Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Adam danced with Abby to “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith, singing the lyrics in her ear as she giggled from the champagne they’d consumed over the course of the unforgettable evening.
The wedding they’d thrown together in just over a week’s time had come together perfectly, with everyone they loved best in attendance, the winter wind howling outside while a huge fire burned in the fireplace in the dining room of the McCarthys’ Gansett Island Inn, which had been transformed by the hotel staff for the wedding.
“So how’d we do?” Adam asked Abby. “On a scale of one to ten, ten being the best.”
“I’d give this night a one thousand.”
“I was thinking more like one in a million.”
“One in a billion.”
He smiled down at her. “Are you happy?”
“You can’t tell?”
“Just making sure, since your happiness is my sole reason for being.”
Sighing, she rested her head on his shoulder. “Sometimes I still think I dreamt this whole thing—from that first day on the ferry and every day since then. There’s no way this can possibly be real.”
“Oh, it’s real, sweetheart. It’s as real as it gets.”
“After what happened two weeks ago, with the doctor and the diagnosis and everything, I wanted to give up, but you wouldn’t let me. Thank you for that and a million other things.”
“Thank you for marrying me and giving me a whole lifetime to share with you.”
“I apologize in advance for the hard parts.”
“No apology needed. We’ll figure it out as we go. As long as I have you and you have me, the rest is easy.”
“You really think it’ll be that simple?” she asked, looking up at him with gorgeous brown eyes gone liquid with emotion.
“Probably not, but I really believe there’s nothing we can’t handle as long as we do it together.
” He kissed the top of her head and breathed in the bewitching scent of his love, feeling the silk of her hair against his face.
No matter what came their way, he would do whatever it took to protect her from hurt or disappointment.
She’d already had enough of both in her life.
Now was the time for happily ever after.
They were surrounded tonight and in life by the people they loved best—his parents and siblings as well as their partners, his cousins, their friends, Abby’s family and their larger island family.
That community would celebrate with them during the good times and prop them up through the tough times.
Adam truly believed they would successfully weather the storm of her illness, and they would find a path to parenthood, too.
Maybe it wouldn’t be the conventional path, but it would be their path.
Next to them, Dan danced with Kara, Evan with Grace, Grant with Stephanie, Mac with Maddie, Joe with Janey, Shane with Katie, Tiffany with Blaine, Seamus with Carolina, Adam’s dad with his mom, his Uncle Frank with Betsy, his Uncle Kevin with Chelsea, and Luke with Sydney.
Others had come and gone throughout the evening, but the core group remained and would be there for them through it all.
“What do you say we get out of here, Mrs. McCarthy?”
“Ready whenever you are.”
His reply was a not-so-subtle tug on her hand, leading her in the direction of the lobby.
“Shouldn’t we say good night to everyone?”
Adam took a look around to find all the happy couples engrossed in each other. “Nah. They’ll figure out for themselves that we split.”
“That’s kind of rude.”
“I’m kind of horny for my wife.”
“Honestly, Adam. Did I marry a man or a teenage boy?”
“I’m all man, baby. Let’s go upstairs, and I’ll show you.”
She was still giggling when he steered her through the lobby and up the stairs.
His mother had assigned them the hotel’s top-floor honeymoon suite, and their bags had been delivered earlier.
It’d been years since Adam had been up here, and he couldn’t remember what the room looked like.
However, with his mother managing the hotel, he knew the room would be first class.
Adam used the key card she had given him to open the door. “Wait a second,” he said to Abby when she would’ve gone in ahead of him. He could tell he surprised her when he swept her off her feet to carry her across the threshold, making her giggle some more.
He loved that champagne made her giggle, and he loved the lighthearted sound of her laughter, especially in light of the trauma of her diagnosis.
He’d worried for a while that she might never laugh again, but his resilient Abby had bounced back after a few rough days, determined to battle her illness and fight for the life they both desperately wanted.
Adam swung her around in a big circle before setting her down in the middle of the sitting area, in front of another fireplace that had been lit for them. When he was certain she was steady on her feet, he went to open the glass doors to let the heat and scent of the fire into the candlelit room.
Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to ensure a romantic setting for the newlyweds. Adam fervently hoped it was Daisy and not his mother. It was Daisy. That was his story, and he was sticking to it. Then he looked down at Abby, saw tears in her eyes and was instantly on alert. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. Everything is absolutely perfect. This is beautiful.” Her gaze took in the fire, the candles, the four-poster bed with the crisp white linens that had been turned down for them, the red rose petals scattered over the bed and the champagne chilling in a bucket next to the bed.
“So are you,” he said, running his fingers through her dark silky hair.
He’d been so glad she left it down the way he liked it best. It might be safe to say he was obsessed with her hair, constantly touching it, burying his face in it, breathing in the scent he’d know anywhere as hers. “How do you like being married so far?”
“Best thing ever, but only because I married you.”
“That’s a good answer.”
“What about you?”
“I’m actually relieved.”
Her brows knitted adorably. “How come?”
“I was afraid you might run away from me before we could make it official.”
“I thought about it.”
“I know you did. Why do you think I’ve spent every waking minute with you for the last two weeks?”
“It wasn’t because of the holidays?”
Adam shook his head. “I was afraid to give you too much time to yourself to think about how much better off I’d be without you when that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“I still feel guilty about marrying you, knowing I might not be able to—”
He silenced her with a deep, passionate kiss that he hoped removed all doubt from her mind that he’d gotten exactly what—and who—he wanted most tonight. “No more of that. No more guilt or thoughts of running away or anything other than happily ever after. You hear me?”
She slipped her arms around his neck and went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “I hear you.”
“Do you really? Do you know I mean every word I said to you tonight? That I love you no matter what happens? That I love you even if we can never have children the old-fashioned way? Even if you gain weight or lose some of your gorgeous hair?”
Her big eyes were shiny with unshed tears. “I believe you, Adam. And I’m so very thankful that you feel that way about me. It makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”
“We’re both lucky to have been on that ferry together last summer.
That was fate bringing us together at our lowest point and showing us a whole new path forward together.
I honestly believe that.” He kissed her neck and nibbled on her earlobe.
“I don’t want you to spend one more second worrying about what might happen.
I want you to stay completely focused on right here and right now.
” He cupped her breasts and ran his thumbs over her nipples, which tightened into hard points under her dress. “Can you do that?”
“Mmm, if you keep that up, I certainly won’t be thinking about anything else but you.”
“I plan to keep this up forever,” he said, lightly pinching her nipples to make his point.
She gasped and leaned into him, pressing her body against his erection.
Adam reached around to her back, found the zipper and lowered it slowly, dragging his fingers over her heated skin as he went. Her face was flushed with excitement, her eyes bright with desire and her lips swollen from their kisses.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Because I’ve never seen anyone look more beautiful than you do right now.”
“You don’t look too bad yourself, Mr. McCarthy, but then again, I’ve always thought you were hot, even when I was dating your brother.”
“We’ve agreed to never speak of that.”
“With him,” she said, giggling again. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, he’s not too shabby to look at either.”
Adam scowled playfully as he helped her out of the dress, his eyes boggling at the sight of the sexy getup he found underneath. “Don’t remind me that you used to sleep with my brother.”
“That was a lifetime ago. It has no bearing on us.”
“I know, baby. I feel like my whole life began all over again that day I found you on the ferry when you were swearing off men, and I was prepared to never have sex again if it meant I had to get involved with another woman.”
“That vow didn’t last long,” she said, flashing the saucy smile he adored.
“Let’s talk about what you’re wearing.”
She took a step back from him so he could get the full impact. “This old thing?”
It was almost too much for his brain to process—a bustier that showcased her full breasts, trim waist and curvy hips, a garter belt, sheer thigh-high stockings and three-inch heels.
She was a sexy vision in virginal white, and she was all his for the rest of his life.
“Someone pinch me, please. I can’t possibly be married to the sexiest woman to ever draw a breath. ”
“Stop,” she said, her chest and face flushing in embarrassment.
“Never.” He closed the small space between them and ran his hands down her back to cup her cheeks, which had been left bare by a thong. “Do I have Tiffany Taylor to thank for this heart-stopping moment?”
“Perhaps,” she said with a coy smile.
“She’s very, very good at what she does. So good, in fact, that all my plans for a slow, sexy seduction of my wife have gone right out the window in favor of a quick, hard, urgent fuck.”
“Yes, please.”
“Mmmm, such lovely manners from a woman wearing a getup intended to make her husband insane.”
She removed his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. “Are you insane?”
“Absolutely, positively, out of my mind crazy about you.”
“We can go slow the next time,” she said, going to work on his belt and the button to his pants, which dropped into a pile at his feet. Her hands inside the back of his boxers, squeezing his ass, was nearly the end of him.
Adam helped her along by removing the shorts himself and walking her backward to the bed. “What’s about to happen here is all your fault, Mrs. McCarthy.”
“I can live with that.”
He came down on top of her, devouring her mouth with deep, passionate kisses.
She wrapped her arms and legs around him, pressing her heat against his cock and making him crazy with need.
Adam moved her thong to the side and thrust into her, groaning at the tight fit, the heat and the squeeze of her internal muscles. Nothing in his life could compare to the singular experience of being inside her, wrapped up in her, in love with her.
Abby made it even more intense when she clutched his ass and pulled him deeper into her.
He looked down at her, his eyes meeting hers in a moment of perfect unity. “Love you forever, Mrs. McCarthy.”
“Love you, too, Mr. McCarthy.”
Smiling, he hammered into her until they were coming—loudly—together.
“Holy wow,” she whispered, running her fingers through the sweaty strands of his hair.
“Holy loud sex.”
She laughed. “At least our families will know this marriage has been well and truly consummated.”
“Indeed.” He raised his head to kiss her softly. “No escaping now.”
“You’re stuck with me.”
“Good, because you’re all I need.”