Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (16 page)

I quickly took off my dress and everything underneath to slip into the babydoll negligee I received at the bachelorette party.  I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get all the bobby pins Malcolm put in my hair out and silently wondered if he did it on purpose to slow me down
.  Once my hair was completely
free and loose
, I looked at myself in the mirror.  The negligee did very little to hide my body, but I wasn’t as self-conscience about it as I thought I would be.  I wanted Brand to see me.  I wanted to watch his eyes as he discovered every inch of flesh on my body.
  I wanted to feel his hands explore
all that I
had to
offer
him.

When I opened the door to the bathroom, Brand was lighting the last of the
white
candles in the room.  He set his lighter down
on
the
table by the window
and turned to face me.  I saw his lips part
slightly
as he caught his breath. 
I step
ped
further
into the bedroom.

“Do you like it?” I asked, slowly spinning around
so he could
see
it from every angle
.

“Do you really have to ask?” He said
in a hoarse voice.

I walked over to him and
slowly
ran my hands down the lapels of his tuxedo jacket, feeling the silky texture against
the soft skin of
my
palms
.

“You’re turn,”
I
whispered to him, running my hands
in between his jacket and shirt
and
up over his shoulders
until
the coat f
e
ll to the floor behind him.

I tugged on the bow tie
at his neck
and
pulled the knot free
, sliding it off from around the stiff collar of his shirt.  One by one I un
did the small
button
s of
his shirt exposing his chest inch by glorious inch.  Once the shirt was open at the front, I ran the palms of my hands over his chest muscles, slip
p
ing the shirt off his shoulders so it could join the jacket.  I let my fingers make maddening trails down the length of his arms
,
bringing our torsos closer but never quite touching
.  As I glided the tips of my fingers back
up
his arms and
across his chest
, I felt his muscles tighten as I slid them
down
over the tight
muscles of his abdomen
, finally finding
the top button of his
slacks
.

Brand’s breath
ing
had become shallow by this point.  When I looked up at his face, I saw he was watching my every move.

He swallowed hard before saying, “I can’t take much more
, Lilly
.”

“Wait,” I said,
begging him to be patient while I released
the button on his pants
and planted
small
, distracting
kisses across his chest. I
quickly found the tab for the
zipper
and pulled it
down
allowing
gravity
to
d
o
the rest of the work for me
,
leaving Brand standing in only a pair of
form fitting
black boxer briefs.

“Lilly,” Brand moaned, closing his eyes, “please…”

“Just one thing left,” I said, running my hands under the black elastic band
and then
pulling downward.

“Why, Mr. Cole,” I said standing back up
with a suggestive smile on my face
.  “I do believe you
’
re happy to see me.”

Brand opened his eyes and looked at me like he couldn’t believe
I just said what I did.

A
pleased
smile
spread his lips as he said
, “Yes, Mrs. Cole.  I am very happy to see you.”

Before I knew it, he had me cradled in his arms carrying me to bed.  He laid me down gently on the already turned down
covers
and
slid
in beside me.

“My turn,” he murmured against my ear, nibbling the tender flesh there
and kissing his way down
the curve of
my neck
.

“Mine’s simple,” I said, trembling slightly
under
the soft pressure of his
warm
lips against my skin.  “Just undo the bow.”

Brand’s lips passed over the tops of my breasts and quickly found the
silky
bow tying the two halves of the bra together.  He pulled on one
en
d of the bow with his teeth instantly releasing the fabric, exposing me to his eyes
for the first time.  I heard his sharp intake of breath just before he lowered his head and made love to every inch of my body for the
first time
.

I woke up the next morning to find my husband no longer in bed
,
but I heard the distinct rattle of cookware coming from downstairs.  I hugged his pillow to me breathing in the scent of him which still lingered there.  I couldn’t stop myself from smiling from ear to ear.  Of all my school girl fantas
ies
about how my first time making love to a man would go, I never
imagined the experience would
shake me down to my very core.

Brand had been gentle and attentive
in his love making
, always seeming to know
how to bring me to the brink of passion with
his hands and mouth.  When we joined our bodies for the first time, he held me gently to him waiting for my pain to subside before we went any further.  He kissed my tears away and promised it would be the one and only time he ever intentionally hurt me.  He withdrew from me then and worked to reawaken my passion to a point where I begged him to come back into me.

Throwing off the sheet I was under, I went in search of the bow tie Brand wore the night before and quickly tied it around my neck.
I quietly slipped out of the bedroom and down the stairs.  Brand, wearing on
ly
his
black
boxer briefs, had his back to me checking
on
something
he was cooking
in the oven.  I tip
-
toed to the kitchen island and struck a relaxed,
and
what I hoped to be sexy, pose.

“What’s for breakfast?” I asked.
 
 

Brand closed the ove
n
door and turned to face me.  I watched his eyes travel from the tips of my toes to the bow tie around my neck.

“I thought it was quiche,” he said
sauntering
up to me and taking me into his arms, “but now I think it’s you.”

For the next four day, Brand and I hid away from the world.  We divided our time between his home in
Lakewood
and his
London
residence.  The world could have been on the brink of destruction and we wouldn’t have known
or cared
about it.  We didn’t contact anyone and no one tried to contact us.  We made love in every room of both houses and even ventured outside once completely naked wh
ile
it rained, only coming in when we needed to warm up in each others arms
while making love in front of the fireplace
. I knew if I died
I would die a fulfilled and happy woman.

I also became very thankful for the large box of condoms from Abby and Angela.

But like all things must, our honeymoon had to come to an end.  Just married or not Utha Mae would have killed me if I missed spending Thanksgiving
Day
with her.  Since she did so much to help us prepare for the wedding, Brand and I told her we would handle the Thanksgiving meal to give her some much deserved rest.  I worried she might protest so I was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t. 

When Malik and Tara made it to Brand’s,
Tara
knocked on the door and opened it slightly.

“You t
wo dec
ent?” she yelled.  “I don’t want to see more of y’all than I got to.”

I went to the door and yanked it
wide
open.

“Get in her
e
crazy,” I said giving her a hug.

“Well, we haven’t heard
from
y’all since the reception.  I
t
do
es
n’t take a rocket scientist to know what y’all
been
up to.”

I felt my cheeks blush red hot.

“See,”
Tara
said knowingly
pointing
to my
face
.  “Told ya.”

“Stop picking on my wife,” Brand said good naturedly to
Tara
.  “She can’t help it if she finds me
absolutely
irresistible.”

I turned into my husband’s arms and kissed him.  “Guilty as charged,” I confessed
with a dramatic sigh.
  “I
do
find my husband completely
and totally
irresistible.”

Tara
seemed to avert her eyes from our lovey dovey show of affection and found the painting of me hanging on the wall.

“Is that supposed to be Lilly?” She asked, walking over to it.

“Can’t you tell it
’
s me?” I asked.

“Well, yeah but it
makes you
look like the supermodel version of you.  I mean don’t get me wrong,”
Tara
amended.  “You
’
r
e
beautiful but the girl here is drop dead gorgeous.”

“It looks exactly like Lilly,” Brand said, disregarding
Tara
’s observation.  But I couldn’t
disregard it so flippantly
because I had thought the same thing when I first saw Brand’s paintings of me. 

“Well, anyway,”
Tara
said turning away from the painting, “what do we need to start on first?”

By the time
noon
rolled around, we
had
completed the cooking of our Thanksgiving feast.  Just as we were putting the finishing touches on the table, our guests began to arrive.

The first to arrive were Malcolm, Abby and Sebastian.

When Malcolm came in
,
he pulled me into his arms for a hug and kissed me on the cheek.

“You’re positively glowing,” he told me, no malice or jealousy in the statement.  “Are you happy, dearest?”

I nodded, having a hard time repressing a smile.  “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”

“
Then I’m happy
,” he told me
, kissing the top of my head before walking to the table to examine what we had prepared
.

Will brought Utha Mae with him.  When she saw me
,
her face lit up and she said, “Baby, I’ve never seen you so happy.  You look like your glowing.”

I felt my forehead furrow wondering why Malcolm and Utha Mae had said almost the exact
same
thing but quickly discounted it as being coincidence.

I gave Will and Utha Mae kisses on the cheeks while Brand took Utha Mae’s
overnight
bag up to the spare bedroom.
  I had invited her to stay the night because I wanted to take her shopping the next day.  If there was anything Utha Mae loved more than food it was finding bargains
,
and Black Friday was
the
day to go shopping
for them
.
  I had already
gone
to the
little convenience
store
up the road
and picked up the
newspaper
with all the fliers advertising what would be on sale the next day.  As was tradition, I knew Utha Mae, Tara and I would plan our attack strategy
later that afternoon.

“Now are you sure you want me to stay the night?” Utha Mae asked.  “I know you two just got married
,
and I don’t want to get in the way of anything you
m
ight want to do
together
.”