Breathe Again

by Kamy Chetty

  When they passed a popular boutique, Skylar stopped to admire the red dress in the window.

  Nick watched her gaze. “Let's go in.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Why not?”

  She followed Nick into the shop thinking that this was the first time he had accompanied her dress shopping. It was a married couple thing to do. Normal people did that.

  He spoke to the sales lady, who gave her the head–to-toe look and then went into the storeroom and came back with the red dress in her size.

  “Why don't you go try it on?” he asked.

  She had a repertoire of odd looks to choose from and gave him the perfect one. “But I don't have anywhere to wear something that nice.”

  The look in his eyes said, seriously?

  She shrugged and went and put on the dress. She couldn't believe how gorgeous she felt in it, as if the years had dropped off. She didn't walk out and do the runway dance for Nick. If she was going to save this for a special occasion, then let him get the full effect later. It was time to start collecting on the promise he made.

  Their next stop was the salon. She didn't complain, except to tell him to keep Maddy outside away from the hair and smells in the salon.

  He complied. When she walked out with a new cut and color, he promptly whistled, giving her the sizzle effect.

  Then it was home and a few hours later, they got a surprise visit from Judie.

  “I'd like to say nice surprise, but the look on my husband's face tells me this was all planned.” She liked saying that. Husband.

  “I'm your very experienced babysitter. I may have not mentioned this, but I was an awesome PICU nurse in my day.”

  Skye folded her arms. “You might have mentioned it only a few hundred times on your visits.”

  Judie went straight to Maddy and picked her up. “Well I was hoping for a part-time gig as a babysitter.”

  “What, that daytime job not paying you enough?” Nick asked as he came into the room and hugged her.

  Skylar couldn't believe the changes in this man. Hugs. Nick was hugging people and smiling. Who knew fatherhood could change a man so much?

  Judie beamed from ear to ear. “I'd do this for free.”

  Happiness was a bursting bubble inside Skylar. “Glad you said that, because Nick and I were talking the other day, and we were wondering if you would like to be Maddy's godmother?”

  Judie hugged Nick again and blew Skylar a kiss. “Hell, yeah!”

  Skylar felt a nervous energy wind up inside her as Nick’s gaze grabbed hers. “That's settled then. I better get ready for this surprise date.”

  A few hours later, Nick couldn’t stop watching her. She knew that look, and it left her feeling lightheaded with anticipation.

  She looked down at the thin straps of her heeled, red sandals and her red painted toenails. The sea breeze from Hawkes Bay was warm on her back, and she lifted her thin wrap across her shoulders.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  She felt perfect and said so.

  He played with her fingers. “Do you think others look at us and think we're one of those couples it comes easy to?”

  That nervous energy she felt earlier was growing inside her. There wasn’t a moment when she didn’t love this man. “You're thinking about what I said that day.”

  He didn't have to agree. “I told you how I feel. That’s never going to change. Maddy makes us complete, and in time we will have more children.”

  Wow. He was thinking of a lifetime. “So you think we’re gonna make it?” she teased.

  He smiled. That smile would never get old. Not now. Not when they were ninety and living in some retirement village.

  The waiter brought over a plate of oysters and refilled their drinks. It was her turn to smile.

  “You know you won't need an aphrodisiac to get me to do anything tonight. I'm a sure thing.”

  “That easy?” He stroked her thumb, and the heat level climbed.

  When he took out that melting-steel gaze, oh yes. She was easy. But for him and only him.

  He lifted her hand to his lips. The kiss on her fingers was soft but devastating. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world, and I love you.”

  Her gaze ate him up. He looked charming in his formal pants and crisp white shirt. She ached to touch him. Why did he have to bring her out here in public? “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

  His smile was lazy. “The one thing you can be sure of is that I have never said it to anyone. In my life.”

  Her heart expanded. “I love you, Nick.”

  He cocked his chin. “I know. Now indulge me and have an oyster.”

  She picked up the biggest shell and used her fingers to pry it open. “I had better not get anything splashed on this new dress.”

  His gaze refused to leave hers. “I'll buy you more. I want to watch you eat.”

  Maybe he knew what he was doing. He didn’t need a room. He was making love to her right there in public, with his eyes, and she was coming apart by letting him. “Don't tell me—you have a food fetish?”

  “Can you tell? When it comes to you, sweetheart, anything you do can become a fetish.” He let his tongue touch the corner of his mouth. His voice was above a whisper when he said the next words. “Just like you're prying open those shells, I can think of prying open a different set of lips and letting my tongue between to suck those sweet juices.”

  She squeezed her thighs shut. In public. He’s talking to me like this. In public. Granted they were alone and there were no other tables nearby. But in public. Nick?

  She stilled. Her skin flushed. Her blood rushed to all of her sensitive areas.

  He knew what she was thinking. She watched him consume her. “Baby, I am waiting.”

  She swallowed and looked down, because if she looked at him and those lust-filled eyes, she would lose her senses. She pried open the shells, which fell apart in her hands and then she gasped as a shiny white-gold ring with a sapphire setting covered in diamonds fell out.

  She lifted her chin.

  He was already down on one knee. “I have waited all of my life for you.”

  She wasn't sure this was happening. This was Nick saying the words she had wanted to hear.

  “You have amazed me with your strength and your capacity to love. Time and time I gave you reason to give up on me, but you never did. I told you, it’s thanks to you I can breathe again. It might seem like insanity to everyone else. But you, baby, you are the breath I take each day. Marry me—the marriage of a family. I love you. You love me. Complete us.”

  She took the ring and turned it around in her hand, so touched by it and the gestures of this man. “We're married already.”

  “The first time we married it was because—if I am honest, I don't know why. But I didn't say I love you. Neither did you. We didn't marry for the reasons we should have. This time, I want our own vows, and I want us to love each other forever and always.”

  She stared at the ring. “I don't know what to say.”

  He pulled her to him. “Say yes.”

  “Yes. Yes. Of course, yes. I can't believe you did all of this. For me.”

  His hold grew tighter. “Why wouldn't I do it for the amazing woman who believes in me?”

  “Take me home. Let me show you just how amazing this woman can be.” She handed him the ring.

  He put the ring on her finger. “You don't have to tell me twice. But I hope you don't mind. For tonight, I booked a room upstairs. Judie is with Maddy, and I wanted us to celebrate without having to worry about her.”

  Her heart swelled. “Efficient.”

  Later when Nick efficiently disposed of her new dress, she didn't complain. She even made sure she helped him dispose of his own clothes. Without his shirt, she could let her hands run across those abs, his chest and anything she wanted, exactly as she wanted to all those times

  He’d gone all-out and booked them into a suite with a king-size bed.

&nbs
p; As Nick lay on his back in the bed and Skye straddled him, he watched her.

  “You have something on your mind?” he asked.

  “Just this.” She leaned down and let her tongue run from the top of his chest in little semi-circles to the bottom. It took all of two seconds for him to get hard.

  He pulled her down on the bed next to him. “That isn't fair.”

  She laughed. “Fair would be not making me wait three months to do this.”

  He rolled over and pinned her on her back. Using a free hand, he started pulling the pins out of her hair, letting the silky strands fall across her shoulders.

  He curled his tongue around the tip of her ear and when she took in a sharp breath, he pulled and tugged with his teeth. “I missed you.”

  *****

  Nick couldn’t tell the exact moment he knew this woman was his life, but he knew he would give his life for her.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked. “You look a million miles away.”

  He brushed her hair aside and pulled her closer, taking in her scent. “Just thinking how much I love you.”

  “So, you going to show me some of this hot loving, or what?”

  The air stilled in his throat as the blood pounded through his veins. “Your wish is my command.”

  He bent his head and kissed her neck. She shivered in excitement. She moaned and pulled him closer.

  “Like that?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  He nipped at her skin and then sucked. His hand went to her breast and she shifted so he could touch her nipple. She bit her lip and wriggled beneath him, causing him to shift uncomfortably as his erection hardened.

  “You feel really good. Can I play with you?” she asked.

  He wished he could swallow, but he couldn’t because his throat was dry.

  Sensing his hesitation, she pulled his mouth down and kissed him hard. He plunged his tongue into her mouth and drank hungrily from her. He kept his hand on her breast, and his hip automatically pressed harder against her.

  She moaned. Her gaze had darkened with need. Shifting his mouth, he went to her breast and flicked his tongue on her nipple. Another moan. Another squirm.

  She pulled at his chest restlessly, searching for something she wasn’t finding. His breath stilled when she moved closer to his bulging erection. He couldn’t think straight. He wanted her to touch him. Needed it so much that he was willing to beg. She found him, and he felt the most amazing sense of relief wash over him as she squeezed him.

  He jerked, hard in her hand, and groaned. “Don't stop.”

  “I don't intend to. I have been waiting for this for too long.” Then like a greedy child in a candy store, she straddled him once again and sucked hard on his nipple. He reciprocated by squeezing her nipple. She was driving him insane with the little circles she was doing with her hips.

  “Saying I want you now would be an understatement,” she whispered.

  He breathed in her scent and rubbed both of his hands over her smooth and slick body. Heat spilled from her—he could smell it.

  He put his hand against her cheek. “I want you so much, baby.”

  She lifted her hips, and he groaned. She slipped off her undies, and his gaze darkened.

  He found her opening with a finger. “You're so ready for me. But I remember what I said when you had the oyster. Come here.”

  He held her hips and brought her closer until she was sitting above his lips. She was so wet and ready, he was beyond hard. He plunged his fingers deep into her as his tongue found her clit. She sighed and moved closer. He licked her as excitement spread like a blue streak of fire.

  She tasted like he remembered. Sweet and Skye. She bucked against him. “You taste like heaven,” he said.

  She clutched his head. “You make me come apart.”

  He continued to flick his tongue against her clit as his fingers thrust in and out of her. She spilled more juices. Her moans were becoming insistent, and she was moving against him. He took her clit in his mouth and sucked. She screamed out his name as she continued to buck against him,

  When he continued to flick his tongue against her softness, plunging his fingers deep, she bucked for one last time and held him there. He felt her contracting against him, tasted her juices as they filled around him.

  Her gasps grew faint and ragged.

  She lifted herself from him and took his mouth in hers. “You are damn amazing, but I can't wait. I need you. Now. Inside. Fast. Deep. Complete.”

  She didn't have to say please. He lifted her and gently lowered her onto him.

  He wasn’t sure who sighed first, but it didn’t matter. It felt real. Right.

  “I love you,” he said.

  He moved against her and carried on moving as his body fought for control. He knew she was fighting too. His grasp on her tightened. He felt the air leaving his lungs as pure delight filled his senses. He saw colors. Felt raw sensation. She clutched his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. Totally spent. But utterly satiated.

  *****

  “I knew it was too good to be true. He's left. He isn't coming. The damn coward.”

  Judie rushed after Skylar as she walked toward the window. “Well if you continue to act like Bridezilla, I would pay for the plane ticket out of here.”

  She pulled on the train of her wedding dress as she faced Judie. “I have been Bridezilla, haven't I?”

  “If I knew paranoid was on the menu today, I would have taken Maddy and run for the hills.”

  Skye searched the room with her gaze. “But it's late and he isn't here.”

  Judie was using her calmest voice. “He went out on a rescue and should be here soon. Maybe they were running late.”

  Skye didn’t care about inside voices at that moment. “I told him not to go anywhere. I told him to stay. He knows better than to go out there being Mr. Fix-it-all.”

  “Sweetie?” Judie again tried to be the voice of reason.

  She pulled her dress with her and swished past. “I know. I’m scared for him.”

  Judie agreed. “It means you love him.”

  Skye looked out the window once more. “Should I go out there and tell everyone to go home?”

  Judie crossed her hands over her chest. “You can't help yourself, can you? Let me call the rescue team and find out when he is due back.”

  After a few minutes, Skylar put on her bravest smile and walked out of the room. As soon as the band saw her, it started playing 'Hallelujah', which was their wedding march— great for the doom and gloom she was about to deliver. She went to the front of the lovely garden setting they had chosen for their wedding. Their guests looked ahead in confusion as they waited for the bridegroom.

  She walked up to the mike, minus the bouquet and the flower girls and the groom. Nightmare moment.

  “Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for coming. I hate to disappoint you all, but there isn't going to be a wedding today. I seem to have lost the groom.”

  There were whispers and gasps from the crowd.

  “I am really sorry for the inconvenience, but Nick had something really important he had to do, and he couldn't make it.”

  Again, there were hushed whispers from the crowd. All she wanted was for him to come back home safely to her.

  “More important—no!” She clapped a hand to her mouth.

  Across the long path Nick stood there looking at her. He wasn't dressed in the suit he bought. He wasn't clean-shaven like most grooms. His evening shadow made him the sexiest man alive. But then again, he was always the sexiest man alive for her.

  “You're here. They said you wouldn’t be here till this afternoon.” Thudding heart plus lots of excitement equals blushing bride, and most probably runny mascara. He was here. That’s all that mattered. He was here.

  “That's the official version. I won't give you the unofficial version. I'd have to kill you or find a way to keep you my slave. Forever.”

  She wiped her tears away. “I can arrange t
hat.”

  Judie cleared her throat, and Skylar realized they were in a crowd.

  “Give me five minutes to put on that monkey suit and shave, then I'm all yours and we can get married.”

  “Pish-posh. Come here and marry me. Now.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  As he strode toward her, Skylar’s heart swelled. After everything they’ve been through, for the first time, she felt as if they’d conquered the unattainable thing...called happiness.

  About The Author

  I have been writing all my life. I have had a wild imagination and always wanted there to be more to a story. For as long as I remember there have been characters running around in my head. As a nurse I tried not to tell people about that because is frowned upon: Did I always think I’d be a writer, probably not? But I woke up one day and had a seed of an idea grow and the dream began. I love writing romance, it’s what makes my heart sing and it’s a job I can do in my pajamas.

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