are more intense. Words spoken between us are more than just words. They can be lethal—sharp as the world’s strongest blade—but they can also heal as they take all that pain away and leave no scar. A simple touch isn’t just a brush of a hand. It feels like there’s power in that touch that makes your hair stand on end and your body tingle like it’s coming alive in a whole new way. If you don’t know if the person you’re with is the one, then they’re not the one. From the moment I met her, deep down, I knew she was the one. It’s always and has only ever been her.
Her hand moves up, her fingers threading into my hair as she tugs at it, breaking our kiss. “Take me to bed, Matthew.”
Still holding her body against me, I turn and walk out of the water, then into the house, with water dripping off our bodies. I carry her into the bedroom and kick the door closed between us. Then we both fall into bed, the blankets sticking to our wet bodies. But neither of us cares about the bed. All that matters is that we’re together from now until the end of our days. And I know that even that won’t stop us. Wherever I go, heaven or hell, I’ll be waiting with open arms for her to come running into them after taking her last breath. Love isn’t just an earthly feeling. It’s eternal. It will follow me to the heights of heaven or the depths of hell—always perfect, whole, unscathed.
I push into her and she welcomes me with fire, but it doesn’t burn and it isn’t painful. No, this is the heat—the passion—of our love. It’s as hot as molten lava and as real as anything you can reach out and touch. These aren’t just chemicals in our brains. It’s not just some emotion we can’t see, feel, or taste. Our love soaks into all of our senses. It makes touching one another feel heavenly. It makes the flavor of our wedding cake sweeter. And as I push into her, the sounds of our love fill the room.
Our week in paradise goes by in a perfect flash. How I wish we could stay locked up here forever. As I pack our things into the boat, she stands back, looking over the place like she’s leaving her heart behind.
“We’ll come back,” I promise her.
“I know.” She smiles. “Every time we have to go, it just gets harder to leave this piece of perfection behind.”
“Well, it’s ours now. Are there any changes you want to make? Expand, paint, remodel?”
Her head whips around to stare me down as she frowns. “No way. This place is classic and timeless. It’s like it’s locked away, guarded from time and change. It’s perfect.”
I smile at her words. “All right, everything is packed up. You ready to hit the water?”
“No,” she says, dragging her feet on the way to the dock, making me laugh.
“I have another surprise for you.”
She smiles now. “You do?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Tell me!”
I laugh as I pick her up against me and set her in the boat. “No way. What fun would that be? It’s a surprise.”
She frowns as she sits down and crosses her arms over her chest. “I hate surprises.”
“No, you don’t,” I argue.
“Well, this time I do.”
“You really want to know?”
Her arms uncross now and she sits up, giving me her blinding smile as she nods.
I pull out my phone and pull up the pictures of the house I purchased. I turn it around so she can see the screen. “I bought us a new house, just outside the city.”
Her mouth drops open and her eyes widen. “You did?”
I shrug as I flip through the pictures for her. “I thought it would be nice to have a place that’s just ours—a brand-new home where we can build our story. You know, in case we want children or land. We’ll have a master suite with a walk-in closet, and a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. There are three more bedrooms for future children, or we can turn them into other things. No matter what we want in life, we’ll have the room for it.”
She smiles wide and throws herself into my lap, giggling and kissing me. I’m lost in her, and any thought of leaving doesn’t even register as I hold her against me.
“So you like it?” I ask around our kiss.
She smiles and nods, but doesn’t stop kissing