Here Comes The Bride

by Sadie Grubor

  I quietly sighed, slid out from under Aidan, and headed to the kitchen. Once I got there, I started the coffee machine and began pulling out the ingredients necessary for French toast and sausage. After creating the egg mixture and placing the pieces of bread in a pan, I set it in the fridge.

  Once the sausage was started, I went out to the patio and grabbed my book from the cushion I’d left it on last night. Sitting down at the breakfast bar, I read while sipping at my coffee.

  "Good morning," he yawned out.

  I looked up, prepared to smile and respond, but, F my life, he was stretching his arms over his head, rubbing the back of his head. His shirt rode up, revealing the toned section dipping into his low riding pajama bottoms. Burying my eyes back into my book, I mumbled ‘good morning’.

  "So, what do you want for breakfast?" He leaned on the bar next to me.

  "Oh," moving away from his delicious scent, I stepped toward the refrigerator, "I already started. Just waiting for you to wake up."

  Grabbing the prepped bread from the fridge, I sat it on the counter and turned on the griddle.

  "What are you making?"

  Heat and minty breath washed over my body. Damn him! He knew what he was doing.

  "French toast." My words a bit more curt than intended, I was feeling a little irritable, "You may want to move unless you prefer getting splattered with hot food."

  "Sorry," he grumbled and moved away from me.

  Aidan pulled out some orange juice and filled two glasses while I finished cooking. Setting the plates at the breakfast bar, Aidan sat one glass in front of me.

  "Come on," he said grabbing his plate and walking outside. We sat at a table on the patio and ate breakfast.

  "Mmm..." Aidan's eyes were closed. "This is really good." He smiled.

  "Thanks," Smiling, I put another bite in my mouth.

  When he was finished he sat back in his chair with his hands folded over his stomach.

  "So, what do you want to do today?"

  Chugging the rest of my orange juice, I gave a small shrug.

  "I have an idea." He perked up, getting my full attention.

  "Let's get dressed," he stood, collecting the plates and the glasses. "You'll need clothes good for touring the island." The dishes clang as he put them in the sink.

  Once in the bedroom, I grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom. After showering, I slipped into some long cargo shorts and a tank top. Pulling my hair up into a loose knot at the back of my head, I stepped out and Aidan took his turn getting dressed.

  He led me to a small, white, wooden shed. Once open, I glanced in and saw an off-road vehicle. He walked in and started the quad, pulling it out of the shed.

  "Hop on." He shouted over the noise of the engine, holding a helmet out to me. Securing it to my head, I straddled the seat behind him. "Hold on!" I wrapped my arms around his waist.

  He gunned it and I tightened my arms. Burying my face into his back for a minute, I finally got the courage to peek over his shoulder. It wasn’t the quad scaring me. It was my lack of self-control.

  Stopping at the top of a large cliff, we looked over the horizon. It was beautiful. He continued to drive until we came upon a small waterfall and large creek of fresh running water. We took our shoes off and submerged kneed-deep into the natural spring. The water was refreshingly cool, but the rocks lining the creek were slippery. Taking a step deeper into the water, Aidan slipped. I reached to catch him, but his weight took us both into the water.

  "Ahh, this water is cold." Flopping around in the water, pushing at Aidan to get off of me, I tried to get up. My efforts were worthless, since Aidan wouldn't budge. Pausing, I took in our position.

  "It's kind of refreshing." Aidan's grin morphed from amused to seductive. His eyes focused on my mouth, as a bead of cool water lingered on my upper lip.

  "Uh huh," I breathed. I couldn't pull my eyes away from the way he watched my mouth.

  When I swept my tongue up to catch the bead, his grin faltered. He leaned forward, inching his face closer to mine. Leaning back on a palm, bracing for his mouth to touch mine, the slime underneath my hand sent me back into the water.

  Spluttering as Aidan pulled me out from the water and onto my feet, I began to laugh.

  "Get me out of here before you drown me." I giggled.

  "That last attempt was your own fault." Grinning, he helped me climb back onto solid ground.

  Once back on the quad, he took me further around the island. The warm air and sun dried our clothes and our bodies.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Aidan

  Taking the longest routes possible just to keep her arms wrapped around me, her body pressed against me, was pathetic. However, I would take what I could get. I wonder if she realized how many times we had passed some of the same places?

  After spending most of the morning driving around the island, I surprised Lilli with a packed lunch. We sat on the beach at the far end of the island eating and talking. Once finished, we drove around until the sun was on the other side of the sky and shadows started to form.

  Getting back to the house, we brushed off as much dirt as possible before taking turns in the shower. Turning off the spray of the shower, I could hear music playing. I dressed quickly and went to investigate. Lilli was dancing around while cooking. Leaning up against the wall, I stood and watched.

  Watching her hips and ass sway while stirring and mixing the food was hypnotizing. She was gorgeous without even trying. My cheeks started to ache from the smile I had on my face. Her eyes widened the moment she spun and caught me watching.

  "How long have you been standing there?" she narrowed her eyes at me but I could see a small smile forming.

  "Oh...long enough," I laughed out.

  "Loser," she giggled.

  "I love you too..." I laughed. Then, it dawned on me. Taking in her stiff posture, she had realized too. "I-I didn't mean –" her body relaxed.

  "I get it." Turning back around, she finished cooking.

  That night we ate in front of the TV again and watched movies. Just like every night since we had gotten here, Lilli fell asleep and I carried her to bed.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Lying awake for awhile, I thought about our time on the island and just how easy it was with her. As I started to wonder about how things would be once we returned to New York, her warm hand slipped over my chest, her breath in my neck. For a moment I held my breath. Lilli was pressed against my body and I didn’t want to do anything that would make her move. Arousal began to flood my lower body.

  "Lilli?" I whispered.

  "Shh..." was all she said. Before I could say anything else her mouth was covering mine.

  Reflexively, my hands gripped her hair and pulled her hot, open mouth harder to mine. She moaned and I pulled her whole body on top of me. No longer worrying about consequences the morning would bring, my body had taken over.

  Her hands grasped my hair and tugged. I held her hips and ground her against the hard length she created. She gasped and I moved my mouth over her chin toward her neck. When she growled I flipped us over, pressing between her legs. Over and over, I provided us the wanted friction. Panting and moaning loudly, she called out my name.

  "Aidan," I pressed into her harder. "Aidan," she said it louder and I moaned at the sound of my name falling off her lips. I was so close. "Aidan," she yelled. "Aidan! Wake up!"

  My eyes snapped open and I jolted into a sitting position, sweat beading on my forehead, my breathing ragged.

  "Are you okay?"

  Lilli looked at me, confused.

  "Huh?"

  "You were moaning loudly." She furrowed her brow at me.

  "Oh," falling back onto the pillows. "I'm sorry...I uh...was having a dream...I guess."

  "You guess?" She shifted around until she was lying on her left side looking at me.

  "Yeah," Breathing out, I rubbed my face. I kept my hands over my face, praying she wouldn't press for more information. Thankfu
lly she didn't.

  When silence fell over us, I peeked out from under my hand. She was stomach down with her head facing away from me. Quietly, I took a deep breath and tried to go back to sleep. I was drifting off when my phone rang.

  Growling, I grabbed my phone. "Hello!"

  "Aidan, we have a situation." Liam's tone confirmed something was wrong.

  "What's going...is it the –?"

  "Yes. The venture is going to fall through with the Regalie Company." He sounded stressed and tired.

  "I'll make arrangements immediately," Sitting up, I looked at the clock on the bedside table. "I should get home a little after seven o'clock your time, this evening." I stood from the bed and walked out of the room. "Let me make some calls and I’ll call you back. You can then brief me on the situation."

  "Aidan, you aren't going to like it when you hear it." Liam paused.

  "Spit it out, Liam. I have arrangements to take care of." I groaned out impatiently.

  "Regalie is concerned with the well-being of AIS...due to the 'conditions'."

  "What? I just got married for God’s sake! How can they..?"

  "Not the marriage, the heir. The link that secures AIS to the Iverson family. Regalie only wants this venture if they can be sure they will be dealing with the family, not the board." Liam sighed heavily.

  "Jesus, am I supposed to just produce a child immediately?" Taking a deep breath, I counted silently to ten. We were going to lose a large venture I’d worked long and hard to secure. It ticked me off that this would sway them.

  "I understand that. You know I do, we all do. However, that’s their reasoning."

  "I don’t mean to take it out on you. I’m sorry. How the hell did they get the details of my inheritance anyway?" No one in the family would hand over that information, create such a risk.

  "I’m not sure. But, they know a lot, son."

  "I'll call you back. Thank you, Liam." Softening my tone, I closed the phone.

  "Should I start packing? What do you want me to do first?" Looking up, Lilli was leaning against the wall across from me. I’d been too distracted to notice her entrance.

  "What did you hear?" Concern filled me. Would she run now, knowing the pressure we were under to reproduce?

  "Enough. What do you want me to do?"

  Running my hand through my hair, I released a frustrated sigh. What the hell was 'enough' supposed to mean?

  "Nothing."

  She looked at me confused while I started calling Jeremy, the pilot for the jet. Listening to the ringing, I tried to ease her confusion.

  "I'm leaving, but I’ll be back in a couple of days. There’s no reason for you to leave too, unless you want to?" Part of me hoped she would stay and wait for me to come back. I wasn't ready for our time on the island to be over.

  "Oh...ummm...okay. What do you need me to help you with?" She walked over and sat on the couch.

  When the click of an answer sounded, I motioned for her to give me one minute.

  "Yes, Mr. Iverson?"

  "Jeremy, I need the jet to pick me up. I am taking a boat in a few hours to the mainland and will need to get back to New York immediately. Can you get it taken care of?"

  "Yes, sir. I’ll call you with the details in a half hour." We hung up and I dialed my receptionist, Amy.

  "Lilli, you don't have to do anything, just go get some sleep. I'll take care of this." She rolled her eyes at me and sat back on the couch.

  "Mr. Iverson?" Amy sounded confused and groggy.

  "I'm sorry to wake you, Amy, but I need to make sure you are ready for the day ahead of us..." I quickly explained part of the situation to her and what to be ready for before I hung up and called for the boat.

  Once all the arrangements were made for my departure, I stood and went to pack my things. Lilli followed me into the bedroom and climbed onto the bed, stretching out.

  Having to leave with her stretched out on the bed was completely unfair. I just wanted to stretch out over top of her. Shaking the thoughts off, I threw some clothes into a duffel bag.

  I showered, shaved and got dressed. Coming out of the bathroom, I noticed that Lilli was no longer in bed. I grabbed my bag and laptop, picked up my cell and dialed Liam.

  "Aidan?" Liam answered quickly.

  "I'm preparing to leave now. I’ll call you from the boat to discuss the issue." We both said goodbye. Looking up, I saw Lilli had made eggs, toast and coffee.

  "Eat up," she said walking by me towards the bedroom.

  Reaching out, I grabbed her arm, stopping her. I cupped her face and looked into her shocked eyes.

  "Thank you," I kissed her forehead.

  "Uh..." She swallowed her surprise, "you're welcome." She gave me a small smile and started to move away.

  Reluctantly pulling away, I took in her stained red cheeks. She moved away from me, making an attempt to collect herself.

  "You better eat before it gets any colder." She nodded towards the food before making her way to the bedroom.

  While eating, I heard the boat reach the dock. I went to the bedroom to tell her goodbye. Lilli wasn’t in bed. The shower was running.

  I knocked.

  "You leaving?"

  Taking a chance, I turned the knob and pushed the door open. Leaning in, I lost the ability to speak. There she was, completely naked, the outline of her body showing through the steamed up glass. I cast my eyes to the floor.

  "Yeah...um...leaving now. I'll call you, okay? The phone is in the study."

  When she didn’t respond, I looked back to the glass shower. She was frozen, her arms draped over her chest.

  "Oh...okay. Travel safe."

  "I'll see you in four days, at the least." She nodded and I reluctantly closed the door.

  I was going back to New York, sexually frustrated, while the only release that I longed for remained on the island.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Lilli

  I kept my arms wrapped around me tightly until the bathroom door closed. Exhaling, I leaned against the shower wall.

  After throwing on a bikini and pulling on a sundress, I went to the kitchen. The sun was just coming up. Deciding on a bagel, fruit, and coffee, I took a tray out to the patio.

  Eating and drinking as the sun rose in the sky was magnificent. I lounged back in a chair, stretched out and closed my eyes, letting the sun cover my skin.

  "Mrs. Iverson?" Groggily, I struggled to open my eyes. What had felt like only moments must have been longer. "Mrs. Iverson?" The voice wasn’t familiar.

  "What?" Jumping, I sighed in relief. "Oh God...Devan. You scared me to death." I giggled.

  "Sorry," he said bashfully "I just...well, my brother and I hadn't seen you move in a while and got worried. I'm really sorry."

  "No, it's fine. I should probably get out of the sun before I fry myself." Standing, I stretched, grabbed all of the dishes and took them inside the house.

  "Where’s Aidan?" Bradley was standing next to Devan now.

  "He got called back to work." I half smiled.

  "On his honeymoon?" Devan groaned and shook his head.

  "He got a call," I shrugged.

  "And he went?" It was Bradley's turn to shake his head.

  I shrugged again.

  "It's really not a big deal."

  "Mrs. Iverson –"

  "Please call me Lilli. I mean you call him Aidan, so please, Lilli." I smiled.

  "Of course, Lilli, I would think he could spare time for a honeymoon and work wouldn't call and bother him." Devan laughed.

  "He was needed. It’s a big deal, so he had to go. He's supposed to be back in a couple of days." After placing the dishes in the dishwasher, I turned around. They were still there.

  "So, what are you going to do?" They both looked at me intently.

  "Um...was going to go down to the beach for a while." It had come out sounding more like a question than a statement.

  "Hmmm...how about we grab the snorkeling gear and go with you? There is a great place
about a mile down." I nodded excitedly. "Have you ever snorkeled before?"

  "No, never." I shook my head.

  "Wonderful, this will be great." Bradley waved for me to follow after them. Hell, it was better than being bored and alone.

  Once we got down the beach they helped me get the goggles and the flippers on properly. We waded out a little bit before they showed me what to do with the goggles and the snorkel. After a few mouthfuls of water and some choking, I finally got a handle on it. They led me around some rocks and other areas with coral. It was amazing. After, we all sat on the sand to dry out.

  "That was amazing. Thank you so much!" Leaning back on my hands, I let the sun dry my body.

  "You’re so very welcome. It was fun for us as well" Devan responded.

  "Especially with the way you were taking on water" Bradley laughed.

  I tossed my goggles at him and laughed.

  We sat on the beach for about forty-five minutes longer talking about Devan’s fiancée, Gina, and their upcoming wedding. Bradley talked a great deal about the ocean and his plans to attend college this upcoming year. Bradley brought up ocean weather trends and that’s when they mentioned the hurricanes. Nervousness settled in my stomach.

  "Don’t look so panicked, Lilli," Devan laughed.

  "Yeah, the hurricane is way out in the ocean, there isn’t any sign of it heading this way." Bradley patted my shoulder. "The last they mentioned is was headed toward the USA. Florida, I believe." He shrugged.

  A few moments later we decided to part ways. They needed to head back and I wanted out of the sun for a while. After saying goodbye and going into the house, I headed toward the master bathroom to rinse off. My thoughts returning to the hurricane, I decided to try out the phone in the study instead.

  The phone was on a charging station next to a laptop. Sitting down, I turned on the computer and dialed Sarah’s number. As I waited for her to pick up her phone, I browsed the internet for current weather conditions. My mom didn’t answer, so I left her a message. I also logged into my email, sending a quick email to her and my father.

  Taking the phone with me, I finally made it to the bathroom and climbed in the shower. Leaving the bikini on, I rinsed it off too. I slipped back into my sun dress and went to the kitchen for something to eat. The kitchen was well stocked, which was great, but it would be heaven if I could get some chocolate covered potato chips right about now.