by Hailey Smoke
“Lydia. We’ve been married for half a year. But I want to do it right this time.”
I slid off the ring Taylor slid to me over his desk when he suggested our business deal. I let his mother’s ring fall to the floor and bounce away under the couch with a few plinks.
“Lydia, will you marry me?” He opened the box revealing a simple ring with two diamonds on a gold band.
“Yes!” I yelled. I put my arms around him and pulled him up to spin him around. Everyone in the room clapped. I even heard Michael cheering.
“I want to change our last name,” he said close to my ear.
“Oh?”
“I want to hyphenate. I want to make us the Maxwell-Hirano’s. I don’t have as much respect for the Hirano name as I once did.”
“I’d love that.”
“When you get married for real can I marry you guys?” Virgo asked. “I got ordained for this photo-shoot a few years ago.”
We broke apart, but I kept my arms wrapped around one of his. “Of course, Virgo.”
“But since Michael is proposing when we get home, maybe we should do a double wedding instead?” Virgo said, looking thoughtful.
“What!” Michael yelped, his face turning the darkest shade of crimson I’d ever seen. “How can you know that?”
“Congratulations,” Taylor rumbled next to me.
“Thanks.” Virgo smiled, threw a piece sign, and roped her arms around Michael who was still sputtering.
“What an exciting day!” Mrs. Tupp cried and then sighed.
The rest of the party went by with a fair amount of drinking and storytelling. Taylor and I opened up the milk puzzle and occasionally someone would try to fit a piece together. By the end of the party, with the help of everyone, we got half of the border finished.
As the night went on, slowly people had to leave. Mr. and Mrs. Tupp left first, making sure to grab their casserole dishes on the way out. Then Carol, Lincoln, and my aunt headed back to their home and her hotel. They promised to come back in the morning for a brunch we had planned to help everyone get to know each other better. Virgo and Michael left last, practically running out the door. Virgo saying, she wanted to get home to get proposed to already while Michael hid his embarrassed face in his hands as they left.
I shut the door after they ran out and leaned back against it.
Taylor walked over to me and put his hands on my waist. I welcomed the warm touch.
“Mr. Maxwell-Hirano,” I said slyly.
“Yes?” He asked, his voice deep.
“I can’t wait for our second wedding,” I said, putting my hands over his shoulder.
“Neither can I,” he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my lips.
He tasted like spiced wine as he nipped at my lips in the way that drove me crazy.
He broke away and said, “I’ve got a beach house in Capri. I want to take you there for our honeymoon.”
“Where’s that?” I asked.
“It’s an island by Italy,” he said. “It’s beautiful. You’ll love it.”
“As long as you’re there, you can take me anywhere.” I pulled him in for another kiss. This time I could feel an energy move between us. “I love you, Taylor Maxwell-Hirano.”
He smiled, a full smile, at his new full name. “I love you, Lydia Maxwell-Hirano.”
“Now,” I said a little breathlessly. I felt the heat building, I couldn’t wait any longer. “Are you ready for the rest of your present?”
“Did you make me this suit just to take it off of me?” He asked, kissing at my neck making me giggle.
“You see through me so easily,” I said, sighing with pleasure.
He scooped me up in his arms and carried me up to our room. We had a very merry Christmas.
Next Christmas we would be joined by another one. I couldn’t wait to share the rest of my life with them. With Taylor. With my family.
Epilogue: Lydia
“Did you get the photos I sent?” I asked over the phone, lowering my sunglasses slightly to watch Taylor, standing at the edge of the water. It would make a good photo too.
“You two look like you’re having fun,” My aunt said over the line.
“We are. It’s beautiful out here,” I said.
“If you’re not using the house next month, I’ll gladly take my vacation there,” Aunt Renee said and laughed.
“It feels like a dream every day,” I said watching Taylor stretch in the setting sun over the waves, turning them slightly orange.
“How are you feeling?”
I instinctively reached down to my stomach. I definitely looked pregnant. That didn’t stop me from wearing a bright red bikini to the beach. I no longer had morning sickness and was instead feeling the little one kick more and more. We hadn’t learned the gender of the baby, preferring the surprise. We had some strong contenders for the name already either way. Virgo was thrilled that the baby was due in September. She hinted that the baby was going to be a Virgo too. I thanked her for the suggestion but politely declined naming it after its star sign.
“I’m feeling good. Taylor felt the baby kick yesterday,” I said.
“I can’t wait to see you again, Lydia.” My aunt said warmly. She was going to be moving back to Chicago soon, finally retiring and getting to spend time with her grandchild. Our relationship was closer than ever before.
“Love you, Aunt Renee,” I said softly.
“Love you Lydia.”
After I hung up, Taylor walked back over to me. He had gotten pretty tan during the week we had been here. While we cuddled, I was obsessed with running my hands over his golden muscles. I stayed out of the ocean mostly, but he had gone in several times, so his skin smelled and tasted pleasantly like saltwater.
“Are you ready to head back?” He asked, shielding his eyes with his hand.
“Can we watch the sunset?” I asked.
He smiled and settled down beside me on my beach blanket under the umbrella. He laced his fingers with mine as the sun dipped below the waves. The sky melted from blue to orange to pink to purple. It gave me some ideas for some designs I’d been working on. We had watched the sunset every night since we got here, but I never got bored of it. It was beautiful, and it was better with him next to me. Taylor was a solid presence at my side and every day I appreciated how lucky I was.
Once the sun had finally disappeared behind the horizon, and the stars started to appear, hundreds of thousands with how little light there was, we headed back to his beach house. Apparently, he didn't come here very often before now. He told me he bought it, expecting it to be a kind of escape from the pain he felt at home. But whenever he visited, it was just as empty as his house and he couldn’t feel as relaxed as he wanted.
“We can come as often as you want,” he had said after we made love that first night. “Everything's better with you.”
That night, Taylor prepared a meal like he always did. I told him he didn’t have to while we were on vacation, but he loved cooking too much to take a break from it. We explored a local market and brought back the best-looking ingredients and had incredibly fresh meals every night.
When we finished, we drifted back to our room. It had a large window and glass doors that faced the ocean. I walked over and pulled the large curtain in front of it. The ocean was a beautiful sight to wake up to, but this time was private.
Once the room was comfortably dark, lit only by a few candles. I slipped off my bikini top and bottoms. I watched Taylor’s eyes look me up and down. He always looked at my body like it was new for him and he was always just as hungry as the first time. He slipped off his trunks and revealed his hardening cock.
Without a word I walked past him, stroking a hand down his arm as I passed. I stepped behind him into the bathroom and started the shower. He joined me and together we slowly washed off the beach and the ocean. While we showered, he couldn’t keep his hands off of me. But he held off, the anticipation of the night building. We had all the time in the world,
he could wait.
We toweled off and headed back to the bedroom. He couldn’t wait anymore and turned me around until I was pulled up against his chest. He captured my mouth in a needy kiss, his tongue immediately seeking out mine. I tasted the sea on his lips. His hands gripped my ass and lifted me slightly so he could get his tongue deeper. I sighed into his mouth. I could feel my heartbeat quicken. I ran my fingers through his still damp hair until I heard and felt him growl into me.
I needed more. I pulled him with me to the bed as we continued to kiss quickly and desperately. I turned him around and put a hand on his chest. I broke out kiss and made a show of pushing him down on the bed. He landed back, spread open before me. He put his hands behind his head and grinned up at me. I licked my lips and dipped down.
I put my hands on his thighs and trailed my nails up the sensitive skin. He thrust slightly at the contact. I wrapped my hands around his cock, jerking up and down until he was fully hard before me.
“Lydia,” he groaned, his eyes squeezed closed.
I smiled and put my mouth on his cock, kissing the tip. I kissed up and down his shaft, occasionally teasing with a flutter of the tip of my tongue. His groans became more and more insistent. Finally, I took him in my mouth. My first time that I took him as deep as I could go. Back to my throat. Then I eased back, only taking him and inch at a time, occasionally bobbing back up to lick the tip. By all the jerking and moaning he was making, I knew I was driving him crazy.
“Please baby,” he begged.
I liked making him beg as much as I loved begging him. I went faster and faster, using my tongue to lick stripes up and down his cock. I was going to make him come. With a final thrust down my throat, Taylor came, and I swallowed. I slowly removed my lips and gave his cock another gentle kiss.
“Come here,” he growled roughly.
I crawled over to him and we kissed again. I bet he could still taste himself on me.
“Let me,” he said and pulled me over him.
I settled over him and he started to kiss up my thighs leaving behind a trail of wet kisses. His hot breath sent shivers down my spine.
Finally, I felt his nose brush against my clit. I had already been wet from the noises Taylor made as I pleasured him, but I felt myself grow hotter. He didn’t give my clit any more attention, instead made his way over to my entrance licking the folds. Without warning, he thrust his tongue inside of me, causing me to gasp and then sigh with pleasure. He moved his tongue around, each time he ate me out, he got better each time-which boggled my fogged mind when his mouth skills were already incredible. He knew he could get me off quickly this way, but just like me, he decided to take his time. He didn’t thrust his tongue back, instead slowly moved it in and out, sometimes only gently playing at my folds with the tip of tongue. It was hardly any stimulation, but it made me thrust forward into him.
“Patience,” he whispered before brushing against my clit again.
My voice hitched. “Who’s talking now?”
I felt his smile and then he began furiously licking at my clit. I wasn’t ready for the sudden wave of stimulation. I felt my orgasm rise and rise suddenly. There wasn’t a slow lead up, it all came crashing over me at once. I shuddered and came into his mouth like he did to me. After I finished, leaving only the tingles of orgasms behind, I rolled off of him and laid on my back next to him, trying to catch my breath. He always seemed to bring me to new heights every time he brought me to orgasm. It was like we were made for each other, that we could please each other so completely.
“I’m almost ready,” he turned his head and whispered to me. He nipped at my ear as I waited, still buzzing ready to go again anytime.
He got up and rolled over me, careful of my stomach. We made out until I felt his cock grow hard again against my leg.
“I’m going to fuck you,” he muttered close to my lips.
“Go on,” I said. “Fuck me.”
He teased my nipples as he thrust into me. His cock filled me up and I squirmed under his touch.
“So wet for me darling,” he groaned, moving in and out.
I reached for his hair again. Every time he pinched at my nipples I gripped onto his hair. That seemed to turn him on even more as I always felt a deeper thrust when I did it.
His breathing got heavier and heavier; I knew he was close. I moved my hand from his hair to my clit. I started to rub it trying to match my pace to his thrusts. With a cry from both of us, we came together.
Shakily, he pulled out of me and laid back down beside me on the bed. “God you’re perfect,” he said, lifting his hand to run his fingers through my hair.
I smiled.
After taking another quick shower we got into bed. Too tired to do much else but lay in each other’s arms and watch to see who would fall asleep first.
We dozed and woke up a few times pressed against each other. Once when we woke up, Taylor leaned down to kiss my extended belly gently.
“How is Ms. Haruka Renee Maxwell-Hirano?” He asked.
“Or Mr. Daichi Lincoln Maxwell-Hirano,” I reminded him.
“How are they?” He asked.
“They seemed to like the beach. I felt them kicking much more than when we were at home,” I said.
“We’ll bring them up here next time we go,” Taylor said. “There are plenty of seashells to collect on the coastline.”
I loved when Taylor got like this. When he was tired, he was a bit more open. When he got like this, he liked to make future plans. He would describe them with such detail and love that I could see them in front of me. I never should have worried about whether Taylor wanted to be a father, he clearly thought about our life as a family whenever he could.
“We’ll come here next summer,” he said and gave one more kiss to my stomach. “We’ll buy our little one a pretty sunhat and keep them under the umbrella, safe from the sun. Occasionally, with their hands in ours, we’ll swing them into the water so they can feel the water on their small feet.” He kissed slightly higher and worked his way up, not leaving marks, being as gentle with me as possible. “Then when they are older, we’ll build sandcastles. Maybe we’ll have another little one who’ll knock it down splashing in the water.” He reached my neck, kissing so softly I didn’t even giggle. “We’ll walk up and down these beaches with them and I’ll teach them the names of the water and the stars.” He kissed the side of my mouth. “And you’ll tell them stories.” He kissed the crown of my head and laid back down. “Doesn’t that sound good?”
“It sounds wonderful.” My mind whirled with the possibilities. The idea of another kid got my heart fluttering, we didn’t even have our first yet, but I knew I would want more. I wanted our family to be big. Both Taylor and I were only children and we both agreed that we didn’t want that for our kids. We spent so much of our lives lonely. We didn’t want that for our kids either.
I heard Taylor’s breathing slow down as he began to doze off again. I couldn’t quite go back to sleep yet. My mind was captured by the fantasy Taylor had described.
I began thinking about how our life would play out. In front of me I watched us going home and filling the place with the cries and laughter of children. I thought of our family coming to visit the little ones. I imagined the birthday parties and the holidays with everyone gathered. I thought of all the date nights. I realized we had so much time now. We had the rest of our lives, and we never had to go back to the way things were before.
I twisted the ring Taylor had given me as he snored slightly beside me. Our second wedding was beautiful. Virgo and Michael had decided to hold theirs later. I got to wear the wedding dress I designed along with my mother and aunt’s veil. This time I got to write out vows and I didn’t feel like I was lying.
“I promise to hold you when you need me. I promise to be strong when you need me. But I promise to always love you.” My voice echoed in my ears along with the sound of the rolling waves outside.
“Thank you for making me feel safe. I love you
Lydia,” Taylor had said. It was the exact same thing he said during our first vows, back before it was real. This time, I knew he meant it.
I nudged him slightly until he stirred beside me. “You’re going to love me forever?” I asked as he woke up.
I saw him smile, despite the sleep still heavy in his eyes. “What if I told you I wanted to?”
I reached over and tapped his wrist twice and kissed him, knowing it was true.