“Oh God,” she said. “Oh God, oh God…”
“I’ve got you,” he murmured, his voice thick and reassuring. She wanted to lose herself in his arms completely. Strong arms, capable arms. Capable of protecting. She felt inexplicably safe here and held him tightly as though she meant to burrow inside his rib cage and stay there.
His body rolled against her in waves and she took it. Heating up from the inside out, engulfed in his arms, his body, she felt herself clench and quiver around him.
“That feels so good,” she murmured deliriously into the crook of his neck.
“I need you,” he panted.
“Yes,” she whined, her fingers digging into his chest.
“Yes what?” he growled at her lips.
“Yes,” she whispered feverishly. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“Yeah?” he said, a question lingering in his eyes. Are you sure?
She nodded, suddenly feeling small and vulnerable, her heart pitter-pattering in her chest. But then his mouth claimed hers, hard, passionately, lovingly, and she felt safe again and melted into his lips, desperate for his affection. His skin felt hot to the touch, his muscles coiled under her palms, and she could feel a burning settle deep in her core. Each thrust wound her up tighter and tighter until she felt like she was going to explode. She sipped air in short gasps as she fell against Jacob, fingers clutching.
“I love you, Holly,” Jacob murmured, his voice low and throaty.
It was her name on his tongue that did it and she cried out sharply, her nails digging into his skin as she throbbed around him. She felt him spill over seconds later, wet and hot inside of her, and she felt a shudder run through his muscles. Even now, he was hard steel on the outside, molten lava churning on the inside.
She caught her breath and rested her head against him. She could hear his heart. Pounding. Strong. Hard. Hers.
Holly’s throat contracted around the words I love you too.
Chapter 15
Holly adjusted the veil on her head, making sure it sat just right. It wasn’t like she was going to do this again. Well. Probably. She stared at it for a second longer, trying to get it right, and realized she was gnawing on the end of her eyeliner pencil. She had to stop that. Gross habit. Besides, she thought with a small smile, Jacob wouldn’t approve. Her eyes snagged on Alice’s reflection, which looked like she’d just swallowed a bad case of buyer’s remorse.
“Say it,” Holly said.
“What?” Alice piped up innocently.
Holly gave her a look. Really?
Alice sighed. “Look…I know I’m the one who told you to go balls deep on this one. But are you sure you’re not going too fast?”
“No,” Holly said, turning around to face Alice. “I’m not. I’m not sure of anything.” She smiled. “It’s a wonderful change of pace.”
Alice laughed. “You’ve got me there.” She leaned in and gave her veil its final twist. “I’m sure of one thing: you look beautiful, honey.”
Even Holly had to admit: she was a vision. She wore a soft white wedding dress with a blue sash around the middle, hugging the narrowest part of her hourglass figure. A long V dipped down her back. Her hair was pulled back into a bun with a white flower band wrapped around it.
Holly felt a stinging in the back of her eyes. She hugged Alice suddenly, squeezing her tight. “Thank you.”
“You’ve earned it,” Alice pulled back, sniffing, and dabbed her eyes with the back of her hand to keep her mascara from running. “Oh God, I’m a mess. Wait until the music starts going. You won’t be able to say your vows over the sound of me wailing.”
Holly grinned and pressed a kiss to Alice’s cheek. “Love you.”
Before Alice could respond, the door swung open. “I’m not looking—is everyone decent? Yes?” Chris Cardell pushed inside with his head bowed, his hand shielding his eyes.
Holly’s heart dropped. She felt like she’d been roped to an anchor and tossed into the coldest part of the ocean. “Chris. What are you doing here?”
He was dressed to impress, too. A smart black suit, white shirt, and a blue tie that brought out the summer-sky color in his eyes. Too bad there wasn’t anyone here to impress.
Oh, Chris. You always wanted what you couldn’t have.
“I’m going to assume that’s a yes,” Chris said and dropped his hand. He blinked at Holly and said, “Wow. You look just as good the second time around.” He stepped forward and brushed his lips against her cheek in greeting. At one point, a small kiss from Chris might have been the highlight of her day. Now, Holly just felt her heart turn to stone. “It’s great to see you. Listen, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I come with wedding-relating emergency tidings.”