It wasn't the most romantic proposal ever, but fuck it, like Axel said.

He wanted to marry me. Sure, it was only to escape a nasty lawsuit from my nasty boss, but there were feelings between us, weren't there? Enough that he'd consider legitimizing our relationship and making it official in the eyes of the law, to help me keep my job?

"Axel, I..." I stared up at him, our lips less than an inch away, his warmth bursting all over my face.

"You...what?" A flicker of fear flashed in his eyes, and he pulled away, not by much. I still felt him near, still swarmed by his heat and his need and his heart's thumping. "You accept? You decline? I can't read your mind," he added, his hand still clutching my chin.

Of course I was going to accept, but for some reason I couldn't speak it out loud. My voice was caught in my throat, choosing this particularly opportune time to die out.

Was it hesitation? Confusion? A bit of both, laced with uncertainty and disillusion?

It was hard to believe he'd decided to do this, to marry me. That he wanted to stick himself to me for as long as we needed to uphold the marriage to make it plausible.

Maybe even, dared I think it, forever.

Could something like this work out, in the long run? We didn't know each other well, but we weren't strangers. We'd gotten acquainted with each other's bodies, needs, how to please one another. We hadn't discussed much of our likes and dislikes, but I doubted we had so little in common that it would ruin a wedding.

It was just so...unconventional.

Then again, nothing about our meeting or our relationship had been conventional. And while this semblance of a proposal was far from what I'd ever imagined, we'd have time for romance and grand gestures later. Once all the craziness was over, once we escaped Brent's claws and got Estelle and Mollie to the altar, we'd have a chance to sit down and chat. To get to know each other better.

"Vivienne," he whispered, his gaze insistent.

I gulped. "Yes?" I'd zoned out, lost in his eyes, in the firmness of his fingers over my chin, locking my jaw in place. If he'd kissed me, I'd have ripped from my thoughts at once; but his tentative, tender voice was a close second to pulling me out of my reverie.

"Will you do it?" There was an ounce of doubt in his timbre, as if he'd been sure moments ago, but no longer was. As if my silence was an indicator that I didn't want to marry him, that this was all a mistake.

And it might be a mistake. How were we supposed to know?

I winced and withdrew from his touch. "Give me a minute to process this, okay? I didn't...we...I didn't think you'd accept to do this."

Could I accept to do it? Marry this man I met only months ago, but who had me head over heels for him?

He nodded, but wouldn't let me be away from him; he approached me again, set his hand on my chin once more, tipping it up.

I melted under his scorching gaze—not with anger or disappointment, but with lust. With fire. With...

Wait; was that something deeper than ardor, something more powerful than attraction?

"Vivienne," he said, backing off suddenly, redness spreading over his cheeks. Axel never blushed, at least not that I'd seen. "I think...I think I'm in love with you."

I opened my mouth to gasp, but no sound came out.

He pressed a finger to my lips anyway, in case I miraculously found my voice again. "You don't need to respond to that, but I wanted you to know. Because if we do this, if you consent to marry me, we have to rush. We," he searched my eyes, still waiting for my answer, "can re-do it better later. Bigger, more fanfare, guests, fancy food, all of it."

"Later," I whispered, still taken aback by the notion that he wanted this, that he was offering this willingly. "Bigger."

"Later," he repeated, his mouth bunching side-to-side. "Look, we're not quite friends, not enemies, not even real lovers. But," he snagged my hand, lacing his fingers with mine, "we have the physical chemistry, that's certain. The deeper connection will come after."

I noted how he said will come and not might come. He was confident in his choice. He knew what he wanted, and this wasn't some game, this wasn't a joke. Marrying me wasn't a joke.

Axel Levine was serious, he was falling in love with me, and he wanted to marry me.

"Is it because of Brent?" He squeezed my hand, bringing my knuckles up to his lips. "Because if you're worried about him, don't be. Whether or not we get married, I'll take care of that piece of shit."

I couldn't lie; Axel's violence towards Brent was something of a turn-on. "Axel—"

"—if he still fucks you over, despite the bribe and the legit clause we're potentially going to fulfill," he arched one eyebrow, "then your firm can go fuck itself. I mean it. I'll..." He puffed out a breath. "Shit, I'll buy you your own company so you can do shit your way. I will buy the whole goddamn world for you Vivienne. So let me show you how."

I trembled, giving in to my emotions, physical and mental. That was the grand gesture I'd needed to push me over the edge, apparently.

"Axel..." I peered up at him with tears clogging my eyes and nodded once, twice, three times before jumping into his arms. "I'll do it. I'll marry you."

He embraced me tightly, swirling me around, his grin ear-to-ear. "Thank you, Vivienne."

"No," I said, tapping his arm to make him let me down, "thank you. But, uh...what about the details?"

"Details?" He slid a strand of hair behind my ear, then tipped my head to access my neck, to plaster feather-light kisses along my skin. His lips were inflamed, leaving me tingling in their wake.

"Yeah, like when, where, who'll officiate, what will we wear," I giggled as he tickled under my earlobe, "that sort of stuff?"

"Those details?" He grumbled, his lips vibrating right under my chin. "I'll handle those."

I tried to push him away, to get him to stop smothering me in kisses so we could discuss the important things, but he wouldn't budge. He was too insistent on keeping his mouth pressed to my skin.

"Axel!"

"Vivienne." He grabbed both sides of my face, putting his forehead against mine. "I will handle them, I swear. But for now, I want to fuck you, to celebrate." I shuddered. "Fuck you with all the lights on, then drown in a tub of champagne, and make love to you until we both burst. Can we do that?"

My legs quaked, and if he hadn't been holding my face, I'd have fallen to my knees in front of him. "God, fuck yes, we can."

I had no champagne, but the bottle of rosé was still on the coffee table. Axel grabbed it, took a long swig, then smashed his lips to mine as he tugged me into his arms.

The aroma of rosé mixed with mint took my breath away, and I became putty in his hands, dough for him to mold and use at his leisure. I was his to use at his leisure.

We didn't make it to the bedroom. He yanked off my clothes as I carefully removed his—his threads were much more expensive. Our lips never unglued, our tongues never stopped twirling. He groped my ass, toyed with my nipples, crept under my undies and into my crevice to cup my pussy and gauge my wetness.

"Fuck." He licked his lips as he backed away to watch me remove all that was left of my clothing—my underwear. "You are always so ready and wet for me, aren't you?"

I chewed on my lip as I stepped out of my panties, blushing at him in my nakedness. I spotted his erection, growing against his tight boxers. Eager to feel him, I strolled closer and rubbed my palm over the hardened, smooth surface.

"Seems you're always ready for me, too." I got on my tiptoes and kissed him, all while stroking his cock over the material of his underwear. "So thick and throbbing for me."

My own dirty words surprised me. It wasn't like me to blurt out so much naughtiness in one go, but this was different. This was Axel. This was us—newly engaged, running on adrenaline and getting high off our desire.

After tugging off his boxers, he slid his fingers along my slit, shivering as he came into contact with my wetness. "Always so damn perfect," he whispered, using his other hand to pull me closer to him, cupping my neck, tilting my mouth up to his. "And always feeling so good, too."

Before I could snag his cock and massage it, he flipped me around and bent me over the sofa, my hands pressed to the upper cushions. I braced for him to enter me, to charge me up with the electricity of his arousal, but I sensed something moist and pointed instead; his tongue.

"Ohhh," I moaned as I realized he'd slipped his face between my legs, his tongue lapping into my pussy. "Oh, you're playing that game, are you?"

"Not playing," he said, licking his lips, his finger smoothing its way into me, which prompted another low moan from me. "Seeing how far I can take this before you demand that I fuck you."

"Now," I said, as he resumed licking me, taking in every inch, mumbling in delight. "I want you to fuck me now."

He chuckled, and the sound tickled at my center, amplifying the already insane sensations of pleasure. "No, you'll wait until I've had my fill of you." His tongue picked up speed, locating my clit and lathering it with attention.

Thankfully, he couldn't last much longer, either. I noticed he'd grabbed hold of his dick and was stroking it, so I leaned slightly backwards and took over for him, which made his pussy-licking difficult. It broke his concentration, and I smirked as he crept out from between my legs and stood behind me, as I continued to run my palms along his erection.

"Yeah?" He peered down at my work, then back up. "That wasn't the plan."

"I couldn't help myself," I said, sounding sheepish. "I turned around, and you seemed to be enjoying yourself, and I was jealous. I wanted to touch it, too."

"Oh, you're going to touch it," he said, gently taking my hands off him and replacing them on the cushion in front of me. "You're going to touch it from the inside."

Seconds later, he sank into me, filling me entirely. All my nerves tingled and my extremities numbed and it was as if time paused as we entered another world.

"God dammit," he let out, as he slowly exited and reentered me. "Vivienne, baby..."

"Axel," I groaned as he took his sweet time with another re-entrance. "Axel, please..."

He leaned forward, his hand over my breast as he cautiously pulled me up to kiss the side of my neck. I sensed his torso against my back, his sweat coating me, warming me up.

With his other hand, he gripped my waist to help me balance the position, and thrust his cock in a little deeper. "This," he muttered into my ear, sending chills down my arms, "is what we can do from now on." Another shove, another shockwave of pleasure. "All day." Ram. "All night." Push, push. "Every day, every night."

He accelerated the movements, and I heard nothing but the slapping of him against my ass. Felt nothing but the friction of our bodies, the load of sensations his cock caused inside of me.

He was right—once we married, we could do this whenever we wanted, wherever we wanted, however we wanted. There'd be no restrictions, no hiding; we could stand in a room side-by-side and hold hands. We could be seen entering the same building and no one would care, no one would tattle on us. Sleep in the same bed, wake up beside one another, fuck in the daylight, fuck in any light.

No conditions, no lies, no acting like we didn't want this.

After a few more deep thrusts, we climaxed together, falling next to one another on the couch. He hardly gave me a few minutes to recuperate—clean myself up, go to the bathroom—before he carried me to the bed, and round two began. Softer, with more tenderness, more attention to our bodies. Deeper connection through the eyes, laying side-by-side and never letting go, never looking away.

It was bliss. It was paradise. Every woman's dream, for a man to see her in the nude, in her rawness, and still find her to be a goddess. And he said that to me, countless times.

"You're divine, Vivienne. Fucking perfect. Fucking gorgeous."

I'd never been so well taken care of. Never been so spoiled with affection all while sending me soaring beyond any arousal I'd ever experienced.

Had I craved Olivia that night, on the terrace? Yes. But this, this love-making mess with Axel was much realer, much more intense. It wasn't lust, not anymore. It was...

"Axel," I whispered in his ear, as we held each other after round three—a sweet mix of our round one intensity, and round two's precision.

"Vivienne," he drawled, tracing shapes on my back. His dick was still hard, still pulsating against me, ready for another go.

"I think I'm..." I gulped. "No, I know I'm...I'm falling in love with you too."

He lit up, saying nothing, but responding with a kiss. A kiss so charged with passion and love, it happily tipped us over the threshold and on to round four.

☼☼☼