“You’re gonna give me a big ego,” he said.

“You? I’m the one getting married to the sexiest man alive. My ego’s big as this house and getting bigger all the time.”

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you, baby,” he said, “but I’m glad I did it.”

No more laughing. Paulina wasn’t even smiling. She was dead serious when she met his eyes and said, “I love you.”

“I love you, too. And you’re gonna let me show you how much, right?”

She inhaled slow and exhaled even slower. He knew this was hard for her. Whether she’d ever done it before had nothing to do with it. She’d never done this with him. He slid his hands up and down her thighs again, and when he reached her knees, he pushed them apart.

Paulina didn’t put up any resistance. If she had, even for a second, he might have put a stop to it all. But she didn’t. He pushed and she spread her legs like she wanted to do it as much as he wanted it done.

Then it was done. He stared down at her beautiful body lying open for him in the lamplight. The soft dark curls, the slit just starting to open, the little bit of pink and red showing through.

“You better say something,” Paulina said.

“I’m speechless.”

“That’ll do.”

Cyrus slid down on top of her again, chest to her breasts, arms around her back, kissing her mouth with lips and tongue and love and need and twice of everything all over again. The way she kissed him now…he realized she’d been holding back with him. Before, her kisses had been sweet and tender, sometimes deep. But never like this. Never desperate.

Paulina lifted her hips and rubbed against him. Even through his jeans, he felt her heat. It wasn’t enough. He had to touch her. He slid his hand slowly down and up her arm, over her breasts and down her belly. Finally, he pressed his hands between her thighs, cradling her in his palm.

She buried her head into the crook of his neck and shoulder as he held her there, soaking in the wet warmth against his skin. But she didn’t close her legs. In fact, she opened up a little wider for him and lifted herself into his palm. He had to touch her and she had to be touched. With only one finger, he started to stroke her along the slit. She was wet and swollen. He’d almost forgotten how good it was to make a woman feel this way.

Almost.

As he stroked her, spreading the folds, he felt Paulina’s fingernails digging lightly into his shoulders as she clung to him, breathing hard.

“It’s all right, baby,” he said. “I got you.”

She nodded against his chest. It was happening again, that sense of complete and utter calm he’d felt earlier. He had one job and that job was to take care of Paulina. That he could do and would do for the rest of his life.