Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Zoey
I take a deep inhale as I turn my head from left to right on the pillow as my eyes flutter open, taking in the semi-darkened room. The thick drapes are pulled closed, but the middle is open just a little, letting a bit of sunshine into the room. I move my hands from the side of me to over my head and stretch out, blinking a few more times to get my eyes used to the light. I look over, seeing the bed beside me empty, which is nothing new. I don’t think I’ve ever woken up and he’s been beside me unless it’s in the middle of the night when I go pee.
I hear sounds coming from downstairs, and when I grab my phone and check, I see it’s a bit after eight. Tossing the covers off me, I slide my feet out of the bed before walking over to the bathroom. I finish brushing my teeth, grabbing my white plush robe before walking out and heading downstairs to catch up with Nash when I see him walking into the room with a tray in his hand and wearing just his boxers. “Why are you dressed and out of bed?” he asks me, his eyes going from big to a huge glare, making me laugh.
“I got up,” I tell him, “and again, I was alone in bed.” I point at the bed that looks like we spent the night wrestling in it instead of sleeping, which we sort of did. I mean, I think the last time I saw the clock, it was close to midnight when he gathered me in his arms, holding one breast in his hand as he spooned me. All I know is I looked over my shoulder to kiss his lips before falling asleep, and the next thing I knew, it was morning. “Alone in bed as a newlywed is not fun, Nash.”
He rolls his eyes. “It’s not my fault that your favorite drink is matcha and it takes me an hour to make.”
Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Can you exaggerate a little more?” I wait for him to walk close to me, seeing he has a tray filled with a matcha for me and a coffee for himself. A plate is in the middle with some fresh fruit and two wrapped bagels.
“Good morning.” He looks down at me when he is standing in front of me. “I see we are up in fighting form this morning.” His head bends to kiss my lips.
“Why did you get breakfast?” I ask him. “It’s like the only thing I get to do for you, and now you’ve taken it away from me.” I try not to sound like I’m sulking.
“Baby, you were sleeping,” he says softly, “and I wanted to keep you in bed all day long.”
“I’m a lover, not a fighter,” I joke with him before kissing him one last time and turning to get back into bed. I right the covers as he walks over to his side of the bed, placing the tray on his bedside table, right in front of the picture of me from our wedding and the picture of us on vacation in a smaller frame right next to it. He moves the covers off his side before getting in and tucking his pillows behind him, then grabbing the tray and putting it between us. “Breakfast in bed.” I fix my own pillows before reaching for my matcha. “Does it get better than this?”
“Um,” he says, looking over at me, “your lips on my dick.” His face is not even cracking a smile. “That’s the best wake-up I’ve ever had.” He grabs his own coffee. “I mean, also you riding my dick.”
I snort out as I take a sip of the matcha. “So as long as it has to do with your dick, it’s a good morning.”
He takes his own sip of coffee before reaching over to grab the remote. “Pretty much. Also, you sitting on my face while sucking my cock.” His face doesn’t even crack a smile. “That’s a good morning too.”
“How can you sit there and talk about sex without even looking remotely aroused?” I ask him.
“Baby,” he murmurs, and I swear to God when he says that nickname the way he does, my pussy literally gets wet. “We work side by side, which means my dick is hard pretty much most of the day, so I have to go to great lengths to make sure it doesn’t show just how bad I want to fuck you on or bend you over whatever surface is closest to us. At this point, I feel like James fucking Bond.”
I shake my head. “It’s not that bad.”
“It’s not that bad,” he scoffs. “I watch you get dressed every single morning.” His voice rises. “I know exactly what’s under your clothes, or better yet, what little is under your clothes. So trust me, if I knew I wasn’t sinking into you the minute we got home, I’d be beating my meat in the bathroom hourly.”
“Well, good thing you aren’t beating your meat hourly. That would get the office talking.” We’ve been working side by side for the past two weeks. Two weeks that have been relatively quiet, aside from when Josh came down last week. After that, it’s like we both turned the corner. I didn’t block him on my phone because there is no need to. If he messages me again, I won’t answer him. It’s just that simple. He plays no role in my life anymore, and I am more than okay with moving on. Besides, Nash didn’t give me time to wallow in the what-ifs. We had the fight in the parking lot, followed by the most incredible sex that we’ve had since getting married, and we’ve had a lot of it, except that night it was just over the top. We go to work together every single day, and when we get home, we cook side by side before sitting and either watching television, which can lead to us fucking on the couch, or we forgo watching anything and just go to bed, which then is hours, and I mean hours, of us touching and getting to know each other even better. “What do you want to watch?” I ask him as I reach for the remote from him and turn on the television.
“Don’t care,” he says, and I’ve realized Nash doesn’t watch television, like ever. Which is shocking to me since I’m all about watching television. “Whatever you want to watch.”
“Really?” I put my matcha down on my bedside table, right in front of the picture of Nash I had done last week. It’s from our wedding, and it was when he was watching me walk down the aisle. It’s not like he didn’t know what I was wearing because he saw me in the dress, but his expression is one of pure joy. His eyes are light because he is smiling, and it’s not a full-face smile where his eyes crease at the corners. No, this smile is almost a smirk and a grin that says “That’s all mine.” He gives me a smile often when I walk in the room or he walks in and his eyes look for me. It is a smile that is on the top of the list of smiles he has given me.
“Really.” He tries to hide the smile forming on his face with his coffee cup at his lips. “Besides, after I finish this and eat a bit, I’m going to have dessert.” He takes a gulp of his coffee. “Then, hopefully, your mouth will be full of dick.”
“I can’t start my day without a mouth full of dick,” I say sarcastically.
“Trust me, baby.” He leans over and kisses my neck. “I know.”
I don’t answer him because he’s not fucking wrong. “What do you want to do today?” I ask him as I scroll through the DVR to search for something to watch.
“I have something set up for tonight.” He reaches for one of the wrapped sandwiches. “And I have someone coming in to cook for us.”
“What?” I ask, shocked. “What do you have set up for tonight?”
“If I wanted to tell you, don’t you think I would have told you?” He takes a bite of his bagel. “It’s called a surprise for a reason.” I grab the other wrapped sandwich, seeing it’s a bagel with egg and sausage in an everything bagel. “You’ll like it.”
“I’m sure I will.” I chew and put on my show, and even if he doesn’t admit it, he’s into it, at least for a little bit until he gets bored and slips my robe off me to rub my back, which ends with his dick in my mouth but with me also sitting on his face.
I’m at the sink fluffing my hair when he sticks his head into the bathroom. “You ready?” he asks me, and I look at him in the mirror.
“I wasn’t the one banished to my bedroom and told ‘don’t come out until I come and get you.’” I smile at him. “How could I not be ready?” I turn as he walks in and I see he’s wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, open until the middle of his chest. “Is this okay?” I ask him and see him do a sweep of my outfit. I went with a long, flowy yellow skirt that falls to my ankles but has three layers to the dress that sweep side to side when I walk.
He closes the distance to me, putting his hands on my hips. “I like this,” he says of the white shirt that is more of a crop top, showing off my stomach. His fingers rub softly. “Are you wearing a bra?” he asks me of the double-layered shirt that has cute cap sleeves with little cutouts in it and is tight around under my breasts and kicks off just a bit.
“Nope,” I say, seeing his eyes go right to my chest.
“So all I have to do is,” he says, lowering the top of the shirt, “and then do this.” He sucks a nipple into his mouth.
“Basically,” I tell him, trying not to show him how much he always gets to me. “Show me my surprise,” I urge him, and he slides his hand in mine as he walks out of our bedroom with me. “Wait.” I stop him right before we walk out of the bedroom before rushing to the closet to get my own surprise.
“What’s that?” He points at the white envelope I have in my hand. “This is a surprise,” I tell him. “You aren’t the only one who can make surprises.” Slipping my hand in his, I pull him out of the bedroom.
When we come to the bottom of the stairs, the formal living room is transformed. The couches are pushed aside, and there is a long table with two chairs in front of it. White easels are set up in front of each chair. “What is this?” I turn to ask him, seeing the bucket of ice on the side holding two bottles of white wine.
“It’s a sip and paint night. We are going to paint, and I have a chef preparing some of your favorite dishes so we can eat also,” he explains at the same time as a woman comes into the room wearing a smock over her pants and shirt.
“Hi, Zoey,” she says to me, extending her hand. “I’m Sammy, welcome to your very own sip and paint.”
“Thank you, Sammy.” I shake her hand before turning to Nash. “I can’t believe you did this.” I can’t stop the excitement of my voice. “I’ve never done this before.”
“Neither have I, but it looked like fun,” he replies, walking over to a bottle of wine and pouring me a glass. “Time to start sipping.” I take the glass from him, waiting for him to fill his own glass before holding it up to toast with him.
“To sip and paint,” I say, clinking my glass with his before looking around to make sure it’s just the two of us. “Also, just so you know”—I get up on my tippy-toes to whisper in his ear—“I’m not wearing any panties either.” I kiss him right beside his ear, and he can’t help but wrap his free hand around my waist, his hand moving down to palm my ass. “You can search, but you’ll come up empty-handed.”
He closes his eyes. “How excited are you for tonight?” His question surprises me. “Like on a scale of one to ten, if I kicked everyone out right now so I could fuck you on that table, would you be upset?”
I put my head back and laugh at him. “Very,” I tell him the truth and then turn my head when I hear footsteps coming back into the room. Sammy walks in carrying two clear bins in front of her. “What are we going to be painting?” I ask Sammy as she puts down the two clear bins.
“Cherry blossom trees,” she answers with a smile. “Take a seat whenever you are ready.”
I look over at Nash. “You can’t be trusted with anything I say.” I told him a couple of weeks ago that I saw a picture of the cherry blossom trees they have in the spring in China.
“That’s not true.” He pulls me even closer, and I melt into him. “You just have to know that once you say it, chances are I’ll do whatever it is in my power to make it come to life.”
“Well, with that said,” I say, handing him the envelope, “this isn’t anything you said, and it’s probably silly.” I suddenly get nervous when he grins at me, grabbing the envelope. I watch his hands turn over the envelope holding my breath as he opens it, pulling the little booklet out that I spent the past week doing in secret.
His eyes go big when he reads the front of it: Nash’s Naughty Coupon Book. “What?” He chuckles before flipping the front to see the next one. “Oh, I like this one,” he says. “Redeem for a day of your personal nude maid service.” He winks at me and flips the page. “Forget it, I like this one better, thirty full minutes of oral.” I roll my eyes.
“You get that anyway.” I pick up my glass of wine to take a sip as he flips to the next one.
“One lap dance!” He nods. “Yes, please.” He grins before turning to the next one. “Use for a naughty free wish. I have a wish right now, and it’s with you under this table.” He flips again. “Playtime in just heels.” He puts his head back. “I’ve never been so hard in my life. One new position every night for a week!” He looks over at me. “I’m going to get very creative for this one.” I have to cross my legs because he’s not the only one getting turned on by this. “One sex session. Anytime, anywhere. Right now, right here.” He makes me laugh. “I will do anything you ask for an entire day!” He closes his eyes and groans. “I am literally going to have to go to the bathroom and jerk off,” he says, and I can feel my cheeks getting hot. I didn’t think he would read them all aloud. “One erotic movie night. Would we recreate what is on the screen?” he asks, and I shrug because at this moment right here, I would agree to anything. “You choose the toy tonight.’” He shakes his head. “Baby, baby, baby.” I’m about to snatch it out of his hand. “A sexy all-nighter.” He looks at me. “I might have to redeem this tonight,” he says before reading the last one. “You pick the hole.” He tosses the booklet on the table before he pushes his chair away.
“What are you doing?” I ask him, grabbing his wrist.
“I’m going to kick everyone out of our house so I can use some of those coupons," he says, his eyes filled with lust, and I roll my lips.
“Nash,” I hiss at him. “I have to enjoy my gift, and then you can enjoy your gift,” I tell him, and he looks up at the ceiling as if he’s saying a secret prayer.
“Fine,” he grumbles, “but just so you know, I’m going to redeem some of those tonight.”
I lean over. “Be careful, because once they are redeemed, they won’t come around again.”
He pulls me to him, smashing his lips down on mine. “I think it’s safe to say that I’ll take my chances.” He kisses me softly. “Thank you for the gift, baby.”