Redemption (The Bet)

by Phal, Francette

  "God, Ellie," with his forehead resting on hers, Nicholas grinned. "You have no idea how badly I need you when I'm away. You make a man go crazy, missing you. There's only so much my left hand can do, I close my eyes and your there. Your scent on my clothes drives me to distractions. It always scares me, how much I need you to function. Only a few days away and I ache to run back to you, take you in my arms and never let go." playing with the silken tendrils at Ellie’s nape, Nicholas licked Ellie’s tears away and kissed the corner of her mouth. "You'd think after four years of being with you, my obsession would've ebbed slightly. But I think I might be more addicted to you, now more than ever. Can you believe that, Ellie?"

  Ellie hugged him to her, and then very softly, almost inaudibly she said. "Marry me, Nicky.".

  Not sure he'd heard right, Nicholas disengaged Ellie’s arms from his neck and firmly forced her to look up. "What?"

  Through the damp veil of her dark lashes, Ellie glanced up and to be sure, Nicholas’ gaze, with its ability to stare right into her soul, stared intently down at her now, a maelstrom of emotions swirling in their silver depths. "I was afraid," she began, running her tongue over suddenly dry lips. "When you first asked me to marry you I thought you were just asking for the sake of the kids. Everything was so crazy with Sophie’s adoption, I just thought, 'oh, maybe, he's just asking to make the children happy.' So I said 'no'."

  Ellie’s looked down at her hands, savaging the poor sheets beneath her, but she trudged on, too late to stop herself. She needed to be heard, needed for Nicholas to understand. "The second time, I couldn't bring myself to say 'yes'. I wanted to, but I just couldn't, I made excuses, telling myself I wasn't ready for it. Then you asked me again before you left and saying 'no' to you the third time was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

  Ellie looked up, taking Nicholas’s hand in the process. "I was afraid, scared that we'd end up like my parents. I didn't want you to resent me later. Marriage is a big step and though we've been together for so long, known each other since we were practically kids, I know how much you hate confinement. I didn't want us to marry and have it end in divorce, because you decided you wanted to be..."

  "Shut up."

  Ellie gasped when Nicholas tugged his hand away. He was angry. "How can you…for you to even think that I would…" he raked his hands through his hair, his frustration evident, "Ellie, I'm not going anywhere! How many times do I have to tell you? Do you think me so fickle?" he was trying hard to keep his rage on a tight leash, but he feared he was losing control, Ellie’s words hurting him more than he realized. "After so many years, I thought you knew me better than that."

  Ellie shook her head, trying to rectify her mistake. It wasn't at all how she'd planned for this to happen, "Nicky…"

  "I love you, Ellie, the way I feel about you will never change. I've felt this way since I was eighteen and I swear to you that I'm going to feel the same way when I'm an old man. I understand that I've hurt you in the past and I will spend the rest of my life repenting for it. But you have to know that I'm here to stay, married or not, I'm here to stay. You are everything to me.”"

  In all her wondrous glory, Ellie slid from the bed, ran to the other side of the bed and fell to her knees before him, taking hold of Nicholas’s larger hands Ellie tenderly kissed them, before looking up. "So, marry me."`

  "Ellie…"

  "I'm so sorry for doubting you...for doubting us and our love, for fearing something I know would be a joy to share with you. I've wanted this, for almost as long as I knew I loved you, I've wanted this. I'm ready, Nicky, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to make you as happy as you've continuously made me. I want to be yours, in name, body, mind and soul. Marry me, Nicholas Grayson, please?" She was trembling, her hold on Nicholas hands unyielding. She could feel her tears snaking a path down her cheeks, but Ellie was impervious to it all as she stared up at Nicholas’s face, attempting to make out the whirlwind of emotions there.

  Coming down to his knees, so that they both stood at the same height, their gazes locked, Nicholas interlaced their fingers and returned Ellie’s earlier kiss, brushing his lips over her knuckles. "Only if you say yes to my proposal. Eleanor Holbrook, love of my life, my infinite better half, would you do me the honor of giving me your hand in marriage?"

  "Yes! A thousand times yes!" with elated joy and mirth swimming through her veins, Ellie wrapped her arms around Nicholas and embraced him, her laughter and exuberance bringing them both to the floor. She rained a barrage of kisses on Nicholas’s grinning face, while her tears fell. "Will you marry me?"

  Framing her tear stained face, Nicholas smiled. "In a heartbeat." He claimed a kiss, tender, sweet and long overdue.

  He stood then and returned moments later with a black velvet box. "Let's make it official." taking back his seat, he drew the box open and took from it the cushion-cut rose-gold diamond engagement ring he'd purchased so long ago.

  The ring was simple in its elegance. With its clean roman design and peculiar coloring, it was a thing of sheer beauty to Ellie, who reverently gaped when Nicholas held it before her. "Look," he invited, tilting the ring just so, enough that she could glimpse at the engraved inscription inside.

  For as long as there are stars.

  Ellie bit her lip to stop it from trembling, but all the same, the deluge of tears came and she was helpless to stop them. "Nicky," She croaked, her tears did not permit her words, so instead, Ellie kissed Nicholas, pouring all that she felt into their joined flesh, conveying undying love and adoration one woman could feel towards her other half.

  "This is eternal, Ellie." Nicholas whispered, slipping the ring on Ellie’s trembling fingers. It was a perfect fit, snug and just right, exactly where it was supposed to be. Bringing her hand to his lips, Nicholas kissed Ellie’s ring finger, his gaze fixed on the weeping woman across from him. "No matter how many lifetimes we live, know that I'll always find you and our love will always endure."

  ~*~*~*~

  Taking the stairs two at a time Ellie hurried to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. With trepidation pooling in her veins, she approached her bed, warily staring at the black phone on the nightstand. She took a seat, her heart racing a mile a minute she picked up the headset with a quivering hand. Anxiety threatened to push her breakfast out of her mouth, the need to retch clawed a bitter path up her throat, and she forced herself to swallow a few times, impeding her nausea.

  The moment the butler had interrupted her breakfast and informed her that she had a call, Ellie knew---in her heart she already knew what Dr. Morrison was going to say. She’d excused herself, quickly rushing to her bedroom and now…now she didn't know why she hesitated.

  She pressed the phone to her ear, "He…hello..."she cleared her throat. "Hello?"

  "Good morning, Ms. Holbrook." Dr. Morrison jovially greeted.

  "Good morning, Dr. Morrison. Did...did you get the test results back?"

  "Yes, and they were just as I expected, congratulations Ms. Holbrook you're about eight weeks pregnant. I'd like to schedule…" Ellie didn't hear anything else after that and as she mechanically bid the doctor a good day and a Merry Christmas, she felt what was the first of several droplets of water splashing against her arm. She dropped the phone on the nightstand with nerveless fingers and fell back against the mattress.

  "I'm pregnant." She whispered wondrously, joy and fear waging a battle in her body. Joy triumphed and with sobbing laughter, Ellie sent up a silent prayer of thanks for the wonderful miracle she'd just received.

  ~*~*~*~

  Nude and freshly showered, Ellie sat on the gargantuan bed, contemplating whether her plan would work. She fell back against the headboard and with a soft smile on her lips she put a hand on her abdomen. There was a baby there. She couldn't feel anything yet, wouldn't in fact for several months, but the thought that a child grew there, was enough to warm her heart. Would it be another girl? She wondered, or maybe a little brother for Dylan to play w
ith? Growing up the only boy in a female dominated family couldn’t have been all too pleasant. But Dylan dealt with it like the sport he was and Ellie appreciated him for it.

  Marriage and a baby on the way, what more could Ellie ask for? She’d never been as happy and content as she was now. Life was finally returning a little bit of what it'd dealt her over the years and Ellie was thankful. Ensnared by her thoughts, she did not notice Nicholas emerging from the bathroom, towel precariously wrapped around a tapered waist until he stood before her.

  Peering at her through the dampness of his dark fringe, Nicholas observed Ellie in all her wondrous glory. The very sight of her, warm and beautiful, ensconced by the red coverlet, her skin, illuminated by the crackling embers, like honey gold, gave Nicholas pause, stole the very breath from his lungs and left him dizzy. She was breathtaking, truly, the incarnate of a masterpiece and standing in her presence, humbled him. Because he knew, that he did not deserve this woman and yet, having her, being able to hold and cherish her, made him rise to the challenge, made him better than he was. Nicholas loved her, with every bit of his being, he loved Ellie Holbrook, here, Nicholas grinned--- Ellie would be a Grayson soon. Ellie Holbrook-Grayson---that definitely had a good ring to it.

  "You look happy; did you have a good shower?" Ellie asked smiling when Nicholas approached the bed.

  "It would've been better had you been there to wash me."

  Ellie snorted and lifted her face up to receive Nicholas’s kiss. "You know damn well we never shower when we're together."

  Nicholas grinned, "Hmm, but that's the fun of it."

  Eyes twinkling, Ellie reached out and quickly pulled Nicholas’s towel away and very leeringly, she caressed his body with roving hazel eyes. "Yes…definitely fun. Dance for me, Nicky."

  "You can't handle my moves, lover." He said, swiveling his hips.

  Ellie laughed. "Oh, but I think I can." Rising to her knees, she wrapped her arms around Nicholas’s neck tugging him on top of her, mindful of her stomach. "I can handle every one of your moves, and then some." She kissed him, long, sweet and heartfelt.

  "I think you'd have me beat," he whispered against Ellie’s lips, "You kiss like you fuck." Nicholas rolled over on his side, but remained close enough to trace her face with his fingers.

  "I learned from the best." Ellie kissed Nicholas’s fingertips as they settled on her mouth; they trailed away again, sweeping across her cheeks, down the slope of her nose, across her brows and back again to her cheeks. The caress was languorous, the brush of his finger pads, like gentle kisses on Ellie’s skin. "Having fun?"

  Nicholas met Ellie’s gaze, and his silver eyes danced with wicked humor. "Lots."

  With a tender smile and a shared kiss, they settled into the silence. The snap and crackle from the fireplace played a soothing soundtrack in the background, enhanced only by their rhythmic breathing. Knitting their fingers together, Ellie turned Nicholas’s hand and whispered a kiss to the knuckles, never breaking their gaze; she smiled and squeezed her lover's hand. "Nicky?"

  "Hmm?" Languid, melting relaxation weighed Nicholas’s body down; the simplicity of this moment was everything he cherished.

  Ellie ran her tongue over her lips, suddenly nervous. "Can you do me a favor?"

  "Anything."

  "Can you rub my tummy?"

  A small pucker immediately appeared between Nicholas’s brows. "Does it hurt? Are you all right?"

  Ellie inhaled and slowly exhaled, before turning on her back. "I'm fine, but I think I ate too much at dinner, will you rub it for me, please?" through the veil of dark lashes, Ellie gauged Nicholas’s face and really, she desperately tried not to laugh.

  Nicholas slipped his hand beneath the coverlet, his palms immediately circling the flat expanse of Ellie’s belly. "How does that feel?"

  "Still hurts, maybe if you kissed it?" She suggested softly, with the best pitiful look on her face.

  "You're such a baby," Nicholas teased and Ellie tried not to laugh at the irony of the statement.

  With her heart in her throat, she watched Nicholas with unwavering eyes, paying close attention to every minute detail.

  Nicholas scooted down the bed, until he was in line with Ellie’s abdomen and very gently, he pulled the coverlet aside, on his stomach, with his weight on his arms, he leaned over, his mussed hair sweeping over Ellie’s skin, he puckered his lips and readied a kiss, but stopped short at the sight that greeted him instead.

  Written in bold black ink across Ellie’s smooth honey skin were words BUN IN THE OVEN!

  He stared blank-faced, unable to think, unable to move. Nicholas forgot how to breathe. It was only when his chest burned, the lack of oxygen drying out his lungs that he deeply inhaled. His brain, having forgotten how to function, sparked to life and with it, his body.

  He sprang up as though he'd been catapulted and turned to the smiling woman he called lover and soon to be wife. Unmistakably her joy shown like a beacon, grinning from ear to ear, her hazel eyes, beautiful hazel eyes that forever ensnared Nicholas in their hypnotic spell, shown brilliantly, her mirth unmatched. That mirth however, dimmed a fraction at Nicholas’s silence.

  "Nicky, say something."

  Nicholas’s brain worked in the attempt to come up with something to say, but words eluded him. Nothing… no words could describe the emotions whirling through him. So he sat there, in a veritable stupor, unable to say anything but stupidly, blankly look at Ellie.

  Ellie’s joy vanished, worry and anxiety taking its stead. "Nicky, for God sakes, please say something."

  He couldn't! The words refused to come out! Stuck in his throat, he couldn't drag them out!

  In the span of a millisecond, Nicholas was before Ellie, framing her face between his hands, he crashed his lips to hers. His tongue, stroked the seam of her lips, demanding entrance and when she gave it, Nicholas spoke the words he could not otherwise say. Like a sonic boom, his emotions, his voice, his sheer happiness, resonated, the wavelengths penetrating, resounding with a marrow-jarring rumble through Ellie’s core.

  The kiss was loud, brimming to the point of overflowing with Nicholas’s euphoria and Ellie heard it, loud and clear, she heard. She felt and she gave just as loudly, just as profoundly, without inhibition. She clung to him, her tongue, her lips, her mouth, matching her lover's passion, meeting him thrust for thrust, stroke for stroke. She didn't want it to end, refused to part from something so profound. Ellie felt as though she was drowning, her lungs burned, but she wanted to fall deeper, she wanted the seduction to never end.

  "God!" Nicholas whispered harshly, dragging his mouth away from Ellie’s lips, his breath escaped him in ragged bursts, but he held on. Firmly, as though he would lose himself if he didn't, he held on to Ellie’s round face, his forehead pressed to Ellie’s own. "God…God, Elle." he breathed, incapable of saying anymore. There were tears in his eyes, it stung his lids and only after he closed them did the burn abate. Clear, diamond like tears, trickled down his cheeks and Ellie kissed them away.

  "We're going to be parents again, Nicky!" Ellie rejoiced giggling at Nicholas’s tremulous smile. "Diapers, bottles and late nights."

  "How…? I thought…"

  "I don't know, but it's a miracle, Nicky."

  "How…how long have you known?"

  "I only found out this morning. But I had my suspicions for a few weeks; I just wasn't sure until, Dr. Morrison's results."

  "Morrison was here? When?"

  "A few hours before you arrived, before you get all protective on me, it wasn't all that serious, just a silly dizzy spell and now we know why."

  "And you've waited until now to tell me this?"

  "I didn't want to worry you, but I'm all right now, Nicky and we're going to have a little baby running around soon!" Ellie smiled beatifically, took hold of Nicholas’s hand and settled it on her stomach. "A baby, Nicky! Our baby!"

  Nicholas reverently stared at his hand resting on Ellie’s stomach and the very idea that a child grew
there, even now, boggled his mind.

  "Our baby." He whispered, yet again overcome with emotion. "God, Ellie, your pregnant!" he grinned and tenderly brushed a kiss to Ellie’s belly and then another, and then another, until it became a shower of sweet butterfly kisses. "Hey in there," he called, "This is your father, can you hear me?"

  Ellie giggled and swept her hand through Nicholas’s hair, brushing the silky strands away from his face. "It can't hear you, babe."

  "Of course it can hear me. That’s a Grayson in there.” He grinned at Ellie before returning his gaze to her belly. “Isn't that right? You can hear your father, can't you? You grow up nice and strong, for me and when you're ready to come out, I'll be right there to welcome you into the world. You'll have two sisters and your brother who'll love you to pieces. Your grandparents will just eat you up, but don't worry, your dear ol’ dad won’t let that happen---"

  He looked so engrossed speaking to his child that Ellie didn't have the heart to stop him. So, with a smile on her lips, she settled back against the mound of pillows, closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Nicholas’s hushed voice.

  Finally, life was as it should have been and Ellie Holbrook couldn’t have asked for anything more.

  Then End

  ###

  Thank you for reading “The Bet” series. It’s been an amazing journey and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to share it with you.

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