Claire wasn’t sure which of the previous day’s revelations actually shocked her more. There was the fact that Sean’s opinion on the idea of marriage was so strikingly similar to her own. And that shared opinion was so out of place in comparison to the opinions towards matrimony that the rest of the town seemed to stick so strongly to. Though she had already been privy to the fact that Sean didn’t agree with most of the opinions of the townspeople. After all, if he had, their courtship wouldn’t have lasted three minutes, let alone three months and counting.

All things considered, Claire came to the conclusion that what really shocked her was the fact that Sean had plainly stated that they should find an aisle to walk down, and soon. Such a suggestion could easily be seen as nothing less than a proposal. To her? The girl whose mother had convinced her that no man would ever even approve of her, let alone want to marry her? But not Sean. He was the one male who had been the only one she had even had any interest in at all. And he wanted her, and seemed to mean it in quite the literal, and permanent, sense. And that was what she was not only completely shocked by, but also completely overjoyed by.

After Sean’s statements the day before had left her nearly unable to speak, he had given her a smile, a soft kiss, and headed back toward his destination of the marketplace in town. He didn't want to take his chances overstaying his welcome. At least not while her parents were home, anyway.

After having an entire day to recover from his semi-proposal as best she could, Claire just had to get a second opinion on what sounded more than promising. Until now, her life had truly convinced her that ‘promising’ was rarely, if ever, actually promising. And that seemed especially true when it came to something like attempting to decipher the honest feelings of another.

Of course there was only one person she considered a friend, and who also knew Sean. Only one person who may be able to give her some insight into whether or not she should let herself hope for any of that happiness now, after all. On that thought, Claire impatiently waited for her parents to leave the following morning. She then headed back through the woods, towards that clearing that had become so familiar to her over the last few years.

Claire had headed for the clearing in the hopes of stumbling upon Chantarell and being able to get her opinion on how serious Sean may have actually been about quite a serious suggestion indeed. However, it was Sean himself, who was the one she came across while traveling that path to the clearing.

“Hi,” she greeted him hoarsely. Claire froze and looked up at Sean as he reached her while wearing the grin that seemed almost permanent; in her presence anyway.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he smiled down at her as he took a step forward, placing a hand on her shoulder, as well as a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Here, meaning along the path that leads to my house?” she returned wryly. She tried to cover her own nervousness, which was somehow almost stronger than it had been on the day they had first spoken to one another.

“Imagine that,” he told her in an equally wry tone.

“Don’t you usually come up the road though?” she had to question.

“This way I figured that I’d come out behind your house, and still be able to kidnap you from your bedroom window. Just in case they were home again,” he returned with another playful smile.

“You’ve went from wanting to walk me down the aisle to wanting to abduct me, now?” she couldn’t stop herself from calling him on his words from the day before. Those words, after all, had been running through her head nonstop since first hearing them.

“Same difference, isn’t it?” he smirked.

“So you did mean it when you said you wanted to be with me, like that?” Claire just had to ask, though in a near whisper. She still wasn't quite sure she hadn’t imagined the entire conversation in the first place.

“I want to be with you, in every way,” he whispered next to her ear in that sultry tone once more. That tone made her breath catch, though Sean quickly returned to the playful tone as he reached for her wrist and added, “Come on.” He then began leading her off down a different path through the woods, rather than the one that led to that clearing and the Torrence home.

“Come where?” she replied with her own grin as she let him lead her onward. “Find an aisle already?” she chided.

“Not quite,” he smiled back as he led her down that long path that she had never remembered exploring before, even during her adventures with Chantarell. “But I did lie to your mother,” he added.

“When? You only talked to her once,” she stated with a bit of worry, considering the entire content of that brief conversation.

“I implied that I haven’t really built the place yet, when the truth is, it’s just about finished already.” He smiled, still holding her hand tightly.

“O…k,” she replied with a furrowed brow as she continued following him. “Why though?” she had to add.

“Guess I’m selfish: I don’t want your parents knowing where to find you and I. Before you’ve officially moved in, anyway,” he grinned.

Claire couldn’t help feeling her heart melt and her pulse race at the statement. And if he meant it all, then she would finally have the chance to live in a home with someone who did truly care about her, and wanted her, just the way she was, unconventionality and all. And she wanted him back just as much.

“When are you moving in then?” she finally managed to find her voice again as the forest began thinning out. It soon gave way to another dirt road that ran parallel to the one she lived on, on the other side of those few acres of woods.

“I’ve already been pretty much staying here for the most part. I get up early, do all the little chores I have for Mr. Torrence, and then spend the rest of the day getting this place finished. My place,” he added with another smile.

Stolen novel; please report.

“So, you’re sleeping here already?” Claire asked softly as the small, beautifully built home came into view.

“Sleeping here?” he chuckled with amusement as he led her towards the road that the home rested on the opposite side of. “That’s an interesting way of wording it,” he smirked, causing another blush in her.

“I just meant that maybe I could come and visit you without having to ever go to the Torrence house after all now,” she attempted to cover.

“Oh, you weren’t asking me if this was where to find my bed, then?” he teased as he pulled her close to him, his arm around her waist as they crossed the road.

“Why would I ask that?” she returned nervously, though still couldn’t help her own grin at his insinuation. Nor could she help the blush at the closing of what little distance there had been between them on the walk.

“Same reason why I noted which window in your parents’ house was the one to your bedroom,” he teased as he placed another kiss upon her cheek and they stepped into the large yard in front of his home. Their home even.

“And why’s that?” she smiled back as they moved toward the front door.

“Just in case you wanted to get a head start on those wifely duties,” he smirked again as he pulled her through the door with him. He closed it just as quickly behind them as she tried to take in the surroundings of the home while being nearly incapable of thought after his last comment.

“Sean!” she feigned offense. “You can’t possibly be suggesting what I think you’re suggesting,” she told him, though countered her words by stepping closer to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she did.

“Hey now, I said your wifely duties would simply be to love me as much as I love you,” he teased, leaning down and gently letting his lips move over her neck above the faded purple dress she wore that day. “What are you suggesting?” he teased her further, accenting those words with additional kisses to her pale neck as well.

“I’m suggesting that you give me a hint, and show me how much you love me,” she told him, her bravery quadrupled by being safely behind a closed door, in a home her parents didn’t even know the location of. And after being assured once and for all of what her relationship to Sean now truly was.

Sean was then the one who blushed. Though he smiled and did not move back from her. Instead, he pulled her even closer. He then guided her backwards with him towards the door at the back of the still quite bare living and dining area of the home.

Claire did not hesitate to let him lead her towards that door either. As he guided her, she let her own lips move over his neck as he used one hand to open the door behind them, while keeping the other tightly around her waist. The only thing that slowed Claire’s kisses at all was when they did move into the back room, where she saw that the one piece of furniture that had been attained for the home, was indeed a large bed. She chuckled as she turned only slightly out of his embrace to glance over at that bed. Their bed.

“That’s the first piece of furniture you got for the place?” she teased. Her nervousness did cause her to move out of his embrace, pretending to be inspecting the bedding. “Guess that nasty Torrence household is a bad influence on you, too,” she chuckled.

“What on earth do you mean, dear?” Sean feigned innocence as he moved past her, toward the bed. “Just as you pointed out, I am sleeping here now. I need a bed for that, don’t I?” he continued playfully as he moved to sit at the edge of the bed, leaning back on his elbows.

“And the cot you had over there wasn't sufficient enough?” she played along.

“I’m being practical. If I’m going to have a wife, she would need a place to sleep too, now wouldn’t she? I’d think two beds just wouldn’t be a financially sound choice.”

“You’re such a liar,” she teased with a giggle as she finally moved to sit near him on the bed. Though she herself remained sitting upright for the moment, simply placing a hand gently over his knee as she inspected the rest of the surroundings, not really being able to focus on anything as she did, though.

“You know, this seating arrangement could lead to more compromising positions,” he added after several moments of watching her as she continued to try keeping her eyes on anything in the nearly empty room, other than Sean. “Good thing we’re engaged,” he reminded her with another smile. He was then no longer able to curb his desire to pull her towards him, covering her lips with his own. Through the kiss, he wrapped her tightly in his arms atop the bed. She tensed only a moment before giving into her own desire to kiss him back, wrapping him in her arms as well.

After several heated kisses as the two lay on the bed together, Claire was finally the brave, and impatient, soul who had to follow through on her need to know if he honestly wanted her as much as she wanted him. She then took a deep breath between kisses, sliding her tongue inside his mouth while simultaneously sliding her hands up under his loose-fitting shirt. She moved her fingers hungrily over his stomach, ribcage, and eventually up to his chest, wanting to take in every inch of the flesh that was hidden from her view beneath his clothing.

Sean murmured slightly as her fingertips moved over his chest, causing him to arch his back a bit as his body immediately reacted to her kiss as well as her touch. He had now somehow ended up laying on his back as she leaned over him, kissing him, moving her hands over his skin beneath the off-white button down shirt he had donned that morning.

Feeling how immediate his reaction to her touch was, Sean knew that things could easily get much more intense. Especially after she had been the one who had moved them up another level from the simple kissing and cuddling and had reached inside at least the top portion of his clothing. There was of course the voice in the back of his head telling him to stop things before her honor, which seemed so important to all those surrounding them, was seriously in danger. Then there was the even louder voice telling him that he had waited twenty-two years to feel this strongly for any woman he had ever met. And that louder voice also reminded him that they were indeed only one tiny step away from that very bed being their marital bed. So what harm could it do, really? And both voices continued to scream at each other until at last, the movements of Claire’s hands took a turn, to interrupt those warring voices.

She moved her hands downwards from his chest as her tongue continued exploring his mouth. As her fingers headed back over his flat stomach, he assumed that she was going to ease off on the intensity of their affection and remove her hands from his heated skin at last. Though it was the very unconventionality that he was so attracted to, that seemed to be leading her actions that day. As instead, she moved her hands down from his stomach to the waist of his pants, and then further downwards. There she found his obvious arousal for her and bravely began gently rubbing him through the ever so thin material of his worn pants.

The action itself threw Sean so thoroughly that he let out some combination of a gasp and a moan as she began rubbing him into even further arousal, never once slowing the way her tongue explored his willing mouth. Her bold move to give him that pleasure that her touch so easily did, was so unexpected that it shut down both of the voices who were previously arguing over what his next move was to be. She had somehow made the decision for him, and quite decidedly. So shocked was he that all he could do was lay back, his body arching with each of her caresses. Until finally, his own desire and longing, and twenty-plus years of pent up needs, became so intense that his body finally reacted in the way it was designed to. He moaned even more loudly as the climax hit him full force, causing him to at last go limp beneath her fingers as she finally let herself look up into his desire filled eyes once more.

“I take it that means you enjoyed my head start?” she whispered to him cattily, her effect on his body, more than obvious.

Sean couldn’t help letting out a sincere, though exhausted chuckle at her statement. He then managed a breathy response, “God, I love you.”