“Look, Hayden!”
“I am! Wooooooohooooo!” Her exultant cry to the heavens made him laugh.
They drifted downwards for about six minutes, yelling to each other, pointing at the ground, and laughing crazily.
“Okay, get ready to land,” Beck called as they neared the ground. They skimmed low across the grass for a couple hundred feet and set down soft and gentle. He grabbed Hayden as the parachute floated to the ground behind them.
“What’d you think?” he asked her.
She was laughing. Beaming. Trembling. “Oh my God, that was amazing! Intense. Oh my God, Beck.”
He laughed too and worked on getting the harness off. Once that was done, she turned and threw herself into his arms, covering his face with kisses, her body vibrating against his. “I can’t believe I did that,” she said again. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”
He wasn’t sure he could believe it either, but he was glad she had. It had been amazing and intense, sharing that experience with her, giving that thrill, sharing that magnificent moment of utter faith and love.
“Here’s your certificate.” Ethan approached them with a smile. “Good jump, Beck. I take it you know this pretty lady?”
“This gorgeous woman is my girlfriend,” Beck said, not even stumbling over that. “Hayden, this is Ethan Langham.”
“We met briefly when I signed in,” Hayden said.
“So this is why you specifically requested to jump with Beck.”
“Yes.”
Beck smiled, shaking his head in amusement and pride at what she’d done.
She turned to him. “So. You never told me that you started the Trident Foundation.”
“Oh. Uh. Right.” He shrugged. “No big deal. I have to do something with all that money.”
“Apparently you do a lot more than just hand over checks.”
“I do what I can.”
“Oh, Beck.” She grabbed his face in both hands and planted another kiss on his mouth. “I love you even more for that.” Then she whispered, “I think skydiving makes me horny.”
He choked and clasped her hips. “Oh yeah?” He knew the feeling.
“Yeah. It must be the hormones. Dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin. I think you’d better come back to my place.”
“Damn.” He swallowed, his dick already growing stiff. “Yeah, I think I better.”
—
In her bedroom, Beck grabbed Hayden up in his arms and kissed her, hot, hard, and deep. She kissed him back as he walked them across the room. Pausing beside the bed, he slowed the kiss, licking into her mouth, playing with her tongue, their breathing fast and shallow. Her murmurs of pleasure filled the quiet room as he laid her on the unmade bed.
“What’s happening here?” he murmured, coming down over her. “You didn’t make your bed today, Professor. That’s not like you.”
She smiled against his lips. “I was distracted.”
He moved between her legs and she lifted them, her knees brushing up along his hips and ribs. He devoured her mouth again, hands fisted in her long hair now released from the bun she’d had it in earlier. She did the same to his hair, tugging at the tie that held the bun in place until it spilled over his shoulders and around their faces.
They rolled across her bed together, whispering words of love, relief, and thankfulness. He stroked her hair off her face, kissed her cheeks, her throat, his hands moving all over her. Then their clothes were gone and there was nothing between them but the love and trust he’d felt while they were flying through the air, and he braced himself on his arms and stared down into her gorgeous eyes, beaming up at him with emotion.
“Can you hand me a condom,” he requested huskily, hoping there were still some in her drawer.
Her lips parted and she gave him a slow blink. “Do we need to use one?”
Christ. “Hayden…”
“I’m on the pill.”
He knew that. He’d seen them in her bathroom.
“I haven’t had unprotected sex with anyone else. Have you?”
“Christ. No.”
“Then we don’t need one. If you trust me.”
A groan rumbled in his chest. “I trust you more than anyone, Hayden. Are you sure?”
He wanted that so much it hurt, that last barrier gone between them, so they were as close as two people could be, but he was also determined to protect her.
Her fingers slid through his hair and she rubbed her fingertips over the base of his skull. Sensation licked down his spine, gathering in his low back. “I’m sure.”
Her smile sucked all the oxygen out of his lungs. Christ, that smile. “I fell in love with you the first time you smiled,” he said slowly.