“I can’t believe it’s been a year already,” Thorne says, massaging my shoulders.

“I can,” I say, looking out to the turquoise sea, the gentle waves lapping against the shore. A few people walk by and smile at us. I smile back. Everyone seems to be so nice on this lovely Jamaican island. I always say, I would happily live on a rubbish dump if it means I will be with Thorne, but heck am I glad he brought me to this paradise.

Thorne’s hands move down the front of my body and onto my stomach. Though it’s not really visible in the white cotton dress I’m wearing, I’m pregnant. Thorne has developed the delicious habit of touching or rubbing my stomach any chance he gets.

I wonder how big I will become, especially since I am carrying twins. I put my hand on his hand and caress his knuckles.

“Hang on a second, darling,” Thorne says. He leans away from me and picks up his tropical drink from the arm rest of his beach chair and takes a sip.

“It’s not fair that you can drink and I can’t,” I grumble.

“You can always take a little sip. It’s mostly just fruit.” He brings the glass closer to me, but I smack his hand away with a laugh.

“Ah, I get it. You’re spoiling for a spanking?”

I giggle. Any talk of spanking always brings back the memory of that first time in his limousine. We were completely different people then.

“I checked. Pregnant women can be spanked,” he whispers in my ear.

When he kisses my ear, I shiver even though we’re in the hot sun. We have come a long way from how we started. There is no fear, or rage, or pain. Thorne still suffers from bouts of possessiveness, but I know his hot buttons now. Basically, just avoid engaging in any meaningful conversations with any male between the ages of fourteen and ninety. As for me, I am learning to trust and not shut out Thorne for fear of being hurt.

Of course, I see Melody, her new husband, and their young son quite often, but Thorne is the only family I have now. Thorne made up with his parents and they invited me over to their huge mansion in New York. It was a little bit strained, but I could see they were trying. They want to be part of their grandchildren’s lives so I went out of my way to be nice to them. I have no feelings for them, I did it for Thorne and our children.

It was very difficult for me to give up my mother. I’d clung to her for so long, it felt as if I was cutting away an arm or a leg. Not too long after my grandfather was knifed to death in prison by some of the inmates she moved away and did not bother to give me her new address. I’m no longer curious to know. I don’t wish her harm. She is out of my life, and it will stay that way. I thought about telling her about the twins, then I realized that she would not enrich their lives. There would be no point.

I don’t need her.

I have Thorne. Being with him has opened my eyes to so many experiences. We travel often, and with each new destination we learn something new about each other.

The sound of the sea, the warm sand, and salty air and Thorne’s large hands moving in circles on my back and shoulders, make me feel as if I am in a trance. There are few people on the beach. It feels like we are in our own little paradise.

The sounds of the gentle waves coming onto the shore, and the occasional kisses on my back and shoulders from Thorne make me want to fall asleep in his arms. I am about to when I hear music. It sounds like a guitar and a ukulele. It’s soothing and beautiful.

“I wanna love ya, and treat you right …” someone begins to sing.

I open my eyes then. There are a few men walking along the beach and singing. I smile at them. I love this song. It is probably my favorite Bob Marley song. They stop and start serenading us.

“Dance with me?” Thorne whispers into my ear.

I nod and he helps me up from the chair. He kisses my stomach before bringing me close and wrapping his arms around my waist. We dance to the beautiful music.

“Is this love, is this love, is this love that I’m feeling?” the men harmonize. Thorne takes me by the hand, spins me, and catching me pulls me against his body.

I am so incredibly happy that I don’t think there is anything that can make this day any better. Then I look around, and everybody on the beach is walking towards us. They all know the words and they’re all singing. I shoot a confused look at Thorne. How is everyone singing? And how is it possible that it all sounds so beautiful?

Thorne smiles down at me while I am still bewitched and confused by the music that is coming from all around us. He releases his hold on my waist and takes me by both of my hands. My heart stops then. Thorne is still smiling even after he brings my hands to his lips and kisses both of them. I watch his eyes, crinkled in corners, so in love and suddenly my eyes fill with tears.

“Oh, Thorne,” I gasp.

I cover my mouth and nose and watch him lower himself onto one knee. Tears pour down my face. I can’t believe that this is actually happening.

“Chelsea Appleby,” he says.

The music and singing carries on.

“I was going to ask you if you would make me the happiest man on earth, but you’ve already done that. This last year has been the best of my life. Each day brings new hope, and new joy, and new love to my life. You are the love of my life and the mother of my future children, and I would like to ask you, sweet Chelsea, if you will also be my wife.”

I’m crying so much that I’m not even sure that I can speak. Every time I open my mouth a sob comes out. Finally, I simply nod. It is all I can manage right now.

Thorne takes out a small black box from his pants and reveals a massive diamond ring. In the sunlight its brilliant sparkle blinds me. While our audience claps and cheers he gently slides the ring on my finger. I can’t believe how overwhelmed I am. I feel so foolish. Using his thumbs he wipes away my tears.

“No more tears for you. Not even happy tears,” he whispers, and I throw my arms around him and cover his beautiful mouth with a big kiss.

After a few minutes the crowd dissipates and the musicians continue their journey on the beach to serenade other couples.

“You planned all of that huh?” I ask when I stop weeping. Thorne and I are packing our things to go back to our rustic cottage.

He grins. “I did indeed. You always said that if I were ever to propose you would like something simple.”

I shake my head. “If that is your idea of simple I don’t want to know what your idea of complicated is.”

True, Thorne has done far more extravagant things than this, but to plan a trip halfway around the world and have a hundred people sing to us as he proposes is not simple.

He frowns. “Was it too much?”

It’s not that I don’t enjoy the grand gestures and displays of love, but I want him to remember that I love him for him. All his money can be gone tomorrow, and I will still choose him every day for the rest of my life.

I squeeze his hands. “I was just teasing you, my love. It was beautiful. Better than anything I could possibly have imagined. Thank you.”

We are almost at our cottage. I feel as if I never want to leave this paradise even though our flight is in two days.

“Good. Because I’d do anything for you, Chelsea. Fucking anything,” Thorne says.

“Would you eat a slimy worm?” I ask with a grin.

He glances down at me. “Yeah.”

“What about two slimy worms?”

“You better be going somewhere interesting with this,” he says opening the door of our wooden cottage.

It’s a strange thing, but I could never be childish with anyone before Thorne. I always felt stupid. Only with him can I recreate some of my lost childhood.

He allows me to enter the wooden cottage first, and the air-conditioning hits me. I breathe in the cool air. I kick off my sandals and feel the cool wood under my feet. It’s a lovely cottage. There are paintings done by local artists on the walls and the bed looks like it belongs in a palace.

Thorne drops our bags, locks the front door, and picks me up in his arms. I squeal because I’m not expecting it. Giggling I plant kisses all over his face. He carries me into our bedroom, lowers me onto our bed, and kisses me. His lips are the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.

I unbutton the front of my white cotton dress. Thorne pulls it off. He undoes the top of my bikini and plants kisses down my body. I feel a bit self-conscious about my belly. I’m not sure he finds it sexy, but he lingers there, dropping the softest butterfly kisses. He slides my bikini bottoms down while he continues to kiss me, but moving steadily lower.

He kisses my mound and I gasp. My pussy is dripping wet. Thorne touches my clit with his thumb and it is already plump. As usual all Thorne has to do to arouse me is just touch me and light me up like a struck matchstick.

I open my legs, inviting him in. Thorne kisses my clitoris and slides a finger inside of me and rubs against the roof in a ‘come hither’ fashion. I arch my back. He always knows the right spots to touch and caress.

He sucks on my clit and looks up at me.

I bite my lip and watch him while he pleases me. Every time with him feels new to me. My lower body starts rocking and my body begins to shake. I’m getting close to my orgasm. His fingers thrust into me deeper and faster. The sounds of them inside my wet pussy make me want to feel his cock inside of me.

“Thorne!” I scream, as my breathing stops and my body becomes stiff. The first violent wave of pleasure courses through my body, and I hear my screams fill the cottage and bounce off the walls. Thorne removes his fingers from inside me and puts them in his mouth. He licks my juices greedily from his fingers, then from my dripping pussy.

“How can any woman be so fucking sexy?” he asks, rising from the bed.

He takes off his shirt and looks down at me. I stare at his perfect body. The sun has kissed the chiseled contours, turning it golden. Making him look like he is cast from metal. My fingers run along his smooth abs. This man belongs to me. He is mine.

His pants drop on his discarded shirt.

Thorne lays on the bed next to me, and I roll on top of him; our kisses become deeper and more passionate now that we are both naked. Thorne caresses my body. His touch is tender at first, but he knows that sometimes I like it rough. He grips my thighs and claws down them with his fingernails.

I hiss, enjoying the subtle pain. I long to feel him inside of me, but he’s taking his time to enjoy me, so I do the same. I concentrate on the way he is touching, kissing, and biting me. All over my body.

Thorne grasps his hard cock and rubs it against the opening of my wet slit. I moan and lower myself so that I can feel his thickness enter me. His cock throbs inside me; I feel every time it jumps, and it serves to turn me on even more. I lean forward so that I can kiss him. This man is more than my lover. He is my savior, and my future husband.

He tastes of me. Thorne holds me and breathes into my neck. My head falls back, and my hair cascades down my back. I feel my breasts and nipples rub against Thorne’s bare chest as we move up and down, forward and back together.

My clitoris tingles.

I hold his face and he grabs me and rolls me on to my back. His hands continue to run all over my body. The feel of his cock inside me causes an electric sensation to spread out from the inner walls of my sex to the rest of my body.

The way that Thorne moves his body into me brings sensations that I can’t describe. I give in to every thrust and every kiss. He bites down on my neck and rocks faster. My pussy tightens around his throbbing cock. Thorne holds me tighter to steady me and begins to slam into my pussy while he kisses and bites my neck and my breasts wildly.

A loud growl escapes his lips.

“I’m gonna cum,” he groans.

He looks into my eyes, his breathing hard while he thrusts deep inside me. Then Thorne roars and I feel his cum shooting into my pussy. My pussy tightens while he fills me up and another orgasm tears through me. Even after Thorne has come he keeps going, wanting to satisfy me, until I can’t take any more. I whimper and moan and my body relaxes. I feel the gentle aftershocks of my orgasm and Thorne’s soft kisses.

I release my death grip on him and he places me on the bed beside him. He asks me if I’m ok. It always surprises me when he does this. I let him know that I’m fine.

My eyelids begin to droop. I want to stay awake, but ever since I became pregnant I tire quickly.

“I would eat any amount of slimy worms for you,” he whispers.

I close my eyes and smile. A kiss on my cheek is the last thing I feel before I fall asleep.