by Sophia Renny
“Hello, wife,” he said in greeting, his grin cocky.
“Hello.” She rocked her hips gently, inviting him deeper.
“Damn. That feels so good. I could live inside of you.” He tweaked one nipple with his supple fingers, then brought his head down to suck her other nipple into his mouth.
She sifted her fingers through his hair. “I think a part of you soon will be,” she said softly.
He stilled. He released her nipple and lifted his head. His eyes gleamed with love and male pride. “So soon?”
She hitched one shoulder. “I’m not on birth control. And it’s the right time in my cycle. And I just have a feeling.”
He kissed her mouth tenderly. “Oh, Julia,” he whispered against her lips. “That would be a dream come true. Our baby growing inside of you.”
He continued to rock slowly inside of her, a languid coupling as he pressed tender kisses all over her face. Her climax was a gentle ripple, a quiet clenching around his thickness. His orgasm chased hers, his pleasure sounding from deep in his chest.
He rolled onto his back, taking her with him. He caught her close to him, his fingers tracking down her spine and then gently squeezing her bottom. She rested her cheek on his chest, one hand clasped around his neck, her thumb rubbing along his jaw.
Gradually, his penis softened and he slipped out of her. She felt another ripple inside of her, a tiny aftershock.
“Happy?” he asked drowsily.
“Very.”
“No more doubts?”
“None.”
He glided his hands up her back and massaged her shoulders. “The fire’s gone out. Are you cold?”
“Not anymore. Your body is like a furnace.”
“How about we try out the Jacuzzi tub?”
“Do you have bubble bath?”
His chest rumbled with soft laughter. “No, I don’t have bubble bath stuff. I’m a guy.”
“Mmm. Yes you are.” She pressed a soft kiss to his sternum. “I might have some packed in my overnight bag.”
“You brought an overnight bag?”
“Of course. And maybe I packed a scented candle, too.”
“Any other surprises in there?”
She circled one of his flat nipples. “Maybe another pair of panties with a matching bra?”
His penis twitched against her thigh. He groaned.
She grinned. She licked his nipple until it puckered and then gave it a teasing bite. “You’ll have to go get it though. It’s still in the car.”
He didn’t move except to spread his legs, rubbing his burgeoning erection against her. His hands slid down to caress her bottom again. “God, I love your ass.”
“I like yours, too.”
He chuckled. He slowly eased his penis into her wet channel. “We fit together perfectly, don’t we.”
She gave a soft gasp as she felt him lengthen and thicken inside of her. “You recover fast.”
“Because it’s you. Sore?”
“No. Just a nice pleasant ache.”
“I’ll be gentle.”
“Don’t be.”
As the thrust of his hips picked up speed, she drew herself upright and straddled him, bracing her palms on his hard chest. She felt the thud of his heart vibrating against her right palm.
He cupped her breasts. “You are so beautiful.”
“So are you.”
“And you’re my wife.” His voice carried amazement.
“Always.”
He grasped the back of her neck, drawing her face down to his. His tongue plunged into her mouth, matching the thrust of his hips. She sucked him in, wrapped her hands around his head, pressed her fingers against his skull.
She writhed her hips as he found a pleasure spot deep inside of her. His hot breath mingled with hers. His fingers were between her legs, his thumb rubbing. She was a quivering mass of fever and need. Sweet pleasure pooled and gathered. She tore her mouth from his, cried out in ecstasy as her orgasm surged through her body.
His own cry echoed hers as he spent himself deep inside of her.
They slumbered for a while, her body resting on top of his, exactly where she wanted to be.
Her stomach growled.
He laughed softly. “Hungry?”
“A little.”
“Bath first? Or dinner first?”
“What’s for dinner?”
“I picked up some roast chicken from the store earlier. How about that with a salad?”
“Sounds lovely.”
He gave her bottom a light smack. “Get off of me then.”
“No.”
He tickled her ribs.
She shot upright, scrambled away from his teasing fingers. “Tony! Stop. I’m ticklish.”
“I know.”
She vaulted off the bed and raced for the bathroom. She locked the door behind her.
“I’ll be downstairs,” she heard him call out. “Don’t be too long in there.”
When she eventually made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, he was putting the final touches on a salad. He had his jeans on and nothing else. His eyes swept over her attire. She was wearing his shirt. It was a cotton work shirt. It draped to mid-thigh on her.
“I like seeing you in my shirt,” he said.
She leaned against the center island where he was doing the food prep. “I like being in it.”
She admired his washboard abs and the intriguing line of dark hair that arrowed down to his groin. She reluctantly pulled her eyes away and flicked her gaze around the kitchen. “I like this room.”
He scooped large helpings of salad onto two plates. He grinned. “I’ll never forget the look on your face the last time we were in this room, when you thought I had a serious girlfriend.”
She pursed her mouth. “It wasn’t very nice of you to toy with me like that.”
“Hey, I was telling the truth. I told you I was thinking of buying this place for my future wife. It wasn’t a lie.” As he spoke, he sliced up some chicken and put it on another plate. “That was the day I knew for sure that you were attracted to me. Those pretty eyes of yours were practically green with jealousy.”
“I wasn’t jealous.”
“Three days married and you’re lying to me already, Mrs. Rossetti?” He winked at her. Then he opened a drawer and withdrew some silverware. He handed it to her. “Here, go set the table. I’ll carry everything over.”
She strolled over to the small oak table on the far side of the kitchen and set out places for two. “Is this new?”
“Yep. Sylvie wanted the one from the house.” He brought their plates to the table. “I haven’t brought much furniture from the house. Most of the stuff there is mix and match. I was hoping you’d like to go furniture shopping this weekend.”
“Okay. There are a few things at my place that might work here.”
He grabbed a bottle of salad dressing from a cupboard and snagged some paper towels. “I like your couch. That might work in the living room. We could get some coordinating pieces.” He set the items on the table. “I have water or beer to drink.”
“Water’s good.” She sat down at the table and watched him as he retrieved a pitcher of water from the fridge and then a pair of glasses from a cupboard. “Looks like you already have a lot of things organized. Did your crew help you unpack everything?”
“Just the necessities.” He came back to the table, poured their water and then sat down next to her. “There are tons of boxes in the garage. I thought we could go through them together. Decide what goes where.”
She scraped her chair closer to his and snuggled against his arm. “You knew I was coming back, didn’t you.”
“I hoped.”
“I thought you were going to come chasing after me,” she confessed softly. “I expected you to kick down my door at any minute.”
He angled his head to plant a kiss on her temple. “I do have some pride, Julia. I figured there wasn’t anything more I could say to you to help you make up
your mind. The ball was in your court.”
“I’m sorry for being such an idiot.”
He lifted her face to his. His eyes were intense. “You are not an idiot. You were scared. I get that. You couldn’t remember our wedding. I was hoping when you woke up that it would all come back to you. I guess it didn’t.”
“Were you furious when you realized I’d left?”
“Furious isn’t the word for it. I was frantic at first, thinking something bad had happened to you. It was already early evening by the time I woke up. Max was barking like crazy. I had to take him out for a walk. I knocked on Hannah’s door on the way because I thought you might have gone there to look at the pictures she’d taken. It wasn’t until I called the front desk that I realized you’d both taken off.”
“Did you get my message? I called you from Los Angeles.”
“Yes. I was in-flight to Chicago when you called. By the time I was able to listen to your message, I was livid. I didn’t want to speak to you. It didn’t help that I missed the red-eye out of Chicago and spent the night in a flea-bag airport hotel with a yapping dog.”
She couldn’t help but giggle at the image. She brought her hands to his face and drew him down to kiss his forehead. “I’m sorry.”
He kissed her nose. “It’ll be a story our grandchildren will want to hear over and over.”
She wrinkled her forehead. “So… Where is that dog?”
“Max is with Sylvie. I need to get this place dog-proofed before I bring him over. We’ll have to make sure to keep the closet doors shut. I’ve found out that he likes to chew on shoes.”
“And just how did we acquire that scruffy little mutt?”
His eyes twinkled. “You don’t remember?”
She shook her head.
He slid his hands from her face to her shoulders and gave her a nudge. “Let’s eat while I tell you all about it.”
It turned out that it had been Julia’s idea to keep the dog. They were leaving the chapel and Tony was helping her into the taxi when Max had hopped into the car ahead of her and plopped himself down on the seat, tail wagging furiously, a happy grin on his doggy face. He didn’t have a collar. His fur was matted and dirty. When Tony had picked him up to remove him from the car, he’d felt the dog’s ribs poking out.
“I remember now,” Julia said, interrupting Tony’s story. “I said there was no way we were going to abandon that poor dog. I insisted we at least take him to the vet to see if he had a microchip.”
“He doesn’t. And then we had to get him vaccinated so he could travel home with us. After you passed out on me, I gave him a bath.” He made a comical face. “That little mutt got to lick your toes. I was lying there thinking ‘You lucky bastard. It’s my wedding day. That’s my bride’.”
Julia laughed. “It felt pretty good, as I recall. You’ll have to try it on me sometime.”
“Gladly.”
She gave him a coy smile. “I thought you wanted a big dog. A lab or a golden retriever.”
“Instead I got a mutt of very questionable pedigree.” He grimaced. “Who also has cost me close to a thousand bucks already between emergency vet fees, airline fees, hotel fees and all the food he’s been guzzling down. He’s already put on two pounds since Sunday.”
She caressed his arm. “You love him already.”
His mouth twitched in a grin. “He has a way about him.”
“Consider him my wedding gift to you.”
He threw his head back and laughed until his eyes watered. Then he caught her close in a fierce hug. “Oh, Julia. It feels good to laugh about all of this now. These last forty-eight hours have been pretty grim.”
“I know.” She rubbed her cheek against his warm chest.
He propped his chin on her head. “Do you remember our wedding now?”
“Yes. Most of it. All the important parts.” She wrapped her arms around him. “And I’m sorry again for running away, for not believing in you.”
“You just didn’t believe in yourself.” His voice turned gruff. “And I could’ve been gentler with you that day.”
“You know what, though?”
“What?”
“I’m glad that the first time we made love was in this house.”
“I would’ve said differently on Sunday. I was desperate to take you. But I’m glad, too.”
She drew back to look him in the eye. “I’ve been thinking about when to tell my parents about us.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t think we should tell anyone we’re married yet.”
His features clouded. “Why not?”
“I want to wait until after Joe and Willa are married,” she said reasonably. “I don’t want to rain on their parade.”
He smiled. “That’s very thoughtful of you. It’s a good thing, then, that I haven’t told Joe about us.”
Her relief was tangible. “Oh, good. So only Hannah knows.”
“Wait. This doesn’t mean you aren’t moving in with me until after their wedding, does it? Because I’ll be damned if I allow that to happen.” His arms tightened around her. “You aren’t spending one more night in that apartment.”
She snaked her hand between them and gave his chest a soothing pat. “You can come help me pack tomorrow.”
He dropped a hand to her bottom and gave it a squeeze. “We’ll make it quick. I can’t go more than an hour without wanting to touch you. And I’m not going to make love with you in that apartment.”
He didn’t have to explain the reason why.
She smiled as she felt his questing hand slip beneath the hem of her shirt and wander towards the heat between her legs. “How about we take that bubble bath now?” she suggested, giving a soft gasp as his knuckles rubbed along her damp cleft.
“Are you done eating?”
“I’m not hungry anymore.”
“Me neither. Not for food anyway.” He wagged his eyebrows and gave her a lecherous smile.
“You are such a charmer.”
He stood up, taking her with him. “I’ll go get your bag out of the car. Why don’t you get the water running?”
She hurried upstairs, looking forward to doing naughty things with him in the tub. She was perched on the ledge adjusting the temperature when Tony stepped into the room, her bag in hand. “Here you go. I’m going to get the fire going again.”
“Okay.”
She poured the vanilla-scented bath soap into the water and stirred it around. While the bubbles formed, she lit the pillar candle she’d tossed in her bag at the last minute. It had a vanilla scent, too.
She’d just turned off the water and was wondering what was taking her husband so long when she heard him call to her from the bedroom.
“Julia, come out here for a minute.”
When she walked into the bedroom, the lights were dimmed. Tony stood in front of the fire, the warm glow limning the angles and planes of his chest and face. The intensity of his gaze made her heart flutter wildly. God, he was so handsome. He held out his hand to her.
Curious, excited, she moved towards him, her feet seeming to float. She placed her hand in his palm. He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. He swallowed. “Julia,” he said again, his voice husky.
“Tony.”
And suddenly he was dropping to one knee and gazing up at her, both her hands tightly clasped in his.
She felt tears building behind her eyes. Her mouth trembled.
“Julia,” he said softly. “I love you. I have always loved you. I will always love you. Will you marry me?”
She laughed through her tears. “But we’re already married.”
His kissed her right hand and then her left, his gleaming eyes fastened on hers. “But I didn’t ask you formally. And you didn’t ask me. It just happened. It was fast. It was beautiful. It was meant to be. But I wanted to do things right. Will you play along with me?”
She had a sudden vision of him as a little boy, throwing pebbles at her window. Julia. Julia! Will you come outside and play with
me?
She nodded her head. She fell to her knees. “Yes. Yes, I will marry you, Tony Rossetti.”
He kissed her.
After a while, he whispered against her ear, “I have an idea.”
“Hmm?”
“I want you to have your wedding day, Julia. The one you’ve always dreamed of.”
She drew back to stare at him. “It wasn’t my dream.”
His smile was tender. “Yes, it was. It was your mother’s dream, but you wanted it, too.” He brushed her face with the back of his hand. “I want us to renew our vows in a church. I want to see you walk down a long aisle on your father’s arm. I want our family and friends around us. I want to have a party to celebrate, and I want to dance with you under twinkling lights.”
“That does sound nice.” She knitted her brow. “But I don’t want a grand affair, Tony. Seriously. We can have all that but still keep it simple. Can’t we?”
“Whatever you want.” His cheek dimpled. “Besides, I want to be in your mother’s good graces. It’s never a good idea to upset the mother-in-law.”
She laughed. “She already loves you like a son.”
He kissed her again.
“You know what I think?” he said a while later, bemusement in his voice.
“What?”
“I think she and my mom got their signals crossed all those years ago when they both were expecting their firstborn and planning weddings. I think I was already chasing you when I was just a twinkle in my father’s eye.”
She felt a fresh round of tears forming. “Oh, Tony. What a beautiful thought. I like it. I think you may be right.”
“I’m never going to stop chasing you, Julia Rossetti. Around the kitchen. Through the living room. Up the stairs. Around our bed…”
“And I’ll let you catch me every time.”
“Promise?
“Always.”
Epilogue
He watched her walk down the aisle towards him on her father’s arm.
His bride. His wife.
A ray of light beamed from the open door behind her, casting an almost ethereal glow around her. She was an angel, a beautiful vision in white.
He thought of a long ago August day. He’d been searching for sticks at the water’s edge while she’d stood on the pier, her back to him, and gazed at the water. She’d been dressed all in white then, too. He remembered being struck by the beauty of her in a deeper way than he ever had been before. He’d paused in his task, tugged his cellphone from his pocket and snapped a picture. He’d had a print made of the picture and tucked it in his wallet. He still had it. He would show it to her tonight when they were snuggled in their bed in front of their cozy fire.