Now we’re back in the hotel suite. A huge two bedroom place that has more square feet than anywhere I’ve ever lived. I’m once again drawn to the balcony and the stars.
“Here you go, baby,” Danny says, passing me a glass of champagne. Taking the glass from him, I smile. It’s awkward and I know why because I’m obsessing about having sex with him. About getting naked with Danny Quinn. “Hey, just relax,” Danny tells me. I shake my head with a smile.
“I don’t know why I’m so worried. It’s probably because it’s you,” I tell him. Danny steps forward just as I take a sip from my glass. He pulls it away from my lips and replaces it with his mouth.
“Mmm. Remember this works both ways. It’s always been you, Bel, even when I thought it never would be.” The words slide around my heart giving it a squeeze telling me I’m alive, I’m loved, and I’m safe. I throw my arms around his neck and push my hands into his hair. Danny kisses me again. Softly at first, then moving into a deeper, intense kiss. A kiss that makes me forget my name. Warmth heats my cheeks and continues down my body, filling every crevice, until I’m hot and happy everywhere.
He must place the glass on the table because suddenly he runs his hands up my back until they reach my neck, his forearms run down the length of my spine and he uses his strength to pull me up against him until my feet aren’t touching the floor anymore. He walks forward taking me backward, but not missing a beat or the connection between our mouths. I feel my back pressed against a wall and Danny tears his lips away from mine, which makes me mewl at the loss. “Tell me you still want this, before we go any further,” he whispers, looking straight into my eyes.
Without looking away or getting embarrassed I give him my reply, “I want this, I want you.”
That’s all he needs before reconnecting our mouths and picking me back up, carrying me against him into the bedroom. He gently lowers me until my feet touch the floor and I can feel my calves pressing against the bed. Danny stops kissing my mouth. Instead, exploring my throat, taking his time to cover me with gentle kisses and nips all the way to my chest. Then his mouth moves toward my neck, edging his way up the right side until he meets my ear.
Once there, he gently bites my earlobe sending a shiver through my body. Then he whispers. “I’ve wanted to be inside you since I hit puberty, Bel. I’m going to be doing this for the rest of our lives. A lot.” His words sink into me. Seeping into my blood, flowing through my veins. I know. I know, I can be me with him. I’m safe.
That’s when I let everything go, all the anxiety that I was still holding, the worry, pain and fear.
I believe in him, in us.
He’s my path, my destination and my journey.
Every. Single. Moment.
Danny runs his fingers over the straps of my dress from my shoulders and reaches around my back unzipping me, while kissing from one collarbone across my chest to the other. Once the zip is open, he picks the straps back up and pulls them off my shoulders. Then he steps back as he lets go and my dress drops, pooling on the floor. I have no bra on, and having slipped my shoes off earlier, I now stand before him in just a pair of navy lace panties. I’m not uncomfortable, we’ve done everything but sex, so he’s seen me naked.
“You really are too good to be true,” he whispers to himself as he looks down my body. He steps back to me and runs his fingertips up my sides, starting at my thighs, until he gets to my stomach. Then, reaching further up, he cups both my breasts while running his thumbs over my nipples. Kissing me again he pulls his hands away, slipping one around my back, the other he places on the bed and lowers us down until I’m underneath him.
As we continue kissing, I unbuckle his pants. Then move to his shirt pulling away from his mouth. Instead kissing his neck, feeling the roughness from his stubble grazing my skin, setting me on fire and making me feel alive. While I kiss him, I sense his hands removing his clothes. I know he’s naked. I can feel the heat coming from his body, not to mention his hardness pressed against me. Just my lace separates us now.
Internally, I’ve gone from chastity belt to hotter than the seventh circle of hell. All I want is to feel him inside me. Danny moves down covering me with his tongue. He travels between my breasts, stopping to give some attention to each one, then he moves lower, kissing me over my panties. He looks up and I meet his eyes. Watching me intently, he hooks his fingers into the lace and pulls them down my legs, stopping only to kiss behind my knees. His eyes never leaving mine. Once they’re off he pushes up, pulling his body over mine, then coming back to meet my mouth with his. He kisses me again as our naked bodies press together. I feel his hand slip down between us and one finger, then two push inside me.
“You’re ready,” he whispers into my mouth. I want to speak, to say I’ve been ready forever. But I can’t think past the pleasure spiral, I’m currently traveling in. I feel him line up against me. His center at my center. Our last divide, finally crumbling down.
“Danny,” I gasp. “I…” my words die as I feel him right at my entrance. He stops kissing me, and I open my eyes to see his, looking down adoringly at me. He says nothing and doesn’t move, allowing me to take my time to compose myself. “Danny, I don’t want to use a… I want it to be just us nothing between us. I’m c-clean,” I say, my cheeks pinking.
Danny’s hooded eyes flare. “I am too. And Bel, I know you said you couldn’t have kids, but if I plant one inside you tonight then that would be a beautiful thing,” he tells me and I smile. Then my eyes close as he surprises me by pushing all the way inside. “Eyes,” he growls and I open them, looking straight into his. I can see he’s barely controlling himself. “This is going to be slow. This isn’t sex. I’m not going to fuck you, Bel. I’m going to love you,” he says softly, before kissing my closed lips.
Keeping his eyes trained on mine, he starts moving slowly, back and forth. His sedate lovemaking is intense, it’s like he’s savoring every moment and it creates a buzzing sensation throughout my body, like it’s finally coming alive. He keeps the rhythm up, pulling all the way out, then sliding back in. It’s everything I was always missing, and as our bodies become sweaty and his eyes stay burning into mine, I feel all the emotion I’ve never felt before as tears slip out of my eyes.
With no warning, and having never happened to me during sex before, it’s a shock when my orgasm unexpectedly explodes inside me. Danny continues moving slowly, prolonging the beautiful feeling. When I start coming down, he brings his hand up to wipe away hair that’s stuck to my forehead. He pushes his thumb into my mouth.
“I love you, Anabel,” he tells me as I bite down on his thumb, then his eyes close as he groans out his release which I feel filling me up inside.
As we walk into the boutique jewelers, my fingers interlocked with Bel’s proudly, I’m ready to slip a ring onto her finger. If I had my way, I’d be putting two on her delicate digit today. She gave me everything last night because she truly gave me her, no holds barred. I felt it, the moment she let go, my love for her in those quiet seconds became unconditional. Everlasting. Finite.
“Wow,” Bel breathes out and my focus returns to the room, looking down I see her staring at a simple ring.
“This is a Princess cut solitaire ring with an elegant twist claw,” the assistant tells us.
Bel reaches out to touch the ring, which sits on a black velvet stand, nestled alongside five other rings. It’s just one of the six stands sitting on the counter top awaiting our very personal perusal. Just before her fingers meet the dazzling platinum band, she stops, pulling her hand back like the ring might burn her. Concern instantly zips around inside.
Wondering if she’s gotten cold feet, scared of being married again. All sorts of thoughts to her behavior enter my mind in the three seconds it takes for me to ask, “What’s the matter?”
Bel looks at me, like a deer in the headlights then back to the assistant, who still wears a soft smile. “H-how much is it?” Her question allows me to breathe out a sigh of relief. The ass
istant who, looking at her name tag is called Judy, doesn’t remove the fixed smile. She looks to me, then back to Bel.
“Ma’am, we were told to put out only the best. These are all one karat diamonds, at least, most are more.” She coughs. “We were also told to remove the price tags.”
Bel’s eyes snap to me and they’re narrowed. It takes everything in me not to smile, I know this is important to her. But she also needs to know that this business with money is going to cause us problems if we don’t sort it out now. I look back to Judy. “May we have a minute?” She glances at the security guard, situated by the locked front door and nods. Moving through a back door, giving us privacy at least from her.
“Bel, you need to stop with the money issue.” She moves to speak, but I place my finger over her soft, plump lips. “If it were the other way around, how would you feel?” I ask and immediately a look of confusion passes over her face. “If you had money and tried to buy me something nice, or do something nice for me, would you expect anything in return?” Her eyebrows pull in and she shakes her head. “Okay, would you throw it in my face should we have an argument?” Immediately she jerks her head left and right, her nonverbal no, once again answering me. “Okay, would you be hurt if I kept turning things down, or pushing things away, based on how much they cost every time you tried to do something nice for me?” This time, she thinks for a moment, her index finger finds its way to her closed mouth and she unknowingly taps it against her lips.
“I guess,” the whisper is her surrender.
“Listen, you’ve known me forever. That works both ways, I’ve known you forever too. You’re no more a gold digger than you are a pimp.” Her eyes go wide and I struggle, once again, not to laugh. “I have money, I’ve worked hard for it, that’s true. But if you had been with me from the beginning, I’m fairly sure you would never have questioned money being spent on you, because you’d be used to it. Every time you refuse or argue about money, it hits home that I lived my life without you for far too long. You and me… this is forever. We know this. We’ve also known it for all the years we haven’t been together, but should have been. I have money and I’m not about to stop living the way I do because you’re worried about what’s being spent.” She nods and I need to push my point home. “Let me ask you one more question, just in case you’re still unsure?” I gaze into her eyes, hoping I’m not ruining this special moment. This should be all about us picking out the ring. The last person I want to bring into our day is Keith, but this is important, I need to know she gets this. Our future depends on her getting it. I’m not about to live the rest of my life in a battle over money. That’s why I’ve been successful, because I don’t want to worry or argue about money. “If you were still with Keith, and he told you about that money he mentioned the other night. Said he was going to get a better house, or buy you a car, or maybe a new wedding ring. Would you have told him no? Told him not to spend his money, or worried about the cost if it was within his price range?” I know it’s below the belt, but she needs to think about it like that, she needs to be clear in her head before we move forward.
“Okay, I get it,” she rasps out the words. “I’m sorry. You know I’ve never been in this kind of a position, I’m not used to anything but struggling,” she tells me grabbing my hands, which I didn’t realize until she touched them are clenched tight. I release the fists and my hands hold hers.
“Get used to it. There is to be no prenup.” She opens her mouth, but I don’t allow her to speak when I reiterate firmly. “No prenup.” Rolling her eyes, she bites her lip and I want to chuckle again. “I will be setting up a bank account in your married name. I want to make you Mrs. Quinn as soon as your divorce is final. In writing. Then you’ll have your own money. I’ll make sure money is fed into it every month. Still if you ever need more, you tell me and we’ll sort it out. You want to work, then work. You want to stay at home all day, then you do that. It’s your choice, but that money is my way of knowing my wife always has what she needs at her disposal. I don’t want you feeling like you have to come to me every time you need something. You’re not a child, not an employee or another family member. You’re Bel. You’re everything,” I sigh out the last words as I lay my forehead against hers. We stand silently for a moment just listening to each other breathing. Until I hear a small clearing of a throat behind me. Closing my eyes, I pull back then kiss Bel’s head, before turning her with me to face Judy again.
“Can you take that one out, please?” I ask, pointing to the one that Bel couldn’t—and still can’t—take her eyes off. The moment she passes it to me, I turn to Bel and slip it onto her ring finger. I’m slightly shocked it actually fits, but I’m not complaining when I watch Bel’s eyes fill with tears. “This is it, isn’t it?” I ask and Bel just nods as happy tears flow out of her beautiful eyes. “That’s it,” I tell Judy, who smiles and starts putting the others away. “Can you get out wedding bands, for both of us?” I ask and she again nods and goes about her business. “Bel,” I whisper and she looks up to me, tearing her eyes away from the ring on her finger.
“Oh,” she says wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. “I guess I should take it off, so the lady can put it in the box and put it through the register,” she says and I smile.
“That’s never coming off your finger baby,” I tell her with a smirk. I run my knuckles down her wet cheek. “Listen, how do you want to get married?”
“What do you mean?” she questions.
“Well, big, small, here, somewhere else?” I give her some options.
“I hadn’t really thought about it. But I guess I’d love a wedding on the beach, just you and me, Mike, Simone and Rubén. Oh, and of course, your parents and sister.” Her answer makes me happy.
“How about Florida? You said the other day that you wanted to see my parents and sister again, and they sure as hell want to see you. If you want, we can go there and see if we can get a beach wedding organized for while we visit?” I ask her. I know weddings are a big deal for women, I just want her to be mine in every possible way. I don’t care what it takes or how she wants to do it.
“How about…” she whispers, rubbing her thumb along my lips, “…we ask your mom if she would arrange a small beach wedding? Now I know I haven’t spoken to her in years, and I know she gets carried away about things, but I also remember she’s the kind of woman if you tell her I want small, she will do it small. If I only want those people I mentioned on the invite list, that’s all that she’ll invite. Then I can concentrate on buying a dress and some underwear.” Her words heat me instantly and I want to drag her back to our hotel room.
“Yeah, if I lay it out to Mom, she’ll do exactly what you want. She’ll just be so pleased that you want her to organize it in the first place. Do you know when your divorce is expected?”
“I called my lawyer yesterday. Should be any day now. Definitely by next week,” she tells me.
“So we’ll get it arranged for three weeks from now.” She nods back at me, smiling. “In three weeks, you’ll be Mrs. Anabel Quinn,” I say, kissing her lips again. I watch as another tear falls, then she pushes up on her toes kissing me, longer, harder, until I take over. It’s not until I hear a purposefully placed cough that I pull back with a smile. Bel looks slightly dazed and that makes me want to puff out my chest and stalk around like a peacock. “Come on, baby.” I turn her around so her back is against my front, then lean down, placing my mouth at her ear. “Let’s get our wedding bands, then we can go back to the hotel so I can get you naked, except for the ring,” I whisper and watch as her cheeks pink and she bites her lip.
Later that night, as I watch Bel sleep, laying on her front the cover just over her butt, I think about the journey we’ve all had to go through to get here. The broken pieces we’ve had to remold or stick back together, hoping they’d gel forever.
We should have always been here.
Right here.
Although we should have Amanda too.
“Mummy?” I look over at Amanda, sitting on the window ledge watching the stars.
“Yes, sweetheart?” I ask, sitting next to her and sweeping her beautiful dark brown hair away from her cheek.
“Do you think one day we could reach the stars, like in a helicopter?”
“Copter, copter, brrr.” I glance behind me at Kyle as he runs around shouting with a mini helicopter grasped in his chubby fingers.
Bringing my attention back to Amanda, I smile. “Maybe one day we could. How amazing would it be? To travel far and wide? Explore new things?”
She looks at her lap and then back to the sky. My little over-thinker. “What is it, Mandie?” I question softly.
“I wish we could go up there. I always wish on every birthday candle I’ve blown out since I was five, that I could meet Auntie Moo.”
Her words momentarily throw me, as emotion climbs up my throat. Swallowing, I rein myself in. “Well baby, I’m not sure that will ever be possible. But I can still tell you all about her? Now you’re eight baby, you’re a big girl. So if I tell you about the naughty things me and your Aunt Moo got up to when we were your age, you have to promise not to do the same with Hope, okay?” I tease.
Finally Unbroken Page 24
