68. Ember
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
EMBER
“ M ax, no.” I sigh, dropping my head against the plush chair of the bridal salon. “I’m not trying that thing on.”
He groans and slides the slinky white fabric back onto its rack. “You’re being so difficult.”
“I already picked my dress. It’s been ordered. It’s on its way. Why do I need another one?”
“Another two,” he corrects me as he flicks through another rack, not bothering to look back at me. This is the third time this week we’ve had this conversation, and I’m starting to wonder what the fuck I was thinking, giving him free rein to plan the wedding.
It’s only been two weeks since they rescued me. My bruises have barely faded, but here I am in my fourth bridal dress store of the week.
He’s driving me insane.
“You know it’s easier if you just agree with him,” Darius tells me from the chair beside me, where he’s sipping a glass of champagne.
I roll my eyes. “Max, please. I just want a simple wedding. I want to walk down the aisle in the dress I already chose, and then I want to go on my honeymoon, where I’ve been promised a lot of filthy sex. I don’t need three dresses.”
Darius snorts out a laugh beside me, and Max finally looks at me, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Okay, how about we compromise on two? The dress you chose and a short one for the reception? Makes it easier to dance?”
“I don’t dance,” I say, but a flicker of a memory comes to life in my mind of the night I met Orion. Of walking into that dark room and telling him that I couldn’t dance for shit, and I can’t help but smile at the thought.
He sighs and types something into his phone. “Dance lessons added to the list.”
I groan and drink what’s left in my own champagne glass.
Why did I agree to all of this again?
I yawn as I step into the penthouse, exhaustion weighing down on me as I make a beeline for the bedroom.
I have no idea where Orion is, but I need a nap, and then I need to ask if he’s sure we can’t elope.
Weirdly enough, he was part of the driving force for this whole wedding debacle.
He was insistent that he wanted me to have the wedding of my dreams, even though I told him repeatedly that the wedding of my dreams was a courthouse in a comfortable dress before he takes me to Paris for our honeymoon.
I know it’s cliché as hell going to the city of love for your honeymoon, but it’s one of the only places I ever dreamed of going when I was younger, and it seemed like as good an option as any.
I strip out of my dress as I walk, tossing the fabric in the general direction of the hamper before face-planting on the mattress.
At last.
I haven’t been sleeping great since I’ve been home, and it’s really starting to take its toll on me. Add that to the side effects of having the IUD taken out, and my body is rioting constantly, but the doctor seems to think that I’ll be back to normal soon, and then I have a decision to make.
One that I haven’t grown the balls to bring up to Orion.
“Dress shopping was rough?” My almost husband chuckles from the doorway, and my only answer is a long groan.
His soft footsteps tell me he’s moving closer, and then his fingers trail down my bare spine, making my heart beat harder in my chest.
“Look at you, all spread out and ready for me. My perfect good girl.”
His words leave a trail of goose bumps along my skin, and I curse how easily this man can turn me into a puddle of need.
“I’m too tired for whatever you’re thinking,” I tell him weakly.
“That’s okay. I can do what I want while you’re sleeping.”
I soft gasp falls from my lips as he brushes his palms over the curve of my ass. “Orion,” I whisper.
“Yes, my Little Flame?”
I suck in a breath, steeling myself for the conversation we need to have before this progresses any further.
The doctor said for at least the first two weeks after having the IUD out that there’s almost a zero percent chance of falling pregnant, but we’re at the end of that timeframe now, and if he fucks me, more could come from it than a couple of orgasms.
I’m not sure if I’m ready for kids, but it felt like a decision we should make together. Orion is older than I am by close to a decade, and he might want to start a family sooner rather than later, meaning long-term birth control is unnecessary.
“I’m not protected right now,” I blurt and immediately bury my face in the pillow in mortification. I’m certain I could have broached this a whole hell of a lot better.
Idiot.
His exploration of my skin pauses, and I hold my breath as I wait for his response.
“Okay,” he says carefully. “Is that something you want to remedy?”
“I don’t know,” I reply softly. “I wanted to know what you wanted.”
“I want whatever you do, Ember.” His hands wrap around my shoulders carefully, and he tugs me up into his lap.
His fingers trail down my cheek as his dark eyes flick over my features, committing them to memory like he does every time.
“If you want to have a football team of kids, then that’s what we’ll do.
And if you don’t want any kids at all, I’m sure we could get a puppy or something. ”
“A puppy?” I giggle.
“Fuck yeah. I’ve always wanted a pet.”
“You have?” Something about the scary crime boss with a small animal seems wildly farfetched, but I can’t say it wouldn’t be cute to have a puppy running around the place.
He chuckles, pressing a kiss to the tip of my nose. “I guess it’s one of those things that stuck with me from when I was a kid. Wanting a pet, like the other children at school.”
I sigh and press my face into his throat. “I don’t know if I ever want to have kids, Orion. It’s something I never gave much thought, but when the doctor asked me what I wanted to do about birth control, I didn’t want to take that option away from you if you wanted to start a family soon.”
His fingers feed into the back of my hair and tug, forcing me to look up at him. There’s so much affection in his gaze that it makes my heart explode in my chest.
“Selfishly, I want to keep you all to myself for at least a while longer. Why don’t we revisit the topic in a few years? I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready to share you, but you might change your mind about wanting to be a mom.”
I nod, wrapping my arms around his neck and tugging his mouth to mine. “A few years sounds perfect.”
He kisses me hard, and before I realize it, I’m straddling his lap with my pussy grinding on his hard cock.
“Maybe it’s finally time I take your last hole, Little Flame,” he murmurs against my lips. “Seeing as I can’t fill your pretty little cunt with my cum.”
I groan, my hips rolling on their own accord and earning me a rough chuckle that makes my heart burst.
“Oh, you like the idea of me fucking your ass, Ember?” He trails kisses down my throat. “Well, what kind of man would I be if I didn’t make all your dreams come true?”