Chapter 48
ISAIAH
I’m standing in the foyer at the mansion with Gatlin and Monty, playing it cool. It’s Christmas Eve, which—after the day I met Cassidy—is about to become my favorite day of the year.
Like last year, the whirlwind activity started early today. Delicious smells spill down the hall from the kitchen. The combined scent of turkey and the gingerbread cookies the kids baked this afternoon makes my mouth water.
It was Gatlin’s side of the family’s turn to trim the Douglas fir in the living room. I met Gatlin’s brother, who arrived for the occasion. Dash lives full time with his wife and daughter in a custom tiny house Cassidy’s cousin, Cadence, built. Though they stick out the winter season at ski resorts and aren’t moving around every few days, we traded stories about traveling. Like most everyone at the ranch, the easy-going guy gives me the feeling I’ve known him forever.
Since I no longer qualify as company, it was my job to help Joe, Colton, and Adam roll the round tables into place. And because she no longer works at the B promises of what’s to come in our master bedroom later tonight.
Except, the groom’s not supposed to see the bride before the wedding.
Cassidy’s two female cousins move to the side as I hurdle up the grand staircase to Cassidy’s old room, where she’s getting ready for the intimate ceremony we planned.
I hadn’t wanted to propose on the roughest day of our lives. However, I didn’t get the sign I asked for at the conference room table. I got it when I hit my head getting out of the SUV.
I’d been caressing Cassidy’s finger, wondering when I’d ever find the perfect time to slip that ring on her finger, when I remembered the plans I make for tomorrow aren’t promised.
Since the first crack on the head, I’ve learned to rely on Cassidy in the hardest moments. We were grieving over a dream, except I hadn’t lost everything I wanted. I still had half of my heart. The half I’d known I’d lose if I hadn’t had the courage to trust Cassidy with my secrets.
I’ve overcome a lot, but the anxious feeling I’ll lose more still strikes when I least expect it. And it definitely feels like a lead weight in my stomach as I reach for the knob and barge in.
Rhiannon is standing by the bed, looking at her watch. “Forty-three seconds. What took you so long?” she snorts.
The fact that I drop everything and cater to Cassidy has become a reliable joke for Rhiannon.
I know she’s loved and lost. The problem is Rhiannon hasn’t loved again. So, she doesn’t understand the commitment to making every second count.
“Where’s Cass?” My words come out in a rush.
Rhiannon points to the bathroom. “I’m going downstairs,” she says. I hardly hear her.
This time I knock.
“Cass?”
“Don’t come in here, Isaiah, unless you’re certain about the vows we’re making.” Cassidy’s voice doesn’t sound as if she’s having second thoughts.
I need to get to the bottom of her breaking tradition. So, unflinching, I step into the bathroom.
“Jesus Christ,” I mumble beneath my breath. Then, not trusting what I see, I blink.
The room is lit by flickering candles set on the counters and the edge of the tub, and the large window frames Cassidy. Behind her, the entire estate is ablaze. Strings of bulbs twinkle in the darkness, illuminating the grape trellis and creating a path between the inn and the winery.
But it’s not the spectacular view outside that captures my attention. Cassidy’s wedding gown is still hanging from a hook on the wall.
I rake my eyes from her silk-covered toes along her legs to where garters hold up translucent white stockings. Between her legs is the tiniest pair of panties I’ve seen in my life. No more than a triangular patch of lace with a scalloped edge embroidery at the top that appears to be the crown of a tree. The indent of her navel rises above the garter belt. Then an expanse of skin smooth as churned butter. A sheer bra held together by nothing but criss-crossing silk straps lifts her breasts high, so I can admire the cherry-topped mounds of soft flesh.
The Cartier diamonds I gave her, that match her engagement ring, shimmer around her neck and dangle from her ears.
Cassidy slides both hands up her side, caressing her bare midriff. She squeezes her tits, lolling her head back, and lets them go. Stretching like a cat with her hands in the air, she leaves me panting.
Her gaze is nothing short of suggestive. When she drops her eyes to the fly of my suit pants, I’m unable to hide my reaction.
Holy shit. My blood has rushed south faster than I pounded up the stairs to make sure she was okay. Although this woman has always had that effect on me.
“Did I conjure you?” I ask.
Cassidy is a fantasy come to life.
She shakes her head, smiling coyly. “This is the last time we’ll be in this room before Gracyn renovates it as a bridal suite. I thought we should christen it.”
“But, chou—”
She holds up her hand to stop me from arguing. Cassidy went off birth control last month. We planned to start trying after the wedding.
Right after the wedding.
I’m hoping my Christmas gift to Cassidy is delivered by stork and arrives in nine months.
She twists her flat palm into a beckoning finger that tugs me toward her by an imaginary string.
“Why do you think I asked you if you were sure before I let you come in here?”
I thumb my lower lip as I erase the distance between us. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. Not a private preview of my fiancée’s bridal trousseau, that’s for certain,” I admit, taking in how sexy my wife-to-be is wearing the skimpy bra and panties.
Throughout the summer and fall, Cassidy held the line about not getting pregnant before marriage. It was a smart decision. We knew we wanted more kids, but it had never been just us without a baby thrown in the mix. We spent the remainder of the tour getting to know one another without interruption. It felt like a continuation of those first two weeks after we met.
Yet, Cassidy’s not the least bit bashful asking for Christmas to come early.
Dear lord, please make sure it’s not me that does. Cassidy half naked in front of that window? Dream come freaking true.
Cassidy keeps my eyes on her chest by playing with her dainty necklace. Her hips shift. She turns, splaying her hands on the glass and tips her ass up. Her sultry reflection is mirrored back at me.
“Like this, Isaiah? Is this how you wanted to fuck me?” She licks her glossy lips.
I groan. Aside from more of those satin straps, tied into a teensy bow below the small of her back, her ass is bare.
I fumble with my belt and unzip my fly. Letting my knees catch my slacks and underwear, I shove my shirt up, pulling my hard cock out. I close my eyes, willing it to settle before I slip into her sweet heat.
When my life flipped to the B side of the album, I wound up with a surprising number one hit. The kind of selfless, supportive relationship with equal parts give and take I hadn’t considered possible.
I can’t believe Cassidy planned this.
My front flush with her back, I kick Cassidy’s feet apart and move the string between her ass cheeks to the side. A single finger tests her wetness. She’s so ready for me.
Her lips part on a tiny panting “O” almost as if to deny what she says next.
“That’s not what I want.”
“Tell me.” I remove my hand from between her legs and coat the head of my dick with her honey.
“I want you inside of more than my heart,” she whimpers. “I want to feel you growing inside of me.”
“You want to make a baby?” I line up at her entrance, using my erection to lift her onto her toes as soon as she says “Yes.”
Cassidy’s breasts smash against the cold glass. I cinch my arm around her waist, pinch a pebbled nipple through the see-through lace, and pump my hips deeper.
Below us, Kingsbrier is spread out, welcoming in the darkness.
She reaches back, stroking the nape of my neck, and twists her head. Our lips meet and I kiss her with a deep sense of urgency.
We’ve fucked, and we’ve made love. However, waiting for Cassidy to be ready to have my baby has been the death of me.
“I love you, Cass.” I’ve been in love with her since day one.
If it weren’t for circumstances beyond my control, I probably would have swept Cassidy off her feet and convinced her to marry me by last New Year’s.
We’ve always wanted the same thing… Each other.
“I love you.” A misty sheen covers her wide eyes.
I’m somehow able to read between the lines
Cassidy might’ve planned tonight, but two very pregnant women have been helping her get ready for our wedding. And for as happy as she is for her cousins, enduring it has hurt her as much as it has me.
“Hurry. Hurry, please,” she begs. “I’m tired of waiting.”
She thrusts her ass back. Her opposite hand kneads my glute. Our bodies slap together each time she pulls me further inside of her, meeting every jerk of my hips.
Cassidy’s bra strap falls and I lick a line from her neck to her shoulder. Retracing to her ear, I say, “Just so you know, there’s going to be a curtain call.”
The bride and groom are going to be late to their own wedding.
I grab Cassidy’s left hand from my hip and tuck her arm in the middle of her tits. Then I slide my other hand down her too-flat stomach and under her g-string, circling her clit.
“Mmm… Isaiah,” she moans as she comes.
Her tight grip tips me over the edge, and I follow, spilling into her.
I’m counting down the days until she starts showing.
By this time next year, we’ll have brought our new baby home and they’ll be celebrating their first Christmas at Kingsbrier.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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