'OK,' he said cheerfully. He lunged for the bedside stand and rummaged in the drawer until he found an unopened box of condoms. She loved the way the muscles in his arms and back and belly flexed and rippled. He rolled the condom onto himself, jerked her down on top of him, and rolled her over.
It was delicious, exactly what she craved, to curl herself around his lithe, hot, muscular body. Everything she wanted to do with him, all the pleasures she wanted to bestow upon him crowded through her mind at once. She resented the constraints of time and space that forced her to do one thing at a time. She wiggled into the position she wanted. She was one hot, aching glow of need, her sheath throbbing with each pulse of her heart. 'Now,' she begged. 'Please.'
He filled her with himself, and the first wave of pleasure broke over her then and there, before he even began to move.
She fell apart in his arms, in a cleansing, healing storm of tears.
'Oh, Erin,' he murmured. He cradled her face, kissed her tears away.
She moved beneath him, still weeping, and finally understood the nature of the truth she had faced in Novak's house of horrors. Chaos did rule. But love had lifted away the shadow of Novak's twisted loathing from that truth. Love had exalted it.
Love was chaos, too. She couldn't control it and didn't want to try. Everything beautiful and wild and free was part of that chaos. She finally caught a glimpse of the rich, beautiful design that underlaid it. She would never resist it again: surprises and wonder, heat and light and laughter, blazing color and raucous noise. Messes and mistakes, change and growth and risk. Magic, and love.
Everything that made life sweet, that gave it meaning.
Connor lifted his face from hers. 'Come to Vegas with me,' he said. 'Let's get married tomorrow.'
'But I… but we—'
'I want it nailed down. I want my wedding night with my beautiful bride, and I want it now.'
She laughed. 'But it's a sure thing. We just have to wait until—'
'I've waited long enough.'
'That's a dirty trick,' she told him sternly. 'And this isn't the first time you've played it on me.'
'What trick?' He fluttered his lashes, all innocence.
'You know. Springing something big on me while we're making love. When you're inside me. It gives you an unfair advantage.'
She could feel his smile against her mouth as he kissed her. 'It goes both ways, you know,' he said. 'You have the same advantage that I do. You just haven't used it yet. Come on, sweetheart. Take a road trip with me. It's the perfect time. We're still unemployed, but probably not for long. I have some money left. We'll get a honeymoon suite at a cheesy casino hotel with a Jacuzzi tub and a vibrating bed. We'll order out for room service. I'll buy you an evening dress. On our way back, we can explore the desert together. Ever see the sun set in the desert?'
She rubbed against him, so that her sensitive nipples brushed against his chest. The contact was a rippling thrill. 'My mother would never forgive you if you cheated her out of planning our wedding.'
'Who says she needs to know? We'll do it again for her benefit. Another wedding night, another honeymoon? I'm all for it.'
He was grinning, glowing with happiness. So gorgeous, her heart was going to explode with tenderness. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him. 'Persuade me,' she ordered. 'Go on. Do your worst.'
'Huh?' He looked baffled, but intrigued.
'Go on. Bend me to your will. Overwhelm me with your masterful charisma. Sweep me off my feet. You know I love it.'
'You're already on your back,' he observed.
'Well, then. You have a head start,' she said. 'Lucky you.'
His smile grooves carved themselves deep into his lean face, and she sighed with delight. She was going to be dazzled by that gorgeous grin for as many years as luck would grant her.
'OK, fine,' he said. 'This is how it's going to be. I'm going to make passionate love to you until I reduce you to a puddle of sated bliss. Then I'll carry you out to my car. When you wake up, we'll be speeding through the middle of a beautiful nowhere. Mountains, deserts, who knows what. The sun will just be coming up, turning everything pink. If you give me any trouble, I'll pull off the road, lay you out on the hood of my car, and go down on you while you stare up at the morning star, glowing in that huge, open sky. Just you and me and one lonely eagle circling up there to watch us. What do you say? Sound like a plan?'
She pulled him closer. 'Oh, God, I love you. I love this.'
He hugged her so close, their hearts thudded in unison. 'I love you, too. But what about my plan? Is it masterful enough? Will you be swept away and overwhelmed? Or do I need to fine-tune?'
'It sounds pretty great,' she assured him. 'But what about the part where I spread you out on the hood of the car under that big open sky? Fair's fair, right?'
They gazed into each other's eyes. Connor shook his head. 'Wow, sweetheart,' he said softly. 'This is going to be one hell of a road trip.'
