"Yep," he replied, a slight grin turning up his lips. "It's not a marriage at sea. I got ordained a few years ago, for some friends. The internet, it's crazy. But it's good. A couple of my friends, they're not interested in church weddings, and they want people they trust, not the first officiant who comes up in a Google search. I've done a few weddings now. It feels right."
I sensed Nick's eyes first, and I took great care to band the lobster's claws before looking at him. It was a good thing, too, because I was struck the second our gazes locked. Astrologers liked to say that when the moon and sun and planets fell into a certain alignment, the energies present in the universe shifted. Currents flowed in different directions. Some were blocked, others unblocked. It all came down to gravity, and the unstable theory that the relative locations of the celestial bodies could impact behavior.
It was a small, contrived comfort of modern life. Look to the skies, and a wholly subjective reading of your future will unfold, right?
But over Nick's shoulder sat Jupiter, a pinpoint of brightness. I turned, finding Mars, the moon, Venus, and Saturn lined up across the sky like an arrow shot from a bow.
I pressed my hand to my breastbone and the unfamiliar shape of my mother's compass dug into my skin.
"Why'd you bring me out here, Skip?" he asked.
"We both know how short and completely unpredictable life can be."
"Really fucking short," he said. "Really fucking unpredictable."
"And time…it isn't something you should pass," I continued.
"Not even a minute."
"You should never sit around waiting for life to start because it's leaving you with every second," I said, and I was feeling it, too. There was an urgent throb in my chest, as if my heart was saying,Yes! This is what I want from you!"But you know, even after all of those seconds are up, we're never truly gone. We continue to exist. Instead of being people walking around, fighting with our families and trapping lobsters and doing brain surgery, we're energy, unbound and disorderly. And sometimes you need to get ten miles from shore in the middle of the night to remember that nothing is truly gone."
"I know what you're thinking," he said. "Say it, lovely. Say it, or I will."
"You should explore the world," I said, tears springing to my eyes for no rational reason. "Do dangerous things. Ignore the fuck out of conventional wisdom. Walk on fire. Treat everyone with kindness because people are the only things worth holding on to. Live without regrets because there is no time for that shit. Never forget the way home, and leave a trail of breadcrumbs if you have to. Love, and get your heart broken, and say fuck it, and love again and then again. And whatever you do, never pass up an opportunity to get married on a lobster boat under a full moon with Jupiter and Mars as your witnesses."
"All of it," he said, grabbing hold of my waist and pulling me to his chest. "I want all of it, and don't ever stop talking about time and diamonds and literally anything else that comes to your amazing fucking mind, and marry me before we lose another second."
"Right here?" I asked, breathless. "Right now?"
"Here. Now," he said, and I was grinning so hard that my cheeks hurt. "I dare you."
"You two are a real piece of work," the captain muttered.
Chapter Four
Nick
The sun was risingover the inn when I pulled in, and it didn't feel like the same place we'd escaped only nine hours earlier. Erin felt it, too. She'd been giving me sidelong glances the entire drive back here, always with her lips curled up in a sinful smile.
I hopped out of the SUV after killing the engine and ordering Erin to stay put. Watching her as I rounded the hood, I saw a testy glint in her eyes. She didn't like taking orders, but her anger was so fucking cute that I had to laugh.
Once I had her door open, I leaned in and pinned her hands to the seat. There was too much unchecked emotion pumping through me, and if those fingers caressed my neck, I'd be taking her here in the parking lot.
I'd married her on a lobster boat, but I was still trying to do some of this right.
"I want everything," I whispered. I pressed my face to the hollow of her neck, and when I scraped my teeth over the delicate skin there, her body jerked against my hold. "Come to my room, lovely. Let me have you."
Erin nodded as I kissed my way up from her neck to her mouth. "Umm," she murmured against my lips. "I think mine's closer."
I released her seatbelt but couldn't tear myself off her. Anything worth saying could be spoken straight to her skin. My hands, they had no greater purpose than touching her body. "Whatever you want, wife," I said.
That word was powerful. It was an aphrodisiac, the strongest known to man.
I scooped her up, her taut little backside in my palms and her legs around my waist. It would've been fine if she wasn't exactly as hot and soft andeverywherethat I needed. I was kidding myself if I thought I'd get far in this position.
"Erin, darlin'," I started, groaning as I pressed her spine to the vehicle.
She raked her fingers through my hair as I rocked against her, and a mix of agony and relief that only left me wanting more speared through my body. "You're going to put me down now," she said, "and follow me inside like a normal boy, and not a strange one who likes carrying able-bodied women around like dolls."
