Chapter 49
NATALIE
Ifinished my glass of bubbly and got to my feet. “I should get us back to dock,” I said reluctantly. “I wish we could stay out all night.”
“I bet they wouldn’t mind if we did.”
“We have no food,” I reminded him.
“But we’ve got champagne,” he said and held up the bottle.
I laughed and went back to pull up the anchor. “I can’t drink and drive, you bad influence.”
“Take us to dock,” he said. “We’ll drink and float.”
The trip back to dock was both too short and too long. I loved sailing. Every time I came out, I was more convinced it was time for me to get my own boat. I wanted to be able to set sail whenever I felt like it. I wanted the both of us to have the freedom to enjoy the water we lived so close to.
We decided to finish our bottle of champagne in the hammock after I pulled the boat up to the dock.
It was a quiet night with all the tourists gone.
It was beautiful and peaceful. I was still trying to process the idea of being an engaged woman.
Engaged to be married. One day I would be a wife, and hopefully, I would be a mother soon after.
It had taken me more than thirty years to finally start really living.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“I’m thinking about us and our future,” I said, smiling.
“I cannot wait to marry you,” he said.
“Do you want a short engagement?” I asked hopefully.
“I want whatever you want.”
“I want you,” I answered.
“When?” he asked. “When do you want me?”
“Now,” I said, giggling. “But I think I would like a spring or summer wedding. Does that work for you?”
“I’m wide open,” he said. “You name the date and time and I’ll be there.”
“My mom is going to lose her mind,” I said. “She’s going to be full speed ahead on the wedding planning.”
“You know when we were talking about moving in together?” he said.
“Yes. Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind.”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I brought it up because I wanted to talk about buying a house.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said, nodding. “Unless you’re afraid to live in sin.”
“I want to live in all kinds of sin,” I said, giggling. “I’m all about sinning with you.”
“Speaking of, why don’t we get out of here before we do something illegal?” he said close to my ear. “Because all I want to do right now is get you naked and pound you. I want to make love to you under these stars.”
“Let’s go.”
We scrambled off the boat. We were both just a little tipsy from the champagne.
We walked to my place, barely making it through the door before we started ripping our clothes off.
I tripped with my pants caught around my ankles.
I fell to the floor, pulling him down with me.
We were both laughing when I hit the floor first.
“Are you okay?” he asked. His hand slipped under me and unhooked my bra.
“I’m okay. Are you?”
“I will be soon enough,” he grunted.
His mouth clamped over one nipple and sucked hard. His tongue lapped over the nipple before he tugged at it with his teeth. My hands ran through his hair, tugging and pulling.
“I like this,” I murmured. “I like your hair a little longer so I can pull it. I love pulling your hair.”
“Ditto,” he replied with his mouth covering my throat. He sucked and licked again.
“I need you,” I moaned. “My pants. Get my pants off.”
The damn things were still locked around my ankles.
I was squirming under him. There was a need driving me.
It was making me crazy. He pulled away from me and moved to my feet.
He jerked my pants and panties off, then grabbed my ankles and spread my legs.
His gaze was focused on my wet center. He reached up and put a hand on my stomach while using his other hand to pleasure me.
His fingers slipped inside me while he watched.
I was not the least bit ashamed to be naked and writhing on my floor in front of him.
He knew my body better than I did at this point.
With one finger still inside me, he bent down and kissed just above where his finger rested inside me.
His tongue lapped out, snapping at the hard nub and driving me wild.
I nearly hit the ceiling. The excitement and pleasure vibrated through me. He knew exactly what I needed to get the most pleasure. His magical tongue worked wonders on me. It wasn’t long before the pleasure became too much. I screamed when the orgasm hit me.
He popped his head up from between my legs. “Scream, baby, scream,” he ordered. “I love it when you scream.”
I scrambled to my elbows to look down at him. He wiped his mouth and flashed a salacious smile. “Help me up,” I said.
I led him into my bedroom with both of us totally naked. I lit a couple of candles and turned to face him. He was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me. I sauntered toward him, feeling sexy and seductive in the perfect lighting from the glow of the candle.
“I love your beautiful body,” I said. “I want to worship your body with my mouth.”
“I can’t wait,” he said.
“You’re going to have to,” I whispered. “Because I really want to lick you from tip to top.”
His erection jumped, telling me he was very excited by the prospect. “Natalie, I need you.’
“And you have me. You’re going to have me in every way. I’m yours. Period. End of story. I’m forever your girl.”
“I’m going to come just sitting here,” he said in harsh tones.
“Just stay right there.”
I dropped to my knees in front of him. I heard his heavy breathing and knew he was dying with anticipation. I gently grabbed his thick cock and, without hesitating, sucked him into my mouth.
“Oh shit,” he groaned. His fingers weaved through my hair. “Fuck me. You’re so fucking good to me.”
I continued to bob up and down on his cock. My tongue ran the full length of him with my hand gently massaging his balls. I kissed the tip and slid my mouth over him once again. I took him as deep as I could with him very literally touching my tonsils.
“That’s good,” he said. “I’m good. I can’t. No more.”
I sucked harder and faster. He pulled at my hair. “Nat, I can’t stop. You have to stop.”
I had no intention of stopping. I was taking him all the way to the end. He was breathing harder, grunting and cursing. There was a moment. I heard him suck in a breath. “Nat,” he groaned.
The next second he was exploding down my throat. I swallowed him, keeping him firmly lodged in my mouth. I pulled back and rested on my haunches. He dropped his hands to his knees and hung his head.
“Woman, you’re so good to me,” he said. “I don’t know how I got lucky enough to have you, but I’m glad I do.
I wake up every morning and check myself.
I check to see if you’re in bed with me.
When you’re not, there is always a moment of panic you aren’t in my life.
Sometimes, I worry you’re a dream. I worry it’s all another one of the vivid dreams I have. ”
When he lifted his head, he looked at me with eyes so full of love, I actually found myself crying a little. He made me very emotional. “I sometimes think the same about you. We’re both here. We’re both committed. This works if we keep working at it.”
“Come to bed,” he said and reached for my hand.
We climbed into bed together. I wasn’t going to lie and say the first few weeks we were back together I wasn’t afraid. I had been nervous, but I did all I could to hide it. I didn’t want him to think I was afraid. He would feed off my fear and it would just make things worse.
There had been a few tense moments, but we worked through them.
Now, lying here with him, I wasn’t afraid.
We had connected on a level I had never experienced with another human.
I could be dead asleep and sense when he was in a nightmare.
I was able to get out of bed and wait it out.
I was certain the nightmares were fewer and farther between.
They were also less violent. He seemed to be settling into this new life. We both were.
“Are you going to wear a big poofy gown?” he asked.
“What?”
“For our wedding,” he said. “Are you going to wear a big white wedding dress?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know if I really ever imagined myself as a cake topper.”
“What did you imagine?” he questioned. “Don’t all girls dream about their weddings?”
I didn’t immediately answer. “I used to,” I answered.
“But not anymore?”
“When my dad died, I kind of gave up that dream,” I said.
“Why?”
I took a deep breath. “It’s kind of silly, but I thought I couldn’t get married if my dad wasn’t there to give me away.
I figured out that wasn’t the case but getting married without my dad didn’t appeal to me.
I just never thought about it. It’s not like there were a lot of candidates to choose from. ”
He rolled to the side and raised my chin to look me in the eyes. “Your dad will be there in spirit. You have to believe he is going to be watching from above and smiling.”
“I know,” I said.
“We don’t have much in the way of family, but the family we do have is pretty impressive,” he said. “We’re going to build a strong family. We have enough love.”
“I know,” I said. “And we have our community. You have your search and rescue family. We have a community.”
“You will never be alone again,” he said. “We will always have each other.”
I kissed him and snuggled close. I fell asleep with thoughts of our wedding on my mind.
While I was excited for the wedding, I was more excited about our lives being officially joined.
I knew it was just a piece of paper, but it was a statement.
It was something to lean on when things did get tough.
And I really wanted to call him my husband.