He half smiles, half catches his lip between his teeth. “So sexy.”

Seth draws his body closer to mine and my back grazes against the rocks with every thrust, sending new waves of lust through me. He begins to groan and swear under his breath with every second thrust. I can tell by his face and his erratic movements that he’s close.

“Fuck, baby,” Seth grips my shoulder, pulling me off the edge of the pool and right into him. I manage a sharp intake of air before he slams his mouth to mine and the moment our tongues rush to entwine, he groans harshly, crushing me to him. His hips move in an unsteady rhythm, his fingers digging roughly into my flesh. I hear his growls soften and eventually die down to relieved moans and satiated sighs. As my own waves of bliss begin to fade, the mere thought of snuggling up to Seth in bed sounds like an amazing idea.

His mouth slips from mine and he nuzzles my neck, kissing it softly. When his grip on me loosens, I slip away from him, planting my feet on the floor of the pool. I attempt to pass him, to leave the water and gather my dress, but before I get anywhere, he grabs my elbow and pulls me right back to him. His lips part, drawing my gaze, and he purses them in thought.

“Are you okay?” I ask, confused.

“Yeah, I just—” He almost smiles, but behind the smile I see the frustration. “It can wait.”

I feel my brows draw together. “You sure?”

He seemed pretty conflicted a second ago, but now all traces of it are gone.

“Positive.”

He releases me and I linger for a few seconds before continuing my way to the steps.

When I emerge from the water, the warm air is suddenly cool and unwanted. I glance over my shoulder at Seth. He’s completely submerged himself under the water and by the time he resurfaces, I’ve already slipped my dress over my body. It clings to my wet skin as I lean lazily against the fence with my hands tucked tightly underneath my armpits in an effort to warm them.

I blink a few times in order to stay awake. My eyes threaten to shut and the only thing keeping them open is the stunning mass of muscle that rises from the pool. I swear my world goes slo-mo while I watch him roughly rake his fingers through his hair, making it look all disheveled and sexy. That’s not all that caught my attention, either. My eyes roam his perfect form—like they did the first time I ever laid eyes on him. ‘My mouth goes dry and I want to run my lips over his moist throat. I’m suddenly aware of a strange, searing heat across the back of my neck and an electrical current I’ve never felt before tingles.’ I smile. It’s nice to see nothing has changed. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to his unadulterated perfection.

“Keep looking at me like that and I’ll take you for round two.”

I push off the fence and lick my bottom lip. It feels cold and numb. I really hope it’s not blue. “We have to get up early tomorrow, remember?”

He shrugs. “If we miss it, we’ll book another flight.” He smiles a cocky smile. “I’m sure it’ll be worth it.”

I bend over, pulling Seth’s shirt off the ground and tossing it to him. “I’ve never been on a plane before and I’m excited, so, if you make me miss it, I’m going to kill you.”

He ditches the shirt and reaches for his jeans, putting one leg in after the other. He pulls them up and buttons them low on his hips. As he finishes, he extends his hand to me and I take it. My skin warms up in his and I can’t wait to get upstairs and have his entire body heat radiate onto me.

In Seth’s room, I dump the dress in the bathroom and quickly run a towel over my body, drying up all of the little beads of water that are chilling me down to my bones.

I drop the towel and stalk back into the bedroom, stopping halfway to the bed. My eyes widen a fraction as they settle on Seth and all of his damp glory casually lying in the bed.

“You’re wet.”

Wet is a little bit of an exaggeration. The air had almost dried him completely before we got into the house, save for a small spattering of drops over his chest and arms.

He flashes me another one of those smiles. “I believe that’s my line.”

I try not to smile, but I’m sure the awkward pout on my lips as I shake my head had already given away the fact that I want to.

Seth chuckles as he rolls the sheets down to his naked hips. “Get in here.”

I rapidly rush to the light switch and flick it off before diving into bed. Seth’s arms circle me, immediately drawing me into him and my chest flutters.

I like this.

I like the way we’re connecting. When we were fighting and lying in the bed, ignoring each other, I felt empty and I never want to feel like that again. With Blade, I fell asleep alone and angry more times than I can count…that’s not a relationship. What we had was an inconvenient routine I couldn’t shake and I’ll be damned if I let another relationship go down that path. When I’m in bed with Seth, I want to touch him—to feel his skin against mine. I want to feel overwhelmed by love—so overwhelmed that it exhausts me and I fall asleep in his arms. That is a relationship. That is love.

Seth buries his face in my damp hair and kisses me. “I love you,” he whispers and it makes my heart stutter.

As silly as it sounds, I forget he loves me. It’s hard to believe someone who walks around commanding so much attention with his acute cockiness, hard muscles, and tattoos would ever let someone like me to bring him to his knees—and make no mistake, I bring him to his knees. I bring him to his knees, hard.

I shuffle backwards, pressing my body harder into his. “I love you, too.”

In the silence that follows, I think about our trip to California. I’ve never been on a plane before—I’ve always wanted to go on one, but believe it or not, I was a very dedicated worker before Seth came along. I never took a day off for anything. I don’t know what happened…Seth stalked into my life and scrambled my internal wiring. Since then, I haven’t been the same and I’m okay with that. When you meet someone who makes your entire body buzz with only a curl of their lips, you can’t escape it. You become drawn to it, forgetting everything that’s supposed to matter to you. Seth became my sun and I gravitated around him—I still do, and like the sun, there’s still so much to learn about Seth. I know he’s big and beautiful, but I also know he’s fiery and unpredictable. In California, I think I’m going to be seeing a lot more of the fiery, negative Seth. He’s always moody when it comes to his mother—or at least he was when I first met him. He was always in the gym, punching out his frustrations.

His mother, Vanessa, is a very hard woman to read. I’ve only met her once and on both occasions she was drunk off her ass, both confusing and frustrating me with her violent mood swings, not to mention the fact she calls me by a different girl’s name every time I see her. A nervous feeling twists my stomach. Vanessa’s going to be mad Seth had her sent away…maybe I can sit out visiting her? No. I can’t do that. Seth will need my support and that’s why I’m going…

For him.

The need for sleep fades and I find myself wide awake long after Seth’s breathing evens out and my body bears the weight of his arm. His breathing is slow and heavy, sounding totally at peace. I wish the sudden bout of anxious nausea would go away so I can sleep. The last thing I want is to look like crap visiting Seth’s mom tomorrow. I want her to like me—to think I’m worthy of her son. Hell, I’ll even go as far as to say I want her to be proud of Seth for finding a girl like me. I’m not one to brag, but comparing myself to Cassie (the girl Seth slept with before me), I’m a catch. Sure she was hot, but she’s hardly the kind of girl you can bring home to your Mama—not unless you want to be accused of hiring a date from an expensive escort service.

Seth sighs sleepily, pulling me from my thoughts, and I stifle a yawn as sleep slowly claims me. I shift forward, hoping to roll onto my stomach, but Seth’s hand clenches my stomach, holding me in place. I smile. Even in his sleep he has to have me close.

I wish he’d ask me to marry him already. I know that’s what he’s been trying to do for the past few weeks. Only one question makes a guy that nervous. Seth is uncensored. He says what he wants when he wants and I find it cute that he’s scared of my response. I don’t know why, surely he knows it’s going to be yes—a million times yes! I’m impatient. I want him to be all mine. I want his last name—to carry his children—you name it, I want it.

And all he has to do is ask.

***

I lean lazily against his car and yawn as Seth pays the meter. Apparently, you can leave your car at the airport, who knew? I’d never do it, not these days, anyway. Seth, however, has no problems leaving his car. He doesn’t have to, though. Jackson offered to drop us off and pick us up, but Seth insisted we do it alone. Not surprising, he’s never been one to want help.

After he pays, we enter the airport, do all of the lame, time-consuming obligations like waiting in line and checking in as well as waiting an hour and half before we can even board the gigantic plane. As I sit in the plane awaiting take off, my pulse quickens. It sped up when we arrived at the airport, it quickened even more when we had our necessary IDs checked and it was violently slamming against my ribs as we boarded the plane. Through it all, Seth rubbed my lower back and gave me small squeezes of reassurance and it helped, a little.

Flying to another state is exhausting—the packing, the early morning, the driving, the waiting—it’s all too much. Beside me, Seth shifts closer, putting his hand on mine.

“Relax,” he tells me, giving a slight lopsided smirk. “There can’t be two anxious messes on the plane.”

I study his face and the slow rise and fall of his chest. Neither betrayed any sign of the anxiousness he apparently feels inside.

“You don’t like flying?”

“God, no. I’d much rather have both my feet firmly planted on the ground, but sometimes, we have to do things we hate.” His smirk widens. “And this is one of those things.”

A tall, lanky stewardess with beautiful auburn hair slips by us and strolls into a small room at the front of the plane.

“Try not to freak out or they’ll throw you off the plane.”

I lean into him, whispering. “What? They’ll kick me off? Just like that?”

Seth is enjoying this. The amused expression on his face says so and he licks his lips to hide a smile. “Yep, so behave.”

I relax back into my seat and try to come off as uncaring and cool, but I can’t help tapping my fingertips along the hem of my skirt, occasionally touching my bare thigh. Seth chose my outfit for today—a tight, black business skirt and a light pink silk blouse with a frilly collar. I planned on saving this outfit for dinner if we go out, but Seth couldn’t wait that long to see me in it and demanded I wear it today. I’d be happier in a pair of sweatpants and a plain tee. Isn’t that what people wear on planes? Comfortable clothes?

I drag in a deep inhale and reach to open the window. We aren’t in the sky yet, but I figure if I face my fear head on and watch our ascent, then I’ll be ready for the flight. Before my fingers curl around the handle of the blind, Seth whips across, grabbing my wrist. I gasp as he pulls my hand away from it.

“Settle down, daredevil.” He chuckles. “You might want to conquer your fears, but I’m fine hiding from mine.” He lets me go. “Please don’t open the blind.”

Am I trying to hide a skeptical smile? I think I am. “You’re that scared? I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

He nods his head, unashamed. “Yes, I am that scared. We’re going to be very, very high up—tens of thousands of feet—and I don’t care how beautiful it is, it’s a sight I never want to see.”

I’m itching to open the blinds now. I want to see the clouds…my thoughts of the fluffy white clouds are interrupted by the pilot’s voice. I barely pay attention to what he’s saying. All I can focus on is the erratic pulse of my heart. A few minutes and a dozen safety announcements later, we’re racing down the runway and officially on our way to California.

***

(T-minus two days until Las Vegas)

My body is charged with excitement and a sense of self-accomplishment as we drive away from the airport in an SUV Seth rented. I went on an airplane for the first time! I don’t care how childish I sound, it was amazing and when Seth went to the toilet, I even peeked out the window.

Seamless. Serene. Surreal.

Those are the only words I have to describe what I saw. I want to see it again and I want to take photos of it, to remember exactly how perfect it was. I pull down the visor and check my hair in the mirror, not bad considering I was squishing it against the headrest of a chair for a couple of hours.

I peek sideways at Seth, his eyes focus on the road and I notice his hands grip the steering wheel off and on again, over and over.

“Nervous?” I ask, placing a hand on his jean-clad thigh.

He drops his hand from the steering wheel and takes my hand in his. Strangely, the gesture sends a million and one flutters up my arm and directly into my chest.

“I don’t know.” He moistens his lips and keeps his gaze out the front windscreen. “This can go really well…or it can be a total fuck up.”

“If it goes well?” I wonder aloud.

“We’ll take her home with us.”

“And if it’s a fuck up?”

He ponders for a second and his jaw clenches imperceptibly. “She stays.”

I analyze his face. He doesn’t like that idea and I can tell he’s conflicted. He wants to bring his mother home, but not until she’s better and I pray for his sake that she is.