by Lauren Wood
“It’s not that easy Sam. Why don’t I give you a list later?”
“The wedding is in two weeks. We need to get these sent out.” I stopped and chuckled.
“What?”
“Why am I more worried about this than you are? Just give me a number and I will leave that many open.”
“Just five or so. No more than that.”
I stopped when she gave me her number. I had several hundred coming and I didn’t know what to say. It was times like this that I realized I didn’t know everything about my bride to be.
“Why so few? Don’t you want your family to come?”
“I don’t have much family. I thought I told you that before. No one that I invite is going to be related to me.”
This was the first I was hearing of it. “When did you tell me that?”
“When you asked. It was a while ago. You know that my parents are dead, right?”
Why didn’t I remember something like that? I remember Ashlyn mentioning that she didn’t have much family, but I hadn’t put the two together. I felt bad for even asking about it now. “Well don’t worry. We are family and I have a huge family that you will have to contend with. It will be a mess for the most part, it always is, but soon enough we will have another addition to ours.”
“I like the sound of that, but I am not having a brood, two is my limit.”
I wanted more and I knew that she would be a good mother. When I thought about her not having any parents, I wanted to know more. Did we have a conversation and I was just so love drunk that I don’t remember it?
“So when did your parents die?”
“When I was young. I don’t remember either one of them.”
“So who raised you?”
She giggled at me and asked me why I had all of these questions all of a sudden. I didn’t know how to answer. I wanted to know everything about her and even now I got that she was still so mysterious to me. It really was a shame.
“I was raised by the state and several foster families, places like that. I left when I was fifteen and came to the city. I never looked back.”
I didn’t know what to say, but I wanted to kiss her. She smiled at me and asked what that was for.
“I am sorry I didn’t know that. I wouldn’t have asked you such stupid questions.”
“It’s fine, really. It was a long time ago and I don’t know what I am missing. I have great friends that are like family. Ashlyn has been a lifesaver more than once.”
“She says the same thing about you, though I never have got the full story on that.”
Meri paused for a moment and then smiled to herself. “She almost got involved with a pimp. I knew the man she was going to meet. It was a chance meeting that I met Ashlyn. She was naïve to city life and I saw something put in her drink. It was their way of getting her under their control. I got her out of there and she stayed with me for a few weeks until she got a job. Then she started to climb the ladders of the rich. I don’t know how she did it, but Ashlyn came from not much of anything like me. I feel like we were meant to meet and I am glad I was able to help her. I never would have imagined that she would come to my rescue in much the same way.”
I was taken aback by so much of it. For one that Meri would be wise to such a thing or to even imagine Ashlyn almost becoming a prostitute. I am still not sure what she does, but she knows a lot of powerful men. She made introductions for me that I never thought possible. Ashlyn ran on favors and it was hard to even think of her wasting her lobbying skills on something so dark. “I can’t imagine it.”
“Well this was long before she dressed all fancy. Ashlyn comes from a small town and she has some family, but she rarely sees them. I don’t know what she was doing here to begin with. I think the lights brought her here.”
“Is that what happened with you?”
She smiled and shrugged. I pulled her to me, kissing her neck. Every day I was with Meri, I swear I fell more in love with her.
“Something like that.”
“Well I am sure glad you came.”
Our lips met and she pushed me away after a moment. “Me too, but if you don’t give me some space, we are never going to get anywhere with these plans. I still don’t see why we need to do all of this.”
“Because it is expected. You’re right though about not having much time left. Where were we?”
She wasn’t thinking about the wedding anymore. As proper as she liked to be about it, the secret really was that Meri wanted sex more than I did. I could see it in her eyes and I for one was thankful for all of the pregnancy hormones coursing through her. It just meant that I got what I wanted a lot more than before. Sometimes I had to pace her to make it through the day without being completely exhausted.
It didn’t take long for us to get sidetracked and before I knew it, I had Meri underneath me and I was pushing inside of her. She had this look of contentment on her face and it was hard to deny how much I loved to know that I was the reason for it. I had known for some time that I was put on this earth to please her and all of the other women were just practice in the end.
Chapter 20
Meri
“Carol I am so glad that you could make it. I haven’t seen you in a while.” She looked good, but there was still something withdrawn about her.
“I took some time to just be alone. I needed some time to think after everything.”
I could see that she still wasn’t the same girl that I had known for years. She was more reserved and I knew that it was because of our time in Thailand. While I was in jail, she was living a far rougher existence and once she had cleaned up from what they gave her, it had brought back memories that should have stayed buried. I wished for her that she would find a way to bury them once again.
“You look like you are feeling better. How are the dreams?”
“This is your wedding day Meri. Don’t worry about me. How are you feeling?”
I smiled at her and gave her a hug. I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to her. It was iffy when she got back, her mind scrambled and the addiction was rampant, but she really did look better. Her mind seemed clearer if nothing else.
“I am glad you are here Carol. I didn’t know if you would be or not.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Who would have thought that lawyer would be ‘the one’ for you?”
I still found it hard to believe as well. I never would have thought I would be standing here in this kind of dress, ready to marry the man of my dreams and practically every other woman’s dreams as well. He was rich, handsome, kind. My husband was the full package and soon we were going to be a family.
That idea struck me and I felt tears forming in my eyes.
“Now, you can’t cry. You are going to mess up your makeup.”
“I can’t help it. I just feel so thankful right now. I don’t know what I would do without you Carol. It was one heck of a way to meet Sam, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”
I stopped, realizing what I was implying without meaning to. I started to apologize.
Carol waved me off. “I get it. I really do. I know you were trying to keep me away from Rico. It was like you knew.”
“I didn’t know about that.” My emotions were all over the place and I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t stop the tears that were ruining makeup. All I could do was try to dab at it when Ashlyn came in.
“What is wrong Meri?” She had concern on her face and I didn’t want to tell her that I was blubbering like an idiot because I was just too filled with emotions to keep them all in. It was ridiculous, it really was.
“Nothing, I am just really happy.”
Carol explained that we were talking about Thailand and Ashlyn seemed to realize that it was a good thing she was there.
“Well I am glad you guys got back safe. I warned you about Sam, Meri, but I never would have thought that the two of you would be getting married. It makes sense now, the two of you
, but before I just couldn’t see it.”
“I still don’t see it Ashlyn. We come from different worlds and I don’t know if it is ever going to work. Maybe I am just fooling myself into thinking that this can ever be more than it is now.”
Ashlyn just shook her head. “You are minutes away from going down the aisle Meri. This is happening.”
She was right of course. It was happening, but I was still waiting for the bottom to drop out of it or something of that nature. I was glad that Carol and Ashlyn were there to help me get through this. I was still trying to figure out what I was supposed to do next. I was pregnant, about to be married, so far from the life plan that I had made for myself. What was I supposed to do with it now?
“You love him, don’t you Meri?”
Ashlyn had asked me that before and the answer was still the same. I was head over heels in love with Sam. There was no doubt about it and I know that he loved me too. It was perfect, always had been once we came clean in that bathroom about how we felt about each other.
“Yes I do.”
“Then come on. You probably got him freaking out in there. They are waiting for you to walk down the aisle.”
I took a deep breath and dabbed at my eyes a little better. I was blotchy, but after rubbing my skin for a minute, it started to go away enough for me to think I was presentable. I wasn’t feeling like I was at my best, but it was just nerves. I hadn’t wanted this big wedding, but it was for Sam at the end of the day.
When the doors opened and I started to hear the music playing, I knew that it was all going to be okay. I had needed the pep talk or I might not be standing here right now. I might have run, afraid of anything that seemed too good in my life. Ever since I was a kid I had felt this way and now to have this fairytale ending was hard to fathom.
But there he was, my prince. Sam was standing up by the priest in his tuxedo and a look on his face that made me blush all the way down to my toes. I didn’t have to ask if he liked the dress, I could tell that he did. He was ravishing me with his eyes where I stood and I faltered in my step for a moment. Sam was so intense.
“Took you long enough.”
“Had to make up my mind if I wanted to come or not.”
I said it in jest, but he didn’t take it that way. His hand went to mine and held it tightly, telling me that I wasn’t going anywhere. I liked how much he fought for me, even when it was my own self that was standing in my way.
The ceremony went by so quickly and Sam’s squeeze on my hand told me when it was time to say my piece. It wasn’t but a few moments before I was his wife and everything changed. I still wasn’t sure if it was for good or not yet. I was just going to have to wait and see what happened.
***
The reception was beautiful and even though I didn’t know most of the people in the room, I was introduced and treated like we had known each other forever. Sam showed me off to a few of his colleagues, but I didn’t take it offensively. I was happy that he felt that way and I enjoyed myself far too much. By the time the dancing part rolled around, I was so hot and ready for my husband. I didn’t want to wait much longer to get the honeymoon part under way.
Sam pulled me to his body and I felt every hard inch of him against me. It was hard to deny how good he felt and before long I was easily losing myself in the moment. I circled his neck with my arm, trying my best to hold myself steady. Sam was not the kind of man that was easily ignored and the song seemed to go on forever. By the end of it was dying for some private time.
“We need to go somewhere where we can be alone.”
“Really?”
I nodded my head as he whisked me off the dancefloor and other people started to dance to the next song starting up. I felt giddy and would have followed him anywhere.
The reception was at Sam’s house in the front veranda and it made a perfect place to disappear inside of the house. No one was really in there and even if they were, neither one of us was too worried about any of it. I only had eyes for Sam. Nothing else around me really mattered all that much.
When we got to his bedroom, I giggled as he pushed me against the door and started to kiss me. My laughter quickly faded into something else and I was dying for him to take me.
“Let’s go in and you can take me on the bed.”
“What if I want you right here and now?”
He was tempting me and the fact of the matter was that I didn’t care. It was close enough to privacy for me. “As long as you can get this dress off pretty quickly.”
His eyes darkened and he made me shiver. I wanted to tell him that I loved him and I had waited my whole life for him, but all I could get out was a moan of pleasure as he touched me. Sam knew my body better than I knew it myself and there was no part of me that didn’t want him. It was still hard to imagine that he was mine, but he was and I was going to have to get used to the idea of that.
Sam pulled me into the bedroom and I was stunned to see rose petals all over the bed and candles made up all of the lighting. It was hard to imagine when he had time to do all of this, but I should have known that he would do something like this. It still amazed me how romantic and thoughtful my new husband was. It made me think that our life together was going to be something for the storybooks.
I felt his hands and fingers on the back of me, pulling my dress down. I could hear popping sounds as he lost his control and started to pull the dress off of me faster. I didn’t like that the dress was going to be ruined, but at the same time I didn’t care. I liked that he was that into me that he couldn’t cool his ardor. I liked the idea of that very much. It was exactly how I felt and since I couldn’t do it myself, I was glad that he wasn’t in one of his savoring moods. They usually drove me absolutely crazy.
“Hurry up Sam.”
“I am ripping this dress.”
“I don’t care, just hurry up already.”
He growled at me and I giggled back at him in response. I loved how excited he would get and I was sure to match him at this point. My body shook and it was as if I had waited my whole life for this and not just a few hours.
“Fine Meri, but you made me do this.”
I was about to ask him what he was talking about when his hand came down and jerked all the rest of the buttons off of the back of the dress. I gasped at the power of it all and I tried not to let it bother me too much. I was gasping for breath, the air in my lungs sucked out.
Sam pushed the dress down as he walked me towards the bed. I was shaking, waiting for him to make the next move, but there was nothing more that I could do. I moved down to the bed and crawled on it, shaking my ass, trying to entice him. He liked my backside and I felt a little slap that made me squeal. I hadn’t expected that.
When I went to my back, Sam was pulling off his clothes very quickly. I took a sharp intake of breath to see him that way. He was more than enough of a man for me. His shoulders were wide and his chest was hard. My fingers itched to touch him, but I knew that if I did, I would lose myself. I was trying to keep it together so badly.
So I watched his body slowly come to light and I shivered inside. He was so hard everywhere that I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. The more I tried, the more I turned myself on and I finally touched the throbbing center in between my legs. I jumped at my own ministrations, not able to stop the pleasure that I was feeling. When Sam noticed what I was doing and locked eyes with me, I almost came right there. His eyes were so filled with need that I had to close my eyes to his. It was just too much to handle and when I opened them back up, he was crawling over my body.
There was no need for any games. We were both more than ready and the longer I had to wait, the worse it got. Hiking my legs up to his waist, I pressed my womanhood against him. I wanted him inside of me so bad and Sam must have known because he didn’t take any of the preambles that he usually took.
Sam was inside of me in seconds and I cried out with the sudden fullness of him buried deep inside of me. My insides milked him as har
d as I could, wanting to squeeze out every inch of pleasure as his rod started to move inside of me slowly. This wasn’t the pace that I needed though and my nails were like daggers in his back, rushing him along. “Harder Sam. I need more.”
Taking one of my legs and hiking it higher to his shoulders, his penetration was even deeper than before and I started to rub on my clit between our bodies. It was all too much and I was coming hard and fast. The longer he slammed into me in that way, the longer the orgasm lasted. I don’t know if that was because it was one after another or not, but I was drained in minutes.
Clenching down on him, I pulled Sam down for a kiss and sighed when our lips met. He was close to coming, no matter how hard he was trying to hold it together. Sam kept stopping and I knew it was to keep him for coming, but I wasn’t going to help him along. I loved to feel his shoot inside of me and I was already exhausted from the five minute long orgasm.
Another wave ran over me and I screamed out his name loudly. It was the final straw for Sam and I was thankful for that. My insides were sore as he always had a tendency to make them and I was out of breath. I felt his heat shooting into me and it was the last straw. I couldn’t hold back anymore, no matter how hard I tried. I was just filled with too much pleasure and too much love.
“God I love you Sam. I can’t believe we are married.”
He smiled at me and pulled me into his arms. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Before you, I didn’t think I would ever want the wife and kids, but I can tell you now that I don’t think it would have been right any other way. I have been spending this time waiting for you Meri. I see that now.”
His words made me well up with love and I knew that it was going to be impossible to ever be sick of Sam. He was my savior and my lover. He was everything to me and now I was finally going to have a family of my own. There was nothing greater than that as far as I was concerned.
“Should we go back downstairs to the party?”
He looked at me and then at my naked body, still wet with sweat from our activities.
