“It is in my world,” she said, defeated.
I pulled out, and she cried out, grabbing for me until I grasped her hands and held them to the bed. “Listen to me, Mrs. Halla. That is not how you make love.” I rolled her onto her back and released her hands, laying them out to her side. “Just let your pelvis relax into the bed,” I instructed, stroking her belly tenderly.
“But,” she sputtered.
I put my finger to her lips. “Don’t interrupt the teacher during his lesson, tart.”
She closed her lips, and while I stroked her belly, she slowly relaxed her bottom into the bed.
“Good girl,” I whispered, stoking her fire again by trailing my finger up and down her slit, my dick aching to be back inside her again. “I’m going to teach you how to come when making love, but first, will I hurt you if I rest between your legs?”
Her head shook, and I leaned in, kissing her with enough tongue to take the look of fear out of her eyes and put the lust back in them. I nudged her legs further apart with mine, and without breaking the kiss, I pushed inside her again, moaning the full length until I was seated deeply, stopping so she could get used to the feel of me inside her.
“I just want you to know,” I whispered, trailing kisses down her cheek to her neck. “This is the first time I’ve ever had sex without a condom. I had no idea what I was missing.”
“Does the teacher like the student's homework?” she teased, trying to thrust her hips towards mine. I was holding them down, and she was frustrated. I could tell by the moan she let out when she was forced to wait for me to move inside her.
“He does, but he’s about to teach the student a lesson she’ll never forget. Are you ready?” I asked, and her head nodded as I thrust back inside her again. “Do you feel that?” I stroked her walls with the full length of me, using perfect precision each time, being careful to stay away from the places I knew would cause an immediate orgasm. “That’s how a man makes love to a woman. Slow. Easy. Gentle. At least at first,” I moaned, reveling in the sensation of her heat and wetness wrapped around me. “The goal isn’t to orgasm because you force it. The goal is to orgasm from the pleasure of being together. Of pleasuring each other.”
I lifted myself onto my toes and changed the angle just enough that I saw the immediate reaction on her face. “Oh, Bishop,” she called, her hands grasping my shoulders tighter each time I pulled out until I pushed back inside her.
“Say my name, my little tart,” I ordered, my thighs shaking with the willpower it took to hold back the eruption of my soul inside her.
“Bishop,” she begged. “I want to come, please.”
“Do you feel it starting to build? Is it spiraling inside your belly like a coil?” I asked, increasing the speed of my thrusts in and out.
“Yes, I feel it,” she cried. “Harder!” she called. I laughed, burying my face in her neck and sucking while I pumped inside her, almost losing myself before I remembered the lesson I was supposed to be teaching.
I pushed myself up on my hands, my pelvis tight against hers, and sensed the beginning of her undoing. “It’s time to come, sweetart,” I warned her. “Here is the lesson. Don’t get scared. Just let it carry you away.”
“Okay, carry me away, Bishop!”
God, the way she said my name would ruin me for life now. I pushed forward, changing the angle of my tip to hit the spot so deep inside the bottom of her pelvis I suspected even she didn’t know it was there. Not when she usually spent her time trying to force an orgasm every time. Not when her immediate orgasm hit her like a tidal wave. Her pelvis thrust up against mine, burying me even deeper and rocking around me until I couldn’t stop the tidal wave from carrying me under the water with her.
“God, Amber!” I called, my seed spilling inside her in a way that didn’t make me anxious as it would have with any other woman. I floated in a pool of water that stole my sight and my hearing while I spasmed against her. My breath was on hold until every last vestige of pleasure had been wrung from my exhausted body.
I remembered not to collapse on top of her. Instead, I rolled off and rolled her into me in one move, bringing the blankets up around us to ward off the chill while we caught our breath.
“Did I pass?” she asked, her body still quivering from the desire coursing through her.
I kissed her then, and my tongue was warm but sated on her lips. “With flying colors.” I stroked her hair back and kissed her forehead, holding her to me in such a way I hoped she realized how much I cherished her. “Never, ever, in my thirty-four years have I ever experienced that kind of emotion, Amber. Did you feel it?”
Her head nodded against my shoulder, and her long hair brushed my bare chest. “It was so strong I couldn’t tell where I ended and you began.”
I kissed her again, longer this time with tongue, but still gentle and lazily. “That’s because there was no beginning or end,” I whispered. “There was just us.”
Fourteen
I was sitting on the couch like a dutiful wife per the instructions from my husband. We had just arrived home after a Sunday drive, where we’d stopped for a picnic lunch at the state park and for ice cream at the cutest little shop on a country road. When we got back, he had the shades pulled to the patio doors and told me I couldn’t peek at the surprise. I knew Chris had been working the last two days on the new deck, and I was dying to see it, but crutches didn’t allow a girl to snoop and return to her seat quickly. Besides, after last night, or rather last night, early this morning, and later this morning, I was still exhausted.
To say he was a talented lover was an understatement. He was downright orgasmic. I snorted at my joke and rolled my eyes at my Instagram feed as I fed it pictures of cakes and bread. Even when a girl is on her honeymoon, she’s still got to take care of business.
We took care of business last night. I had no idea that the G-spot was a real thing for women. I mean, sure, we all know it’s supposed to be there, but finding it can be a lot like searching for Waldo in the dark. You just fake it and moan for a lot of unnecessary minutes. At least that’s what I used to do. Not anymore. Not since unknown rebel, single dad, sexy as hell, teacher husband of mine showed up.
I rubbed my forehead and sighed at myself. I had to stop thinking of Bishop as my husband. That title was temporary, even if I wished his presence in my bed and my life wasn’t. I was not going to pretend my life was anything other than a dumpster fire right now. Considering where he was in life, and after everything he’d gone through with Athena, he deserved a little bit of stability and relaxation. He wasn’t going to get that with me.
He seemed pretty relaxed this morning.
There was that voice again, and I growled at it while hashtagging Able Baker Brady does bread. It was ridiculous how many old ladies followed The Fluffy Cupcake account just to see pictures of Brady in his chef’s coat mugging with a loaf of bread.
I leaned my head back on the couch and closed my eyes. After our night of mind-blowing sex, I was exhausted and needed a nap. I wasn’t going to get one, though. I knew he had plans for the rest of the day. If I had to guess, I’d say he had plans for the rest of the night, too. Sacrifices would have to be made. A secret part of me wished I could do more in bed with him. My leg’s inability to hold me up made it difficult to be in more than a couple of positions, and I was well aware that I was missing out on powerful experiences because of it. I grabbed my phone again and opened the browser, typing in every search term I could think of that would get me the desired results. Finally, a picture popped up that had potential. I clicked it, reading the page, clicking to several more, and eventually, I was taken to Amazon, where I could get what I needed with one-day delivery. I hit buy now just as Bishop strode through the front door. He stopped by the couch and leaned on the arm until I was finished.
“How does it look?” I asked after I shut my phone off.
He sat next to me and took my hand, kissing the back of it before he answered. “It’s exactly what I wanted. It’s beaut
iful and functional. I also wanted to make sure it was safe for you to use with your crutches. Chris did a great job. He said it helped that I bought the prefab deck. I guess it was like snapping together a Lego kit.”
I frowned at his words. “I hope you didn’t pay a lot extra for the safety factor,” I said. “Eventually, this won’t be my house anymore.”
He stood and held out his hand, helping me up. “Don’t worry about what I paid for it. It’s a wedding gift.”
“Wedding gift?”
He nodded. “Two, actually. They’re outside. Come on.”
I followed him out the patio door, which now had a gently sloping ramp from the doors to the first tier of the deck. I gasped when I took the whole thing in from the angle where I stood. “Bishop, this is beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said grinning. “I tiered it so we could keep the grill separate from the eating area. Check this out,” he said, holding up his finger for me to wait. He walked up the ramp to the larger seating area and grabbed a crank that opened a large umbrella and dropped it down over the table, creating lovely shade even during the hottest part of the day.
“We’re going to use the heck out of that all summer,” I said, leaning on my crutches. “Great forethought on your part.”
“It breaks down in the winter, which means we can store it away, and it won’t be damaged by snow and ice,” he explained, walking back toward me.
“What’s over there?” I asked, pointing to the last tier of the deck covered with a tarp.
He helped me up the ramp and across to the covered tier that looked out over the lake. “Close your eyes.”
“Bishop,” I said, exasperated, but he waited until I followed his orders. I heard rustling, and then he told me to open. When I did, I gasped, tears instantly filling my eyes. “This is so gorgeous.”
He helped me up the ramp to the separated deck that was not only perfectly placed to gaze over the lake, but it had a brick fire pit in the center. New Adirondack chairs sat around the pit that was already set up with the wood for the next fire.
“Is this safe?” I asked in a whisper as I inspected the beautiful brick fireplace.
“Absolutely,” he said, patting the inside of the firepit. “Chris purchased the kit to meet the standards. As you can see, it’s sitting on a base, so it doesn’t damage the new decking either.”
“What possessed you to put the firepit up here?” I asked in surprise, running my hand over the brick.
“It’s higher, so we can see the lake better over the crest of the hill, each corner of the deck has a spot for citronella candles to fight off the bugs, and since we aren’t on the grass, they’ll bother us less. It’s also easier for you to navigate than the uneven terrain of the yard. I want you to find solace and happiness here without worrying about falling or hurting yourself on your crutches.”
I dropped my crutches and put my arms around him, loving the way he picked me up around the waist and buried his nose in my neck. “Thank you,” I whispered, my voice choked. “It’s moments like these when I don’t want to think about not being part of your life and your home. I know eventually, I will have to leave, but between last night and today, you’ve made that exponentially harder.”
He laughed into my neck, raising goosebumps on my skin. “My evil plan is working then.” He set me back on my feet, and before I could object, he captured my lips with his and suckled, teased, licked, and kissed until I was wet with desire and pressed against him to feel his own need between us.
“We should go take a nap,” I murmured around his lips. “I’ll give you a proper thank-you.”
He laughed against my lips and then kissed my nose. “We aren’t done with wedding gifts, and we have plans.”
I shook my head a bit at him. “You shouldn’t be buying me gifts, Bishop. I didn’t know wedding gifts was a thing.”
“Well, in your defense, you didn’t have much notice that you were getting married, so you’re exempt.” He grinned and picked up my crutches, handing them back to me. “We’ll have a fire later, but for now, we have somewhere to be.”
“We do?” I asked, and he nodded, motioning me back to the house. I crutched up to the patio doors and inside. “The ramps make it much easier on the crutches,” I said, lowering myself to the chair. “I don’t know if I can do much more moving around, Bishop. My arm is sore from using the crutches again. Normally, I only use one under the right arm to avoid the pressure on my left one, but that’s impossible right now.”
He nodded and kissed my cheek. “I know and that brings me to your final wedding present. They came yesterday while we were gone, and I found them in the garage this morning. Hang tight.”
He disappeared, and I wondered what on earth he was talking about now. I rubbed my forehead and sighed. I didn’t want to go anywhere other than to bed. I was exhausted, and the idea of crutching around for another few hours was almost too much to bear. I could handle a night out around the campfire, but I wasn’t sure I could force my body to move much further than that. I had a busy week coming up with work, interviews, and finishing the office at the bakery. I had to rest a little bit, and something told me I’d find myself in his bed again tonight.
My mind raced to the package being delivered from Amazon tomorrow, and I smiled. Maybe I had a wedding gift for him after all. Time would tell. I heard the door close again, and then he was walking back into the room with a long rectangular cardboard box. He set it on end and held it out for me to take.
“What’s this?”
“Open it and find out,” he said, holding the box, so I could stand up and balance while popping the tucked in flaps open. I peeked inside, but I still couldn’t tell what they were as I pulled them out of the box. The white sticks were confusing until he pulled out the rest and put them together.
“What am I looking at?” I asked in confusion. “They look like forearm crutches, but they can’t be.”
“They aren’t,” he assured me, holding them out for me. “They’re a new crutch designed out of the UK. They use your elbows and forearms to balance your weight rather than under your arms. Haylee told me you might have fewer problems with these since the injury to your arm ended above your elbow.”
I nodded, biting my lip as I eyed the contraptions. “That’s why I have so many problems with that arm,” I said, clearing my throat.
He bought crutches for me. He sought out a solution to a problem I had and then checked with my best friend just to make sure he wouldn’t make something worse. Part of me wanted to pinch myself and see if I was awake. Was he for real, or was he a dream?
He slid his arms inside the straps and grasped the handles that jutted upward like a video game joystick. “The crutches are fully adjustable, including the handgrips,” he explained, flipping them down. “You can also move them out of the way and watch,” he said, lifting his arms. The arm cups stayed on his arm but separated from the crutch on a swing-away motion. He put his arms around me and hugged me, then lowered the crutches to the floor and snapped them down again. “You can let go, and they don’t fall off your arms, but they will break away if you fall.”
“That’s seriously sci-fi stuff, Bishop. Crutches have been the same since the Civil War. No one ever made them easier. These are a gamechanger.”
He nodded and took one off his arm, flipping it over. “They are because the feet are completely different than most crutches. Instead of just a cap over a metal tube, these act more like those shoes you see kids hopping around on. They rock forward, squish down, and then pop back up on return to make walking with them more natural. They also have ones for ice and snow to keep you from falling.”
He righted the crutch again and handed it to me, helping me adjust them, so they fit my height. He walked close to me while I tried them out, surprised by how easily they moved with my body rather than my body having to force them around. “Bishop, these are incredible.”
He nodded, a satisfied smile on his face. “You walk comp
letely different on them. You don’t have to stop as often.”
“No, because they aren’t compressing the nerves in my damaged arm. I’m speechless.”
He kissed my cheek and smiled. “From what I hear, that’s nearly impossible, so I’ll take it as a win.”
Tears ran down my face, and he wiped them away. “Did I say something wrong?”
I shook my head and shrugged, looking to the ceiling to gather myself. “You’re just too nice to me. No one is this nice to me. I don’t know how I’m ever going to pay you back for everything you’ve done.”
“You don’t pay someone back for a gift, Amber,” he said, wiping more tears until he finally had to get a napkin from the holder on the table.
“I’m not just talking about the crutches. You underplay everything you’re doing to help me, but you know what I mean. Now we’ve consummated the marriage, too, so we’ll have to pay for a divorce.”
He chuckled and wiped my tears, resting the crutches against the table. He picked me up and carried me to his bed, still rumpled from this morning, and lowered me to it. “I’m not worried about paying for a divorce right now. I’m worried about making sure you get the care you need. As for consummating the marriage, I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right, we did. We did it well, too, if I do say so myself.”
He started taking my brace off until I grasped his hand. “I thought we had to go somewhere.”
“We were supposed to meet Haylee and Brady at the lake. Brady is skiing in the waterski show tonight, but I think you need to get some rest. I did keep you up half the night making you come,” he said, kissing me senseless while he took the brace off without even looking. I whimpered when he pulled away to set the brace off to the side of the bed.
“I don’t want to upset them if they’re expecting us.”
“I’ll text Haylee and tell her your arm is sore. She’ll understand. Should I invite them to come over and christen the new patio with us tonight? I’ll grill steaks, and we’ll share a few drinks with them if you think you’ll feel up to it.”
Tart (The Fluffy Cupcake Book 2) Page 19