Isn't It Bromantic (Bromance Book Club #4) by Lyssa Kay Adams

            “Yes, you have. You’ve taken care of me. You’ve made so many sacrifices for me.”

            “But that’s not the same thing. You were right, what you said last night. I shouldn’t have just let you go to Chicago without telling you how much I wanted you to stay. I thought that if I let you go, that if I gave you the space you needed to heal and to find yourself after what happened with your father, that you would find your way back to me. But you never did. You just slipped further away, and it’s my fault. Because I never made it clear that I wanted you to come back.”

            When she looked up, the candlelight caught the glint of the tears shimmering in her eyes.

            “I waited way too long to tell you what I really wanted out of our marriage. That’s my fault. So, I’m telling you now. I didn’t propose to you only because my mom suggested it. She simply gave me the courage to do what I always wanted to do.” He started to shake on the inside. “Maybe we were too young to be married. Too young to know how to say the things we needed to say. To understand the problems we created by not saying them. But we’re not too young now.”

            Her chest rose and fell in deep, shaky breaths as she absorbed his words, let their meaning settle into her mind.

            “I don’t want you to go, Elena.” His voice was thick, and his eyes stung again. “When I said that last night, what I meant was, I don’t want you to go. I never wanted you to go.” He wiped away the tear that slipped down his cheek. “I will learn to be okay with whatever you decide, but if you think there’s a chance that you could want to start over—”

            “Shut up.” She laughed thickly.

            “Wh-what?”

            She stood and gazed down at him. “Shut up and kiss me.”

            Vlad rose on wobbly legs, using the table for leverage. With a gentle tug, he pulled her flush against his body. She rose on tiptoe and placed a soft kiss upon his lips that took his breath away. Not with its passion, but with its promise.

            “Do you want to eat dinner?” he murmured.

            She shook her head.

            “What do you want?”

            She caressed his cheek. “I want my husband.”

            His entire body trembled. “Are you sure? Because if you’re not ready, Elena, we can wait.”

            “Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?”

            Yes. Yes, they had. He crushed his mouth to hers, devoured her in a single slant. Her hands slipped inside his jacket and explored his chest, his back, his stomach. Oh, God. This was really going to happen. Between them, the urgency of so many years of pent-up desire swelled and nestled against her stomach. She gasped and pressed against him until he saw stars. He’d never wanted to be naked so badly in his entire life, but at the same time, he was grateful for the boundary of clothing. He didn’t want to go too fast. Every second of this was precious, and he wanted to stretch each one out as long as possible.

            He pulled back and rasped against her lips. “Meet me in bed.”





CHAPTER TWENTY





As her footsteps padded quickly up the stairs, Vlad blew out the candles and then went into the kitchen to turn off the oven. Every part of him shook. He needed to get it under control. Otherwise, he was going to explode the instant he was inside her. He groaned at just the thought. He wanted this to last. He wanted to savor every second, every taste of her skin, every sound of her breath. He wanted to make it good for her.

            Vlad went into the downstairs bathroom and splashed water on his face. Shit. SHIT. He was almost desperate enough to text the guys for advice.

            Hell, he was desperate enough to text the guys. He dug his phone from his pocket and typed CODE RED to the group text.

            The replies came in immediately.

                             mack: Oh, fuck. What happened?

                colton: Shit. Did you fuck up already?

                vlad: She’s waiting for me in bed.

                colton: Holy. Fucking. Shit. ALREADY?

                noah: Damn. You’re a legend.