“That’s where I want to be married.” There’s no doubt in my mind.
Shannon jolts and all of our attention turns to her. “I guess Pearl likes it too. She’s suddenly moving like crazy.”
“I want to feel.” Sara places her hand on top of Shannon’s stomach and smiles. “That’s one thing I miss about being pregnant. Feeling a baby move inside of you is the most extraordinary feeling there is.”
I wouldn’t know. I didn’t get that far.
“Do you want children?” Sara asks.
“I do. Very much.”
“Max has always said that he doesn’t want them. That’s why I was so surprised when Ava Rose came along. But I guess I know why now,” Sara says.
“When we met, he was adamant about not wanting children. But something happened several weeks ago and he changed his mind.”
All of Clarissa’s attention focuses on me. “It must have been a big something because he has sworn for years that he’d never have children.”
Do I tell them about my miscarriage or allow them to draw their own conclusions about Hutch’s change of heart?
I want to tell them. I have to tell. This is my new family, and I don’t want secrets between us.
“I had a miscarriage.”
Clarissa leans over and wraps her arms around me. “Oh, Lou. I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”
“Losing that baby changed the way Hutch felt about having children. He wants a family now.”
“My heart is happy to hear that Max has changed his mind about children, but I’m also heartbroken for both of you. Gus and I lost our first bairn in my third month. That was thirty-four years ago and I still remember how much we grieved for that child.”
“It’s been hard. Very hard. But there was a positive to come from our loss. I have to tell myself that when I think about it or I’ll start crying again.”
“It’s all right to cry for your angel baby whenever you need to.”
Hutch has been wonderful. And so understanding. But it’s nice to talk to another woman who has gone through this same tragedy.
A rainbow follows a storm, giving hope of what’s to come. And I look forward to discovering my rainbow and what awaits me at the end.
50
Maxwell Hutcheson
“You told my family about losing the baby?”
“They asked if we had discussed children. I couldn’t answer truthfully without telling them about the miscarriage. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind. I’m glad they know.” Not telling them felt as though we were keeping a secret. And I’m so tired of secrets.
“Your mum was sad for us but also happy because you’ve changed your mind about wanting a family.”
“Aye, she didn’t miss the opportunity to corner me and put in her request for another grandchild sooner rather than later.” I almost think she’s afraid I’ll change my mind again.
Lou giggles. “What did you tell her?”
“That we practice making a baby every chance we get.”
Lou’s mouth opens wide. “Hutch! You didn’t.”
“No, I didn’t. But I would very much like to practice.”
“We’re in your parents’ house.”
She always says that. I reach for Lou and pull her against me. “We’re consenting adults who are getting married in a month. I don’t think they’ll have an objection. And besides, Mum is the one who asked for a baby. She knows what has to be done to get one.”
“True.”
“You’re my fiancée. Almost my wife. It isn’t wrong for me to want you. And I do. I want you all the time.”
Lou sits on the bed and scoots backward, spreading her knees wide. “Then I suppose it isn’t wrong for you to have me.”
“No. And what my mouth is about to do to you isn’t wrong either.”
Lying on my stomach, my face is between her thighs. Pressing my nose against her slit, I take a moment to smell her before I taste. “There’s nothing in the world like your essence when you want to be fucked. I can smell your desire and how much you want it.”
I allow my breath to rush over her skin, and she squirms beneath me.
“You want my tongue, don’t you?”
“Yes, I want it. I always want it.”
“And I always want to give it to you.”
I’m dying to taste her. And when I do, she squirms her hips, grinding against my mouth, and her loud moan fills the room. Reaching up, I touch my fingertips to her lips to quieten her and she sucks my fingers into her mouth.
Fuck, it’s hot. She’s hot. My almost wife.
The moaning. The fast breathing. The movement of her hips. She isn’t going to last long like this. And it makes me happy that I’m able to make her orgasm so easily.
It isn’t long before she tenses and quivers. And then the sweet proof of her orgasm floods my mouth. Fuck, I love the way she tastes when she comes.
She relaxes and her eyes are closed when I crawl up her body, entering her in one smooth motion while she’s still savoring her post-orgasmic euphoria. I pull back and slide into her until I’m buried to the hilt again. And again.
“Ohhh.” Her voice is laced so heavily with breath that the single word is almost indistinguishable. But indistinguishable or not, I understand the meaning behind it.
“Hutch.” She grips my biceps and holds on when I thrust harder. “We’re doing it again without a backup method.”
Fuck, I don’t want to use a condom. It’ll ruin this for me. “I’ll pull out like last time.”
“We both know pulling out isn’t reliable.”
My head is warring with my cock. Moving inside of Lou feels so damn good and I’m close to coming. My cock doesn’t give a shite about reliable birth control right now. He isn’t the least bit concerned about the consequences of his actions.
“I don’t have a condom.” I bought some but I didn’t bring them with me. I didn’t know we were going to stay so late and end up spending the night here.
I move faster, bringing myself closer to orgasm. “I’ll stop if you want me to.” I say the words but I don’t really mean them.
“God no, don’t stop.”
Thank fuck.
“I’ll pull out before I come.”
I love coming inside of Lou, but I also don’t mind seeing my cum splattered across her body.
My jaw is clenched as I try to hold back and make this last for as long as possible, but I reach a point where getting off is beyond my control. “I’m almost there.”
Lou cups her hands around the sides of her breasts and pushes them together. “Come between my tits.”
What. The. Fuck?
Damn. Those words just did it for me.
I withdraw and she watches wide-eyed as jets of cum spurt between her tits.
We smile at each other when I’m finished and she giggles. “Well, that’s a first.”
It was a wee bit kinky. “What brought that on?”
“I don’t know. It seemed sexy and dirty, so I wanted to see what it would feel like.”
“Do you like it?”
“I don’t know why but I do.”
I move off Lou and lie beside her, my eyes closed, reveling in the euphoria that always follows our lovemaking. I should probably be concerned about having sex without birth control but I’m not. I’m not the least bit worried about it.
If a baby happens, it happens. Our family will grow a wee bit sooner than expected.
I reach for her hand and bring it to my mouth for a kiss. “I love you, mo maise.”
She rolls from her back to her side, hitching her leg over me. Stretching her upper body across mine, we’re chest to chest. “I love you too, my hot Scot almost-husband.”
I stretch my neck and she does too, bringing our lips together to kiss.
“We need to have a serious conversation about sex and birth control. Initiating a discussion about it while we’re in the middle of doing it isn’t working.”
That�
�s probably a good idea since I lose all capacity to make sensible decisions when I’m inside of her. “Then let’s talk about it.”
“We were told to use a backup method during my first month on the ring and we haven’t, not even once.”
“That is very accurate.”
“I could already be pregnant.”
“I’m aware.”
“We’re playing a game of roulette every time we have sex, and a baby is at stake. Is that a gamble we want to continue to take or do we need to be intentional about preventing a pregnancy?”
Fate is what brought us together—twice. I think it did a good job. “I’m okay with leaving it up to fate. If a baby happens, it happens and was meant to be.”
Lou cups her hand around the side of my face. “I can’t believe what a different man you are from the one I met at the beginning of summer.”
“I’m a different man because of you.”
Lou has triggered something in me that I thought I’d never feel. All I can think about is making her mine and growing our family. “Being with you has changed everything for me. I want you to be my best friend, my wife, the mother of my children. I want you to be my number one in all things.”
“I swear that I will love you beyond the final beat of my heart. And I will never hurt you.”
I pull Lou close and place a kiss on the crown of her head. “I know.”
Trust doesn’t come easy after the things Mina did to me, but I believe Lou when she says that she’ll never hurt me. I believe her when she says she’ll love me forever.
Just as I will love her forever.
51
Caitriona Louden
It’s after eight o’clock when I wake and Hutch is still beside me in bed. “Good morning, mo maise.”
“Good morning.” I stretch and yawn, covering my mouth with my hand because I know I must have morning breath. “What are you doing still in bed?”
“I like watching you sleep. And I don’t get to do it often enough because I always have to get up and get ready for work.”
“You need to learn how to sleep in.” I’m a pro at it. I should teach him how.
“Believe me. I’m trying.”
“Leaving your position at the Lochridge firm would be helpful.”
“I’ll be leaving soon enough. That’s why I’ve decided to spend what little time I have left there tying up loose ends with my clients. I don’t want them to be affected because of what’s happening with me.”
I’m ready for Hutch to part ways with those horrid people, but at the same time I dread it because I know all that it will encompass. It turns my stomach into a bunch of knots.
I lean over and press a kiss to the side of his mouth. “I have to get up.”
He ignores my words and pulls me against him. “It’s Saturday morning and we don’t have Ava Rose sprawled out between us. I don’t think you have to do anything but stay in this bed with me.”
“I wish I could, but we’re going out for breakfast and then my wedding-dress entourage and I are hitting the boutiques.”
“Without Rachel?”
Is that supposed to be a serious question? Rachel would not miss this for the world. And if she couldn’t make it, I’d reschedule. It’s that simple.
“Of course, Rachel’s coming. I texted her last night. She can’t make it for breakfast, but she’s meeting us at the bridal boutique.”
Hutch trails his fingertips down my arm. “Ah, my bride is going wedding-dress shopping. I suppose that means I have to let you leave the bed.”
“It does if you want me to have a gown to wear on our wedding day.”
I’m at the mercy of in-stock dresses. We don’t have time to make a special order.
“I do want to see you in a wedding dress, but I also want to see you wearing nothing on our wedding night.”
“As if wearing nothing would be something new.”
Hutch is so weird. I buy sexy, pretty things, and I don’t get to wear them for more than two seconds before he’s taking them off me.
“I happen to like it when you wear nothing.”
“Oh, I know.” There’s zero confusion about that on my part.
“You never told me where we’re getting married.”
I suppose I should have consulted with Hutch about that. Oops. “A small castle in Perthshire and it is absolutely stunning. It has its own small chapel where the ceremony can take place. Looks like it would only seat around two dozen. Very intimate.”
“Sounds perfect for us. What kind of dress are you looking for today?”
I wish I was one of those girls who had been looking at bridal magazines since she was twelve. Because I have no idea what I want. “I don’t have any certain style in mind. I’m open to trying anything.”
“I have one request I’d like you to honor.”
“Anything.”
“I would like it to look like a wedding dress and not like the latest trend on a fashion show runway.”
I didn’t expect Hutch to care one way or another about my dress. “What do you picture in your head when you imagine me walking toward you?”
“I see you wearing a long white dress and a veil. You look like a bride, not a fashionista trying to make a statement.”
In other words, he doesn’t want me to look like Mina. I’m okay with that.
“You want me to look like a traditional bride?”
“Exactly.”
“I understand. And I have a request I’d like you to honor as well. We’re getting married in a castle, and I think it’s only fitting for you to wear a formal kilt outfit with the Hutcheson tartan. The sporran, the kilt hose, the flashes—all of it.”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t want me to wear it.”
“Did you wear it the first time?”
“No. I wanted to but Mina thought it was too traditional and outdated. She said that it didn’t complement her wedding gown.”
That feels like such a missed opportunity to me. “I’m glad you didn’t wear it. I want our wedding to be different.”
“No worries. The most important part of our wedding is you, and you couldn’t be more different. You have no idea how damn thankful I am for that.”
Hutch’s hand comes down and I yelp when it lands on my butt. “Get up, mo maise, and go find your dress before I give in to my urge to flip you onto your back and keep you in this bed all day.”
I look at dress number one in the mirror as I stand on the platform, and I’m immediately reminded of my first day with Cora.
I’m damaged. Something’s missing inside of me. A piece of me is not here.
That’s the first time I ever openly admitted that to anyone. But that part of me is no longer missing. I found it and so much more in my love for Hutch and Ava Rose.
Rachel gets up from the sofa where she and the Hutcheson women are sitting and walks closer, studying me. “I think it’s beautiful, but your expression says that you think otherwise.”
Rachel has the ability to read me like a book.
“Hutch wants to see me wear something traditional. I don’t think a mermaid is the right silhouette.”
“Too sexy?” the sales associate asks.
“I think so.” I wave my hand over the top of the dress. “And I think I need more coverage in the bust area.”
“No mermaids. No sweetheart necklines. That’ll be helpful because it eliminates a large portion of our stock dresses.”
The salesclerk returns a moment later with a few dresses draped over her arm. “These may not be what you’re looking for but I want to try each one so we’ll know which way to go on the silhouette.”
Mermaid and trumpet? No.
A-line and modified A-line? No
Sheath? No.
Ball gown? I wouldn’t have thought so but a ball gown is the only silhouette that I’ll consider for our castle wedding.
The sales clerk approaches the platform with several plastic bags draped over her arm. “This will be eas
ier now that we’ve narrowed down the silhouette. This one arrived a few days ago. It’s a lot of dress. I’ve not seen it on anyone, so I don’t have an opinion about it yet. Do you think it’s worth trying?”
Regal. Timeless. Understated.
“I absolutely want to try on this dress.”
I step into the gown and the consultant begins the daunting task of fastening the five thousand buttons up the back. “Sorry. It’s going to be a minute.”
“It’s okay.”
My back remains turned to the dressing room mirror while she fastens the buttons. I don’t want to ruin my first impression by seeing it before it’s buttoned up all the way
“All done. Let’s turn you around and see what you think.”
Ivory. Full baroque lace overlay. Queen Anne neckline. Long sleeves.
Perfection.
I wondered how I would ever be able to choose one dress with so many to pick from but the wondering is over. When you know, you know. “This is it. This is my dress.”
“You think so?”
“Oh yes. One hundred percent.”
“Do you want to put on a veil so your family can get the full effect?”
“Please.”
I study the image in the mirror while I wait for the consultant to return. The longer I look at myself in the dress, the more I fall in love with it.
“Here we are, dear. A tiara and veil for the princess who wears this regal gown.”
She places the silver crown on top of my head, and I can’t believe how much I love the way it looks with the dress.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it. It’s perfect.”
“I’m surprised the length is all right. I thought it would be too long, but it’s perfect when you step into the heels. I don’t think it’ll need any alterations.”
I don’t point out how tall my heels are. “I think that’s a good indication that this dress is the one.”
“You could be right.”
The consultant opens the dressing room door and I call out, “Everyone, close your eyes.”
“You didn’t make us close our eyes for the others,” Clarissa calls back.
Beautiful Illusions Duet Bundle: Eighty-One Nights and Beautiful Ever After Page 32
