Erin McCarthy - Full Throttle

That wasn’t going to work in her case, since Shawn hadn’t driven in years and Rhett would leave her in the dust. But she had a better idea. “Good call, Eve.” She went to get dressed and go lay her cards on the table. She had taken a huge leap of faith in asking Rhett to marry her. Now it was time to make another one.

* * *

RHETT was dozing in and out of sleep on the floor, his head on a throw pillow from the armchair, his headache between his eyes and misery pronounced. The door to the apartment opened and he sighed, guessing it was Eve back from her jog, or Nolan back from the doughnut shop. He’d said he had a post-drinking hankering for fried dough. Hopefully, whoever it was, they wouldn’t speak to him. He wanted to be left the hell alone.

But his eyes flew open when he realized whoever it was had stopped next to him and was dropping onto their knees. It was Shawn, and in another second, she was on the floor, aligned next to him.

“Hi,” she said, with a soft smile.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, even as a seed of hope began to sprout. He rolled onto his side so he was facing her. He wanted to touch her, but he restrained himself.

“I came to apologize for my behavior last night. You wanted to know what was wrong—the truth is, I’m not entirely sure. But the closest I can figure is that I’m afraid. I’m afraid of these feelings, Rhett. I’ve never been in love before, and I’m afraid of losing Shawn in our relationship.”

Her eyes were glassy with new tears and her voice was quiet, words spoken with conviction. “But I’m willing to risk it. I’m all in if you are.”

The words were everything to him. Her sincerity was clear, and he was willing to work on whatever they needed to make this work. He gave in to his urge and ran his finger across her bottom lip. “I’m all in. I love you.”

It was that simple.

“I love you, too.” Her hand started to wander across the front of his dress pants.

“What are you doing?” he asked with a smile as he kissed her chin, the corner of her mouth, her ear.

“Something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.” She unzipped his pants and reached in with eager strokes and freed his cock.

Rhett gritted his teeth. “What if Eve or Nolan come home?”

“Eve texted Nolan and told him to leave and not come back until further notice. She came over to my house to bitch me out. They won’t be back until we give the word.”

Rhett grinned. “Smooth, Hamby. I like your style.” He stilled her hand. “But you know my stance on oral sex.”

“I can appreciate your opinion. But this is what I want, and sometimes, Rhett Butler Ford, you’re just going to have to do it my way.” Her mouth descended and wrapped around his erection.

“Damn it, that feels good,” he said, laying back and closing his eyes for a second and enjoying the hot stroke of her mouth over him. “But I’m not going to stop being dominating in bed, I hope you understand that. I can’t turn it off.”

Shawn looked up at him over the length of his cock, her lips clearing with a slick popping sound. “I understand, and believe me, I enjoy it, too. I had no idea how very much I would enjoy it. But on occasion, I’m asking you to let me have my way with you.”

It was a fair compromise, especially given that a second ago she had been sucking him, and now they were merely talking. “I can live with that. Now get up here and ride me.”

“Uh-uh. Give me a minute.”

Shawn’s mouth covered him again and he groaned, letting her have her way with him. He had to admit, it was a sensation that drove him crazy, and the view was amazing. He let her go at it, both enjoying it, until his control was threatened. But for once, he didn’t mind. He wanted to lose control with her, he wanted to be swept away on a wave of emotion with Shawn. His wife.

He gripped her arms and hauled her up the length of him. “Come here.” A second later he had her pants down and her astride him. He didn’t bother to tell her what she should do. He let her sit up and start a slow, eager rhythm.

“Rhett?” she asked, eyes dilated with desire, hips pumping.

“Yes, Scarlett?”

“As God is my witness, I will never go horny again.”

If he weren’t so turned on, he would have laughed. “And that is one of the many reasons I love you.”

“IT’S very irregular,” the clerk said. “I can’t believe the minister agreed to do this.”

It was because Rhett had paid him two hundred bucks, but he just shrugged. “He didn’t see what the harm was.”

He and Shawn were in a wedding chapel, renewing their vows, with true emotion in their hearts this time. They had been legally married for five weeks, and every day their union solidified a little more. It was an education, that was for certain, and they were learning how to communicate, but the amazing moments overshadowed and outnumbered any brief flashes of confusion and misunderstanding. They had been working together on new ideas for Hamby Speedway, and Shawn had started the ball rolling to get national affiliation. It was going to be a great year for racing, and they were definitely working together as a team.

Getting married again had been his idea, and she had readily agreed. They hadn’t told anyone, and it was just meant to be the two of them speaking their commitment to each other out loud.

Shawn was beaming, a beautiful bride, part two, in the dress she had worn to their wedding reception.

“I do,” she said clearly, her eyes shining, lips parted in a wide smile.

“I do,” Rhett said when it was his turn, and he meant that to the depth of his soul. He held both her hands in his and looked deep into her eyes.

When it was time to seal it with a kiss, Shawn threw her arms around him and opened her mouth to him. Rhett picked her up and gave her a spin, grinning. This was it for him—he couldn’t imagine being any happier or that any other woman could make him feel so amazing.

As they walked back down the aisle of the slightly shabby chapel, Shawn told him, “I have a gift for you.” She handed a box to him that looked like a bracelet would fit in it.

“What’s this?” Puzzled, he lifted the silver lid. For a second, he had no idea what he was looking at. Then he realized it was a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test. His vision actually went black momentarily, then his hand started to shake. “Is this what I think it is?”

She nodded with a smile. “You have supersperm, there’s no other explanation for it. I’m actually very excited, now that the shock has worn off. I never thought much about being a mother, but I can’t wait. I hope it’s okay with you.”

“Are you kidding?” He grinned. “This is amazing!” He pulled her close against him and decided that he was probably the luckiest man on the freaking planet. “God, I love you.”

Shawn snuggled against her husband and watched in astonishment as her super serious, alpha male husband got a little watery-eyed as the reality of his impending fatherhood sunk in.

Just one more reason she loved him.

“If it’s a boy, I think we should name him Jameson after your grandfather,” Rhett said, holding her tight. “He brought us together, after all.”

Oh, yeah. She loved this man. Now she was blinking back tears, too. “And if it’s a girl, Margaret.”

“Margaret?” he asked, clearly puzzled.

“After Margaret Mitchell.”

He let out a laugh. “We can discuss that one.” He took her hand and they started out of the chapel. “You want to have everyone over for dinner this week and we can tell them?”

“I would love to. Any day but Friday. That’s book club night.”

“Oh, God,” was his opinion. “You hitting up The Wet Spot again?”

“Of course not!” Shawn let him put her coat over her shoulders and accepted the sweet kiss he gave her.

“Damn. I was hoping to go separately and hit on you like I was a total stranger. It would be fun in a place like that to start making out.” He made a sound in the back of his throat. “I’m getting hot just thinking about it.”

So was she. “It doesn’t have to be book club to do that. How about tonight?”

“I love the way you think. Among other things.”

The feeling was mutual.