Page 31 of Fearless to Love

“I never would have known. Your relationship seems perfect to me. When she looks at you it’s with pure love in her eyes.” All their women did as did the men. They were all deeply in love and didn’t care who saw how they felt for each other. It was the total opposite of how I’d been raised, but I liked it.

“Don’t get me wrong, I know Prue loves me, but at the time I had no idea she still loved me the same way I loved her.”

I wasn’t going to tell him that was romance. Holden was finally starting to come around with me and I wasn’t going to ruin it.

Holden stood along with the rest of the guys.

“We should get out of here before the girls get back so Lily doesn’t get suspicious. Good luck.” Luke patted me on the back. “We’ll see you guys soon for dinner.”

Turning to look at our handiwork, I thought we did an amazing job. It didn’t exactly look like Venice, but it was beautiful. We’d put an archway in several places and then put fabric over them covering the entire pool. There were a hundred floating candles lit in the water along with thousands of lights strewn through the trees and all around the pool. Lily was supposed to be back around sunset, making for the perfect backdrop.

Running inside, I grabbed a bucket full of ice and placed the champagne in it, a tray of chocolate covered strawberries, and two champagne flutes. As I took in the backyard and all our hard work for the day, everything was perfect. Now I only had to wait for Lily to show up.

Going back outside, I placed everything down on the table and sat down on one of the loungers to wait. I must have closed my eyes and fallen asleep; I was startled awake by a car door slamming. Jumping up, I ran up to the driveway to catch Lily before she went inside.

With wide eyes and her hand clutched to her chest, she looked up at me. “Oh my god, Dante. Where did you come from? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Shit. I didn’t think about that.

“I’m sorry. I’m excited that you’re finally home.” The smile on my face was stretched so wide, it felt as if my cheeks might crack. Grabbing her hand, I intertwined our fingers. “Come, I have something to show you.” I pulled her along toward the pool. I had my phone in my other hand, ready to turn the lights on with one touch of a button. “Did you have a good time at the spa?”

“Thank you for convincing me to go. It was heavenly.” She pulled on my hand making me stop. “I was only gone for a few hours, but if you were worried about me you could have called.”

“I’m glad you had fun. Now, let me show you what I’ve been up to.” Hitting the button, all the lights turned on with a pink and orange sky as the background.

Lily gasped from beside me. Her mouth hung open as she looked from me to the pool and back again. “It’s beautiful,” she said breathlessly.

“You’re beautiful.” Stashing my phone in my pocket, I pulled out the ring and got down on one knee.

“What are you doing?” Her eyes started to glisten in the setting sun.

“I’m trying to tell you how much you mean to me.” I laughed, pulling her down to sit on my knee as her body started shaking. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a watery smile. “I waited too long to tell you I love you, and I’m never going to let time get away from me again. From the moment I saw you dancing on that bar swaying your hips, I knew you were the one for me. Thank you for giving me a chance and letting me into your life. You’ve made me a better person. I love you more than anything and want to spend the rest of my life trying to make you as happy as you’ve made me. Lily Valenti, will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes! A million times yes, I would love nothing more than to be your wife,” she cried against my lips. “I love you so much.”

Sliding the ring on her left ring finger, I kissed each fingertip. “I love you too.” Helping her up, I stood with her. “Now, let’s celebrate.”

“I have to say with the way you’ve been acting for the last few days I thought you were going to break up with me or something. The girls all told me I was imagining it.” She squeezed my hand.

Stopping in front of the pool, I took her face in my hands. “I wanted everything to go off without a hitch, and the more you looked at me with an unsure look on your beautiful face, the more worried I got. I’m sorry you thought I doubted what we have for even a moment.”

Lily took in the pool and the champagne and strawberries and smiled. “You were busy while I was gone. I can’t believe you did all this.”

“Luke, Jax, and Holden helped me. I couldn’t have done this without them.” Pouring us each some champagne, I clinked our glasses together. “To the future Mrs. Ricci.”

We each took a sip. “I like the sound of that.”

“Me too. It can’t happen soon enough.” Laying down on the lounger, I pulled Lily down on top of me, my hands going to her hips as I rocked into her. “Come down here and kiss me.”

A mischievous look spread across her face. Sitting up taller, Lily pulled her t-shirt over her head, and unfastened her bra, letting her straps fall down her arms. My eyes zeroed in on her gorgeous breasts as my fingers skimmed up her sides. Cupping her, I sat up and pulled her nipple into my mouth and sucked. I scraped my teeth and swirled my tongue along her hardened peak. “I love the way you taste,” I murmured before I moved onto the other side.

“I love your mouth on me,” she groaned. “I want to feel you inside of me.”

“It’s a good thing you wore that cute little skirt.” Unbuttoning and pulling down the zipper of my jeans, I pulled out my aching erection. “Rub that sweet pussy on me and show me how much you want me.” Her slick folds spread her juices up and down my shaft coating me until I slipped deep inside, filling her. “Fuck, you feel amazing. Ride me, my beautiful siren.”

“Yes,” she moaned, rocking back and forth on top of me.

Skimming my hand up along her ribcage, I cupped her breast in my hand as my thumb on my other hand found her clit and started to circle in languid strokes. Lily bucked against my touch and started to move faster.

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