Here Comes The Bride

by Sadie Grubor

  He turned back to me. "So, what would you like to do?"

  "I’m definitely going down to the beach," Smiling large, I practically ran to the bedroom for my bathing suit.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Aidan

  The thought of us having to sleep in the same bed was enticing as well as nerve racking. I obviously wanted to, but at the same time I had to also keep myself in line. Knowing she was pretty adamant on not having sex made it difficult to have her so close in bed, even a king sized bed.

  Introducing her as my wife had rolled off my tongue like it had always been. It was way too easy to label her my wife and feel good about it.

  Following her to the bedroom, I walked in on her digging through a large trunk.

  "I’m going to kill her!"

  "Kill who?"

  She jumped and spun quickly with wide eyes. Strips of material dangled from her hands. Then it dawned on me, those tiny scraps were bathing suits.

  "Umm, Phoebe," She grumbled. "She completely repacked my luggage. The little evil –"

  "What did she pack?" Stepping closer, I leaned over the trunk and caught a glimpse of blue lace before she shut it.

  "Nothing." She groaned. I grinned at her discomfort.

  "Aww…come on." Reaching down, I lifted the trunk.

  "No," she giggled and pushed the trunk down. Luckily I was stronger. "Don’t," she covered her face as I looked inside the trunk.

  "Remind me to thank Phoebe." I chuckled and received a slap on my arm.

  "I’m not wearing those!"

  She pointed to the offending lacy items I’d lifted out of the trunk. Taking the scraps of material in her hand, she walked to the bathroom, shutting the door once inside.

  Getting into my own luggage, I found my swim trunks, got into them quickly and tossed on a t-shirt. I swore I heard Lilli groan from behind the bathroom door.

  "You okay in there?" I shouted, stifling my laughter.

  "No," she groaned and came out of the bathroom. It took everything in me to keep my eyes from bulging out of my head and my tongue from the floor.

  "This! This is what Phoebe considers a damn one piece bathing suit!"

  She crossed her arms, attempting to hide herself, but it just pushed her breasts together and up, causing my swim trunks to feel suddenly tight.

  Thank you, Phoebe!

  Lilli’s ‘one piece’ was navy blue. The top wrapped around her neck and then two strips came down over her breasts in a deep V almost to her belly button. Her abdomen was fully covered, though her sides and back were completely bare. The material continued in a bikini type fashion between her legs and up around her ass, tying very low on her hips. She looked delicious and her anger flushed face made her even more tempting.

  "I’m going to kill her when we get back!" She shouted, walked over and pulled out a thin strapless dress. You could still see the outline of her bathing suit and it was difficult not to feel my balls tighten.

  Noticing my long silence, she turned around and looked at me. I cleared my throat, knowing I had to recover quickly.

  "You finally ready?" Sarcasm would work as a cover up. I hope.

  "Oh, shut up! You don’t have to wear dental floss to swim." She groaned and headed out the door.

  "I could, if that’s what you would prefer to see me in." I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows as she looked over her shoulder at me.

  "Loser," she said quickly, trying not to smile.

  We got to the beach and I watched her bury her little feet in the sand and look out at the water.

  "It’s so clear but so blue at the same time." She was completely in awe of the color of the water. Watching closely, she pulled her hair up on top of her head in a makeshift bun and secured it with a band.

  "Well, what are we waiting for?" I kicked off my sandals and yanked my t-shirt over my head. When I looked over at her she was staring at me. I grinned smugly. She was checking me out.

  "Shut up." She growled like an angry kitten. She kicked off her flip flops and slid the dress off of her body, finally allowing me to ogle her body properly.

  She walked to the water and hesitated at the edge. Running up behind her, I lifted her up bridal style.

  "Damn it, Aidan! Stop," She shrieked. The plan was to throw her into the water but my hands were touching so much bare skin, my body lit on fire and no longer wanted to let her go.

  "Don’t you dare." She warned, clinging to my shoulders and burying her face in my neck. The warmth of her breath on my neck nearly set me back a few thousand years to caveman. I wanted to rip the barely there bathing suit off of her body and claim the hidden skin.

  "Don’t what?" Standing mid-thigh in the water, I teasingly rocked her in my arms like I would throw her.

  "Is the water –"

  "It’s like damn bath water. Here find out for yourself!" Motioning to throw her, she clung to me tighter. Okay, I was a sick bastard. I was only doing it so she would press herself against me.

  "Stop!" she yelled in between laughs.

  Once I stood still again she moved away from my body. Her leg muscle flexed as she put her foot down to the water.

  "Wow, it is really –"

  I took her under the water with me before she could finish. Since the thought of throwing her away from me was unappealing, I compromised to take her under with me.

  Laughing as we resurfaced, she splashed me.

  "You jerk!" she laughed. I splashed back.

  "You loved it!" I argued with a large smile on my face.

  We battled and wrestled in the water for a little while longer before calming down. Lilli seemed to get lost inside her head as she floated on the water and swam around. I decided to swim out further.

  Returning to the shallow waters close to the beach, I looked around for Lilli and got nervous until I spotted her lying on the sand. The small waves were breaking against her body. She was leaning back on her elbows, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles with her head tossed back.

  Standing waist deep for a few moments, I just took in the sight of her. This was not helping my physical desire for her. As I walked closer I knew I would never be able to remove this image from my mind. Sitting down next to her, she shifted her weight to one elbow and put her hand over her eyes, blocking the sun to look at me.

  "You done practicing for the Olympics?"

  I flexed.

  "Who needs practice?" God I sounded like Dixon.

  "You sound like Dixon." I laughed a little too loudly and she raised an eyebrow at me. She resumed her previous position and I couldn’t help but lick my lips, looking over her body.

  "You hungry?"

  My eyes snapped up to her face, to see if she caught me eye-fucking her. Phew…eyes still closed.

  "Yeah, now that you mention it, I am. Did you want to go to the main land –?"

  "I’m starving." She stood up. "I can cook. You had groceries brought here, right?" She stopped and looked down at me.

  Just when I thought looking down over her body was hot, staring up at her with the sun behind her body made my mouth dry. All of her curves taunting me from above. Shaking it off quickly, I stood up next to her.

  "Yep, there should be food." We grabbed our clothes and shoes.

  Lilli padded directly toward the kitchen. I went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. Leaning back against the kitchen island, I watched Lilli go through cabinets. She was up on her tiptoes trying to look onto a shelf when I sat my bottle down and walked over behind her. Leaning into her back, I practically pressed by body against hers.

  "Need some help?" She froze.

  "Umm…" She shifted nervously. "Is there olive oil up there?"

  I reached over her shoulder to grab the bottle from the back of the shelf, she shivered.

  "You cold?" I teased.

  "No," she said quickly. "I should probably go change before I start cooking though." She slid out from in front of me. "Can you put that on the counter?" she motioned to the bottle of olive oil in my hand.r />
  I placed it down quickly and grabbed her arm.

  "Here?" I grabbed my t-shirt off my shoulder and tossed it to her. She caught it and looked at me in confusion. "Just throw it on while you cook." She started to argue but I cut her off. "I want you to stay in your bathing suit." She raised her brow at me questioningly. I smiled.

  "There are hot springs not far from here. I figure we could go there after we eat." Shrugging, I grabbed my beer and walked into the living room. Turning on the TV, I plopped down on the couch.

  "That sounds nice."

  From the corner of my eye I watched her slip the shirt over her head. Truth be told, I had to sit down to hide my hard on. Plus, unbeknownst to Lilli, her nipples had hardened under the thin bathing suit material. When I noticed, I almost exploded in my pants.

  Listening to and glancing at Lilli, she clanged around the kitchen. At one point I thought I caught her staring at me, but shook off the hopeful thought.

  She was putting food on plates when I entered the kitchen. It smelled and looked amazing. She set the plates on the kitchen island.

  Grabbing some wine from the wine cooler, I watched her start to clean up and put things in the dishwasher.

  "You don’t want to eat at the dining room table?"

  She stood up straight and shrugged at me before walking around to the stools.

  "I’ve never really done the ‘formal’ dining room thing."

  "Formal?" I raised a brow.

  She sighed. "I’m used to eating at a kitchen counter or on the couch in front of a television."

  "Sounds good to me."

  Grabbing our plates, I took them into the living room. At the sound of clinking glass, I turned. Lilli brought in the wine glasses and bottle of wine. Smiling at her, she sat down next to me on the couch.

  We ate quietly and watched TV for about an hour. Halfway through the bottle of wine Lilli stood up and cleared the plates. I grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

  "You cooked, I’ll get this." Taking the plates from her, I also grabbed the glasses.

  Once everything was cleared, I grabbed Lilli’s hand so she would follow me. We slid our flip flops back on before I led her down the dirt path towards the hot springs. It was a good two mile walk, which we spent most of talking about AIS.

  "Here we are," I motioned to the spring lined with both big and small rocks, steam billowing from the edges.

  "This is just here naturally?" Walking to the edge, she dipped her toe into the water.

  "Yeah," Concerned she may slip on a rock, I moved closer to her.

  After removing my t-shirt from her body, Lilli climbed slowly into the water. I followed closely behind.

  "It’s nice," she smiled closing her eyes.

  "It’s great," Keeping my voice low so she didn’t hear me. I wasn’t referring to the spring.

  We spent a few hours at the spring before heading back to the house. On the way back I talked to Lilli about college and her interest in writing.

  As the sun started to set, we returned to the house. We took turns showering and throwing on some lounge clothes. I suggested a movie and Lilli picked out a comedy. With each of us on our respective ends of the couch, we laughed, snorted, and enjoyed the movie. When Lilli fell completely silent, I looked over and saw she was fast asleep. Picking her up from the couch, I carried her to bed.

  After placing Lilli in bed, I climbed in on the opposite side. Lying on my side, I watched her sleeping form before giving in to my own exhaustion.

  A movement and a gasp pulled me out of my vivid dream. Squinting one eye open into the harsh morning light, I discovered the cause of Lilli’s gasp.

  Her face was pressed against my chest, my chin on top of her head, with our arms wrapped around each other. A twitch of her right leg told me it was squeezed between both of mine. My arms tightened around her. We were straddling each other’s thigh, my hard on pressed firmly against her leg. To top that off, heat radiated from between her legs. She shifted and I locked up. I didn’t want her to move. In fact, I don’t think I could’ve let her go if I wanted to.

  "Don’t move, please?" I whispered.

  Chapter Three

  The Interruption

  Lilli

  "Don't move, please?"

  With my head buried in his chest, I barely heard him. Each breath I took saturated my nostrils with his scent. Heat built in my stomach and traveled between my legs. My mind was spinning and his massive erection was pressed against my thigh. Then his hand slowly moved down to my lower back and I shivered.

  "Aid –"

  His hand cupped my ass. My eyes widened and I jerked my head back to look at him. Finally, I got my voice back. "Aidan –"

  His warm, sweet mouth crushed against mine and his hand grasped firmly onto my ass. Gasping, Aidan took advantage and dipped his tongue in my mouth. With thrusting reciprocation, our tongues battled. My fingers knotted into the fabric of his t-shirt.

  The phone rang.

  Aidan moaned into my mouth, ignoring the shrill ring and rolled me to my back, hovering over me. My hands slipped into his hair and gripped. He moaned again pressing his body against mine.

  The phone rang again.

  He growled and put his forehead on the bed next to my head. Panting, my brain slowly caught up to my body and actions.

  Aidan sighed heavily but wouldn't let me move as I tried to shift out from under him. Again, his phone rang. He growled once more and rolled over. Banging the table next to the bed, he tried to grab his phone. His other hand held onto my wrist, not allowing me to get too far away. From the corner of my eye I watched him hold his phone out and then hit a button with his thumb.

  "What is it?" he wasn’t too happy. "What?" "How?!" "I’ll arrange –" "Liam this is my responsibility." "Of course –" "Yes, I know, but –" "I'll set up my laptop now."

  His grasp loosened just enough, allowing me to slip out of bed. The weight of his watchful eyes rested on my shoulders, but I refused to look at him. Already feeling the blush overpowering my face, neck and chest, I reached into my luggage, pulled an armful of things out, and darted to the bathroom. After closing the door behind me, I locked it and leaned back trying to catch my breath.

  What the hell was I doing? Trying to justify the want to finish what’d been started this morning, I began telling myself I would have to eventually sleep with him. I’m his wife.

  I’m supposed to have a kid. Sex will just complicate this more than it already is, why make this harder than it has to be? I mean, surely sex will happen. It’s four years together for lord’s sake, but can't I be strong enough to wait until its necessary, or at least until I know him better.

  Taking a deep breath, I looking at myself in the mirror. I’m talking to myself, I have officially lost my mind. Aidan Iverson was driving me crazy!

  I turned on the shower, setting it to cold. I hoped it would kill the fire consuming my body and the ache between my legs. I screeched as the ice cold water hit my body, it definitely helped to cool my libido.

  Climbing out of the shower, I dried off and sifted through the pile of clothes on the floor. Finding a blue bikini, I slipped it on. Once my hair was brushed and braided, I quietly unlocked the bathroom door and grabbed a towel. To chicken to face Aidan, I exited the bathroom through the frosted glass door to the outside.

  The bright sun greeted me by instantly warming my skin. I decided to walk to the beach.

  Tossing the towel to the sand, I walked ankle deep into the water. Slowly wading until the water almost reached my waist, I eased forward and dove. The water was so clear, crystal clear, and surprisingly warm. Swimming out well beyond where I could touch, I dove down into the water and resurfaced to float.

  Finally, my body tired, I swam until ankle deep once again. Kicking the water and picking up shells, I walked the shoreline. When I reached a large piece of driftwood, I sank down into the warm white sand in front of the washed up tree. Looking out over the water, I rested back on my hands, closed my eyes and let
the sun bathe me.

  I wasn't sure how long I'd rested, when a shadow fell over me. With a hand over my squinting eyes, I stared up to the beautiful man I woke next to this morning. He was grinning.

  "I wondered where you got off to." He gave the panty dropping crooked smile.

  "Umm..." I bit my lip trying to think of something to say. "You seemed busy, so I figured I would let you be." I half smiled. He sat down next to me. It didn't feel uncomfortable, but it didn't feel easy like yesterday. This morning had completely put the sex issue back out there.

  He sighed.

  "It was Liam." I nodded silently. "There’s an issue with a new venture and things are getting crazy."

  "Oh, should we go back?" I was half hopeful and half disappointed at the idea of leaving.

  He looked at me quickly with a furrowed brow.

  "Uh, no. I mean, I don't think we need to, not yet, at least." He took a breath. "Liam’s handling it."

  "Oh," was my only response.

  "Lilli, I am –"

  "Don't worry about it. You hungry? How about breakfast?"

  Quickly I stood and started walking back down the beach. He caught up to me and grabbed my hand, stopping me. I didn't look at him. I couldn't look at him.

  "Lilli, please?" I still kept my eyes off of his, choosing to look at my feet. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable this morning, and I...hell, I just couldn't control myself and I got carried away."

  "It's fine," I said quickly. "Don't worry about it." Smiling halfheartedly, I started walking again, Aidan's hand slipping from mine.

  The rest of the day there was slight discomfort between us. We were both very aware of each other’s bodies at all times. I sat on the patio, trying to get over jet lag, my eyes drifting to Aidan. I watched the muscles in his back flex as he was picked up wood for the fire he was building.

  Aidan started the fire. I lay back on a lounge chair to read my book while he typed away on his laptop and talked to people back in his office. Once the sun completely set, I laid my book across my chest and stared into the fire, watching the flames dance and flutter.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  The next morning we woke in a better position, though most of the king sized bed was going to waste. We weren't tangled up in each other's limbs this time. Instead, I lay stomach down with half of his body covering me and his arm curled around my body.