Rock Hard

“I’m not giving up.”

Lying on his stomach beside her, Gabriel reached out to twine his fingers with her own. “Neither am I. I already booked the fucking wedding venue.”

She started to giggle, but it was slightly hysterical. Fighting back the tears, she kissed his knuckles. “I love you.”

Steel-gray eyes held her own. “You’re my heart.”

Holding the words to her own battered heart, she allowed her eyes to close.

She woke to find that they’d been so exhausted that neither one of them had moved, their hands entwined under the sunlight.

The sunlight!

Blinking, she stared at the clock on the nightstand. It was nine a.m. on a Saturday morning, and she was in bed with the man she loved. She turned very quietly and saw he was still asleep, his skin dark gold under the sunshine pouring through the skylight and his hair gleaming blue-black. When his lashes lifted lazily a half hour later, she said, “Never argue with my husband?”

A sleepy smile. “I was hoping you’d negotiate that out. You know I like fighting with you.” Tugging her into him, he reached into the bedside drawer on his side and, after taking out the ring, slid it onto her finger. “The black lace underwear clause is nonnegotiable, though I will permit red lace underwear on special occasions.”

Curling her fingers into her hand, the ring warm against her skin—as if it had absorbed his heat, she lay on her back with him leaning over her. “That’s a pity,” she said. “I’ll have to throw out that pretty blush-pink G-string set I bought.”

His eyes gleamed. “Like I said, Ms. Baird, there’s room for negotiation.”

“Leave it,” she ordered, bad-tempered from lack of sleep. “I’m dealing.”

He massaged the back of her thigh. “You’re all tense.”

“I’ll get untense. Leave it.”

More massaging, and then he began to do that to her nape too. Gentle and firm, the rhythm eventually lulled her exhausted mind into slumber.

The next time she woke it was because she’d ended up under Gabriel and he had her pinned down with his leg and thigh

“You don’t need to constantly keep making money. Even if I decide to demand a diamond bracelet every month, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t make a dent in your zillions.”

Lips tugging up slightly at the corners, he gripped her hips. “You can have a diamond bracelet every month, but you have to wear them all at once, naked in bed—no wait, I have a better idea. You have to take dictation while wearing only diamonds.”

“Gabriel.”

He ran his thumbs across her hip bones. “I’m not sure I know how to stop.”

“So,” she said, “we’ll work on it.”

The echo of his own words had him smiling.