16. Noaz
16
NOAZ
One of my favorite things is waking up next to Briar. It’s not often that I wake up in his arms since we both tend to move away in the night, but when he’s in bed with me, I just feel all… warm. Like my world is good. I’m still climbing uphill, but now I’m not alone.
I’ve also noticed that I almost always wake up first. Sometimes just a few minutes before him, but my eyes have always been open before his except once.
This morning—our wedding day!—is no different. We opted not to do the whole ‘not seeing each other the day of the wedding until we get married’ thing. Honestly, now that we’re integrating our lives, I don’t want a day to go by when we’re not together. This was a selfish need to be with my man.
My man, who is so damn handsome. I feel like that word fits him so well. He’s hot, too. With those sexy toned abs and beefy man chest, big biceps, and thick thighs. Chiseled jaw with super dark eyes and hair. He has distinctive Spanish features from his mother. So yeah, he’s hot, but he’s classically handsome too.
I like that word best. It sounds sophisticated.
Briar’s eyes blink open, and he stares at me. Sometimes I wonder if he’ll ever wake up and be confused about why he’s in bed with me. I’m aware we’ve moved quickly in our relationship as I know he is, too.
However, Briar immediately smiles and my racing heart relaxes.
“Morning, beautiful,” he says, his voice gruff with sleep. Now that is sexy.
“Morning.”
“We’re getting married today,” Briar says, his smile climbing. “Are you ready?”
“My stomach has been doing flips all morning. I’m as nervous as I am excited.”
In my opinion, for good reason. We’ve basically locked ourselves away in our house since we arrived at the Van Doren Estate. That means we’ve left everything in relation to our wedding in Honey Bee’s hands. And I do mean everything. The only thing we’ve been disturbed for is the single fitting we agreed to and Honey Bee escorted them here, where she shooed us into separate rooms.
I was not allowed a mirror. If Honey Bee had her way, I’d have been blindfolded. As it was, I only got glimpses of what I’ll be wearing today. When I told Briar, he just grinned and told me, ‘ Welcome to life with Honey Bee .’ It made me feel good, actually.
She called yesterday with our itinerary for today. If I remember correctly, someone will be dropping off breakfast and lunch. After lunch, I’m to go to the main house where I’ll get ready with her and whoever else I want. I chose Myro, partially out of curiosity to see how they’ll act with each other when practically alone and partially because we grew up together. We were like brothers and best friends all our childhoods. It just feels right .
Then we’ll have a first look. Then we have our ceremony with the reception directly following. Mind you, I have no idea where any of these events will be held.
I suppose I’m not nervous about our wedding, exactly. With every moment I spend with Briar, I’m further convinced that he’s the man for me. He’s the partner I’ve been waiting for my entire life.
What has me nervous is meeting his entire family for the first time— after we’re married. I’m not entirely sure he’s told them about us. About any of the events in our lives. They might think I’m roping him into something.
Also, there’s Kairo. That’ll be fun.
Briar’s finger brushes my bottom lip. I open my mouth and gently bite his thumb, making Briar grin. I scooch closer until he pulls me against him and wraps me in his arms. I’m also nervously excited about tonight. Our wedding night. The first time we’ll have sex.
“We should get up,” I say.
“Why? If I remember correctly, our itinerary says we should be relaxing until one, when we’ll be shuttled off to wherever we’re heading.”
“It’s a good thing you trust her. She could very well be burying us underground and no one would know.”
Briar snorts. “Don’t upset her, or she might.”
If that’s the case, I won’t tell her about the underground bunker. Yes, we have one. I’d be willing to bet there isn’t anything we don’t have somewhere on the Estate.
“Want to take a shower with me?”
His arms tighten. “Yeah. Definitely. ”
“Let’s go.” I kiss his jaw and pull away. He reluctantly releases me and follows me out of bed.
We’re wearing underwear. Most of what we do is with our underwear on. Since I teasingly said we were waiting to have sex until our wedding night, we’ve kind of gone with it. It makes the stolen moments of sexy time more intense. Especially since we get each other worked up, but somehow have decided this week that we aren’t even orgasming until tonight.
It’s only been a little torturous.
The shower will only push that envelope a little further.
We wash each other and maybe grope a little bit. Some unspoken agreement that we don’t touch each other’s dicks hangs in the air, so our hands remain PG-13 as we wash each other. However, our dicks touching each other’s dick is completely fine. We’ve had some fun with that.
Again, fun that doesn’t lead to an orgasm and where we’re panting after to try to calm ourselves. We need to have some fun, right?
We spend the rest of the morning lounging around. There’s breakfast waiting on my breakfast table when we finally meander out of the bathroom. My cock is still hard; I’m trying desperately not to give it any attention.
There are trays covered with metal lids to keep the heat in, bowls of fruit, platters of pastries, and beverages—juice, coffee, and tea.
“Was this catered?” Briar asks as he pulls out a chair for me.
It’s these little gestures in the privacy of our own home that convince me he’s as authentic as one comes. He’s sweet to the core.
“No. I’m guessing the staff brought it over. Honey Bee has probably already found that the main house has a full-time staff.”
He pauses as he’s sitting to look at me. “Seriously?”
I chuckle. “You can’t honestly be that surprised. Most places on the Estate are maintained by staff. Including my house, even when I’m home. Time is valuable. I’d rather spend money contributing to someone making a healthy wage than spend the time cleaning myself.”
Briar tilts his head. “When you put it that way…”
I smile. We begin pulling off all the metal covers to find far more food than either of us will eat. Briar takes it all in and frowns.
“Please tell me we don’t always get presented with food enough for ten when we’re more likely to throw it all away.”
Chuckling, I shake my head as I place my napkin on my lap. “We have a pig. They literally eat anything you put in front of them, however, ours eats our leftovers. We also have livestock guardian dogs who eat a human-food diet. Nothing goes to waste.”
“You mentioned pastures. How many animals do you have?”
I shake my head. “Dunno. I do know we have three livestock guardian dogs, a recon cat, and two border collies to keep them all in line. They’re free-roaming, though they do have a fenced-in pasture. There are sheds for sleep and vet treatments and the occasional storm, but we rarely force them to move anywhere.”
“They live in the same pasture?”
I nod as I chew. “Yep. One pig, three hairy cows like you’d find in the Scottish Highlands, a pony—because Ellory wanted a pony when we were kids—and an undisclosed number of sheep and goats. ”
“Do you eat them?”
He laughs at the way my face scrunches. “No! The sheep and goats, we use their wool and milk. The others are just for decoration.”
Briar chuckles. “I see.”
“We can visit them next week. They’re a lot of fun.”
We continue to talk about the Estate throughout breakfast and while we place the food we want to keep in storage containers. The rest I dump into the ‘pig bucket,’ which is actually just another large container outside that the ranch hands check every day. The hands we have are very good. They usually just take the container and replace it with a clean one every time, so we don’t attract unwanted wildlife.
The minutes feel like they’re both dragging and flying by. It distinctly feels like both as we sit on the back porch and stare into the trees. When it’s super quiet, we can just make out the hint of water moving from the stream in the distance.
Lunch passes in the same manner. However, we’re given food for one to share instead of enough for ten. The message is not to get too full since we’ll be having a full-catered meal in a short time. There was even a note from Honey Bee with these instructions.
“Good thing we saved some pastries and fruit,” Briar says as he brings us a bowl of fruit chunks to share while we split the sandwich.
At exactly one, there’s a knock on the door. Honey Bee is grinning when I open the door. She has a garment bag in hand, which she hands to Briar as I step outside. “Come on, Uncle Noaz. Time to get dolled up. ”
Behind her are the rest of their friends—Oakley, Haze, Levis, and Brek—all with their own garment bags.
Briar doesn’t let her drag me off right away. He kisses me, slow and sweet, so I’m walking away with my heart fluttering.
“Honestly,” Honey Bee gripes, though it’s clearly pretend since she can’t stop smiling. “You’d think I was stealing you away for a month. Not a mere hour.”
“An hour,” I repeat.
She glances at me, her smile spreading wider. “Yep. One hour and then you have your first look.”
“Where are we going?”
“The main house. By the way, no one said you live in a mansion bigger than the White House.”
I tilt my head. “I don’t think it is.”
“It is. I looked it up.”
“Well. It houses a lot of people.”
“Oh yeah? I’m not sure five counts as a lot.”
I roll my eyes. “An entire floor is strictly for staff.”
Honey Bee frowns at me. “We’re not talking attic space or basement, are we?”
Laughing, I shake my head. “No. It’s exactly like the spaces you’ve been in, but it’s all theirs. Gourmet kitchen, plenty of communal living spaces.” I wave a hand. “Not everyone lives here. Some have homes with their families or whatever. But Jalon wanted them to be comfortable while here, so one of the first things he did when he moved in was a massive remodel. We have very little turnaround in employment if you can believe it. ”
“Huh,” Honey Bee muses. “That’s… both shocking and not the least bit surprising. He’s a good man.”
“He is,” I agree.
She parks at the side door where there’s someone to take the car away. I follow her inside as she leads me down the halls like she’s been here her entire life. The room I’m brought to is one of the sitting rooms. If I’m not mistaken, in the ‘olden days,’ it was the gentleman’s cigar room or something. Jalon’s kept the aesthetic, but now everyone is free to use it.
Myro is already there, and I’m glad I chose to have him here. Watching the two of them together will be a good distraction from my nerves.
“So,” Honey Bee says as she closes the door and turns to me with a hand on her hip. I’m half expecting the ‘best friend’ talk. So I’m surprised by what she actually says. “How comfortable would you be if I blindfold you and dress you? I kind of want you to have a first look at yourself, too. I mean, you’ll be in your underwear, of course.”
I raise a brow and look at Myro. He’s leaning against a bookshelf with his arms crossed over his chest, grinning as he looks between us.
“Uh… Okay… That’s not awkward at all.”
She grins. “I’m so damn excited about this, and I really want you to be able to take it in all at once. Piecemeal is cool and all; I’m sure you’ll be able to appreciate the beauty, but all together will be breathtaking.”
Sighing, I nod. “Okay. Let’s see what happens.”
“Cool,” she says and turns her back on me as she heads for the garment bags. Yes, plural. “Strip, Uncle. ”
It’s both endearing and strange having her call me uncle. I get why she does. My nephews do and when you constantly hear it, you’re more likely to repeat it. Still. It’s a little strange.
With another glance at Myro, I undress. I’m not wearing anything exciting to begin with, though. Loose pants and a knitted vest. Slipping out of my shoes, I push them aside. Peel off my socks, then drape my shirt and pants on the side.
Myro offers me a sleep mask. “Best to roll with it.”
Frowning, I take it from him and place it over my eyes.
“They’re ready,” Myro says.
“Ohhh, those are super cute underwear!” Honey Bee exclaims.
Myro laughs loudly.
I huff. “Not at all awkward.”
“Sorry, sorry. Okay, all you have to do is keep your balance, but let me move you around. Okay? I swear, you’re going to love this.”
“I trust you,” I say, slightly surprised to find I believe my words.
“Good,” she says, her voice much quieter than her exuberance had been. “I’m really glad, Uncle Noaz. I love Briar with all my heart and I really want you to like me too.”
“I feel like this conversation should go the other way. I’m also waiting on some threat to my bits if I hurt him or something.”
She’s placed my hand on her shoulder for balance and taps my leg to get me to lift it.
“Unnecessary. You know he has five very good friends. You’re just one person. It goes without saying that we’ll drown you in the big lake if you hurt him. ”
Just five, huh? I keep that thought to myself. No doubt Myro is equally amused. However, I don’t miss the sentiment behind her words.
“However, I’m not concerned. I’ve seen the way you look at him. I can’t imagine two people more perfect for each other. He’s been waiting for you, Uncle Noaz. For a very long time.”
My breath catches. It’s way too early to cry.
We’re quiet as Honey Bee continues to dress me. Finally, she guides me forward, and with her voice close to my ear, she whispers, “You ready?”
Taking a breath, I nod, and she removes my sleep mask.