Love Is Blind (15 page)

Six months after that storm, the promise ring left my finger forever.

It happened on a Tuesday night.  I’d enrolled in college courses for the winter semester and Chris picked me up after my evening Literature class.  He looked good behind the wheel of his brand new 4x4 truck, like he was meant to drive it.  I climbed into the passenger seat next to him and kissed him hello like always.

He seemed tense and I noticed he was gripping the steering wheel extra tightly.  “Are the roads bad?” I asked, peering out through the windshield into the night. 
Tiny snowflakes drifted through the chilly winter air.  “Is it icy?”

“No, the roads are fine.”

“You missed your turn,” I noted as he bypassed the street that led to my mother’s house. 

“No I didn’t.”

That piqued my curiosity.  Clearly he had no intention of taking me home.  “Where are we going?” I demanded. 

“Wait and see.”

I waited for about thirty seconds before attempting another guess.  Patience isn’t really my strong point.  “Are we going to your condo?” I asked.  “You do know I have class first thing in the morning, right?  I can’t stay long…”

“You know I love listening to you ramble,” he said, “but just this once, please don’t.”

Okay, now it was just getting weird. 

I managed to keep my mouth shut as he parked the truck and l
ed me upstairs to his luxurious condo.  It was still hard to believe my boyfriend was rich.  He didn’t act like a rich person…whatever a rich person is supposed to act like.

He opened the door and motioned for me to
go in ahead of him.

“Could it be any darker in here?” I commented as I reached for the light switch on the wall. 

In one swift movement, Chris pushed past me and closed his hand over mine.  “No,” he said with some urgency in his voice.  “Don’t.”

“
Why not, did you forget to pay your utilities and get your electricity shut off?” I teased as I took off my coat and tossed it on the chair adjacent from the door.  At least I thought I tossed it on the chair.  In the pitch blackness it was difficult to tell if I hit my target.

Suddenly I heard the click of a switch behind me and what seemed like a million miniature white Christmas lights lit up the room with their soft, warm glow.  “Chris!” I gasped as I tried to take it all in.  “It must have taken you ages to string all of these up.  They’re beautiful but what –?”

It was then that he got down on one knee.

Standing there looking down at him,
I thought my heart would leap out of my throat.

“Michelle, you’ve changed my life,” he told me as he looked up at me, as handsome as ever.  “You’re sarcastic and quirky and
unique.  I love your kind heart, your cynicism and your sarcasm.  I even love the way you scowl and stomp around when you haven’t had enough sleep.  I love you, Michelle, in spite of – no, actually
because of
– your flaws.  I love everything that makes you who you are.” 

Chris pulled a small black velvet box out of his pocket.  I could see that his hands were shaking.  He was nervous.  Somehow that made the whole thing even more endearing.  “Michelle,” he asked, “Will you marry me?”

When I’d finally regained my ability to speak, I exclaimed, “Yes!” with no hesitation.  I knew without a doubt that Chris was the man for me and we’d been brought together for a reason.  He completed me.

“God dammit,” he muttered as he tried
unsuccessfully to put the ring on my finger.  “I thought it would all be smooth sailing after you said yes, but then I go and ruin the moment…”

I burst out laughing
as he struggled clumsily with the task at hand.  “Here,” I suggested, “Let me take the promise ring off before you put the engagement ring on…holy shit Chris, I’ve never even seen a diamond that big before!”

“Do you like it?” he asked anxiously.
  “Because if not you can pick out something else…anything you want.”  It was cute, how desperate he was to please me.  That moment reaffirmed what I’d known for a while:  Chris would spend the rest of his life trying to make me happy.  He was completely devoted to me, as I was to him.

“
I love it,” I assured him.  “I love what it stands for and I love
you
.” 

The miniature lights illuminated Chris’s features in a way that was even sexier than candlelight.  He looked so good…and so relieved!  Butterflies danced in my stomach as I thought about being his wife.  Then I let out a delighted cry when
he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up off my feet, spinning me around.

In the movies, that’s always pulled off without a hitch.  But movies are scripted.  In all the excitement, I managed to drop the promise ring I was holding in my
trembling hand. 

We both heard it clatter to the floor, bouncing off the hardwood.

“Oh!” I cried out as Chris set me down and switched the lights on.  Just like that, the romantic atmosphere he’d worked so hard to create was ruined.  I didn’t mind too much.  I was starting to accept that sometimes life throws curveballs at you.  Sometimes there’s nothing you can do but laugh and make the best of it.

I was upset about the ring though, especially since I couldn’t see it anywhere on the floor.

I dropped to my knees, peering underneath the throw rug and running my hands over the hardwood.  “Maybe it rolled under the couch,” I theorized, pressing my ear against the floor so I could peer under the bottom of the large, expensive piece of furniture.  “Can you help me move it so I can check?”

“Later,” Chris said with a dismissive wave of his hand.  “It’s here somewhere.  It will turn up…let’s not let it ruin tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed, accepting his hand and climbing back to my feet.  I paused to admire the ring in the light, still feeling lightheaded and giddy.  “I would have painted my fingernails had I known you were going to do this,” I commented as I examined them and made a face.

“Your nails look fine,” Chris reassured me, stepping up
behind me and wrapping his arms around me.  His face nuzzled the back of my neck affectionately and in that instant I realized how incredibly aroused I was.

We’d only made love that one time, the night before he left for Norway.  Even though we’d reconciled, after everything that had happened I
’d wanted to take things slowly.  While we’d been spending lots of time together becoming reacquainted, we hadn’t been intimate…at least not
that
intimate.

I wanted to feel his touch.

I craved it.

I needed it.

Chris had been respectful of my wishes, not pressuring me for sex even though I knew that he really, really wanted it.  When I ran my fingers down the side of his face in a way that I hoped made my intentions clear, he looked cautiously optimistic. 

“Uh, just so we’re clear,” he began, “do you want –
?”

I silenced him with a kiss, long and lingering, sweet and steamy. 
Then I unbuttoned his shirt, my hands sliding over his muscular abs and down to the waistband of his jeans.  There was already a noticeable tent forming down there.  He looked at me with such need in his eyes that I immediately blushed, flattered to know how much he wanted me.

With a lustful growl, Chris picked me up, presumably to carry me into the bedroom.  But I guess he just couldn’t wait to have me because he stopped and pushed me up against the wall.  I gasped as he ripped my clothes off me as though he was in some sort of uncontrollable sexual frenzy.

He’d been so gentle and considerate the first time.  Now I was seeing a different side of him, one that was wild and animalistic.  I didn’t mind at all.  It was exciting.  In fact, it brought out the animal in me.

When Chris bit my neck, I moaned and sunk my fingernails into his back, dragging them across his flesh.  Holding me firmly in position, his mouth moved lower until he captured one of my
hardening nipples in his mouth and roughly dragged his tongue across it. 

Pinned there against the wall with the lights on,
I felt more exposed than I’d ever been, but modesty was the furthest thing from my mind.  Carnal desire consumed me.  Panting, I arched my back, thrusting my bare breasts out in offering, the nipples now as hard as pebbles.

Chris’s hands urged my thighs apart.  I spread my legs for him willingly, barely even noticing that at some point he must have ripped my panties off.  My eyes were half closed and my body was screaming out for him.  When his fingers finally caressed my soft mound, exploring my most intimate folds, I shuddered in
pleasure.

I didn’t think it could get much better, but I was wrong.  He got down on his knees for the second time that night, but this time he wasn’t proposing. 

Spreading me open with his hands, he buried his face between my thighs.  His tongue felt rough, wet and warm as it probed at my entrance, causing me to cry out.  My hands grabbed at Chris’s hair as he lapped up my juices, making me squirm with delight.

“Oh!” I screamed when his attention moved higher and he kissed my engorged button. 

He chuckled and did it again, drawing out my pleasure.  Uncharacteristically uninhibited, I grabbed his head and pulled it closer, urging him to keep going.  I’d never imagined something could feel so good.  When he captured my bud between his lips and began to run the tip of his tongue over it in short, rhythmic strokes, I went wild.

“Don’t stop!” I wailed so loudly that the neighbors could probably hear.  “Oh! 
Oh
!  Chris, it feels so fucking good!”

My hips bucked and my legs trembled as I writhed and groaned.
  My wanton reaction only seemed to spur him on and he went at my spread, wet sex with a vengeance.  He teased and tormented my pulsating pearl mercilessly, his intention clear.  He was determined to drive me over the edge and at the rate he was going, I knew it wouldn’t take long at all.

When the orgasm finally hit me, it felt like a freight train.

I screeched until my throat was raw.  Finally, when the waves of pleasure became too intense for me to withstand any longer, I pushed Chris away.  I would have slumped to the floor had he not grabbed me and laid me out on my back.

He climbed on top of me right then and there.

I was still reeling from the aftershocks of my climax.  I wasn’t completely sure I was ready for more action so soon but I didn’t want to deny Chris his pleasure.  I wanted to make him feel as good as he’d made me feel.  So I wrapped my legs around his waist and, grabbing the base of his shaft, guided his member inside me.

To my surprise, being filled so completely – and gazing into Chris’s eyes at the same time – immediately felt amazing. 
He was looking at me as though I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.  The love in his eyes was humbling and the gleam in them was intoxicating.

M
y body responded at once and I found myself becoming aroused all over again.  The look of bliss on Chris’s face as he sunk into my hot, silky depths set me off.  I began to buck beneath him, my body involuntarily squeezing his shaft as my own pleasure swelled.

A second climax hit me hard.  I was too exhausted to cry out this time.  Instead, I clung to Chris, savoring the way our bodies felt like they were desi
gned to fit together as one.  When he clenched his teeth and I felt a spurt of warmth inside me a moment later, I sighed in satisfaction. 

Chris collapsed on top of me, his head resting on my
heaving chest as he caught his breath.  I cradled him in my arms, content to stay like that forever.  The sense of peace, companionship and belonging I felt was indescribable.  I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be.

Some time passed. 
I’m not sure how much.  I was too busy daydreaming about our future together.  Where would it take us?  We could travel, buy a house together, start a family…the possibilities were endless.  I couldn’t wait to grow old with him.  I couldn’t wait to start living.

Chris stirred, raising his head to look at me.  I didn’t flinch or try to hide beneath my hair.  Instead, I simply smiled at him.
  His gaze was unwavering and completely accepting.  Not once did his eyes even so much as momentarily stray to my birthmark. 

“You didn’t insist on shutting the lights off this time,” he marvelled, pla
nting a feather light peck on my collarbone.  I could tell he was pleasantly surprised.

“No,” I
agreed, “I guess I didn’t.  Maybe sometimes it’s more fun to leave the lights on.”

___

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