Authors: Dawn Ryder
Out of Bounds (21 page)
“Oh… that’s right.” He was standing so close it was easy to lean toward him. “Why… why are you here?”
“Why?” he demanded, his expression turning incredulous before she saw anger flashing through his eyes. “Because I’m a fucking fool not to have told you I love you.”
He pulled her against him, crushing her in an embrace that betrayed just how much emotion he had buried inside him.
“I swear, Sabra, I will check my messages from now on. I’m just used to Nektosha being the number one thing in my life.” He kissed her temple and her cheek and her forehead before giving her space. “Just forgive me this time for not being there for you. I promise it will not happen again. You are the number one thing in my life. I can’t live without you.”
Her brain had stopped working. Shock held her in its grasp as he spoke every word she’d made up logical reasons for him never to say. Even if it didn’t make sense to her head, her heart responded in a flash. Tears eased from her eyes, and he wiped them aside with his thumbs.
“Don’t cry, Sabra.”
“I can’t help it; you just made me the happiest woman alive.”
She reached for him, gripping his wide shoulders and pulling him to her with hands that shook. He folded her back into his embrace, shielding her from everything and completing her.
“I never thought you’d—What about Anastasia?”
He set her back and reached down to pull a few tissues out of a box sitting on a small table. She wiped her eyes with them before realizing his expression had hardened.
“I told you not to worry about her,” he growled softly. “That’s why you didn’t come over to the test track before leaving?”
“It’s not like her reasoning wasn’t… logical.” The very fact that he was standing there made her feel foolish.
“I love you. Logic doesn’t factor in.” He reached into her purse and pulled her cell phone out and turned it on. “I started sending messages the moment I left her father and turned my cell phone on.”
Sabra grabbed the phone and turned it off. “We’re in a hospital, Tarak. No cell phones.”
He glared at her for a moment before he raised his hands in surrender. “I hope you’ll be patient with me, Sabra. I’m a little used to being in charge of everything. You’ll have to train me on the more personal points of being a husband.”
Her mouth went dry. “Husband?”
He tilted his head to one side before reaching out to cup the sides of her face. “I love you. Say you’ll marry me, or am I sucking at the asking part again?”
“I love you, just the way you are.”
He sealed her lips beneath his, giving her what had to be the very first sweet kiss they’d ever shared.
It was totally frickin’ awesome.
***
“I tell you, this is no shit…”
Two weeks later, her father was sitting up and back to telling navy stories. Tarak was sitting by her father’s bedside, hanging on every word. Her dad launched into a maritime tale that had his eyes sparkling by the time he finished it. He slapped the bed when he was done and looked at Tarak.
“Enough of this. You’re doing a good job of listening to an old man, but I want to see a ring on my daughter’s finger. Go jewelry shopping.”
“You just want to flirt with the nurses,” Sabra accused.
Her father waggled his gray eyebrows. “Have you seen that blond?” He whistled low and made a curvy hourglass with his hands. He winked at Tarak. “Get me a business card from the jeweler. I might need it.”
“Dad, I think—”
“Off with you, my girl, you’re the princess of sunshine, not stale hospital rooms. I’m going to take a nap and dream of fishing up there in Alaska on my son-in-law’s property.”
Tarak held out a hand for her and she took it, still absorbing the fact that he was hers.
“I don’t need to go ring shopping.”
“Yes you do,” he assured her. “You need to have a huge diamond on your hand before I take you over to Angelino’s. Nartan has been bugging me to drop by, but there is no way I’m letting him near you without a little repellant flashing on your hand. He’s an incurable romantic. He said to invite your friend Celeste to even out the party.”
“Um… that’s not going to happen.”
They’d reached the parking garage and Tarak opened the Aston Martin door for her. “Why not?”
“Celeste is a bit of a recluse when it comes to men who want to get to know her better. Her ex was an asshole who abused her. He’s in jail at the moment.”
Tarak considered her for a moment.
“That will make our wedding interesting,” he decided, “because Nartan sounded more than mildly interested in her. Believe me, Nartan doesn’t back off any better than I do.”
Tarak shut the door, giving her a chance to groan. Celeste was going to be her maid of honor and Nartan would be the best man. They’d already decided on an intimate wedding to be held on the Nektosha test facility.
Which would give Celeste no place to hide from Nartan.
“Maybe we should get married here in California,” Sabra suggested.
Tarak settled into the driver’s seat. He turned and pegged her with a hard look. “Nartan won’t get out of line.”
“He’s a lot like you,” she accused softly. “And you get out of line all the time.”
Something flickered in his eyes that sent a touch of heat across her cheeks. His attention shifted to the blush, and his expression softened.
“Relax, Sabra. It’s worked out just fine for us. Maybe you should let fate have a shot at your friend.”
“Celeste is my best friend, my sister really. She’s got some deep wounds.”
“Sheltering her isn’t being a good friend.” Tarak turned the engine on. “Nartan taught me that. I went to see him before I took off for Alaska, and he told me flat out that I was hung up on you. That’s true friendship.”
“Celeste isn’t hung up on Nartan.”
Tarak pulled out of the parking space. “Then there shouldn’t be any problem with her being around him for a week.”
“I guess.”
“Aren’t you the one who insisted I stop sharing my life with a ghost from my past?” He cut her a sidelong look.
“Yeah, I did.”
Tarak nodded and wheeled the Aston Matron into traffic. “It was good advice. Use it on your friend.”
He was right, but she still felt a shiver working along her spine. “Celeste’s ghosts are more of the demon sort.”
“In that case, I’m sure it’s a good idea for the pair of them to be tossed together. Fears need to be faced.” His lips curved into a satisfied smile. “You taught me that.”
Her lips curved as a bubble of happiness burst inside her. It was an insane sort of delight and made her want to giggle. Somehow, she’d never realized how much happiness might be hers if she found the man she could love. It was amazing, and she wanted that for Celeste too.
“Alaska wedding it is.”
Dawn Ryder is the erotic romance pen name of a bestselling author of historical romances. She has been publishing her stories for over eight years to a growing and appreciative audience. She is commercially published in mass market and trade paper, and digi-first published with trade paper releases. She is hugely committed to her career as an author, as well as to other authors and to her readership. She resides in Southern California.
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