Waking in the morning was blissful for Lauren. Somewhere along the way in her strange marriage, finding her husband still in bed with her gave the girl a huge surge of joy. And on this morning, it was a great relief to see Thomas asleep next to her, his beautiful features relaxed for the first time in... weeks, really. So, Lauren simply watched him, feeling the warmth of the sun rising over St. Petersburg and creeping over her skin. The first rays to light his face woke Thomas, she mourned a little to see his eyes open abruptly, instantly alert. Then finding her next to him, her mysterious husband relaxed again, one long finger stroking down her cheek.
"Good morning, lovely. Have you been staring at me while I sleep?"
"No," scoffed Lauren, lying through her teeth.
Thomas bared his own in a rakish grin, gaze drifting down to her barely-clad breasts. "I see. May I say I have never been greeted with a more beautiful sight? Here you are, quite calm. Most women..." His big hand was sliding over her hip, inching her nightie up at the same time. "Most women would have disappeared into the night by now."
Lauren's soft foot was smoothing along his calf. "I'm not most women," she said boldly, a little amazed at herself.
This time, his face lit with his smile, warm and caring. "This, I am quite clear about, darling. Quite clear." Then his mouth was on hers, and Lauren gave that little, shuddering sigh she had when Thomas was about to gift her with a string of orgasms. But this time, he stopped. His grin was suddenly the cool, knowing one she was used to.
"Aren't we going to... uh..." she floundered. There was never not a time that her dark husband didn't carry on when he placed those talented hands on her. But he sat up, so awkwardly pulling up a strap over one bared breast - an action he regarded with some disappointment - Lauren did the same. She watched with surprise as he abruptly rose from the bed, stalking back and forth, one hand running absently through his hair.
"No, Lauren. First, I-" she watched as he paced the bedroom some more. It was such an alien behavior from her cool, collected spouse that she began to squirm anxiously. Was there something else? Jesus, what else had Bratva managed to turn to shit in the last eight hours?
"Who's attempting to murder us now?" Lauren asked, aware that she sounded a little dispirited. But really- this has been the creepiest week of her life, and given her existence within The Corporation, that was saying something.
Thomas paused at that, heading back to the bed and running his hands up and down her arms. "Poor darling, it wouldn't even surprise you, would it? No one is planning our imminent demise- no onenew,"he corrected with an expression that almost looked embarrassed. "No one new," Thomas repeated. Seating himself next to her, he took her left hand, absently stroking her soft skin. It was then Lauren realized her wedding ring was missing.
"Oh, crap!" she groaned, "Where did my ring-"
Holding up his other hand, Thomas wiggled his ring finger at her. Perched above his much larger ring and not even fitting over the first knuckle was her wedding band, the lovely, large diamond twinkling in the early sun. "The first time I put this on your finger," he mused, "it was a shackle. You would have never willingly married a monster like me."
Lauren opened her mouth to object, but slowly closed it again. At the time? No, she would have run as fast as she could in the opposite direction. Screaming. A lot. Thomas gave a wry smile and was about to speak, but she bravely put two fingers to his lips, surely the first time anyone had ever "shushed" the terrifying Number Two. "Then?" Shaking her head, she gave a helpless little chuckle. "But... this isn't then. This is now. And it's hard to remember those days, knowing what I know now about you."
There was an odd sheen to those crystalline eyes of his. Lauren couldn't decipher the emotion but she watched as he held up her ring, still perched at the tip of his finger. "I want to be a better man for you, darling, and I-" Thomas paused as his wife watched, wide-eyed. She'd never seen her spouse so hesitant, unsure even. "I believe if I were truly a good man, I would set you free. Insist on it. Send you somewhere far away from me, where the repercussions of my actions would no longer affect you. But... I am not a good man. But I am in love with you. I am in love with the woman who held off a herd of lustful Bratva lesbians."
"I really think they're bisexual," Lauren said absently.
The firm mouth of her husband curved slightly before continuing. "The woman who outwitted Number One and held her own against two men bent on doing harm to us both. The wife..." Thomas was pulling her on to his lap at this point, and she was giddily allowing it. "the wife who stood in front of me and demanded to share my burden. To stand with me." He shook his head, bemused. "I do not deserve you, but..." Slipping her wedding ring off his finger and holding it between his thumb and forefinger, Thomas took a deep breath. "I would like to ask you to marry me, Lauren. Properly. As a man who loves a woman would."
Every girlish instinct left in Lauren gave out a huge internal "squee!!" as her husband placed her on the bed and knelt before her. Lauren Marsh-" he gave a little chuckle, "-Williams, would you do me the very great honor of being my wife?"
All things considered, the girl thought a little wildly, it was absurdly romantic- there in the beautiful old hotel, her husband only his sleep pants and thick, dark hair askew. And on one knee, like a proper proposal would be. And Lauren blurted out, "Does this mean I can start saying 'dude' again?" One dark brow rose, but he nodded his head. "What about jeans, can I start wearing my jeans-" His smile was becoming a bit tight and Thomas's eyes were narrowing, so Lauren hastily backpedaled, "wait, we'll just negotiate that later." He bent to kiss her knuckles, so sniffing a little already, she croaked, "Yes, of course, Thomas. Of course. We're a team, now."
His sudden grin and the way it lit his eyes to the blue of the Mediterranean made Lauren tear up in earnest, wiping the moisture from her cheeks as Thomas gently, carefully slipped her wedding ring back on her left hand.
So, when the new Number One of Jaguar Holdings and his two de facto partners swept into the final meeting with Bratva, Lauren accompanied him, not surprised to see Clara and Arabella shouldering their way past the Russian security as well. Mogilevich sat back and watched the procession, his bushy grey eyebrows drawn together. But nothing was said of it as Thomas rapidly moved into the first order of business.
Sitting back and watching her husband decisively cut through the Bratva blustering with a calm, polite ease, Lauren was alarmed to feel her treacherous center getting wet. Shifting uneasily and pressing her thighs together, she chanced a quick glance around the room. Everyone was focused on the negotiations, and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was humiliating to be getting almost visibly aroused by Jaguar Holdings’ new Number One- but she'd never seen him in action before. Not like this, forceful, controlled. Shifting again, Lauren wiped her perspiring brow. God, he was hot. They really should have had sex that morning because she was so turned on right now. She looked up just as Thomas glanced over at her, his gaze dropping lower to her peaked nipples. One corner of his mouth turned up, just slightly, and it was almost enough to make her come on the spot. Praying the fabric of her suit was thick enough to hide her nipples, the aroused Mrs. Williams blew a blonde curl off her wet forehead and tried to concentrate.
"Are you quite well, darling?" Thomas slipped a hand around Lauren's waist as they left the meeting, and she stifled a groan.
"I'm fine!" she hissed, "I just didn't expect you to be so..."
He was clearly fighting a filthy grin, but her husband inquired solicitously, "So what, lovely?"
"Forceful and, you know, really gorgeous," Lauren admitted, face already flushed and her embarrassment making it worse. "You're crazy hot when you're in action."
Thomas made a thoughtful, humming sound. "'Crazy hot'. That is not a term I've heard used before in my professional life."
Retorting before she could think, Lauren snorted slightly, whispering, "Yeah, because you were usually killing the guy at the time." She stopped short in horror, realizing what just came out of her mouth. Putting a shaking hand over her lips, she looked up at her silent spouse. He was expressionless, but his hand tightened slightly at her waist.
Pulling her over to a quiet corner, Thomas stared down at his trembling wife. "This is often correct," he allowed, "will you truly be able to accept being married to me, knowing what I was?"
"I..." Lauren floundered for a moment. "I just joked about you... you know. I made a joke!" Her hands waved around anxiously, the restaurant's bright lights sparkling off her ring. "That's so horrible of me! I'm a horrible person! But... if I'm joking about it, then I think it means I already have?"
His mobile mouth fought to avoid a smile, but Thomas finally gave in, leaning down to kiss her behind her ear, enjoying his wife's little shiver. "You surprise me every day, my lovely virgin bride," he purred, knowing how the depth of his voice aroused her.
