Grounded (Up in the Air #3)(94)
He stood and pulled me against his chest in one fluid movement, kissing me with rough tenderness. I kissed him back with a hunger that would never be slaked. There was no doubt in my mind that I would love him until my own death. How not?
We made love in the dirt, next to the great mountain’s crater, and with the glorious sunset still bathing us in its light.
I gave no thought to being seen as he tore at my clothes. The temperature had cooled as we climbed higher, and we had briskly layered up as we went. He got me out of those layers even faster. He tore off my pants, just opening my top. He did even less for himself, just pulling his stiff length out of his pants and impaling me with one rough stroke. He moved inside of me, a world of raw need in his eyes, need and gratitude. He must have been uncertain of my answer, and still he’d asked.
He moved inside of me with harsh precision, hitting every sensitive spot perfectly and repeatedly, and with merciless force. He had me on the brink before he spoke. “Say it, Bianca.”
“I’m yours, James.”
“Forever,” he added.
“Forever. Oh yes, I’m yours forever, James.”
He came inside of me, arching high. His little movements inside of me as he finished, and a clever thumb on my clit, had me following soon enough.
We got dressed, smiling at each other like fools.
We found Clark and Blake pitching our tents a little ways down the trail, setting up the tents next to one of the small structures that dotted the surface of the top of the mountain.
Clark smiled the biggest smile I’d ever seen on him when he saw how we were smiling. “Congratulations,” he told us with a nod.
“Thank you.”
“Thanks.”
“Oh,” I said suddenly, only loud enough for James to hear. “I need to tell Stephan immediately. He’d be crushed if he wasn’t one of the first to know.”
“We’ll let him know as soon as possible,” he responded just as quietly, tugging my hand to lead me over to catch the last glorious minutes of the sunset.
“He’ll be so happy,” I told James quietly, feeling a little sad. I didn’t want to see less of Stephan, but our lives were changing so quickly and in such strange ways that I couldn’t help but be afraid that things wouldn’t stay the same for us. He had been the most important thing in my life for so long…
“Bianca, my love, let me make you a promise,” James said quietly, studying my face carefully. “No matter where we live, no matter what we do, we’ll keep him close to us.”
“You don’t think that he and I are hopelessly co-dependent?” I asked him. I knew the answer. We were, but no part of me was prepared to change that.
He just smiled fondly. “I know that you are, but I think that, just sometimes, like in a marriage, or with just the right people, that can be okay. You two aren’t toxic together. It’s not that kind of co-dependence. You two survive together; you thrive together. I wouldn’t dream of making you change that. I’m trying to join your family, not tear it apart, Love.”
I didn’t think he’d ever said anything that made me realize more profoundly just how much I loved him. Fear of what had happened to my mother hadn’t been the only thing that had scared me about commitment. Losing Stephan in even small amounts had been a fear there, as well. I was so grateful and relieved that I could just put that fear away forever.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Mr. Besotted
We went to a gala for charity the night news broke of our engagement, which was perhaps a mistake. The red carpet was pure chaos.
By sheer coincidence, the men’s health magazine had released their cover and spread of James that same day. It had all turned out beautifully, but they had used several of the pictures with the both of us. The cover picture they’d used had actually been from one of the shots where James had his back to the camera, and I was clearly giggling into his shoulder. My laughing eyes were visible over his shoulder, his face was bent down to nuzzle into my ear, catching the edge of his besotted smile.
Needless to say, the release of the romantic pictures, combined with the first appearance of his bat-shit crazy tattoos, and the announcement of our engagement, had gotten the attention of the media, and we were bombarded the second we stepped out of the car. We couldn’t even hear what the paparazzi were asking us, they were shouting so loudly over each other. Two overzealous male photographers even exchanged blows.
As soon as fists started swinging, our security ushered us straight into the party.
Jackie had picked out a long gown for me that I had to lift high in order to move swiftly as we were ushered inside. It had a fitted champagne silk bodice that hung artfully off my shoulders, but just below my br**sts it bled into a long, flowing crimson skirt. She’d paired it with shiny red patent leather shoes and I thought it might be my favorite dress to date. I felt feminine and sexy, and pretty enough to have the most gorgeous man in the world on my arm.
James wore a classic black tux, with a champagne colored shirt and a crisp black bow tie. He had a crimson handkerchief folded into his breast pocket. I wasn’t sure if Jackie or James had set us up to match for the evening. It was anyone’s guess at this point.
Inside was a bit of a crush, so much so that I hoped right away that we wouldn’t be staying long. Especially since the first person we sighted was an irate Scott. We saw him coming from across the antechamber into the gala, and I noted again that he looked uncannily familiar.