by M. E. Nesser
I wrapped my arms around her. “You can be my two-bit hussy every day of the week, wench. Your—hussery is one of your more endearing qualities,” I teased her.
“Why thank you, Mr. Jensen. I’ve never seen myself in that particular light, but I’ll try to live up to the highest standards of hussiness, if it makes you happy.” She gave me a small smile.
“How about a hot bubble bath?” I asked her.
“That would be nice. Would you please join me? I don’t want to be alone.”
“That was the plan all along,” I replied.
Katharine was able to talk more calmly once we were in the tub drinking our second glass of wine. When I asked her if she was reconsidering her decision, she emphatically said that she couldn’t wait to marry me. She felt terrible that she had brought her in-laws more pain, but that didn’t sway her decision one way or the other. She loved me, and nothing would change that fact. That made me feel so much better. Intellectually, she knew that Bryce was never coming back to her. On the other hand, she still loved him and missed him very much. I understood her conflict. I didn’t feel threatened that Katharine still loved her husband; I just felt blessed to have met her, and I knew she felt the same way. We were both very lucky to have found one another.
We spent too much time in the tub, and the water began to cool off. I suggested we light a fire and order some takeout. She agreed to both. I knew she wouldn’t want to go out, and I didn’t have enough food in the fridge to make a decent meal. There was a gourmet restaurant a few blocks away that delivered; we’d found it when we first started having sleepovers, and it had become our favorite. Tonight, she ordered a Caesar salad with grilled shrimp, and I ordered chicken French. I knew she wouldn’t want anything heavy, because her stomach was still upset from her meeting with her in-laws.
Dinner was great, and we snuggled on the couch drinking wine once we finished our meals. We talked for hours, until I could feel Katharine’s body getting heavy. She was completely drained. I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, then I helped her undress and tucked her under the covers. I sat next to her on the bed and gave her a loving kiss.
“Aren’t you going to join me?” she asked sadly.
“Right now, you need to sleep. Today was a tough day for you, and I can feel your exhaustion. I want you wide awake when I make love to that scrumptious body of yours.”
“Could you lie with me until I fall asleep?” she asked quietly.
“Of course.”
I crawled in next to her, and she rested her head on my chest. I stroked her hair and reminded her how much I loved her and how brave I thought she was. Within minutes, she was sound asleep. I snuck out to clean up the dishes and turn off the fireplace. I brushed my teeth for a long time, daydreaming about her. When I snapped out of my reverie, I decided to shave my face so I’d be nice and smooth for her in the morning.
I was already thinking about how I would wake her, with my mouth between her beautiful legs. She preferred my face cleanly shaven when I went down on her, so I shaved more often when I planned to do that. Hell, it was the least I could do.
44
I fell asleep feeling bad about upsetting Bryce’s parents, but I could never have predicted their reaction. I was still glad I’d told them in person, even if it did make them angry. I needed them to know I would always love their son, but I was tired of being sad. I felt so blessed to have found love again. And I did love Ian so very much.
I opened my eyes, feeling calmer. That sense of dread had left my heart. I had done the right thing, and I didn’t want to feel bad or guilty anymore. I rolled over on my side and watched Ian sleep. He was such a beautiful man. I was so incredibly lucky. It was time to repay him for being so sweet last night.
Ian knew that kissing my neck was the best way to wake me up. I had a feeling he would respond even more favorably if I kissed something else on his body in order to wake him up. I snuck my head under the covers and found what I was looking for. I started sucking him gently and lovingly; I didn’t want to startle him. As he grew bigger, I felt his hand tangling in my hair as he started rubbing my head. Yeah, he was up. I increased my suction and buried myself between his legs. I massaged his balls and played with that special area between his sac and his ass. I felt him squirming and getting more aroused. His veins started throbbing, and I had to decide whether I was going to finish him off this way or climb on top of him.
“That was how I had planned to wake you up, Katharine,” he said to me sleepily. “It appears you beat me to it.”
“This hussy couldn’t wait for her master’s lazy ass to wake up, so I figured I’d better take things into my own hands,” I chuckled.
I continued my oral assault on him for several more minutes before my own selfishness took over. I wanted to experience pleasure with him. Sucking on him made me wanton and wet, and I couldn’t wait to climb on top of him. I climbed up his body slowly, kissing as much of him as possible. I was happy he was naked, so I didn’t have to waste any time taking any of his clothes off.
When I got to his face, he started kissing me deeply. His kisses alone could bring me to orgasm. He knew just the right pressure to bring goose bumps to my skin and a throbbing between my legs. As our kissing became more intense, I lowered myself on top of him. It was a perfect fit.
I started slowly, wanting to enjoy every sensation my body was feeling. That didn’t last very long. We had such amazing chemistry that the tempo quickly escalated. He grabbed my hips in order to push my body deeper onto his. I was close to the brink, but I wanted us to climax at the same time.
“Ian, I’m so close…” I said in a ragged breath.
“Let go. I plan to join you…now!”
That was all it took. We found our release at the same time. It was electrifying. As our breathing started to slow down, I curled up next to him, and we just held each other. I loved making love to this hunk of a man. I knew I’d never regret my decision to marry him. He’d brought me back to life.
45
Christmas was approaching, and I wanted to do something really special for Katharine; she had been working long hours at the firm. We still hadn’t made any concrete plans for the wedding. We knew we wanted to do it when our kids were home from school, which is why we were talking about next summer. Although she was eating better and working out, she looked tired. I needed to figure out an escape so she could rest and be rejuvenated. I had confirmed with all three children that we were going to spend Christmas together. Emily had two weeks off from school, and the other two had nearly a month off. Then I got an idea.
I called the kids and asked their opinions. Everyone was on board. Since our first weekend at Bear Mountain, I knew that Katharine didn’t mind being spontaneous and she seemed to love surprises. Over the past months, I had planned several new things for us to do together at the last minute. We had fun on every adventure I was able to come up with thus far. She was asking for turns to plan things as well. Every weekend was something different. We were having so much fun together. Now that I was sure Katharine loved surprises, I was pretty confident that this was going to be the ultimate surprise.
I told Katharine that the plan was for all of us to spend the night at my apartment on Christmas Eve so we could be together Christmas morning. Katharine thought the kids were coming at noon for brunch, but everybody was going to be arriving ridiculously early. I also told her that I had arranged for food to be brought in so she wouldn’t have to cook anything. In reality, they were all going to meet at my place at eight that morning. I had packed a travel bag full of her things and hidden it in my closet. At eight o’clock sharp, there was a knock at the door. Katharine and I were in our pajamas having coffee and hanging out in the kitchen when they arrived. She was thrilled to see everyone but suspicious as to why they were so early. I told her that since my girls had become adults, we preferred opening gifts on Christmas Eve and going to church on Christmas morning. That wasn’t exactly true, but it was all part of our
plan. I made more coffee, and we went to the living room to exchange gifts. Katharine seemed to forget that everyone had arrived early. There was a lot of laughter, and I couldn’t have been happier about the camaraderie among our children.
The last gift to be opened was one that I had bought for Katharine. It was a small box, and she stared at it quizzically for a few minutes. The kids were snickering, and Katharine looked around at all of us with renewed suspicion. I prompted her to open it; we had to get going. She unwrapped the package slowly, almost as if she was nervous about what might be inside. When she opened the box, her eyes filled with tears. I had gotten us wedding bands. Hers was an eternity ring, set all around with a row of diamonds weighing a total of four karats. I loved the notion of an eternity ring; it seemed the most fitting to me. Mine was platinum with a row of diamonds in the center. She looked at me, confused.
“It’s time to make you my forever,” I told her.
All the kids were smiling, and Katharine started to cry. She stood up and hugged me, then went around and hugged each of the kids. When the hugs were over, she walked over to me and took my hands in hers.
“I can’t wait to be your forever,” she said quietly.
“That’s good, because it’s about to happen. Take a quick shower and get dressed. We are going on an adventure,” I told her.
“Where are we going?” she asked, looking around at the group.
“It’s a surprise. Now hurry up and get ready. We have to leave by ten at the latest, or we’ll miss our ride,” I pushed her along to the bedroom.
The kids were still laughing as they cleaned up the wrapping paper and coffee cups. I was so happy that they all supported our union. They had kept their bags downstairs with the valet so Katharine wouldn’t see them. While she was in the shower, I had both of our suitcases taken downstairs. Jack made sure all the bags were put into the limousine that was waiting to take us to the airport and came back up to let me know everything was ready. I picked out an outfit for Katharine to wear, which surprised her, but she went along with it.
Once we were all piled into the limo, Katharine badgered the kids for information, but no one was budging. I opened a bottle of champagne, so we toasted our adventure, even though Katharine was still in the dark. I was so happy I’d been able to find her passport. I’d brought up the subject one day, wanting to make sure she had one for our honeymoon—or so I told her. Thankfully, it was right where she said it was.
There was hardly any traffic, and we got to the airport in record time. Katharine seemed very surprised when she saw the small plane waiting for us.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“It’s a surprise, Mom,” said Jack. “I promise you’ll love it.”
We boarded the most beautiful private jet I had ever been on. There were two private rooms with beds, as well as two bathrooms equipped with showers—this was the way to travel. I could tell Katharine had a million questions, but she stayed quiet and just kept smiling. I would have to plan more adventures like this if they would get her to smile like she was now. A flight attendant offered us mimosas or Bloody Marys, and everyone chose something to drink. I had a feeling we’d all be sleeping most of the ride if we kept drinking. The kids were excited and were chatting incessantly about the most random things. I was so glad they were as excited about this trip as I was.
Katharine tugged at my shirt and asked if we were flying overseas. I told her we were, and that I had brought her passport. She teased me about being sneaky and going behind her back, but I could tell she was as excited as I was. The crew gave us our safety instructions as we reached cruising altitude, and brunch was served. We had clams casino for an appetizer. I had several bottles of an Italian wine brought on board to accompany our meal. I didn’t know if she would get the hint, but our kids certainly did—they burst out laughing when the crew poured us each a glass. Katharine didn’t know why they were laughing, but she enjoyed their festive mood. Our next course was a mixed green salad. For the main course, they served us filet mignon, roasted potatoes, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. The food was excellent, as was the wine and the company. It took us over an hour to eat, and by the time we were done, everyone was getting sleepy. My girls retired to one room, Katharine and I went into the other, and Jack slept on a reclining lounge chair.
We had about seven more hours of flying time, so a nap was just what we all needed.
46
I had no idea what Ian had planned, and frankly, I couldn’t have cared less. I was with the people I loved the most in the world. I had only known the girls for a few months, but I felt like they were truly a part of my family. I spoke to them all of the time. Sara and I went to lunch whenever possible, and Emily was constantly texting me about her internship, law school, and even her relationship with Martin. It was obvious that they had lousy relationships with their mom, and I was happy I could be there for them. There were just some things a girl didn’t want to talk to her dad about. I was so glad when they started reaching out to me. It made me feel like they really wanted me to be a part of their family.
Brunch was spectacular, but drinking that early in the day took its toll on everybody. Even though I had no idea where we were going, I knew it would take several hours to get there. Ian and I said our goodnights and retired to one of the bedrooms. We lay on the bed and started kissing.
“This was the most thoughtful gift, Ian. It’s very extravagant but amazing nonetheless. Thank you for arranging all of this,” I said to him.
“You don’t even know where we’re going,” he replied.
“It doesn’t matter. All I care about is that the five of us are together. I’d be happy flying around in circles over whatever ocean is below us and calling it a day. I just love being with all of you. That’s the best gift you could ever give me,” I said honestly.
“Well, I guess I could cancel the rest of the trip, but I think our children would be very disappointed. Besides, I think you’re going to like what I have planned. This is only the start of our adventure—and our life together.”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll withhold judgment for now. Instead, how about we join the mile high club?” I asked playfully.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
47
After several hours, everyone started to wake up, and another meal was served. We sat around the table, talking and laughing. It was obvious that our children were excited about the week ahead of them. Katharine tried fishing for hints, but none of them were budging. This was turning out to be even more fun than I imagined.
The pilot said that we were beginning our descent into Rome, and Katharine looked at me with wide eyes. “We’re going to Italy?” she asked.
“Yes ma’am,” I replied. “I hope the country is to your liking?”
“To my liking?” she scoffed. “It’s my favorite country in the whole world!” She wrapped her arms around me and gave me the biggest hug imaginable.
There was a limousine waiting for us when we finished going through customs. The process was very efficient, and we were on our way in no time at all. The limousine was stocked with chilled champagne and exquisite Italian snacks. We ate Caprese salad and Italian meats and cheeses. The energy in the limo was electrifying.
The ride through wine country never ceased to amaze me; Italy was so beautiful. I had rented a luxurious home in Tuscany with a full kitchen and household staff. It would be a week full of good food and wine, beautiful vistas, and every possible amenity imaginable. What was going to make the vacation even more perfect was the other surprise I had planned: I would be asking Katharine to accept my proposal once again and to marry me in one of the most beautiful churches in the Tuscan Valley.
We all got settled in and had a relaxing rest of the day lounging around. The long flight and overflowing glasses of wine had everyone asleep shortly after the sun set over the magnificent vineyards.
The master bedroom had a wall of glass windows and doors. The view was s
pectacular, and it was completely private. I made love to Katharine slowly and lovingly, and we fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms. When we woke up, the sun was starting to rise. We went to the enclosed greenhouse with its billowing couches and watched the sunrise. One of the staff brought us cappuccinos and pastries and then disappeared so we could have our privacy.
When we finished our coffee, I took the cup out of Katharine’s hand. I took both of her hands in mine and turned my body so I was completely facing her. She had a look of concern on her face.
“Ian, what’s the matter?” she asked sympathetically.
“I have to tell you something important, and I have to ask you something. I still can’t believe I found you. What I need to tell you is that I love you more than any woman I have ever loved in my entire life. The day you said yes to my marriage proposal was one of the happiest days I can remember. Now, here, with all of our children gathered together, in the most beautiful place in the world, I’d like to make it official. Ms. Katharine Collins, would you do me the honor and the privilege of becoming my beloved wife? I would like to marry you today. Please say yes. It would make me the happiest man in the entire world.”
“Oh Ian,” she gasped through her tears, “I’d love to, but I don’t have a dress.”
“Actually, you do. The girls contacted the friend you get the designer clothes from, and rumor has it that there’s a gown, shoes, and everything else you might need in the guest bedroom. Sara and Emily took care of all of the details. All you need to do is say yes.”
Katharine switched positions and crawled onto my lap. She put her arms around my neck and kissed me.
“There is nothing I would rather do than become your wife. Today. In Italy. With our children. Oh God, Ian. I love you so much!”
Only moments later, we heard cheering and clapping. The gang had been hiding behind us and had heard Katharine agree to my proposal. They came running into the room. We stood up, the girls crying and hugging. They grabbed Katharine and dragged her to the guest room where her dress was waiting. Jack and I stood there and watched them leave. When I looked back at him, he had tears in his eyes.
