Happily Ever After: 6 Marriage Romances In 1 (BWWM Romance)

by BWWM Club

  “Are you chicken?” she asked him mildly.

  “What are you going to give me when I win?” he asked her flexing his muscles and stretching his hands over his head, his green eyes quizzical.

  “Very sure of yourself aren’t you?” she put her hands on her hips. “The winner gets breakfast served to her for a week.”

  “Her!” he grinned at her. “Now who is being cocky?”

  “Ready?” she asked her brows raised.

  “After the count of three.”

  He allowed her to do the countdown and even gave her a head start. He had never told her he had been on the track team at his high school and also in college and had the trophies in his dad’s office to prove it. He caught up to her easily and was ahead of her when he heard her cry out. He turned to see her on the ground and he felt his heart thudding inside his chest. He raced back to crouch down beside her.

  “Kym,” he called out to her urgently. To his surprise she reached up and pushed him backwards so that he fell on his back and she sprang up and raced away, her laughter loud and triumphant. He sat there stunned realizing that she had tricked him into winning. He got up and dusted himself off and saw her way in the distance.

  “You cheated and that does not count,” he said trying to catch his breath as he reached her grabbing her by the arm and turning her to face him.

  “All is fair in love and war,” she told him archly, wrapping her arms around his neck. “So what do I do? Give you the menu from overnight?” she asked him teasingly.

  “You did not win,” he told her sternly, feeling himself weaken as she molded her body to his.

  “I did. You are such a sore loser Julian and besides you had an unfair advantage over me. Trophies for the amount of time you won at tracks both in high school and college?”

  “You knew?” he stared at her.

  “You have a very proud mother who happens to tell me everything.” She told him using her teeth to tease his bottom lip. “So am I declared the winner?” she was nibbling at his lip and he could not think straight. He would have agreed to anything.

  “Anything you want.” He said hoarsely. “Let’s go home.”

  *****

  She was organizing a huge dinner party for the company and she had no idea what to do. Julian had told her that he could get people to do it but she had told him she wanted to do it. There was a catering company that they always used and Irene had given her the number. They were entertaining associates and their wives from several different states and they were going to be discussing mostly business. She had told Irene she wanted to see if she could do most of the planning herself. “If I get stuck I will let you know.” She told her mother in law who gave her a nod and a pleased smile.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Julian had asked her quizzically as he was leaving in the morning to go to the office. She had been helping him with his tie and he had stood there while she adjusted it. She had told him she wanted to do it on her own and he had warned her that it was a lot of work.

  “I am sure, stop worrying.” She kissed him swiftly on the mouth and made to pull away but he caught her by the waist and held her fast.

  “That’s my job,” he had told her huskily. She had not had the nightmare since the last time and he was hoping that was it for her. “This one is kind of on the small scale because it is only about fifty people, usually there are more.”

  “See? I am starting off small.” She told him with a smile. “I want to do this Julian.”

  “You know you do not have to prove anything to me, don’t you?” he asked her, lifting her chin to meet his gaze.

  “I know.” She met his lips in a slow drugging kiss that had him being late for a meeting.

  *****

  She made sure she was dressed and ready and downstairs to meet their guests. She had chosen to wear a burgundy dress that hugged her curves lovingly and covered her bodice but dipped low in the back. She wore diamonds in her lobes and on her wrists. They had been a present from her husband for her birthday at the beginning of May and she looked exquisite. Her hair had been styled by a professional and was swept on top with the curls ruthlessly tamed and showed her high cheekbones to their best advantage.

  She had studied each and everybody’s name and was able to greet them personally.

  Julian stood by her side watching her ready smile and he felt as proud as a father watching his child taking her first step.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Banks very nice to meet you,” she told the aging couple; with a charming smile, shaking the man’s hand and giving the woman a brief hug. “Your dress is lovely and that color looks so good on you.” She told the pleased woman.

  They had hired people to take coats and put them away with name tags so as to avoid confusion when they were ready to leave. The caterers had done a very good job and there were a variety of entrees and main dishes because Kym had told them specifically what she had wanted.

  The evening went on without the slightest hitch because Kym had left nothing to chance. It was being held in the ballroom and she had decorated it with pepper lights along the drapes and the columns and gave the place a feeling of intimacy that was greatly appreciated. James and Irene watched as she circled the room with their son and talked to the business associates as if she had known them before this evening.

  “She is beautiful isn’t she?” Irene murmured as she sipped champagne she had taken off the tray from a passing waiter.

  “She reminds me of you when we first got married,” James said with a whimsical smile looking down at his beautiful and classy wife in her dazzling green dress that suited her to perfection. He had always been in love with her and over the years there had never been anyone else for him. He looked at his son and realized that he had also found his one and only as well. “You remember our first dinner party?”

  “I remember the anxiety and the uncertainties as I ran around trying to do everything by myself,” she said with a tinkling laugh, slipping her hand through her husband’s arm. “Our daughter in law insisted on doing the planning but at least she had the good sense to delegate.” Her eyes wandered over to where Kym was talking with some of the guests and her laughter ringing out at something one of them had said. She was a natural and she fit in so well. She was not the only one watching her and she saw several of the men giving her discreet glances and her son watching her avidly, the naked love on his face apparent. “They are in love darling and I am so happy about that.”

  “So am I,” James said with a gentle smile as his arms went around her waist.

  *****

  “You have made quite an impression,” Julian told her as they said goodbye to the last guest. It was almost midnight but she felt charged and not in the least bit tired with the exhilaration coursing through her. James and Irene had already gone up for the night.

  “I never thought that I would pull it off and I am not even tired or even feel sleepy,” she said throwing her arms around his neck in her excitement. “I know what we should do?”

  “What?” he asked, amused by her excitement.

  “We should go for a swim.” She said pulling out of his arms and opening the door. She had taken off her heels and left them by the door and raced across the grounds and headed for the pool. He got there when she had shimmied out of her dress and he remembered that she was not wearing anything underneath. She jumped into the warm water splashing him in the process.

  “Come on in, what are you waiting for?” she asked waving him in.

  Hesitating briefly, he started taking off his expensive dark blue suit hoping that all the staff had gone to bed by now and had not been looking at her. He placed his clothes carefully on one of the deck chairs and then with a shrug he took off his underwear and dived cleanly into the water coming up behind her and grabbing her by the waist causing her to shriek. “You are incorrigible.” He told her with a laugh, his hands drifting up to hold her breasts.

  She turned in his arms and hooked her hands around his n
eck. “Isn’t that why you love me?” she asked him huskily.

  “Among other things,” he told her softly. “I saw you going around the room as if you had done that sort of thing all your life and I was so proud that half of what some of the business associates were telling me I did not hear a word.”

  “I was petrified that I was going to do something to mess up the whole evening. I almost called Mrs. Hollingsworth by her maiden name and I remember you told me that she had been estranged from her parents for years now and absolutely refused to be called by that name.” She laughed as she remembered how quickly she had made the adjustment.

  “You did great.” He told her huskily. “Now I need to enjoy my wife for a few minutes now.” He bent his head and took her lips with his. She sank into him and he could feel her nipples against the hair on his chest and he groaned with the feelings she stirred in him. The water swirled around them and he felt himself hardened against her. He lifted her up against him and slipped his erect penis inside her, enjoying the sensation of the water as he went deep inside her.

  Kym wrapped her legs around his waist as he started moving inside her, his hands gripping her hips as his thrusts became more urgent. She threw back her head and he captured a nipple inside his mouth causing her to cry out as the passion tore through her body. He moved towards the edge of the pool and held her against him as he let his control slip away from him.

  Chapter 12

  The fourth of July came around with humidity and rain that threatened to put a damper on the various activities planned for that day.

  Kym had been doing her research on the abandoned building above where she had her house and had become fascinated with the history so far. It had been built in the early nineteen hundreds and the first occupants; a man and his wife, had made their home there. From what she read, they had been very happy until they had lost a child in a boating accident when he was just a teenager. The marriage had deteriorated until it had disintegrated and they had gone their separate ways. What was the breaking point in a couple’s marriage? She wondered as she made a notation on a pad on the desk. What happens to make a couple who had pledged their lives to be together until death decide that it is not going to work anymore? And what can a marriage survive?

  Her brows furrowed in thought as she stared off into space. She loved Julian so much and she knew how much he loved her but what could make them not love each other anymore?

  Julian came in just then. He had gone into his office to make a business call because he wanted to be free for the rest of the day. His parents were planning their annual Fourth of July activities during which they invited over the entire staff and friends of the family to a day of eating and pool activities and whoever wanted to play tennis or basketball. There were already tents set up all over the grounds and later in the night there would be fireworks. She had called her friends and they were coming over in the afternoon.

  “What would make you leave me?” she asked him as soon as he came into the room. He had a night’s growth of beard on his strong jaw and he looked as sexy as hell.

  “Excuse me?” his green eyes looked at her quizzically. She was not yet dressed as it was just a little past nine. She was still in her sexy two piece lingerie that she had worn to bed last night. He could see glimpses of her pubic area because she had one foot on the chair she was sitting on.

  “What could I do for you to leave me and want out of the marriage?” she elaborated turning her chair to him.

  “Is that a trick question?” he came by her desk and sat on the edge of it. He had pulled on a T-shirt over his naked torso and loose sweat pants.

  “I am doing research on the old abandoned house up by where my house is and I read that the first couple who lived there lost a child and eventually their marriage as well.” She explained. “So I am here wondering what is a couple’s breaking point.”

  “And you are wondering what mine would be,” he mused. He came off the desk and crouched in front of her. “I would hate it if you cheated on me but then I would have to examine myself and wonder what I had done to contribute to you doing that. I would tell us to try and work it out, even if it means counseling. I love you so much Kym that I am willing to accept anything and live with anything if it means you and me together. What would be yours?”

  “I have no problem with you cheating,” she told him airily.

  “Why is that?” he looked up at her puzzled.

  “Because if you did it once you are not going to do it again because your penis actually belongs to me and I have no problem taking a knife to it.” She told him with a straight face.

  He crouched there staring at her, his expression one of shock.

  “So aside from cheating which will never happen, I love you too much to want to live without you.” She continued, reaching out to cup his hair roughened jaw.

  “You are a dangerous woman,” he told her dryly, pulling her down on him while he fell back on the floor with her in his arms. “I am scared to even look at another woman.”

  “Good,” she murmured taking his lips with hers. “That’s the idea.”

  *****

  “Honey, I love it!” Sylvia said enthusiastically as soon as Kym called her and pitched the idea to her. “I even like the title: ‘The breaking point in marriages’. When can I see a first draft?”

  “Not so fast Syl,” Kym said with a laugh. “I am still taking a break and my one year is not up yet.” She paused. “But I will be doing the research and I will not tolerate you calling me and harassing me every few seconds, asking me when a chapter will be ready.” She warned.

  “Me harass?” Sylvia said with a mock offended tone. “I would never dream of it.”

  “Yeah right,” Kym snorted. “What was your breaking point Syl?”

  “Which marriage?” she asked wryly.

  “Oh yes, you have been married three times. Is it okay for you to tell me what went wrong all three times?” Kym asked her gently.

  “Of course honey, I am all better now,” she responded her tone bright. “The first one was the ‘trying to get away from the parents’ marriage. I was eighteen and they were strict and overbearing and I guess I just did it to piss them off. He was a sweet boy who had just joined the navy and I was excited at the prospect of being a navy officer’s wife. It was not yet a year into it that we discovered we were miserable with each other and we got out of it gracefully; we are still friends to this day.”

  “So there was no love there in the first place thus it was easy to say goodbye.” Kym commented.

  “I guess so,” Sylvia said contemplatively. “Marriage number two was when I thought I was an adult now who could deal with the responsibilities of marriage. He was a fast talking salesman who swept me off my feet and showered me with gifts. I was dazzled by him until I discovered that he was sleeping with most of the women in the neighborhood. I threw him out on his ass and took him for everything he had, the bastard. So I guess you could say the breaking point there was his numerous infidelities.

  “Now marriage number three was a work place romance and it was when I started here as an assistant editor and he was the editor. We sort of fell in love because we were spending so much time together but then I got promoted and he got demoted because his work had started slipping badly and I guess he could not deal with a woman who was going places. He took his things and left. A year after that he filed for divorce. I guess the breaking point there was his masculinity.”

  “So you figured that the foundation in all of your marriages weren’t strong enough?” Kym asked her.

  “I never quite looked at it that way but I guess you could say so and now I am married to my work.”

  “Is it enough?” Kym persisted.

  “You sound like a damned therapist,” Sylvia said with a laugh. “It is for now.”

  *****

  “This place is unbelievable,” Gabrielle said her eyes wide. Kym was taking them on a tour of the grounds. The place was already filling up with peo
ple walking around and socializing and the smell of burgers and hot dogs permeated the air. “I was here for the wedding but we did not get the grand tour. Is that a stream I see up there?” she pointed towards a little knoll and the sun glinting off a body of clear water.

  “It is,” Kym said with a grin. “Let me show you.”

  They hiked up towards the hill and stood there staring at the acres and acres of rolling parcel of land that belonged to the Robinson’s. It was beautiful and well kept and very impressive.

  “A person could get lost around here,” Marla commented as she stared around. Both girls had come without dates saying they needed a break from men for a little bit.

  “It’s beautiful and quiet here and sometimes I would just come here and dip my feet into the water and let the breeze touch my skin.” Kym told them.

  “Okay, I have seen enough. I need to go and eat some of that delicious smelling food before I faint from hunger.” Gabrielle said.

  *****

  “Having fun?” her husband asked as she came out of the pool dripping with water and adjusting the straps of her white bikini top. He was aware of the stir she was creating with her body and had hurried over with a towel to put around her. She waved at her mother and stepfather who were talking to Julian’s parents at the far end of the main tent.

  “Yes I am, where were you?” she had left Gabrielle and Marla in the water playing volleyball with some guys.

  “Having a discussion with some of the guys from the office.” He rubbed the towel over her arms vigorously. “Hungry?”

  “Starving,” she told him with a laugh as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “Okay, let’s get you something to eat and Kym, I kind of hate other men ogling you the way most of them have been doing, I want to tell them to go home.”

  “My husband is jealous.” She teased him.

  “Damn right I am,” he said darkly.

  “Good; now you know how I felt earlier when you were coming out of the pool with no shirt on and the water streaming off your positively hot and totally male body and every females' eyes were on you.” She told him with a smug smile.