There’s a chill in the air, not just because it’s November. Because it’s inevitable that Chris will be hurting for a while. I can only hope that maybe he won’t hurt for too long. Getting out of the Bentley, I ask Anthony to not follow too closely. I don’t want Chris to feel like he’s being watched, although I know without a doubt that Anthony will pounce on him at the first sign of danger. Not wanting any distractions, I put my phone on silent. As it is, Aiden has already called once and texted me twice. I know he’s worried, but I’m grateful that he let me do this.
I walk toward the fountain in the middle of Central Park. When I see Chris sitting there with his head down, immediately my heart breaks for him. There’s no going around this. He has to realize that I can’t give him my heart. Not when it still and always will belong to Aiden.
He looks up just as I come to stand in front of him. “Make me understand why you would marry a man that has broken your heart over and over again.”
I sit down on the edge of the fountain next to him. “You don’t know the whole story, and you do not know him the way I do. He loves me, and I love him. I’m not trying to hurt you. I was always very upfront with you about my feelings for Aiden.”
“You also told me that you were done with him. That you were going to give us a chance. Suddenly from one day to the next you just marry the guy.”
“I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I wish I could take your pain away. You are a very special man. Any woman would be lucky to have you. I hope that one day soon you will find that woman. That all this pain and heartache will be a distance memory.”
He bows his head. “I did find her. She just can’t see what’s right in front of her. She can’t see that she chose the wrong man to take as her husband.”
I stand to walk away, but turn back to him. “I chose the man who has my heart. If I could take the hurt away, I would. Please try to move on from this—don’t let it consume you. I think you have a lot of love to give. I pray that you will find the right woman. One who will give that kind of love back to you. Goodbye, Chris.”
As I walk away, I hear him say, “This is not goodbye, Alexis.”
When I get back to the Bentley, Anthony is waiting with the door open. The look on his face is concerned. “How much did you hear?” I ask him.
“Enough to know I have to tell Mr. Steffan.”
***
Walking to the elevator, I say, “Let me be the one to tell Aiden.”
“As you wish, Mrs. Steffan.” With those words, I know he is concerned. He hasn’t called me by my last name in quite a while, even if it’s a different last name now. I think Anthony and I have become friends. For him to say my name like that gives me reason to know he is worried.
Entering the penthouse, I hear our song playing: “Secrets” by One Republic. I shake my head, smile, and silently say, I know, Erik, I’m going to tell him right now. No more secrets, no more walls. We share not only the good, but the bad as well.
Noise comes from the kitchen. I know it can’t be Ms. Miller; Aiden gave her a weekend getaway. I think he just wanted us to be alone. When I reach the room, I stand there with my mouth hanging open. Aiden has what seems to be every dish from the cupboards out everywhere. Every mixing bowl, pot, and pan we have is on the stove, on the counters, and on the table. He turns around and there is flour on his face, hair, and clothes.
I can’t help but laugh out loud. Aiden is a great cook, though, so I’m kind of wondering what’s going on. “Oh my god, what are you doing?”
He stands there with the look of a child who just got caught doing something bad. “I wanted to make you a small wedding cake. You didn’t have one on our wedding day. I wanted to surprise you.”
We are both laughing and looking around at all the mess. He raises both his arms and says, “Surprise!” With that, I start laughing even more.
Walking toward him, I don’t notice there is an eggshell and a little oil on the floor. I slip and down I go, landing on my butt. Aiden runs to help but also slips and falls right by me. We are both laughing really loudly now.
I run my fingers through his hair and say, “I love you for trying to surprise me, but I don’t need a wedding cake right now. I’m sure the one we’ll have at our big wedding with family and friends will be large enough to feed a village.”
Anthony comes running in, as he must have heard the sounds we made while falling. He has a shocked look on his face. I can see he wants to laugh, but is trying hard to suppress it. He backs away to leave, stops, and asks if there is anything he can do to help. Aiden tells him that we will be all right and to have a good day.
Then Aiden stands and helps me up. Suddenly he throws me over his shoulder and walks up to our room.
“Put me down, I am perfectly capable of walking on my own.”
Entering the bathroom, he does as I ask and puts me down. We stand there without saying a word, lovingly looking into each other’s eyes. He gently and slowly runs the backs of his fingers across my cheek. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me.”
I take his hand and kiss the palm of it—then, without warning, get the worst headache I have ever felt. I place both hands on my head. “Aiden, help me wash up so I can go to bed.”
After shampooing my hair and washing my body, he slips a t-shirt of his over my head and helps me under the covers. “I’ll get you some water and aspirin.”
I have to close my eyes because everything seems to be spinning. Within minutes, Aiden is back, and gives me the glass of water and the aspirin. “I’m sorry, Aiden; it’s just that my head hurts so much.” He hushes me, fluffs my pillows, and brings the covers up to my shoulders. He turns off the light, then comes to lie beside me slowly. My new husband softly rubs his hand up and down my arm, soothing me until I fall asleep.
***
Sunday morning, I wake up alone. I go in search of Aiden, finding him in his office. I walk in quietly as he is on the phone. He looks up, sees me, and smiles, then pats his lap, signaling me to come sit down on it in his huge black leather wingback chair. After a few minutes of him simply saying, “yes” and “no,” he says, “Thank you, doctor, we will be there at two o’clock tomorrow.”
“Who was that? And who will be there tomorrow at two o’clock?”
“Baby, that was Dr. Shaw. I made an appointment for us to go see him.”
“Are you okay, Aiden?”
“Not for me, Alexis. The appointment is for you. You were in such pain last night from your head that I want him to take a look at you.”
Standing up and crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at him. “It was just a bad headache, nothing more. Don’t make a big thing out of this. People get headaches all the time.”
He pulls me back down to his lap. “You are such a stubborn woman. I know people get headaches all the time, but you were in such pain last night. Even after you fell asleep, you were moaning. You kept talking in your sleep, saying odd things.”
I tilt my head. “What did I say?”
“‘It can’t be true’ and ‘It has to be real.’”
Not wanting to make a big deal about this, I stand, hold my hand out to him, and say, “Come, let’s go clean that kitchen before Ms. Miller sees it and has a heart attack.”
Aiden rises from his chair, pulls me in closely, and wraps his arms around my waist. “No need. I cleaned the kitchen after I was certain you were sleeping soundly.” He spins me around and pats my butt. “But I need to make sure you eat a good breakfast. I don’t want you feeling ill again.”
“I’m fine, but I am famished.” Walking into the kitchen, I’m impressed as to how clean it looks. The floor is once again shiny, the counters all clean. Not one single dish is out; you wouldn’t be able to tell there was flour, eggshells, or oil spilled anywhere.
I’m instructed to have a seat at the island and not lift a finger to do anything. I do as I’m told. As I watch Aiden whip up Belgium waffles, I can’t help but grin, remembering the sight of him last night. Never in a million years after seeing him in ads or commercials, even on runway shows, would I have thought I’d one day be watching him trying to bake me a wedding cake or make me breakfast. If the world could see this side of him, they would love him even more than they do now. “Hmmm, it smells so good. I’m starving.”
He sets the plate of waffles in front of me. I pour maple syrup on them and dig in.
“Oh, sorry baby, I didn’t get you any juice.” Aiden pours a glass and sets that in front of me as well. After a while there isn’t anything left. I clean my plate. “You were really hungry, huh?”
Cleaning my mouth, I giggle. “Yes, I was. It was really good. Thank you.”
“Baby, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”
I help Aiden with the dishes even though he protests the whole time, telling me I should take it easy. “I’m not a porcelain doll. I won’t break.”
“You are my world, and I will do everything in my power to protect you. Now let’s get showered. We can spend the rest of the day doing whatever you want to.”
Once in the bathroom, Aiden turns on the water. After he makes sure that it’s the right temperature, he turns to me. “Raise your arms, amore mio, let me take that t-shirt off of you.” He slips it off and caresses every inch of me with his gaze. “Bellissima, you have the body of a goddess. I will spend the rest of my life worshipping it.” As the words leave his lips, I can feel myself tremble. The goosebumps work their way down my back. A moan escapes my mouth as I lick my lips. My breathing becomes rapid. I can feel my heart racing. I lean my head back and let the sensation take its course.
Aiden starts to kiss my jawline, working his way slowly to my neck and down. He stops at my breast, sucking it. He gently bites my nipple, causing me to moan even louder. “Oh Aiden, that feels so good.”
When he lifts me up, I wrap my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck. He continues licking and sucking my breast with such force. Again I throw my head back in ecstasy. Walking us into the shower, he pins me against the wall, lifting me up even higher. The strength this man has, it’s as if I don’t weigh anything. He picks me up with no effort at all. His mouth is between my legs, which are now on his shoulders.
Aiden starts to open my folds with his tongue, finding his way to my clit. His teeth gently pull on it. His tongue is working me as only he can. His hands squeeze my ass.
My arms are out to my sides against the wall. “Oh yes, yes, you’re going to make me come.” With that, I am spiraling out of control. The orgasm comes in a rush, my entire body trembling as if it controls every cell, every fiber, and every nerve in me.
“Baby, you taste so sweet.”
As he lowers me down, I notice that Aiden never got undressed. He walked us into the shower with his shirt and shorts on. “Your clothes are soaking wet.”
He laughs. “At least I didn’t have my shoes on, not that it would have mattered.”
I help him out of his wet garments and start to kiss his chest, nibbling and licking my way down. Now it is me who pushes him against the wall. I slide down to take his dick in my hand. With the other hand I grip his ass, digging my nails into him, pulling him as close to me as possible.
Now it is Aiden who is moaning. He has both his hands on the back of my head, my hair between his fingers. I take him all into the back of my throat. Then I work him in and out, swirling my tongue around him. From the tip of his crown to the base of his big, beautiful cock. I bring up my other hand and start to squeeze his balls. I hear his moans getting louder and feel his thighs tense. A few more thrusts and he is spilling his hot semen into my mouth. I drink it all down, not letting one drop out of my mouth.
I’m lifted up in one swift move. His mouth finding mine, our tongues do their familiar dance with each other. It’s as if we are both on the edge once again. Aiden spins me around so I face the wall, bends me over, and suddenly he thrusts himself into me. I scream out in pleasure. Aiden grunts through gritted teeth. I feel myself on edge once again. I take one of my arms from where it braced me against the wall and reach around back to grab Aiden’s ass. “I need you deep. I need you now.”
The power of the orgasm takes over my body. I am trembling from the pure pleasure of it. A few more thrusts and Aiden is shaking as well. “Oh, Alexis, I fucking love you, baby. You feel so good.”
We both slide down to the floor, panting hard and fast. We stay there for a good while wrapped in each other’s arms. After a few more minutes, I look up at him. “I love you with all my heart.”
He smiles down at me and says, “You are my heart, my whole heart.”
Helping one another up, we take turns washing the other’s hair, then bodies. After drying myself off and wrapping a towel around me, I go to comb my hair. Aiden puts his hand out for it and starts to gently glide the brush through it for me.
I close my eyes and tilt my head to the side.
“Keep doing that and I won’t be able to finish brushing your hair out without getting you in bed again.”
I open them, smiling at him. “Doing what?”
“Looking so beautiful and sexy. You’re making me hard again.”
I can’t help but giggle. “Give me that brush, go get dressed. You said we could do whatever I wanted the rest of the day, right?”
Walking away, he says with a small chuckle, “And the demands from the wife have started.” He calls out from the closet, “What do you wish to do? How should I dress? Are we staying in or going out?”
“I thought we could have dinner out with Shannon and Johnny. We could go to Marea for some Italian.”
“As you wish, my wife.”
I finish blow drying my hair and go to call Shannon. I haven’t spoken to her since the wedding on Thursday. I hear her laughter as she answers the phone. “Well hello, Mrs. Steffan.”
We both start laughing. “Cut it out. Hey, we’re going to eat dinner at Marea and would love it if you two could join us.”
“Yes, give us about an hour. We’ll meet you there.”
I choose a simple sleeveless green V-neck dress that hugs every inch of my body and black stilettos to go with it. My hair has gotten a bit longer now; it reaches just below my butt. I decided to not straighten it, so it has the natural waves tonight. I’m looking in the mirror when I hear Aiden say, “You will have every eye on you tonight. You are stunning.”
As I turn to gaze at him, I have to catch my breath. He’s wearing that tailored, dark pinstriped suit he wore on one of our first dates. Only tonight, instead of the red tie, he is wearing a royal purple with a sheen to the fabric. The intensity of the two colors combined leaves me just staring at him. “I can’t wait to take that off of you tonight.”
A smile comes over his face. “Why wait till tonight? We can cancel our plans; I could pour us a glass of wine. Get cozy in bed.”
“You are incorrigible, Aiden. We are going out tonight, and we are going to enjoy our time with Shannon and Johnny, understand?”
“Boy, you have this wife thing down, don’t you?”
I playfully smack him on the ass as I walk back into my closet.
“What are you doing, Alexis? It’s time to leave.”
I say over my shoulder, “I can’t wear this green dress. It doesn’t go with that blue suit at all.” He mutters something in Italian as I’m changing. Then I hear him say, “I really loved that green dress on you.” He’s about to say something else as I walk out of the closet. His eyes get a sparkle to them as he smiles. “Whoa, baby, you look even more breathtaking. Nobody will be able to look away from you.”
I am wearing a royal purple dress, with long sleeves and low cut in front, putting the girls on just enough of a display. Made of charmeuse, this dress hugs me perfectly, but has a light flow to it.
As we walk out to the garage, Anthony gives us both a smile. “You make a perfect couple, if I may say so.”