by Cat Mann
Chapter 26
Hopeless
When I awoke in the morning, I was wrapped up in Ari; the sun was flooding our new bedroom with light. I had not noticed one detail about the room the night before due to my preoccupation with the details of Ari. The room was beautiful. Our bed, a four-poster king-sized fluffy bed, was draped by Ari’s traditional huge overstuffed blankets and graced by matching pillows. Our sheets were softer than silk. I spied a walk-in closet across the room and next to it the door to the master bath. Ari’s great bedroom chair from next door, my personal favorite piece of furniture, had been moved over to a corner in our room. Stacks of his books and mine were piled up next to it.
The furniture was an eclectic mix of both vintage and modern. There was an old dressing table with a very large mirror above it. On the dressing table was a huge bouquet of our wedding flowers in a clear-glass vase. Flanking the bed were unmatched bedside tables. Ari’s was masculine and mine was sweet and dainty. Each was adorned with a glass vase of more white anemone flowers. A bench at the foot of our bed was embellished with a soft throw blanket and more decorative pillows. The window offered a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean, and hanging on the wall behind the bed were the photos Aggie had taken of Ari and myself sleeping. The room was perfect and I was completely at peace.
“Good morning, Sweet Ava,” Ari said sleepily. I got one good look at his lip and my eyes grew huge.
“Oh, my gosh, Ari, I am so sorry.”
Ari gave me a beautiful laugh.
“That’s nothing,” he said as he sat up and turned so that his back was visible. Scratch marks stretched from his neck down his shoulder blades. I covered my face with my hands but Ari quickly pulled them away. He had a smile stretched across his face.
“Believe me Ava, last night was amazing.”
My cheeks flushed.
“Yeah, it was,” I admitted sheepishly.
Ari moved me on top of him.
“Care to try it again?”
I giggled and we spent the rest of the morning in bed.
