by Blue Saffire
I bite my lip looking back in the direction Steve and Mom have gone. I am torn. I want to check on my mom, but this is my wedding. I should relax and enjoy it and not worry so much. Mom has looked so happy today.
As if reading my thoughts, Wyatt presses the side of his face to mine as he sways me to the new song that is playing. “She said for you to enjoy your day, Baby. She just needs to lie down for a bit. She made me promise not to cut the cake without her. She’ll be back,” he whispers and I feel my mind and body relax.
“Okay,” I whisper back and he kisses the side of my face.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look,” he asks pulling back just enough to look me deeply in the eyes. His hands slide up my sides that are bare. My gown only has three thin straps of silk and lace running down the center of my back.
A shiver runs down my spine and I look away from his intense gaze. Wyatt chuckles and dips his head to kiss my neck. “I love that you are still shy around me, even after I have fucked you over and over, and now you are my wife,” he breathes against my neck.
“Wyatt,” I chide him and look around to see if anyone is close enough to hear him.
He growls into my neck. “You’re mine. I can talk to my wife about how much I love her shy smiles and how fucking hot she is when she comes on my cock. I can tell my wife that every time I see her blush I want to fuck her until she let’s go and shows me that little wild woman that lives inside her,” his voice rumbles through me and I swear my pussy clinches right then, sobbing all over my thong.
“Wy, if you don’t stop we may not make it to the cake,” I moan quietly.
He chuckles and lifts his face from my neck to kiss my temple and then my lips. “I love you, Nellie Black,” he says with a huge smile. Suddenly his face turns more serious. “Are you happy, Baby?”
“Yes,” I reply as I play with the short hairs at the nape of his neck. “Thank you so much. For dealing with my ex, for being here for my mom and me, for this amazing wedding, and for just being you,” I say as I get lost looking in his eyes.
“Thank me after we have been married a year or at least, wait until after I make good on my promise to turn you out,” he wiggles his brows and licks his lips, sending a hot spark of heat rushing between my legs.
“That promise wouldn’t have anything to do with all the toys I found hidden in your closet, would it,” I smirk at him.
His cheeks turn pink and he rests his forehead on mine. “You found that stuff huh,” he says softly.
I bite my lip and nod my head trying not to laugh at him. Right now he is so cute, he looks like a little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. His eyes search my face for my reaction to the toys and things I found in the closet.
I lift up on my toes to whisper in his ear. “It’s okay, I know my husband is a bit of a freak,” I tease.
That wolfish smile returns to his face. “You have no freaking idea what you signed up for,” he growls at me. “By the way, you found that stuff in our closet, Baby.”
My smile falters a little, “Wyatt, I still can’t leave my mom,” he kisses me to cut me off.
“Where I am you are. This is where you need to be so this is where I am,” he says against my lips.
Just like that, I know I have fallen in love with him all over again. That has been happening a lot over this month. Are we crazy for getting married after only five and a half months of being together? Yup, but I would be crazy with this man any day any time.
He’s shown me more love in the last five and a half months than I ever saw in a two-year relationship. Right now I know I would do it all again. Only I would probably jump his bones a whole lot sooner, now that I know the pleasure he is capable of bringing. The thought brings a smile to my face.
Yeah, my husband couldn’t be any more amazing. I sigh and bury my head in his chest. I inhale his strength, not knowing how much I’ll really need it.
Chapter Thirty One
Nellie
I’ve been feeling sick to my stomach all morning. Yesterday was the perfect day. The wedding turned out so great. Mom rejoined the party and she and Steve even danced a few times. Everyone was so happy and having a great time.
Last night was unreal. Making love to Wyatt as my husband for the first time was out of this world. Just when I think things couldn’t be better between us, he turns it all around on me.
So I have no idea why my stomach has been in knots. I spent an hour with Mom this morning before she rushed me off to go out with the other women. Heather and Bean had the idea to take me out to the spa and to brunch since they didn’t have time to throw me the proper bachelorette party.
I’ve tried to push the feeling aside and enjoy the afternoon. Aunt Faith, Aunt Jennifer, and my new mother in law, Cassidy are with us. They are all good for a laugh and have helped me relax as much as I can, but I still can’t shake this feeling.
They took my phone so that I don’t spend the day texting my husband instead of enjoying the day out. Honestly, I really just want to go check on Mom and spend the rest of the day curled up in Wyatt’s arms.
“Oh man, Aunt Jen,” Heather laughs. “Do you remember that time you caught Bean and Noah in the pool house drinking beer?”
“Oh no, please don’t bring that up,” Bean groans.
I can’t help but laugh. Bean’s mom, Jennifer shakes her head. We are wiping at tears as we get pedicures.
“I still can’t believe that,” Aunt Jennifer rolls her eyes. “Bean, you were what, twelve and Noah was sixteen. I still want to know where you two got the beer from.”
“You and I both,” Cassidy snorts. “Noah couldn’t sit for a week after Joe got to him and he still refused to tell how they got it.”
“Oh my God, I remember that,” I gasp and laugh harder.
“Yeah, you should, you chickened out on us and went home,” Bean grumbles teasingly and gives me the eye.
“She was the smart one,” Cassidy says with her Irish lilt and laughs.
“Wait, I have one,” Bean says with a mischievous grin on her face. “Remember that time we all walked in on Wyatt making out with Paula Waters? He didn’t even know we were there. Joe came home early and we all hid. Joe totally freaked out on the two of them,” Bean doubles over with laughter.
“I do remember that. It was you, Heather, Noah and me. I still don’t know how we all fit in that closet and didn’t get caught,” I snort as I laugh hard.
“Oh Joe knew you all were there, he just chose to deal with Wyatt and that hot little Miss. He caught that same little tart down in the basement again with Johnathan not even a week later, it’s like he had a sixth sense to know when those boys were up to no good,” Cassidy shakes her head.
“Wyatt would be sick to his stomach if he knew Nellie saw that,” Heather cackles.
We are all sharing stories and memories when I look in the mirror and catch sight of Cassidy’s face. She isn’t laughing along anymore and her face is white as a sheet. I notice she has her phone in her hand and she is texting feverishly. That feeling in my stomach tightens and grows as if someone has stoked a fire within my tummy.
She puts her phone away and forces a smile on her face, but I see right through it. I’m afraid to ask her if she is alright and if everything is okay. There is something gripping me telling me not to ask.
I stare off into space as my mind wanders through all the possibilities of what could be going on. My thoughts first go to Barry. What if Wyatt didn’t handle him the way he thought he did? What if his dad got involved? What if he knows we are in Seattle and he went to the house to start trouble?
I have so many what ifs, but I have one that I won’t let push itself to the forefront. In my brain, I can handle the possibility of Barry entering the picture. Anything else my subconscious won’t allow me to handle or process.
If it were anything really important that involved me Wyatt would be here. He would come to make sure that I am okay. I let that thought settle in and give a sense of ease
. However, the knots in my stomach don’t release.
We wrap up in the spa and get dressed in our street clothes once again. I take notice that Cassidy is unusually quiet. Her movements are even a little slow as if she is just going through the motions, but I still can’t bring myself to ask if she is okay. I know it is selfish and I should make sure my mother in law is okay, but this feeling I have tells me asking will be like opening Pandora’s box.
Aunt Faith and Aunt Jennifer start to tease me about babies as we exit the spa, lifting my anxiety for just a little bit. I begin to giggle as Aunt Faith gets suggestive. I know I am blushing.
“Now that Wyatt is a looker, Nellie. You make sure you have plenty of fun having those little ones,” she smiles at me.
Heather hoots with laughter as she holds on to my arm on my right side. Bean groans holding my arm on my left. I choke on my own laugh.
“She is right. Wyatt turned out to be a hot young man,” Aunt Jennifer wiggles her brows. “You did well with those boys Cass.”
“Mom please,” Bean groans and rolls her eyes.
“What,” Aunt Jennifer shrugs.
I notice Cassidy hasn’t made a sound so I look up from laughing to see her walking ahead of us. I stop in my tracks and my body suddenly feels heavy. Bean and Heather tighten their hold on my arms as I stumble back.
It is not Cassidy that brings me to a halt. It is the sight of my husband standing in front of Steve’s SUV that brings me to a stop. He is standing there with his head hanging low and his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans.
Everything starts to move in slow motion. In my peripheral vision, I see Cassidy rush into Joe’s arms as he stands on the driver’s side of Steve’s truck. Then all at once the doors to two more SUVs open and out steps my brothers in law.
If I didn’t know at that moment, I know the moment Wyatt lifts his head. His eyes are red and raw looking. His face looks like he is heartbroken. When his golden eyes meet mine, I know his heartbreak is for me.
I shake my head. Right now I don’t want to know Wyatt well enough to read him. I don’t want to be right about the look on his face. I don’t want to be right that he is here for me, to comfort me.
It takes me a few seconds to realize that the sobbing noise is coming from me. I pull from Bean and Heather’s embrace and rush forward to Wyatt. I clutch Wyatt’s jacket in my fingertips. His arms go around me insistently. His arms are like a band of strength supporting me.
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” Wyatt’s voice breaks. “I’m so, so sorry. She loved you so much.”
“No, no, nooo,” I sob. “Not my mom. Please, no. Please, please, Wy, not my mom.”
He kisses the top of my head and holds me tighter. “I’m sorry, Nel. Steve said she asked him to take a rest with her and she went in her sleep not long after. She was so tired, Baby. She wanted to see you happy, but she was just so fucking tired. She fought so hard to be there for the wedding, but she was tired for a long time now,” his voice cracks with emotion and so do I.
~B~
Wyatt
This right here is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I have delivered bad news to faithful wives about their cheating husbands and devastating pictures to suspecting husbands. I have been there to tell wealthy men that the child they were raising as their own was indeed not theirs, just like their family kept telling them.
I even had to tell one of the sweetest old ladies ever that her children were, in fact, trying to have her declared insane and unable to manage her estate behind her back. When she was a hell of a lot smarter than the lot of them. She just hired us to give her lawyers proof before she wrote them all out of her will.
None of that, and I do mean none of that was as hard as this moment right here. This right here, me having to tell my baby that she has just lost her mother, this is almost killing me. On the day after what should have been one of the happiest of her life.
Her entire body is shaking in my arms. I try my best to explain to her what happened with a strong voice, but I am hurting inside as well. I am hurting for Nellie and hurting for the woman I have known for such a short time, but love as if I have known her all my life. Nora just stuck to your heart without effort.
When my voice wavers I know, I am about to lose her. Nellie plants her face in my stomach and lets out a loud howl. I feel my Dad walk up behind me and place his hand on my shoulder to lend me his strength. As if by unspoken command each of my brothers walk over to do the same placing a hand on my shoulder, my back and when they couldn’t reach me they did the same for my wife.
God, we both, needed their strength because the moment Nellie’s deep cries of sorrow pierced my heart my knees buckle just like hers. I can do nothing, but cradle her in my arms as we slide to the ground. My broken heart is filled with love because my family goes down with us, surrounding us, sitting on the ground as if we are not in the middle of a busy sidewalk.
I looked up into the faces of my brothers and I can see in each of their eyes that they are feeling this for my girl and for me. I’d fucking die for this girl and they know it because the same goes for each of them. Knowing they have my back in this time means more than words can ever say. My body shakes with the force of Nellie’s tears, but as my father murmurs in my ear I know I am going to be the man that helps her through this as my family holds us both down.
“You’re a good man, Son. Nora was so grateful to you. You gave her the peace she needed to go home. You let her know her baby would be okay. I’m so proud of you. Your family will be here for you whatever you need. I love you, Son,” Dad murmurs as he squeezes my shoulder.
I kiss the top of my wife’s head as she wraps her arms around my neck. “I love you so much, we are going to make it through this,” I say into her ear.
I find my strength once again and lift her into my arms and stand on my feet. Braxton opens the back door of Steve’s SUV and I climb in holding my wife in my arms as I place her on my lap.
“I promise we’ll make it through this,” I whisper to her.
I can’t hold her tight enough and there are no words that are right, but I will be with her every single step of the way. I love her too much to let this break her now.
Chapter Thirty Two
Nellie
It has been seven months since the wedding and the day that I lost my mother. I wish I could say that things have gotten better, but I can’t. I know that I need to pull it together, but I haven’t been able to.
Every time I go to reach for the phone, I remember she won’t be there to answer my calls. For a whole month, I would call her cell phone just to hear her voice on the voicemail. The day I realized that Steve let her number go I sat in the empty tub and cried for hours. That was the last day Wyatt left the house for work.
Uncle Rob and Joe told me to take all the time I need and that I could work from home if I wanted. I’ve tried to work from home, but Wyatt won’t allow it. He wants me to focus on healing. If I loved my husband before I love him so much more now.
The first month I wouldn’t eat, I wouldn’t bathe, I was just existing. Wyatt fed me, washed me, and he even attempted to braid my hair a few times. That was an epic fail, but it felt nice when his big hands ran through my hair during his attempt. Thinking of all he has done for my over the last seven months puts a smile on me face even now.
We are lying in bed; he is massaging my scalp with one large hand while the other rests on my hip. His face is buried in my hair and I hear him inhale deeply every so often. I have my head resting on his bicep and my arms wrapped around him. We have been like this for a while now.
My mother’s words keep playing in my head. ‘No matter what you always make sure your man goes to bed happy.’ I trace Wyatt’s tattoo on his collar bone and look up at him. I don’t think I have done a thing that my mother told me to do on those days she tried to pack as much wisdom as she could into four weeks.
“Wy,” I whisper.
“Yeah, Baby,” he answers taking his
face out of my hair so that he can look me in the face.
“I’m sorry,” I reply.
“For what,” he looks at me in confusion.
“I haven’t been taking care of you and your needs. You have been so amazing and it has been seven months and I still haven’t pulled my shit together,” I say feeling ashamed.
Wyatt’s face grows dark. “I can’t even believe you just said that,” he shakes his head as if that will erase my words.
“I mean it Wy, we barely have sex, it took me months to start taking care of myself on my own again and I’m still not doing the greatest job of that. You hired a maid for crying out loud,” I fuss.
“Nel, Mrs. Patterson has always been my maid. I just gave her some time off when you first started sleeping over. We were fucking like rabbits and I didn’t want her walking in on us back then. I love taking care of you. As far as sex goes,” he shrugs. “We’ll get back to that when you are ready. I’m happy with you in my arms.”
“Yeah right,” I grumble. “I caught you jerking off last week,” I narrow my eyes at him.
He drops his head back against the pillow and squeezes his eyes shut. “Baby, you’re sexy as hell and I needed a release after watching you rub that lotion all over your body. The crazy thing is you don’t even know how sexy you are or what you are doing. I’m a grown ass man. I handled that shit,” he huffs and sighs deeply. “I know you’re not ready. You have a lot of shit going on in your head, your needs come first.”
“No Wyatt, they don’t, not to this extent. I feel so messed up that it took me finding my husband rubbing one out to see how far I let this go. Do I miss my mom,” I swallow back a sob. “Yeah, like hell I do, but you’re my husband. I should be there for you as much as you are there for me. I mean I stood there and watched you and I couldn’t bring myself to walk over to you and, at least, help.
“This isn’t what my mother wanted from me and it is not what you signed up for as a husband. I mean if you find me so sexy you have to rub one out, don’t you want to fuck me?”
I watch him swallow hard as he thinks of the best way to answer me. “Hell yeah I want to fuck you, but I want you whole more.” He stops talking when I shake my head.
