“Take me.” It was supposed to be a demand, but it came out a whimper.
He bit his lip and groaned, then plunged into me, making my back arch as he hit all the right spots. I bucked against him as my body ignited, crying his name over and over again into the pillow. Just when I thought I would explode from pleasure he pulled me up against him and cupped one breast in his hand, reaching down between my legs to pleasure me with his fingers as he thrust inside of me. I turned my head, taking his mouth in mine for the briefest of moments.
Then I imploded. His body, his hands, his mouth, his scent, every sensation cascaded through my body again and again until I was liquid in his arms. Panting, gasping, I lay back on the big bed and pulled him down onto me.
“I love you, Kash,” I breathed in his ear. “God, I love you so much.”
“And I love you, Daisy,” he said. “With all my heart.”
He kneeled between my legs and pulled me onto his lap, cradling me against him as he entered me once more. Wrapped up in him, wrapped up in me, I felt complete for the first time in my life. As we made love all across the huge bed, I lost the sense of where I ended and he began. For a beautiful, eternal, all-too-brief moment, we were one.
We didn’t stop until the sun came up.
* * *
We’d driven through Arizona and were halfway through New Mexico. I’d been gazing dreamily out the window for hours, watching the landscape go by, when we passed through a little ranching town. The houses were all large and unique, each with its own comfortable, homey style. I started collecting bits and pieces in my mind, cobbling them together in my mind to create a picture of my ideal home.
“We need to buy a house with a big front porch and a big, sturdy swing,” I said abruptly.
“In a town with a college so you can be an honest-to-god librarian,” Kash said with a grin.
“And a garden,” Mom said dreamily. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a garden.”
“And a wood shop,” Kash added. “All that work I did for Leroy really got my blood moving. I never thought I’d like working with my hands that much, but I’m itching to do more of it. Plus, that way I can build one of those flowered arches for your garden, Sandy.”
“That would be lovely! Oh, I could plant morning glories…or roses!”
“Anything you want, Mom,” I said with a laugh.
Kash squeezed my hand. “After a year or so of that kind of attention, that garden will be pretty enough to hold a wedding in.”
I looked at him sideways, grinning. “Is that a proposal, Kash Lawson?”
He kissed my hand with a loud smack. “Abso-fuckin’-lutely, princess.”
I laughed, utterly delighted. “Then I agree. It’ll be a beautiful place to hold a wedding.”
“Ooh, we better make sure the house has enough bedrooms,” Mom said, beaming. “You two will be having babies before you know it!”
“Mom!”
“What? Always happens that way. A couple gets happy, they make babies. It’s science.”
“Sounds like superstition to me,” Kash said with a grin. He looked at me, his eyes strangely warm. “But I’m down.”
“Should we start thinking of baby names?” I asked teasingly.
He shook his head. “No need. First baby’ll either be Hunter or Delphine. Second baby will be whichever the first one wasn’t.”
“And if we have more than two?” I asked, my face feeling as if it would split in two from smiling.
Kash laughed. “We’ll name it Chaos, because that’s what our house will become!”
Joyous laughter and music wove magic through the truck, a magic that stayed with us as we wandered aimlessly through the country looking for home. When we found it, it was everything we had dreamed of and more. And Kash had been right—the garden was the perfect spot for our perfect wedding.
Epilogue
Two years later
I opened the windows in the breakfast nook and breathed in deeply. The light, intricate perfume from Sandy’s garden blew through the window, mingling with the aroma of fresh coffee. In the distance, dolphins laughed and gossiped in their clicks and whistles, their voices striking a strange little harmony with the birds’ morning songs.
“It’s gonna be a damn good day,” I said, grinning at Sandy. “Especially after Daisy decides to come downstairs.” I raised my voice, turning the last two words into a bellowed request.
“I’m coming,” she said, her voice muffled by walls. “Go ahead and start without me.”
Shrugging, I sat down and dug in. The very first bite had me rolling my eyes in appreciation. “Good lord, Sandy, how do you make everything taste so good?”
“Practice,” she said with a laugh as she sat down across from me. “And magic.”
“I believe it,” I said. “Hey, babe! You’re missing the best breakfast in the history of breakfast!”
“That’s what you said about yesterday’s breakfast!” Daisy called back.
“It was true then and it’s true now,” I said adamantly. “I swear, Sandy, I’ve never eaten so good.”
Sandy beamed happily, blushing a little. She still wasn’t quite used to being appreciated, though she’d finally stopped arguing with me about it. Hungry as I was, I savored every bite slowly, wanting to share the experience with Daisy. People kept telling me it was the honeymoon phase, that eventually I’d stop wanting to share everything with her, that I would get tired of
