Chapter 13 #2
“Fuck me, baby girl. You really know how to get a man going.”
I might’ve stolen one of his bandanas to make my own panties. The image of a tongue licking the neck of a guitar on the center of my panties was so suggestive and just perfect.
I shrugged. “I needed something blue. And we weren’t doing the whole garter and bouquet toss, so…”
“Fuck me. I really wanna rip them off you, but I can’t. They’re so fucking perfect.” He gently tugged them down my legs and off with me lifting my hips to help.
“I can always make some more.”
“Oh, this is definitely going to be a thing. I’m going to need to see a whole line. The logo on the front. On the back. Maybe some bras, too.” He groaned as he stared down at my sex. “But later. Way, way later.”
I tipped my head. “I think you’re wearing too many clothes now.”
“Anything for my wife.” He grinned playfully at me then stood so he could pull his shirt off and kick his shorts off.
“Wife,” I repeated in a whisper. My ring glinted in the afternoon light, drawing my attention away from the strip show my husband was currently performing for me.
I was married.
Married!
That familiar feeling of panic and overwhelm threatened to swamp me.
“Hey, hey.” Mal’s soft voice drew me back into the present. “You all right, baby? What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing.” I shook my head and tried to convince myself that the words were true.
“I don’t believe you. I’m over here performing a naked bump-and-grind and you didn’t even notice.”
I gave a wet sounding laugh. “Seriously? You did not.”
“You don’t know because you weren’t even here. So seriously, what’s going on?”
“I just, I guess I’m a little overwhelmed by everything. So much changed in a short amount of time. It’s kind of a lot.”
I was afraid to put my actual fears into words. Was this a mistake? Did I just marry my rebound guy? What was Paige going to say?
What was my mom going to say?
Was I really going to start a new life in LA?
Oh god. What was I doing?
“Hey, hey.” Mal jumped onto the bed next to me and took me in his arms. “You are going to be fine. We’re going to be fine. Because we love each other and want to be together, right?”
“Right,” I repeated, but my weak tone didn’t sound all that emphatic. Or believable.
Mal sat back on his heels. “Do you want to rip up the marriage license? Because we can. It’s not official until it’s signed, and Samu isn’t taking it over to the main island until tomorrow.”
He was referring to the document we signed last night that he’d jumped through a million hoops and bribed half a dozen people to get pushed through.
My heart felt heavy as I looked into his concerned expression.
I couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t break his already fragile heart. I couldn’t be one more person who walked away from him.
“It’s not that. I don’t want to cancel it or whatever. I’m just…scared. It’s a lot.”
“It is a lot. But I promise I’ll be standing next to you the whole way, holding your hand or holding you up if need be. We’ll do it together.”
How could I doubt this when he said things like that?
I sat up and kissed him, trying to put all my love and devotion into the action. He was just so special and wonderful. How was this my life?
Sensing I needed tenderness over hunger, Mal stretched out on his side next to me and continued to kiss me with a gentleness that made tears well in my eyes.
“I love you, Saylor, and I’m going to spend the rest of our life making sure you understand just how special and amazing and worthy you are.”
Now the tears rolled unashamedly down my cheeks, and he pressed a few kisses to stem the flow before kissing his way down my body.
I threaded my fingers through his hair as he laved attention to my breasts. He was obsessed with them. I giggled at the thought.
“I’m trying to turn you on, and you’re over here giggling. What the hell?” Mal grumbled.
“Sorry. I was just thinking about how you’re obsessed with my breasts.”
“I’m obsessed about every part of you, but your tits are a work of art.”
I laughed more.
“Seriously. This body is the thing artists spend their whole career trying to get down in whatever medium they work in—paint, marble, text, lyrics. I could spend my whole life worshipping them, and it’d be a life well spent.”
“Mal.” I shook my head as tears welled in my eyes again. “You make it impossible not to love you.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “That’s like a double negative right? So it’s a positive?”
I laughed harder. “Yes. I love you, you crazy, insane man!”
“Fuck yeah you do.” He bent over me and pressed a hard kiss on my lips. “And I love you too.”
I urged him over my body, eager for that elemental connection we’d already had so many times.
But this time it felt deeper as he sank into my body.
He kept his eyes on mine, and all the love and emotion in his gaze made my heart clench even as other parts of me clenched around him.
I’d never felt so deeply, emotionally connected to a man.
But I had that with Mal.
He made me feel wanted. Needed.
Seen.
As my climax washed over me, I screamed so loud I was sure the whole island heard. His shout a few seconds later matched mine.
When he collapsed on top of me, I wrapped my arms around him and held him.
This wasn’t a mistake. Having Mal in my life would be the best decision I ever made, not one I’d regret. Ever.
“I love you,” I whispered into the sudden silence in our treehouse bedroom.
“Mmm,” he hummed back. “Love you too, Saylor Holt.”