It didn’t take either of us very long to start shaking, and not long after that, he was trying to pull away from me. I wouldn’t let him, eager to take everything he had as I writhed against his mouth. We went flying over the edge together, both of us struggling to keep going as our orgasms got the best of us.
I collapsed on top of him after, spent, but blissfully jelly-boned and a silly smile on my lips. “We should do that again. As often as we can.”
“Every day, then,” he said, his voice rough. “You got it. Your wish is my command.”
I laughed, but the sound was barely there, too wrapped up in breathy pants and hoarseness to be much. Harrison pulled me toward him, cradling me in his arms. Once he’d turned me around again and once he’d caught his breath, he pressed a kiss to my temple.
“Bath?” he asked. “I’ll even go get the rest of the wine.”
I nodded. “I’ll go get the wine. You run the bath. Add some bubbles if we’ve got them.”
He smacked my ass as I got up. “Oh, we’ve got a lot more than just bubbles, Mrs. Westwood. I wasn’t sure you were going to be there tonight, but I was prepared for coming home with a wife, too.”
Curious about what he’d planned, I had half a mind to check out the bathroom before I went downstairs, but he immediately shook his head at me. “Uh-uh. You’re getting the wine, remember?”
I sighed but went, slipping into my robe before collecting the fancy bottle from downstairs. The fire was burning out, but the rose petals were still there. As was the charcuterie platter. I took that up with me too, juggling the board, the bottle, and the glasses, but I knew it would be worth it later for a midnight snack.
When I walked into the bedroom, an orange glow was coming from the bathroom, a sweet, vanilla-and-jasmine scent wafting through the air. I set the platter down, refilled the glasses, and carried them to the bathroom.
Candles flickered on absolutely every surface. Every other light in the bathroom and bedroom had been turned off.Rich, fluffy bubbles filled the tub. As I walked in, he pressed something on his phone and music started playing.
“What is this?” I asked softly, not even knowing if I should be surprised that he’d had this ready for us.
He smiled. “It’s my wedding night playlist. It’s all the most romantic songs I’ve ever heard. I thought that we can each add a couple songs to it every year and it’ll become, like, the soundtrack to our very own love story.”
I melted into him, handing over the wine and looking up in his eyes. “I love that idea.”
We climbed into the tub together, spending the night adding more songs to our playlist, drinking wine, feeding each other from the platter, and eventually making love to our very own soundtrack. It was the best night I’d ever had.
I hadn’t been sure if Harrison would take me back after what I’d done. While I’d known all along that he loved me, I hadn’t been sure if the fact that I’d almost left him because of my family would make him cautious to try anything with me again.
It turned out I hadn’t needed to worry about it. Harrison’s love was sometimes cocky and loud, like it had been in that restaurant in New York when he’d first proposed to me. Sometimes it was wild and manic, like it’d been the day he’d stormed into my office and reproposed.
But at the same time, it was always understanding and unconditional. It was hardcore and true, the kind every woman deserved and I’d been lucky enough to find. And I knew then that no matter what happened, no matter who or what tried to keep us apart, Harrison Westwood was my forever, and I knew that was exactly the way it had always been meant to be.
CHAPTER 47
HARRISON
A month after the wedding, I steered the yacht out of the marina with Aurelia at my side, the same vessel I’d spent most of last summer on, thinking I’d be a bachelor for a while. The teak deck beneath my feet felt familiar but somehow different with her here.
Everything felt warmer and I felt more alive than ever, watching her blonde ponytail sail out behind her in the breeze, her eyes hidden behind giant sunglasses. Her hand slipped into mine, small and sure, and I felt a rush of something I hadn’t expected to ever feel the last time I’d been here—complete joy, quiet and fierce at the same time.
Honestly, I couldn’t believe how much things had changed since the summer, when I’d been partying it up hard and I hadn’t even known that Dad had given Sterling that ultimatum. I hadn’t realized what was happening at home or how drastically it would change the course of my own fate.
Now I was back here with an impossibly gorgeous wife at my side, a woman so smart and beautiful that I couldn’t stop staring at her for more than a few seconds at a time. The tight navy jeans and fitted white hoodie she had on weren’t helping matters either.
I supposed it didn’t have to, though. This was our honeymoon, after all. We’d carved out just enough time to celebrate being newlyweds before we dove back into the life we were building together back home.
“A week isn’t enough time, is it?” she asked from my side, her face turned toward the Mediterranean stretched out around us, the surface sparkling like glitter under the wintery sunshine.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” I admitted, sliding my arm around her waist. “Months wouldn’t be enough out here with you, though.”
Aurelia rested her head against my shoulder, her arms looping around my waist and her hair catching the light. “Whatever would you do with me alone out here for so long?”
The playfulness made me grin.God, I really can’t get enough of this woman.
“I’m not sure,” I mused out loud, doing my best to sound serious. “I can think of a few things. Teaching you how to tie every knot a sailor could ever need might take a while.”
