eyes open, she once again met his gaze. “Guy, you wanted to know why I came tonight. What reason could be important enough to let your sister bring me to your parents’ house on New Year’s Eve when your entire family is here. Do you still want to know?”

“Very much.”

“Okay. I’m here because I knew you would be too and I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to tell you something.”

“I’m listening.”

“Guy.” She fought not to tremble. “Guy, I love you.”

Even though he knew exactly what she was going to say, Guy still felt as if he’d been punched in the chest. For a moment, he just stood there, staring at her frightened face, grinning like an idiot. The spell was broken when Tori’s lip started to quiver.

“Forgive me. I’m feeling overwhelmed at the moment.”

“Why?”

“Why?” He laughed. “Why! Because the woman I love more and more every minute of every day for the rest of my life just told me that she loves me too. Tell me again.”

Tori laughed with him. “I love you.”

Guy covered her face with loud, sloppy kisses, repeating the words with each one. “Again.”

“I love you.” She tried to bat him away. “Jeez, stop slobbering already. Some Alpha you are. Drooling like a little puppy who just got his first ball.”

“Excuse me? You don’t think an Alpha male should be thrilled when his chosen woman finally expresses her feelings for him?”

“Well, yeah, but not like that.”

“Ah. I see,” Guy dropped his tone and flashed her a wicked smile. “Perhaps you’ll find this more appropriate,” he crooned as he pulled her body fully against his.

Guy lowered his head and claimed Tori’s mouth with a searing kiss. One arm held her in place as the other moved until his hand covered her butt. His tongue explored her mouth. His lips moved over hers savagely as he fondled her. Not stopping, Guy backed Tori until his hand connected with his father’s workbench. He continued to ravage her mouth as he unbuttoned her jeans. As soon as the zipper was open, he yanked them down her hips, taking her panties with them. Refusing to let her end the kiss so she could protest, Guy worked at his groin with one hand until he managed to free his erection.

He lifted her to the workbench and separated their lips, holding her in place with one hand. Guy’s eyes burned into hers as he removed one shoe and dragged her leg from her clothes. With a feral growl, he forced her thighs apart and stepped between them. He held her gaze, noting how her lips were parted, her breath ragged and the way her chest heaved. Without any preliminaries, Guy penetrated her core with three fingers.

A superior smile crossed his face. “So wet. Ready for me. I like a woman who knows how things should be.” Guy removed his fingers and impaled her fully with one deep thrust.

“Guy!”

He pounded into her steadily. “Say it.”

“I love you,” she gasped.

“Again.”

“I love you.”

“You’re mine,” he growled. “Mine. All mine.”

“I love you.”

Guy was out of control. “Who do you belong to? Tell me,” he demanded.

“You,” she panted. “Yours. I belong to you.”

“Forever.” His thrusts became even more wild. “Mine. I’ll never let you go.”

“Guy,” Tori cried when Guy yanked her forward and lifted her legs over his forearms. She lost her balance and fell backward, landing on her elbows. The new position changed the angle of his shaft so it rubbed against her engorged nub. “Oh my God!”

“That’s it. Come for me. Let go. Use your tight pussy to show my cock how much you love it. You missed this as much as I did.”

“Oh God! Guy,” she cried, feeling every ridge of his huge shaft moving inside her as he forced her higher and higher. “I love you.”

“You love the way I fuck you. You love to feel my cock pounding deep into your hot pussy.”

“I love you, Guy. I love you.”

“You love fucking me. You love this.”

“Yes.” She held back. “Yes, I love when you fuck me. Yes, I love it, just like this. But I only love it because I love you. I love you, Guy. God, I love you,” she continued to whimper as she exploded around him. “I love you.”

As soon as Guy felt her orgasm begin, he shifted his hips and managed to force himself even deeper. The way Tori’s muscles squeezed him as if she never wanted to let go pushed Guy over the top. He cried out her name as he emptied himself into her throbbing channel, collapsing on top of her when he finished. Soon, the only thing left was the sound of their harsh breathing as they clung to each other.

“I love you,” Guy whispered when he could. “You okay?”

“Mm,” she responded.

“Aw, Christ.” Guy’s brain reengaged. “Fuck!”

“Okay.” She wiggled slightly.

“Hey.” He lifted his torso to see her. “I’m trying to be serious here. Stop playing around.”

“Who says I’m playing?” Tori used his shoulders to pull herself up so she could reach his mouth to kiss him.

“Tori.” Guy stood, bringing her upright with him. “Are you all right? Did I hurt you? Answer me, damn it!”

Tori was stunned when she realized he wasn’t kidding. “I’m fine. Better than fine. Incredibly, wonderfully, unbelievably fine.”

“Christ, I shouldn’t have been so rough with you,” he cursed himself and pulled away from her.

“Hey! Get your sexy butt back here,” she demanded. “Right here.” She pointed at the spot on the floor he had just vacated. “Listen up, Detective. I’m the one who wanted Alpha, remember? I wanted it and you gave me exactly what I was hoping for. I love it when you get that way, knowing I did that to you. God, Guy.” She blushed. “I missed you so much. All of you, not just this. Do you realize this is the first time you didn’t make me ask for sex? Yeah, okay, I made that crack about your reaction but all I expected was a real kiss.”

“Oh? You didn’t want to be taken by an overbearing, dominant Neanderthal?”

“Hell yes, I did! Or I would have if I’d given it some thought. Guy, you were wild and demanding. I can’t wait to find out if I can get you to be even more out of control because I’ve discovered that I love it when you get a little base. But you know what? No matter what I do to push you into it and believe me I will push you, frequently I suspect, I know you won’t ever hurt me. I’m talking honest hurt not a little bruise here and there.”

“Tori.” Guy glanced at her hips where he had been holding on.

“Don’t say it. Maybe I’m sick but the way you grabbed me and held me where you wanted me so you could fuck me like you knew I wanted you to. God, I feel like I just got claimed or something.”

Guy slid his semi-hard shaft along her slit. “Um, Tori? I know I didn’t give you much choice when I asked who you belonged to but…”

Tori giggled. “Oh, wow. Tell a guy you love him and he goes all sensitive on you. Aren’t you the one who keeps saying that I always have a choice? You demanded an answer but that’s it. I chose to tell you that I belonged to you. Get it through your thick head already, would you? I may be insane and I admit I have mood swings at the drop of a hat but I am not fickle and I do not run around telling every guy I see that I love him and belong to him forever. I never told anyone that before and I have no intention of saying it to anyone else so you better get a clue and deal with it or you’re going to piss me off big-time.”

“Easy there, tiger. Pull the claws in. I didn’t mean to imply that I doubted you but I was being insistent at the time. I was just reminding you that you do still have that choice we keep bringing up.” Guy’s smile softened and he leaned forward for a gentle kiss. “Thanks for coming here tonight.”

Tori’s happy expression vanished to be replaced by one of complete horror. She pushed at Guy’s chest. “Oh God. I can’t believe this.”

He trapped her in place. “What’s wrong?”

“This isn’t happening. What the hell is wrong with me?”

“Not a goddamn thing other than that you’re not making any sense at the moment. What is it, Tori?”

“Guy! This is your parents’ garage. I’m half naked on your dad’s tool bench. We had sex and your whole family is here.”

“Yeah, but they’re inside. Dad and Todd won’t let anyone disturb us.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Then what is the point?”

“We had sex! Here! In the middle of your dad’s tools!”

“Yes, I know we had sex and I know where we are. What I don’t know is why you’re freaking out about it.”

“And I don’t get why you aren’t. Oh, wait. This isn’t a big deal to you because you do it all the time, right? Your family’s used to you dragging whoever you’re with out here for a quickie in the middle of dinner. You don’t care if they can guess what we’ve been up to by the way I look because they already know.”

Guy took a deep breath and swallowed his angry response. He scooped her from her perch and carried her to the corner of the room. Letting her stand but not releasing her, Guy pushed open a door to reveal a small bathroom. He urged her inside, trapping her in the space with his body. After he let the water run until it was warm, he used paper towels to clean away the evidence of their pleasure. He lifted her foot and rearranged her pants. He made her wait while he washed his penis and tucked it away before leading her back to replace her shoe.

“Tori, I understand this is all new to you and letting yourself trust me isn’t easy. I know admitting your feelings is frightening. It’ll take some time for you to accept you have no reason to be insecure and until then you’re going to have moments when you lash out to protect yourself from what part of you still expects to happen. I’ll do my best not to let you goad me but I’m sure there will be occasions when you’ll succeed. Tonight, however, is not one of them. You are the only woman in my adult life who has been here. You are the only one in my entire life who I had sex with in this garage. You’re probably right that some of my family will be able to guess what we did out here and yeah, they’ll more than likely tell the ones who can’t. I’m not ashamed of it. We’re both adults and I love you and I see no need to hide the fact that I find you physically desirable. So incredibly desirable that I can’t resist an opportunity to be intimate with you even if it isn’t the most politically correct situation. Yeah, maybe I should have waited until we were somewhere else but damn it, Tori, I refuse to let anything you say make me feel guilty about this.”

Tori watched Guy struggle to remain calm for her sake and melted. She closed the gap between them and slid her arms around his waist, hugging his unyielding body. “Told you I suck at this. Why the hell do you keep putting up with all my bullshit?”

Guy relaxed. “Simple. You’re more than worth it and I love you.”

“I can’t promise I’ll change.”

“I don’t want you to change. You’re perfect, bullshit and all.” He let her see his face so she knew he was sincere. “You make me so happy. You, exactly as you are. I’m the luckiest man in the world to have you love me.”

She blushed. “Okay. I get it. Enough already.”

“Nope. It’ll never be enough no matter how often I tell you that. I suggest you figure out a way to deal with it because I promise you’ll be hearing it constantly. I’ll try not to call you every four minutes while you’re working but I’m not promising the same about the nights.”

“You’re going to call and wake me?”

“Often.”

“Oh.” She suddenly looked very sad.

“Teasing, Tori. Don’t get upset with me again so soon.”

“I’m not. It’s just…”

“Just what? Tell me why you seem so unhappy.”

“Well, I, um, oh, damn.” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I just assumed we’d be together at night or some of them anyway. I guess I’m stupid but I was disappointed when you said you’d be calling me.”

Guy stared for a long minute. Then he grinned. “Holy Christ, tiger. Here I am, still trying not to rush you until you’re ready so I don’t scare you away and I end up hurting your feelings instead. Hell yes, I want to spend my nights with you. All of them. Starting tonight. Say the word and I will round up some guys and be moved in before dark tomorrow.”

It was Tori’s turn to stare. “You mean that. You’d give up your apartment and come live with me just like that.”

“Absolutely. I do have to warn you. I fully intend to marry you and I won’t quit asking until you say yes but I’ll be more than happy to live with you while I’m convincing you.”

“Oh my God.”

“Now what? I never made any secret of wanting you permanently. I know I mentioned forever plenty of times. To me, that means marriage. Perhaps I should have been more specific.” Guy clasped her hand and got down on one knee. “Victoria Banks, I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?”

“Oh my God,” she gasped.

“That’s not an answer. Want some help?” He kissed her palm. “First, there’s my favorite choice, yes. Then, there’s the totally unacceptable choice, which I’m only including because I like to be thorough and not because I’d ever accept it, no. Or there’s the third choice which is not the best but one I’m willing to live with, yes at some point in the future when you’re completely comfortable with the idea.”

“Oh my God.”

“I thought I explained that that is not an appropriate response to my question. I’ll ask it again, just in case you forgot what it was. Tori, love of my life, will you please marry me?”

Tori began to tremble and frowned.

“Don’t forget choice number three. Want to hear it again?”

“No.”

“No, you don’t want me to repeat it or no, you won’t marry me?”

“No, I remember all the choices.”

“Good. How about I throw in a fourth one? Here, possible response number four, you prefer not to answer at this time and would like to put the question on hold until you have the opportunity to evaluate the outcome.”

“That’s nice of you but no thank you,” Tori could barely speak.

“Okay, now I’m confused.”

“Maybe this’ll clear things up.” Tori got to her knees in front of him and captured his other hand. “Guy Breauchard, I love you in a way I didn’t believe existed before I met you. Yes, I will marry you.”