I swallowed hard. “We can’t get married tomorrow.”
“We can,” he said emphatically, “and we will. I need it, Eva. I need the vows, the legality … I’m going crazy without them.”
I felt the world spinning, like I was on one of those fun-house barrel rides that revolve so fast you’re stuck to the wall with centrifugal force when the floor drops away from your feet. “It’s too soon,” I protested.
“You can say that to me after the flight over?” he snapped. “You f**king own me, Eva. I’ll be damned if I don’t own you back.”
“I can’t breathe,” I gasped, inexplicably panicked.
Gideon rolled, pulling me on top of him, his arms banding around me. Possessing me. “You want this,” he insisted. “You love me.”
“I do, yes.” I dropped my forehead to his chest. “But you’re rushing into—”
“You think I’d ask you this on the fly? For God’s sake, Eva, you know me better than that. I’ve been planning this for weeks. It’s all I’ve thought about.”
“Gideon … we can’t just run off and elope.”
“The hell we can’t.”
“What about our families? Or friends?”
“We’ll get married again for them. I want that, too.” He brushed the wet hair off my cheek. “I want pictures of us in the newspapers, magazines … everywhere. But that will take months. I can’t wait that long. This is for us. We don’t have to tell anyone, if you don’t want. We can call it an engagement. It can be our secret.”
I stared at him, not knowing what to say. His urgency was both romantic and terrifying.
“I asked your dad,” he went on, shocking me all over again. “He didn’t have any—”
“What? When?”
“When he was in town. I had an opportunity and I took it.”
For some reason, that hurt. “He didn’t tell me.”
“I told him not to. Told him it wasn’t going to happen right away. That I was still working on getting you back. I recorded it, so you can listen to the conversation if you don’t believe me.”
I blinked down at him. “You recorded it?” I repeated.
“I wasn’t leaving anything to chance,” he said unapologetically.
“You told him it wouldn’t be right away. You lied to him.”
His smile was razor sharp. “I didn’t lie. It’s been a few days.”
“Oh my God. You’re crazy.”
“Possibly. If so, you’ve made me this way.” He pressed a hard kiss to my cheek. “I can’t live without you, Eva. I can’t even imagine trying. Just the thought makes me insane.”
“This is insane.”
“Why?” He frowned. “You know there’s no one else for either of us. What are you waiting for?”
Arguments rushed through my mind. Every reason we should wait, every possible pitfall seemed crystal clear. But nothing came out of my mouth.
“I’m not giving you any options here,” he said decisively, twisting up and standing with me cradled in his arms. “We’re doing this, Eva. Enjoy your last remaining hours as a single woman.”
“GIDEON,” I gasped, my head thrashing as the orgasm poured through me.
His sweat dripped onto my chest, his h*ps tireless as he stroked his magnificent penis into me over and over, rolling and thrusting, shallow then deep.