by AliyahBurke
The other three left the room and soon it was the two of them in the large suite. His eyes blazed with desire as he looked at her flushed body in its tight dress. “Come here, Mrs. Rawlins,” he purred as he crooked a finger at her.
Mrs. Rawlins. She looked down at her hand and saw the rings there but it still seemed so unreal. What did seem real was the flesh and blood man that beckoned to her. Sanura went eagerly to him.
“I want to kiss my wife.” He picked her clean up off the floor and put those lips of his onto hers as he moved to the bed.
They were stretched out on the bed when she pulled back from his embrace. “How long have you known?”
With a heavy sigh he flopped over and looked up at the ceiling. “What do you hope to gain from this, kitten?”
“I would know the truth of why you married me.”
“Because I love you. No other reason.”
“So not out of pity for me?”
Gavin groaned and covered his face with his hands before rolling his large body back onto of hers. “This is not how I pictured my wedding night. Our wedding night. Save your argument for later. Right now, I am going to enjoy my wife.” His eyes smoldered with hidden promises of pleasure.
He rose over her and straddled her trim waist with his legs. Put his hands on either side of her neck and kissed her lightly. “Why is everything such a battle with you? Trust me, Sanura. I won’t hurt you.”
Wordlessly she stared up into the pieces of lapis that graced his face. Her lashes fell slowly to her cheeks as her hands reached up to trail down his face.
* * * *
The embers between them burst into flames as he grabbed the dress on the tops of each of her full breasts. With a sudden jerk he ripped her satin dress right down the middle, exposing her body. Gavin licked his lips. Her darker skin gleamed in the soft bedroom light as she lay bared to his gaze. All she wore was a simple silk black thong, which he snapped off next.
Her breaths grew sharper. Gavin couldn’t believe what lay before him. She was there on the remains of her black satin dress, on top of the white silk bedspread, naked and waiting for him. Her sensual green eyes had reopened and watched him from under her sooty lashes as he watched her.
“I love you, wife,” he said as he removed his own clothes and reclaimed his position on top of her, this time settling in between her toned legs.
“And I you.” She wound their fingers together.
She was magnificent and, more importantly, she was his.
Her eyes rolled back as he slid into her welcoming heat. She was always ready for him. Anytime. And he was for her.
His hardness slid in and out of her as their hands stayed clasped together. Her moans filled him with such pride; he made her feel this way. No one else. Just him. Sanura’s legs locked around his waist and she began to rise to meet his thrusts faster and faster. He wanted to be deeper, so he let go of her hands and carefully maneuvered her over onto her stomach.
One arm went under her and lifted her to her knees. His large hands grabbed a hold of her hips and he began to pound into her as she gripped the silk covers and scrunched them in tight fists.
Her cries muffled by the pillows covering her face as Gavin drove into her; he stayed focused on the panther on her shoulder. Again and again. Over and over. Harder and harder. Until they were both covered by a sheen of sweat. He felt her body tense then she spasmed. Her body tightened around him and pulled, milked every last bit of potency it could from him, and he willingly gave it to her warm depths.
Gavin fell to his side and tugged her with him. They lay in silence, still joined together but motionless with exhaustion. They had been sleeping for a while when her phone rang.
Gavin answered it. “What? She’s right here. Who is this?” He gently shook her shoulder. “Sanura, some guy calling for you. Says his name is Ricky.” He felt her fear as her body locked up tight, so he didn’t hand her the phone. “She is not available to come to the phone right now. Who am I? I’m her husband.” He hung up on the voice and took his wife into his arms.
His wife. He would never get tired of saying that. She was shaking. He rubbed her back and spoke softly, “Who is Ricky?”
“Someone I wish I could forget about.”
“Tell me?”
Sanura rolled and put her naked body chest to chest with his. “Do I have to? Can’t you think of something else more worthwhile to do?” Her fingernails skimmed down his chest as her eyes took on a sultry look.
“You are such a naughty kitten,” he scolded, but his body leapt in response and soon they were traveling to their own planes of passion.
* * * *
It was much later in the day when a knock came on the door. Sanura was fresh from the shower they had shared and was wrapped in a luxurious robe as she had no clothes at all. Gavin was also in a robe and he went to open the door to admit his mother. She walked into the room followed by a bunch of bellboys each carrying boxes in their arms. They all tried, and failed, not to stare at Sanura as she sat in a chair watching them. Gwendolyn smiled at her son and daughter-in-law.
“Good morning. I know you don’t want to see my face but I brought Sanura some clothes. If there is anything left of the dress, I am sure she would prefer something else to wear. So here you go. Put the boxes down there,” she directed.
“Mother, what are you doing here?” Gavin’s curiosity was obvious.
“Really, Gavin, I just told you. And now, I’m leaving. I have a date. Goodbye.” She was gone in a flurry of aristocratic elegance.
Gavin exchanged a glance with his wife as they wondered what was going on with Gwendolyn Rawlins. “Care to see what she got you?”
Sanura rose, walked over to the boxes and spent the next hour opening and trying on clothes. They were a perfect fit. Everything from lingerie to jeans and t-shirts to dresses.
“I don’t understand. Why is she doing this for me?”
“She does like you. This is her way of saying so.” He placed a kiss on her cheek and helped her out of the clothes.
“I have to go home. I have to get to work.”
“You don’t have to work anymore. You can stay home. I think I can afford to take care of you.”
The silence thickened and he realized one thing, that was not the right thing to tell her.
Sanura spun around. “What did you say to me?”
“I only said you didn’t have to work.” Fire burned within the depths of her emerald eyes and he realized he had made his first mistake as a married man.
“Are you telling me you don’t want me to work now that I am your wife?” Her words were smooth and showed the presence of a steel trap waiting for him, one he ignored.
“Yes.” For fuck’s sake, he was a billionaire, his wife didn’t need to work.
Another mistake, damn he was two for two and he hadn’t even been married for twenty-four hours. Her eyebrows rose.
“And why would that be?”
“Because now you don’t have to,” he stated as if it were so obvious.
“You are a conceited bastard, do you know that? What makes you think I have to work? Just because I don’t have the millions you do, doesn’t mean I don’t have money. Listen to me, I’ll not quit working, and if you will excuse me, I’m going home. I’ll take this one outfit and go.”
She brushed past him, leaving Gavin standing there in the doorway looking after her. By the time he headed after her, she was gone.
* * * *
Less than an hour later, the newlywed Sanura Rawlins sat on a plane heading back to Georgia. She had her purse with IDs and credit cards along with her cell phone. Other than that she had nothing with her. When they landed she turned on her phone as she climbed into the truck that waited for her outside baggage claim. “Thanks, Trav, for coming to get me.”
“My pleasure, hon, where’s the man?”
“In California. He has work to do there, and I have work to do here.” Her phone started ringing and she looked at the caller
ID and ignored it.
“Your husband is going to get very angry with you hon. Don’t you think you should talk to him?”
“How do you know I have a husband?”
“Because when you left there was no ring on your finger. Now there is a huge ass diamond plus a band with emeralds in it. Was it that guy Gavin you married?”
“Yes. Then this morning he had the nerve to tell me not to work anymore. Like he owns me or something.” Her phone rang again, prompting her to toss it into her purse with a frustrated groan.
“Well, everyone here knows about it, so they are all going to wonder where he is. You know that.”
“Fine. He has a business. I will say he’s off working.”
“The day after your wedding?”
“Shut up, Trav. Will you take me home please?”
“Of course, hon.”
They talked about neutral things for the rest of the ride to her home. When he dropped her off she walked into her home and took a deep breath. Sanura sat on the polished stairs inside her home and put her head in her hands. She had run away. Dropping her head back she looked at the ceiling. Her home phone began to ring and she took a fortifying breath before she picked it up.
“Hello?” For once it was not the strong voice of Sanura but the almost hesitant one of a woman not sure she wanted to talk.
His displeased voice reached her. “This is not the way to begin a marriage, kitten.”
“I know.” She sat back down.
“Are you alright?” No longer displeased, concerned.
“Fine.”
“Come on, Sanura, talk to me. No more walls between us.”
“I had to come home; you are out there to work. I have a job here.”
“What about a honeymoon?”
“What about it?”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Nowhere.” She stood and began to pace.
“Nothing is more important to me than you. I will have Clint come out here. My place is with you.”
“I’m fine. We can worry about that kind of thing later. You might as well stay out there and do your work.”
“What are you saying?” he interrupted. “That you don’t want me around now?”
Her body sagged to the floor. “Not at all. But you gave Harris your word. So you need to keep it.”
“I gave you a promise as well.” His words touched her in all the right places.
“I know you did. I’m not going anywhere. I will still be here when you come home.”
“Is that right? I’m allowed to move in now?” he teased nervously.
“Unless you want to keep your condo.” Her voice was still sad and dull.
“Not on your life. My place is beside you.”
“I will be here waiting.” Her tone grew serious. “I don’t want to stop working.”
She heard his deep breath. “I know, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. If you want to work than do so, I only meant you didn’t have to if you didn’t want to.”
“Okay. It’s that I have to feel like I am doing something worthwhile. Running the restaurant is that.”
“Don’t wear yourself out. You know I will support you in whatever you wish to do.” He chuckled. “We are beginning our life together in a unique way. I mean, my wife leaves me the day after our wedding, doesn’t want a honeymoon. What will people say?”
“The day we do anything normal will be a strange day in itself.”
“How true. How did you get home?”
“Trav came to pick me up.”
“Trav?” Gavin’s voice dropped well below the danger level.
“Yes, Trav. And before you get your boxers in a twist, his wife would beat the shit out of him if he even remotely thought about me in that way for real. I was helping out with the hay since she is expecting and can’t do the work. Have some faith in me.”
“I trust you completely, kitten. It’s the men around you I don’t trust. Where is your cell phone? I tried to call you on it, but there was no answer.”
“I was avoiding you. I was still angry, but Trav told me I needed to talk to you.”
“Perhaps I’ll like him after all. I have to go now, Harris is waiting for me. Call you later?”
“Please do. I’ll be at work.” She blinked back tears.
“I love you, wife.”
“I’m sorry I ran.” She hung up the phone.
Chapter Eighteen
The days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months, and still Gavin didn’t return. His calls were still consistent but he sounded so tired. Sanura worked long hours and finished putting her house together. The whole family of employees had been over for a house-warming party, but her husband still remained absent. Her first Thanksgiving as a married woman was spent without her husband.
Late one night in early December, she lay in her large empty bed and slept. She had sent her father back to California earlier that week, and now the house was empty again. She dropped into a restless sleep and dreamed of the man that had married her and then vanished from her life. She missed him so much and her heart cried out for him. “Oh, Gavin, I miss you,” she whispered to the darkened room as she clutched a pillow in her arms in the large empty bed.
“I missed you too, kitten.” The words floated back to her on the air.
Sanura sat straight up in bed and searched the darkness for the man that said those words to her. He leaned in the doorway, looking tousled and rumpled from the light in the hall; his face had stubble growing on it. His suitcase was in one hand and the other had a bouquet of roses. He had never looked better.
“Is it really you, or is this another cruel dream I am having?” She slid out of bed wearing one of his t-shirts as a nightgown.
The suitcase fell to the floor with a loud thump. His jean clad body strode to her. She smelled the roses and his own scent. His t-shirt was untucked and his boots made noise as he crossed the hardwood floor in his usual self-assured way of walking.
“I’m real.” That was all he got out before she threw herself into his arms.
The flowers fell to the floor as he held her. Sanura grabbed a hold of his hair and pressed her mouth to his, desperate to taste him again. Her tongue invaded his mouth with a mission. She bit his lips and then kissed away the pain. Gavin’s hands were working their way under the shirt that covered her body.
Gavin’s clothes disappeared in record time, and as he slid into the warmth of his wife she felt like she was home. He made love to her with an intensity that was new to them both. No words were necessary as they ascended the stairs to heaven, side by side. After he came deep within her he moved to his side and spooned her up against him and fell asleep. Content, Sanura did the same.
* * * *
Gavin woke before Sanura did. He stroked her silken skin before pulling back the covers, and stared at her beauty bared to the daylight. She looked different. No, it wasn’t that, it had been so long it was like learning about her body all over again. Her body was still toned, and even in her sleep her sleek muscles flowed beneath his probing fingers. How he had missed her.
Gavin put her on her back and tossed the covers off to the bottom of the bed. He slipped his fingers between the lips of her pussy. Without waking, she spread her legs wider with a small gasp. He watched her body respond to his heated caresses. Fingers explored as deep as they could and her velvet warmth held tight to them as he pulled them back and forth.
Her throat released little whimpers as her head tossed side to side. Gavin’s thumb flicked over her clit as it sparkled with moisture. His own body hard and craving all she offered, he slid between her spread legs and drove himself home with one stroke. Gavin’s eyes were closed as he felt her legs come up and encircle his hips. He opened them and looked down into her sleepy face as she grinned and rose higher to accommodate his thrusts.
Eyes glued to one another, they made slow love to each other. It was late afternoon when they finally got out of bed and into the shower. In t
he evening they drove to the restaurant in his car and were welcomed with cheers as family and friends celebrated their union. It was big news for all to see them together, since it was their first outing in public since they had gotten married.
For Christmas, Gavin got her the deed to her house. She cried and gave him the chess set she had found for him. They spent the holiday with family and friends, and at the restaurant he stayed the whole day with her as she put in her share of hours there.
He went with her on her deliveries to the shelters. Served food with her and basked in the goodness she shared with everyone. The last stop she made on that day was at the Children’s Hospital where she brought presents and sang for the children.
“Your wife is an amazing woman. She does this every year for the children,” a nurse told him as they listened to her singing carols with the children.
“I’m beginning to learn how amazing she truly is.” Christmas Eve she had taken him to church with her. He hadn’t wanted to go, preferring instead to be alone with her, but it seemed all she had to do was bat those green eyes at him and she got whatever she wanted.
He sat beside her and held her hand throughout the service. Everyone at the church welcomed him.
All that mattered was he was with Sanura and she accepted him, so they did as well. Now, as he watched her with the children, he wondered how long it would be before they had little ones of their own running around. His mood was gentle as he went over and kissed his wife in front of the whole room.
New Year’s Eve they spent at home. Alone. It was a magical time and they kissed under the cool breeze from the water as they stood in the gazebo he had strung lights up all around. With the New Year came more work. Richard Harris was the first call he got. He had to get out to California again.
“Sanura, I have to go back out to California,” he told her as he slid his arms around her from behind. “That was Harris and he wants me to oversee the final phase.”
“How long will you be gone?” Her body sagged into his as he ran his hands over her breasts.