Chapter Eight #2
“I’ve had these for so long, Charlie, waiting for you to say yes. Something I started to believe would never happen. I can’t bear to be without you, you hold the key to my heart, and without you by my side, I might as well not exist.”
“Alex, I’ve been such a fool. There’s no excuse for my bad behavior.” I started down at the shiny band. “Sapphires?”
“Yes, sapphires, just as blue as your eyes. When you’re not close enough for me to see them all I’ll have to do is look at the ring on my finger. Every time I’ll see your eyes staring back at me.”
My lips quivered as the tears I’d managed to hold back fell. He was going to be mine—forever. I jumped into his lap, and he wrapped his arms around me. Everything was gonna be alright. “Your turn.” I removed his band from the box and slid it onto his finger and kissed it.
“Come on,” he said, standing us both up, “My fiancé and I are in dire need of a shower.” He winked. “Let’s get your sexy ass out of those horrendous clothes. Remind me to burn them later.”
“Charlie?” Alex asked, soaping up the bath sponge.
“Yes, my love?”
“Why is it when we traveled back in time, I remembered nothing, yet coming home, I remember everything?”
“Great question I wish I knew the answer to. I believe the holder of the watch during the travel is the one who’s aware.
We must’ve lost physical contact with each other when we were in the middle of traveling.
That removed you from the equation which I’m guessing is how you ended up in your great-grandfather’s life.
Like, you had to be put somewhere, and that impacted your memories.
Coming home, I had a death grip on your shirt and refused to loosen it for anything. ”
“Turn around and let me get your back.” When the sponge touched my skin, he chuckled. “I can’t believe I almost married a woman. What the in hell would I do with a vagina for the rest of my life?” We both laughed at that.
“One of my best features is facing you and you choose that moment to bring up a woman you damn near married?” I wiggled my butt and he trailed a soapy finger along my crack.
I leaned forward and braced my hands against the tile wall, hoping this was going where I wanted it.
Where I needed it, with Alex buried deep inside me.
“God, how I missed this ass,” he said, his thumb circled my hole.
“Trust me, it missed you too.” The tip of his thumb slipped inside. “Mmm, more.”
“Bossy little bottom, aren’t ya?” He slid a soapy finger all the way in, crooking it just right and hitting that sweet, sweet spot. “That’s it, baby. Let me in.” One finger became two. I pressed back, fucking myself on them.
“Mmm, more.”
“You ready for me?” he toyed, removing his fingers and replacing them with his cockhead.
“You know I…” That was all I got out before he pushed inside. The pain, a firm reminder of what my stupidity nearly cost me.
His arms came around my waist as we stood there for a minute, the weight of this moment hitting us both hard. Then he whispered, “Home.”
The weight of that one word that meant more than so many others he could have chosen right then, was unlike anything I’d ever felt.
“Charlie,” Alex bit my shoulder. “Brace yourself. This won’t be gentle.” Hard and fast, a reminder to both of us of what we have.
He rotated his hips, pegging my prostate with each thrust. On hand on my throat, the other the other over my chest. Alex was in charge and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I loved it when his dominant side surfaced. The need to come had me reaching for my cock, but he slapped my hand away.
“I want you to come just from me being inside of you.” He tilted my head to the side and covered my mouth with his. I whimpered into the possessive kiss.
Steam filled the shower, surrounding us. The feeling of being trapped and taken by the man who held my heart took me over the edge. I came so hard, so fast, had the wall not been there I’d have fallen.
“Damn, when you come, and it squeezes me inside you. It’s just…fuck,” Alex moaned, thrust as deep as he could and came. I felt the throb, the warmth inside me. His voice saying home, a sweet echo in my head.
Shower sex had its perks when it came to clean up. We finished washing then headed downstairs to see what we had to eat. Grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup was about it.
“So, I was thinking,” Alex came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, “that we could tell our family that we’re engaged tomorrow night during dinner at Mom and Dad’s.” He kissed the back of neck, raining chills down my spine.
I hid my grin and pretended to be serious. “Really, and why would you want to do that?”
He stilled behind me. “So, you don’t want to tell anyone?”
I turned in his arms so fast, I nearly whacked him with the spatula. “I want to tell the world you’re mine, Alexander Joshua Travers. Nothing means more to me than being able to call you my husband. I think tomorrow night at dinner is the perfect time to make our announcement.”
His face lit up and he smiled then picked me up and swung me around like I weighed next to nothing. “I love you, Charles Thomas DuBois.”
“I love you too, Alex, now why don’t you pull out the bowls and silverware, so we can finally eat.” We got situated and dug in. My brain was working overtime, off on wedding planning. “What would you say to getting married in a museum?”
“Well, that depends.” He got serious and set his spoon down.
“On what?” I wasn’t sure where this was headed and hadn’t expected to receive an ultimatum.
“Will the watch be anywhere in the vicinity?” It took a second for his question to sink in.
“I think I can make sure the evil has left the building. I remembered when I was going through my dad’s notes, the name Nolan Bradley kept coming up.
He’s a museum curator that father had contact with him from time to time.
I’ll give him first shot at Dad’s collection if he’s interested.
As much as I love history, not knowing what any of this stuff is kinda gives me the willies after the whole pocket watch incident.
” I wasn’t about to touch something else and see if a Genie appeared.
“I couldn’t agree more, and I think if they allow it then getting married there would make sense, as long as they promise to keep the artifacts safely locked away.” I have a feeling this whole event terrified Alex more than he was letting on. “Do you have a date in mind?”
“How about New Year’s Eve? Out with the old and in with the new and all that jazz?” It was corny, but at the same time it could be a great way to kick off our new life as husbands.
Alex reached over and took my hand in his, gently running his thumb over my ring. “I think that sounds wonderful, Charlie. It’s been a rough year, and ending it with such a beautiful event, full of love, sounds perfect for you.”
Why Alex thought so lowly, often referring to himself as a dumb jock, was beyond me. He always had kind, beautiful words. At least for me, he did. “For us, Alex. For us.” I leaned across the table and kissed him.
We arrived for dinner at Mom and Dad’s house, I loved how that rolled off the tongue now, with a bottle of wine to celebrate our engagement. Champagne would’ve given it away, however, in our haste, we forgot to remove our rings beforehand and ended up being greeted by a shrieking mom.
“Do not tell me you boys had the audacity to get married without us there!” she shouted, her hands wildly flailing about.
“No, Mom, we’d never do that,” Alex assured her. “We were hoping to announce our engagement, but so much for that.” Alex looked at me and shrugged. “We brought wine.”
She screamed, “You’re engaged! Congratulations! I am so happy and now I get to plan a wedding.” She patted our faces and kissed our cheeks before dancing from the room. Literally.