“You’ve got me.” I ground my hips against him. “I’m yours.”
Owen began to lower his head to mine, and then he paused. “Hold on a second. I almost forgot.” Releasing me, he reached down to where his small suitcase sat on the floor. He dug around for a minute and pulled out a plastic shopping bag.
“Here.” He thrust it toward me. “I hope you’ll like this. I wanted to do it for you, but I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you into anything or making an assumption about our future. It’s just ... a gift.”
My heart beat a little faster as I accepted the bag and opened it. When I withdrew the large square box inside, my mouth dropped open. “Owen ... is this ... oh.” I eased off the lid. “My God. Look at this camera.”
He still seemed nervous, and I wasn’t sure why. “It’s the best one, I guess. Or a lot of people seem to think so. I did all the research I could, and this seemed to be the consensus. If you’d rather have something else, we can trade it in. Or if I totally misread the situation, you don’t have to take it. I just ... I wanted to do this for you.”
“Owen, I love it.” I examined the camera, checking out all the buttons and features. “Why on earth would you think I wouldn’t?”
He sighed. “I didn’t want to be one more person assuming I knew what was best for you. Last week, I saw how excited you were when you talked about photography, and that’s when I got the idea. I couldn’t wait to give it to you, but then I wondered if I was jumping to conclusions. You know, trying to push you into making a decision about your future. If you decide you want to pursue photography in some form, then great. But it’s fine if you don’t, too.”
Tears flooded my eyes. “You amaze me. Not only do you know the perfect place to take me... and the perfect gift to give me ... you know exactly what I need to hear, too. You’re not pressuring me, Owen. You’re opening doors in case I want to walk through them. Thank you. This is so cool. I can’t wait to use it.” I sniffled, wiping at my eyes. “You didn’t know this, but I actually signed up for a couple of photography courses this week, to brush up on the subject. And I talked to Samantha about volunteering to take pictures at some of the events on the battlefield in Petersburg, so that I can build up my portfolio. I was going to look at getting a used camera next week.”
Owen’s smile was wide and full of joy. “Now you don’t have to. Now you have one.”
“How can I ever thank you?” I replaced the camera in its box and lay it carefully on the dresser. “Can you think of something I could do that might express my gratitude ...” I began to unbutton his shirt. “And my love, too. Does anything come to mind?”
“I can think of one or two ways.” He spanned my waist with his hands and lifted me until I wrapped my legs around his hips. I felt the hard length of his erection under his jeans against the thin lace of my panties, and suddenly, everything else in the world lost significance. I moved against him, desperate to be as close as possible.
“Let’s start here.” He breathed the words just before he slanted his head and sealed his mouth over mine.
