by Miley Maine
It was not long before I finally drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, she was still right there in my arms.
Epilogue
Julie
Six Months Later
I was married.
The idea didn’t fully hit me until I heard the words “I do” echoed back at me in front of everyone. The words bounced around in my ears as I looked into Tony’s eyes. His gaze was so full of love. The entire congregation erupted in cheers as we kissed and held each other for the first time as man and wife. This was the moment I’d been waiting for all my life.
I looked over at Lizzy and Nellie, both of them crying their eyes out in their bridesmaid’s outfits. Lizzy was my maid of honor. She was so happy for me. I had the best friends anyone could ever have, and I knew that if there was ever anything that I needed then I could have it from them. I wished them both the same type of happiness.
After the wedding and the reception, Tony and I went back to the mansion. The wedding was there in Anchorage. I loved the house, the wilderness everywhere, and the beautiful Alaskan sky that hung above me at all times. Especially this time of year, when the temperature was beautiful, and the snow was far away from us.
“So, how does it feel to be Mrs. Tony Caplan?” Tony asked as we relaxed in the back of the limo. We were heading toward the mansion, where we would get a good night’s sleep and then head out to the jet tomorrow on our way to Rome for the first leg of our honeymoon. We were going to Rome, then to London, then Paris, and last Tokyo. They were places I’d always wanted to go to and now I finally had the opportunity. I was worried that Tony would go crazy being away from work for that long, but he would manage. He assured me that it would be fine. I figured we’d make it three days before he started to freak out about it. The guy was addicted to his work. But then again, so was I.
“It feels wonderful,” I said.
He held me and rubbed my shoulders. “Your parents were both in tears. Even your dad. That floored me. That guy doesn’t act like he’s ever cried in his entire life.”
“No, he hasn’t,” I said. “That’s my dad for you. Your father-in-law. How does that sound?”
“He sounds great,” Tony replied. “We get along well. He’s a good guy, as long as I don’t have to sit and listen to him gripe about how Joe Montana is the best quarterback the world will ever see, and this Tom Brady fellow is a total hack.”
I laughed. “Well, he has a point.”
Tony groaned. Tom Brady was his all-time favorite player. I think it was because he’d hung out with him a few times and they were kind of friends. I’d suggested arranging a meeting between Joe Montana and my father some time, and Tony decided that would be a good Christmas gift for next year.
The next morning, we got up early and were on the jet by seven-thirty. The plane trip to Rome was about twelve hours, but on a private jet that felt more like a hotel room, the trip was a breeze. I was worried that I was becoming too comfortable with this ultra-rich way of living. I didn’t want to become one of those people that thought anything they wanted was within reach, even if it was. That was not who I had always been. I decided I would have to find a way to guard myself against that. I didn’t want anyone to treat me any differently.
We arrived in Rome and we headed the penthouse apartment that Tony had rented for the occasion. I wanted to ask him how much money he was spending for this trip, but somehow, I felt it was impolite to ask. We were married now, but this was all money that Tony had earned. I just didn’t want him to think I was being nosy. But I didn’t want him to throw money away in a ridiculous manner either just to pamper me. That wasn’t what I was into. I figured I’d ask him later, or I might just let it ride since this was our honeymoon after all. If we couldn’t go nuts and waste money then, I didn’t know when a good time for it would be.
We got settled into the apartment and I decided to change into some more comfortable clothes. I was sick of wearing what I had on, besides I felt like I needed a shower and a good night’s sleep. But I had to stay up to get adjusted to the jet lag time. It was a brutal truth about flying.
When I came back down into the living room, Tony was standing there with a bottle of champagne opened and he was pouring us each a tall glass. He handed a glass to me. “To the beginning of an amazing life together,” Tony said.
I smiled and we clinked our glasses. He took a big drink and then looked at me curiously. “What’s wrong with yours?”
“Nothing, but I’m not drinking.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not drinking for the next nine months,” I said with a smile, hoping he would pick up on the hint. Tony tried to sound it out.
“Eight months? Why eight months?” he asked. Then his puzzled look turned to surprise. “No way…”
“Yes,” I said.
“You’re pregnant?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yes, I am. I am pregnant six weeks now.”
“What? I… oh, wow… this is amazing. When did you find out?”
“About a week ago,” I said.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I wanted this to be a great surprise.”
He ran a hand through his hair as he began to laugh.
“Well, is it a great surprise?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. It is. It’s the best surprise of my life. I… I just can’t believe it baby.”
He took the glass from my hand and sat the champagne down. He stared into my eyes and said, “I love you.”
“I love you,” I replied.
He held me closely and kissed me softly. I felt my toes curling under with his touch. So, this was how good it felt to have everything you ever wanted. If I’d known that, I would have loved to meet Tony Caplan so much sooner. I guessed it took the magic of Christmas to bring us together.
I knew I would never look at Christmas the same way again.
Hope you enjoyed Her Secret Santa. If you did, then I suggest getting The Perfect Reunion. Read its excerpt right here in the following pages!
Excerpt: The Perfect Reunion
Rebecca
December 12th
“Come here, will you?” I purr and wiggle my finger suggestively as the man who I adore more than anything in the world comes towards me. “I want you.”
I love the way that my husband turns me in to a sexual Goddess. I can be so happy and carefree with him, I know that he lusts after me desperately, which makes me feel incredible. As Taylor gets closer to me, I run my hands down my body, surprised to find myself already naked. There is something about him that simply melts my clothing away.
“You need to be naked too,” I growl as I slip my fingers between my legs to massage my own clit. I’m on fire for him, and those flames soak my hand.
As soon as he’s naked too, he brings that muscular body of his over to me. I can’t resist running my hands all over him and groaning as I feel him. I know that he’s my husband and I should get to feel him all the time, but it strangely feels like it’s been a lifetime since I had him here with me.
“Oh God.” The moan vibrates all the way through my body as I stroke downwards, feeling the muscular V shape of his muscles leading down towards the part of him that I want to feel most. There is nothing better than having his throbbing cock between my fingers and watching his face crumble in bliss as I dart pleasure through him.
I love turning him on… almost as much as when he pushes me to the edge. There is something so sexy about that expression.
“Fuck.” I stroke him gently at first, but I soon pick up the pace. “Oh God.”
I love how crazed he is. It creates a giant wet pool of pleasure between my thighs. He’s primal, on fire, turning me in to a needy animal.
“Fuck me,” I command as he bucks his hips hard and fast against me. “I need you.”
He doesn’t understand how much I need him. I feel like I’m going to die without having him inside of me. The butterflies flapping at my core are throbbing and scr
eaming out for him. It’s too much, my knees are jelly already. I’m about to fall over and I want to do that with him in my arms…
All of a sudden, we’re both tumbling to the ground together. I half expect to hit something hard, but luckily at some point we must have made it into the bedroom and it’s a soft landing. The breath is only stripped from my lungs the moment he crashes on top of me. But I don’t mind, because I have his hot rough tongue invading my mouth, giving me something a whole lot better to focus on.
But the kissing isn’t enough for me, I’m too desperate for him, so I flip around on to my front and push up on to my hands and knees, poking my ass out at him. Taylor takes the hint quickly, his ragged sharp breaths hitting the back of my neck in an instant. His steel rod pushes up against me, demanding as much attention as my body needs.
“Fuck me, Taylor,” I murmur as he buries his face in my hair to kiss my neck. “Now.”
The moment he slips inside of me, filling up every inch of me, a loud scream flies from my mouth. God, his cock is incredible. I mean, it isn’t like I can forget that, but when he is buried deep within me, the sensation is indescribable. Every thrust sends my head spinning in an increasingly violent way.
“Oh, Taylor.” His name cascades off my tongue like water over a waterfall. “Oh my God.”
His magical velvety fingers travel over my breasts, pausing for a moment to tweak my nipples and it sends me in to a frenzy. Then they slowly make their way down, causing goose bumps everywhere, until he reaches forwards between my thighs and he circles my already sensitive clit.
I want to hold it together for a little bit longer, savor every second, but he already has my walls clamping hard around him, coaxing the orgasm from him the moment it hits me too. It’s my favorite thing for us to come together, and luckily, we know one another’s bodies so well, we can make that happen easily.
“Oh, shit…” I’m on the edge already, teetering, about to fall. “Fucking hell, that feels good.”
I hold my head up high and attempt to keep it inside, but it seems that’s impossible. Taylor is sinking under the waters of pleasure and he seems determined to pull me under with him. Not that I’m fighting it much, soon the hot waters of bliss are flooding me, the waves of intense pleasure are rolling over again and again causing my body to buck and writhe, hard. Luckily, I have Taylor there to cling on to me, to make sure that I don’t completely fall apart.
“I don’t want this to end!” I yell out loudly as I try to twist my body to grab on to him. I don’t even know how that’s going to be possible… I’m so desperate to feel him before he slips through my fingers like grains of sand. Because that’s going to happen in a moment, isn’t it? It always does. “Taylor, don’t leave me…”
But of course, he does. He begins to fade away, leaving me with nothing but the incredible memory of him buried deep inside of me…
“Taylor?” I call out while patting my side of the bed next to me. “Oh my God, Taylor, last night was absolutely incredible.” I let out a little giggle. “You really are the best I’ve ever had.”
I expect him to make a joke about how he’s the only man I’ve ever had, but that never comes. Instead I’m met with a resounding painful silence, one that aches my brain.
Of course, it was a dream. I come out of my fog, push myself up into a sitting position and rub my head. I’m alone. All alone, and Taylor is gone. He has been gone for the last year, ever since I kicked him out and ended our marriage. Even if it is still weird that this bed is half empty, it’s for the best. I can’t have him around any longer.
“Don’t forget why you sent him away,” I whisper to myself. “He’s a liar, and a bad person. Just because he was good in bed doesn’t make it right to have him here.”
I keep telling myself that, but the pep talk isn’t working anymore. I hate myself for it, but I miss Taylor, I still miss the life we shared together as a family. I wouldn’t admit it out loud because I would get my ass kicked, particularly by my best friend, Maggie, but I can’t help how I feel. When I’m dreaming, all of that flies to the surface.
I force myself out of bed and head into the bathroom where I can stare at myself in the mirror. I don’t want to be yelled at by my friends, but I can do it to myself. And to get the real effect out of it, I have to look at myself while I scold.
“Rebecca, you didn’t even know Taylor. You might have been with him for all of your adult life, married for five years, and have a five year old daughter together, but you didn’t know him. He lied to you about being in jail, about being involved with money laundering, and that is messed up.”
I groan and grab on to the side of the sink, to keep myself standing up right as my knees turn to jelly. Every time I think about the life I lived in; it makes me fall apart. How can someone know so little about the man they were married to? It doesn’t seem right.
I still remember the day I found out about the man I thought I knew. Well, it wasn’t exactly me that found out, it was Maggie. She was at the local library, studying for her college classes, and looking up old newspaper articles for something to base her latest project on, when she came across article about a guy just out of high school involved in a money laundering scandal to help get his business off the ground. Taylor Braxton, my husband. Since he’s a few years older than me, I was too young to notice when he went to prison, so I didn’t know anything about it. I always thought that his business was built legally, and that he had an astute mind. How wrong I was. I don’t know if I would have believed it, had I not seen the article as evidence for myself.
My world shattered, the universe that I had built my life upon, vanished. Loving and living with a liar, I knew that nothing could ever be the same again.
Taylor tried to explain it away without denying anything, not that he could have, since I had evidence, there was no excuse for it. All the money we had as a family was from illegal activity, our marriage was built on a bed of lies, and that meant that everything about who we were could be fake too. He tried to tell me that it was all a mistake, but if it was a mistake, why didn’t he just come to me and tell me? He wouldn’t have kept it from me if it was a misunderstanding. That’s why I had to kick him out, and end our marriage.
“You did the right thing,” I remind myself. “These residual feelings are meaningless. I just need to get over him.”
But it isn’t as easy as that, is it? Otherwise I would have gotten over him already, I mean Christ, it’s been a year. Yet here I am, dreaming about him, imagining him in the bed next to me, still wishing that he was here. Sometimes, in the depths of my mind, I kind of wish that I could go back to the time when I didn’t know about everything because things were so much simpler then. Ignorance truly is bliss.
“Be strong,” I whisper to myself. “Jenny needs you to be strong.”
Speaking of her, my daughter skips into the bedroom, happy as a clam, and she wraps her arms around me. This girl is my ray of sunshine in all the sadness, the one incredible thing to come out of my marriage. She is the reason why I wouldn’t change meeting Taylor, even if it really hurts now.
“Morning, Mommy,” she declares with a bright smile. “I Love you.”
“Oh, I love you too, baby girl.” I pull her tighter to me. “I hope you slept well. Shall we go get some breakfast? Something warm, since it’s so cold.”
She runs in to the living room, and I follow close behind, trying my hardest not to look at the family photos still hanging on the wall as I pass them. I thought it was a good thing for me to get the house in the divorce, to keep Jenny’s life as normal as possible. But being surrounded by all the memories that me and Taylor once shared, makes it damn near impossible for me to move on.
Hope you loved the excerpt of The Perfect Reunion. You can read the full story here!
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