a whine arose but she squashed it. "so what's the good news?"

"i promise the wait will be worth it when we get to our honeymoon destination."

"which is where?"

his mouth grazed her ear as he continued working the buttons. "tahiti."

she smiled. "tahiti is good."

"mmm. i thought you'd like that. especially since we'll have two weeks to roll around naked in our private villa. or on our private beach."

she couldn't freakin' wait for two weeks alone with jack. "what time will we get there?"

"we fly from denver to la, and from la to papeete. tahiti is a little off the grid, so it'll take about fourteen hours. we should be there in time tomorrow night to see the sunset." he kissed the side of her neck and murmured huskily, "that was the last button. turn around and drop the dress, keely."

her blood heated. her pulse spiked. her body went wet and soft in places, tight and hard in others.

jack could fire her up in no time flat with mere words. but that didn't mean she'd make it easy on him. or that she wouldn't use every feminine trick in the book to get him to recant his "no quickie in your immediate future" comment.

holding the bodice in place over her chest, she faced him.

jack wore the hooded expression that told her he was trying very hard to keep it together and keep his hands off her.

ooh. snapping his control was gonna be so much fun.

keely loosely held the dress with her left hand, giving him the occasional glimpse of her cleavage, while her right hand began to remove the bobby pins maintaining her up 'do.

"what are you doing?"

"lettin' my hair down." the pins hit the tile floor, one at a time, each with a soft ping. "you like it when i let loose, don't you, jack? and i've been coiled so tightly all day."

he said not a word, but his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. the muscles in his jaw jumped, as did the muscle in his pants.

heh heh.

after the last pin freed her hair, she sighed as the tresses fell, knowing how jack loved to wrap those loose waves around his hands as he fucked her. "ah. i needed that. now. where were we?"

"goddammit, keely-"

"oh, right, you asked me to drop the dress." she released the heavy weight of the beaded bodice and it gradually slid down her upper torso, briefly clinging to her hips before she slipped it over her thighs to pool around her feet in a pile of satin, chiffon, and lace.

not that jack noticed the crumpled state of her wedding dress. his gaze was firmly glued on her undergarments.

low-cut push-up bra edged in white lace?

check.

ass-molding boy shorts in white spandex also edged in lace?

check.

satin and lace garters holding up sheer white stockings?

check.

white satin stiletto peep-toe pumps with delicate ankle straps?

check.

hungry, possessive look on jack's face?

check.

keely tiptoed over the heap of fabric and stopped, expecting jack would rush her, pin her to the wall, and do all the raunchy things that were etched on his handsome face.

but the stubborn man didn't move.

so she did. she twirled and gave him her backside, swinging her hair as she threw her arms above her head and gyrated her hips. then she peered at him over her shoulder and murmured, "you like?"

and...he was done for.

jack's growl was her only warning before he was on her. spinning her into his arms, smashing her mouth beneath his, kissing her frantically, one hand twisted in her hair, the other clamped on her butt.

keely wasn't too far gone with lust not to release a little chuckle of superiority that jack's resistance had vanished so fast upon seeing her peep-show.

he herded her until the backs of her thighs hit the table ledge. without missing a beat, jack lifted her, positioning himself between her legs, continuing to gift her with the soul kisses she craved.

after he'd gotten her worked up to the point she writhed against him, he trailed his lips to her ear.

"such a cocktease you are, wife. you are going to pay for that little display. later."

"later? not now?"

"no." jack nuzzled her temple. then his mouth followed the curve of her cheek to the corner of her smile. keeping his eyes on hers, he lightly sank his teeth into her bottom lip before continuing the hot, wet, openmouthed kisses down the column of her throat.

keely moaned, tempted to let her head fall back, close her eyes and lose herself in the mind-boggling way this man made her feel. but she kept her eyes on jack as he conducted his sensual blitz. when he looked at her, a hint of devilry glinting in his eyes, she shivered.

"cold?" he murmured as his tongue traced the lace band of her bra down the valley of her cleavage.

"yes. you should do the gentlemanly thing and take your clothes off to use your body heat to keep me warm."

he chuckled against the upper swell of her breast. but he didn't dally. that oh-so-talented mouth progressed southward, slower than she liked, but chances were high they both had the same end point in mind.

finally.

keely's breath stalled when his hands gripped the tops of her legs and spread her thighs wider. she squirmed when jack's tongue traced the mckay cattle brand tattooed on her hip.

and she flat out whined when he retreated.

"better grow some patience, cowgirl. you're going to need it." he grabbed her right ankle, leisurely unbuckled the rhinestone strap and threw her shoe behind him.

she laughed. the man surprised her on so many levels. she knew a lifetime wouldn't be enough to learn everything that made him tick. "jack. i love you."

"i know you do."

"don't you have something to say back to me?"

"yes." he lifted her left ankle and removed that shoe in the same manner. he stepped just out of her reach and said huskily, "unhook the stockings."

"but..." that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"but what?"

"but isn't that your job?" she cooed. "divesting me of all my apparel?"

jack shook his head, but his gaze remained on the satin bridal garter, centered mid-thigh, below the band of the stocking. "unfasten them, but leave the stockings and the garters on."

damn man was taking all the fun out of it...or was he? keely crooked her finger. "i need to borrow your big, strong body to support myself so i don't faint dead away with all the unbridled lust you bring out in me, husband."

he grinned. "laying it on a little thick, aren't you?" but he edged forward.

keely gently set her foot on his crotch. not as unaffected as he projected; he was totally hard. "talk about thick." she smirked when he growled again, but she noticed he didn't even attempt to move her foot.

she popped the buttons, moving the bridal garter up over the top of the stretchy band of the stocking, and slid her stocking-clad foot up and down his erection before she switched sides.

once the stockings were loose, jack leaned in and kissed her. a teasing brush of his lips. a fleeting nibble of his mouth on hers as his fingers inched up her thigh in a whisper-light touch across her trembling skin. when he reached the top of the stocking, he inserted his finger inside and slowly, slowly, slowly dragged it down the length of her leg.

keely's whole body was quivering. tingling even. and he hadn't even started working his magic touch on all her other special tingly parts. "jack-"

her protest disappeared in his intense kiss.

jack removed the other stocking with the same painstaking precision, with such drawn out eroticism, she whimpered.

he laughed and dropped to his knees.

oh hell yeah. now we're talkin'.

his mouth meandered up the inside of her thigh, the tantalizing touch of his hot breath, wet tongue, moist lips and the scrape of his five o'clock shadow was almost too much to bear. he latched onto the bridal garter with his teeth, snapped it once, and tugged it down her leg.

okay, this garter removal business was much better in private.

one down, one to go.

she expected he'd torment her mercilessly on the other leg before pressing his mouth to her damp panties and giving her what she really wanted.

but jack just tugged the other bridal garter off and rolled to his feet. "done. now get dressed so we can hit the road."

"that's it?"

"what? were you expecting we'd go at it right here, right now?"

"uh, yeah. wasn't that the point?"

"no. i'll admit i was considering throwing you a bone after the striptease, but you were so cocksure i had no control-"

"throwing me a bone?" she repeated. "are you tryin' to piss me off, jack?"

his eyebrows rose. "on our wedding day? not likely."

"then why won't you-"

"pin you down on the table or on the tile floor or against the wall and screw you blind?"

"that'd work for me."

"too bad, because it doesn't work for me."

she frowned. "you're goin' all puritan on me now that we're married?"

"hell no, but i don't want fast and dirty the first time we make love as husband and wife, okay? i want to take my time with you. i want it slow."

keely stared at him for a few seconds, thrown by his pc reference to sex. "my god, gq, sometimes you are such a girl."

there. that oughta goad him into proving his masculinity. right now.

probably twice.

but he laughed-a bit meanly. "nice try. but i will not fuck you until we're alone, in a room with a huge bed, with the surf pounding in our ears and zero chance we'll be interrupted by any of your two million family members." he kissed her forehead. "and that, my sweet, sexy, horny wife, is a promise."