‘I mean that I’m not sure I can just kiss you.’ He pressed his forehead to hers. ‘I’m going to need either self-control to stop this or working ribs to keep going, and I have neither. My God, woman, you turn every part of me on.’
He pressed his lips to hers and held them there. Soft and firm. Reassuring. No tongues, no wandering hands. Just Sean. It was perfect.
‘Let’s go upstairs,’ he murmured.
‘Mmm… I want to, but no.’ Cherry summoned every ounce of willpower she had and slid from Sean’s knee, his hand still in hers.
‘I am going to be a good wife and walk out of that front door to let you get some sleep tonight.’
‘Are you kidding me?’
Her face split into a grin. ‘Of course I’m kidding. Now, what would you like?’ She shimmied back from him. ‘Cherry pie or Cherry blossom?’
He beamed. ‘What’s the difference?’ His eyes were fixed on her from the couch as he cradled his ribs.
‘I actually have no idea. But they both involve this…’ Cherry whipped her t-shirt over her head.
Sean sat up straight, wincing but suddenly very alert at the sight of her in plunge bra and joggers. ‘And the rest, Paradise. And the rest. Or I’ll come over there and eat them off you.’
As tempting as that sounded, Cherry knew that Sean deserved her on a plate. He’d waited long enough; they both had. She unclipped her bra and let her breasts spill free.
He sucked in a long breath. Nodded to the jogging bottoms.
Cherry brought them down over her hips, but only a notch, letting them linger above her pubic bone. A tease, just for him, because she knew he loved it.
She definitely had his attention. ‘Are you not wearing any panties, Cherry? Did you come to a man with bruised ribs in joggers with just that beautiful pussy underneath?’
Cherry flicked her eyebrows up. ‘I thought it might help with your recovery. I needed to be sending you the right energy.’
Sean laughed hard, the same way he had the very first night they’d met in New York City, but also winced and reinforced his hold on his ribs. ‘That is – as the Americans would say –total baloney, but who am I to argue?’
She shrugged. ‘Indeed.’
‘Show me.’
Sliding her hand inside the waistband, Cherry gently shimmied the joggers over her hips so that, slowly, Sean gotto see everything he was so patiently waiting for. Her husband’s worshipful gaze and the mild September air fuelled her as she stepped into full nudity.
‘Come here!’ he beckoned hoarsely.
Softly, she went to him, watching him watching her, and knelt between his knees.
‘Cherry.’ He skimmed his hand over her breast, down the middle of her stomach, trailing into the most sensitive area right between her legs, but only giving a dusting of a touch. It was clear as the night sky,by the tent pitching in his own joggers, what this was doing to him. ‘This might not be the time to say this – I’m torturing myself here – but when I married you, I was so in love with you. Crazy to some, but you get it, right?’
Cherry nodded, swelling with heat and adoration where his finger stilled. ‘Of course I do. I fell for you the moment I laid eyes on you.’
‘I would have married you that night if I could.’
‘Me too, Seany. I’m sorry it’s taken us so long to get here. I’m sorry for being a broken mess.’
‘Don’t you dare apologise.’ Sean lowered his hand, along with his voice, and brought it to rest on her hip. ‘You’re not broken; you’re fractured, like all of us. To me, you’re the most captivating woman ever. You’re a fucking goddess in motion, and I got to marry you. Things haven’t exactly taken the traditional route, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. You are so beautiful, Cherry, inside, outside, up, down, back to front…’
‘There’s been a lot of that.’
‘Aye, our journey to get here has been nuts, but I’ve loved every second. I’m addicted to this. Addicted to you. I’d explode if I felt any more for someone than I do for you. This is enough. It’s everything.’
‘Oh, Sean. A thousand times all of that. I’ve never met anyone I’ve felt for even a fraction of what I feel for you. Nothing on my bucket list can compare to you. Nothing.’
‘Not even swimming with dolphins?’
