Untamed (New York Unraveled #1)

Epilogue.

KAREN.

"Are you sure this looks fine?" I twirled around in front of the mirror, looking at my peach gown with growing apprehension. It stuck to my skin and highlighted every curve. It had a split on one leg till right up to the middle of my thighs. A pair of pearl earrings and choker completed my look.
"You're looking gorgeous," said Nathan. He had told me that it brought my eyes out.
I saw his reflection in the mirror come up behind me and put an arm around my waist to pull me flush against him. "You always say that no matter what I wear. I don't trust your judgment so much anymore," I said, my face turned up to see him already staring at me.
"Because you always look ravishing. That's not my fault," he said and kissed my neck softly.
I bit my lip and turned my face away to hide the blood rising in my cheeks. "What if your family hates me?" I asked fearfully.
"I don't care. I love you," he replied easily. He swiped my hair to one shoulder and grazed his lips lightly against my neck.
"Not everybody is as blind as you," I said as my breath hitched. "Nathan, sweetie, do you really want my panties soaked when I have to stand on the altar for your family to inspect?"
He laughed softly. "I can't wait to rip that dress off you, baby doll."
I elbowed him in his stomach and turned around to glare at him. "Don't make me hot and bothered when I'm trying to be composed. Damn it."
He cupped my face in his large hands and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You're beautiful, my love. Let's go."
I tapped my foot nervously the whole ride to the mansion Nathan's parents owned. It was in an uppity part of Manhattan. There was a five minutes drive from the huge gateway to the front porch and I was so fidgety that Nathan had to hold my hand to stop me from moving it around aimlessly. "You are going to be brilliant, Karen. I know it," he said with complete confidence in me.
We had been dating for a year now. His mother always hated my guts and I suspect Nathan knew why but he never told me. But it had been a year and even the media knew how serious we were about each other. So it was only fitting that his parents started to accept me. They organized a dinner to finally get to know me like a human and not a whore their son was burning out in a rebellious whim.
He took my hand as we made our way into the impressive foyer with paintings adorning the walls and a grand staircase that led up to the first floor. We were led by the butler through two more sets of doors and we came to the dining hall. It was even more impressive than what I'd seen so far. There was a table that stretched on so far that the person sitting on the other end would look like a dwarf. Huge candelabras decorated the center of the table and resplendent flowers were set at different intervals.
I greeted his parents, who were both splendidly dressed and poised in their eliteness. It was tough not to get an inferiority complex while standing in front of people who obviously considered you inferior.
Nathan pulled out a chair for me and helped me sit. He held my hand throughout the dinner which was cordial enough. I didn't speak much, unless spoken to. I wanted his parents to not dislike me more than I wanted them to like me.
When dinner was over, we all ventured into the living room. Nathan was engrossed in a very intense conversation with his father so I was left to sit quiet awkwardly with his mother.
"My boy seems to have taken a fancy for you," she said, sounding mildly disapproving.
"So it seems," I replied, not knowing what to say to that.
"Mother, are you torturing my girl again?" Nathan interrupted good-naturedly.
"Why would you assume that?" she asked, taking a sip from the teacup she had been holding.
"Never mind. Can I show her around, if that's okay?" This he directed at his father.
His father smiled politely at me and gave his consent.
Nathan claimed my hand and we took leave. I released a sigh of relief as we exited to the backyard. It was lit up from the lanterns hanging at different places and the swimming pool in one far corner.
"What was she saying to you?" he asked, casually strolling with one hand in his pocket and the other in mine.
"It's not what she said. It's the way she said it but maybe I'm just being paranoid," I said uneasily.
He left my hand and put that arm around my shoulders. "Father likes you."
"Really? Or are you saying that to make me feel better?" I asked.
Moonlight glinted off his angular jaw and made an aura around his face that gave him a magical glow. "Really. He does like you."
"And your mother?" I asked.
"Well," he smiled, "I don't think she particularly likes her own husband either. So don't take her dislike to the heart."
I laid my head against his chest. "Still. It makes me feel like I don't deserve you."
We had, by then, took a whole circle of the house and reached the patio on the backside. Two fountains on either side decorated the steps leading up to it. Stone slabs in a maze like pattern covered the floor. Pots of flowers encircled the perimeter and two sets of tables and chairs were on either sides of where we were standing.
He turned me completely towards him and lifted my chin up with his thumb and index finger. "Don't ever say that again. You're more than everything I deserve."
His lips stretched into a magnificent smile at seeing me blush. "You know why I got you here?"
"To meet your parents? To see me make a fool of myself?" I guessed not so wild guesses.
He laughed softly, his voice tinkling over the sound of water swishing in the fountains. "No. See, I needed to ask you something. And, over here, I reckoned you would be pressured to say yes."
I cocked my head to one side. "Ask me what?"
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, a mysterious smile still playing on his handsome face. "Remember, you say no and I'll throw you to the wolves inside."
I grabbed his collar with a fearful expression. "Yes. Hell yes already."
"Fine, then I don't need to ask. Let's just go," he said, nudging me towards the door.
"What is it?" I whined.
Instead of replying, he took a step back and took out a small box from the inner pocket of his coat. It was deep burgundy in color with a velvety surface and I knew what it contained before he opened it. He got down on one knee and flipped it open. "Karen José Miles, my love, please let me have the honor of calling you my wife. Will you marry me?"
I covered my mouth that was gaping wide open with both my hands. I think at one point I even uttered a muffled squeal.
"I'm still waiting for the answer," he said. "Yes or no?" In a hushed voice, he said, "You know what happens if you say no."
"No. I mean. Yes. Yes, yes, yes." I was bouncing on my toes.
He took the hand that I had extended and put the ring on my fourth finger.
"Really? Really really?" I jumped up and threw my arms around him, holding him so tightly that I'm glad his ribs remained intact.
"Really really really," he replied and squeezed me tighter.
"I love you so much," I whispered.
He pulled back slightly so he could plant his lips over mine in a deep kiss. He swept me off my feet and carried me inside, never breaking the kiss.
"Your parents..." I muttered somewhere in between.
"Father, she said yes," he said enthusiastically when we reached inside.
I didn't even have the guts to look up and see what expressions both of them had on their faces at seeing me cradled in his arms. They already didn't like me much, despite what Nathan had said. I didn't want to give them more reasons to think I was a gold-digging whore. I hid my face in the curve of his neck to hide my flushed skin.
"Congratulations, child," came the reply.
"Tell her you approve. She thinks I lied about it," said Nathan.
I buried my heated face deeper into his hair, breathing in the scent of his shampoo and hair gel.
"I do approve, Karen. And you don't have to be embarrassed. Nathan here has been way more inappropriate in our presence than this," his father said.
I hesitantly lifted up my face to look at them. Mr. Black genuinely looked happy for Nathan, if not for me. He didn't seem to mind me so much. Mrs. Black was pointedly ignoring the whole scene by pretending to be busy on her phone.
"Nathan, please put me down," I said in his ear.
"No," he said simply. "We're gonna take a leave now. I'm sure you both must be tired." Then under his breath he whispered loud enough for only my ears, "And I have someone here I need to make tired."
The son of a bitch didn't put me down even in the car ride back home. He teased me with little kisses here and there, burning touches over the skin the dress bared, tiny nibbles along my neck and flicks of his expert tongue on the sensitive areas.
When one of the men opened the door for us, I quickly ran out. He chased me through the whole house, stalking me like I was the prey to his predator, and I loved our little game.
He finally managed to catch hold of me in our bedroom where he fell down backwards on the bed and pulled me along with him. "And here I thought I'd tamed you," he growled, brushing a lock of hair back from my forehead.
I giggled. "That," I said, tracing the tip of my finger on his lips, "is never going to happen."
He growled again and snapped his teeth at my finger. "I think I like your feisty ass untamed, baby doll."

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Author's note: Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading this. Please vote and comment if you liked it. Any feedback is appreciated. This novel has FINALLY been published. If all of you amazing unicorns show the much needed support, I might be able to publish the next part too, and some more bigger novels. Please go to Amazon and Goodreads and leave a review. I will be the most grateful. The links are below:

https://www.amazon.com/Untamed-New-York-Unraveled-1/dp/1547184949/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497902545&sr=1-11&keywords=anna+mist

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35435707-untamed?from_search=true

Also, check out the second part of this series- Unchecked.

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