40. Always and Forever #2
Dinner was at the estate restaurant, a farm-to-table experience that had Davina moaning over every course in a way that was frankly inappropriate for public consumption.
We shared a bottle of the reserve cabernet she'd loved, talked about everything and nothing, and played footsie under the table like teenagers on a first date.
My phone buzzed one final time as we finished dessert.
Brooke: All systems go. Every guest is tucked away for the night. The ceremony starts at 11 am. I'll be at your cabin at 8 am with the dress. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, you marry your wife. AGAIN. (I'm crying as I type this.)
I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.
“Okay, seriously.” Davina set down her fork, eyeing me. “What is with you and your phone today? You keep checking it and making faces.”
“Faces?”
“Happy faces. Suspicious happy faces.”
“Maybe I'm just happy to be here with you.”
“Uh-huh.” She wasn't buying it, but she was too relaxed from wine and good food to push further. “Well, whatever secret you're keeping, I hope it's a good one.”
“It is.” I reached across the table and took her hand. “Trust me.”
We walked back to the cabin under a sky thick with stars. Davina tucked herself under my arm and sighed, and I thought about how a year ago, I would have laughed at anyone who suggested this would be my life.
A wife I adored and a future I couldn't wait for.
Back in the cabin, I started a fire in the stone fireplace while Davina changed into something more comfortable, a silk robe that clung to her curves in ways that made concentration difficult.
She emerged from the bedroom with two glasses and the bottle of wine we'd brought from the tasting, settling onto the plush rug in front of the flames.
“Come here.” She patted the space beside her. “I can't believe tomorrow marks a whole year.”
I joined her on the floor, accepting the glass she pressed into my hand as the fire crackled and popped.
In less than twelve hours, I would be standing at an altar watching her walk toward me, and I would promise to love her in front of everyone who mattered. This time, fully conscious and completely certain.
“Dallas.”
“Hmm?”
Davina shifted closer, her robe falling open at the collar. “What are you thinking about? You've had this look on your face all day.”
“What kind of look?”
“Like you're keeping a secret. A good one.”
I laughed. “You're very perceptive.”
“I've had a lot of practice reading your face.” She took a sip of wine, studying me over the rim. “At first, I thought you were completely unreadable. The cocky wrestler with the perfect smile, never showing what was really going on underneath.”
“And now?”
“Now I can tell when you're happy. When you're stressed. When you're pretending to be annoyed but really find me hilarious.” She set down her glass and reached up to touch my jaw, her fingers tracing the line of stubble I hadn't bothered to shave. “Right now, you look like a man with a secret.”
“Maybe I am.”
“Gonna share with the class?”
“Tomorrow.” I caught her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. “Ask me again tomorrow. I'll tell you everything.”
She raised an eyebrow but didn't push. That was one of the things I loved about her; she knew when to dig and when to let things breathe.
“Fine. Tomorrow.” She clinked her glass against mine. “Happy anniversary, Dallas.”
“Happy anniversary, Davina.”
We drank in a comfortable silence, watching the fire.
I thought about everything we'd been through, the antagonism, the accidental marriage, the fake relationship that had become the realest thing I'd ever known.
Sam and her lies. Davina packing her bags with tears streaming down her face.
How close I'd come to losing everything because someone else decided my wife wasn't good enough.
“Hey.” I set down my wine glass and turned to face her fully. “I need you to know something.”
“That sounds serious.”
“It is.” I took her hands in mine, feeling the familiar warmth of her skin, the way her fingers automatically intertwined with mine.
“This past year has been... I didn't know I could feel like this. Before you, I thought marriage was stupid, and then I woke up in Vegas with a ring on my finger and a hangover the size of Texas.”
“Dallas...”
“It was the best accident of my entire life.” I squeezed her hands. “You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I know I don't say it enough, or in the right ways…”
“You say it plenty.”
“...but I need you to hear it. Really hear it.” I held her gaze, willing her to understand the weight of what I was saying.
“I am the luckiest man alive. Not because of the championships or the career or any of that. Because of you. Because somehow, in the chaos of that Vegas weekend, I stumbled into a life with a woman who makes me want to be better. Who makes me feel like maybe I already am.”
Her eyes glistened in the firelight. “You're going to make me cry.”
“Good. I like when you cry. It means I've said something right for once.”
She laughed, watery and warm. “Jerk.”
“Your jerk.” I reached up to brush a tear from her cheek. “Forever. If you'll have me.”
“I already have you.” She sniffled. “A whole year, remember? Ring and everything.”
“I remember.” Sort of, I added silently. But tomorrow, we'll make new memories. Better ones.
She leaned in and kissed me.
Not a quick peck. Not a casual brush of lips. A real kiss, the kind that started slow and built into more. Her mouth was warm and tasted of wine, and when her tongue slid against mine, every coherent thought evaporated like morning mist.
Just wait until tomorrow, I thought, the words a feverish chant as her mouth moved against mine. But my body was already betraying that promise, every nerve ending alight at her touch.
The kiss deepened, turning from tender to desperate in a heartbeat.
She tasted of cabernet and the sweet dessert we'd shared, an intoxicating mix that went straight to my head.
My hands came up to cradle her face, thumbs stroking her cheeks as I poured everything, a year's worth of love, of gratitude, of sheer blinding want, into that one kiss.
She broke away first, breath coming in soft, shallow gasps. Her eyes were dark pools of desire, flames reflecting in them. She didn't say a word. Just looked at me with a possessiveness that made my blood heat, her fingers going to the silk tie of her robe.
She loosened it with a single tug.
The robe fell open.
Nothing underneath.
The air left my lungs in a rush. She was beautiful, my own personal goddess kneeling in front of me.
“Davina...” My voice came out ragged, torn from my throat.
“Shhh.” She placed a finger over my lips, her smile a seductive curve. “My turn to talk.”
She pushed my shoulders back until I was lying flat on the rug, wool soft and scratchy against my back. She loomed over me, hair forming a golden curtain around our faces.
“I love you,” she whispered, lips brushing mine with each word. “I love the way you planned all this. I love the secret you're keeping. I love that you're mine.”
She kissed me again. Then her mouth began a slow journey downward. Soft, open-mouthed kisses along my jaw, down the column of my throat, her tongue darting out to taste my skin. I groaned, head falling back.
Every press of her lips was a brand. She took her time, worshiping every inch of me as she moved lower.
She nipped at my collarbone, soothed the sting with her tongue, and continued her descent.
She unbuttoned my shirt with painstaking slowness, pushing the fabric apart.
She leaned down and pressed a kiss right over my pounding heart.
Her hands roamed over my shoulders, my chest, nails scraping lightly over my nipples, making me jolt beneath her.
“You're so responsive,” she murmured against my sternum. “I love knowing exactly what I do to you.”
I'm yours, I thought. I have always been yours.
Her lips trailed lower, across my stomach, her tongue dipping into my navel. I was shaking, every muscle tightened. My cock strained against my pants, desperate for her attention.
As if reading my mind, her fingers went to my belt buckle. The clink of metal was obscenely loud in the quiet room, undercut only by the crackle of the fire and my harsh breathing. She undid the button, slowly drew down the zipper.
The look she gave me then was pure, unadulterated sin. Her eyes locked with mine, holding my gaze captive as she hooked her fingers in my waistband and tugged everything down in one smooth motion.