“Lace, it’s not. Do people wear this stuff?”

I chuckle at her wonder and indicate a crowd of hardcore clubbers passing by. But, really, all this stuff that’s got Ava’s mouth hanging open is tame. I look past her as she walks on, seeing she’s mindlessly heading toward the adult department. I’m too curious to stop her. She takes the steps, oblivious, and the moment she realizes what’s surrounding her, she stops still.

I restrain my smile as I take it all in too, the dancers, the cabinets loaded with toys, the music booming. It’s nothing like The Manor.

Ava looks up at me, and her face is a picture of astonishment that she’s trying so hard to hide. “Shocked?” I ask.

“Ish.”

I laugh inside. That was a big ish. But I need her to know, this isn’t my idea of sexy. “It’s a bit over the top, isn’t it?” I take her hand and lead her to a cabinet.

“Wow,” she gasps, and I smile at the huge dildo that has her attention, dipping to her ear.

“Don’t get excited. You don’t need one of those.”

“I don’t know,” she muses. “It looks like it could be fun.”

I bolt upright. No. I am not being sacrificed for a toy. “Ava, I’ll die before you use one of those.” I say it as it is, shuddering at the thought of something else, whether it be a man, woman, or a toy, giving her pleasure. That’s my job, and I take it very seriously, especially since she’s always so flexible during the throes of our passion. “I’m not sharing you with anyone or anything, even battery-operated devices.”

She bursts into laughter, and the sound is heaven.

“I might stretch to some handcuffs, though,” I say thoughtfully, and she smiles. Ava cuffed to my bed? It would be amazing.

“This doesn’t turn you on, does it?” she says, finally asking what she’s been desperate to ask since I let her stumble in here.

I take her in my hold and get us moving. “There’s only one thing in this world that turns me on,” I whisper into her hair. “And I love her in lace.”

Love. I love her in lace. I love her in my bed. I love her full stop. Did she hear that?

“Take me home,” she says, looking at me with aching eyes.

I kiss her, simply because I can’t not kiss her. “Are you making demands?”

“Yes. You’ve not been inside me for too long. It’s not acceptable.”

Jesus, those words. Make love to her. Take her to paradise. Then talk to her.