“There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” she asks as she holds the bunny up to her face and kisses its nose.
“No,” I laugh. “Of course not. I’m just glad that it makes you happy. I have one more surprise too, come with me.”
I hold my hand out for her to take and she walks out to the truck with me with the bunny in one arm. When we get to the truck, I show her what is inside the bed of the pickup.
“Oh my gosh, wow!” she says with wide and eager eyes. “Is that for us?”
“Yep,” I say as we both look at the beautiful, rustic copper, clawfoot freestanding bathtub. “It’s from my old house. I just couldn’t part with it. It’s such a beautiful piece and I knew you would love it.”
“I absolutelydo!” she beams. “I can’t wait to take a bath in it.”
I can’t wait to take a bath in it too. So, later that night, after a tedious unloading of the heavy tub from the truck, I place the tub temporarily outside the house in the backyard and fill it with warm water. I turn the whole thing into a delightfully intimate outdoor tub experience under the moonlight, complete with fresh flower petals floating on top of the water. Then, I go inside to get Ava and bring her out to see it.
“This is amazing,” she gasps when she sees the inviting-looking tub. “It looks like something out of a fairytale. Like the bath some magical fairy queen would take in the woods.”
“So you like it?” I ask.
“I couldn’t possibly love it more,” she smiles as she leans over to kiss my cheek. “Thank you. All the money in the world couldn’t have bought such a luxurious and enchanting moment.”
“Want to get in?” I ask.
The air is brisk and cold, and it bites at our skin as soon as we have our clothes off. But when we step into the large and deep tub filled with warm water, it is a feeling like no other. The steam from the warm water against our prickling skin meets with the cold air and I hold Ava against my body as I lean on the side of the tub.
“See nowthisis the kind of moment that we need to be filling our days with,” I say with a satisfied smile.
“Agreed,” she says. “Although, I think there is something that could make this moment even better.”
Ava turns her body around in my arms until she is straddling my hips. I was already aroused, and now I am absolutely throbbing. She lifts her body up in the water just enough that she can guide me into her before coming back down on top of me. As I push into her body, the sensations of the warm water, and the cold air, and the slow and steady push, and her soft skin…all of it is absolutely driving me crazy with desire. Ave rolls her hips against me slowly and synchronously as I move inside of her, and the climb of pleasure is enough to make my muscles tremble and the water in the tub ripple.
“You’re driving me crazy,” I say breathlessly as I kiss the nape of her neck.
“Want me to stop?” she teases.
“God no.”
5
Ava
After an incredibly blissful bath, Trevor and I go inside to dry off and get warm and comfortable. Making love to him in the beautiful clawfoot bathtub beneath the moonlight was one of the single most amazing experiences of my life.
When we get inside, we are both contently tired and satiated.
“How about a cup of hot tea before we get into bed?” I ask.
“That sounds really good,” Trevor says as he wraps his arms around my waist and kisses the side of my cheek. “I am so in love with you. I absolutely can’t wait until we are married.”
“Me too,” I beam. Then I remember about the dress.
How could I have forgotten? Between the adorable bunny and the magical bathtub, the evening has been so unbelievably perfect that even something as big as that wedding dress completely slipped my mind.
“I can’t believe I forgot to say anything about it earlier,” I say. “But I can’t thank you enough for the dress. You have no idea how much it means to me and how much I adore it. But how in the world did you afford to get it?”
It isn’t the silent pause, or the lack of an answer, that immediately makes all of the happiness and relaxation fade from me now. It’s the blank and confused stare that Trevor looks back at me with. My stomach drops and I can feel that I am approaching the verge of a full-on panic attack.
“Oh my god,” I say as I feel the anxiety threaten to swallow me whole. “Oh my god, I can’t believe it. You didn’t get the dress.Maxgot the dress. This is all his doing again. He’s trying to mess with my head!”
“Calm down,” Trevor says as he reaches out to hold me again with a look of concern.
