Page 121 of The Moments You Were Mine
She laughed. “Put me down.”
“No.”
Her gaze darted around us. “We’re drawing attention.”
“Good.” When we came to stop at the elevator bank, I adjusted so I could push the button, and she tried to slide out of my arms. I tightened my grip and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “Stop wiggling. You’re worse than Theo.”
“I weigh about a hundred and twenty poundsmorethan Theo. You can’t possibly carry me all the way to our room. Where is our room, by the way?”
“I carried a damn itty-bitty ship for hours in unrelenting waves. I think I can carry my wife a few feet.”
She stopped moving, eyes falling to my lips before meeting mine again. “That word…it keeps hitting me in the chest.”
“What word?” I knew, but I wanted her to say it.
“Wife.”
And it hit me in the chest too. Pride and love and desire. I started to curse myself again for taking so long to get here and then halted those thoughts. I couldn’t change the past, and dwelling on it would only make me bitter—not at her, but at me. From here on, I’d concentrate on making it up to her, on building a life worthy of her.
The doors opened, and I stepped inside, hitting the button for the suites at the top of the tower. We were still alone in the elevator when the doors closed, and I kissed her, slow and soft and mindful of the cameras in the corners.
Tearing my mouth from hers was harder than I expected. I brushed the good side of her temple with my lips again and then said, “I wouldn’t know what it’s like to hear that special word as you’ve yet to say the matching one.”
She grinned at me and batted her lashes playfully. “What word? You mean, Kermit? Frogman?”
I growled.
Her smile grew. “Fine, fine. I know…” She inhaled, leaned up, and brought her mouth close to my ear, sending a wave of heat and lust down my spine. “Bae.”
I pinched her side, none too gently, but she simply laughed.
“I will hear it, Fallon. Before tonight is over, you’re going to be chanting it.”
Her smile disappeared, flames bursting in her eyes. “Big promises,Bae.”
The doors opened with a ding, and I strode toward the suite where Theo and I had gotten ready. I hadn’t seen the items I’d ordered—we’d gone to the chapel before they’d been delivered—but I knew they’d be waiting for us, as top-notch customer service was one of the things Rafe’s hotels were known for.
At the door, I had her dig in my pocket for the keycard, andas she pressed it against the reader, she said, “We could have stayed in Dad’s penthouse.”
“Not on our wedding night. I don’t want to be thinking of your dad at all. Or mine. Or anyone but you.”
The door shut behind us with a quiet click, and I marched straight past the suite’s sitting area into the bedroom. A mahogany four-poster bed carved with vines and flowers took up the bulk of the space, but there was also a free-standing tub placed in front of windows that overlooked the lights of The Strip twenty floors below. A gold-gilded settee was at the foot of the bed, the deep rose velvet cushions matching the satin of the bed linens. It was floral and feminine and perfect for a wedding night.
The staff had scattered candles around the room as I’d requested. They were fake, but they still added ambiance to the dim lights. The sweet scent of the same wildflowers I’d filled the chapel with hung in the air, and a silver stand with champagne on ice sat in the corner.
I wanted Fallon to have romance tonight. This wasn’t just us rushing to beat a clock clicking down on her pregnancy. This was a true wedding night with love leading us into a long future.
When I finally set her down, I didn’t let her back away. Instead, I put one hand behind her head, wrapped the other around her waist, and took her mouth with a passion I hoped she’d feel all the way to her toes.
When I finally started to pull back, she protested, sinking her teeth into my bottom lip and taking control. I let her, enjoying the hungry way she explored and the heat of her touch, enjoying the thrust of her tongue and the savage, almost desperate lick into my mouth.
I pulled back enough to remove the clips and bands from her hair, running my fingers through her tresses until the blond waves danced around her breasts. I wanted to bury my face in those strands, to inhale that salty sea and floral aroma until it was burned into my senses. Instead, I slanted my mouth over hers once again. It was almost too much, having her, touching her, being engulfed in her scent and her love.
I was already painfully hard. Harder than I’d ever been and hungry for relief.
But my body would have to wait.
I needed to spend hours cherishing her first. Hours taunting and teasing her until she was desperate enough to say the word I craved.
