Impatient, she yanked on her top and paid no mind to the buttons as they fell to the floor. She took off her bra and undid her jeans, slipping them down to her thighs.
“Open your shirt,” she said hoarsely. “I want skin on skin.”
“Jesus, Echo.” He sounded as if he were in pain. “We don’t have time.” His eyes were stuck on the small patch of hair between her legs, and she leaned back, angling her hips with a smile.
“Make time,” she said roughly.
With a curse, he yanked on his shirt, and she reached for his jeans, loosening them enough so he could free himself. She didn’t wait. She pressed herself against him and moved her legs as far apart as she could. Boyd placed his hands on the door just above her head. His chest crushed her breasts, the friction giving her pleasure as he adjusted for his height and sank into her. He began to move inside her, long, sure strokes that made her quiver.
It was as if her body was made for his.
She looked at him, loving that his eyes were on her, and kissed him as she felt that pulse deep inside her, the one that raced to the edge with the intention of taking her over.
“I love you,” she whispered against him before moaning her pleasure.
“I know.” He barely got the words out when there was loud knocking at the door and someone jiggled the handle.
“We’ll be out in a minute,” he barked, thrusting deeper than ever. Echo’s head banged into the door, and she shoved the back of her hand into her mouth to keep from crying out.
“Geez, are you kidding me?” The voice was muffled, but it was obvious Zach wasn’t impressed. “Between you guys and whoever the hell Malcolm is banging in his trailer, we’ll never get on the damn stage. Hurry the hell up.”
Echo fell over the edge just as Boyd came, and he rested his forehead against hers. “I guess we’ve got a show to do,” he said gruffly, pulling away and getting himself tucked back in.
Echo cleaned herself up, though one look at her shirt told her it was ruined. She grabbed an old T-shift of Boyd’s and, with a smile, knotted it at her waist.
“Do I look okay?” she asked quietly.
Boyd took a moment to answer and when he did, his voice was halting. “Hold on,” he said, reaching into the front pockets of his jeans. “I’ve got something to add to your outfit. I was going to wait, but…” He withdrew something small and silver with a huge-ass diamond smack dab in the middle of it. The sight of the ring damn near buckled her knees. “Will you wear this forever?”
“Are you…” Tongue-tied, she stared up at him in wonder, ignoring another burst of banging on the trailer door. Was this a proposal? “I don’t know what to say,” she said through tears.
“We’re on a time crunch, babe, so I’ll accept a one-word answer, and it better start with a Y and end with an S.” Boyd smiled, and her heart turned over.
“Yes,” she whispered, watching in awe as he slid the ring onto her finger. He kissed it and then laced her fingers through his.
“We’ve got a show. You ready?”
Slowly, she nodded. “I am now.”
Echo followed him out of the trailer. They walked past Malcolm’s, and if they’d been paying attention, they would have noticed he was rearranging his clothes, but so was Lyric. They would have seen Axel and Iris chatting quietly in the corner, and Harmony and Zach fighting about something near a monitor.
But those were things they’d think about later when they thought back to beginning of what would be one of the greatest nights they’d ever shared.
As it turned out, all they saw was the stage and the crowd, and in their hearts, they saw their future.
They didn’t wait for Haggerty to introduce them. They walked out on stage to a roar like they’d never heard before. And one by one, Zach, Malcolm, and then Axel joined them onstage. The look in her father’s eyes when his gaze met hers was almost enough to make up for all the bad. They had stuff to work on, but at least they wanted to make things work.
Boyd and Echo made music and history that night, and much later, when they were tangled up in each other, they made love as if it were the first time. Echo settled into Boyd’s arms, and the last thing she thought of before sleep claimed her was how lucky she was. Because she got to do this all over again the next day.
And then the next.
And, if she was really lucky, every single day until the end of time.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face and a full heart. And with Boyd’s arms wrapped around her she finally felt like she’d found home. It wasn’t an expensive apartment overlooking Central Park, or a mansion on the beach in Malibu. It wasn’t even a farm in Tennessee. Home wasn’t a place so much as a state of mind. And she’d found hers.
For that, she would always be grateful.