But here he is. This morning, he found me tied to a chair in his kitchen, looking like a homeless mountain girl. Then he swept me off my feet and married me before the end of the day. I won’t ask him why again. I’ll just count my blessings.
What I need to do is be the woman he married, and that means being brave and doing my duties as a wife. I can be nervous on the inside, but I need to stand tall and hold his gaze.
I can’t keep from wringing my fingers together as I shuffle toward him. I removed my shoes, so I’m barefoot, but I’m still wearing Mama’s wedding dress.
Adam holds out a hand, which gives me the strength to rush over to him. He parts his knees so I can stand between them. His palms come to my face. We’re nearly eye-to-eye, even with him sitting on the bed. “Listen to me, sweetheart.”
I swallow.
“We will never do anything you’re not comfortable with. Not tonight or any other night. There is no rule that says we have to have sex tonight. It doesn’t make us any less married. No one will ever know when we have sex. It’s none of their business. I want you in my bed because I need to hold you and know that you’re safe. We’ll play the rest by ear, okay?”
I nod shakily.
He leans closer. “I mean it. You will always be the most important person in my life. I never want to do anything to upset you.”
“Okay,” I whisper. I think I’d rather just get it over with. Otherwise, I’ll fret about what it will be like until we do it.
“That being said, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take this dress off you and kiss every inch of your body.”
I shudder. Kiss my body?
He smiles. “I promise you’ll enjoy it. If you don’t, I’ll stop.”
My heart is racing. I don’t know what exactly he intends to do, but I want to find out. Instead of a verbal response, I lift the dress over my head and toss it to the floor.
Adam swallows hard as he reaches out to stroke my biceps with his fingers. “Your skin is so smooth and creamy. Gorgeous.” My body tingles as he turns me around. He nibbles from one shoulder to the other before unhooking my bra.
I whimper as it joins my dress on the floor. No one besides my mother and my sister has ever seen me naked. It’s a strange experience. I’m slightly out of my body.
Adam hooks his fingers into my panties and lowers them next, and then smooths his hands from my thighs to my waist to my chest. His fingers graze the sides of my breasts, making me sway.
Something is happening that I don’t really understand. I feel out of control, and I want him to touch me, touch my nipples.
As if he’s reading my mind, his hands ease around to cup my breasts, his thumbs flicking over my nipples.
I gasp, my body arching at the contact. Electricity pulses through me. It’s powerful. My knees are weak.
“So responsive,” he murmurs against my ear. “Stunningly gorgeous.” He shifts his hands to my hips and lifts me while he stands.
Before I know it, I’m lying on the bed, and he’s staring down at me. His gaze is intense. Hungry.
I’m panting while he removes his pants, leaving him in a pair of red-and-black plaid boxers. He seems even larger as he climbs over me, straddling me, not touching me anywhere. He lets his gaze roam up and down my body until I’m desperate for him to touch me.
“So beautiful,” he whispers. “My god. All mine.” He bends his elbows and lowers his lips to mine, giving me the barest of kisses.
When he pulls back, having teased my lips, I whimper, “More.”
He smiles. “Soon, sweetheart. I need to kiss more of you.” He shuffles down a few inches and lowers his lips to one of my nipples. I nearly shoot off the bed when he grazes it.
I don’t know what to do with my hands, but I set them on his head, threading my fingers in the short hair at his temples. “Adam…”
He kisses my other nipple. “Perfection. Prettiest nipples ever. So pink and ripe. One day, they will be larger and thicker. Your breasts will be filled with milk, and I’m going to love watching you nurse our babies.”
My breath hitches. He scrambles my brain. His words are both soft and dirty at the same time. My breasts feel heavy from the suggestion that they will fill with milk. I’ve never thought about that. I guess they will.
He nibbles a path to my flat stomach. “One day, your belly will be round with our child. I’m going to love watching you change as our babies grow inside you.”
Butterflies take flight in my tummy, and I find myself squeezing my knees together. There’s an odd pressure lower in my belly and a pulsing between my legs. I’m shaking, hoping he doesn’t realize what’s happening to me. I don’t understand. I feel like I’m going to come apart.
