Dark Sexy Knight (A Modern Fairytale)(58)

“Does this mean she approves?”

“A hundred percent,” he said, nuzzling her ear.

Verity settled into his arms, resting her cheek on his chest, under his chin, as a very enthusiastic Melody serenaded them and Ryan rocked back and forth in tempo as she sang.

From then on, the day was practically heaven.

Ryan and Melody ran from exhibit to exhibit, pointing out lazy animals sleeping in the sun, and clapping with shared delight at the meerkats’ antics. When one otter jumped on another otter’s back and started moving slowly but suggestively, Colton jerked his eyes to Verity’s, and she colored with awareness of what they were doing, but Melody pointed at the glass and announced, “Ryan! Look! They’re hugging!”

Disaster averted.

As the day went on, they followed behind Ryan and Melody at more and more of a distance, giving them the freedom to explore as Colton and Verity held hands, saying little, both basking in this lovely day of sunshine and family time.

Only one nagging thought kept the day from being utterly perfect:

Tonight.

Well, more accurately . . . Verity’s worries about tonight.

When she looked at Colton out of the corner of her eye—six foot three inches tall, covered in thick cords of veined muscle with a King Kong cock that she knew all too well from touching it’s pulsing thickness with her fingers—she wavered between feeling excited and feeling terrified about later. She loved Colton and wanted to be with him physically, yes. But despite what her heart wanted, she had eyes too . . . and there was no denying it: he was enormous.

She was five foot four and weighed in at one hundred and fifteen pounds. Small-boned and petite, like her mother, she had small breasts and small hips and, well, gulp, small everything. The sex she’d had with Tony and Johnny hadn’t been bad, per se, but it hadn’t been that great either, and Johnny had complained about her being “too tight down there.”

She’d felt Colton’s erection against her belly when they were making out. She’d held his penis in her hand, rubbing it in the darkness of his room as they kissed. He was much bigger than either of the other two men she’d been with, so if she was too tight for one of them . . .

The thought set her nerves on edge, and while she still managed to enjoy the beauty of the day, in the back of her mind, apprehension reigned.

And now, as they pulled out of Bonnie’s Place and headed home, her worries were slowly turning into panic. What if they really didn’t fit? What if he hurt her? Not intentionally, of course, but what if he was just too big for her body? Logic reminded her that her parts were built to accommodate a baby’s head, so it was ludicrous to worry about accommodating Colton, but she couldn’t help it. Logic be damned. She hadn’t had sex in over a year. She was worried.

And yet, when she slid her eyes to him, tracing the strong line of his jaw covered with bristles of blond scruff, his crooked nose and dark blond hair pulled back in a low ponytail, her heart soared and her body flushed with heat and want. They loved each other. They’d figure it out, wouldn’t they? Oh, please, she thought, let us figure it out.

“Melody might be my bester friend than Joe,” said Ryan from the back of the car. “I’m gonna go to Slip’N Slide day. It’s at Bonnie’s Place.”

Verity’s prejudice about group homes had been soundly trounced today, and although she still felt some measure of wariness, she had to admit that, by all outward appearances, Bonnie’s Place seemed to be an idyllic haven for developmentally disabled adults. And Ryan seemed to long to be a part of it.

“That’s fine, Ry,” she said. “I’ll talk to Lynette about you getting Sunday off, okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, yawning. “Sunday off. For Slip’N Slide day.”

He fell asleep in the car, snoring softly until they arrived at Colton’s house twenty minutes later. Colton cut the engine and turned to her.

“You’ve been quiet. Tired?”

She unlatched her seat belt, looking up at him. “No, I’m just . . .”

The words were on the tip of her tongue: I’m worried about us. I’m worried about how we’ll fit together. But when she looked into the deep dark gray of his eyes, she couldn’t form the words. All she could see was his love for her shining back. All she could feel was the hope that today was the beginning of something that would last forever. Family. Love. Safety. Home. Happiness. Everything she had ever wanted, served up on a silver platter.

What it boiled down to was this: there was no point in worrying about tonight. She wanted him. And more than want, she loved him. Every part of him—big and small, angry and sweet, tender and gruff—made him the person she loved. And love meant accepting all of him . . . no matter what.

“It was a good day, but I want you to myself now,” she heard herself say. “I want to be with you.”

He grunted softly, a sound of pain, of frustration, of want. “Verity.”

“Say you love me,” she whispered quickly.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” She bit her bottom lip. “Is it too soon? For us to be in love? Are we just calling this love because we want it to be love?”

“It happens all the time in fairy tales,” he said, smiling at her.

She grinned back at him, disarmed. “When do you read fairy tales?”