Come A Little Bit Closer (The Sullivans #7)(86)

Very reluctantly, Smith pulled his mouth from hers and his hands from her skin to undo his tie and the buttons on his dress shirt. Valentina knew better than to help him—she needed him so badly that she was in danger of ripping the shirt off him—and curled her hands into fists on the soft bedcover to keep from ruining his dress clothes. Fortunately, he was able to undress quickly enough that it felt as if he’d barely stepped away from between her thighs to kick off his pants when he was right back with her, a condom already rolled down his thick, hard length.

A heartbeat later his hands were once again threading into her once perfectly done hair, his mouth was kissing off her expertly done makeup, and he was sliding into her on a pleasured groan. Her skin was slick against his as they moved together, Smith going deeper even as Valentina opened herself all the way up to him.

As he rocked into her again and again, and her pleasure grew higher, sharper, she forgot all about Hollywood, about billionaires and cameraman and gossip rags.

She felt as though her entire body was tightening down around him when he lifted his head from her mouth and looked into her eyes.

“I love you.”

The simple vow was all it ever took to send Valentina hurtling over the edge, and Smith was right there with her, not only to catch her as she fell...but also to show her just how incredibly good it was to leap, knowing his strong, warm arms would be around her every single second.

Minutes later, as they both worked to catch their breath, and Valentina stroked Smith’s slightly damp hair from where he’d laid his head across her br**sts, she felt wonderfully drained of nerves.

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before pulling her up off the bed, stripping off her stockings and heels, and dragging her into the bathroom for the world’s quickest shower. He held her hair up out of the way of the spray as she soaped both of them up, his body responding again as if he hadn’t just finished taking her.

But even though she could see that he would have also been happy to do just that, she turned off the water and reached for a towel, handing him one before taking another for herself.

Smith had never used his fame as an excuse to hide, and she wouldn’t make him hide for her.

“Come on, slowpoke,” she teased as she purposely dropped the towel to the tiled floor and left the bathroom to put her dress back on. “Race you to the limo.”

She’d almost reached her dress when his strong arms came around her.

“I love you.”

His breath whispered against her neck as he once again said the three words that never ceased to fill her with awe. Not because she hadn’t believed it was possible for a movie star to love her, but because she hadn’t thought it was possible for love to find her at all.

She turned in his arms, the press of their nakedness forgotten as she put her hands on either side of his face. “I love you, too.”

A few minutes later, he’d zipped her back into her dress and she’d straightened the bow tie on his tux. Her hair was a lost cause and she’d had to settle for a quick lash of mascara and a swipe of lipstick, but when she and Smith finally went down to meet her sister who had been patiently waiting for them in the living room, Tatiana’s eyes widened as she looked at the two of them.

“You looked amazing before, Val, but now you’re simply perfect.” Tatiana grinned at Smith, one good friend to another after their long weeks of working together. “Nice work, Mr. Sullivan.”

He grinned back and as the three of them headed out to the limo outside, and Valentina slid in between the two movie stars who meant everything to her, instead of being terrified by the night they were about to have, Valentina felt happy.

Content.

And utterly, completely loved.

Chapter Thirty-one

New Year’s Eve

Gabe and Megan’s wedding

Snow was falling outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the large wood-framed building. The pine trees outside were covered in soft, cold flakes, while the forest floor was blanketed in thick white fluff, turning all of Lake Tahoe into a winter wonderland.

Gabe Sullivan and Megan Harris had fallen in love in Lake Tahoe last winter, with some help from Megan’s daughter, Summer, who had a brilliant knack for matchmaking. Today, the warmth of love surrounded Gabe, Megan, and Summer as two hundred family members and friends gathered to celebrate their wedding.

Smith held Valentina’s hand tightly as he watched another one of his brothers say “I do” to the love of his life. As Gabe slipped the ring onto Megan’s finger, Summer standing close to both of them with an enormous smile on her face, Smith played with the white-gold band on Valentina’s left hand.

His Christmas gift to her this year had been the easiest one in the world to pick out. Still, his heart had beat like mad as she’d opened the large box, then each one inside as they grew smaller and smaller. Until, finally, all that remained was one small velvet box.

She’d stared at it for a long moment, so long that his heartbeat had reversed from racing too fast to barely beating. He’d known how much he was asking from her, that being his wife would never be easy, simply because what he did for a living meant the world thought he was theirs.

“I’m yours,” he’d told her in a voice made raw with emotion. “Be mine, Valentina.”

And then, she’d smiled at him and the joy and love on her beautiful face had told him everything he needed to know, even before she said, “I’ve always been yours.”