Renewed (Shattered #3)

by Heather D'Agostino

  One by one the stars slowly began appearing signaling that evening was approaching. Our guests had made their way onto the patio that housed the pool. We only had about fifty guests, so we’d turned the pool area into a tropical paradise. Tents were placed around the pool deck, each hosting a different food or beverage. A carving station, veggies, pastas, and a crowd favorite, the open bar. A beautiful four-tiered wedding cake was at the far end along with a table set up for gifts. Small round tables and chairs were scattered throughout the area for guests to sit and eat. The pool was filled with small floating votives, each flickering in the night breeze. Strands of twinkle lights hung overhead, draped from one side of the deck area to the other. Nick had really outdone himself. I'd been so busy with Emma the last few days that Nick had taken on all the decorating on his own.

  I looked up at the sky and closed my eyes as I let myself finally relax and be happy. It had been a long time coming, and now we’d finally made it. I giggled lightly as I thought about all the planning I’d made for later. Nick still didn’t know that I’d booked us a suite for our wedding night. All he knew was that Avery was taking Emma for the weekend so we could have the house to ourselves.

  "So are you happy?" Nick wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed a kiss to my temple.

  I nodded as I turned my head so I could look up at him, "I don't think I've ever been happier."

  "Good," he murmured. "You look so beautiful," he took his free hand and ran his index finger lightly along the top of the bodice. It was so light; I almost didn't feel it, but as a shiver ran through me Nick smirked. "Just a few more hours," he whispered huskily.

  I blushed and pulled away slightly, “let’s get some food. I’m starving.” I grabbed his hand and entwined our fingers as I began leading him over to one of tents. Most of the guests had gotten food at this point, and were eating while having quiet conversation. When we got to the meat station, Nick grabbed two plates and began filling them for us. I trailed along behind him pointing at the things I wanted. It was nice being waited on. After stopping by the other tents, we made our way to one of tables near the dance floor. We’d yet to have our first dance as husband and wife.

  Nick had told me that he was going to surprise me with the song. I wasn't sure at first if I liked that idea, but he assured me that he wouldn't embarrass me. As long as some rap ballad didn't come over the speakers, I had decided I was ok with it.

  "Eat!" Nick nudged me and pointed at my plate. "We'll dance after."

  "Huh?" I gave him a confused look.

  "I saw you staring at the DJ," he shrugged. "We'll dance after you eat. You're going to need the energy."

  "What exactly are you planning to do?" I flashed a coy smile.

  Nick leaned down close to my ear where only I could hear him before he growled, “We’re going to dance for our guests, and then I’m taking you to our bedroom, and we're gonna do a different kinda dance."

  I swallowed as I felt the heat rising to my cheeks. The fork I was holding fell from my fingers as my palms began to sweat.

  "Six weeks is a long time," Nick continued. "All the teasing you've been doing…how satisfying do you think taking care of myself has been?"

  I refused to look at him as I heard him chuckle. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew exactly how bad I wanted him too. We’d been doing this little dance with each other for weeks. Walking around half dressed… working the other up to the point of being painfully aroused… it had gotten so bad that the last several days Nick had been sleeping on the couch to avoid attacking me in his sleep. It was like both our bodies were at war with our brains. "Please stop," I whispered as I continued to stare blankly at my plate.

  “Leah…I don’t think you understand,” he paused. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of being with. All this,” he reached for one of the loose curls draped over my shoulder. He picked it up between his fingers and began playing with it, “is just extra for me. I don’t need it.” He released the curl and turned back toward the table as his eyes darkened with promise of what was to come later, "I know what's under that dress, and it's killing me to sit here and pretend like I don't."

  I leaned close to his ear, "One more hour and we can go. I promise," I placed my hand on his upper thigh and squeezed.

  He tensed and lowered his voice even more before muttering, "You can't be touching me like that, or I'm not going to make it another hour."

  ooooooooo

  Nick

  The longer we sat there, the harder it became and by it I mean everything. Time slowed down, and every touch from my wife set me more on fire, and my hard-on was growing more painful by the minute. He didn’t understand why I wasn’t taking Leah up to our room and him out to play.

  When we’d finished our dinner, I slowly extricated myself from our table and made my way over to the where the DJ was set up. I wanted to get our first dance out of the way so we could move on to all the other traditional wedding stuff, and leave. Leaving was my top priority, but I knew that all the other stuff was important to my girl. I was going to have to suffer through all of it.

  After nodding to the DJ to start the song, I made my way back over to our table. Leah was now talking to Avery and giggling. I stood there watching her for a few moments before deciding to in cut.

  When she saw me approaching, she snapped her lips shut and shot her eyes at Avery. They were up to something, but at the moment, I didn't care. All I wanted to do was dance with my wife. I wanted to feel her body pressed into mine as we swayed to the music.

  "Dance with me?" I held my hand out to help her stand.

  "I'd love to," she smiled softly at me before glancing back at Avery and giggling again.

  I tugged her behind me as we made our way through the tables and out onto the dance floor. At first, no one noticed us as they were all wrapped up in their own conversations, but as the music began to pour out of the speakers, one-by-one they all turned to watch us. I’d told Leah that I was going to surprise her with my music choice, I only hoped that she was happy with what I'd picked. One Direction's "You and I" filled the air as I wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled her hips flush with mine.

  You and I, we don't wanna be like them, we can make it til the end

  Nothing can come between you and I, not even the gods above could separate the two of us

  “I heard this on the radio a few days ago, and it made me think of you," I whispered in her ear.

  "Oh Nick," she tightened her arms around my neck as tears welled in her eyes.

  “It’s you and me baby…we made it,” I smiled at her as I touched my forehead to hers.

  "I love you so much," she murmured as she pressed forward until our lips met. It wasn't a heated kiss like most of the time. It was soft and sweet, light and full of promise.

  "I love you too…so much. I honestly don't know how I got this lucky. What did a guy like me ever do to deserve a woman like you?"

  Leah lifted her eyes to meet mine before answering, “You’re the other half.” She stared me as we barely moved to the music, “You’re the missing piece to puzzle that is my life. I'm not whole without you."

  The emotions that washed over me at that moment were almost more than I could handle, "That's a nice way of looking at it."

  “It’s the truth,” she shrugged her shoulders before leaning in and pressing her lips back to mine.

  This kiss was more of the norm. As she opened her mouth to me, I groaned and began tangling my tongue with hers. She pressed her hips forward as if she was looking for friction, and the hands that had been on my shoulders were now clasping my head like she was afraid I'd back out of her embrace.

  "Easy," I murmured as I broke the kiss. "We've got an audience," I snickered as I darted my eyes to the side. I think she'd gotten lost in the moment and had forgotten that we were surrounded by family and friends.

  "Sorry," she looked away, embarrassed.

  "Hey!" I gripped her chin. "I want yo
u just as bad. We don't have to stay too much longer, I promise."

  She nodded and placed her hands back on my shoulders just as the song finished. “Let’s cut the cake, and then we can toss the bouquet and garter, and get the hell out of here."

  "Sounds good to me," she smiled and began leading me over to where our cake was sitting.

  ooooooooo

  Leah

  I don’t know what had come over me out on the dance floor. I guess listening to the lyrics did me in. All those words about how we’d always be together…the two of us defying the odds. My body was humming with excitement, and after that kiss all I could think of was getting away from prying eyes and stripping Nick out of his tux.

  “You know,” Nick leaned into me as we sat back down at our table with two pieces of wedding cake. “As much as I want to be alone with you I’m kinda enjoying all this.”

  I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "What?"

  "Well," he took a bite of cake "when we went to the prom we really didn't spend much time at the dance," he smirked as he flicked his tongue across his lower lip to get a bit of frosting.

  "Well…I think we had other things on our minds that night," I mused as I took a bite of my own piece. "We didn't have privacy like we do now. We were still kids then."

  "True," he nodded as he got a faraway look in his eyes "but tonight…I don't have to worry about taking you home when we're finished."

  "That you don't Mr. Sutter," I grinned as I licked frosting off my fork.

  A throat cleared near me, and when I looked up my dad was standing by our table. He shifted from side-to-side as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Care to humor your old man with a dance?"

  “I’d love too,” I smiled as I rose from my chair. We made our way out to the dance floor, and my dad wrapped me in his arms.

  "You know that no matter how old you get, you're always going to be my little girl right?" he smiled as he spun us.

  "I know," I bit my lip. "Thank you…for everything."

  “Oh baby, you don’t have to thank me. I’m your dad…it’s my job,” he cocked his head to the side. “You’ve given me everything I could ever want. You’ve grown into a beautiful, successful, intelligent, young woman. You’ve given me a beautiful granddaughter, and married your perfect match. I couldn’t ask for a better life for you,” he kissed my cheek and smiled at me. “Know that you always have a place to come home to if you ever need me, but I’m counting on Nick to hold to all those promises he vowed today."

  "I love you Daddy," I could feel the tears coming again, but I forced them down as I hugged his neck tighter. As the music faded, he loosened his embrace, and we made our way off the dance floor.

  After my dad had walked away, I felt a hand press to my back. I knew it was Nick. We were so in tune with one another that I didn't need to look. "Ready to get out of here," he whispered right beside my ear.

  The small hairs tickled my neck as his breath caused them to flutter. I squeezed my thighs together in anticipation and nodded. "More than ready," I chewed the inside of my mouth.

  “Let’s say our goodbyes to the ones that haven’t left yet, and then lock ourselves away upstairs,” he reached for my hand but I planted my feet and held my ground. Nick turned around and wrinkled his forehead at me in confusion.

  "We can say our goodbyes, but we're not going upstairs," I waited for him to question me, but he didn't. Instead, he just stood there waiting for me to continue. "We're going somewhere else. I have a bag packed in your truck."

  "Ok," he crinkled his nose. It looked so cute, and he was so lost that I couldn't hold it in anymore. "We staying at a hotel tonight…and all weekend. Surprise?" I let the words fall from my lips like a question instead of a command. "Is that ok?"

  Nick grinned so wide I thought his face might cramp. He took to giant stride back in my direction before gripping me around the middle, lifting my off the ground, and spinning us in a circle.[G9]

  "So you're happy?" I laughed.

  “Yes!” he hooted as he tossed his head back. “I don’t have to worry about any of our guests hearing us."

  "What?" I gasped.

  "Honey, with the things I have planned to do to you tonight," he paused and looked around before adding "you're going to be screaming my name at the top of your lungs."

  I swallowed, "Really?"

  “Umm hmm,” he placed me back on the ground and leaned in close to my ear. “First I’m gonna make sweet love to you…nice a slow…make every muscle in your body know that I’m there. I’m gonna make you beg me to take you higher. We won’t have any interruptions…no crying babies…no guests…just you and I for three whole days. When I’m done making you beg…I’m gonna fuck you. Hard and fast…your body’s gonna shake from the shocks that I’m gonna send rippling through you. I’m gonna show you pleasure like you didn't know you could experience."

  I glanced up at his expression with wide eyes. I hadn't heard him talk to me like this in forever. We'd teased each other for weeks, but he'd never gotten this into it. His pupils were dilated swallowing up almost all of the blue iris, and his jaw was ticking as he fought to hold himself together.

  "Easy there," I soothed. "Just ten more minutes."

  “Ten minutes too long,” he growled as he pulled me along behind him. “Let’s get these goodbyes over with,” he muttered as we broke back out into the crowd.

  Tonight was definitely going to be a night to remember, that I was sure of. Gone was the sweet husband I'd just shared cake with, and back was the dominating sex god who wanted to possess every part of me. Yep…I wouldn't be sleeping tonight, I just hoped I'd be able to walk tomorrow.

  Chapter 21

  Leah

  After saying a few quick goodbyes, Nick drove us the six blocks down the beach to our honeymoon oasis. I'd already checked us in earlier in the day, so all we had to do was park and make our way to the room.

  When we climbed out of the truck, Nick grinned at me over the hood. I couldn’t help but return it as I watched him reach into the bed of the truck and grab the suitcase that I’d placed there. We made our way into the lobby, and Nick began to head toward the front desk.

  I reached out just in time to halt him, “We don’t need to do that.” He gave me a confused look as I slipped my hand into my purse and flashed him a keycard that I held between my fingers, "I already got it."

  He smirked as he grabbed my hand and began pulling me toward the elevator. "Always prepared," he laughed as his feet sped across the lobby.

  "I didn't think you'd have the willpower to wait any longer by the time we got here," I shrugged nonchalantly as I turned to press the button for the tenth floor.

  "I don't really," Nick stepped up behind me, dropped our bag to the floor, and grabbed my hips to squeeze them.

  I swallowed as I felt him press into my back. He was hard and ready, and the small amount of fabric that was separating us was leaving very little to the imagination. “You know,” I reached behind me and skimmed my knuckles along his length “I've got a few of my own surprises tonight."

  "Leah," he hissed. "I'm hanging on by a thread here.

  Before I could respond, the elevator dinged, alerting us that we'd gotten to our floor. The doors breezed open just as Nick reached to grab our bag with one hand, and me with the other.

  "Now," he growled "move!"

  "I don't like your tone," I teased as he dragged me down the hall in search of our door.

  "Too bad," he pulled us to a stop, grabbed the keycard from my hand, and began fumbling to get it in the lock.

  As he continued to jab it in the lock, I moved to stand behind him. His entire body was so ridged you could see every muscle ticking as he tried to hold onto his last bit of willpower. Knowing that I held all the cards here, I pressed myself into his back, snaked my arm around his waist, and then trailed it down to the bulge in his pants. He tensed even more when I took it a step further and cupped him through his tux pants.

  “Leah?” he warn
ed as I squeezed lightly and placed a light wet kiss to the back of his neck.

  Finally, the lock clicked, and the door gave way as Nick pushed it open. We stumbled slightly in our aroused state as we entered the room for the first time. Nick reached blindly toward the light switch as he spun around to kiss me. Our bag was tossed to the side, and his arms clamped around me like a magnet connecting with steel.

  "No more," he groaned as his lips met mine in a deep passion filled kiss. "No more teasing," he panted.

  “Agreed,” I mumbled as I ran my hands up his chest and pushed his tux jacket from his shoulders. It had only been a few hours, but I wanted to see what was underneath all those clothes.

  As our bodies fused together, his tongue swept across the seam of my lips, and darted in to meet mine. I groaned and thrust my hips forward pressing us impossibly closer. I knew he needed me, but I don’t think he realized how bad I needed him. I felt his hands trail up my ribs, and slowly make their way around to the back of my dress.

  As he began pulling at the ties to the corseted back, I stepped back to turn around. I figured it would be easier for him to get the dress off of me, but Nick wasn't having it. He froze mid tug and placed his hands on my shoulders to keep me facing him. "Where are you going?" he murmured against my lips.

  “Nowhere, I thought I’d help you,” I smiled against his mouth as I slowly went to turn around again. This time he let me. I swept my hair over one shoulder, exposing the ties of my dress better as I waited for him to discover what I was hiding underneath.

  The more he loosened the ties, the further the dress began to slip down. When he reached the last one, I wiggled my hips causing it to pool around my knees. Nick let out a low whistle as he took in my backside. I was wearing a thong, and from his view very little skin was covered. I giggled as I slowly turned to face him, knowing he’d see my surprise now.

  “What do you think?” I bit down on my lip as I watched his eyes become hooded and lust filled. I was wearing nothing but a small white satin thong with the words ‘I’m with the Coach” written in tiny green rhinestones.