Page 88 of Earned Husband

“I’m notthattraditional,” I whispered before sealing my mouth over his and taking his hand to place it at the zipper on the side of my dress. “Tonight is ours. It’s a celebration of us and our future together, the promises we’ve already made and those that will come. You’re mine now, Colin Thayer.”

His lips curved into a teasing smirk. “I think what you meant to say is that you’remine.”

All his doubts and uncertainty seemed to fade then. He walked us backward to my bed. His mouth was back on mine a moment later, kissing me until I’d forgotten my own name. He stopped when the backs of my knees brushed against the mattress. His fingers stirred at my side until he got a grip on the flat metal tab of my zipper.

He pulled it down slowly, holding the side of my neck and not lifting his mouth away from mine even once as he slid it toward my hip. I’d never been so grateful to a designer for not including hundreds of pretty but fiddly little buttons on the dress.

This one was as easy access as they came, which was fabulous tonight. While Colin slid down that one, simple zipper holding my bodice in place, I finally pushed the jacket off his shoulders and let it drop the floor.

With only a soft rustle of fabric sliding down, it was gone and I moved onto his pants, making quick work of them. I stepped out of my shoes and felt him doing the same. In no time at all, I was standing in front of him left in only my panties, the dress in a pool around my feet after just a few gentle tugs.

Colin was down to his underwear and shirt, so I brought my hands up to the buttons running in a line down the center of his torso and undid them one by one. He still hadn’t stopped kissing me, but he was patient too, not trying to push me back on the bed or sliding a hand into my panties as I worked on his shirt.

Once it was open, I pushed it off and took the tiniest of steps forward, sealing my body against his now that there was almost nothing left between us. His skin felt fiery hot against my own, the evidence of his arousal very much making itself known against my stomach.

I smiled against his lips, pushing my hands into that dark hair the way I’d been itching to do for weeks and holding him to me. Colin groaned when I tugged a little, then suddenly started moving us both toward the bed.

Since we’d already been right there, he only had to push me down and climb on after me. The weight of him pushing me into the mattress was nothing short of delicious. I finally got to feel him on top of me, and while it was embarrassing to even think about how many times I’d fantasized about this, the reality was infinitely better.

Colin was hard in all the right places but not bulky or uncomfortably so. His body fitted against mine like it’d been built for that exact purpose, the two of us made for beingtogether just like this. The mere thought of it made me tremble and he smiled against my lips.

“You still doing okay?” he asked between feverish kisses. “We can get under the covers if you want.”

“Nope. I’m perfect.” I finally broke away from him, pulling back far enough to look squarely into his eyes. “I want to see you. I can’t do that if you’re hidden under all my sheets.”

“All of them?” He let out a soft, breathy chuckle. “Just how many do you have?”

“Too many to make this as easy as I want it to be.” I pushed at his shoulders to let him know that I wanted him to roll onto his back. “I’m switching the light on, too.”

As I said it, I reached for the switch of the lamp on my nightstand and flicked it on. Colin blinked a couple times at the sudden intrusion of light but then finally rolled off me. “I didn’t know part of the engagement celebrations was a physical inspection.”

“Oh, it is,” I joked. “It’s a real thorough one, too.”

“I can get behind that idea if it’s a two-way street.”

“Everything in our marriage will be,” I promised, bringing my eyes up to meet his as I let the humor drop for a second. As much as I enjoyed that he and I could laugh together even in the heat of the moment, I was also serious about this and I wanted him to know that. “We’ll be partners in every sense of the word, Colin. At least, that’s what I would like.”

He held my gaze, the look in his eyes suddenly a dozen times more intense. “Yeah, it’s what I want too.”

“Good.” I let the moment stretch for another beat, then smiled. “Ready, set, inspect.”

He laughed, but as soon as I broke my gaze away from his, every sound of amusement faded. Strangely, I wasn’t feeling particularly self-conscious, despite being mostly naked in front of him for the first time and sitting next to him on the mattress.

Instead, I found the idea of him being able to look at almost every inch of me, and doing it openly, a bit of a turn-on. It helped that I could see the slight flush spreading on his chest and way the strong muscles in his thighs flexed instinctively, like he was trying to physically control himself.

Soon enough, however, I stopped even thinking about what he was looking at and focused on my own staring instead. All along, I’d known Colin was gorgeous and I’d suspected he would look just as good without his clothes, but holy hell, I hadn’t been expecting this.

All that golf and whatever workout routine he’d mentioned in his letter sure seemed to be working for him. The man was all toned, lean muscle and definition, the sharp V between his hips making me itch to free his erection from his underwear, but I wanted to savor this moment.

Colin let out a soft sound as I ran my gaze across the plane of his broad chest and back up to his eyes. When I looked at his face again, I realized he was focused on the wet patch on my panties. My cheeks flooded with heat, but I didn’t shy away from his gaze.

I hadn’t expected him to see that, but he hadn’t done anything to hide how turned on he was, so I let him look until he brought those eyes back up to mine. As soon as our gazes clashed, we were both moving again, meeting each other for a kiss that only ended once we’d both kicked our underwear off and I was tucked underneath him again.

Colin looked deep into my eyes, the heavy heat of his erection resting against my upper thigh. “We need a condom if you’re still sure you want to do this.”

“I’m sure,” I whispered, aching to feel him inside me. “Have you got one?”

“In my pocket, but I’m not sure where my pants have gone.”