A Million Kisses or More (34 page)

Yeah, they had already set up video chatting and everything but it wasn’t the same. Sitting in front of the computer, she wouldn’t be able to breathe him in, to feel the heat of his skin when he touched her, the beat of his heart as she laid her head on his chest. She wouldn’t be able to lay her head on his chest. Pressing her lips together, she tried not to cry but it was impossible. When she had arrived in October, she thought three months would be the perfect amount of time but it had flown by and she wasn’t ready to go.

“In the morning, I’m going to leave before you wake up,” she whispered, needing to tell him her plans so he didn’t think she abandoned him. When he opened his mouth to protest, she put a finger over his firm lips and shook her head. With a sad smile, she tried to explain, “If I see you, I won’t be able to go and I have to. It kills me, but I have to do this.”

“Then I won’t fall asleep,” he rasped.

She grinned even as a tear slid down her cheek. “Then I’ll never leave.”

“Exactly,” he said with a smile, sadness making his brown eyes swim in misery. Brushing the tears from beneath her eyes, he murmured, “But we’re not going to talk about it. We still have the rest of the night and we’re going to pretend that this night will never end.”

Pulling her closer, he held her in his arms, the only place she wanted to be. She opened her mouth to say something, to say anything, when he grinned down at her. Tightening his hold on her, he spun her around and kept spinning until the room was whirling and she was laughing in sheer joy. Unconcerned about the people around them, he spun until she was dizzy and all of her thoughts were scattered. When he stopped spinning, he dipped her and the look of love on his face made her head continue to whirl. Pulling her back into his arms, he cupped her cheek. “Ana, will you marry me?”

Everything within her stilled as she looked up into the eyes of the man she loved. Catching her lower lip between her teeth, afraid to believe, she offered a slight smile, “Are you really asking me?”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a box. Opening it, he held it in front of her eyes as he rasped, “I’m really asking.”

Joy, intense, overwhelming joy, infused her entire body. Closing her eyes, trying to contain some of it so she didn’t burst, she nodded her head. After a moment, she finally looked up at him and mouthed the word, “Yes.”

The worry in his expression that she hadn’t noticed until it disappeared was replaced by a grin that broke out from ear to ear. Taking the ring from the box, he slid it onto her finger. The ring was simply… perfect. The diamond sparkled brilliantly in the low light and surrounding the diamond were two smaller stones. In the dim light, she couldn’t quite make them out but she was fairly certain she knew what they were: a sapphire and a blue topaz. His birthstone and hers. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged him tight, “I love you, Harrison Miller.”

“I wanted to take you to the courthouse this morning but I thought my mom would be pissed if we got married without the family,” he said, holding her close and swaying to the music. “I also kind of figured that you’d want to plan something bigger. I mean, it’s your wedding….”

“The courthouse would have been perfect,” she interrupted, holding her hand up and admiring her ring. “In fact, we can do it the day after I get back.”

“Not the day you return?” he asked.

“Nope,” she shook her head. Going up on her tiptoes, she breathed against his ear, “I plan on spending that first day with you, naked. Actually, we might want to wait an entire week because I don’t think either of us is going to be able to walk down any aisle for a few days.”

She sensed his smile at the same time that she felt the swelling of his penis. Knowing that it was their last night, she whispered, “Let’s go make good use of that room you got for us.”

“I was about to suggest the same thing,” he growled, scooping her up into his arms, much to the delight of the crowd around them.

“Everyone in town is going to think I have difficulties walking with the way you carry me around all of the time,” she teased, draping her arms around his neck and loving the joy of being in his arms.

“I’m pretty sure they just think I’m a caveman,” he countered, nodding his head to a few of his friends as they passed them by on the way to the table. Grabbing her purse, he handed it to her with a grin, “I don’t want to have to leave you, even for a moment, once I have you naked.”

She chuckled, “That sounds like a really good plan.”

Her next words caught in her throat and all she could do was gaze at his profile as he carried her. She knew that she was an idiot to leave and even now she wavered. Maybe she could call up the agency and beg for another extension.... No, it was already fiendishly hard to go; if she held off for another week, another month, she’d never go. At the moment, she couldn’t remember a single reason why she wanted to go in the first place, not when every reason to stay was striding through the hotel with her in his arms.

Resting her head against his shoulder, breathing in the warm, masculine scent of him, she closed her eyes and pretended that he was carrying her to the honeymoon suite, that this was her wedding day and they had the rest of their lives to be together. After all, her dress
was
white. The slight weight of the ring around her finger was a reminder that in a year, her fantasy was going to be reality.

As the elevator carried them to their floor, she reminded herself that she wasn’t supposed to be thinking about tomorrow, only the here and now and Harrison. Carrying her down the hall, he whispered, “What are you thinking about, Ana?”

“Next year,” she murmured, opening her eyes. Her breath caught at the heated look in his gaze, the love. Reaching up, she ran her fingers along his jaw, into his hair. “I’m going to be Anavrin Miller.”

His smile was slow and beautiful and she decided that
this
was the moment she wanted to remember forever. As he came to a stop outside the door, he let her slide down his body while holding her eyes, a slow, sensual assault on all of her senses. Opening the door, he led her in before he grabbed her clutch and tossed it onto the desk. Her breath caught in her chest when she saw that the room was lit with dozens of candles, the bed was strewn with orchid petals, and there was a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice, two crystal flutes waiting to be filled. It was magical and wonderful and she wanted to cry.

He turned to her and murmured, “I wanted to get the honeymoon suite but it was already taken.”

She smiled because he was so in tune with her. Before she got a chance to say anything, he took her hands in his. He held her gaze and said in a low, solemn voice, “I, Harrison Miller, take thee, Anavrin Smithfield, to be my love eternal. I vow to worship you, cherish you, love you until time ends and everything fades to nothing. Your name is etched on my heart, my very soul, and my love for you will never fade.”

With glossy eyes and trembling lips, Ana murmured, “I, Anavrin Smithfield, take thee, Harrison Miller, to be my love eternal. I….”

Her words were cut off as he bent his head and kissed her, taking her vow into his body. Sliding his hands up her bare arms, he cupped the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. Slowly, as if he had all of the time in the world, he unwrapped her. Her lids grew heavy as he worshipped every inch of skin he exposed with his lips, his teeth, his tongue, but she refused to miss a moment of this by closing her eyes.

As she reached for the front of his shirt, he shook his head, “Let me do this, Ana.”

Hesitating only a moment, she let her arms fall back to her sides. Time stood still as she lost herself in a storm of sensation. It was like a dream as he laid her down on the bed and then he was with her. The scent of lush orchids filled her senses as he moved over her. Love swelled in her chest as he framed her head between his arms and held her eyes. Slowly, he pushed into her, filling all of the empty spaces with love. Slowly, he moved and she savored every moment, wishing it would last forever. Slowly, he bound her to him for all eternity, over and over and over. “I love you.”

*****

Rolling over, Harrison frowned because Ana wasn’t there. He must have fallen asleep even though he swore he wouldn’t. Grabbing the pillow she used, he pressed it over his face, breathing in her scent. His heart stilled for a moment before it took off racing: the pillow was still warm. Scrambling out of bed, he wrapped the sheet around his waist and grabbed the key card. He bolted out of the room and ran down the hall, ran down the stairs. Terrified that he had missed her, he ran faster than he had ever run in his life, not caring that he was naked with nothing but a sheet to cover him. If he missed her....

Sliding into the lobby, his heart in his throat, he saw her about to push through the front doors. Adjusting his grip on the sheet, he jogged towards her, opened his mouth, and called out, “Ana!”

She spun around, her eyes wide, her cheeks wet with tears. Laughing, crying, she raced towards him and threw herself into his arms. It was all he could do to hold onto her and make sure the sheet didn’t fall. Hugging her close, he panted, “I couldn’t let you go without saying goodbye.”

“Harrison,” she sobbed, burying her face against his neck. Inhaling deeply, she simply whispered his name again, “Harrison.”

Needing every last moment he could steal, he closed his eyes and just held her against his chest. He was never going to last an entire year without her. He couldn’t wait until March when he would fly out there for a long weekend and get his Ana-fix. The only problem with that was the fact that he’d never get enough of her. A lifetime wasn’t enough.

Grabbing the sides of her face, he kissed her as if he’d never kiss her again, as if the world was ending and she was all that was left. Desperation fueled his movements, making him uncoordinated as he tried to absorb her into his body, as he tried to condense a million kisses into this one last kiss. Everything that he was or ever would be was in the kiss and he didn’t want to stop until he ceased to exist.

Tearing his lips away from hers, panting heavily, he rested his forehead against hers as he rasped, “How am I supposed to let you go?”

“Don’t,” she returned, her green eyes shimmering with tears. Wrapping her fingers around his wrists, she held on as she whispered, “Hold me in your heart, Harrison. I’ll never be far away.”

At her words, he squeezed his eyes shut and slowly released his hold on her head. Holding her eyes, he took a step away from her. She looked as destroyed as he felt and he wondered why she couldn’t just accept her mom’s offer to pay off the damn scholarship. “Ana.”

“Harrison,” she whispered without sound. She still held his wrists and as he continued to move away from her, his hands slid into hers, through hers, until only their fingers touched. And then he couldn’t feel her at all. Her lower lip trembled and he wanted to gather her back into his arms but he knew if he did that, she wouldn’t arrive at her internship on time.

“Go, Ana,” he rasped, clutching the material around his waist. “Go before I won’t be able to let you go.”

God, she was killing him. With one last longing look, she spun on her heel and ran out of the hotel, out of his life. His shoulders slumped forward as he turned around and went back to the room to get his stuff. He paused as he realized she had been wearing his dress shirt from the night before. Despite his heart bleeding on the ground, he had to smile. She had stolen yet another one of his shirts.