Chapter 11 #2
Benny ignored her. “You have every right to be mad at me and trust me, I’ve been suffering here without you, but I had to sit in the mess that I created. Now, I’m ready to clean it up.”
“Well, we can try again another day. I’m ready to get in my bed.”
“Lorielle, please.” He grabbed her hand and was pleased to see her ring was still on her finger. That let him know he still had a fighting chance. “Please.”
Benny took a chance. He moved in, and when she didn’t move away, he let his lips touch hers. It was a simple peck to test the waters. He went in for another and another, trailing his lips down her neck to her hot spot.
“Benny,” she called his name on a sigh, and it was like music to his ears.
Her hand came to the back of his head, and he pulled back to look into her eyes. “You remember our promise? If you’re a woman of your word, then you have to forgive me.”
When their lips connected that time, Lorielle was ready, slipping her tongue in his mouth. Her body moved against him.
He groaned into their kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. He walked her back a few steps until they fell onto the bed. His hand cupped her leg, bringing it to his hip.
He didn’t just want Lorielle; he craved her.
She was his drug of choice and while she was away, he had been fiending.
Benny’s only thought was Lorielle. He inhaled her vanilla scent.
He enjoyed the smoothness of her body as he caressed her skin.
The taste of her on his tongue was heavenly and purely her.
Lorielle pulled away to catch her breath. He stared at her.
“It scares me how much I love you,” she confessed. “I can’t even stay mad at you. I just want to love you. Don’t take that for granted, Benny. I don’t think I can come back from a heartbreak from you.”
“Put your clothes on. I want to show you something.”
She left the shirt and shorts. Instead, she slipped on an orange tube dress that stopped a little above the ankle. It clung to every curve of her body. She didn’t bother with underwear and that had him hard the whole ride to his house.
However, this wasn’t about his flesh. His soul needed something only this moment could satisfy. Benny let her inside their home. “You’re bringing your stuff back too.”
She chuckled. “It never left. I moved it to the room down here.” The master was upstairs, and apparently, she had moved her belongings to one of the spare bedrooms downstairs.
“So, you were never leaving me?”
“I remembered the promise, our vows. But don’t get it confused. I’ll leave broken and all, and even if I can’t recover, you won’t be able to tell. I’ll be around here smiling and ignoring you at family functions, then crying my eyes out at home.”
“There are no more tears. Come on.”
Benny led her to the sliding doors of the living room. On the patio was a complete set-up of the evening of their wedding day. It was six in the afternoon but waiting until later tonight when her flight landed at two would have killed him.
“Benny…”
Lorielle admired the candlelight dinner, and he could tell when her ears perked up to the song that was playing. It was the same song from their first dance.
His event planner was golden, coming through for him like she always did. Plus, slipping her a little extra didn’t hurt as well. She had everything set up for him. He knew she and a chef were working out of the guest house to make sure tonight would be perfect.
He had gone all out, and it was only half of her surprise.
“I want to relive that night over, because it was the best day of my life, but before we eat, it’s something I want to show you.
” He led her to the small table tucked away out of view.
He pulled off the sheet and revealed a clay figure of the castle they got married in.
Their names and the date they got married was on the front of the castle in the bottom right corner.
Lorielle gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. “How? When?”
“I wish I could take all the credit, but I had an artist take a picture I gave him and turned it into clay.”
“The detail…” Lorielle ran her fingers over the clay structure. “Lord, this had to cost a fortune.”
“A small fortune, but you’re worth it.”
She moved into his arms, and he held her. Something so simple, like her being in his arms, brought him so much peace. He couldn’t lose her, and he would do everything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen.
“I had to check myself, Lorielle. Tara almost won. She set out to cause damage in our relationship, and I was so caught up in my feelings about everything that her plan had worked. But I won’t let her or anyone else or anything else come between us.
We’ll fight them together, and I’ll know we’ll conquer. ”
She kissed him. “That’s all I want—to be your partner in life.”
“Let me be your protector and your best friend.” He threw in the last part to make her smile.
She giggled. “I’m going to tell Jo.”
He laughed. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you too.”
Benny and Lorielle talked and ate until the sun set. Then when night fell, they danced under the stars as they did the night they were married. Afterwards, he took her into their home and made love to her like he did that night except with more tenderness, more care, and more love.