She gazed up at him. “Every night I spend with you is special.”
“Ah, but this is your first night as my wife.” He spun her away and then yanked her back against him. “Had to up my game.” An almost boyish grin lit his face. It was the same one from long ago, somehow both devastatingly handsome and curiously shy. Ten years had done nothing to lessen the effect it had on her, and she knew in her heart no amount of time ever would.
They swayed in time to the music, sweeping across the living room as Sheeran crooned about never-ending love. Hudson’s arm tightened around Allie’s waist and he dipped her low, slanting his mouth over hers in a passionate kiss. “Hmm.” He hummed against her lips, then in a quiet murmur quoted the song as it drew to a close. “Till we’re seventy.”
“I want much more than that, Mr. Chase. Ninety is the bare minimum.”
Hudson laughed, but when he pulled her back up, his gaze was soft on her face. “Forever wouldn’t be enough,” he said. He traced her bottom lip with his finger, then dipped his head to brush his lips softly against hers. It was the briefest of contact, but enough to make every nerve in her body come alive. He teased her with gentle licks, then covered her mouth with his, kissing her long and slow and deep. She moaned softly as his tongue moved against hers in lush strokes, and when his hand slid down her backside, she pressed against him, longing to feel his bare skin against hers.
The soft click of a camera came from beside her. Allie turned her head to discover Hudson had snapped a picture of the two of them with his phone. “Smile pretty for the camera,” he said. They were the same words he’d spoken when the photographer interrupted their dance at the Field Museum. As the camera flashed, Allie couldn’t help but think about how far they’d come since that chance encounter three months prior. Deep down she knew they still had so far to go, but she pushed those unwelcome thoughts out of her mind. This was her wedding night, and the only thing that mattered was the man with his arm banded around her waist and his temple pressed to hers.
“I’m sure that the next time we do this, we’ll have enough professional photos to fill your entire tablet,” he said. “But I wanted this one just for me.”
“Taking that picture reminded me of the one the paper ran back in September,” she said.
Hudson powered off his phone and tucked it back in the ass pocket of his jeans. “Made you think about how much you wanted me that night, too?”
This time she did roll her eyes. “Actually, I thought you were a pompous ass that night.”
He grinned. “But you still wanted me.”
She bit her lip. “Perhaps.”
“Well, I thought you were a spoiled, uptight bitch that night.” Allie’s mouth popped open in feigned exasperation but Hudson merely smiled and finished his thought. “And even more beautiful than you were when I first met you. Which, for the record, I wouldn’t have thought possible.”
“And now?” she asked
“And now I can’t believe I’m the lucky bastard who gets to see that look in your eyes.”
“What look?”
“The one that says you want nothing more than to have me buried deep inside you.”
A small gasp escaped her lips. “Well, if I’m that obvious, what the hell are you waiting for? Let’s consummate this already.”
Hudson’s head fell back and he laughed. “Ever the romantic, Mrs. Chase.” In a swift move he grasped her behind the knees and lifted her into his arms.
“What are you doing now?”
“We’ve been over this,” he said, striding toward the stairs. “I need to carry you over the threshold.”
“Of the bedroom?” A small giggle bubbled up from inside her. “I thought that tradition only applied to the front door.”
“Laugh all you want, but I believe you were the one who pointed out the need for superstition.” He grinned. “Or mojo, as you called it.”
Allie wrapped her arms around Hudson’s neck as he carried her upstairs to his bedroom. The team of wedding planning elves had apparently been busy on the second floor as well. Rose petals were spread across the white duvet, and a hurricane glass with a cluster of flickering candles rested atop the nightstand.
He lay her on the king-size bed, then joined her, and together they began to remove each other’s clothing. Frantic hands and fumbling fingers blended with anxious groans and soft laughter to create a scene more in keeping with the two teens in the backseat of a car than a couple on their wedding night.
When they were both naked, he moved over her body with a measured control that was a complete contradiction to the frenzied pace in which they’d undressed, not to mention the erection pressed against her thigh. All laughter faded and the only sound that remained was their deep, stuttering breaths.
Hudson brushed her hair away from her face, his thumb lingering to caress her cheek.
“If ever any beauty I did see / Which I desired, and got / ’Twas but a dream of thee.”
Tears welled in Allie’s eyes as John Donne’s words washed over her heated skin like a caress. Hudson wasn’t the type of man to quote poetry, which made the gesture all the more moving. And the words he’d chosen to whisper to his new bride were not only beautiful, but appropriate. To the outside world Hudson Chase had everything he could possibly desire, and yet he’d made it clear time and time again that Allie was the only dream that ever mattered. The poetic reminder that the man she loved cherished her above all else took her desire for him to an almost debilitating level. She couldn’t wait any longer. She needed his hands and lips and tongue on her. She needed to be one with him through the most primal connection. She needed her husband. “Love me, Hudson.”
“I do,” he murmured. His voice was thick with emotion. “Those words will never be enough, but God help me, I do.”
With that, Hudson lowered his mouth to hers. She moaned, and when her lips parted he deepened the kiss, his tongue claiming her with an undeniable possession. “I’ve been waiting for this all day,” he rasped. His body arched over hers as he sucked and licked his way down her throat. “The moment when I make you mine.”
He dipped his head and his tongue flicked across one nipple before catching it between his teeth. Her body shuddered as he tugged hard, the sensation echoing through her core. Then he kissed his way to the other side, laving the hardened peak with lazy circles before sucking it deep into his mouth.
Allie’s fingers trembled against his skin as they skated over his shoulders and across his chest. His stomach muscles tensed as she smoothed over the ripples of his abs, and when she took his hard length in her hand, he drew a sharp breath.
“I love touching you,” she whispered. Her fingers curled around him, gently squeezing and stroking from root to tip. The feel of him throbbing and pulsing in her hand drove her wild, and before long her hips began to move in a silent plea.
Hudson gazed up at her with dark, hungry eyes. “Not yet,” he murmured. “First I need to taste my wife.” The delicious promise held in his words made her entire body clench with need. Or maybe it was just the sound of Hudson calling her his wife that caused a soft whimper to escape her lips. Either way, anticipation thrummed through her veins as he shifted fast and smooth between her thighs. He lifted one leg over his shoulder, spreading her wide, and dragged his tongue up her center. Allie’s breath hitched and the air rushed out of her lungs as his tongue lashed across her most sensitive flesh. There was nothing gentle about the way he devoured her—licking, nipping, and sucking her as if consumed by a desperate need to bring her pleasure.
“Oh God,” she moaned. Her fingers dug into his hair, holding him against her as she began to quiver.
“That’s it, come on my tongue. Let me taste you.” His words vibrated against her and she cried out, splintering apart in a mind-blowing orgasm.