“Is that so?” He flashed a devilish grin.
“Mm-hmm.”
Before I could say anything else, he tossed me over his shoulder and raced upstairs. Then, my back hit the mattress, and Trent was positioned over me, his weight suspended in his arms. He peered down at me, his eyes crisp and mischievous.
Dizziness hit me in waves. “Stop doing that,” I said with very little conviction.
He laughed, then kissed me. “This is going to be our room,” he said, dragging his lips across my jaw. “I like this room. And this bed.”
“Me too,” I whispered and tilted my head.
“Anything you want to change in here?” he asked, his mouth now working down the column of my neck.
My pulse pounded, and my ears rang with how hard my heart thundered. Did he really expect me to answer coherently when he was kissing me like that?
“Carpet,” I finally managed to say.
Right now, the floor was the same hard wood as the walls. While there was an area rug that covered a large portion of the room, I wanted the entire floor covered with a soft, fluffy carpet.
Trent nipped at the mark on my neck, and my skin prickled seconds before a tsunami of heat rolled through my body. “What color?” he asked.
“Uh…”
Chuckling, Trent pushed away from me and stood. “Clearly, you’re much too distracted right now. I’d better stop so you can focus.”
I groaned. “You’re a jerk.”
He laughed and helped me to my feet, his lips landing on mine in a soft kiss. “You really only want to put carpet in here?”
I nodded. Then I walked out of the room before he could distract me again, or before I shoved him onto the bed and had my way with him. I went to the room next to ours, the room that had started out as Trent’s when we’d first arrived here. That had lasted all of one night before he’d moved into my room.
“I want to turn this room into the nursery,” I said.
We spent the next hour talking about how we wanted to decorate the nursery, and how we’d change the final room upstairs into a guest room, which then led to me suggesting we switch the other room downstairs into a playroom. Trent loved the idea.
Once downstairs, I stepped out onto the back porch, still stunned that Trent had a pool installed for me. Admittedly, I couldn’t wait to officially move in and… A thought struck me just then.
“Why don’t we move in here now?” I asked. “I mean, we’re getting married soon, so why wait?”
“Because I don’t want to,” he said simply. He rested his arms on the railing and stared down at the pool.
“You don’t want to?” I asked, hoping I’d misheard him. “Why? We both hate being away from each other, and I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s getting harder and harder every day.”
He twisted so he was facing me, one arm still propped on the railing. “I know. It is for me, too, but I want to be able to carry my wife over the threshold of our house on our wedding night, knowing that we’re both officially home. Together.”
“You are so old-fashioned,” I said.
“Well, I am significantly older than you,” he said with a teasing smile.
“Technically, I’m older than you now. In human years, anyway.” I frowned. “You realize I’m going to be twenty before you change me, right?”
Once we accounted for the time remaining before our wedding, however long before we conceived, the entire pregnancy, and then a couple months after that, I’ll have had yet another birthday.
“So?” He pushed away from the railing. “Human years mean nothing to vampires.” He brushed hair from my face, trailing his fingers down my cheek. “Staying human another year is insignificant when you’re going to have a literal eternity at your disposal.”
“It doesn’t bother you?” I asked.
“Nope. Does it bother you?”
“Not really,” I said.
“Good.” He smiled. “Are you hungry? I can order some food.”
“No,” I said, my gaze wandering back toward the pool. “But there is something I want to do.”
I raced down the steps, Trent right behind me, and as soon as I reached the concrete around the pool, I kicked off my flip flops and tore my shirt off over my head.
Trent stopped abruptly, eyes wide. “What’re you doing?” he asked.
“Ever been skinny dipping?” I asked as I reached around behind me and unhooked my bra. “Because I haven’t.”
He swore under his breath, his eyes darkening several shades. “And you want to?” he asked.
“Yeah. Why not. I mean, this is our house, right? Our pool? We have total privacy.” I unbuttoned my shorts and shimmied out of them; then I slid my panties off. “You in, or are you just going to stand there and stare at me?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” he said, his gaze ravenous.
“Well, don’t take too long,” I said and then dove into the pool.
I LAY ON THE couch, my head in Trent’s lap. He stroked my back, lulling me into a state of blissful peace. His feet were propped on the coffee table, which was scattered with half-empty take-out food containers.
After our impromptu swim, I’d been starving, so he’d ordered way too much food. We’d pigged out, and now we were watching a movie. It was one I hadn’t seen before—a thriller of some sort—and I was more content than I’d ever been in my life.
“Happy Birthday,” he said suddenly. “I just realized I hadn’t said that to you yet.”
I snuggled deeper into the couch and sighed.
“Are you happy?” he asked, his fingers stroking through my hair. “Or bored?”
“Very, and no,” I said and rolled onto my back so I could look up at him. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Just wondering what that sigh was all about,” he said.
“Trust me. It was a happy sigh,” I said with a laugh. “I was actually thinking how perfect all of this is. Just you and me being lazy on the couch. Eating. Watching movies. I realized that this is
