I nod, mind made up. “I mean it. No more rules.”
But I don’t know what their dissolution means or where we go from here. This first step is terrifying enough.
“God, I’ve been waiting for you to say that.” Thomas exhales shakily as he stares down at me, searching my gaze. “You weren’t wrong to put them in place, though. I know you did it to protect yourself. And I’m not…I’m not going to ask you to break them forever.”
I frown, my pounding heart sinking like a stone. Is herejectingme? Is this what I get for finally laying out my desires for him to see?
Thomas squeezes my hips before I can dive headfirst into a spiral of doubt. “What I mean is…I think we owe it to ourselves to finish what we started back in Vegas. But only for tonight.”
“I don’t—” I’m still not quite following what he means. “I don’t understand.”
“I want a night with you,” he says. “The night we were supposed to have before we decided to rush off and get married. After that, we go back to following the rules. But I think we need this. There’s this…”
“Tension,” I finish for him. “And it’s fucking suffocating.”
“It is.” He brushes his nose against mine, eyes closing for a moment. I can imagine the ache settling heavily in his chest, because it’s doing the same in mine. “Do you want that, Stella?”
I hesitate. Not because I don’t want it but because my heart has decided it wantsmorethan that. But it’s not allowed to run the show, and he’s given me a solution to the problem that’s been driving me mad.
We can both get what we want without suffering the consequences of entanglement. It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card, a no-strings-attached agreement. Tomorrow, we’ll have this out ofour systems, the need to find out what could have happened that night finally satiated. The novelty will be gone and we can move on from it. It’s a perfect plan.
At least, that’s what I tell myself, even though it rings as a lie.
“One night?” I repeat, but my mind’s already made up.
Thomas nods. “One night.”
I take a breath and slip my hand into his. “Then we’d better make it count.”
Chapter 28
Stella
“If this is going to be a re-creation of Vegas,” Thomas says, “then we’re going to need a bottle of whiskey.”
Laughing, I cling tighter to his hand, practically running to keep up with his long, hurried strides on the decked pathway to our bungalow. “Whiskey is what led to us getting married,” I remind him. “Maybe we avoid that.”
Besides, I’m warm from the last round of drinks we had at the bar, ordered so we could toast to our agreement—and for a last hit of liquid courage. It’s loosened us up and taken away the pressure of the situation. I’m giddy instead of nervous for the night ahead. And while this isn’t how I expected to finish out the year, it feels fitting. We can have this indulgence and then leave it in the past.
Thomas makes a sound of grudging agreement as he slows, giving me a chance to catch up so he can pull me to him. I go willingly, our chests flush as his hands drop to my waist.
“You’re probably right,” he murmurs, eyes darker in the illumination of the pathway. “We’ll have enough fun without it.”
“Oh yeah?” I taunt. “Can you promise that?”
“I can’t believe you’d doubt me, Stella.” Hetsks and dips his head, his lips finding my jaw, nipping at my skin in punishment. “You already know I can make you feel good.”
I absolutely do, and a shiver runs down my spine at the memory of him touching me at the strip club. “I’m going to need you to prove it to me again.”
“Gladly, sweetheart.”
I let out a squeal of surprise when he tosses me over his shoulder, his hand gripping my ass to keep me from falling off. “What are youdoing?”
“You’re too slow in those heels,” he says. “And I’m done wasting time. I want to fuck my wife.”
He’s a liar—I’m a champion in heels—but I’ll let him have this excuse to touch me. Besides, time’s ticking. We’re only a couple of hours away from midnight—a few more from sunrise. When dawn comes, this is all over. I want to get my fill before then.
So I slap his ass in reply and grin as his laugh mixes with the sound of gently lapping waves on the beach.
