Page 48 of Nauti Kisses (Nauti 6)

Sierra kept her answer vague and once again pushed back the unsettling thought that perhaps John didn’t want her to stay. Maybe he hadn’t asked for a commitment because he didn’t want one.

“Ah, I see my honey calling me. ” Rogue moved away, drawing Sierra’s gaze to Zeke Mayes as he motioned to his wife.

John was moving across the lawn as the music blaring from the speakers at the side of the house quieted and everyone turned to her.

“Hey, lollipop,” John whispered in her ear as he kissed her cheek. “Ready to have some fun?”

“With you?” She laughed back. “You’re always fun, dummy. ”

“I’m about to become more fun. ”

He knelt in front of her as he caught her left hand.

Sierra stood in shock, her heart suddenly hammering against her chest, throbbing in her throat as she stared down at him.

“You enrich me, Sierra Lucas,” he suddenly announced. “You break the rules, you made my heart full, and you bring me a peace I only dreamed of having. ”

Oh God.

She couldn’t cry.

She stared down at him, barely daring to breathe as he held her hand in his and lifted his free hand.

“Sierra Lucas, I’ve requested the approval of your godfather for your hand in marriage. And I now ask you, the other half of me, the one woman that completes me. ” A ring slid on her finger. “Will you marry me?”

She stared at the ring in awe. A single diamond surrounded by deep, violet-blue sapphires. It was the heirloom engagement ring John Walker had purchased when he made his first million. A legacy for his wife to pass on to their son’s wife.

The antique ring had been fashioned in the sixteen hundreds, the burnished gold rich with age and priceless sentiment, and it now sat on her finger.

“Don’t leave me cold, Sierra,” John whispered as he stared up at her. “Don’t let me ever have to exist without you again. ”

She could feel the eyes watching them, and she didn’t care.

She could feel the men’s amusement, the women’s interest, and none of it mattered.

“I love you,” he stated. “With my heart, my soul. Forever. ”

Her lips trembled as a tear fell from her eye.

“Yes. ”

He didn’t give her time to say anything more.

He was on his feet, she was in his arms, and he was twirling her around as the sunlight glinted blue off the diamond, and struck fire to the sapphires as she curled her arms around his neck and buried her head against his shoulders.

And the tears fell then.

Happy tears. Te

ars of joy, of love, of all the hopes and all the dreams she had ever harbored inside her.

They all existed here, in this man’s arms, in the fiery love he gave and the sense of belonging.

She was adrift no more.

“I love you. ” Her arms tightened around his neck. “So much, John. I love you so much. ”

He sat her gently on her feet, framed her face with his hands, and let his lips touch hers. “Until the day after forever, Sierra. I’ll love you until the day after forever. ”

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