Page 58 of Adonis: The Cost of a Billionaire's Heart
“Sim . . .” He paused, running a hand down his beard as if he were trying to quiet his nerves.
His voice hit me somewhere in the lower stomach, and all the air left my lungs in a rush. It sounded like he needed me, which was just crazy. Adonis Holland didn’t need anyone, especially not me. And then, he fished out a keyring from his pocket with all twelve rings he’d originally purchased for me hanging around it.
My heart plummeted to my feet, and my lips dropped open in astonishment. I rested my hand over my racing heart as my eyes pinged between his handsome face and the keyring filled with diamonds dangling in his hand. He couldn’t be about to do what I thought he was about to do, could he? It felt dreamlike, wild, like a fairy tale coming true in real life.
A nervous chuckle slipped past his lips. “On the drive over here, I kept thinking about how I wanted to do this, . . . how I wanted to ask you the most important question I’ve ever asked anyone in my life. I thought about planning something big, like a private sunset cruise around the Hudson with fireworks or a trip to another continent. But the minute I showed up at your door and you decided to let me in, I knew that you, Mason, and that rocket ship kit were all I needed. You’re all I’ll ever need . . . forever.”
My next breath got caught in my throat as Adonis slowly lowered his tall frame to one knee.
“I’m in love with you, Simora Campbell,” he confessed, voice knotted with the truth. “I might not be the best at showing it, but I’m damn sure crazy about you. I find myself thinking aboutyou night and day without even realizing it. You don’t know what you do to me, but I decided that since I bought you twelve rings, I should give you twelve reasons why I love you. You turn my insides to mush with your smile. You make me lay down my defenses whenever you put your hand on my shoulder. You take my breath away when you moan my name. You make the best pancakes I think I’ve ever had.
“You always manage to remain true to yourself no matter where you are or who is around. You make motherhood look easy, even when I know it’s not. Your unmatched beauty both inside and out. You make my heart beat warm again after years of being on ice. Your intelligence and watching you navigate this big, new world like the boss you are.
“You make me smile with your sarcasm and jokes. You make being me worth it because I get to love you. You soften up the hardest parts of me to the point where I can’t trust what I’ll do for you, and Mason too. If I could, I’d probably build an entire galaxy with him every night. I wanna be there for every single birthday, holiday, sports game, or school play. I wanna be the man you both deserve. I wanna make us a real family.”
He held up the keyring, revealing all the rings he’d purchased, including the one I’d given back. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I fought back tears.
“Sim, will you marry me?”
I didn’t answer right away. I couldn’t. Not because I didn’t want to say yes, but because my heart was too overloaded with bliss to form words. Instead, I did what my heart required—dropped to my knees and flung my arms around him, holding onto him as if he were my physical lifeline in this cold, cruel world. Adonis Holland was the realest man I’d ever known, and I was about to become his wife, . . . for real this time.
“Yes,” I finally answered, my whisper-soft voice trembling with joy.
Adonis exhaled a deep sigh of relief before smiling. “Pick one.”
“I want the one I originally chose. It means the most to me because it’s where we started.”
He slid the pink diamond ring back on my finger and reeled me into his chest. Our eyes locked before our lips even touched. My breath slowed, and everything in the apartment seemed to narrow to just the two of us in the hallway.
I was close enough to feel his racing heartbeat, recognizing the same pitter-pattering rhythm in mine. We were two people too scared to be in love, but even more afraid to be without each other. Then it happened. A kiss so raw and consuming that I immediately lost my breath. The texture of his lips against mine was buttery soft, like satin on velvet. His fingers gently cradled my jaw, causing a warmth to spread through my chest and my lips to tingle with desire.
He slowly pulled away, his seductive brown orbs drinking me in as if I were one of the fourteen wonders of the world. Whatever it was, he couldn’t keep looking at me like that because if he did, then what happened earlier on his jet would definitely happen again. And this time, there would be no regrets. We both wanted it and each other.
He pulled himself back up to his feet and reached out his hand to mine before swallowing me up in his strong arms. Like he could read my mind, Adonis straightened his posture and led us toward my bedroom.
“Hold up a second,” I paused. “Let me lock the door.”
Once the door was locked, he reached behind me and pulled me toward the bed. Adonis kept his eyes glued to mine as he began to strip his clothes off his body. I let him slide my clothes off, too, lifting my arms so he could pull my T-shirt over my head and slide down my sweatpants. After tossing the fabric to myfeet, he glued his eyes to my naked breasts. I hadn’t even thought about putting on underwear when I got dressed after my shower.
“You’re so beautiful, Sim.” Reaching out, he traced a circle around my nipple. “So fucking beautiful.”
“Adonis, please.” I bit my lip as he continued to circle my nipple, but I didn’t know why I was saying please.
Please don’t? No, that wasn’t it. I wanted him. Please take me and ruin me for all other men for the rest of eternity? I grinned before I could stop myself. That sounded more likely.
“Adonis, please, what?” he inquired, cupping my breast in his hand and squeezing. Stepping into my space and pushing me back against the sheets. “I want every drop of you tonight, baby.” He squeezed my breast hard, forcing the air to leave my lungs in a whoosh. “Can I have it?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
Closing the distance between us, he curved his naked body into mine, poking me with his brick-hard erection. Loosening his grip on my left breast, he plunged his hand downward, right between my thighs. One finger slid across my slit, parting me enough to feel the dampness that had pooled between my legs. Curving his finger, he thrust it upward, lifting me onto the tips of my toes.
“Mmm, shit!” I whispered.
Over and over again, he curled his finger into me—one to start and then another. And I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. There was not one coherent thought in my head. There was only him, his dark eyes that never left my face, and the pleasure he was giving me.
It had been that way almost every day for the past week, even when I had been nothing but his fake fiancée.
I clung to him, my nails digging into his tattooed shoulders and leaving little crescents in his melanated skin. He didn’t seem to care that I was marking his body up. He growled as if he likedit as he placed his lips on the delicate skin between my ear and my shoulder. My head fell back. The pleasure was building in my body at such a frantic pace that it felt like I couldn’t keep my legs still. Another moan slipped past my lips as the muscles in my legs shook like tambourines. He continued to fuck me with his fingers.
