He cupped her face and darted forward, meeting her challenge, pressing his lips to hers. She moaned with pleasure and held on to the back of his neck, massaging it with her fingertips while the kiss deepened in intensity.
It was like scratching the worst and most persistent itch, Adam thought. She was a mosquito who had been biting him over and over and over all summer and now he finally had the antidote. If she bit him again, he could bite her back. The relief sank into him like balm, while his tongue sank inside her mouth, embedded in her warmth and wetness.
He was a drowning man, but he wanted to drown.
When his eyes half-opened, the first thing they saw from their blurred corners was the crucifix that hung over the altar. The nailed Christ looked down upon them, sorrowful and crowned with thorns.
Adam broke away and wiped his mouth.
‘Not in here,’ he said apologetically.
‘I want to do it on the altar,’ said Evie, trying to lure him into another kiss, but he shook her off.
‘Don’t be so blasphemous,’ he growled, trapped in the agony of an erection that couldn’t be used. ‘I’m serious, Evie. You need to learn to control yourself. What will it take?’
‘Perhaps you should spank me,’ she suggested, hitching up her red silk skirt until it sat just above her thighs. She bent over teasingly, presenting her bottom through the tight scarlet cladding.
Adam put his hands over his face.
‘Go on, Adam. Teach me a lesson. Make me a good girl for you.’
With an incoherent cry, he turned on his heel and strode up the nave, taking deep breaths as he walked towards the light from the open door.
‘Oh, don’t be like that,’ she called, running after him and taking his arm. ‘Don’t go all uptight on me again. I just can’t help myself around you. You’re so much fun to tease.’
‘You can’t marry a man just because you like teasing him,’ he muttered, entering the churchyard.
‘It’s more than that. Hey. Don’t give me daggers. I love you, vicar. Honest, I do. I love you so much I want you to take me to bed right now and give me the seeing-to of my life.’
‘We have to wait,’ said Adam, although it was closer to a shout.
‘Why? You didn’t wait for that other girl, the one that popped your cherry. Why should I have to? Ain’t I as good as her?’
‘That’s not … That was meaningless. I didn’t ever want to marry her. I want to marry you. I want our wedding night to be special.’
‘That’s so sweet. But it’ll be special whether you fuck me now or not. It’ll be special ’cos it’s our wedding night and we’ll be together.’
‘I want to do everything the right way. For you, Evie. I want to treat you the way you should be treated. Not the way you’re used to. The way you deserve.’
She was quiet for a minute, the usual breezy repartee knocked from her by Adam’s words.
‘The way I deserve?’ she said, and Adam saw a shimmering in her eyes. ‘What’s that then?’
‘Like the precious, amazing soul that you are, that you’re capable of being. I don’t think anyone’s ever really cared for you, Evie. It’s always been about what they could take from you. I want to care for you. So much. I want to show you what you’re worth.’
She inhaled a ragged breath. ‘Fancy words,’ she said, but her voice was uneven.
‘Words from the heart,’ he said firmly. ‘Words that are meant.’
‘I suppose you’d think the same of me if I looked like an old sock, would you?’
‘Evie, don’t. Nothing you can do or say will ever change the way I feel about you. I love you absolutely. I always will.’
She smiled, but she still looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
‘So you’re saying a quick knee-trembler’s out of the question, are you?’
He shook his head with fond exasperation then bent to kiss her gently on the lips.