Either way, she was certain what she wanted, needed, deserved to have. "Absolutely positive."
Still he didn't move.
"Lucas?"
His head dropped, his eyes closed. "I swore to myself we would take this slow. If we're going to do this again— when we do this again—I don't want you to have regrets."
"Could you quit being the perfect protector long enough to listen to me?" Thumping him on the shoulder, she rocked back on her heels. "I've spent five years thinking you were dead. No matter what our problems were, losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me."
Sara slid from the bed to kneel in front of him, her hands resting on his thighs. "Right now, we're here, we're together. Our child is safe in the next room, well and healthy. There's so much to celebrate and I want us to have that now, before all of those other troubles we need to work out intrude."
She couldn't be any clearer than that.
His shoulders rose and lowered with a heavy sigh. Her insides clenched with the fear that he would say no. Logic told her once he set his mind to something...
He shook his head slowly. "I'd planned to give you more time to adjust. But I guess I'm very much human and imperfect after all, because I can't stay away from you any longer."
Her fingers unfurled like the heat smoking through her veins, gathering inside her. "The door?"
He met her gaze, straight on and sexy-lidded. "Already locked it."
"I do so adore a man who thinks ahead." Then she remembered they still didn't have birth control.
He grinned. "A survival vest comes with condoms."
Relief flooded her—along with confusion. "In your survival vest? How very, uh..."
"They're used as water containers in a survival situation. Unlubricated condoms are the most compact and lightweight container to carry prior to use."
"Lucky for us." How soon could they forage through his vest?
"The doctor is certain you're okay?"
He would spend all night with questions and concerns if she didn't make a move.
"Totally healthy." Standing, she hooked her arms around his neck and stepped between his knees.
She lowered her mouth to his and oh, her lips parted with her sigh. The familiarity of his kiss melted through her like the chocolate addiction she couldn't indulge anymore, which seemed to double her craving. Although her appetite for this man had been insatiable before, and she suspected now wouldn't be any different.
Moving closer—could she get near enough?—she clung to his shoulders, reveled in the breadth of his hands cupping her bottom with gentle pressure. She canted forward, angling Lucas backward, not that she could move him anywhere he didn't want to go. He thudded against the mattress, and she let herself sprawl on top.
The mattress groaned. Or was that her? Her toes curled as her fingers dug into his shoulders.
They rolled to their sides. The mattress creaked so loudly this time she knew the sound hadn't come from her throat or his.
"Damn it," Lucas hissed.
"We'll be quiet," she whispered against his mouth, and yum, he'd shaved with that shower. "You can kiss me quiet which will double the pleasure."
He smoothed her hair from her face with hands that shook. "I wish I could take you somewhere special."
She hitched her leg over his hip. "Simply having you is far more special than any setting."
"I may not be able to do anything about the setting. But I can damn well improve the squeaky conditions." He inched from under her leg, stood and tugged the rumpled spread from under her.
"Lucas!" she whispered.
He fluttered the red-and-gold blanket over the rug, pitching pillows haphazardly. Lowering to one knee in a classic proposal pose that stung her eyes with tears, he extended a hand for her.