Standing in the Shadows (McClouds & Friends #2)(149)

He watched her look around his room. Each step they went through felt like a holy ceremony. A series of doorways that led them ever deeper into the most secret and tender parts of each other.

"I love your room," she said gently. "It suits you."

"I've dreamed of luring you in here for so long," he said. "I even changed the sheets this morning. For luck."

Erin tugged her T-shirt over her head, unhooked her bra, kicked off her sneakers. "God favors those who are prepared?"

"Yeah." His cheeks flushed as he stared at her. He laughed at himself and rubbed his hand over his face. "Jesus. How do you do this to me?" he said, in a wondering voice. "I feel like I'm thirteen, again."

She shimmied out of her jeans and panties, and shoved his chest. He sat down on the bed as if his knees were too weak to hold him.

"So?" she teased. "I'm wearing your ring, Connor. Nothing else. I held up my side of the deal. What are you going to do with me now?"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his hot face against her belly. "Everything," he said. "Everything you want. Anything you can dream of. For the rest of our lives."

She buried her nose in his fragrant hair. His lips moved against her skin, his hands moved over her body. He knew her so well, all the ways to make her quiver and go soft and wet and desperate for him. He slid his clever fingers between her legs, stroking her with loving skill.

She swayed, her knees buckling, and grabbed his shirt.

"Enough teasing." She yanked it up over his head. "It's been ten days, and I want you. So get ready to put out, Connor McCloud."

She shoved him down onto the bed and attacked his belt. He laughed up at her in pure delight. "But we just got engaged," he protested. "I thought that a tender, romantic vibe would be more—"

"Think again." She yanked the cargo pants off and stared down at his sleek, powerful body with hungry eyes. "You can be tender and romantic afterwards. When I'm tired."

"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."