The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

Her hair rained back in a dark tangle. She lifted her arms, a gesture of abandon, tangling her own fingers in those tumbling curls.
    Then her body began to rock, to move, to seek.
    The power was hers now, the control of each whip of pleasure. As his body rose and fell to her pace, she let herself take. His muscles trembled as she stroked her hands over him. His eyes seemed dark as the night as she leaned close to torment his mouth as he had hers. The low groan she ripped from him had her laughing in triumph.
    “Higher.” She braced herself over him. “This time I’ll take you higher.” Boldly she took his hands, closed them over her breasts. “Touch me. Touch me everywhere while I take you.”
    She guided his hands where she wanted them, reveling in the feel of them over her slickened skin as she rode him closer and closer to the edge.
    She felt his body plunge helplessly under her, heard his breath strangle in a gasp, and thrilled with what she’d done to him, let herself leap after.
    It was he who shuddered, he whose hands slid limply away when she lowered to nuzzle her mouth to his. When she pressed her lips to his throat, she felt the wild beat of his pulse.
    Then with a sound of triumph, she drew back and threw her arms high. “Oh, God, I feel wonderful! People should always make love outside. It’s so . . . liberating.”
    “You look like a faerie queen yourself.”
    “I feel like one.” She shook her hair back, then looked down to smile at him. “Full of magic and marvelous secrets. I’m so glad you’re not angry with me. I was sure you would be.”
    “Angry? How could I be?” He gathered enough energyto sit up so he could hold her, torso to torso. “Everything about you delights me.”
    She snuggled closer, still flying on the pleasure of the moment. “You weren’t delighted with me last night.”
    “No, I can’t say I was, but since we’ve straightened it all out, it’s nothing to worry us.”
    “Straightened it out?”
    “Aye. Here, let’s get you back into your jumper before you get cold.”
    “What do you mean—” She broke off as he dragged her sweater over her head.
    “There, that’s all you’ll need, as I’m going to get it off you again as soon as we get inside.” He began to gather clothes and bundle them into her arms.
    “Aidan, what do you mean we’ve straightened it all out?”
    “Just that we have.” Smiling easily, he picked her up and carried her toward the cottage. “We’ll be married in September.”
    “What? Wait.”
    “I am, till September.” He nudged open her garden gate.
    “We’re not getting married in September.”
    “Oh, we are, yes. Then we’ll go off to the places you want to see.”
    “Aidan, that’s not what I meant.”
    “It was what I meant.” He smiled at her again, pleased he’d found just the way to handle the situation. “I don’t mind if you need to wiggle around it for a while, darling. Not when we both know it’s what’s meant.”
    “Put me down.”
    “No, not quite yet.” He carried her inside and started up the stairs.
    “I’m not marrying you in September.”
    “Well, it’s only a few months away, so we won’t have long to see who’s right in the matter.”
    “It’s insulting, and it’s infuriating that you simply assume I’ll fall in line with your plans. And that I’m too stupid to know what I want for myself.”
    “I don’t think you’re stupid at all.” He walked down to the bathroom. “Fact is, darling, I believe you’re one of the smartest people I know. A bit stubborn is all, but I don’t mind that.” He hitched her up a bit, so he could reach out and turn on the shower.
    “You don’t mind that,” she repeated.
    “Not at all. Just as I don’t mind having your eyes shoot darts at me as they are at the moment. I find it . . . stimulating.”
    “Put me down, Aidan.”
    “All right.” He obliged by setting her in the tub, right under the stream from the shower.
    “Damn it!”
    “Don’t worry about the jumper, I’ll take care of it.” And laughing while she shoved and wiggled, he stripped it off and tossed it with a wet plop onto the floor.
    “Keep your hands off me. I want to settle this.”
    “You’ve settled it in your mind just as I have in mine. I say I want my way more than you want what you’re thinking is yours. But . . .” He brushed the wet hair out of her face. “If you’re so sure of yourself, you’ve nothing to worry about, and we can just enjoy