Allure: The Arranged Hearts Series

Chapter 19

The day had finally arrived.Lore and I were moving into our dream home, the one we had fallen in love with the moment we laid eyes on it. As I carried the last of the boxes inside, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight before me. The entire place was covered in a sea of cardboard, each one filled with memories and treasures from our individual lives, waiting to be woven into the tapestry of our shared future.

“You know, I could have easily paid someone to do all this for us,” I remarked, setting the box down and wiping the sweat from my brow. “It would have saved us a lot of time and effort, baby.”

Lore emerged from behind a stack of boxes, her hair tied back in a messy bun or at least as much as she could get into it, with a determined glint in her eye. “I know, Niko, but I don’t feel comfortable with strangers touching our personal things. Besides, this way, we get to decide what stays and what goes together.”

I smiled, admiring her thoughtfulness and the way she always managed to find meaning in the simplest of tasks. “Damn, you sure know how to make hard work sound like a good time.”

Lore walked over and nudged my shoulder with a laugh.

“I’m pointing out the facts, baby. That don’t mean I’m not gon’ help though.”

Lore looked over her shoulder with a lift of her brow. “Oh, I know that.”

I reached out and tapped her ass. “You better gon’ ’head.”

Lore bit her lip and poked her hip out. “Don’t threaten me with a good time. We got stuff to do.”

I burst into laughter with a shake of my head, then leaned down to pick up a few of the boxes in front of me to place them in front of the couch. I wanted to be comfortable while I looked through these damn boxes.

I was going to learn my lesson one day for allowing that beautiful wife of mine to convince me to do shit like this. We spent the next few hours unpacking, sorting through the remnants of our past lives, and deciding which pieces would become part of our shared present. Laughter filled the room as we stumbled upon old photographs and mementos, each one sparking a story or a cherished memory.

As we worked, the soft strains of music played in the background, a soundtrack to our labor of love. Suddenly, a familiar tune caught my attention, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was “Can We Talk” by Tevin Campbell, a classic that never failed to tug at my heartstrings.

I set the box I was holding down and made my way over to Lore, extending my hand in a silent invitation.

“I know you busy and all, looking through boxes and shit, but my name is Niko and I was wondering if you would like to dance?” I asked, pretending like this was our first time meeting.

She looked up, her eyes sparkling with humor as she placed her hand in mine.

“I think I can do that. Niko, you said, right?” she asked, playing along.

I nodded with a smirk as she allowed me to pull her close, our bodies molding together as we began to sway to the music, the chaos of the move fading away into the background.

I tried to slowly lower my hands down to grip her ass before she quickly lifted them.

“No, sir, my husband don’t play that. You said you wanted a dance, nothing else,” she teased.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Damn, my bad, baby. I don’t mean to be disrespectful. But if your husband left you unattended, you deserve to be with a real man like me.”

Lore leaned back with a lift of her brow and a smirk. “Is that so?”

I bit my lower lip, then slid my hand past the small of her back to grip her ass. “Damn, right.”

Her laughter made my heart do flips and we continued to sway amid chaos. With Lore in my arms, everything else seemed to disappear. The love we shared was palpable, filling the room with a warmth and tenderness that no material possessions could ever replace. As we danced, I marveled at the journey that had brought us to this moment, the unexpected path that had led us to each other.

“Thank you,” I whispered, my lips brushing against her ear. “Thank you for taking a chance on Arranged Hearts, for taking a chance on us.”

Lore pulled back slightly, her eyes shimmering with emotion. “I should be the one thanking you, Niko. You’ve shown me what true love really means, what it feels like to be cherished and supported unconditionally.”

I cupped her face in my hands, my thumb gently caressing her cheek. “I love you, Lore. More than I ever thought possible. You’ve changed my life in ways I never could have imagined in such a short time.”

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she leaned into my touch. “I love you too, Niko. With every fiber of my being. You are my forever, my always.”

As the song faded away, we remained locked in each other’s embrace, the beauty of the moment engraving itself upon our hearts. We may have started as strangers, brought together by fate and an unconventional path to love, but now, we were so much more.

We were soulmates, partners, two halves of a whole. And as we stood there, surrounded by the pieces of our past and the promise of our future, I knew that this was just the beginning of our forever.

“Upstairs?” I asked with a heat shining in my eyes.

She shook her head, no, and I started to pull back to get to work again. Until she stopped me.

“Right here. I want you now.”

I didn’t need to hear another word. I lifted her from where she had been standing. Our lips clashed together in a heated kiss, demanding more with each stroke of our tongues. I walked over to the counter in the kitchen and placed her on top.

She lifted her arms as I tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it to the side, then followed with every other piece of clothing on each of our bodies. I stopped for a moment. My eyes scanned every part of her frame as I said a silent prayer to God for placing the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life.

She must have been able to catch what I was thinking because she began to blush. Either that or the intensity of my glare was starting to make her shy. But that was one of the things I loved about her: she wasn’t afraid to show me every emotion she felt.

“I don’t mean to stare, baby, but I had to take a moment before I devoured every inch of you to thank God for placing a woman as breathtaking as you in my life. I couldn’t have dreamed of your perfection even if I tried,” I professed, wanting her to know exactly how I felt.

Lore leaned forward, clasping both of her hands on each side of my face, and kissed me before responding.

“Ditto.”

I smiled, lifting her from the counter and jogging up the steps, ignoring her yelps. As much as my wife wanted to be fucked in the kitchen. I would rather make love to her soul and her body in the comforts of our bed. But I was sure she wasn’t going to have too much of a problem with that.