Chapter Twenty
AS THE SUN kissed the horizon, the last of its warm peach rays rippling across the dark sea, Sky wrapped her arms around Sawyer’s waist and leaned her head on his chest. The brisk evening air whipped against her legs as they sailed toward Monomoy Island.
“Two whole days alone, Sawyer. No customers, no painting, no building ramps, no tattoo guns, no sparring.” They decided to anchor at Monomoy for the night so they wouldn’t have to worry about other boat traffic.
He tipped up her chin and the wind whipped her hair across her cheek. They both laughed as he pressed his lips to hers right through the whipping strands. “No flashing vibrators, no sneaking out to go chunky-dunking.”
“Who needs vibrators when I have you?” She zipped up her hoodie.
“Just what I wanted to hear.” He kissed her again, moaning a little in pleasure as he tugged her in closer. “I still can’t believe I have you all to myself for two days. Whatever will I do with you?”
She raised her brows in quick succession. “Considering that nothing is going to come between me and my man, I’d say anything you want.” Sky liked the way my man felt as it slid from her tongue. He was the man she thought about when she woke up in the morning and the man she fantasized about when they were apart. He was the man who had shared her bed every night for days on end and the only man she hoped to wake up to from that day forward.
Sawyer’s eyes warmed. “I like the sound of that.”
She watched him steer the boat closer to the island. His movements were graceful and determined at once, swift and virile. His biceps flexed deliciously as he set the anchor and brought down the sails. The boat rocked with the current, a gentle, comforting motion that produced soothing sounds of water slapping against the sides of the boat as the rim of the sun dipped beneath the horizon, giving way to the hazy glow of night.
“I always forget how dark it gets at sea,” Sky said as her eyes adjusted.
“Not to worry, sweetheart. The moonlight will be enough.” He sat on the cushioned bench and pulled Sky down onto his lap. As he tucked her hair behind her ear, his eyes rolled over her face with a tender gaze.
“I can’t believe you’re really going to write with your dad. I’m so excited to see what my favorite poet and my favorite person come up with.”
“Your favorite person?” A serious look hovered in his eyes.
“Yes, of course.” She pressed her lips to his, and he smiled. “I thought you didn’t want to do anything more with your songs than use them as a hobby and that your father was done writing. What changed your mind? What changed his?”
“Sky, I haven’t slowed down much over the years to think about anything other than fighting. My life has been a circle of train, fight, win.” He paused and brushed his thumb over her cheek. “And then came you.”
“Did I throw you off your game?”
He laughed under his breath. “That’s one of the things I love about you. You have so much going on, between your shop renovations, your apartment, the grand opening, and still you worry about if you threw me off my game. No, Sky, you showed me that I was playing the wrong game. You opened my eyes.”
Sky’s heartbeat quickened.
“When I was at the house this afternoon, everything sort of hit me at once. Seeing the ramp drove home my father’s fate, which further validated the need for me to win the title fight. But it also made me realize that while we’re busy making it through today and planning for tomorrow, some higher power, or whatever, could already be planning its own actions, which negate ours.”
“You lost me. What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that I don’t want to live my whole life hoping for a day when life will slow down enough, or the time feels right enough, to move forward and start my life. I love you, Sky, and I don’t want to wait another second to tell you. I don’t care that it’s fast. I’ve felt connected to you from the moment I saw you across the room. I love being with you, talking with you, making love with you. I don’t want to miss out on a single second with you, Sky. I don’t want to do what my dad did and work his whole life looking forward to retirement when he and my mom could have more time together—and then have something go wrong.”
“Sawy—” Her voice hitched in her throat.
He pressed his finger to her lips. “Let me finish,” he whispered. “I’m not saying we should get married, but I’m hoping that someday we’ll be ready to. Sky, I want to carve our initials in the rafters. I want to stand in that skycap and look out at the land below with you right there by my side—and one day with our children, if you’re willing—and create our own history. I want to wake up with you in my arms and know that at the end of the day, you’re right there with me, sharing our headaches and celebrating the best times in our lives. I want to grow old with you and watch you do tattoos and paint in your long flowing skirts with your windblown hair and that sparkle in your eyes, while I play the guitar and sing songs that I write for you and our family.”
“Oh, Sawyer.” Sky could hardly speak past the tightening in her throat. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his. “I love you, too. I want all those things, too.”
He exhaled a long sigh of contentment. “This is my last fight, Sky. Once I win, my parents’ financial future will be secure, and then I’m going to retire. No more fighting. I’ll become a trainer so you won’t have to worry.”
“I don’t want you to give up fighting for me. I’m okay with it now, and I don’t want you to resent me.” She could hardly believe how much her feelings had grown for him, and part of that growth meant accepting his career.
“I could never resent you. Fighting has risks, and that might not have mattered before, but now that we have us? I don’t want to leave our future to chance.”
“You would do that for us?” Sky’s eyes dampened. “Sawyer…”
“Sky, I would do anything for you, and in turn, for us.”
Sky felt their worlds twining together, without hesitation or doubt, and when he drew her closer and whispered his love for her, she sealed her lips over his, cutting him off midsentence, wanting to feel his words as they moved through her body and settled into her soul.
“You’ve turned my world around, Sky,” he said as he laid her down on the cushions. “I want everything with you. I want to make all your dreams come true, and I still don’t even know what they are. What do you want from life?”
She leaned up and pressed her lips to his. “I don’t have big wants, Sawyer. I want you, and I want to be happy. I want to get to know your family and have you get to know mine. I want to have a simple life where if we want to shut away the world for an afternoon, we can do so without the rest of our world falling apart. I want to love you and be loved by you.”
THERE WERE NO words for the emotions coursing through Sawyer. Love, happiness, and desire were all there, but they were wrapped in something more important, something bigger. They were wrapped in anticipation for a future with the woman he loved.
He gazed into Sky’s eyes and could feel her love for him. “I will always love you. I will cherish you, and I will spend the rest of my life making sure that you feel safe enough to be strong, or weepy, or silly, or whatever you want or need to be. Because I love you for you, Sky, and I want all of you.”
He gathered her close, kissing as they stripped each other bare, and when their bodies came together, he savored the bonding of their love.