The Flight of Hope

by HJ Bellus

  Bentley dips his head, swirling his tongue around my nipple before biting down. He pays the same attention to the other one. My hips buck up into him, begging and pleading for more.

  “Bentley, I need you now,” I beg.

  He comes back up to my face, settling between my legs. His muscular arms cage me in; we are nose to nose, the intimacy of the moment one for the record books. I squeeze my eyes shut with his first push in. My breath vanishes at the fullness, and my heart squeezes with so much love it’s about to burst.

  “Open your eyes,” Bentley whispers, running the pad of his thumbs up and down my face.

  I do. He begins moving slowly in and out of me. I wrap my legs tight around his waist. The stare of my husband’s brown eyes piercing me sends me over the edge. My nails dig into the top of his shoulders while I ride out the waves only he makes me experience.

  While I fight to catch my breath, it becomes hard to do so with this man giving me the world. I struggle to extinguish the thought of him never coming home when he was deployed. It still haunts me and is the one thing that could take me down at the knees.

  Bentley grunts and the pace picks up. It’s my favorite part to watch. The sharp features of his face is so damn intense while our sweat-slicked bodies glide together. His features tighten as he bites down on his bottom lip and then collapses down on me.

  We lie in silence, holding onto one another. Our heartbeats are steady, and my thoughts are screaming out loud. I know he can hear them without even having to ask him.

  “You do know kids can do the math.”

  I laugh, running my hand up and down the back of his head.

  “Then you’ll be the one explaining to them it happened on our wedding night.”

  “I can do that.” I kiss his cheek.

  We both want a baby and even tried for one before he was deployed and right up until the wedding sex ban. It’s not a common thing for a young couple to want, but then again, we aren't your typical love story.

  Bentley pulls back a tick and stares down at me. “Love you, Birdie.”

  I tap the tip of his nose with my finger, rubbing my scar along it. He knows as well as me it’s as good as an I love you right back. Bentley rolls off me to the side but tugs me right along with him. He bobbles us around for a long time before his head is propped up against a tall stack of comfy pillows with a blanket wrapped around us. A bag of Jalapeno Cheetos and a jumbo box of Milk Duds balance on his abdomen with me tucked tight into his side.

  “Good call on the juice box wine instead of glass.” I pop a spicy Cheeto in my mouth.

  “I know you and glass, baby.”

  I feign glare up at him, studying the way he takes a long pull from his beer.

  “Are we going to fish tonight?” I climb up his body without knocking our snacks off him.

  “Later. I have other plans.”

  “Like?” I ask, trailing my lips along his jawline while sneaking a hand under the blanket.

  “You’re getting hotter.” Bentley winks.

  I change the direction of my hand up toward his armpit.

  “Colder. Freezing.”

  I quirk an eyebrow, continuing to his armpit.

  “Freezing. Ice-cold.” He rolls over to the side, sending our snacks up into the air. His large body crunches on them as he rolls over trapping me. “Speaking of cold, you better be ready to pull out your winter coat.”

  “Uh?” I push on his chest, trying to figure out where this sexual joke is heading.

  “We are going to Alaska tomorrow. Two weeks of fishing competition, my dick, and your…”

  I burst out in laughter about the dick part and can only imagine where he was going with the next part. I cup his face in my hands after my giggles die down.

  “You do know I’ll kick your ass every single day in a fishing competition, right?”

  “Yeah, yeah, we will see about that.” Bentley moves between my legs, making me forget all thoughts about any competition.

  6

  “Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” -Mother Teresa

  “Babe, people don’t renew their vows after six months,” I reply for the tenth time while studying a brochure of the strip.

  “But it’s Elvis, Birdie.”

  “I don’t care. It’s a waste of money.”

  A hand wraps around my ankle, yanking my body to the bottom of the bed. The loose towel that had been wrapped around me falls to the side. Bentley is on me within a blink of an eye, trapping me to the mattress. His low-hanging swim shorts are rubbing against my sensitive skin.

  “I want to marry my wife again with Elvis.” He dips his head in the crook of my neck, nipping and kissing.

  “One, you are insane. Two, this weekend is about Maddie and Coy.” I push on his chest, not budging him at all. “Three, the answer is hell no.”

  Bentley pops up, placing his palms down on the bed. He does his best to glare down at me, but the man is too damn carefree and loving to pull it off.

  “Are you in a ball busting mode this weekend or into crushing childhood dreams?”

  I bite back the smirk. “All of the above.”

  “Permanent sex ban until our vows are renewed by Elvis,” Bentley declares.

  I cock an eyebrow up at him. “Bullshit.”

  “Bullshit?”

  “Yeah, I’m calling bullshit. You haven’t gone one day since we got married, and it’s been well over five months. Shit, most days you get it two or three times.”

  “Are you questioning my discipline, baby? I’m a US soldier.”

  “When it comes to sex? Yes. You took me in the damn closet at your grandma’s ninetieth birthday party.”

  “I was horny, and there was chocolate cake, dammit.”

  I refuse to laugh at his antics even though it’s damn near impossible. It’s what gets me in trouble with him every single time and more than not the reason he gets his way every single time.

  “You know that chocolate cake was begging me to eat it from your tits and pu…”

  “Stop,” I warn him.

  My husband knows how to get to me every single time, and that’s with his dirty mouth. I love it when he talks dirty to me, which means I’ll be begging him for sex any minute and with his permanent sex ban in place until I agree to renew our vows, all of it equals me being screwed well and truly and Bentley getting his way.

  He thrusts his hips into me, weakening me by the second. Of course, Bentley Foster would take advantage of my naked state. I can’t complain when his teeth sink down onto my nipple. Lord, only if I had more willpower when it came to him.

  I’m convinced Bentley did way too much research before coercing me with his talented body to have our vows renewed. He’s like a kid on Christmas morning walking down the strip. I ended up begging him to take me and knew it was the final nail in my coffin. Bentley always gets his way.

  Oh, and let me say it’s not only getting our vows renewed by Elvis. In true Bentley fashion, he had a whole scheme planned out. I swear this man lives for moments like these. I would never admit it to him, but these are the moments that I will cherish forever. The goofy ones that make you laugh your ass off and fall even deeper in love when it’s not even possible.

  After he dressed me and dragged me out of the hotel, it was then he told me exactly how it was going to go down. We went down to Fremont Street and found the cheapest souvenir shops. It was then he laid it on me that we would be dressing each other for our renewal ceremony using eight dollars each.

  A part of me was relieved because I wasn’t looking forward to wearing a skimpy dress that hundreds had squeezed into before. The primary mission of the shopping trip was to pick the most God-awful outfit we could find. Las Vegas has the cheese factor, so it wasn’t too hard to find my outfit for Bentley.

  It took me fifteen minutes, and ten of those was standing in a long ass line. I snagged a neon yellow t-shirt with the saying on it, Cat Hair is Lonely People Glitte
r with Las Vegas bedazzled below it. I have no clue why or how in the hell the two things go together, but then again it was two dollars. I blew most of my budget on the neon pink spandex shorts. The ass is covered with Welcome to Vegas, Baby. I had one penny left after throwing in the patriotic old-school sweatband.

  After an additional fifteen minutes of standing on the sidewalk in front of the store, I become a little nervous wondering what in the hell the man is up to. I mean, he only had eight dollars to spend.

  Standing out on the sidewalk, I watch him through the window and like always he has the attention of a group of store clerks helping him out. It’s cute watching them tail my husband as he scours the racks. He stands out in a crowd. It’s not only the fact he’s over six feet tall with broad shoulders and a rock hard body, no it’s more than that. His smile is welcoming and would make anyone feel like a champion. And he graces it to everyone he comes across. Not to mention, his dimples and strong jawline and those damn dark honey colored eyes that get me every single time.

  I’m about to go in and pull him out of the shop when he comes out smiling like he won the lottery. I should be scared right now, but deep down I’m more intrigued to see what the hell he came up with. No way it could be worse than the outfit I slapped together.

  “You’re going to look gorgeous in this.” Bentley grabs me by the hip, tugging me into his chest.

  I lick my lips and smirk up at him. I love seeing him so happy and carefree. It’s a rare sight since his career is so intense. He always makes time for me at home, but I see the stress always weighing down on his shoulders. If I have to stand through a damn renewal ceremony to give this to him, then I’d do it every single day for the rest of my life.

  “I have a feeling you outdid yourself, Mr. Foster.”

  “I’m getting hard thinking about it.” His hand sneaks down to my ass, and he squeezes it hard.

  “Food.” I pat his chest with my free hand. “I’m going to need food before we do this.”

  “I’ve got something for you to eat.” He winks.

  This time I playfully slap his chest. “I swear, you only have one thing on your mind twenty-four seven.”

  “Not my fault.” He throws an arm up in innocence. “It’s all yours. You do this to me every single day.”

  I roll my eyes and shake my head with an ear-splitting grin covering my face. Everyone told us we were too young and this crazy love would fade away in time. There’s no damn end in sight for us.

  Bentley leans down, licking the shell of my ear, and then whispers. “That smile on your face is what got me through the endless days of my deployment. It was that and your giggle, your gorgeous body, and the love I knew I had waiting on me at home.”

  Tears sting the back of my eyes. The deployment will always be an imminent threat to our marriage. It’s not a topic I care to talk about. It hurts too damn much and frankly scares the shit out of me. Bentley has never skirted the issue, and I know it’s because he needs an outlet.

  “I do what I can.” I wink and walk toward a strip of restaurants.

  We go to a little shop and buy some street tacos for lunch. I take my time eating them, and of course, Bentley devours his then orders more. I barely have the last bite down before he’s tugging me off the stool and rushing us out the door.

  “Are you sure Coy and Maddie are okay with this?”

  He tugs on my hand, picking up his pace. Both of our plastic shopping bags are swinging in the air. He ignores my question, so I plant my feet on the sidewalk stopping us.

  Bentley turns to me. “Yes, remember Coy scheduled a spa day for Maddie and his sister, so they have to bond or some shit like that.”

  “Coy?” I ask. “You are his best man.”

  “He’s golfing with his dad. You know golf and I don’t mix.”

  “How could I forget the golf cart accident heard around the world?” I smile, remembering the day Bentley was banned from our local golf course for life.

  He cups my face. “Are you going to marry me again or keep stalling?”

  “Take me to the chapel, you hound dog.”

  I continue to tug on Bentley’s hand as he walks the few blocks to the chapel. It shouldn’t surprise me he knows the most precise route and gets us there in no time. The Little Neon Chapel lives up to everything you’d imagine a Vegas chapel to have. Tacky material is hanging in the windows and there’s color everywhere.

  An overzealous couple exits as we enter. Their enthusiasm is contagious even if they may be a bit tipsy. The inside of the chapel makes me smile with its cheesy décor and Elvis music playing softly. I guarantee this place owns stock in the velvet industry. Dark red, crushed velvet lines everything. I almost lose it when the Oompa-Loompa colored Elvis pastor rounds the corner. His white bedazzled Elvis suit is making his skin glow, not to mention the buttons bursting at the seams.

  There’s no way to conceal my reaction to him, so I bury my face in Bentley’s shoulder while he checks us in. A female voice joins the conversation, and I don’t dare look up. I can tell by the rasp the woman has smoked one too many packs of cigarettes in her days.

  “You can change over here and your little lady over there.”

  I look up in time to see the Elvis impersonator dry hump the air. The man puts his all into each movement. He is dedicated to the mission, and I’m right back to nearing the edge of a fit of giggles. It would be rude to slap my hand over my mouth to fight them back, so I bury my face back into Bentley, focusing on his scent.

  “We’ll change in the same dressing room.” Bentley tugs me over to the open room, and once locked away I erupt into laughter until tears roll down my face.

  “This was the best idea.” I use the back of my hand to wipe away the tears.

  “And to think I had to convince you with my cock.” He grabs his crotch.

  “Easy there, tiger.” I shove the shopping bag in his chest. “Just wait until you see what you’re going to be wearing. And who says I didn’t play you to get some action?”

  I pop a hand on my hip and stare him down. We both know I’m lying, but it’s all I got and the closest I’ll come to admitting he had a fantastic idea. Bentley tosses his clothes off until he’s left in a pair of boxers then begins digging in the bag as if there was a pot of gold at the bottom of it.

  “Hold on.” I grab his wrist and take a step forward. “These, too.”

  I tug down his boxers until they hit the floor and he steps out of them. He keeps hold of the bag, stepping toward me until our chests are pressed together. I feel him harden in an instant. A slow, evil grin plays out on my face before I deliver the blow.

  “There’s only going to be one layer between you, me, Elvis, and the world.”

  “Damn.” He throws back his head. “Talk about a chub killer.”

  I pluck the spandex shorts out of the bag and dangle them on my finger. “Your bottoms.”

  Bentley holds his poker face, not showing an ounce of reaction. He jumps into them then pulls his shirt over his head. He takes time to study himself in the mirror as I place the headband on his head. The whole concoction is a hot freaking mess, but it doesn’t stop Bentley from flexing and posing in the mirror.

  “Damn, you’re a lucky lady.” He winks at me in the mirror.

  “Sure am.” I slap his neon pink-clad ass. My heart warms seeing Bentley so relaxed and having fun.

  “Close your eyes. I’m going to dress you.”

  I roll my eyes and shake my head. Bentley never gets tired of surprising me. I indulge him without arguing because I know it wouldn’t do any good anyway. The sound of the bag rustling fills the dressing room. His knuckles brush up my torso as he takes off my clothes. It’s not meant to be erotic, but I swear with the brush of his hands on my skin, it turns me on.

  “I hope you’re not done since it feels like I have a sports bra on.”

  He ignores me, adjusting what I think is a skirt around my waist. His hand is sneaking up underneath my lacy thong a few times while he
gets some ass action. He does the same thing to the front until I’m nearing the point of taking him right here and now with Elvis as our witness.

  “Baby, stop.” A throaty whisper escapes me.

  “Stop, what?” His hand cups my sex taunting me.

  I refuse to move my hips encouraging him on. He brushes his thumb over the perfect spot, and it undoes me. I want more. Need more. Right now. Before I can beg, his hand is gone. My eyes fly open while a growl escapes me. He has the nerve to laugh at me.

  His hand covers my eyes while I’m chewing his ass out for that little tease.

  “Just a few more seconds, Birdie.”

  “What the hell was that?” I demand.

  “Couldn’t help myself, but my dick was about to punch through these shorts.”

  “Damn spandex,” I grumble to myself.

  “Keep your eyes shut.”

  I feel him move his hand from my face.

  “Okay, open your mouth.” I feel a kiss on my cheek.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Quit being a pain in my ass and open your damn mouth.”

  “If you stick your di…”

  This time he slaps a hand over my mouth. Bentley places a finger on my bottom lip, prying it open. Since I’m standing, I guess there can’t be anything too dangerous he’s about to do. My jaw unclenches in slow motion then Bentley places something plastic in mouth, pushing it up against my teeth.

  “Dude. Epic.” I hear him clap his hands together and can picture the smile on his face and gleam in his rich chocolate brown eyes.

  I can’t even ask if I can open eyes from the foreign piece of plastic that is currently hugging my lips, so I open my eyes.

  “Are woo widding me?” My hand flies up to the flashing grill in my mouth. I push it further in place.

  “You’re so sexy.” Bentley tries to grab me, but I sidestep him, taking in my outfit.

  A leather mini skirt, sports bra, and flashing LED grill in my mouth. How in the hell did he get a mini skirt? Holy shit! My tits read She Wants The D! with Las Vegas printed in tiny letters underneath it. I shake my head and then erupt into a fit of laughter. This time Bentley joins me. Who would’ve thought renewing our vows only after six months would be this fun?