The Light in the Wound

by Christine Brae

  I giggled nervously. His touch felt so good, so safe.

  “One month down, 959 more to go,” he groaned, his hands now on my back, pulling me close.

  “That’s 80 years, A.”

  “I’m in love with a math genius.” He chuckled.

  Alex asked Bernard to drive us over to the country club where I assumed we were going to have dinner. On the way there, we talked about his trip and how the negotiations went for another acquisition he was working on for his father. I was so engrossed in our conversation that I didn’t notice that Bernard had taken an unfamiliar side entrance to the club that I had never been through. We got out of the car to find ourselves in the middle of the large Polo field. From a short distance, I could see a table dressed in linen, all decked out with flowers and surrounded by tiny white lights strung around each and every tree around the field. The place was lit up in a beautifully vivid glow. The peripheral pond around the field was filled with tiny little floating candles. Bernard nodded at Alex and drove away. He took my hand as we walked to the beautiful table setting.

  “Alex, this is beautiful! Did you reserve the entire field?”

  “Do you like it?”

  “I love it! All this for a one-month anniversary? How’d you pull this off?”

  “I’ve been planning this ever since the night of the charity event. Every single day that brought me closer to celebrating an anniversary with you. One day. One week. One month. Do you remember all the times you were at this field during practice runs? I watched you from there, every single time.” He pointed to the spectator’s box that was off to the side of the field.

  We arrived at the table and were met by waiters dressed in tuxedos. I didn’t hear it at first, but soft swirling music was playing in the background. The table was set for four. I didn’t think anything of it because my attention was focused on a shiny teal blue box wrapped in a white ribbon in the center of the table. Anyone would have known that it was a Tiffany box.

  He took the box in his hand, unraveled the ribbon and opened it as he knelt on one knee in front of me. He was visibly nervous, but his eyes bore a hole right through my heart. This beautiful man had all this prepared for me.

  “Isabel Francesca, the first time I met you, I knew I would never be the same again. You are breathtakingly beautiful, not just on the outside, but more importantly, on the inside. You are kind, generous, loving and not to mention, mind blowingly sexy. I don’t need weeks or months or years to figure out what my future might be like with you. I need weeks and months and years to be with you. Marry me, Isabel. Your heart may not be full of love for me just yet, but I promise you that my heart is overflowing with love enough for both of us. I love you so much.”

  I was crying as soon as he uttered his first words. He was so filled with emotion that his voice cracked every so often and his eyes filled with tears. Those enticing pools of blue looked like an endless sea of love to me. I didn’t realize that he was waiting for an answer because so many thoughts were running through my head.

  How do I go from loving someone with all my heart to marrying someone else?

  My thoughts kept circling back between Jesse, Alex and my mother. Marriage? That’s such a big deal.

  Do I love him enough? Is he my forever? How could I ever let someone who loves me this much get away?

  “Isa? Are you okay?”

  “Huh? Oh, my God, Alex. Sorry! You just took me by surprise! YES! YES, Alex, I will marry you! I’m the luckiest girl in the world right now! I love you.”

  He swept me up in his arms and sat me down on his lap. He took my right hand and slipped the ring on my finger. It was an emerald cut diamond set in a platinum band. We kissed. Slowly and deeply, our lips moving in sync like a passionate slow dance.

  “Isabel, did you have to wear leather tonight?” he asked, his vibrant blue eyes so clear and dazzling.

  “Actually, Alex, I did,” I answered breathily.

  “Then let’s have dinner now so I can get my dessert,” he whispered.

  I stood up and watched him pull his smart phone out of his pocket and punch out a message. Five minutes later, a couple holding hands with the girl shrieking as she walked through the grass, approached our place in the middle of the field.

  “I thought you’d like to celebrate with our best friends.”

  Leigh and Betty.

  Leigh walked up to us with a big bright smile as he shook Alex’s hand and bumped shoulders with him in the typical man hug. Betty squealed as she hugged Alex first and then ran over to me to do the same.

  As she did so, she whispered in my ear, “Five carats, chica, and don’t get overwhelmed. It will be okay.”

  “I am in Love with Love and Love is in Love with me. My body is in love with the soul and the soul is in love with my body. I opened my arms to love and love embraced me like a lover.”

  —Rumi

  Dinner went on longer than we expected. It had been a while since the four of us had been able to catch up with each other in such a relaxed setting. Leigh was traveling so much for work, and Betty often accompanied him on those trips. Two bottles of wine later, Alex was ready to call it a night. We asked Leigh to take us back to my house since Alex had his car taken there earlier that evening. As soon as we walked in the door, Alex took me in his arms and said, “Please pack an overnight bag, we’re spending the night at the Four Seasons.”

  “Why the Four Seasons, when we can just stay here?”

  He licked his lips and broke into the widest grin. “I want you to be able to scream my name out loud without worrying about Mellie hearing you.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at that comment. I must admit that I had covered his mouth once or twice and stifled a scream during sex for fear that Mellie was going to hear us.

  Alex drove to the hotel like a madman. As soon as we got to the hotel driveway, he jumped out of his Range Rover and threw the car keys to the valet. He knew the people at the front desk, so it was a quick and easy check-in. We held hands as we walked through the lobby. There was a wedding going on in the main ballroom, so people were spilling out of the function room and sitting all around the lobby tables and couches. As we stood by the elevator banks waiting, Alex pulled me tightly into him and was holding me by my waist. And then I felt it. The hot breath that you feel on your back when you know that someone’s eyes are on you. I turned my head quickly to the right as I caught a glimpse of Jesse directly behind us. The elevator door opened, and Alex immediately pulled me inside with him. I can still picture the registered look of pain on his face before the elevator doors closed. He stood there, staring right at me, blinking twice, three times, as if trying to ascertain whether the girl he just saw with her boyfriend wrapped around her was really, actually, me.

  Alex was kissing my neck and untying my halter even before the bellboy was out of our hotel room. He backed me into the wall with my legs wrapped around him and my hands all over his hair.

  “Hmm, A, let me freshen up first. I still haven’t given you my gift.”

  I gently pushed him back and headed to the bathroom. Minutes later, he was sitting at the edge of the bed looking sexy as hell, his hair all mussed up, shirtless and his erection straining through his boxers. I walked toward him wearing the hotel robe and carrying a little black pouch. I knelt between his legs.

  “Happy Anniversary, Alex,” I whispered.

  He opened the pouch and smiled. Inside was a platinum men’s chain with a matching platinum Ankh-inspired cross.

  “You said you wanted to wear a crucifix. I thought this shape was a little bit more modern. Take a look at the back.” Inscribed on the back of the pendant were the words “You’re My Forever.”

  “Thank you,” he smiled, “I love it. Best present ever.”

  “I’m not done yet,” I countered. I untied my robe to reveal a completely see-through black lace negligee with a matching black lace thong with slits on the bottom. Something I bought with Betty when she was shopping for her honeymoon tr
ousseau. Alex gulped and took a deep breath.

  “Isa. You are utterly breathtaking. I don’t deserve you. Let me look at you first.”

  I pushed my robe off my shoulders as I stood up. His hands roamed around my front, he cupped my breasts and leaned down to kiss them.

  “I had a fight with the lady at Victoria’s Secret. She insisted these were D cups, while I told her I was a C.”

  “I could have settled the bet for you. These are glorious, exquisite D’s. And they’re mine,” he said as he squeezed both of them together.

  After giving him a few seconds to savor me, I gently pushed him back and knelt down to begin what I had wanted to do all night. I gave him my best mischievous look and huskily whispered into his ear, “I get to have my dessert first.”

  I pulled his underwear down and sucked his tip in my mouth. I started taking all of him in, slowly at first, twisting my lips around him and using my hands and my tongue to fondle him.

  His hands were in my hair, as he groaned and threw his head back. “Isabel, we have to stop, I’m so close.”

  “That’s okay, babe. We have all night. I want you to come in my mouth. Now.” I pumped him with my mouth and hands faster and faster until he shuddered and poured his sweet tasting release into me.

  Minutes later, he was ready to go again. “I’m going to have a perpetual hard on all night if you keep walking around like that.”

  I had gotten up to look out the large glass window overlooking the expansive city. He walked up behind me and cupped my breasts from behind. I could feel his hardness against my back. I was getting so excited I felt the wetness dripping down my legs. It was if he read my mind when he slipped a finger inside me.

  “You’re always so ready for me. So nice and tight. Let me loosen you up.”

  I was pressed against the glass, as the one finger became two fingers and finally three. He used one hand to tear off my lingerie until I was stark naked with my breasts pressed against the cool window.

  “Mmm, Alex. I want you inside me, please.”

  He turned me around to face him, lifted me up and walked us toward the bed. “Tell me what you want me to do to you, baby. Don’t be shy. I’m here for you. Tell me.”

  “I want you, Alex.”

  “Do you like this?” He reached his head down to bite my nipples as he lay me on the bed.

  “Or this?” All three fingers.

  I moaned. “All of it, everything you’re doing.”

  He brought his face to mine and kissed me. “I want to drink you up, let your juices flow through my veins. I can’t get enough of you, Isabel.”

  “Alex, please, I want you inside of me.” I pulled him to me and guided him inside, bucking my hips to take all of him in. He was thrusting inside me, faster and fiercer. “Harder, Alex, harder. I want you in me all the way. That’s it, baby. Please.”

  He then turned me around on my stomach and lifted me up on my knees. I was panting, I could hardly breathe. He rammed into me from behind. “Say my name when you come. Come with me, baby. Say my name.”

  “Alex!” I screamed. “Oh Alex, you feel so good. I’m coming!” And as I clenched my insides to tighten around him, I came just as I felt him pulsating too.

  Round three came in the form of leftover ice cream and chocolate sundae after ordering room service. Round four occurred as we showered the stickiness off to go to bed for the night. The screaming got louder and louder with every climax. It meant so much to Alex to hear me say his name. Making love to Alex was easier, more uninhibited. It didn’t hurt that he was much more experienced than Jesse and I combined. We used to talk about his escapades back in the day when we were just friends. I would listen attentively and ask specific questions as he regaled me about his one-night stands, sometimes he didn’t even know the women’s names. But every single time he would recount those experiences, he would always end our conversation with a statement alluding to the fact that none of those women were me.

  I woke up to see the light streaming in from our hotel window. Alex was fast asleep. His right arm and leg were draped over me, and he looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to startle him by moving any part of his body. I lay there facing him and admired his striking features as he slept. How did we get this far in one month? Less than twenty-four hours ago, I agreed to marry him. And then Jesse had to see us get into the elevator on the way to our room. What was he doing here, I wondered.

  Alex slowly opened his eyes and smiled at me. “Hey.” He kissed my nose.

  “Hey,” I answered.

  “How long have you been awake?” he asked.

  “Not long, just thinking.”

  He caressed my face with his thumb. “Are you sore?” he asked.

  “Nope.” I smiled.

  He kissed me again.

  “A? Did your parents know you were going to propose last night?”

  “Yes. My mom and I bought the ring together. She chose it, I had no clue.”

  “Do my grandparents know?”

  “The day we golfed together, I asked for permission to propose.”

  “Should we be setting a date for the wedding??” I asked.

  “I know I want it to happen in the next three months.”

  “Three months? I thought people got engaged for at least a year.”

  “Not us, Isa. I want you to be my wife in three months, tops. I know I keep on saying this, but I’ve waited so long. I can’t wait any longer.”

  “I guess I have to call my mom, Evie and Alicia today.”

  “They already know. I called all of them.”

  “You did? You’re so sweet! I need to repay you for all that thoughtfulness.”

  He laughed playfully. “Okay by me. You can start now.”

  That was Round 5.

  We spent the rest of the morning together in bed, dozing on and off. “Why do you like to sleep so much?” He was caressing my jaw with his fingers, tracing a line all the way down to my chest.

  “Why do you like to do it so much?” I jabbed back impishly.

  “Because I can’t get enough of you. I’m making up for all these years of lost time.”

  I started to lick his lips and pressed myself against him.

  “Isa?”

  “Mmmmm.”

  “Jesse called me a couple of times in the office.”

  “Huh. What did he want?”

  “Don’t know. I was in meetings both times and the secretary just left me a note about it.”

  I remained silent.

  “I don’t think he’s going to give you up without a fight, Iss. I don’t blame him.” His brows had furrowed together and he had a worried look on his face. “You know I have to accompany my dad on a business trip to San Francisco, right? I’m thinking of canceling for now, since we will probably be busy with planning the wedding and all.”

  “A, no, don’t do that. That deal is really important to your father. If you miss that auction, you’ll have to wait another year to bid on that property. Let me handle things from here. Two weeks will fly by and before you know it, you’ll be back.”

  “I know. You’re right.”

  “When do you leave?”

  “Tomorrow at noon.” He still appeared concerned, and he looked at me like he was searching for an answer. Like he wanted me to stop him from leaving.

  “I love you, Alex. I’m in love with you. Just know that, okay?”

  “Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.”

  —Rabindranath Tagore

  Late that same afternoon, I asked Alex to drop me off at my grandparents’ house while he went home to get ready for his overseas trip. He was going to meet me back there in time for dinner. I walked up the large, winding staircase and into my grandfather’s library where he was working on his computer.

  “Isabel, I can’t get into my files!” My grandfather. Business Man of the Year. CEO and President of multiple corporations. The only time he ever looked confused or perplexed was when he attempted to use the co
mputer instead of delegating this task to his staff.

  “Grandpa, you’re going into another directory. Here, let me help you. Do you see this folder? I’m going to drag it to your desktop so you can find the files more easily.”

  He didn’t hear a word I said. He didn’t care to learn. Why should he? After making sure that I moved the right folders where he wanted them, he asked me to shut down the computer. Just then, my grandmother walked in. My grandfather remained seated at his desk as we both sat on the chairs directly opposite from him.

  “Congratulations, Isabel! We heard the great news.” My grandmother regarded me warmly. For the first time in my entire life, I could actually detect a twinge of love and pride in her tone of voice.

  “A little unexpected and a bit too fast, but thank you. I’m happy.”

  My grandmother then reached into her pocket and pulled out a magnifying glass. She gently took my hand and brought the diamond to the glass. “Hmmmm. Beautiful. VVS1 or even Flawless.”

  “Grandma!” I chided. These things made her happy, I wasn’t going to ruin her moment.

  “I spoke with Lori Nate yesterday and asked that the announcement be published in this week’s paper. She will include the designer’s name as well. I think we should see Pierre when you have time this week. Your mother modeled for him for years. He will only expect that we go to him. Have you picked a date?”

  “No, not yet. Alex wants it soon. In three months.”

  “Isn’t that way too soon? We should wait at least six months or rumors will fly that you are pregnant. Are you?”

  My grandfather was shaking his head, amused.

  “No, Grandma, I’m not pregnant. I think Alex is just ready to start married life with me. He’s older and really just wants to get settled.”

  “He’s afraid you will go back to Jesse Cain.”

  Boom.