Becoming Calder (A Sign of Love Novel)(76)

I shook my head. "The council members are all watching me. I feel it. Hector's instructed them . . . I don't know, but I couldn't risk that. It was safer to go out my window."
Calder looked worried for a minute, but then nodded, and leaned in and kissed me. Suddenly, I was lost to everything except all things Calder. I felt drugged from the taste of him. His smell—clean water and that certain something that was just him—spoke to a deep and secret part of me. It brought me alive in some essential way I didn't even understand.
I blossomed under his touch like a flower drinking in the warm sunshine, my nipples tightening, my thighs clenching, and my core beginning to throb.
I felt him harden against my belly and I moaned into his mouth, bringing my hands up into the silky hair at the nape of his neck. He moaned, too, that beautiful throaty sound vibrating on my tongue. Moisture settled between my legs, my pulse beating in that inner place that called out to be filled. I broke away from Calder's mouth and he gazed at me with heavy-lidded eyes.
"Make love to me, Calder." I looked up and said, "Right here, in the place that's only ours. Under this moon."
Calder's expression was tender as he leaned in and kissed me softly again and then leaned back. "Did you accept my pebble?" he asked.
I smiled at him and answered, "Yes. It's tucked away in my nest. Does that mean we're married?"
Calder grinned. "Yup."
I smiled. "I don't exactly think the state of Arizona recognizes the laws of penguins."
Calder laughed softly. "I don't care about the state of Arizona. It will be the law I'll live by for the rest of my life."
I smiled back at him. "And your vows? What are your vows?"
He took hold of my hands. Overhead, the moon cast its golden glow on everything around us, and the warm air caressed my face. In front of me stood the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, the man I'd loved as long as I could remember, the one who loved me back. All around me, the night glowed with miracles, both great and small.
Calder was quiet for a second, his eyes moving over my face, a gentle smile on his lips. "Eden, I vow this. My heart is yours. My life is yours. My body is yours. My art, my dreams. You own each and every part of me."
I let out a deep breath, and my heart hitched in my chest. "And I vow this. Calder, my heart is yours, as is my life, my body, my dreams. You own each and every part of me, in this lifetime and any other."
Calder smiled down at me tenderly, leaned forward, kissed my lips softly, and then pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me up to his height. I laughed and kissed him again and again, planting small kisses all over his face as he laughed, too.
"I love you, Morning Glory."
"I love you, too, Butterscotch," I said, grinning.
Calder set me back down on the ground.
"I brought something," I said.
"Show me."
I walked over to the canvas bag I had dropped by the rock entrance and brought it back to the small grassy area. I opened it and pulled out the large, white blanket that was kept in my wedding trunk. It had been sewn especially for my wedding night: a beautiful combination of wool, cotton, and linen with silvery threads woven throughout. It sparkled under the moonlight. I spread it out on the grass and then looked up at Calder who had walked over to me.
I unbuttoned my shirt slowly and let it fall off of my shoulders. Calder watched silently, his lips parting slightly when our eyes met. He removed his own shirt, tossing it aside and moving closer until we both stood just inches apart on the grass to the side of the blanket.
The water splashed softly, the foliage whispered in the warm breeze, and to me, this moment seemed holy, warm, real, and right.
We removed the rest of our clothes very slowly until we both stood naked before each other, his eyes caressing my skin, my nipples pebbling as his eyes moved over each part of me.
"You're like a goddess," Calder said softly.
I smiled a small smile, my eyes moving over him, unabashedly. I loved him, and I felt no shame. I admired his muscular arms and shoulders, his flat, ridged stomach, and the indents that formed a “V” on the inside of each hipbone. Something about those lines made my own body clench in reaction to the sight of them. They were so perfectly male, hinting at his strength. My eyes continued their journey, traveling slowly downward, over that sparse trail of dark hair that led straight to his manhood, standing stiff and rigid, straining toward me. My eyes shot upward to Calder's and he looked at me lazily, his expression dark with desire.
I remembered Hailey's instruction and went slowly down on my knees before him. Calder sucked in a breath and said my name, his voice raspy and unsure.