Before I can climb out of my skin, a firm knock sounds at the door, and I jump a foot in the air.Get a grip, Sunny.
“C-come in,” I wheeze.
Ethan steps inside and slides the doors closed behind him with more care than necessary. I take the time to study him while he has his back turned to me. His simple green robe, cinched around his narrow waist, accentuates his broad shoulders. My eyes drop past the hem to the muscled contours of his bare calves. Moisture gathers between my thighs, because he is definitely naked under his robe.
His hair is wet, like he’s just taken a bath. He obviously brushed it, but it’s already starting to curl every which way in thick unruly waves. His shoulders rise and fall as though he’s preparing himself, then he turns around and takes a good look at me.
He goes very still, like someone hit pause on him. He definitely stopped breathing. But his eyes ... they run wildly over me.
“Breathe, Ethan,” I say softly, feeling more powerful than I’ve ever felt before. This beautiful male is my husband, and he wants me as much as I want him.
With a heaving gasp, he finally resumes breathing. I beckon him, and he stalks toward me, his eyes frantic. He takes my hand in his trembling one and drops a reverent kiss on my knuckles. Biting my bottom lip, I run my fingers through his damp strands.
“Sunny,” he whispers, his head still bowed over my hand. When he raises his eyes to meet mine, my knees turn to water at the hunger burning in them.
“Oh you poor, poor male.” A sultry smile curves my lips. “At this rate, you won’t survive what I’m wearing under this.”
A low growl my only warning, he pulls me into his arms with a rough tug, and I melt against him. My smile widens, even as tears prickle behind my lids.
I am home.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ethan
“Sunny.” I belong to her so completely that I don’t know if I can exist without her, much less live or breathe.
She consumes me.
I drop featherlight kisses on the corners of her mouth, on the delicate lids of her closed eyes, on the smooth planes of her cheeks. I breathe in the scent of her, both bright and warm like a sunny autumn day in Los Angeles. I really should consider ripping that silky nightgown off her and consummating our marriage, but I could kiss her like this for an eternity.
To be honest, I’m a little nervous. This is my first time making love to her as her husband—first time making love to mywife.
“Ethan?”
“Hmm?” I slide my lips down the length of her neck. I can’t resist licking the pulse fluttering at the base of her throat. She moans, and smug satisfaction spreads through me.
“Why aren’t you kissing me?” She tilts her head to the side, offering me more of her neck. “Why aren’t you touching me?”
A part of me still can’t believe I can kiss her and touch her. She is mine. We are married in the eyes of the people, in a union blessed bythe fates. But when I kiss and touch her now, it would bemyvow to her that I am hers—body and soul.
I want it to be good for her—so good—but a part of me snarls like a beast, urging me to claim her, to mark her as mine. The ferocity of my desire unsettles me, warring with my instinct to protect her ... even from me.
I have to get this right. This might be our last time. I have to show her what she means to me.
“Iamkissing you.” I plant a line of kisses on her jawline until I reach her stubborn, perfect chin and move up the other side. And I slide my hands down her back, the cool silk of her gown warming under my hot palms. “Iamtouching you.”
She squirms at my teasing touch and presses her body harder against mine. I groan, burning for her. I am a nervous, snarling mess, but I need to have her.
Please gods, let me get this right.
Heart thumping with nerves and anticipation, I kiss my way up her jaw and hover my lips a breath away from hers. “I love you, Sunny.”
“I love you, Ethan.” Her sweet breath tickles my lips, and my mouth waters, wanting to taste her. “Are you going to kiss me? Or do I have to do everything around here?”
I pull her flush against me and kiss her like a man starved. I greedily lick the curve of her smile.Mine.Her smile, her lips, her eager fingers digging into my shoulders ...All mine.
She pushes up to her toes with a whimper, and I all but lose my mind. I fist my hand in her hair and tilt her head to the side, so I can plunge my tongue deeper into her mouth to taste her properly. A groan rumbles in my chest when her tongue tangles with mine and her teeth scrape against it.
