him inside me, like he knows every inch of my soul. “And I’m sorry I told you the way I did.”
“Please, Tai. Don’t be.” I give him a reassuring smile. “It was the greatest thing I ever heard; nothing can ruin that for me.”
“I wanted…” he trails off, licks his lips. “I wanted to tell you earlier, but I was so afraid you wouldn’t feel the same way. I wanted to be sure. I thought I could just keep it inside until I knew how you felt. And then I realized, in a way it didn’t matter how you felt, because I knew how I did. And the fact that I’m in love with you…it means I’m not a broken man. It means I’m living life again. I’m ready for a life with you.”
Oh no. More emotional tears are threatening my eyes.
I swallow, wrapped up in his sincerity.
He goes on, running his thumb over my lips. “You know that Soundgarden song, Rusty Cage?”
I nod. Not sure where this is going.
“That’s what I’ve been living with all these years. For far too long. I’ve had this rusty cage in my chest, and I got so used to it, I never even bothered to see if it could open. But you opened it, Daisy. You not only opened it, you ripped the cage right out of my chest.” He swallows thickly. “I feel like a free man now. I owe it all to you. Wonderful, beautiful, unforgettable you.”
I sniff, reaching up and wiping away a tear. “You have to stop making me cry, Tai.”
He places a kiss at my neck, running his hand down to his cock and positioning it between my legs.
“Only if I can keep making you come.”
I don’t even have to answer that.
He pushes inside me, to the hilt, the breath expelled from my lungs, and then he’s rocking into me, slowly, carefully, a lazy kind of rhythm.
I dig my nails into his back, holding him as close to me as possible, not wanting to have any distance between us. He returns in kind by pistoning his hips against mine, his cock driving inside me in short thrusts, keeping us as connected as possible.
The orgasm takes us both by surprise. He cries out softly, his brow furrowed in concentration, then release, pumping inside me. I am weightless once again, calling out his name, holding him tight.
His pumping slows. Sweat drips off his forehead and onto me.
He rolls over onto the bed and then takes me by the shoulders, pulling me on to him.
I lay my head on his chest as it rises and falls, both of us catching our breath, our hands entwined.
For a moment I think I’ve fallen asleep and when I open my eyes, I’m shocked to see where I am. Not on the island. In a hotel room, in Fiji, safe in his arms.
“Daisy,” he whispers.
“I’m here.”
“It sounds completely selfish, but I wish you didn’t have to go home,” he says to me. “I hate not knowing when I’ll see you again.”
My heart squeezes with his words. “Don’t worry. I won’t be gone for long. I haven’t even booked the flight. I just need to go and cancel my lease and pack up my things.” I pause. “I don’t want to do it either.”
“I was thinking,” he whispers to me, his fingers playing with my hair. “Maybe I’d come back with you to San Francisco.”
I blink. Raise my head and rest my chin on his chest, staring at him. “Are you serious?”
“When am I not?”
“When you’re making fun of me?” I joke.
He frowns. “Oh, I take making fun of you very seriously.”
I pinch his nipple and he yelps. “I mean it.”
“I mean it too,” he says, wincing.
“Who’s going to run your business?”
“My manager can handle it. He’s been running it all this time I’ve been gone, and it’s the end of the season now anyway.”
I’m having a hard time believing this. “You would actually do that?”
He nods. “Won’t even go home, Gingersnap. I’ve started to realize what home feels like is wherever you are.” He smiles at me, his eyes crinkling. “Tomorrow I’ll call the airlines, change my flight.”
“Ohhh, maybe we can get a Skycouch!” I say excitedly. Put that other couple to shame.
“Whatever you want,” he says. “As long as we’re together.”
I lay my head down on his chest, listening to his heart beat steadily, grinning against his skin.
The future still seems a little hazy, but at least I know to not be afraid of