Chapter Eight

It had become a tradition over the past few years, that either Ranger or one of his men would make sure I returned home safely after a distraction job. Tonight was no exception so even though I could have willed myself home in a flash, I allowed Lester to drive me home. He kept me giggling the whole time with his pick-up lines all the way to my apartment.

It had been ages since I'd had such a good laugh. When I let myself into the apartment, I was still smiling. Not even bothering to check for messages first, I went straight to the bathroom and stripped. While I waited for the water to get up to temperature I took off the wig and fluffed out my hair. I stepped into the shower and the hot spray felt good as I washed Steward out of my life.

I dressed in a tank top and boxers, then went to check on my messages. There was only one and it was from Diesel. "Hi Steph. Dress warmly and get ready to leave as soon as I get back." What the... where were we going at eleven o'clock at night.

If that's what he wanted, who was I to argue? Who was I kidding? Of course I was going to argue. I'd pulled on a pair of jeans and boots, and was just struggling into a sweatshirt when Diesel popped into the bedroom. "Where are we going in the middle of the night?"

"It's not night where we're going. Well, not yet." He held out his hand and as soon as I took it, I felt myself being transported over a much greater distance than I'd ever traveled before.

We materialized on a deserted beach. It was still daylight so we weren't in Jersey any more. I looked around; I couldn't see any signs of life, no buildings, nor roads. Glancing down at the blanket, I noticed a bucket sized silver container filled with ice sitting on the sand to one side. Nestled amongst the ice was a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses were on a flat rock just next to the cooler. The only sound I could hear was the ocean as it raced up to meet the sand and rocks. I narrowed my eyes at him accusingly. "You planned this?"

"Yep. We need to talk and I didn't want any interruptions. I thought watching a sunset from the beach would be a nice change."

I sat down on the blanket and looked around again. "It's beautiful here." I didn't care where we were. It really was beautiful. Rugged and wild. A little ways down the beach, the surf crashed onto rocks but it was somewhat calmer where we were. Diesel took the wine out of the cooler and poured some into each glass. I took mine and silently toasted him before sipping at the cool liquid.

"Thank you for your support during the job tonight. I don't mean physically, I mean what I felt flow from your mind to mine. I couldn't have done it without you."

"You were brilliant. It's the first time I've watched you do a distraction. You've made it into an art form."

I wasn't sure if I liked the idea that I had a talent for seducing men, but I knew he'd meant it as a compliment and let it lie. "What's going to happen to Steward?"

"They'll keep him medicated to suppress his powers. If he doesn't escape again he'll be in prison for the rest of his life."

I looked up at him and patted the blanket next to me. "And what about us?"

He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "We're going to watch the sun set and then I'm going to make love to you."

"What here?" My voice broke on a squeak. "We're in the open, anyone could see."

"No one is going to see us. This is a private beach, belongs to a friend of mine, and no," Diesel commented with a grin as if reading my mind, "he's not here right now."

The sun was slowly sinking into the sea. As it got closer to the horizon it turned into a bright orange ball decorated with licks of crimson fire, sending streaks of light out across the wisps of clouds in the sky. The puffs of white in the otherwise blue sky caught the light and turned it into beautifully worked lace in shades of red and pink, from the palest coral to a red so dark it was almost purple. One minute the sun was suspended right above the edge of the horizon and the next it was gone, swallowed by the ocean and the sky changed color yet again to light purple.

In the half-light, I turned to Diesel to thank him for bringing me, but the words died in my throat. He was looking at me instead of the sunset and his eyes burned with a fire that rivaled the sun's.

As if pulled by a magnet, I shifted closer and he took my wine glass out of my hand, setting it next to his on a rock behind our blanket. With excruciating slowness, he pulled me to him and leaned down to kiss me. His lips were soft but demanding, and I was willing to give whatever was asked of me.

His kiss was everything I remembered and more. This time, as his tongue stroked mine, our minds connected, our emotions touched. I moaned and returned the kiss, the sensation of our entwined minds was more intense than anything I'd ever experienced. We'd connected our minds when making love before, but it was nothing to the intensity I was feeling right now. I felt him lower me gently to the blanket and I wound my arms around his neck.

I knew that making love wasn't going to solve our problems, but at that moment, I didn't care. Talking could come later. I felt it was more important to open the buttons on his jeans. With that aim in mind, I brought my hands down from his neck and struggled with the buttons on his fly.

Diesel pulled back for a moment and gave me a cheeky grin. "Here, let me."

I let go and lay back on the blanket to watch. When he didn't take his jeans off immediately I gave a little pout of disappointment; it didn't last long though. Instead of unbuttoning his jeans, he unzipped mine and stripped them off together with my boots. The cold air hit my skin but before it could affect me, a feeling of white hot heat ran through me as his fingers skimmed up my legs, causing frissons of excitement to run straight to my center. It didn't take long before his jeans joined mine on the sand.

I was so ready for him. Our minds had been working overtime on the foreplay, touching and stroking with empathic gossamer fingers. I welcomed his weight as he settled himself between my legs before fully supporting his body on his arms. Feeling him nudging me where I wanted him, I arched my back, silently inviting him into my body; inviting him home.

The tendrils of an orgasm started as soon as we began to move. I burrowed my hands under his shirt and held on with frantic fingertips. My world shrunk until it was just Diesel and me in a tight bubble of sensual movement, and then it exploded. I felt like I was flying.

My mind soared and floated with his in the afterglow of our lovemaking. I slowly settled back down to earth, but my breathing remained ragged. Diesel pulled the edge of the blanket over us when I started shivering. I wasn't sure if I was shivering because I was cold or if it was a reaction to the most amazing experience of my life. I lay snuggled into his arms with my head resting on his shoulder.

Although we were no longer joined in body or mind, we were still connected on a deeply emotional level. Something momentous had happened here on this beach – something wild and fulfilling. We'd gone somewhere I doubted any other couple had ever gone. I'd always wanted to fly, and Diesel had made that possible. I didn't care how we did it, but we had to fix things between us, because I wanted to fly again.

Diesel turned to lie on his side so we were facing each other. He ran a finger down my cheek and leaned forward to capture my lips with his. I wondered how he could put so much love into one tiny kiss. "Two months ago I asked you to marry me. You told me 'maybe'. A lot has happened since then. Some good, some bad."

I tried to interrupt but he put a finger against my lips. "No, let me finish. What happened with Ranger... well it happened. We can't ignore it and we can't forget it. We'll have to live with it. But it made me realize a lot of things, the biggest one being I want you in my life forever. My feelings for you have gotten stronger; I love you more now than I did two months ago. I didn't think it was possible, but I do. I know you don't really want to get married again, so I'm asking you this:

"Stephanie Plum, will you be the wife of my heart. Will you love me and share your life with me, forever?"

He was asking for a lifelong commitment without marriage. Did I want that? Oh yes, I wanted that. I didn't want to get married again, at least not with legal papers and rings. But a private vow here in this wild and romantic place, was perfect. "Yes I will. Will you promise to love me and share your life with me?"

"Yes. For as long as I live."

We stared at each other, the enormity of what we'd just promised slowly sinking in. With the light all but gone, Diesel gathered me into his arms and I rested my head on his shoulder again. I lay there thinking about what we'd been through the last few days and what we'd just committed to, and suddenly I realized something.

"Umm, D?"

He kissed my forehead. "Yeah?"

"If I'm making a lifelong commitment to you, don't you think I should know your full name? I mean, Diesel what?"

He chuckled and held me tighter. "It's not 'Diesel what', it's 'what Diesel'. I didn't give you my first name when we met because I knew about your ex-husband."

I was confused. "What's the Dickhead got to do with you?"

"That's just it. I didn't want you calling me dickhead." I heard him sigh in the darkness. "My name is Richard; Richard Diesel."

"Oh that's just priceless. Of the four men that have played big roles in my life three of you have the given name Richard, or varying forms of it." I laughed, I was delighted that he wasn't called Walter or Melvin or God forbid, Willy. "You'll always be Diesel to me; I don't think I could ever call you Richard." I shivered again; the blanket wasn't enough to ward off the chill of the night.

"C'mon, let's go home." He sat up and grabbed the wine and glasses, and I collected our clothes and the blanket. Holding on to me, he popped us home. "I'm sorry I can't do your trick of completely undressing us while we're teleporting, so you'll have to take your sweater off yourself."

"Or you could help me." Which he did, and of course, that just led to other things.

End