I brought the champagne glass to my lips and let the chilled pink bubbly slide down my throat as I relaxed into my seat at the reception and looked around the ornately decorated room. Diamonds were the primary theme Karley had gone with as a play on winter, the blue hues to all the accents tying in the perfection. Tall centerpieces were strategically placed on certain tables while the others were smaller in scale but no less grand. The little details spread around the room weren't cheesy or overdone in the slightest either and I think that overall, Karley had created the perfect winter wonderland in the classiest way possible.
Now that the new Mr. and Mrs. had shared their first dance, and we’d all enjoyed a deliciously prepared dinner, everything was in full swing. “All Of Me” by John Legend wrapped around the intimate ambiance, leading some couples to the dance floor, while others sat with a drink, chatting the night away. Just a few feet away from where I sat were the happy bride and groom, who had finally taken their seats at their secluded table, enjoying their first of many meals as man and wife. They'd smile lovingly at each other, exchange a few words, steal a little kiss, and then pop another piece of the filet in their mouths. My heart melted just watching them, especially when Noah reached for Karley’s six-month belly and gave it a little kiss too.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Knox chatting at the bar across the room with one of his uncles. I couldn’t even tell you what his name was, regardless of the fact I’d met him, because there was so much family here. Knox’s mom, Calista, had two sisters, and his dad, Chris, was one of six. Each of those siblings was married with multiple children, so you do the math. That’s a shit ton of family members, not including grandparents and their living siblings, to memorize after just three hours of meeting them. And don’t get me started on Noah’s family. His family was huge, too, hence why the guest list was over two-hundred and fifty people. Too big for my personal taste, but extravagant was Karley’s middle name.
Knox reappeared at my side then, proffering his hand with that dazzling smile spread across his handsome face. Placing my hand in his, I set my glass on the table and stood to my feet as his arm came around my waist, blue eyes gleaming against the soft bluish lighting of the room.
“Where are we going?” I asked and his smile widened.
“To dance.”
Just as the words left his mouth, a soft saxophone filtered in through the speakers with a familiar tune I recognized as “I’ll Be.” Leading us out onto the dance floor, he spun me around and laced our fingers together as I slipped one arm around his neck, our bodies melting together so easily. His head dipped low to place a sweet kiss at the curve of my neck and a second later we were moving, swaying in place with the slow music resounding around us. Edwin’s raspy lyrics were echoed by Knox’s deep, velvety voice singing softly in my ear, each note, whether in tune or not, leaving goosebumps in their wake. As if he hadn't teased me enough already with lingering kisses and soft caresses all through the evening, the man was now serenading me, and I swear I was ready to swoon at any given moment, smiling like a loon into his chest.
I really need to slow down on the alcohol.
“What are you giggling about?” he questioned, tilting my chin up with a finger.
“You,” I said simply.
“What? You don't like my singing?”
“On the contrary, Mr. Carr. I think mixed in with all I've had to drink, it's making me very warm.”
“How warm?” he hedged, tightening his arm around my waist, his hand splayed at the small of my back.
“Like I'm gonna need some fresh air real soon before I do something inappropriate and let you serenade your way into my dress right here.”
A husky chuckle rumbled in his chest as he shook his head. “Behave.”
“Well, you certainly haven’t been behaving, so why should I?”
“Because everyone's watching us.”
He wasn’t lying. There were dozens of eyes on us, mostly his family, lovesick expressions etched on their faces. I wondered what they saw when they looked at us, if perhaps they thought we were next, that the next time they’d all be gathered around like this would be the day I took Knox’s name. Considering we’d only been together for a year and half, the thought of that should’ve scared me. But after everything that had happened in the last few months, and the fact that we’d overcome it all despite the setbacks, it didn’t. If I pictured my life thirty, forty years from now, I could without a doubt see Knox by my side, and as I glanced up into ardent blue eyes, I wondered if he saw that too.
Dropping his forehead to mine, Knox continued to sing softly with the chorus as we swayed in a circle, the words so uncannily in tune with my thoughts it's almost as though he was answering me. An answer that flushed my cheeks and plundered my heart, especially when he took my face in his hands and our lips brushed ever so softly as he vowed to be the greatest fan of my life.
“Now we can go outside,” he murmured, and all I could do was nod, too overcome by a wave of emotion to form an actual answer.
With my hand on his arm, we trailed out of the ballroom and through the hotel in comfortable silence to the front doors. I was still reeling when the cold December air enveloped me the second we stepped outside, leaving me a shivering mess. Knox promptly slid out of his jacket and draped it over my shoulders as we descended the steps relatively close to other guests who were chatting, some of them enjoying a cigarette too. That left me wondering...
“I wonder where Manny and Maya-oh shit!” I squeaked, yanking Knox behind one of the oversized potted shrubs for cover.
Hopefully they hadn’t see us because there they were… Maya was pressed up against the building and Manny loomed over her, one arm supporting all his weight while the other was draped almost possessively at her hip.
“Have I told you how gorgeous you look tonight?” he asked her, and she shook her head, her cheeks flaming as red as her dress.
“No, but you did now. I’m curious, though…”
“About?”
“If I admit I think you look stunningly handsome, will you kiss me?”
“Maya, I…” He hesitated, and from the look on his face I could tell he was torn between right and what he thought was wrong. “I don’t want you to think-”
To my surprise, she tugged on his tie, luring him closer. “I want you to kiss me, Manny. Stop acting like you haven’t thought about it on more than one occasion.”
“I don't know that I'll be able to stop after one kiss.”
“Who said I wanted you to stop?”
Holy hell, you go girl.
Cupping her face in hands, he glanced between her eyes, every ounce of self-control he knew slipping away as the seconds ticked by. “You're killing me,” he admitted on a breath.
“Then just kiss me already and stop torturing us both.”
“Babe, let’s go,” Knox whispered in my ear but I shooed him away. Yeah, I know, private moment and all that, but I had to see what happened.
Just do it, Manny. Do it!
And he did. He held nothing back as he smashed his lips to hers and kissed her with purpose. Even Knox was quietly rooting him on behind me. It wasn't until Maya hummed in satisfaction and wound her arms around his neck that I turned away, smiling at Knox as though I'd just caught Santa under the Christmas tree.
“It's a good thing they're not staying in our suite this time,” he murmured, wrapping me in his embrace.
“I know, can you imagine?” I giggled.
“Speaking of our suite” – he checked the time on his watch – “party’s almost over. What do you say we head back inside, have one last drink, and say our goodbyes?”
“Then will you take me upstairs and stop torturing us both?” I asked coyly, mirroring Maya’s words.
But I didn't get an answer.
Knox simply kissed me and flashed me a naughty grin that promised nothing but sweet, sweet torture awaited me once we stepped foot in that room. Little did I know just how sweet that torture would be...
We stumbled into our suite at half past twelve, all hands, mouths, and desperate touches. Lodged in his grasp, I clicked the locks in place and inched backward with his determined strides leading us all the way to the bedroom. I expected him to toss me onto the bed, but instead, he spun me around and crouched to his feet, deftly undoing the few buttons under the V-line of my dress. I peeked back as he rose to full height, his thumbs hooking under the sheer edge of the sleeves at my shoulders, pushing them downward until they fell away on their own. With no support, the gown gave away and pooled at my feet, leaving me clad in nothing but panties and nude stilettos.
A wild growl escaped him and I couldn’t help but shiver as the tips of his fingers danced up my thighs. “Take these off,” he ordered softly, snapping the waistband against my skin. “And leave the heels on.”
There was no hesitation as I yielded to his demand. Shimming out of my panties, I let them drop to my feet before crawling onto the bed and leaning back on my hands. His bow tie was already undone, hanging loosely around his neck, but the rest of his strip down was a feast for my eyes. First went the jacket, then the vest. He tossed both of them onto the chaise in front of the bed and swiftly began undoing the buttons of his dress shirt, blue eyes trained intently on me. They looked all the more blue, almost electric, with only the light of the moon pouring in through the window behind me. Each button undone revealed more and more ink-adorned skin and as that deep-set V came into view, I had to bite down on my bottom lip to squelch the moan that threatened to break the silence.
He was on me the second the last one came undone, pushing me further into the mattress as he crawled over me and settled himself between my legs. One of his hands came up to cup my face, holding me steady while his mouth sealed over mine in a soft kiss that still had the power to leave me breathless. I tunneled my fingers into the longer strands of his hair for purchase and pulled him closer, kissing him back with equal fervor. It didn't take long until he was lost in me and I was lost in him, nothing but us relevant in that moment.
Something was different this time though.
I don't know if it was in the way his mouth claimed me, or how he touched me, but everything was magnified in a way I couldn't explain. I felt it in my bones. In my soul.
“You’re gonna kill me tonight,” I breathed out, breaking away from his kiss.
“Oh, I hope so. I want any doubt in your mind to rot in hell. You’re mine.”
“I have no doubts. I’m all yours.”
“All of you?”
“Every last piece,” I confessed, arching into his caress as his tongue flashed out against my nipple.
Because it was the truth. Any doubt I’d had stayed on that cargo ship. I left it there without looking back or questioning it further, and when we made it back to L.A, Knox promptly changed his number. As a result, Brie hadn’t been an issue anymore, and regardless of the late hours Knox still worked sometimes, I trusted him. I knew there was nothing between them, there never had been. He’d always been mine.
“How wet are you right now, baby?” he questioned.
“Why don’t you find out for yourself,” I challenged.
“Because I want you to tell me.”
“But I need you to touch me…”
“I will, after you tell me.”
“Well, let’s see...you’ve had me throbbing all night, so what do you think?”
“Tell me…” he hedged, catching my nipple between his teeth in urgency, and I whimpered, needing more than the little he offered.
“I'm dripping for you.”
“Mmm, yes you are. So warm,” he purred, swiping his fingers through my sex to drench them in my essence. Then he licked them clean. “So sweet too.”
“Knox, please…” I couldn’t wait after that. I needed him and ‘need’ didn’t really quite cover it. I was burning for him.
“Please what?”
“Take these off,” I urged him, reaching for the waistband of his slacks.
“Oh no, not yet. I wanna savor you, baby. Eat you alive. I'm taking my time tonight.”
No...
“You can't do this to me.”
“All mine, remember? I can and I am,” he growled, keeping his eyes on mine as he licked and sucked his way down my body, all the way down until his tongue lapped at me, the ball of his piercing dragging from my entrance all the way up to my clit. My legs trembled and he curled his arms under them, burying his face further as he unleashed a fiendish onslaught of exquisite torture with his tongue, unraveling me faster than a spool of thread. A few more flicks and I was going to explode, we both knew it; the way my body bowed off the bed a clear sign my climax was seconds away from slapping me in the face. This pleased him, a loud hum vibrating against my core as he doubled his efforts to set me off, the sounds of him groaning, and sucking, and slurping rolling me right to the edge. I was about to fall, those warm tingles just bubbling at the surface, when he pulled his mouth off me, drawing a whine from deep within.
But that whine turned into a fulfilled moan when he thrust himself inside with one precise stroke. My eyes rolled back as he dug himself deeper, hitching one leg over his arm.
“Fuck, you feel amazing,” he groaned.
Me? I wished he could feel himself, the way he fit me, how he filled me and stretched me in the most delicious fashion. So warm too, throbbing within me when I squeezed him like a vice. It was heaven. Winding my leg around him, he blanketed me once more, peppering kisses up my neck, his teeth sinking into my lip as he kissed me.
“I wasn’t gonna do this right now, but I legitimately cannot stop myself…” he divulged abruptly, catching me by surprise.
“What?”
“Wanna know a secret?”
I nodded, riding the wave of impending pleasure that was building anew.
“I’m crazy in love with you.” Kiss.
“Addicted.” Another kiss.
“Obsessed.” And another.
“A man consumed.” He rolled into me leisurely and I moaned. “Wanna know another secret?”
I nodded again, too tangled in the moment to answer with words.
“I’m so consumed, I can’t stop thinking about what you’d look like in white. You know why?”
This time, I shook my head.
“Because every time I look at you all I can see is my wife. The love of my life. My fucking everything,” he professed with conviction and I gasped because he couldn’t possibly be...
“Are you…”
“Asking you to marry me? Yes. I need you, Hazel, more than life itself. Build this future with me, have my babies, grow old with me, love me forever.”
I gasped once more because, holy shit, he’d just proposed to me, unexpectedly so. Staring into his eyes, I could see this future he painted, the very one I’d imagined myself and wondered if he saw too. And he did; he saw it clear as day. There was no doubt in my mind this man was my forever.
“Yes,” I finally said, taking his face in my hands. “To all of the above.”
“You just made me the happiest man on earth. I can barely contain it,” he murmured, claiming my mouth in another breathtaking kiss as his thrusts became harder, faster, possessive…
Every one wound the coil within me tighter and tighter, a fierce amount of pleasure zipping through my veins, through my entire body.
“Let me hear you say it one more time for me, baby,” he purred, rolling into me until I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Gasping for air, my back arched off the bed, my nails deep in his back; I couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t own me more if he tried.
“Yes,” I moaned freely as he dug into me a few more times, until finally I snapped.
That magnificent burst of ecstasy consumed me, or really it consumed us both, as our climaxes erupted one after the other. It was so intense my entire body rippled against him, goose bumps flourishing over my skin. I’d never come so hard, all but melting into the mattress once the wave washed away.
Knox collapsed on top of me, completely spent, his ragged breathing and my exhausted pants all that could be heard in our room. Sifting my fingers through his sweaty hair, I laid there, reeling, almost unbelievably. This man was going to be my husband.
Picking his head up, he flashed me this lopsided grin and pressed another kiss to my lips as he crawled off me.
“Don’t move,” he instructed.
So I didn’t; I laid still, struggling to see what he was doing in the dark. I heard the zipper to his bag, a small snap, and then he was back in bed, taking his place between my legs once more. Holding my left hand, he slipped something on my finger, and when I lifted it into the moonlight, my breath hitched.
“There we go,” he said, satiated. “Now, it’s official.”
It was stunning. Not too big, not too small. The perfect ring given to me by the perfect man. A symbol of his love and affection, one I’d wear proudly and cherish until I took my last breath.
“Baby, it’s perfect.” I smiled, dragging a finger under his chin for another kiss.
“Like you… my wife.”
The way he growled that one word lured a squeal of excitement from the deepest, happiest part of me. I threw my arms around him, my legs too, and that’s how we spent the rest of our night; lost between the sheets, up till the sun began to rise.