I take a deep breath and try to stop the tears I know are coming. "I can't wait to be your wife. Thank you for loving me and being so patient with me,” I say as I rest my head back down on his chest. I mean every single word.
He pushes me away enough so he can take my face in his hands, his eyes on mine. "How many times do I have to tell you, that's what I'm here for? I love you, and I will be with you through any shit, and we will face it together.” With his hands still cradling my face, he leans in and kisses me.
The next morning, I wake while Tristan is trying to gently pull his arm out from underneath my head. I look up at him. “Sorry, baby. I was trying to get up without waking you.” He leans down and kisses my forehead.
I stretch my legs and let out a yawn. “No problem. I wanted to get up early, anyway. I’m eager to get the planning started for our wedding.” As I say that, he leans down again and kisses me just below my earlobe. “Don’t start something you can’t finish,” I whisper.
“Who said I couldn’t finish it?” When he whispers, his breath warms my neck, and I feel goosebumps tingle up my arms with excitement. I roll onto my side so that my back is pressed up against his firm front. His fingertips graze the skin on my stomach, and I closed my eyes, silently begging for more.
My chest fills with love and desire, I reach my arms above my head and wrap them around the back of his neck. His lips kiss my shoulder, his fingers move to the stiff peak of my nipple, and I take another deep breath so that I don’t cry out with desire. I know Courtney is in the house, so I have to behave, but I hate having to stay quiet. Tristan makes me want to scream the house down when he touches me.
He has me stripped off in a matter of seconds. My back is still to his front, I lift my leg and drape it back and over his, and that’s when I push my ass against him and moan when I feel how hard he is.
I slide my hand back and grab his ass, silently telling him that I need him, and that’s when I feel his hand move under me. I hold my breath when he runs the tip along the insides of my folds, moving back and forth until it finds the sweet spot.
My hips raise as I run my hand down the front of my stomach, down until my fingers find him and when I do, he bites down on my shoulder, his moan muffled. “Let me in,” he whispers.
My hips raise a little further and direct him inside me. It doesn’t matter how many times we have sex, my body is always shocked by his girth.
My hand moves back to his ass and squeezes as he thrusts further inside me. The moment his hand runs down to my clit, I gasp way too loud, and Tristan begins to chuckle in my ear. “Shh, baby girl, Courtney’s going to hear you.”
My eyes close with his next thrust. “I’m not sure that I care.” My breath quickens as he rubs me while moving in and out. “Fuck, I love you,” I whisper.
His free hand moves under my neck, and he grabs my boob, his fingers circling my nipple, and that is all I need. My nails dig into his ass, begging him to go faster and he does. I love that he knows what to do without me having to say a word.
I can feel my need build within me. My ass rocks with him, pressing his girth deeper and deeper until I explode. I bite down on the pillow, trying to muffle my screams while Tristan bites down on my shoulder and thrusts harder and faster until I feel his body quake, and his throat makes a grunting sound.
Moments later he slumps behind me, but he doesn’t let go of me, not even for a second. While Tristan is still inside me, he rests his chin on my shoulder. “So, what was it you were saying before?” he asks, breathless.
I begin to laugh, and I love how we can be in the middle of a conversation, have sex and then pick up right where we left off. “I was saying that I was eager to get up so we can begin planning our wedding.” I move forward until he slips out of me and I roll over onto my belly and slump my head on my pillow while facing him. His arm still draped over my back.
“That’s right.” He smiles. “So, where should we start? I hope to hell you know because I’ve never paid any attention to what goes on at a wedding. Sure, I have been to a few, but I wasn’t there watching the bride and groom if you catch my drift.” The poor guy’s cringing. I know he has a past, we both do. Well, Tristan’s is a little more sordid than mine, but the past is the past.
I reach up and place my hand on his perfect cheek. “I’d like to set a date and decide on the color scheme. I know we want it to be a small gathering of close friends and family. If possible, I hope you can give me a list of people you want to invite, so that I can have an approximate headcount. They’re the most important things that should be decided before you have to leave me in a couple of days.” I know I’m pouting, and I don’t care. I can’t hide the fact that I am going to miss him more than I thought would ever be possible.
He leans in and kisses my bare shoulder, before saying, “I don’t have to go back, I can always defer and transfer to a school in Sydney.”
I shake my head into my pillow. I would love for him to stay here with me, but that would just be me acting selfishly. “No babe, you can’t do that. They’d make you take the final year of your course again. You have to go back and finish your finals.”
He tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I’ll do whatever makes you happy.” He leans in and kisses my shoulder again.
Two vanilla latte’s later, we feel that we are awake enough to begin the planning. While sitting together at the kitchen table, I look down at my list of things to do. “So, first things first, where would you like to have the wedding?” I ask.
He takes a sip of his third latte, then says, “I think we should have it here at the house. There’s more than enough land to set up a marquee, and it’s private out here. We don’t have to worry about the neighbors making noise complaints, and I think your father would have wanted it that way.” He shrugs and reaches out for my hand.
I give it to him and kp9rs take a shaky breath. I wasn’t prepared for the emotions that are bubbling to the surface when it comes to our wedding. I’d always envisioned my father giving me away to the man of my dreams. I know he’s still with me in a sense, but no one else can see him or hear him.
I’ve been wracking my brain wondering whether I should tell Tristan my dad visits me. I’m not sure how he’d react. I don’t think he would think any less of me, but it isn’t a chance I want to take, just yet. I look over at him. “You’re right, he would have loved to have the wedding here. And let’s face it, we know how uncomfortable I’d be if we chose some upscale, snooty, reception center with a pack of snobs running the show.” I take another sip of my latte, then place it back down on the table.
“Yeah, that doesn’t scream Cass, to me. What about music, live band or disk?”
“I was going to leave that one up to you. I’m not fussed either way,” I tell him.
“Recorded it is.” He laughs. “Tell me what you think about this idea. Buffet, bar, photo booth, and jumping castle for any kids that will be invited.” He takes another sip of his coffee and watches me as I run his suggestions through my head.
“I think it all sounds perfect.” I turn in my seat so my body is facing his and rest my hands on his thighs while I lean in and kiss him. “What about the color theme, do you have any suggestions?”
He shakes his head, his lips only millimeters from mine. “That’s all you, baby girl. Color choosing is the bride’s thing, not the groom's. I’ll arrange for the ties to match whatever you choose.”
I lean in a little further so that my lips are grazing his, my hands still on his thighs, and whisper, “You know that you’re perfect, don’t you?”
Quickly, he kisses me again, “I love you, too.”
I try to ignore the need that is swirling within me. I know I have to squash it down or we'll be back in bed and the wedding plans will be forgotten. So, I let out a breath, pull away from him, and open the lid to my laptop. I soon realized what an enormous task it is to take on when planning a wedding.
While rubbing my temples, Tristan suggests, “
Why don’t you just hire a wedding planner and let them do all the stressing?”
“That’s brilliant. But before we even try to find one, we need to set a date for them to work with. So, when would you like to have the wedding?” I ask.
He takes my hand in his, and he leans forward. “I don’t want it to be in a year or even six months. I think we should do it before the cold weather sets in. I know that only gives us a month, but I think we can pull it off.”
My eyes grow wide. I knew he didn’t want to wait a long period of time to have our wedding, but a month? We absolutely need a frigging wedding planner, because that is a bunch of stress and worry neither of us needs. “Okay. Now we just have to find someone that will be able to work with our deadline.”
I use google to help find a planner, one that will be a good fit for us and our needs. There's no way I’d ever be able to work with a toff. I need someone who is down to earth, and won’t laugh at my ridiculous suggestions.
I’d searched for an hour before finding a woman that I felt could be a good fit with what we will need. I shoot her an email and then decide to close the laptop for the time being.
"We could set up a few of those tour busses for people wanting to stay so they can drink. We can also use one of the paddocks and hire a big tent, dance floor, tables, and chairs, but I don’t want anything over the top. What do you think?" he asks.
I love the way his mind works. "It’s brilliant, but are you sure you don't mind having it here, and not back home with your loved ones?” I don’t want him to settle for something he doesn’t want just for my benefit.
He shakes his head. "I don't mind, at all, and neither does my family. They’re always looking for new excuses to go on holidays, and I know they'd travel anywhere, just to see us get married.”
Excited for the future, I throw my pen down on the table, I stand before closing the distance between us, and I climb into his lap, straddling him.
Tristan’s hands take hold of my hips, and I wrap my arms around his neck. “Thank you,” I whisper and kiss him. “I know you’re used to bigger and better things, but it’s just not who I am.”
He pulls back, just an inch, and his eyes are on mine. “It’s not my scene, either. I’ve always been invited to those over-the-top lavish weddings, and I’ve never understood the logic of spending so much money on an occasion that only goes for a few hours.”
"You're pure perfection."
Chapter Fifteen
Early the next morning, I'm the first to wake, and I manage to climb out of bed without waking Tristan. I make my coffee and set myself up at the kitchen table with my laptop.
While I begin the morning checking my emails, I hear a familiar voice beside me. “Hi, love. What are you up to?” dad asks.
This time, I don’t jump. I look to my side and see him standing behind the chair closest to me. “Just sifting through my emails, dad. Where the hell have you been?” I ask and then turn my attention back to the laptop’s screen.
“Just checking up on the family. So, when does Tristan head back to Ireland?” he asks as he moves around the chair and takes a seat.
My shoulders slump, this is not a subject I wish to chat about right now. “Later on today. And I am less than happy about it.” While looking through my inbox, I become excited when I see an email from the wedding planner, I’d contacted the previous day. She said she did have a spot open, and that she will call me at some stage today, so I shoot off an email thanking her.
A good hour later, Tristan emerges from our bedroom. "Good morning, sexy girl,” he says to me with his crooked grin, wearing nothing more than a pair of boxer shorts. That damn body drives me wild, on the one hand, I wish he’d go and put some clothes on, but on the other, I want to pull him to me so that I can lick him from head to toe.
The asshole knows what I’m thinking because the grin he is now wearing, tells me that he is having the exact same thought. When he reaches me, he leans down and presses those soft lips to mine. “Good morning,” I whisper as I cup my hand around his neck and pull him back down for another kiss. I have a feeling that I will we will be doing a lot of this today. Fuck, I’m going to miss him, I’m going to miss him so much it hurts.
As he pulls away, he takes my hand and pulls me up out of my seat. He then takes the seat I was just in and pulls me down into his lap, my arms wrap around his neck, my eyes on his, “I had an email from the wedding planner I contacted yesterday. I sent her my details and told her to give us a call. I need her to like us, and vice-versa, I refuse to spend the next month with a person I can’t stand so that we can get married while the weather’s good.”
Tristan pulls me a little closer. "What time did you get up?"
"Around five-thirty, I couldn't sleep.”
“I’m surprised you couldn’t sleep. The thing’s you did in that bed last night wore me out. How the hell were you awake at five-thirty?” he chuckles, and I become shy, and I bury my head into his chest. I’m more than vocal while in bed, but when it comes to talking about it outside the bedroom, I become completely embarrassed at how Jeckle and Hyde I can be.
Tristan sees that I’m trying to hide my face and he begins to laugh. “Oh, baby girl, you have nothing to be ashamed of,” he lifts my chin and kisses me. “In fact,” he looks around the room, then back to me. “Is Courtney still asleep?”
“Yes,” I answered wearily, “why?”
Effortlessly, he stands and then lifts me and wraps my legs around his waist. “I leave in a few hours. Let me have you just one more time before I have to go,” he pouts. Yes, he’s fucking pouting. How the hell could I say no to him? I couldn’t, and let’s be honest, I wouldn’t.
Once in the bedroom, he uses my back to close the door and presses me up against it, his hands now grazing the sides of my body, while my lips and tongue work with his in perfect harmony. He trails down my neck, his tongue darting out to taste me, his hand now yanking down my shirt so that my breasts are exposed. “Fuck, you’re so damn sexy,” he whispers as he lowers me to my feet.
His hands skimmed my sides, and he cups my breasts, squeezing them together, his tongue circles my nipples. “Shit,” I manage to say as my head falls back against the door. I don’t want him to leave me, and I don’t know how I will cope with the other half of my heart being on the other side of the world.
Tristan leads me over to the bed, his lips back on mine, “Lie down,” he orders, so I do.
On his knees, he grabs the waistband of my sweatpants and yanks them off, and then tosses them to the side. I can see that he is hard and ready to go and I know that I’m soaking wet, I need him inside me. “I want you,” I tell him.
His smile is devious. He pulls his shirt over his head and throws it to the floor, his boxers are next, and I lay back staring at him, my legs spread waiting for him.
He leans down and begins kissing up my inner thigh, and while he does, I reach down and cup his face in my hands. Immediately, he looks up at me in confusion, I know where he wants to put those sexy lips, but that isn’t what I want, not with him leaving me in a few hours, “I want your lips on mine. I want to love you and kiss you while I still have a chance.”
His devious look is immediately replaced with love and desire. He and his enormous erection climb up the bed until his lips find mine. “I love you,” he whispers.
“I love you, too,” his tongue meets mine, and right now, at this moment, there is nothing sexier. He takes his time with me. He makes love to me, and it is exactly the way I needed to be loved and wanted before he has to leave me again. I reach down and help him enter me, taking a deep breath of pure pleasure as he fills me. He moves at a slower pace than usual, and he’s letting me drink him in. I need this. I need to be wanted.
When we were finished making love, he lay with me, just holding me for a few minutes before pulling back to look at me. His bright eyes staring down into mine “I love you,” he tells me.
“I love you, too.”
When my lips
leave his, he drops his head down onto my shoulder. “What am I going to do without you,” he whispers.
I shake my head and try to fight back the tears. “I have no fucking idea.” Tristan manages to calm my emotions enough to be able to have the strength to hop out of bed and get dressed.
With coffees in hand, we decide that since it’s such a nice morning, we head out and sit on the back patio. While enjoying the morning rays, we talk about the wedding, and since I don’t want to miss a detail, I take out a notepad and pen and begin to jot down ideas. I wanted to be sure that everything Tristan suggested, would be there on the day. He doesn’t want for much, so what he does want, will not be ignored.
As soon as I have everything written down, we kick back on the sofa together in the living room, his arms wrapped around me and we talk. We discuss the past and what we would like for our future. I even went on to explain how I should thank my mother for being such a shit parent because it has made me want to be the best parent I can be when we have children.
After we have eaten, lunch my phone rings. “Hello,” I answer and put it on speaker.
“Hello, is this Cassie?” a woman on the other end asks.
"Yes, it is.”
"My name is Cynthia Wellson. You requested some information for a wedding planner."
Relief floods my chest. "Oh god, yes. Thank you for getting back to me so fast." I jump in my seat, Tristan snickers at my side.
"You’re more than welcome.”
"Both my fiance and I have scoured your website and we feel you'd be a perfect fit to work with us. We'd love to hire you on the spot?"
"That's more than okay, thank you. I love that my work comes across to couples on these media sites. It helps you gain an understanding of who I am. Now, when would you like me to come out and see you?"
“Whenever suits you best. At the moment, I’m always available," I tell her.
The Beginning Page 30