Chapter 48

Val's eyes darkened and he licked his lips as he gazed at Cora. "In a minute." Bending his head, he sucked first one and then the other nipple until they were fully erect and elongated. "That's better."
With careful precision, he placed the clamps on her puffy nipples and tightened the little screws until they almost but not quite hurt. Then he leaned back and tugged on the chain connecting the two, which pulled both nipples at the same time. Combined with the stimulation from the butt plug, she was drenched and ready for more. "Clit clamp please."
"You're trying to kill me." Despite his mutter, he opened the third package, tossed the plastic over the side of the bed and held up what looked like a giant bobby pin with silver beads dangling from the tips. "This is going to look so pretty against your rosy pussy. I'd really like to see a ruby clit ring on you, but that will have to wait for later."
She'd never considered the possibility of intimate piercing, but the idea of a little dangling ruby to tease Val was oddly appealing. For now, though, the slight squeeze from the bent steel clamp was enough to shoot off a minor orgasm without him even touching her with that intent. She hoped he didn't think she was easy.
"You're so fucking responsive, sweetheart. That's such a turn-on."
How did he always know just the right things to say?
He bent his head again and licked at the little balls dangling from her clit, teasing her sensitized nub. "Definitely a ruby heart." Two fingers entered her channel while his tongue lashed at her clit. With the plug in, she felt so full, it wasn't going to take much more to set her off again, and she wanted Val inside.
"I'll wear it," she said. "If you'll fuck me now, I'll let you buy me a ruby clit ring - a real one."
"Really?" He wasted no time scrambling for a condom. "You'd get pierced?"
"Actually, it sounds cool," she admitted. "And I have another confession. I'm on the Pill. You don't really need to use rubbers. I trust you to be clean, and I know I am."
"That's okay." He finished rolling on the condom. "I've never gone bare - not once in my life. I kind of figured that was reserved for the woman I eventually marry. Besides, I care too much about you to want to take any chances, and any product can fail. Two barriers are better than one."
How was she supposed to guard her heart against a man like this? Especially when his cock was filling her, along with the plug, fuller than she'd ever been. It almost hurt, but not quite, and as soon as he was seated, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He kept one thumb hooked in the chain between her breasts and played with it as he started to move. Each thrust rubbed the clamp against her clit and the little balls against her entrance, piling on layer upon layer of stimulation. She dug her nails into his shoulder and whimpered words of encouragement as he pounded into her. This time, she bit on his shoulder, spurring a hoarse shout as he spurted into the condom at the same time as she convulsed around him.
"You amaze me, Corazon." He played with her hair as they lounged in the bathtub after washing each other off in the shower. "You seem so reserved, yet you're so willing to let loose and try just about anything. How'd you get so perfect?"
She laughed and shrugged, drawing circles in the hair on his thigh. "I'm not even close to perfect. But thank you. I think I've always had a wild side, it's just a rare person who can make me feel safe enough to let it show."
He hugged her tightly to his damp chest. "Thank you for that trust. I hope you know you'll always be safe with me."
The next day after their parasailing adventure and massages, Val sent Cora off to the salon for a facial while he did some shopping. She's promised to wear a clit ring if he bought her one, and he wanted it to be a real gem. The jeweler agreed that a surgical steel ring could be fitted with a small ruby heart dangle by the day after next - Val's birthday. He couldn't think of a better present than seeing Cora wearing his jewel. He was about to leave when something else caught his eye.
Just as Cora had caught his heart.
The heart-shaped ruby ring winked up at him from a display case.
Cora hated diamonds.
How had he not realized he was falling in love with her?
Not falling, he corrected himself. Fallen. Hook, line and sinker. He was utterly, stupidly, wonderfully in love, and he had no idea what the hell to do about it. He'd told her he wasn't ready, and she'd said she wasn't either.
Now none of that seemed to matter.
He wanted her in his life, and he knew, deep in his heart, that the family magic had struck him all the way. He'd love Cora Lopez until the day he died. She was his one and only.
"Are you all right, sir?" The jeweler cast Val a concerned glance.
Val shook his head to clear it then pointed at the ring. "Can I look at that please? How big is the stone, and is the setting silver or platinum?"
"Platinum," the jeweler responded, smiling as he sensed an imminent sale. "The stone is just over a carat, I believe. No visible flaws and a perfect pigeon's-blood color." He gave Val a shrewd look. "It isn't cheap."
"Good." Val accepted the ring when the man handed it over and held it up to the light. Perfection. Finding it here was almost a sign, he told himself. Or maybe just more of the magic.
Suddenly he understood why neither Noel nor Starr had minded when the family magic struck. It hadn't made him fall in love with Cora. It had just given them the chance to get together without the real world to distract them.
One thing he was sure of - his love for Cora had nothing to do with any magic but the elemental kind between a man and the woman he wanted to share his life with.
He bought the ring and left the shop, whistling. He'd wait until his birthday to ask, he thought. Give himself a day or so to make absolutely sure.
Even though he'd never been more certain of anything in his life.