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It was my turn to speak. “I thought I’d lost you today. I thought enough had happened to drive you away from me. I should have trusted this because I feel it, too. I’ve never loved anyone else. I’ve never even tried. Yet I’m so, so in love with you.”
Emotion crinkled his brow, but he smiled. “Our hearts knew before we did. Be mine, princess.”
“Always.” I pressed up on my toes and kissed him.
Raphael returned my kiss with urgent energy that spilled into pawing at each other’s clothes. We didn’t even make it into the bedroom, dropping to the sofa then the rug to forget the craziness of the day on each other’s bodies and celebrating all we’d found.
I loved him. He loved me. I’d show him every day how much that meant.
Later, in our little kitchen, as the sun set, Raphael cooked dinner for me. I was sure to praise every bite.
Then after, he bundled me into his car for a drive out onto the estate.
We had the windows down to the warm night. It was nearing the end of summer, but right at the beginning of us.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
He smiled across the car and used our joined hands to change gear, not giving up an answer. I found out soon enough.
We left the car behind at a dark track then set out on foot. The lapping water clued me in.
“We’re at the loch?”
“When I brought ye to Scotland, ye asked me if everything I’d described on our late-night phone call was real. This was on your list.”
We emerged from under the cover of trees to the flat rocks he’d told me about in his skinny-dipping story. The one where we’d stripped and swum together. And after, got down and dirty on the banks.
I shivered in anticipation and danced ahead, slipping my sandals off at the water’s edge.
“I want to ask ye something,” Raphael said.
I twisted to face him. He was already out of his boots, his t-shirt discarded, too. I loved that view so much. I’d never get over his muscular forearms and broad shoulders. He was too perfect for words.
“Ben and Valentine’s double wedding to Daisy and Mia is next week. Will ye be my date?”
Coyly, I tugged the hem of my top to reveal my belly, extending my arms up and up. “Sure you want a mischievous princess around? Last I recall, you told me you’d keep me if you could. Has that changed?”
His focus slid up my body, lingering when I discarded the shirt.
“How about I keep ye for good?”
I kicked off my skirt then reached for the fastening of my bra, pausing. “Is that a formal offer for me to move in with you?”
Slowly, he nodded then shucked his jeans, his shorts already tented.
I pointed at them. “Off.”
This corner of the loch was all he’d described. An isolated inlet where no one could see us. I had no fear anymore.
He obeyed me, and my bra went the same way as his shorts, then I drew my fingers down to the line of my underwear, the last remaining item of clothing between us.
Raphael cupped his dick and watched me. “Move in with me, please.”
I whipped off my underwear and threw them at him. Then I carefully descended into the cool water, shivering for more than one reason. “You’ll have to catch me first.”
He made a break for it, and I squealed as he splashed in beside me. I swam, but he was right there, capturing me in his arms, just like I’d imagined when he’d talked to me on our late-night dirty phone call.
“Yes, I’ll move in with you. There is no place I’d rather be than at your side.”