Epilogue
Felix
Two Years Later
I woke up and when I blinked my eyes open, I turned to my left, like I did each morning. Nora was right there, nestled between my arm and the assortment of pillows she liked to sleep with. Her hair was longer now, still shining golden in the sunlight that streamed in through the thin white curtain.
The diamond on her finger glittered in the light, and I reached for her hand. I lifted it to my lips and I kissed her fingers gently. She was all mine now; she was going nowhere.
She felt my kiss and her eyelids fluttered.
“Good morning, Mrs. Stone,” I said, and she smiled.
“Good morning, Mr. Stone,” she echoed huskily and we kissed. I clutched her face tightly, breathing in her sweet scent, weaving my fingers into her silky golden hair. With a grunt I slid over her, pressing her body down into the bed with my weight. My cock was rock-hard and throbbing between my legs as I moved against her. Nora spread her legs wide, wrapping them around my waist. I could feel the dampness of her panties, and I moved harder against her.
I nibbled on her lower lip, sucking on it and then licking her skin, down her small mouth and her neck. Nora moaned and then pushed against my chest with her hands.
“We don’t have time, Felix. I have to get Cici ready for school,” she protested. I groaned, nibbling on her earlobe, and she giggled before finally giving me a gentle shove, and I slid down beside her.
“You’re up early!” she said, swinging her long legs off the bed. I watched her, the way she moved, her ass in the short silk nightdress she was wearing. My cock was still throbbing for her. I couldn’t get enough of this woman…my wife. I felt like the luckiest man alive.
“I woke up because I was dreaming about you and I wanted you,” I said, fluffing up the pillows behind my head.
Nora was slipping on a robe, and she tied the cord tightly at her waist.
“But now I have to go,” she said mockingly.
“But you’re coming back,” I added, and she giggled.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she walked around the room.
“You remember Helen is arriving today, right? Cici and I are picking her up from the airport in the evening,” she said, and I sat up in bed.
“Yes, there was no chance of me forgetting because she’s been texting me every day to remind me,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “Cici shouldn’t have taught her how to text!”
Nora laughed and then she skipped over to plant a quick kiss on my cheek.
“Don’t be grumpy, she hasn’t visited us since the wedding,” she said and started walking to the door.
“No, I’m not, I’ve missed her,” I said, and Nora turned with her brows arched.
“Okay, who are you and what have you done to my husband?” she exclaimed. I shrugged my shoulders, even though I knew exactly what she was talking about.
“Are you, Felix Stone, actually expressing some real emotion?” she said with a laugh.
“I’m just saying what I’m thinking,” I replied and Nora was still laughing as she left the room.
I slid back into bed. These days, I didn’t go to the office till much later, never before ten. I had too many things at home to keep me happy and occupied, and I didn’t feel the need to work. I had worked hard all my life. I’d amassed wealth and success already. Nora had taught me how to relax and just enjoy the good things I had going: most importantly, my family.
I could hear Nora, Cici, and Anne talking outside. It was always a task getting Cici out of bed and ready for school. These were little things I had learned about my daughter in the past two years which I had no clue about before. Cici was not a morning person, just like me.
I could still feel the presence of Nora in the room, and I pulled the covers up to my chin. Even though we had been together for two years, living together for a year and married for six months…I still felt a strange emptiness when she wasn’t in the room with me. I knew I was addicted to her; she was like a drug. This was what love felt like, what had been missing in my relationship with Natalie, what I had been searching for all my life.
Asking Nora to marry me didn’t come as a surprise. Within the first few months of our relationship; I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. That she was the woman who completed me. I knew she felt it too, because when I went down on one knee in front of the whole kitchen staff at the hotel, Nora said yes immediately, without hesitation. We fit each other like a glove. Our marriage was the most obvious thing in the world.
I dragged myself out of bed eventually and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. I knew Cici would be ready by now and at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. In two years, she had never left for school without a goodbye kiss from me, and I hadn’t missed a single dinner with her or Nora. That was what I wanted; I didn’t know why I didn’t do it before…it hadn’t taken me much time to discover that fatherhood wasn’t such a difficult thing after all. It was the most natural thing.
I owed it to Nora. Everything I had now, I owed it to her, and apart from loving her forever, I knew I would be grateful to her too, for saving me.