Their Marriage Reunited

by Sheena Morrish

“I was more than ready to sleep with you and I was beyond ready to become your wife and our baby would have been the greatest gift we could have had,” she told him firmly. He felt slightly better that she didn’t regret their whole relationship but she had a way of confusing him and spinning him in circles. It was starting to piss him right off.

  “Then what weren’t you ready for?” he demanded. She cast him a nervous glance and then sighed and dropped her gaze to stare at the floor.

  “You,”

  “Me?” he demanded incredulously.

  “Yes you,” she said and her gaze shot up to glare at him. Fire sparked from them and he wondered just how long she’d been holding back this anger.

  “What the hell did I do? Other than be played for a fool?” he asked mildly and if anything her glare grew more heated.

  “You were perfect. You were kind and gentle, rich and amazing in bed,” she said. Connor frowned at this list of his attributes.

  “I’m wondering where exactly the problem comes in to it,” he drawled and she began pacing as frustration wound its way through her.

  “You were too perfect. You were the handsomest, smartest and best man I knew. Everyone who met you adored you and everyone wanted to be you,” she said. He frowned again. It felt like the frown should be a permanent feature these days.

  “Let me get this straight. You left me because I was too perfect,” he said and she ran a hand through her hair as she sighed.

  “I’m not explaining this very well,” she admitted. He could agree with her there. He was still no clearer on what had run her out of his bed.

  “Try harder,” he suggested and she glared at him again.

  “I felt like nobody when I was stood next to you,” she flung at him. He froze at the accusation.

  “I never did anything to make you feel like that,” he denied with absolute certainty. He had loved her with all his heart and she had been the only woman in his whole world.

  “It wasn’t you, it was them. They all acted like I was something that you had scraped up off the pavement,” she said.

  “Them?”

  “All of the people that were always surrounding you. I know it sounds stupid but I felt out of my depth and I didn’t realise how much until now,” she admitted.

  “Why now?” he asked. Surely if she had felt this way through their marriage then there could have been a way for her to raise the subject with him.

  “Because I found this and I realised that I was an idiot and that I let my insecurities get the best of me,’ she said. His curiosity got the better of him as she held out a small photo and he took it and glanced down. He was surprised to find a picture of him and Alexa together. They were kissing under the mistletoe and he remembered the moment that this was taken. What he didn’t know was how his wife had come to have it.

  “Where did you get this?” he demanded.

  “My father gave it to me,” she said. His head snapped up at that as everything finally clicked in to place and he realised what had driven her from him.

  “Your father told you I was having an affair,” he said in a cold voice and she winced but nodded.

  “Yes,” she confirmed.

  “You believed him,” he stated. He didn’t even really need to hear her answer. Of course she’d believed him or she wouldn’t have run from him the way she did.

  “I wasn’t sure what to believe. I saw that picture and all these doubts just came rushing to the surface and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. It was like every horrible nightmare I’d had coming true and I couldn’t handle it,” she whispered.

  “What happened?” he demanded. He’d never fully known what had happened that day. All he’d known was that he’d woken up with a loving wife and a baby on the way, then everything had changed and his wife hadn’t wanted him any more and his baby had been dead.

  “I couldn’t believe that what I was seeing was true. I stormed out of there and was determined to come and find you,” she told him and her eyes pleaded with him to believe her.

  “You didn’t though,” he said.

  “No,’ she confirmed.

  “Why not?” he asked. If she’d only come to him then he could have explained everything and they wouldn’t have spent so many years apart from each other.

  “I was going to but then I started doubting everything. I started wondering if people were right to look down at me. I wasn’t good enough for you. Alexa had always had this connection with you that I didn’t understand,” she said. Connor stared at her incredulously. Was she serious?

  “I told you why I was always there for Alexa,” he told her and she shrugged.

  “Yes. You told me that she was married to your brother and that she needed someone to cry on. The problem is that I never met your brother or saw the reason why she needed a shoulder to cry on. I certainly never saw why it had to be my husband,” she hissed and he finally realised that maybe these insecurities weren’t one sided.

  “I didn’t know you felt like that,” he admitted gruffly. If he’d known then maybe he would have distanced himself or done something different. Problem was that he hadn’t been given a chance.

  “Neither did I until I saw those pictures,” she said.

  “So, you saw those pictures,” he prompted.

  “Right. It was like every doubt attacked me at once and every time I thought about that photo I couldn’t seem to find any other reason for you to be kissing her. My father said other stuff too and he showed me documents and proof,” she said. Connor’s brows drew together at this.

  “What kind of proof?” he demanded. He didn’t like that her father had managed to turn her against him so easily. He’d thought their relationship was stronger than that.

  “I don’t remember. Documents and things,” she said as tears began flowing but he was unrelenting.

  “What documents?” he demanded.

  “I’m not sure. He said that you were only with me for the hotels and that you knew who I was before we met and that you never loved me,” she said and Connor froze at that.

  “You didn’t believe any of that nonsense did you?” he asked and she shook her head.

  “Not then,” she whispered. Connor couldn’t believe it. That meant that at one time she’d believed him capable of all that crap her father had been spouting. How could she believe such awful things about him?

  “So tell me what happened,” he encouraged. She took a deep steadying breath before continuing.

  “Like I said, it was the photo that got me. It was like all these doubts and fears that I hadn’t even realised I had came rushing to the surface and they overwhelmed me. It was like this darkness was closing in and threatening to drown me and then there was all this pain. I looked down and realised that the pain was real and that there was blood. Then I must have passed out because the next thing I remember was waking up and finding out our baby was dead,” she said. She hung her head in shame and he felt a wave of sympathy for her.

  “Honey, that wasn’t your fault.”

  “No, it was my father’s,’ she hissed. Connor couldn’t help himself. He moved closer and enveloped her in his arms. It felt like heaven to have her back where she belonged again.

  “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It could have happened even if none of that had happened,” Connor told her. He’d read enough about miscarriages since losing their baby that he knew these things sometimes couldn’t be helped.

  “If I hadn’t listened, if I hadn’t doubted then our baby would still be here.”

  It almost killed Connor to see her looking so guilty when it wasn’t anything they could have controlled.

  “Honey, it wasn’t your fault. The stress probably didn’t help but you wouldn’t just have lost our baby from that. It was just bad timing that it happened at the same time you were going through a crisis,” he murmured as he stroked a hand through her hair in a soothing gesture.

  “If I hadn’t been so stupid then our baby might have lives,” she denied. He sighed and dre
w her closer in to the circle of his arms.

  “Maybe our baby wouldn’t have died right then if it wasn’t for your father but we still would have lost it. The only difference would have been that we had each other to turn to,” he said. Lilly’s sobs grew louder at that and she clung tightly to him.

  “I ruined everything because I was too pathetic to believe in us,” Lilly sniffled. Connor couldn’t help his heart going out to her. He’d spent years trying to figure out what had driven her from him and how he could have prevented it but now he was just glad she was back in his arms.

  “You didn’t ruin anything. Look around you Lil, we’re still here and we’re together.”

  Lilly’s sniffling slowed and she glanced up in surprise.

  “You still want to give us another go?” she asked in a mix of surprise and hopefulness.

  “You’re my wife and if I haven’t given up in the years since we’ve been separated then what makes you think I will now? Just one thing though, why did you realise the photo wasn’t real now?” he asked. It had been bugging him since she’d shown him the picture.

  “The mistletoe. When I first saw the photo it never occurred to me to look deeper in to it and even when I did I didn’t realise the significance because it wasn’t something my family had ever done. It was when I moved in with mom that I realised. Her and my stepdad used to stop under it every year and even though he loves her with all his heart he would still give a quick kiss if he was caught under the mistletoe with another woman,” she explained.

  “What about since then? You’ve had the photo all this time and that never occurred to you when you looked at it before?” he asked. She blushed at that.

  “I didn’t look at it,” she admitted.

  “Why not?”

  “Because it was too painful to look at what I thought was proof that you didn’t love me,” she tried to explain. He could understand that. If anyone had shown him a picture of Lilly kissing someone else then he wouldn’t have been able to look at it.

  The emotions of the day had become too much for Lilly and Connor made an executive decision as he lifted her in to his arms and carried her the few steps to the bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him.

  “I still love you,” he murmured as he lowered her to the bed and she stared at him in surprise.

  “Really? Even after everything?” she asked and he smiled.

  “I have never stopped loving you since the day I met you,” he admitted and she blushed at that.

  “I love you too,” she confessed.

  It didn’t take long before that love became something more charged and Connor took the initiative as he slid his hands under her sundress so that he was stroking her smooth silky skin. His hands made their way up her thighs and dragged the material of her dress with them. He kissed her deeply and she opened up for him immediately. The kiss deepened and she squirmed beneath him as she silently demanded more. He slid the sundress higher and she obligingly helped him pull the flimsy material over her head until it was only her underwear hiding her from his gaze.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured as he took a moment to simply look at her half naked body. She blushed beneath his scrutiny even as she revelled in it. Connor had always had the ability to make her feel special and beautiful.

  His lips moved from her mouth to her throat and created a trail of fire as he kissed his way along her body. His large hands deftly removed her bra and she gasped and arched her back as that clever mouth of his closed over one sensitive nipple and tortured it before doing the same to its twin. It wasn’t just his clever mouth that was torturing her now though, his wicked fingers were getting involved as they stroked and moved lower to remove her panties. She wasn’t sure she could handle this much pleasure. It was like a sweet torture and she wanted to prove that two could play at that game.

  Connor had already removed his shirt and shorts though she wasn’t quite sure when that had happened. Trailing her nails down his chest she allowed a smug smile at the hiss of indrawn breath. Lowering her hand to where the important stuff happened she trailed her fingers down until she was playing with the waistband of his briefs. She heard his warning growl and chose to ignore it as she dipped her fingers inside and caught hold of his pulsing cock. She stroked him and almost purred with pleasure as he jerked against her. They’d always been so responsive to each other and it had never taken much for them to go up in flames. This time seemed different though and she couldn’t quite figure out why. It was like they were more connected and everything seemed so perfect and simple for a change. She helped him removed his briefs and before he had time to stop her she shimmied down the bed, leant over and took him in to her mouth. She tried not to smile at his sudden hiss of indrawn breath and instead focused on what she was doing.

  It felt like forever since she’d felt intimate enough to do this with him. They’d made love constantly but there had always been her secrets holding them back and now it was like she felt lighter and freer. It seemed like a lifetime since she’d last had such a connection with him and all she wanted to do was offer him pleasure. She was feeling so many different emotions that she was sure she would burst if she didn’t do something.

  She swirled her tongue around the tip and couldn’t help her own moan of pleasure as his cock jerked. She loved knowing how responsive he was to her and it always amazed her that she could make him feel this way. She took him deeper and could hear his soft curse from above her even as she heard him groan with pleasure.

  “Sweetheart, if you keep that up I’m not going to last,” he gasped out.

  He couldn’t know how powerful she felt in that moment. He had always made her feel confident and sexy in the bedroom. Before she’d been with him she’d been a shy mess and now she couldn’t get enough of him. She wanted to do everything for him and prove just how much she loved him.

  She wanted to pleasure him until he couldn’t hold on to his iron control any more and was incapable of thinking straight. It seemed that tonight wasn’t that night though as he gently lifted her off him and dragged her back up the bed with him.

  “When I come I want to be in you,” he confessed raggedly and she couldn’t hide her genuine pleasure at that.

  His palms shaped her breasts and he began to gently massage them as he swept his thumbs over her sensitive nipples. They strained towards him and he dipped his head to take them in to his mouth while she squirmed beneath him. His hands trailed down and one hand grasped her buttocks while the other dipped in to her core. She knew that she was moments from exploding with the pleasure he evoked within her and she wanted to blush at the knowledge that now he would know that too.

  “I fucking love you,” he growled as he captured her mouth with his own and she was helpless against him. She loved him too and she couldn’t believe that she’d given him up over some lies.

  He raised her up slowly and slid in to her in one smooth movement and Lilly gasped at the pleasure that assailed her. It seemed different to any of their other lovemaking sessions and she could almost believe that their love had created absolute perfection. He was on top and he moved slowly at first and then quicker as he caught his rhythm. Lilly was the one who forced him to roll over so that she could take control. She leaned back and brushed her hair out of the way as she rode him. She wanted to be able to see his face when his orgasm hit and he seemed to be enjoying the view if his passion filled gaze was any indication. He palmed her breasts and she gasped as he gave a light squeeze that had her crying out with pleasure. He couldn’t give up control for long though as he flipped them back to their original positions and thrust in to her. She gasped and moaned as her orgasm came closer. She could feel the faint fluttering that signalled she was close and then he gave one last thrust and she was helpless to resist as her world exploded in a wave of intense pleasure. She was faintly aware of him following behind her but couldn’t have focused on anything right then. When she came back to herself it was to find that she was once again laid on t
op as he stroked her hair back from her face and smiled.

  “I love you,” he murmured. She couldn’t help the sweet smile she sent his way.

  “Love you too,” she whispered as she pressed a kiss to his chest and fell in to a peaceful slumber filled with dreams of knights and heroes and Connor.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Lilly awoke the next day to find herself alone in the big bed. She stretched and smiled at the faint pull of her muscles. She recalled the pleasure that had led to the soreness and couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. For the first time in a long time she felt loved and it seemed like everything would be okay.

  Then Connor came in to the room and her smile died at the sight of his stormy expression. He certainly didn’t look like a man who had just spent a long night of lovemaking with his wife. He looked more like someone had killed his dog. She sent him a hesitant smile that faded when it wasn’t returned.

  “Get dressed,” he said coldly as he threw some clothes on the bed. Lilly hesitated. She wasn’t sure what had changed since last night but something had and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. Normally she’d give a sultry smile and urge him to come back to bed but he didn’t look in the mood for that. He looked furious and she couldn’t understand why. How could he have changed so quickly from the man who’d said he loved her only hours ago?

  “Where are we going?” she asked in as casual a tone as she could manage. She did a best to hide the fact that her heart was breaking.

  “Home,” he said and her eyes widened in surprise.

  “I thought we didn’t have to go home yet,” she reminded him and he sighed as he ran a rough hand through his hair.

  “I had an urgent call and I have to get home,” he said. Lilly’s eyes widened at that. Oh god, had something happened to his family?

  “What happened? Is your family okay?” she asked as fear gripped her. She loved his family and she hoped that nothing had happened to them. His sudden frown suggested that it hadn’t.

  “My family’s fine. It’s just a bit of work I need to take care of,” he said. Lilly couldn’t help the pain that assailed her at that. He wanted to cut their honeymoon short for work?