She was determined to completely immerse herself into this beautiful moment, despite the fact that most of her family was not able to celebrate with her. Her father had downright refused to be here but her mother and brother were definitely present in spirit. She could feel them around her as she walked. Two angels on either side of her, their white wings fluttering in the gentle sea breezes blowing through her hair. Only Christian and her grandmother who lived in Tobago attended.
The wedding was being held one Friday afternoon in late April, on the private beach of a villa they rented in Bacolet. As she walked, the most picturesque backdrop of the sun over a beautiful expanse of calm, sparkling turquoise waters filled her eyes. The sounds of seagulls crying as they dove into the water for their meal intermixed with the steel pan and the evening tide crashing into the salty rocks on the cliff filled her ears. The sight of Adrian standing there, waiting for her, his white shirt fluttering, filled her heart. It could not have been more perfect.
• • •
As she neared him, Adrian felt his breath slowly being taken away, just like the gentle breeze blowing her curls about her face. He had never seen Cory look more beautiful and in just a few minutes, she was going to be his wife. He was going to love and cherish her forever. As time went by, he heard less and less of those voices in his head, arguing that he must tell her about her brother. Hopefully, they were gone forever.
When Cory finally reached her destination, Adrian took her hands in his and they exchanged their precious marriage vows to each other in the presence of his mother Dianne, who flew in from New York to celebrate with them; Anna-Marie and his nephews; Christian; Cory’s grandmother; Adrian’s best man and cousin, Rafael; Elisha, her maid of honor; Curtis, Elisha’s husband; and of course, Jay. Unfortunately, Gabby was in the U.S. preparing for the birth of her first niece or nephew and Kerry couldn’t get the time off from work. Or so she had said.
It was a short but sweet ceremony with little extravagance. Yet, it was the perfect wedding to Cory. She had dreamed about her wedding day since she was a little girl but her actual wedding day was nothing like her dreams. There were no white limousine, no huge bridal party, no long white train and crystal encrusted wedding dress or hundreds of people she barely knew. But this was so much better. She didn’t need all those things anymore. Nothing mattered anymore, as long as Adrian was her husband.
The warm Caribbean nights became even steamier in the honeymoon suite. As her nails dug into the hard contoured muscles of Adrian’s back, the tears rolled down her cheeks. The sheer intensity of pleasure she experienced from his amazing love, only left her craving more. Cory could never get over Adrian’s mad desire; he never seemed to get enough of her. No matter how many times they had made love, it always felt like the first time they were discovering each other. Today, the two of them became one. She had all she could ever need. She was finally complete.
Chapter 24
His precious forty inch plasma and Wii games were the first to go. To move out of the bedroom that was. But with the stuff Cory was serving up in there, who needed ESPN or Call of Duty?
He was also out of closet space and had to endure Lifetime movie marathons on the weekends or Food Network reruns. Since it was his first time actually living with a woman, Adrian figured they all came with being married.
Life was good for him. The nagging voices in his head had stopped. Cory was happy, so he was happy. Though, not for the life of him would he ever comprehend why she really needed thirty-two pairs of shoes!
He enjoyed the simple things like watching her apply her lip gloss in the mirror. The way she pouted those sexy lips of hers and the seductive way she would bend her body, sticking out her gorgeous butt he loved like that. Cory didn’t even realize just how incredibly sexy she looked doing that and how instantly he was turned on by just looking at her do it. That was a sight Adrian knew he wouldn’t tire of anytime soon.
• • •
Cory could finally exhale. Life was perfect for the first time in a long time for her. After spending two glorious weeks in laid-back Tobago, touring and exploring, making love for hours and laughing all afternoon long on the beaches, it was back to the fast pace and grind. Back to work, back to the office, and adjusting to married life. Adrian ensured she was comfortable and settled in quickly, even if it meant putting himself out of his way at times. Okay, maybe all the time.
Her life had changed so drastically these past few months. Who would have thought that getting her car stolen would have landed her a husband? Cory never expected that a sweet, wonderful man would have come into her life anytime. She always referred to herself as “glutton for punishment” but for once, she wasn’t being punished.
Since she always came home to him, after an extremely hard day at work Adrian always helped her to relax and unwind. A long, warm soak in the tub, her favorite glass of wine, followed by one of his sensuous body massages which often led to lazy, erotic evenings in the bedroom.
Cory fell more and more in love with him with each passing day, week, and month. It was amazing just how attentive to her needs he really was. She usually rewarded him with sexy lingerie or an erotic strip tease, tempting and teasing his mind and body senseless. It felt great falling asleep in Adrian’s arms at nights and waking up with him still there on mornings.
On the down side, there were the military exercises and the high degree of danger involved all the time. Cory knew Adrian spared her the gory daily details of his job. Though she went absolutely crazy not being able to see him for twenty-four hours at a time, she made up for this by jogging with Elisha and Gabby around the Savannah. But when she and Adrian did see each other, it was pure loving all over again.
Like what she had in store for him tonight. Cory was feeling naughty all afternoon at work. Maybe it was because of the racy text message Adrian had sent her, getting her hormones raging and pumping hot. On her way home, she stopped at her favorite store in the mall for some new lingerie and couldn’t wait to get home to her man. After dinner and a long Gardenia-infused bubble bath, Cory was just about ready to jump his bones.
She posed provocatively against the doorway in her sexy black number, wearing her favorite floral scent, the one that smelled like lavender roses she knew he loved. With his keen senses, he would definitely know when she entered the room. Adrian was busy working on something on his laptop and like clockwork, without having to say a word, he turned in his swivel chair.
“Whoa! You look hot, baby,” Adrian appreciatively exclaimed.
Cory slowly and sensually sauntered over to him. She seductively bent her body to meet his height level on the chair, making sure he got a generous view of her ample cleavage in the process. Her breasts looked bigger than usual and they spilled enticingly over the new two-piece lacy outfit.
“So you approve, I see,” Cory smiled. Adrian shook his head eagerly up and down. “Well, that’s good. Because it’s all for you, baby.”
Adrian grinned. “Damn, when did I ever get so lucky?”
“Since the day you met me, I suppose,” Cory answered his question. She proceeded to sit on his lap. “So are you busy … I got some dessert for you?” she asked, slowly gyrating her hips.
“Not anymore,” he anxiously responded. “Just give me a minute to log out here, ma’am. And I’ll be right with ya.”
Cory giggled. “So, what were you really doing in here all this time?” she asked.
“Just playing around. Nothing important,” he answered hastily. Adrian was about to close the window on his program when Cory quickly stopped him.
“Wait! What’s this, baby?” she asked.
“This? Just a little something I was working on,” he replied.
“But why does it look like a bunch of crazy stuff? It looks like Greek,” Cory laughed.
“That’s because it’s coding for the programming language I was work
ing with,” Adrian responded. “It’s not Greek. It’s called Java.”
“So … what are you using it for?”
“I’m trying to create a computer game actually,” Adrian answered her question nonchalantly.
“Wait. Hold up! Baby, since when did you know about coding and programming languages and creating computer games?” Cory asked, bewildered.
Adrian laughed out, “Let me see. Since I have a first degree in IT.”
Cory’s mouth opened wide. “Adrian, you have a degree in information technology?”
“Yep. I got it when I was in the Marines. I studied IT for four years when I enlisted.”
“And how come you never told me something as important as this?”
“I didn’t know this was so important to you. A degree that is,” Adrian offered.
“Of course this is important to me.”
“There you go. It’s important to you. Degrees don’t define who I am, Cory.”
“But my point is that you had a degree all this time and you never once said anything to me about it, Adrian.”
“Because it never came up, baby, that’s why. Look, could you stop getting all worked up over this whole degree thing. I think I have something much better for you to get all worked up on right here,” he flashed her a devilish smile. Adrian placed Cory’s hand on his rock-hard erection. “See how much I like your pretty little outfit,” he said, nibbling her ear.
Cory immediately removed her hand from the spot. “Adrian, but I want to know everything about you.”
“In time, baby. You’ll get to know everything,” he assured her.
“But I can’t help but wonder now what other little secrets you have up your sleeves,” Cory remarked out of nowhere.
• • •
Cory’s comment took Adrian by surprise. He stopped his nibbling. He tensed. In fact, every muscle in his body tensed. He immediately lost his erection. How was he supposed to answer that? He knew the day would come sooner or later. But this was too soon. They were only married three months now.
All of a sudden, the voice in his head returned, urging him to tell her. He had to tell Cory everything. It was about time he told her this. Tonight.
“Maybe there’s something else I need to tell you, Cory.”
“I’m listening,” she prodded him.
“Okay, where do I begin?” he started. Adrian was searching for the right words. “This happened a while back when we didn’t even know each other yet … . ” Adrian suddenly trailed off. His cell phone buzzing on the desk was interrupting him. He picked it up and looked at the flashing screen.
He knew his drill. It was late at night so he would only take this call if it were his mother or sister calling. It was Anna and her immaculate timing as usual! “Baby, I got to take this. It’s Anna,” he said to Cory.
“Okay. I’ll be waiting in the bedroom,” Cory announced as she got up off his lap. “Don’t be too long. I never did a techie before,” she grinned as she ran her fingers along the hardness of his chest. “Tell Anna I said hi.”
Adrian smiled at her confession. When he answered, Anna wasted no time and proceeded to tell him all about this new guy she met and was seeing. She wanted him and Cory to double-date with them so that Adrian could drill the guy and check him out.
When he ended the conversation, it took him a few moments to regroup his train of thought of what he was actually going to say to Cory. He turned off his laptop and headed for their bedroom.
Cory was lying on the bed when Adrian entered. She looked like she was asleep, her hair spread about the pillow. He probably took longer than he had expected on the phone but talking to Anna at least got his mind away from the task at hand, if only for a little while, anyway. He was trying to explain to her all the reasons why he was not going to use his military training to figure out her date for her. That was something she needed to do on her own.
“Cory?” Adrian played with her cheek. “Baby, are you really asleep?” he asked. Cory wasn’t budging. She must have fallen asleep waiting for him to join her. “Baby, I have something important to tell you.” Still no response from her. She was out like a light. Adrian pulled the sheets over her shoulders and kissed her.
If he truly didn’t love this woman sleeping next to him, Adrian would be lying to himself. Maybe it was a good sign she fell asleep he told himself. But Adrian couldn’t sleep that night. His eyes remained wide open. He couldn’t imagine what would happen when he did tell her. How would she react? Would this be the end to his now-perfect life?
Chapter 25
She looked up in surprise from the presentation she was working on when Adrian casually strolled into the bedroom. She must have been seriously concentrating on her work because she hadn’t heard him come into the apartment at all. Then again, Cory wasn’t expecting to see him strolling in here at midday. He wasn’t expected till tomorrow morning, as was the norm.
Both she and her jade green laptop were perched in the middle of the huge bed. They had been there the entire morning. Cory had to finish this in time for an early Monday morning video conference from Spain. It was a PowerPoint synopsis of all the company’s outreach initiatives for the past six months.
They were already two weeks behind on it, all the more reason why it suddenly became her job. But Cory felt proud doing it because it only proved that she did work for a socially responsible company that cared about its surrounding communities.
Since it was Friday and her day off, Cory decided she’d work assiduously on it from home. Also, Adrian wouldn’t be around to distract her either. Even though he was such an amazingly sweet distraction, it seemed like every time they were alone together they were constantly at it.
She was hell-bent and intent on finishing this task today because of the plans she had in-store for him over the weekend. Cory planned on surprising him with an early morning trip to Maracas, the most popular beach on the island. They both needed a day of relaxation after a very demanding work week. Then it would be time to model lingerie for her eager audience of one when they got home.
Remembering the last time they had been to the beach brought a smile to Cory’s lips. The sun was dipping below the horizon for the evening. The beach was quiet and secluded. She had wrapped her legs around Adrian’s waist as they weaved and bobbed in the incoming tide surges. And all it took was one kiss in the water.
She could still taste the saltiness of the ocean against Adrian’s lips. Maybe it was the sea, erotically caressing their scantily clad bodies or the natural beauty of their surroundings with the setting sun but it had been so difficult for them both to resist each other then. As the heat of their already entwined bodies became too much to bear, they both succumbed to their guilty pleasures right there in the ocean. It was a perfect end to a beautiful honeymoon for them.
Cory was shocked to see him now. “Adrian? What’re you doing here?” She immediately saved all the recent additions of her presentation onto her flash drive inserted in the laptop.
“Hey, baby. Something came up,” was Adrian’s response. He sat on the bed next to her and immediately began undressing.
Cory pushed aside the laptop, forgetting all about her work for a while. “Well, what is it?”
“Remember when I told you sometimes we may have to pursue wanted men who are on the run or hiding out in the forests, etcetera?”
“Yes?”
“Well, we just got a mission to do that. There’s a guy on the run wanted in connection for the murders of his wife and two children.”
“What? But where?”
“Deep south.”
“Oh, yeah, I think I heard Anna reading that story last night. The police held him for domestic violence and after he threatened to kill his wife and then he escaped police custody. So how long will you all take to find him you think?”
“We can’t be certain but I’m hoping two days max.”
“Two days?” Cory asked in total disbelief.
“Yeah. I’m sorry, Cory, but I was mandated to lead this exercise. You know soldiers lead when it’s in the forest. That’s one of our areas of expertise,” he explained. She started getting off the bed.
“Baby, where’re you going?” Adrian asked, now taking his boots off.
“I can’t believe it. These criminals are ruining my love life,” Cory announced. So much for her weekend plans now.
“But I’ll be back before you know it.” Adrian laughed. “Come here, baby.” It sounded like a command coming from Adrian.
“No!”
“Okay. Then I’ll just have to come over there and get you myself.” Adrian calmly crossed the bedroom floor. He was now bare-chested and stripped down to his boxers. Resting both hands up against the door and towering above her, the taut muscles of his chest and arms looking more pronounced than ever, Adrian stared down at her. “Cory, are you going to fight me on this?”
“No,” she calmly replied this time, changing her tone.
Without touching anywhere else on her body, he kissed her on her neck. “Good. Now, do you want me to beg you, is that it?” he whispered, nibbling her ear. “Because I can beg you if you want, Cory.”
“No! I have a presentation to finish, Adrian,” she blurted out, noticing his swelling erection.
Adrian kissed her on her lips, his hotness silencing her and still the only thing touching her body. He moved down to her cleavage, showering feather-light kisses along the top of her breasts.
Cory inhaled sharply. All it took was one look, one touch, one kiss from him to drive her totally insane. Why God, did this man have to be so damn sexy?
“Didn’t you get enough of this, this morning?” she asked.
“I did. But that was breakfast. It’s now lunch and I’m starving again. So what will it be, baby?” Adrian continued to tease her.
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