Page 74 of Echoes and Oaths
An eyebrow lifted, and she smirked. “Remember that,” she teased.
He stared down at her, completely serious. “I will never forget it or the fact that you gave me a second chance.” He lowered his lips. “You are my soul. You guide my life with your love. I’m lost without you. I love you.”
He dropped down and kissed her long and deep. His tongue danced with hers as their hands traveled over skin that lay exposed to each other. Her legs curled around his as he centered over her. The need to be as close to his woman as humanly possible overwhelmed the want to be slow in the union.
Eira’s nails along his back told him she wanted him inside her. He entered her and dropped his head to her shoulder, fighting back the urge to move faster. Instead, he withdrew and slid back in, going deeper. The feel of her body taking him in, moving against him, and pulling him back as he moved his hips was unquestionably destructive in the absolute best way. Rolls of electric pulses migrated from his limbs to the base of his spine. He moved with barely restrained control, keeping the build slow, whichannihilated any possibility of coherent thought. But hefelt. Emotions he’d bottled up for years, the love he assumed would fade, the woman he believed would forget him … he felt it all.
When Eira shattered under him, he dropped his head to her shoulder, and the guttural moan that erupted from him as he crashed over the edge cleansed that torture from his body. Love had won. It had made him whole and provided a way back to a life he thought he couldn’t have.
“Absolutely not,”Eira’s mom declared, slamming her tea mug on the table. “I will not be hanging electricity from the barn rafters. That is senseless. I don’t care what pin … pin …” She looked at Eira questioningly.
“Pinterest board,” Eira informed her again.
“That … says. It doesn’t make sense,” her mother said and crossed her arms.
Eira, sitting in the middle of the table surrounded by a sea of wedding magazines, lifted her head from her hands. “It’s just twinkle lights, Mom.”
“You say that now,” Raven deadpanned from her perch on the windowsill, cleaning her nails with abutterfly knife. “Until one string shorts out and the whole hayloft becomes a flaming death trap.”
“Raven,” Eira groaned. “We all know what you do for a living. Youcanhandle fairy lights. I have faith in you.”
Raven shrugged. “Well, in my defense, none of my jobs have asked me to coordinate floral arrangements with burlap runners and fairy lights.”
“I am just saying,” Eira’s mom announced to no one in particular and everyone at once, “there will be nofiresat this wedding.” She glanced over to Raven. “And no boots with knives hidden in them.”
Raven snorted. “So, that rules out half the guest list.”
“Iheardthat,” Eira’s mom said from where she filled her teacup with hot water.
Eira sighed. She was unusually used to these types of conversations. Thank God they were speaking in Spanish. Otherwise, the Macys would think they were all insane. “This leads our conversation to the dress you’ll be wearing as my bridesmaid.”
“Oh, no. I wore a dress and heels on a mission once,” Raven said, stretching. “Had to use one as a projectile to escape an elevator ambush. Almost took a guy’s eye out.”
“¡Dios mío!” Her mother gasped, clutching her chest. “You see?Thisis why I told Eira to marry a dentist.”
“Mom,” Eira said without looking up from her notebook. “He’s better than a dentist.”He just turned out to be an internationally sanctioned assassin with a ranch and a collection of misfit animals and friends that were slightly off-kilter.She snickered at her thoughts. “He has a ranch with a milk cow. Be happy.” He had also changed his name. He still went by Mateo, but in the States, he was Mateo Dean, and she would become Mrs. Dean…soon.
Raven held up a finger. “Technically, it’s two cows now. Mr. Macy bought another. Teo named her Moo Moo. Have you forgotten?”
“Impossible.” Eira chuckled.
“That cow has opinions,” her mother added, sipping her tea with a wry smile. “Loud ones.”
“I need wine,” Raven said.
“It’s 9:03 in themorning,” Eira pointed out.
“Flowers, fairy lights, and burlap, need I say more? I’m not wearing a dress, but I’ll look good.” Raven shrugged.
“I get approval of the outfit.” Eira didn’t even look up as she paged through the bridal magazines. She had a specific idea of what she wanted her dressto look like, and a seamstress in Hollister said she could help her make her dream come true. She had a meeting with her tomorrow and needed to give her a good idea of what style she wanted.
Just then, Teo came flying in from the hallway, dragging a stuffed donkey and wearing nothing but cowboy boots and pajama bottoms. “Moo Moo!” he said as he headed to the living room and his toys.
Raven muttered, “Miss Moo Moo’s authority is expanding quickly.”
“Chaos,” her mother said as she followed Teo into the living room. “Next thing you know, we’ll have a flower goat. Don’t think I didn’t hear Mateo say that.”
“Could be,” Eira said, laughing as she scribbled on her wedding to-do list. “Mateo already said if Teo wanted a flower goat, he’d rent a damn tux for it.”
