To Say I Love You (Another Way Book 3)
Page 22
We were already behind schedule. By quite a bit.
I got up to put the cinnamon rolls in the oven for breakfast while my husband-to-very-shortly-be made coffee. We ate in bed wearing underwear and little else, making a point of talking about anything apart from the rest of the day.
I wasn’t nervous. Of course not.
Will had enough suits to last him a lifetime but wanted to buy something new for the wedding. We matched, sort of, in grey pants, forest green bow ties, and white shirts. The bow ties matched my sister’s dress and the sashes on the white, fluffy outfits worn by Carrigan and Sawyer, who were our flower girls.
“I need to talk to you about something,” I said, shuffling round on the bed so I was facing him. It was a last-minute thing, something I should have spoken to him about weeks ago. Life had gotten a little out of hand, and I needed to do this before we got dressed.
“Yeah? Go on.”
I fiddled nervously with the braided collar around my wrist. “I want to take this off for the wedding,” I said in a rush.
He looked down to where I was rhythmically twisting the thread, pulling it tight against my skin.
“Okay,” he said slowly.
“I mean—I want to get married to you, not as your sub, but as your partner.”
“Do you still want to be my sub at all?”
“Yes,” I said quickly. “Of course.”
“Oh, thank God,” he said with a sigh and worried eyes. “I thought you wanted me to release you from your contract.”
“No, no.” I leaned in and kissed him hard, resting my hand securely on his cheek. “No. Well, yes, but just for today. I think things are going to need to change after this, and it should probably mean we renegotiate to a certain extent. I just don’t want to be a sub today.”
“Yeah,” Will said slowly. “I understand.”
“I promise I’m coming back to you. I promise. I just need this today.”
“I can give you that,” he murmured, the edge of a smile gracing the corners of his lips.
He worried the edge of my collar between his fingers, then reached over to his nightstand and fumbled for a pair of scissors. I guessed he kept them there for the few times we played in the bedroom. Safety first, after all.
After giving me another quick kiss, he decisively snipped through the thread and ran his thumb over my bare wrist.
“Better?”
“For now,” I agreed.
“For now,” he echoed.
By the time he’d pinned the collar in the box I’d bought him for his birthday, next to my other old collars, we were running very behind schedule and shared a shower in an attempt to save time. Even if we’d wanted to there, was no time for any sexy fun, and I had to rush to dry my hair enough to be able to style it.
“Are you ready?” Jennifer called, knocking on our bedroom door. We had given her keys so she could come in and set up the last few things in the morning without disturbing us. And it meant she could let everyone in, and the first time our family would see us would be when we walked down the aisle. Together.
For now, though, Will was still fussing with his hair.
“Yeah,” I called back, lying.
I gently pulled him away from the mirror with assurances of his stunning beauty and laced our fingers together.
“Are you ready?” I repeated.
He nodded. “Yes.”
My heart was thumping so hard in my chest I thought it might burst out.
“Me too,” I said.
Wanting the last thing I did as a single man to mean something, I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his bottom lip.
“I’m ready,” Will said decisively.
I smiled at him and reached for the door.
About the author:
Anna Martin is from a picturesque seaside village in the south west of England and now lives in Bristol. After spending most of her childhood making up stories, she studied English Literature at university before turning her hand as a professional writer.
Apart from being physically dependent on her laptop, Anna is enthusiastic about writing and producing local grassroots theatre (especially at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she can be found every summer), visiting friends who live in other countries, Marvel Comics, learning new things, and Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk.
Although her most recent work is in the LGBT Fiction genre, in the past Anna has worked on a variety of different projects including short stories, drabbles, flash fiction, fan fiction, plays for both children and adults, and poetry. She has written novels in the Teen/ Young Adult genre, Romance, and Fantasy novels.
Anna is, by her own admission, almost unhealthily obsessed with books. The library she has amassed is both large and diverse; "My favourite books," she says, "are The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood." She also several well-read copies of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park books and re-reads the Harry Potter novels with almost startling regularity.
Anna claims her entire career is due to the love, support, pre-reading and creative ass-kicking provided by her closest friend Jennifer. Jennifer refuses to accept any responsibility for anything Anna has written.
Anna’s website: www.annamartin-fiction.com
Twitter and Instagram: @missannamartin
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Read the final story in the Another Way series:
Forever After
Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited