Page 89 of Love and Other Trials
When his lips touched the side of her neck, she turned in his arms. “Yes. Make love to me.”
She’d never said those words quite that way—even with her ex-fiancé—and while he might not know it, her heart did. It thundered in her chest. Her blood beat in sweet torment as his arms came around her and lifted her to him. Their lips met—urgent, knowing, and without any buildup. He slanted his mouth over hers, again and again, until she was digging her nails into his back. When her tongue swept in to mate with his, he groaned and pressed her against the hot shower wall, making her cry out in response.
“Now!” she whispered, kissing the underside of his jaw and then biting gently on the long line of his shoulder. “It’s got to be now.”
He swore as he opened the door and carried her out. They were wet when they hit the bed, him reaching over her for a condom. Sliding it on, he thrust inside her seconds later. She was hot and wet and ready for him. Wrapping her legs around him, she lifted to him and met his thrusts. Hard. Fast. Perfect. She came when he pressed his open mouth to the side of her throat, her need for him so great that she cried out his name.
He reared up, feeling her tighten around him, coming hard with a hoarse shout of his own before letting his forehead fall into the crook of her shoulder. They lay that way, breathing hard, gripping each other, still damp from the shower and not caring. The release had her opening her heart to him even more. Before, the door was halfway open, but now, it was like he was inside her, in that inner place she’d always kept closely guarded, wanting to protect what she loved about herself, what she knew to be true, what she valued. There, she could be who she wanted, who she was meant to be, and given how precious it was, she’d never shared it with anyone else save her dear brother. Not even her former fiancé.
But now there was Dax…
She kissed the side of his face, feeling the rough stubble on her sensitive lips. Her heart was still pounding, but it might as well have been four times bigger than it had been before she’d stepped into that shower with him.
She pressed another kiss to his jaw, curled her hand around his nape, and simply brought him closer to her. He rolled them to their sides and fitted her to him, nuzzling her neck, kissing her with a tenderness that made tears burn in her eyes.
“Oh, Ariel…”
The way he said her name—in his deep, assuring voice filled with a trace of awe—had her squeezing her eyes shut. “What, Dax?”
He lifted up, his green eyes glowing with light. “We’ve gone and done it, haven’t we?”
She knew what he meant. She waited for that precious part of her to withdraw, to turn protective. But instead, her heart pulsed with something new. Happiness. She was aware of a smile spreading across her face. The act struck her with its profoundness. She wasn’t scared. She was filled with joy.
Tracing his jaw, she met his eyes straight on, taking stock of his features, the ones that had become so dear to her so quickly. The way his sandy eyebrows lifted when he was amused. The glint of his green eyes when he cupped her cheek, like he was doing now. She even knew how his earlobes were attached and thought them adorable. Everything was. Because he was her Dax.
“You mean the whole L thing?” she asked, her voice hushed but strong and true.
His eyebrows really lifted then, a grin touching his sculpted lips. “The whole L thing, huh. Elizabeth, I expected a better declaration from you.”
Ah, she knew the words. They were rare in the thinking, even more precious in the saying. But she knew it was right to say them now. Nothing could have stopped her from speaking the truth of her heart then and there. “How’s this? I love you.”
His grin had her heart turning somersaults in her chest. “As good as it gets, because I love you too. Despite it only being, what…” He checked his watch. “Nearly one hundred and sixty-eight hours since we’ve met. To some, that might not sound like much, but to a pilot, that’s a lot of hours. Did you know that you only need forty hours of flight time to be able to legally fly a private plane?”
She started laughing. “Of all the things I expected you to say, Stephan… So that’s what? Over four pilot licenses?”
“We’re overachievers.” He tucked her hair tenderly behind her ear. “What I’m trying to say is… Flying is one of the most profound acts of my life, and I got there in a short time.”
She could feel herself practically melting into the bed. “Forty hours.”
“Exactly.” His fingers glided over her lips, his sweet gaze warm and pure. “So why wouldn’t I do something equally profound, like falling deeply, madly in love with you, in one hundred and sixty-eight hours?”
She tightened her arms around him. “I like your logic.”
“I’m a logical kind of guy.” He kissed her softly then, so softly she sighed into his mouth. “And when I chart a course, I see it through.”
Linking her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for another kiss. “So do I.”
“Good.” He gave her a swift kiss and tucked her close to his body, closing his eyes. “I’m glad we’ve settled that. I love you. You love me.”
The words to the song “We’re a Happy Family” sounded in her mind. That inner part of her did clutch then. A happy family? What in the hell was that even? What about happily ever after? People talked about wanting that all the time, but didn’t it have to start with a wish or a desire to be happy in the first place? Then Dax squeezed her tenderly and she remembered. Dax knew. That would help them find the path.
Because she didn’t know what in the world that looked like, but she realized she wanted it.
Bad.
“You know,” she heard him sleepily say, “I’m glad we covered this.”
The urge to chuckle was too great. “You are?”
