Chapter 51
SERA
T he boat pulled up to the island under the midday sun, and I grabbed Killian’s arm. “It’s even more beautiful in person.”
He smiled. “Wait until you see the inside.”
Killian paid the boat driver, who would be bringing us most of what we needed from the mainland over the next few months, and helped me out onto the dock.
The boards didn’t even creak under my feet.
The wind whipped my hair. I stared at the lush trees showing glimpses of our villa near the pristine white sand beaches. This was my home! It seemed impossible.
The boat pulled away, and Killian hefted our two suitcases. “What would you like to do first?”
I looked my incredible husband up and down. “A tour, I think.”
He chuckled. “I should have known the lady of the house would want to see what I picked out for her.”
My heart sang. So long ago, the title had been all I had from him.
Now, I had his last name, his ring, and the promise we were going to fill this house to bursting with our family.
I couldn’t imagine asking for more. I kicked off my sandals and let the silky sand slip between my toes.
Killian hesitated, then did the same. Finally, we reached the edge of the trees, and he dropped the bags.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He smiled. “Threshold.”
I laughed delightedly and let him scoop me into his arms. Who was this romantic? Where had he been hiding back in Philly? I pillowed my head against his chest and tucked my feet in a little uselessly as he stepped in through the wide front door.
Inside, everything was stunning. Light poured in through every window, dappled green through the thick jungle leaves outside.
The kitchen begged for late-night baking.
The dining room anticipated huge dinner parties and homework in equal measure.
The guest bedrooms I’d made suggestions about all looked perfect, and they had everything short of names on the door to welcome our friends when they finally came to visit.
He even set up the beginning of a garden in the back, empty pots and boxes just waiting to be planted.
Killian had kept many of the details secret from me—half because he wanted to surprise me, and I suspected half because I was too busy planning the wedding—but it was perfect.
I threw my arms around him. “I love it.”
“Are you sure?” He held me close. “We can change anything you want. Enrique is going to be coming about once a week, so getting furniture in from the mainland isn’t that difficult.”
I kissed him. “I think I would’ve picked out most of the same pieces.”
“I tried to remember what you said, all those times you dragged me furniture shopping.”
“I thought you blocked those out of your memory?” I laughed.
He shrugged, a little sheepish, like he didn’t know how to admit just how much thought he’d put into the place. My whole body hummed with excitement.
“I might make one suggestion though.” I led him through the open, bright space to the room right next to our bedroom and opened the door. “What do you think about turning this into a nursery?”
He dipped me into a hungry kiss. “We’ll put the order together this week.”
After a quick lunch, Killian lay on a comfy chair inside a blue and white striped canopy tent with a thick thriller novel.
I sauntered out in the tiniest bikini I’d ever worn, more string than fabric.
Olivia had found it on one of our many preparatory shopping trips and insisted I buy it.
I walked up to Killian and held out a tube of sunscreen.
“Help?”
He looked up, and his gaze darkened. “I thought we talked about the need for clothes here.”
“All right.” I smiled and untied the bikini, letting it drop to the sand. “Then I really need help with sunscreen.”
“The spray kind will be quicker..” He set his book down, stood, and stripped out of his own bathing suit before spraying both of us with a bottle of sunscreen he’d had sitting next to him.
My pulse hammered in my core. I preferred my sunscreen, but I couldn’t deny him when he looked like that, when we were spending the first day of our forever together, when he was already half-hard just seeing me on our private beach.
I dropped my sunscreen beside my swimsuit and walked into the ocean without another word.
He followed me. The water licked at my feet, my ankles, my shins. It was warm and welcoming, just like Killian’s arm around my bare hips.
“I could get used to this,” he said as we stopped in waist-high water.
I turned to him, and he looked like some ancient artist’s Poseidon, all stormy eyes and salt-slicked hair. “Me too.”
He kissed me, and I molded myself to him. The water coaxed me to float, so wrapping my legs around his waist came naturally. As naturally as his hands on my breasts, hungry and possessive. I ground my core against him and swallowed down a groan.
Killian kissed the column of my throat. “None of that. You never have to be quiet here.”
I moaned his name. We never had to be quiet, never had to be scared.
The freedom suddenly overwhelmed me. It was almost intoxicating.
I reached between us and stroked him to his full length.
He groaned at my touch. When he was ready, I lined him up with my entrance and slid him inside in one sinuous motion.
I barely recognized the sound that slipped from my lips with the sheer pleasure of fullness.
Killian began thrusting, his mouth on my salty skin leaving a line of warmth in his wake.
Nothing to hide anymore. The bikini had been a silly instinct, a game we’d left behind.
There was nothing but endless love here.
Killian fucked me with the rhythm of the waves, slow and easy. We had time for the endless hunger. One orgasm rolled through me, and on the crest of the next, he clutched me closer.
“I love you,” he said as he came with me.
I grinned, and everything felt right in the world.
That night, I walked into the bedroom still naked, having finally remembered to grab my bikini off the beach.
Killian pulled items out of our suitcases and set up the bathroom.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed the bare expanse of his back.
He pulled my birth control pills from the toiletry bag and met my gaze in the mirror.
The choice was easy. I plucked them from his fingers and dropped them in the trash, not even sure why I’d brought them. He turned to me with a smile and kissed me again as he led me toward the bed.