Page 69 of Soaring on Love

“Walking the face of the earth, and I always… I always will. Oh, God!”

The orgasm nearly crippled her, shattering her into a thousand pieces of useless matter. Her knees buckled, and she fell against Roth’s solid chest. Scooping her into his arms, he carried her to the bedroom, laying her partially on the bed, and finished removing her clothing. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he claimed her core with his mouth. It wasn’t long before another powerful orgasm overtook her.

Like lightning, Roth rid himself of his clothing, blanketed her body with his and drove himself into her, hard and deep. Tressa cried out in pure ecstasy. He delivered wild, delicious strokes that fogged her brain. It felt good. It felt so good.

“Don’t stop, Roth.”

Roth pinned her legs back and drove into her even harder. “Woman, don’t ever make me suffer without you again.”

Jesus, it felt so good. “Okay.”

Roth growled a primal sound, his body trembling. A beat later he throbbed inside her, sending her over the edge once again. Delivering four or five more lumbering strokes, he collapsed onto her. Their heaving chests rose and fell in tandem. Roth’s sweat-silken forehead wet the crook of her neck and his labored breath tickled her skin.

“That was…amazing,” she said.

Roth raised his head, eyeing her with admiration. “You’re amazing. Are we good, baby? I mean, really good?”

Tressa smoothed a hand down the side of his face. “We’re good. Really, really good.”

Finally wrangling herself from Roth’s arms, Tressa darted into the bathroom, took the fastest shower she’d ever taken, threw on her bra and panties and barreled from the room. “I’m so—”

She stopped so suddenly, she nearly toppled over. Her jaw dropped, staring at the bed. “Roth?” she said, scanning the room for him. Taking a few steps closer to the bed, she rested a trembling hand over her mouth, while the other pressed into her quivering stomach.

Tressa reached for the black box sitting in the center of the bed, withdrew as if it would bite her, then reached for it again. Popping the top, she gasped at the huge diamond ring inside. Her hands trembled so badly, she nearly dropped the box.

“I want to spend my life with you, Tressa Washington.”

She turned to see a fully dressed Roth standing behind her. How did he keep sneaking up on her like that?

“I want to share with you my hopes, my dreams, my ups, my downs, my fails, my successes. I want to share it all with you.”

Somehow, her brain formed a sentence. “You want to marry me?” She wasn’t sure if it had been a comment or a question.

“Yes. I was supposed to do this the night we…” His words trailed off. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life, Tressa. But the one thing I got right was falling in love with you.”

Her eyes clouded with tears at his sweet words. Falling in love with him was something she’d got right, too.

Roth claimed the black box and removed the ring. “I know this is probably not the most ideal moment, but…” He lowered to one knee. “Tressa Nycole Washington, will you marry me? I’ll make you happy, baby. I’ll make you so happy.”

Tressa half sobbed, half laughed. “I’m in my underwear, Roth. But yes! Yes, yes, yes, a hundred times. I’ll marry you.”

Roth slid the ring on her finger, stood, hoisted her into his arms and kissed the past few weeks without him away. Pulling back, he said, “You should probably call to let someone know you won’t be in today and possibly tomorrow, either. We have lost moments to make up for.”

“Forty-eight hours is an awful lot of time. What do you have in mind, Mr. Lexington?”

“Well, soon-to-be Mrs. Lexington—” he kissed the ring on her finger “—I plan to spend all of that time reminding you how it feels to soar.”

Oh, she didn’t need a reminder. “I remember. In fact, I’m soaring on love at this very moment.” But she’d make the call anyway, because the idea of spending the next forty-eight hours, plus the rest of her life in his arms, was too damn tempting to pass up.

EPILOGUE

Tressa stared into Roth’s concerned eyes, not recalling a time in the past couple of years she’d ever seen her husband so shaken. Though she was the one in the hospital bed, he seemed to be suffering far more.

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