"How's your cheek?" Ian asked, running his thumb along her skin in a soft caress. "Does it still sting?" They laid in bed, the bath over with. Erin lay curled up in the swarm of blankets and sheets, enjoying the feel of the fabric on her bare skin. Ian was next to her, on his back with an arm curled around her neck to hold her close to him. Getting dressed was useless at this point.

Erin shook her head and smiled at him, surging up and planting a kiss on his lips. He chuckled and kissed her back, running a hand through her hair. She rolled onto his stomach and straddled his waist, pulling herself into a sitting position. She ran her hands up along his arms and laced her fingers with his, pinning him down. Ian's brown hues followed her every move as she leaned down and kissed him again, slower and much more passionate. She hummed softly to show her contentment and squeezed his hands gently. When she pulled away, they were both panting for air. "I love you," she whispered, the words pouring from her mouth before she even realized she'd said them. She cringed slightly and let his hands go, sitting back up.

After a minute or so of silence, she rolled onto her back again and covered her face with her hands. Ian took the opportunity to open a drawer and fish something out of it, which she guessed was a cigarette. "Do you really?" he asked, hovering over her and pulling her hands from her face. "I mean, really, really love me?"

Erin chewed on her lip for a moment and nodded, gazing up into his eyes. They had had this conversation plenty of times before, and Ian had yet to say it back. He always came up with something along the lines of 'I care about you a lot', but never the words she wanted to hear. The first time she uttered the words was in the back of Ian's van. To her, the moment felt perfect, if not a little late. After, though, he just sat up and rubbed his head before smoking a cigarette. He showed no sign of even hearing the words she'd said and it bothered her. They, then, had a talk about it and he said he simply didn't believe in love. He'd never known it before and didn't think he knew it now. It even made Erin wonder because the closest thing she'd ever known to love was her father killing himself with grief over the death of her mother. Maybe it didn't exist, so she trained herself not to say it to Ian anymore.

Ian pressed his lips to hers again and she returned the kiss half-heartedly, trying not to let her disappointment show through her actions. She felt him smiling against her mouth, but it was too dark for her to properly read the expression. Her first thought was that he was laughing at her and immediately, her eyes welled up with tears that threatened to boil over if she wasn't too careful. What happened next caught her off guard and she found herself crying for the first time in nearly ten years.

"Marry me," Ian murmured, sucking her lower lip into his mouth gently. He held up what he'd dug out of the nightstand, which turned out to be a small, black box that held a diamond ring. She stared at him, wide-eyed. "It was my mother's, I guess. I found it in here when I moved in. It's real, I got an appraisal." He stopped and kissed her quickly when she opened her mouth to say something. "Pip, I absolutely adore you, don't question it. You gonna marry me or not?"

"Of course," Erin replied, sitting up and looking from him to the ring. "How long have you been planning this?" She raised an eyebrow as he slipped the ring onto her finger and held her hand in his. He slipped a hand onto the back of her neck and kissed her slowly-his favorite kiss. She returned the gesture, letting him push her onto her back. She moaned softly and wrapped her legs around his waist, the question forgotten

"What exactly is this worthless piece of shit?" Erin muttered, taking a long drag on her cigarette and blowing it out into Ian's face. The air was crisp and chilly that October morning and Erin was still pretty insistent on taking her car to DC instead of this rusty old van that Ian was determined to drive.

"It's the rape van," he replied as-a-matter-of-factly, as though it were a perfectly normal title. Well, it fit anyway. "And it runs beautifully and it has more room for our luggage, so we're riding in it to Washington."

"Zip, this is nuts, okay?" she replied, taking another drag before tossing the cigarette to the pavement and stamping it out. "I'm not setting foot in that thing. It's not even gonna make it to Virginia before it bursts into flames. No, my Camaro will do just fine, thanks."

However, it was no use. Ian was already throwing her suitcases into the back of the van and slamming the doors shut. "You have no faith in me, Pip," he replied, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the engine. "I just spent a year of my life working on this van and it runs and you're gonna be sorry that you ever insulted it. Come on, get in or I'm leaving you here."

He wasn't bluffing and she knew it. Rolling her eyes, Erin climbed into the passenger's seat and slammed the door shut. "I should leave a note for my parents with a picture of this scrap heap to explain why their oldest child won't be returning home in two weeks like she promised."

"Oh, lovely, another reason for dear old Sandra D to hate me," he muttered, pulling out of her driveway and heading towards the highway. "Admit it, you wanted to take this van."

"Why, in God's name, would I want to ride in this hunk of junk?"

"Because there's more room in the back for me to fuck the shit out of you properly when we get there."

Erin glanced over at Ian, laughing at the grin on his face. "In your dreams, McKinley," she murmured, turning up the radio as he sped along the exit and into the traffic.

Erin took a deep breath and laid back in the dewy grass of the National Mall, setting her sketchbook down beside her. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, gazing up at the stars. She propped herself up onto her elbow and looked at the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial beyond it. "I mean, just everything about our capitol. It's gorgeous." She glanced over at Ian who was staring at her intensely. It reminded her of the first time she saw him on her first day of school, almost two years ago..

"Beautiful," he murmured, not taking his eyes off hers. She smiled in response and sat up, leaning back on her palms. She watched him inch closer, using his hand to brush the hair from the back of her neck. He rested his fingers there and pulled her face to his, kissing her slowly. She hummed softly and kissed him back, gripping the front of his jacket lightly. When he pulled away, they were both out of breath, hearts racing. "Erin," he whispered, nudging her into another kiss, this one rougher than the last with a hint of eagerness.

Erin pulled away and grabbed her sketchbook and pencil quickly, racing him to the van. She climbed into her seat and cranked the ignition so the heater would come on full blast before he climbed in from the back. He grabbed her hand gently and tugged her to him, pulling her into another rough kiss. It was her turn to moan his name as he pulled off his jacket and pushed her shirt up to her chest slowly. Their hands explored each other eagerly as they undressed, their mouths finding new places to kiss, bite, and suck.

"Fuck," Ian groaned. He'd pulled her leggings off and slid her skirt up to her abdomen, revealing a silky, red thong. Of course, she'd come prepared for this. It was their first vacation as a couple and they both knew that their first time having sex was long overdue. "Erin," he growled, pinning her to the floor of the van and kissing her hard, with fiery passion. She curled her fingers in his hair and moaned in response, her legs bending on either side of his waist to give him better access.

The next few moments were a blur, the perfect mixture of pleasure and pain. Her thong was torn off and thrown to the side, which hadn't bothered her a bit. "Trust me, there's plenty more where that came from," she panted to Ian, which only seemed to make him want more. He thrust up into her, causing her to cry out, squeezing her eyes shut and sinking her teeth into his lower lip. He moaned and pushed through it, making sure she was alright. The pain was eminent, but only for about ten minutes. He hit her g-spot around fifteen minutes in and, enjoying the sound she made, he repeated the movement to get her to make it again. She was in pure ecstasy after that.

She came three times before Ian was spent. Erin was amazed by his staying power and she loved him for it. Afterwards, they laid in the van together, Ian's jacket draped across Erin chest like a blanket. She shivered slightly and he pulled her closer, nipping at her ear softly. She giggled and he repeated the gesture to make her laugh again. "I love your laugh," he breathed in her ear, a soft chuckle escaping his throat.

"I love you," she murmured, looking at him innocently. He looked back at her for a moment before uncurling his arm from her shoulders and sitting up. He ran a hand through his hair and fished in her bag for a cigarette, lighting it and taking a slow drag. She sat patiently, but he acted as though nothing was said to him. "Ian," she said firmly, sitting up and clutching his jacket to her chest.

He took another drag and looked back at her. "Erin," he replied, blowing the smoke out to the side. She must have looked as though she was seriously wounded because he brushed his palm along her cheek gently. "Don't look at me like that. I care about you. I just don't believe love exists. If it did, though, I'm sure I'd feel it for you." He flicked his ashes into a cup and leaned down to kiss her. She surged up and met him for it, a soft whimper of satisfaction escaping from her lips. The taste of the cigarette on his breath was divine and she pushed her tongue into his mouth greedily, searching for more. He chuckled and ghosted his fingers along her skin before pulling back. "You're gonna have to wait, Pip. I need more energy and it's fucking freezing out here. I'll be ready for a second round by the time we get back to the hotel. You just relax and look beautiful like you always do." With that, he pulled on his jeans and climbed into the front seat, putting the car in drive and heading back to their hotel in the city.


thegoodgirldoll

Thanks so much for the review! I'm posting two new chapters tonight just for you! :) Message me anytime.