Erin McCarthy - Fuzzy Logic

Something in his gut told him now was the time. Go for it. Grab for everything he had ever wanted. "I'll think you are if you don't say yes."

"To what?" She put her hands on her hips, which meant his hand had to rest there too.

"To getting married."

"Married?" Her jaw dropped. "Married?"

Ashley slapped her hand over her mouth. Oh, God, he was serious. He was completely and totally serious. He was giving her that look-that intense, expectant look.

"But we just… but we just…" she babbled, not sure what to say. It would be absurdly impulsive to say yes. It would be irresponsible to just leap into something so incredibly important as marriage without thinking it through.

Too bad she wanted to say yes. She wanted to be with Lucas forever. She wanted to make him laugh, and she wanted to feel his hand steady on her back.

And Lucas was logical, to the very depths of his soul. If he thought this made sense, then surely it must.

It was time to trust her own instincts.

"Okay. Yes."

Now he was the one who looked floored. "Really?"

She laughed, joy rising up in her. "You're the one who said we're perfect for each other."

"We are." He wrapped his one arm tighter around her. "But I thought I would have to do some convincing."

Then he brushed her lips with his, and she wanted to cry at the tenderness of it.

"Damn, you've made me so happy." His kiss was full of passion and love, his tongue gliding across hers.

She sighed. "Oh, Lucas, me too."

"I love the way you say my name." Then he shook their hands linked together and grinned. "We can take the cuffs off if you want. Or leave them." He gave her a wicked wink.

Ashley nearly came on the spot, but she thought handcuffs were more than she could handle at this point. Her emotions, her body, were all on sensory overload. Any more stimuli and she might wind up in a puddle on the floor. "We can take them off."

"How do we get them off?" he asked.

She stared at him blankly. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Lucas pulled their hands up to eye-level and studied the cuffs. "What did the directions say?"

Feeling a little panicked, she said, "I told you, I didn't try all these products. In fact, I didn't try any of them. I just read my Pleasure Party consultant manual."

Lucas didn't look particularly worried. He just said, "Well, I guess we leave the cuffs on, then."

What if she had to go to the bathroom? Needed a shower? Who were they going to ask to get these things off? They were naked, damn it, they couldn't just flag down a neighbor. "That's it? That's all you're going to say? You don't have some complex method of melting these cuffs off of us?"

"No." He shrugged. "I'm not wearing any clothes and I'm handcuffed to the woman of my dreams with very soft, furry cuffs. I'm not about to complain."

"That's a very male attitude." But she could see his point. It had to be almost midnight. There was nothing they could do about the situation right this second, unless she wanted to dig through all her paperwork to try and find the handcuffs' directions.

It made more sense to look for them in the morning.

"I'm a male, what can I say?"

Ashley closed her free hand over his penis and cupped it. "Mmm, yes, you definitely are."

He groaned.

She stroked up and down, pleased at his immediate reaction. He had swelled into a nice, thick rod under her fingers.

"We're not going to make it to the bedroom, are we?" she asked.

"If we hurry, we still can." He gripped her elbow, forced her hand to stop moving over him. "Let's go. One, two, three… run."

Neither one of them took a single step.

"Let's just get supine on these tables," she said, trying to push him backward by leaning against him.

He planted his feet apart and didn't budge, though somehow mysteriously his fingers had wound up between her thighs, exploring and stroking and digging through her curls to her clitoris. "I don't think those tables can hold us. The one right behind us is a card table, Ash."

"Then we'll have to improvise." Ashley dropped to her knees in front of Lucas, keeping her left wrist up near his waist so she didn't pull him down.

He swore. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm improvising." She brushed her fingers over the soft hairs on his thigh and ran her lips over the satin smooth skin of his hard penis. "It's so hot, so silky."

Lucas grunted.

She licked along the side of his shaft, from the tip, past the ridge, down to the end, then back up again. Holding him in her hand, she rolled her tongue over the top, taking up the salty clear fluid hovering there.

His fingers buried in her hair, digging harder and harder into her scalp, encouraged her. Excited her.

Emboldened her.

She closed her mouth around him and took him deep inside. Breath rushed out her nose as she rolled her eyes back in ecstasy. He tasted so damn good. She pulled back, filled her mouth again.

Lucas gripped her head harder, making little low growling sounds in the back of his throat. Desire gripped her in a tight little knot right between her legs as she sucked faster, her lips sliding along the moisture she left behind, her movements losing finesse as she lost control.

"Oh, damn, Ashley." Lucas started moving his hips, meeting her halfway with urgent thrusts.

She closed her eyes, gripped his thigh, letting the taste and sound and scent of him wash over her. Everything was different. Her whole world had shifted today.

Instead of finding a lucrative side job, she had found something she hadn't even known she'd been looking for. Love. With a man who had been right under her nose her entire life.

It felt so right, so wonderful, so passionate to share her future with Lucas.

She let her hand that was cuffed go slack, dangling in the fur and held up by Lucas, so she could concentrate on stroking with her mouth, sucking in her cheeks, and enjoying his body. There was no hesitation on either of their parts, and everything with Lucas was erotic, sensual, safe, comfortable.

And when he exploded in her, she was very, very pleased.

Ashley woke up feeling extremely satisfied and sore. Lying on her back, a thin sheet pulled over her naked body, Ashley pried her eyes open.

And saw her brother standing in the door of her bedroom looking like he'd been smacked in the face with a two-by-four. His mouth moved, but no sound came out.

"Jason!" She darted a glance to her left, hoping somehow Lucas had miraculously separated himself from her and was in the shower. No such luck. He was still cuffed to her, sprawled out on his stomach, without a stitch on him. The sheet was shoved toward her in a messy heap, leaving him completely bare.

"Umm… sorry." Jason closed his eyes. "I didn't know you, uh, had someone here." Her brother's cheeks were bright red. "I was just looking for Lucas. We were supposed to go golfing this morning and he's not home. Lucas has never stood me up for anything. I was just wondering if you knew where he was."

Ashley clutched the sheet to her chest and gawked at her brother. Jason didn't even realize that was Lucas lying next to her. It was almost funny. "Why didn't you just knock?" she demanded, starting to enjoy her brother's discomfort.

He covered his face with one hand, rubbed vigorously. Jason was wearing a crisp red golf shirt and khaki pants, looking efficient and clipped and confident, like he always did. Except a mug of coffee was shaking just a little in his free hand. She knew that hot pink mug with the funky daisies on it. It had come from her kitchen.

"I used my key because I wanted to see if you had anything to eat, but I didn't want to disturb you if you weren't awake."

"This is what you get for stealing my food."