He isn't wrong. Only problem is, I don't have a clue where we go from here, assuming I don't keel over first from the shame of ripping myself open and exposing it to him like this.
“We good, babe? We got an understanding?”
Very slowly, I look deep into his eyes and nod my head. Everything inside me is way too twisted up to say a word, especially my heart.
“Good. Now, let's shut the fuck up and let our lips say the rest.”
Our first kiss in a year sucks the air from my lungs. His lips lock onto mine and I don't move at first, but it doesn't take long to feel the familiar, unstoppable heat rolling through me in one massive front.
My knees shake. My nipples throb. The V between my legs swells open, wet and empty and aching, screaming for him to throw me down on this dock and fuck me like he did last summer. I don't care if there are cameras watching and we end up all over the internet.
Luckily, that's not likely, considering our little scandal is yesterday's news.
My mouth splits open, and I let his tongue inside. A few seconds later, we're twined, kissing as hungrily as the last night in his old bed, harder and stickier to make sure we never have to miss this again.
We're not just making up for lost time. We're entering our future, and the asshole's right like he usually is.
I can't stop wanting him. I can't let go. I can't pretend I'm not in love.
He made a mistake. He apologized, in his own screwy way. And now I feel the hatred, disappointment, and sadness steaming out my pores, leaving me like pollen after a good hard sneeze.
Ty's hands roam my body. I flatten my hands on his chest and let myself feel him. It wasn't just my imagination earlier – he's even harder now, stronger and more masculine, impossibly developed in a way ninety-nine percent of males on this earth will never be.#p#分页标题#e#
Jesus. God help me.
One hand pushes down his washboard abs with a mind of its own. I can't stop myself from moaning into his mouth as I touch the hard ridge rising in his jeans, huge and wanting, just the way I remembered it.
“Damn it, Ty,” I sputter, breaking the kiss for oxygen. “I missed you so fucking much. I missed us.”
“Yeah, I can kinda tell with the way you're squeezing my cock. Keep your panties on a little longer. There's something I gotta do here before we fuck.”
My eyes go wide and crazy as he lets me go and drops to the ground. His knees crack against the old wood hard when he crouches, and at first I can't figure out what the hell's going on.
When the little black box appears in his hand, I almost join him on the pier, and all the blood goes rushing out of my head. The world opens up and goes dead silent, condensed into this moment, with nothing except the churning sea and distant ships.
Not until he opens his mouth and pops the top with his thumb.
“I bought this thing in Lincoln City on the Fourth. It was a perfect fucking day – all except the asshole paparazzi snapping us. I was gonna give it to you before we came up here together, and it was still in my pocket the day our parents tore our world to shit. It's all I had to remember you this past year, and it still counts for a goddamned lot now that you're here.”
“Ty...” I can barely say his name.
He holds up a hand, begging me to stay quiet. “There's a few less diamonds on this thing than I'd like, but it'll do the trick just the same. Marry me, Claire Frost. I want us bound together so tight we'll need an asshole judge to undo us if one of us goes crazy and ever thinks about walking out again. And I know it'll never happen. I need you to be my wife even more than I need you under me right now.”
My heart swoons. The ocean's blustery echoes are like a sharp breeze, and everything starts spinning. I go down, fly through the air, landing in his powerful arms. For a second, I think I'm going to black out, but then everything goes bright and he's staring at me, just as strong and loving as he's always been at his best.
There's my Prince Charming, handsome as he is swoon worthy. Beneath the asshole, the best man I'll ever know and love is still there. I can't even dream about saying no.
“Babe? Shit, are you okay?”
“I'm great,” I say softly, throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him to my lips. “I'm trying to tell you yes, Ty. Let's get married.”
My hand covers his as it holds the ring. We stay just like that, kissing for a long while. His lips speed up as soon as I say the words, pulling the energy from my body.
Great, I guess he's found a new way to leave me breathless without even taking me to bed.
We kiss through sunset before he finally takes his hand off mine and gets the ring out. It's a perfect fit for my finger, a little gold loop with a diamond surrounded by studded seashell fragments, a piece of forever.