To Me I Wed

by K. M. Jackson

  Just then the front door opened and in bounded the overly friendly retriever from the night before, and he was going straight for her thighs. He was bigger than she remembered, and Lily jumped back with a loud squeak.

  “Dex! Down,” Vin said, all deep toned and stern. The poor dog immediately stilled and looked up at Lily with eyes that said “Save me.” Lily smiled as she put the teakettle on the stove and reached out to give the dog’s blond fur a pat.

  “I know he can be rough, but he only looks mean,” she said softly to Dex.

  “Oh no, love. Don’t go filling his head with lies. I’m just as mean as I look,” Vin replied.

  Lily looked at him. Tall, muscular, dark eyed, sexy, and scruffy, but mean? No, at the moment she couldn’t cosign on that. He was smiling at her, and the fact that he did relieved Lily in a way that she didn’t know she needed. But she was playing it cool. She turned toward the stove and picked up the coffee press. “What’s this monstrosity you have masquerading as a coffeepot? How is anyone supposed to figure it out?”

  She watched as Vin placed Dex’s leash on a table by the door, then come over to her and took the coffee press from her hands. “I’ll have you know this is top of the line and state of the art,” he said.

  Lily crossed her arms in front of her chest. “State of the art and top of the line for when? The forties? Don’t you have a Keurig or at least a Mr. Coffee?”

  Vin’s eyes went skyward before he looked back at her. “I don’t know what sort of terrible life you’ve been leading, love, but I’m about to change all that.” He leaned in close to her, bringing the fresh sea smell with him and surrounding her with it as he brought his cool lips down on her and kissed her, then brought his hands to her bare thighs and up to cup her naked behind. Lily was quick to lean in and take what he was giving. The more he gave, the hungrier she seemed to be for him. His large hands squeezed her in close, and Lily let out a sigh as she felt him harden through his jeans as he rubbed against her belly. By the time Vin finally pulled away from the good morning kiss, Lily was breathless and all thoughts of coffee were gone. But he remembered, his comments bringing her back to earth. “You want me to make your coffee for you now? It will only take a few minutes. And I can brew you up a quick breakfast.”

  Lily shook her head and leaned back in to nuzzle at his neck, then looked up into his dark eyes. “No, I’m not quite as hungry for food as I was a few minutes ago.”

  He looked at her through his dark eyes, seeing all. “Really? Lost your appetite, have you?”

  “Not exactly. Just lost it for food. Though I am feeling like a hot shower might be just the thing I need to bring my appetite back.”

  Vin grinned, leaned down, and lifted her with both hands as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Love, I like the way you think.”

  The water was hot but nothing compared to the two of them. As the steam rose, so did Lily’s temperature. She didn’t know how he did it, if it was a special skill of his from working in the kitchen and being adept at multitasking, but the man was a master at seeming to be everywhere at once. Just when she thought he was concentrating on one part of her body and working her into a frenzy that way, there would go a clever hand to seek out some body part that she didn’t even know she liked having touched just so. But he was touching it and she was liking it all the way from one explosion to another.

  Lily tried her best to keep time with him. Give as good as she got. Let her hands roam over all that exquisite muscle of his. He had these little bruises, some old scars that let her know he hadn’t lived a gentle life. No, he’d been active and still was. As she came across each, she had the distinct urge to kiss the long-ago hurts and make them all better. When finally her kisses got lower on his belly and she kissed right below his belly button and above his glorious hardness, he shuddered in anticipation of what he hoped would come next but didn’t open his mouth to ask for. He didn’t have to. Lily was happily enjoying the smooth feel of him on her tongue, the tightness of his backside as he tried to hold himself together under her ministrations.

  Finally, it was too much and he growled, a sound she had anticipated with pleasure. Pulling her up quickly, he flashed barely checked desire in his midnight eyes, and everything within her went liquid. “Now, love. I must have you now. I mean right now.”

  Lily nodded her acceptance, and he shook his head.

  “I want to hear you say it. Tell me it’s okay.”

  She bit her lip and looked at him hard, trying to take in what he wanted from her. She blinked when the only word she could come up with was something she didn’t know if she was quite ready to give. Trust. But still, Lily let out a ragged breath, then nodded again. “It’s okay. Now,” she said.

  Then with surprising tenderness Vin turned her around and placed her hands against the cool tiles, pushing her slightly forward as he entered her from behind. He filled her slowly and completely. Then he wrapped his arms around her to steady her, one at her breast as it lifted and caressed her and the other between her legs, finding her perfect spot. Instantly her breathing hitched as tiny sparks of fire blazed through her, burning her from the inside out. Suddenly she was pushing back against him with all she had while the water attempted to run between them from overhead but didn’t succeed. They were too close. Fused together. One. So much so that nothing could get in between them.

  Vin bent and kissed her on the back of her neck, the side of her cheek. She felt his teeth gently scratch at her shoulder, and she exploded as he squeezed her tighter and went surprisingly deeper, joining her on the ride to oblivion.

  After what seemed like a long while, but was only moments, he led her out of the shower and toweled her off. Lily didn’t say a word. She didn’t want to screw up and risk breaking the spell they were under. The only sound between them was their gentle breathing and the crashing of the waves on the beach below. Pulling back the covers, Vin laid Lily out on the bed, then lay his large frame next to her. Spooning his body to hers before pulling the sheet over them both. Gently, he kissed her once more between her neck and shoulder. She was starting to think of that space as his spot. He let out a long breath. “Rest now, babe. Later I’ll cook breakfast for you.”

  Lily smiled as she looked out the large sliding doors that led to his deck and beyond and took in the sky, which was promising a beautiful cloudless day. Vin rubbed lazily at her thigh. The easy movements were almost hypnotic. He’d just made love to her, gently tucked her into bed, and he said he’d cook for her. Lily felt her eyes flutter closed as she finally found her words again. “Breakfast sounds real nice.”

  Chapter 18

  By all fault of her own, they fell quickly into a routine. Vin’s had a friend of his come and tow her car, and it turned out to be both an oil and a starter problem. Lily thought about just leaving the car with him and selling it for parts, but still something wouldn’t let her. Stubbornly she shelled out the money to get it repaired. She knew a new car was in her future, but she wasn’t quite ready to give up on the old one just yet.

  That first morning’s breakfast was perfection. Eggs fried perfectly with some type of spicy and sweet sausage that she’d never tried before but was instantly addicted to. But that seemed to be the way with Vin. He had her trying new things, with her falling for them, hard.

  She washed the dishes while Vin sat at the counter answering e-mails. “You know you don’t have to wash the dishes just because I cooked the food. It’s not like you’re working downstairs. This isn’t a quid pro quo situation,” Vin said.

  “It’s no problem. I want to be useful and you really have been doing a lot of cooking for me. If I don’t watch out or get more active I’m going to regret it and not fit into any of my clothes anymore.”

  Vin gave a snort, causing her to do a quick turn, and he laughed.

  “What was that for?”

  Vin shook his head and looked down at her body before looking back up at her face. “Sweetheart, from where I’m sitting it looks like everyt
hing is landing in just the right places.”

  Lily didn’t have a comeback and she felt her face heat with a blush, so she turned back to the dishes. Starting to wash again she looked at the photo over the sink. “I love this picture of you.” Lily made her comment light.

  Vin barely grunted.

  “Hello. I said I love this picture of you. That’s you and your mother, right? You look like her, you know. It’s all in the eyes. So expressive.”

  Vin looked up from his laptop and over at her. “Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment. I think she was beautiful.”

  Lily nodded her agreement but could tell by Vin’s sudden lengthening of his spine that she was treading into murky waters. “How long ago did she pass away?”

  She saw him visibly tense. The telltale muscle in his jaw flexed. Lily turned away to the dishes. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to talk about it. I can see it’s hard; I didn’t mean to pry.”

  He shook his head then. “No, no, it’s okay,” he said, though his smile was clearly forced. “It’s going on two years.”

  Lily lowered her gaze a moment, the pain of his loss still almost palpable. Finally she looked back up at him and gave him a small smile. “I’m so sorry. Do you have any other family? Brothers?” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Sisters?” And got a slight laugh out of him.

  He shook his head.

  “So it’s just you and your father.”

  She watched his gaze harden as his jaw tightened again. “I don’t have a father. It was just my mother and me. Now it’s just me, and me alone.”

  “Once again,” she said, “I’m so sorry.”

  He looked at her sharply, which almost made her want to take a wide step back. “Don’t be. There is nothing to be sorry for. That’s how life goes. Now, I think we’ve had enough with talking about subjects that have nothing to do with this moment and the here and now.” Catching himself, Vin softened his tone and stood beside Lily. As he wrapped his arms around her, she washed the dishes, her lips clamped tightly shut, almost afraid to say something else that would upset him. The only sound the clanging dishes and the running water until she heard his sigh. His breath was soft against her ear. “I’m sorry. I just don’t like to talk about her. She was all I had and I was all she had, and I failed her. And my father, well, he failed both of us so he’s not worth any of my conversation.”

  Lily felt his muscles tense against her back, and she couldn’t help but go slightly rigid herself. At her body’s tightening, Vin gave her a nudge and a kiss on the side of her neck. “Come on, Lily. The last thing my ma would want me doing would be standing here in my kitchen like some sad sack when I have the opportunity to be making love to a beautiful woman.”

  Lily turned around then and gave him an arched brow. “Really? Somehow I highly doubt that.”

  Vin laughed once again, though she noticed his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, and it let her know that this conversation, at least the uncomfortable part, was closed. He kissed her, once again doing those sexy moves that worked like magic, taking all coherent thought from her mind and turning her body to one big mass of Vin pliable goo.

  He had her, and she found herself doing just about anything to be with him, near him, but most of all be a part of him.

  * * *

  Once again waking with a groggy head and a limp though thoroughly sexually satisfied body, Lily reached for Vin with greedy hands in the early morning hours but came up empty as Vin was already slipping out of bed to hit the surf. “Really? You’re going this early?” she asked.

  Vin leaned back over in the bed and kissed her, his lips softly glancing off her own. “I’m going to take Dex out and get a little time on the water. I’ll be back to make your coffee before you know it, though. Don’t worry.” He rubbed lightly on her behind before turning back away to dress in his trunks as she closed her eyes. “Though you know,” he added nonchalantly, “you could just take a chance for once and come with me.”

  Lily cracked one closed eye back open. “Come with you where, and what do you mean ‘for once’?”

  He gave her that grin. She was starting to know the inflections of his grins and, judging by how high or low it was, what boundary level he was going to push. This was the higher quirky grin plus a slight eyebrow raise. Lily knew it meant trouble. “I’m just saying, you should come out and give it a try. You’ll never know if it’s something you might like by watching from up here.”

  Lily gave him a frown. “I think at this point in my life I pretty much know if I should attempt something that really only Jesus should be doing. And mere mortals trying the wrath of God at their own risk.”

  Vin burst out laughing at that one. “I swear, your drama is legendary. Wrath of God type stuff. Only you would say that.” His expression sobered as he looked at her deeper. “Seriously, come on out with me. I promise you it’s safe. I teach kids and got certified for it.”

  Lily was unmoved as she looked at him. The idea did sound, if not like a good one, slightly intriguing. Like one of those bucket list things you wrote down but knew you’d never get to and were really perfectly fine with that. “I tell you what,” she started. “You go and splash in the water for a while and I’ll handle breakfast. I’ll even do the coffee. I’ve seen you work that press thingy enough that I think I can handle it. I’m sure You Tube can teach me the rest.”

  Vin shook his head. “The fact that you call it a thingy tells me you can’t handle it. Better you just wait till I get back.” He got up silently. Lily was learning that it was his way to go only so far and not to push any one situation. She knew that a big part of it was his respecting the boundaries she had put up from the beginning and continued to, but at that point she wondered if she wasn’t ready for some of the velvet ropes to come down. He turned her way and smiled from the bedroom’s door frame. “It’s no problem. Why don’t you just relax and go back to sleep. I won’t be long, and I’ll do breakfast for you when I get back.”

  He was gone only a few minutes when Lily got up and looked out the back patio doors to see down to the beach before her. Something about the way he’d given up so easily and not pushed her started to bug her. It was as if he knew they wouldn’t last, that she was on her way out, so why even take the time to put in the effort of the lesson? Lily bit at her bottom lip. Was she reading too much into this, or was that the signal she was giving off?

  She watched him in his full-on body-hugging surf suit as he headed toward the water. Just then a younger boy walked up and greeted Vin. He was carrying a smaller board, and they chatted a few moments before going toward the water together. They attached their latches to their ankles and headed in to paddle out.

  For a few moments Lily watched breathless while they paddled out, then disappeared from view. It was the longest twenty seconds of her life, but to see Vin as he came back up and stood firm and solid on his board with the younger boy just a few feet beside him was exhilarating. Both Vin and the boy looked happy and carefree as they balanced against the turbulent waves, and when they finally broke, each twisting off and into the water, they came up with bright, wet smiles that had Lily cheering on the inside. He’d wanted her to be a part of that, and she’d dismissed it out of hand. He wanted her to experience that type of joy, but she couldn’t see further than the potential danger.

  Lily changed quickly into the suit she’d brought with her from home that she’d been using for lounging on his deck. It was an intricate, black one-piece with lots of crisscross banding, so definitely better for lounging than surfing, but it was all she had. When Lily got to the beach and walked up to Vin, who was now saying good-bye to his little surfmate, he gave her a smile that was laced with questions. “What are you doing out here? I thought you went back to bed.”

  Lily shook her head. “Nah, I decided this seemed like a good morning for a lesson.”

  Vin leaned down and kissed her before she could get another word out, taking her breath away. “What was that for?”

  He
smiled wide, and it caused Lily’s heart to dangerously trip over itself to see him so open and happy. “Just for you taking a chance and trusting me.” But then he looked down at her and frowned. He looked her over critically, twisting her around and then back again.

  Lily pulled a face. “Do you mind?”

  “Yeah. This suit is not making it. It will do for today, but tomorrow we’ll get you something proper to wear. For now, we’ll just work on your balance in the water. If I have you slide up and down on the sand in that suit, it will be like the worst rug burn you could ever imagine.” He frowned, realizing what he’d said. “Not that you’d know anything about that.”

  Lily reached out and stroked at his beard, which she was coming to love so well. “Of course not, darling.”

  * * *

  It was a little over a month later, and though Lily wouldn’t go so far as to call herself a beach bum, she had been bumming around the beach and Vincent’s place enough to come scarily close. Her brown skin now held a deeper, more sunkissed glow and though she couldn’t call herself a surfer either, she’d been out on the water with him enough to learn how to find her center, paddle out, judge a decent wave by the amount of white foam it had, and even hold her balance for all of 1.5 seconds. Sure she knew she’d never make a circuit with those numbers, but it was better than when she’d started. Still, it wasn’t all sand, surf, and sex. Reality had to come, and it was coming in the forms of Christie Carlyle’s graduation party and her own wedding to herself. For the past month she and Vin talked exclusively about everything but anything that really mattered.

  Christie’s party was fine because it didn’t quite threaten to pop the fragile little bubble they’d built, but Lily kept any mention of each of their families, the past, or her upcoming ceremony off the table out of fear of coming back to earth. But her planner nature couldn’t let it rest. It wasn’t only her job, it was who she was. She lived by dates and efficacy, so she just couldn’t let it lie. After Christie’s party, decisions had to be made.