I head back to the great room to find Shane still with his dad and Jake at the bar. Cooper’s nowhere to be seen. My heart aches for him. Cooper obviously cares about Sam – I know he does – but if he’s not careful, he’s going to blow it. And I can’t help shaking the fear that he already has.

I reach for Shane’s hand. “Do you know where Cooper is?”

Shane draws me close and puts his free arm across my shoulders. “Sorry, no. He was here a few moments ago. Do you need me to find him for you?”

“No. That’s okay. I was just wondering.”

Shane frowns. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“Nothing.” It’s just that two of my best friends are unraveling before my eyes.

He raises an eyebrow, giving me a stern look. Then he pulls me aside. “What’s wrong? And don’t say nothing, because we both know that’s not true.”

I sigh. “Sam asked Cooper to dance, and Cooper said no. And now Sam’s locked himself in his room. He’s hurt, and I’m worried about him. I’m worried about both of them.”

Shane frowns. “I saw it. I was hoping Cooper would say yes.” He pulls me into his arms, and I slip my arms around his waist. “I’m sorry, honey,” he says, “but they’re big boys. They have to work this out on their own.”

“But what if they don’t? What if we lose one of them? I couldn’t bear that.”

“Please try not to worry. Besides, this is our wedding day. We have other things to think about.” He pulls back and gives me a devious smile. “Speaking of weddings, are we done now?”

I can’t help smiling at the hopeful expression on his face. “Yes, we’re done now.”

“Thank God.” Shane sweeps me up into his arms and heads for the foyer. “Good night, everybody! Have fun!”

My face heats up at all the hooting and hollering in our wake. They know exactly where Shane’s taking me.

Shane shifts me in his arms as he pushes the elevator call button.

“You can put me down now,” I say, laughing.

“Hell, no. Gabrielle might ask you to organize the silverware. I’m not taking any chances.”

Once we’re upstairs in our suite, he puts me down and locks the door. “If anyone so much as looks at that door before tomorrow morning, they’ll have to answer to me.”

His expression darkens as he stalks toward me with obvious intent. He looks intimidating in his tuxedo, so sophisticated and so clearly out of my league. And he’s clearly in bossy mode now. This is the CEO who snaps his fingers and people jump. He’s such a multifaceted man, from the insatiable lover I sleep with each night, to the corporate hotshot, to the knight-in-shining-armor who recently killed a man to protect me. But right now, he’s none of those. Right now, he’s in hungry predator mode. He doesn’t often show this side of himself to me, I think because he doesn’t want to scare me, but when he does, my heart starts pounding.

I take a few steps back, but he catches my hand to prevent further retreat. The anticipation of him releasing all that pent-up desire on me makes me go weak in the knees. He’s been watching me all day like a panther on the prowl, biding his time for this moment – our first night together as husband and wife. My stomach drops, and I feel like I’m freefalling.

He brushes his thumb lightly across my lips and smiles. “Mrs. McIntyre, you’re as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. Sometimes I think you’re a figment of my imagination – that I conjured you up in my dreams.”

His eyes narrow as he walks in a slow, predatory circle around me. He runs his index finger along the back of my neck, following the neckline of my gown, and I shiver violently. 

“Maybe you’re a figment of my imagination,” I confess. “I dreamed of a protector my entire life, and then suddenly you appeared.”

“Trust me,” he says, laughing. “I’m not a figment of your imagination.” He brings my hand to the front of his trousers, pressing my open palm against his rock-hard erection. “I’m a flesh-and-blood man. One who wants you very much.”

The rough tone of his voice sets butterflies loose in my belly and my knees go weak. I’ve made love with Shane more times than I can count, but I’m nervous, as if this is our first time all over again.

He continues prowling around to the front of me. “I feel like I’m unwrapping a precious gift,” he says, reaching behind me for the zipper on my gown.

In slow motion, drawing the moment out, he lowers the zipper down my back, past my hips. My dress sinks slowly to the floor in a puddle of ivory silk. I’m left wearing nothing but my matching lingerie set.

Shane takes a step back and narrows his eyes at the sight of my undergarments. “Jesus,” he breathes, scrubbing his hand over his mouth and short beard. “Are you trying to kill me? I could stare at you all night.”

I laugh, because that’s not how I envisioned us spending our wedding night. To make my point, I take a deep breath and reach for the front clasp of my bra, releasing it and letting the cups fall to the sides. No one’s ever accused me of being voluptuous, but that’s never stopped Shane from wanting me.

Nostrils flaring, he lays his palm over my left breast. His big hand is warm and heavy on my flesh as it envelopes my breast, and I’m sure he can feel how hard my heart is pounding.

“I vowed to honor and cherish you for the rest of our lives,” he says, his voice low as he pins me with his gaze. “You should know, I don’t make vows lightly, but when I do make them, I keep them.”

My bra slips off my body and falls unnoticed to the floor. Shane cups both of my breasts, plumping them. He bends his head down and I feel his warm breath just before he draws my nipple into his hot mouth. I cry out as he sucks on my nipple, teasing it with his tongue. My body responds instantly as a rush of heat sweeps through me, and I sway into his ready hands.

I feel so vulnerable standing here practically naked in front of him while he’s still fully dressed. He kneels in front of me, like a knight servicing his lady, and carefully unclips my garter belt and rolls my stockings down my legs. I have to brace my hands on his shoulders as I step out of the stockings. Then he tugs the garter belt down my legs and it falls to the floor.

He presses his face to the front of my panties and inhales, drawing my scent deep into his lungs. He groans, and the rough sound makes my belly quiver. He slides his hands around to cup my buttocks and he presses me closer to his face. I can feel his hot breath through the silk fabric, which is already damp from my arousal.

When he pushes the little strip of silk covering my sex to the side, I sway in his arms, and he holds me steady. Then he slides his finger between the flushed lips, dipping between them to test my wetness, moaning with approval.

I grasp his broad shoulders to hold myself upright. “Shane.”

He rises to his feet and sweeps me into his arms and carries me to our big bed, laying me down on the sheets. Then he pulls my panties down my legs and tucks them into his front trousers pocket, adding them to his growing stash of souvenirs. Looming over me, so dark and intense, he effectively cages me in, and I love it. Somehow he manages to excite me and make me feel safe at the same time.

I reach up and cup his bearded cheek. “I love you, husband,” I say, trying out the new word.

He smiles in approval. “Wife. I’ve waited a long time for the right to call you that.” He leans down and kisses me, and I detect the faint scent of myself on him.

“You’re way overdressed,” I say.

He straightens and quickly strips, tossing his tuxedo jacket onto a nearby armchair. Then he starts tugging on this tie.

I watch eagerly as he strips, first the tie, then his vest and shirt. My mouth goes dry at the sight of his bare chest, covered in taut golden skin and a dusting of dark hair. I never get tired of looking at him. His body is a work of art, a testament to how hard he plays and how hard he works out to maintain a physical edge.

I watch his arm muscles flex as he unbuckles his belt and unbuttons trousers. He kicks off his shoes, then shoves his dress slacks to the floor and pulls off his socks. He’s left in nothing but black boxer briefs, which do little to hide his blatant erection.

When he crawls onto the bed, caging me in again, I motion to his briefs. “I think you forgot something.”

He smirks. “No, I didn’t. If I take those off now, we’ll be done before we even begin.”

I laugh. “That’s not true. You have excellent endurance, especially for a man your age.”

“Very funny,” he says, bending down to brush his nose against mine. “Not tonight, I don’t. It’s not every night a man gets to make love to his bride for the first time.”

He scoots back and kneels at the side of the bed, then links his arms beneath my thighs and pulls me right to the edge of the bed, draping my legs over his shoulders and back.

He peers up at me. “Relax and get comfortable. This might take a while.”

I laugh shakily. “Don’t count on it. I don’t think it will take much for me for explode.”

He grins. “This is your wedding night, sweetheart. I’m going to make it memorable.”

I sigh, lying back and preparing to be tormented “It already is.”

His lips are surprisingly gentle on me as he peppers my sex with soft kisses, then teases my clit with light licks of his tongue. His touch is tender, almost reverent.

When he flutters his tongue against my clit, I arch my back with an audible moan and grab onto the sheets. “Shane!”

To add to my torment, he dips a finger inside me, thrusting it gently in and out, gathering up my slick arousal. When he sinks his finger deep inside me, he zeroes in on that tender spot that drives me wild and begins a two-pronged attack, stimulating me both inside and out. His tongue is diabolical, showing absolutely no mercy to my poor clit, and his finger strokes wickedly deep inside me. I’m writhing on the bed, making all sorts of desperate sounds, past the point of shame as I gasp and whimper.

I’m on the verge of coming when he pulls his finger out of my wet channel and skims it down to my backside to tease my tight rosette.

“Relax,” he says, coaxing me with light, teasing touches, rimming my puckered hole with his finger.

I can’t help the automatic clenching of my muscles.

“Relax and let me in,” he murmurs.

My hands cover my face and I inhale deeply, both mortified and tantalized. I love it when he tests my boundaries, easing me into new territory. I know he won’t hurt me, so there’s nothing to be afraid of, but it’s still unnerving.

“Relax, sweetheart. My finger is well lubricated. This won’t hurt, I promise.”

“I’m trying,” I say, breathing hard as my heart races.

His tongue returns to my clit, distracting me from what he’s doing down there, and before I know it, his finger is gently working its way inside me. It feels so strange, that odd sense of fullness that shouldn’t be there. It’s tantalizing and taboo, all at the same time. And why in the world does it have to feel so good?

“That’s it,” he says. “That’s right – relax. Let me in. I promise this will feel good.”

“It already does,” I groan, reaching down to grip his hair. With each delicious thrust of his finger, I relax, giving in to him, and by the time he sinks his finger all the way, I’m so close to coming, I’m practically squealing. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Shane!” I can’t believe that’s an erogenous zone!

Shane laughs, and when his tongue returns to my clit, flicking and fluttering, I’m done for. My entire body seizes up, my back bowing off the bed as I screech like a banshee as my orgasm crashes through me.

Even as my body is still quivering and quaking, Shane surges up over me, kneeling between my open thighs and fisting his erection as he guides himself to my opening. He watches me closely as he sinks slowly inside me, parting my wet, swollen flesh, which sucks him in hungrily. We both moan with pleasure. He grits his teeth as he starts to move, slowly at first, giving my body a chance to accommodate him.

I gasp as he slowly sinks back inside me, all the way, filling me and stretching me so exquisitely. When he’s fully seated, he stills and catches my gaze, his blue eyes burning with need. The expression on his face says everything.

He slips his arms beneath my thighs to lift my hips up and open wide so he can push in even deeper. Then he starts to move, slowly at first, gradually gaining speed. He grits his teeth, grimacing with pleasure as he holds back, and strokes long and steadily inside me. His cock is angled just right, and I can feel the crown brushing against my inner wall. He’s a master at pleasuring me, playing my body like a fine instrument, and before long I find myself panting in desperation as another orgasm looms just beyond my reach. He watches me like a hawk, waiting and watching, determined to send me flying apart again.

“I can’t,” I gasp. “Not again.”

He chuckles. “Yes, you can. Just relax.”

I grab onto his thighs and hold on for dear life as the pleasure ratchets up higher and higher inside me, until I can contain it no longer and I come apart, crying and gasping. He gently lowers my hips to the bed and leans forward, driving his erection even deeper inside me, leaning close enough that he can kiss me. His breath is fast and labored as he drives into me, his lips clinging to mine as he drinks in my cries.

When he explodes, he throws his head back, arching his neck, the tendons straining in relief against the strong column of his throat. His teeth are gritted against the almost painful pleasure of his ejaculations inside me, and he can’t help roaring out his pleasure. Thank goodness these walls are thick and soundproofed.

His hips slow, sliding through our combined juices, until he finally he comes to a rest seated deep inside me. He rolls to the side, bringing me with him, and we lie face to face, still joined. My heart is pounding, and I’m sure his is too.

He brushes the hair back from my hot, damp face. “Okay?”

I nod, smiling. My entire body is a live wire, tingling and vibrating, awash with pleasure.

He leans closer and kisses me, giving me long, languid kisses and leisurely strokes with this tongue. “Happy wedding night,” he says, pulling me closer.

I can still feel the beat of his pulse as his semi-hard erection throbs deep inside me. He kisses my forehead. “If I could stay inside you forever, I would.”

I smile, reaching up to cup his beautiful face. “I could stay right here forever, just like this, just the two of us hidden away from the rest of the world.” And then I know where I want to spend my honeymoon. Right here, exactly where we are, exactly as we are. “Let’s stay here for our honeymoon,” I say. “We can hole up from the rest of the world right here, for a few days at least, just the two of us.”

“Are you sure? I mean, it sounds great to me, but we can go anywhere you want. Just name it.”

I nod. “I’m sure. After everyone leaves, we’ll have the whole place to ourselves. There’s plenty to do here. It’s perfect.”

Shane laughs. “I doubt we’ll get very far from this bed.”

“That sounds just fine to me.”

He covers my belly with his hand. “I hope I wasn’t too rough.”

“You were perfect,” I say, kissing him. “Absolutely perfect.”