“Amanda, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to keep safe, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, for the rest of your life?”
“I do,” she says with tears in her eyes.
She slips on my wedding band and just as I did, she seals it permanently with a kiss.
“As your family, your friends, this water, and this sky are the witness of your spoken vows, may you always be happy, healthy, and loved. May you always be there for one another to share in the good times and the bad. May the words spoken here today be forever true. I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride,” the officiant says.
As I seal my lips around my wife’s, our family and friends clap and cheer. The whole ceremony was recorded and photographed. Amanda breaks away from the kiss and smiles at me.
“I love you, my husband,” she says for the first time.
“And I love you, my wife,” I tell her with a smile.
We posed by the beach for, what seemed like, a thousand photos. As I scoop up my wife and carry her out into the ocean, she squeals with delight. Should I piss her off and dunk her? That’s probably not a good idea. I don’t want to start our marriage off on the wrong foot. Back on the shore we find a big stick and carve a massive heart in the wet sand, we write our name and today’s date. I’m so thankful that Amanda didn’t want a huge wedding, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to the beginning of our lives together as husband and wife.
Amanda
I was so nervous right up until I saw Spencer standing out by the shore. He looked so casual, with one hand tucked in his pocket. His white shirt and khaki pants gently blew against his body in the wind. The smell of the salty air and the fragrant tropical flowers danced on my nose. The waves are gently crashing and the birds are singing in the sky, were music to my ears. My heart jumped for joy in my chest at every step I took closer to my soon to be husband. My dad squeezed my hand and smiled so lovingly down at me that it almost brought me to tears. The words the officiant spoke were so genuine and perfect for our little beach wedding. When Spencer picked me up and carried me in the ocean, at first, I was about to have a heart attack. But I realized, who cares it’s our wedding day! What does it matter if we get all wet? We just got married. It’s official. We are now husband and wife. But, I think he kind of knew that would ruin the rest of the wedding day plans.
We had a quiet table set out on the beach covered by a pergola decorated with beautiful exotic flowers. We celebrated lunch with our parents and Amelia and Kyle.
Kyle stood and gently clinked his champagne glass with his fork and said, “I’d like to make a toast to the happy couple. May your marriage be as beautiful as this beach. May your love for one another surpass every drop of water in this ocean. May you forever feel the love and devotion you feel right now for one another for the rest of your lives. To my best friend Spence and his beautiful bride, Amanda,” he raises his glass and clinks everyone else’s raised glasses.
Amelia and Kyle will be leaving in the morning, but we have a full week of our honeymoon before we need to head back to reality. After lunch, we all broke apart to have some alone time. When we get back to our honeymoon suite, it has been transformed into the picture perfect romantic suite. There are rose petals from the door leading to the bed. There are also rose petals laid out in the shape of a heart on the bed. There is a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket on the side table. Spencer scoops me up and kisses me, as he walks me to the bed. As he lays me on the bed of roses, I kiss my husband and unbutton his shirt.
I get up from the bed, slowly unzip my dress on the side, and let it fall to the floor revealing a white strapless lacy bra and matching thong panties. Spencer growls with appreciation. He makes himself comfortable and places his arm behind his head. I can see the strained bulge in his pants, just begging to be freed. I turn around and unhook my bra, hold it out with flair and drop it to the floor. I turn my head to look at him and give him a sultry smile. I turn around ever so slowly, grab my breasts and massage them in my hands. Spencer moans and I can imagine that he wishes it were him touching me. I love to torture him. I run my hands down my belly and under my panties. When I reach my target, Spencer explodes. He jumps off the bed and growls on the side of my face, “Mine!” He lays me down on the bed and kisses down my neck.
As I smile at him, his hand descends under my panties and finds its target.
“Oh God,” I say, “Don’t stop.”
With one hand still inside me, he fumbles with his other hand to undo his pants. I reach down to help him, then push them down with my feet. He grabs my panties and rips them clean off in one smooth, effortless movement. When his lips reach my core, I jerk with rippled pleasure. His fingers that were inside me, come up to my mouth. I suck on them, then run my tongue up and down each finger, sending Spence into a hungry, needy trance. He grabs his dick and moans, then thrusts it inside me. I wrap my legs around him and I love the feeling of him inside me. As he moves, I run my foot up and down the back of his leg.
I can feel it building and I start panting, as a powerful orgasm rips through me. I dig my nails in his back as he stills over top of me with his own release, panting and sweaty. He buries his head in my hair and gives me all his weight. He slowly slides off to the side and kisses my shoulder as he gets up and heads to the bathroom. I hear water running and smile at the thought of using the enormous tub. I can smell the intoxicating, exotic, aroma from the bubbles. He comes out and raises his hand to help me off the bed.
As we step into the warm bubble bath and sink down, he brings the bubbles up from the tub and runs them down my arms. I turn and face him and kiss my wonderful husband. We spend a good amount of time in the tub just enjoying each other. We have plans to meet everyone for dinner at a restaurant just down the beach.
Already our skin is sun-kissed and the sundress that I picked out to wear looks killer. We meet for a casual dinner, then afterward take a stroll on the beach to watch the breathtaking sunset sink into the Caribbean Sea.
After saying goodbye to Kyle and Amelia Sunday morning, Spence and I have plans to go out on a privately chartered catamaran. We meet our captain and board our private boat for a day out at sea. We are pampered with exotic local food and drink. I lay out on the net that stretches across the front of the boat and soak up the warm summer sun, holding my husband’s hand.
Chapter 4
Spencer
Today we have an exciting day planned. This morning we plan on just hanging around the beach and possibly venturing out to do a little souvenir shopping. But, tonight we have a full moon hike planned to the top of Ram’s Head. Amanda and I love to hike, and we do it quite often, but we have never hiked by moonlight, much less had the opportunity to do it on a full moon.
The guided tour was more than I could have ever expected. The hike began at Salt Pond Bay and stretched along a rocky trail that wound its way to an amazing blue cobblestone beach. We continue on the switchback trails and it leads us to the highest point at Rams Heat Point. The views are breathtaking. The sky is magnificent and so clear you can still see just about every star imaginable, even with a big bright full moon out on display. I grab my wife, lace my fingers in her hair, and wish on every star I see that every day can feel just like it does right now, right here until our last breathe.
The next day was again packed with amazing adventures. We snorkeled on, what I thought was fitting, Honeymoon Bay Beach. We swam with the fish and the turtles, and we even saw a stingray. The coral reefs were amazing and in relatively shallow water, which made it easy for us to spend hours under the water. I was right about Amanda only needing to bring a bikini.
While on our honeymoon, we hiked many trails and visited the ruins at Peace Hill and the old sugar estates. We hiked to the famous Petroglyph rock carvings and visited beautiful botanical gardens. But, nothing was as beautiful as my wife. We met up a few times for dinner with our parent
s, but mostly it was just the two of us.
We left our beautiful summer honeymoon vacation with smiles on our faces and memories that will last a lifetime. I know Amanda had as much fun as I did, but I know she’s anxious to get back to the bakery.
Finally, after the ferry ride back to the mainland and a long plane ride home, in first class I might add, we are finally back home. As I carry my exquisite wife over the threshold of our home, I look forward to what the years have to bring us.
We arrived home on a Saturday night, but I don’t have to be back to work until Monday. As I sometimes do when my schedule allows, I go into the bakery with Amanda and help out where I can. Sunday morning we both arrive to a dark bakery.
“That’s strange. Sadie should already be here baking, I wonder where she is? I hope everything is alright.”
As she unlocks the door, the lights are flicked on and everyone we know is in the bakery.
“Surprise!” they all yell.
“Oh, my gosh, you guys! This is the best surprise ever, thank you,” Amanda says.
All of the Wellington siblings are here. Amelia and Kyle, her brother Asher and his wife Willow, her other brother, Adrian and a blonde, I’m not sure what her name is. I don’t think I have ever met her before. Amelia’s other sister Ava, other brother Aiden, and even Chloe is here, who’s a very close family friend and Kyle’s twin sister. Both of our parents are here, along with Amanda’s two employees Sadie and Aubrey. They have decorated the bakery and transformed it into a small wedding reception. Sadie has even made a very extravagant wedding cake. We never did open the bakery that day.
The weeks and months have gone by since our amazing week in paradise. Our tans have faded, but our love for one another has not. Each day I spend with my wife, Amanda Matthews, I fall deeper and deeper in love with her. I love my wife and my job. I don’t think I could have asked for a better life. Our lives have changed a little over time. Amanda was able to open another bakery just on the other side of town. She is now the proud owner of Amanda’s Sweet Treats Too. We both lead crazy busy lives, but we always make time for each other. Today at work, I was feeling carefree and high on life, when my world came crashing down. Just like the first time, although this time as my wife, Amanda was brought into the emergency room with a gunshot wound.
Amanda
Life has a funny way of making you slow down. Since opening Amanda’s Sweet Treats Too, our lives have been so crazy hectic. Spence helps out at the bakery as much as he can, but he too has a busy career. Sadie and I have been trying to split our time and each run a store. I just walked in the door with the bank bag and hadn’t even turned over the sign on the front door to open yet. I had just gotten the till open and was about to put today’s cash in the register, when the bell jingled as the front door opened. I was about to turn around and politely tell the customer that we weren’t open just yet, but I’d be happy to pour them a cup of coffee in a few minutes. But, when I looked up, I saw a masked man pointing a gun at me.
In a rough voice he said, “Give me the money.”
At that moment, my police training kicked in and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be a victim. I have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and have a gun in my purse. I wasn’t going to be stupid either and lunge for it, so I slowly handed the bag over to the man. My life is worth more than the money in the bag, and he can have it, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to get away with it. I very briefly in my head thought about my next move, by darting my eyes to my purse on top of the counter. The man must have read my move and fired his gun before I could even take a step toward my purse.
The loud bang sent my ears ringing and a warm trickle down my side. As I hunched over and held my right rib cage, the man ran out with all of my money. I reached on top of the counter, pulled down my purse and called 911. I applied pressure to my aching ribs. I knew the wound wasn’t life threatening, but I could feel myself slowly losing consciousness. The last thing I remember thinking is not again, I can’t do this to Spence again. I knew that they would be taking me to Spence’s hospital and I only wanted to make one more phone call to tell him that I’m alright. I didn’t want him to freak out when they wheeled me into his emergency room. I just wanted to tell him not to worry about me, that it’s just a flesh wound. I could hear the ambulance in the distance and I tried so hard to stay awake to call Spencer. I slowly fell to the floor on my knees. I reached up one more time to try and call Spencer, but my bloody hand streaked down the glass showcase leaving its bloody smeared handprint and I passed out.
As it turned out, I only passed out because I freaked out about the amount of blood. The gunshot wound wasn’t bad at all, it bled a lot, but that was it. I had turned my body just in time to not take the bullet straight on, so it only grazed the side of my ribcage. I must have someone watching out for me. See, all that police training came in handy after all. When I woke up, I was bandaged up and resting comfortably. Spencer was sitting in a chair beside the bed in the emergency room. When my eyes finally adjusted, I looked at Spencer and he was just sitting there with a smirk on his face.
“I was just shot for the second time in my life, why are you sitting there with a smirk on your face?” I question him angrily.
I fully intend on milking all the sympathy I can get. Even though it’s not bad, I should at least get some concern, but definitely not a smirk.
“You and I will be having a serious talk about safety and you’re getting a security alarm. Max is at one of the locations right now, in fact, installing it,” he says.
“Who the hell is Max? I was a police officer for crying out loud, I know about safety and I can handle myself,” I remind him. “But, that still doesn’t answer why you’re sitting there smirking like the cat that stole the canary.”
His face turned soft, he gave me a little half smile and say, “We’re going to have a baby.” Since just before we got married, I went off the pill. We both agreed that we wanted a family. If it happened now, that was wonderful, or if it happened later, we were fine with that too. We were just going to go with the flow. Whenever we were blessed with a pregnancy, we would embrace it. It didn’t come as a shock to me, but was still a very nice surprise all the same.
A single tear rolls down my cheek as Spencer takes my face in his hands, puts his forehead on mine and says again, “We’re going to have a baby.”
“Are you happy?” I ask him.
“I’m so fucking happy. But, if you ever get shot again and scare me like that you will be selling the stores and I will make you stay home barefoot and pregnant for the rest of your life.”
Just as I’m about to give him the argument of his life, because how dare he tell me to sell my stores and even think I would stay home barefoot and pregnant, he’s out of his ever loving mind, he stifles my rant with a kiss. I can feel his lips form a smile on mine.
He lowers his hand to my flat belly and whispers in my ear, “I love you, Amanda Matthews.”
This summer I had the best time of my life. I married the love of my life. We had the most romantic wedding, in the most beautiful paradise on earth, surrounded by family and friends. And today marks the beginning of the Matthews family of three. I will never forget my summer in paradise.
The End
The Running Into Love Series will continue with Max and Chloe’s story:
A Fighting Chance – Running Into Love - Book Four
Followed by:
Ava Wellington and Jaxon “Jax” Landry’s story in:
Unavoidable Chance – Running Into Love – Book Five
The Poem
This poem is written by someone close to me and given to me with permission for use in this book. Although this person wishes to stay anonymous, he’s not to me. Thank you for allowing me to use it. These words hold such a special place in my heart.
Deny my touch, upon your face
to trace the form
of quiet grace.
Fingertips, caressing lips
and cheek
and chin
and perfect skin.
Deny a hand, holding hand
deny the sea, the sifting sand
but,
never deny my love your heart.
Anonymous
via Annalisa Nicole
Acknowledgements:
I want to thank you the reader for supporting not only me, but all, “Indie” authors.
My wonderful husband and my two awesome teenage sons. I love you all to pieces. Thank you for always supporting me and believing in me.
To my fabulous beta readers, thank you for all of your valuable feedback, love and support. Erin, Adrianne, Kellie, Amanda, Julie, and Amber Nation, I love you all.
Thank you to my editor, Sara McCluskey, from Serendipity Editing, who I had the pleasure of recently meeting!!
Najla, from Najla Qamber Designs, thank you for the amazing cover art. You continue to knock my socks off with your amazing designs.
Tami, from Integrity Formatting, you are the best and you are always my life saver. Thank you!
My best friends, Julie and Julie, thank you so much for all of your love and support and encouragement. I love you both!
To my dad, who this book is dedicated to, I love you. You are a constant source of encouragement in my journey. I love when you tell me that, “Some people prefer oranges,” to keep my spirits lifted.
A special thank you to my very good friend El. Thank you for sharing your experience with me. I know it is a very sensitive subject. Love you, girl!
Crystal MacMahan, thank you for naming Adrian and Shay’s adopted children. I love Makayla and Micah!!
Ena Burnette from Enticing Journey Book Promotions, thank you for organizing all of my book promotions and tours. You’re a rock star!
Running Into Love - The Complete Box Set Page 52