Chapter Seven
I don’t know how long I spent sitting out beside the bonfire. I was too raw from my fight with Abby to go after her right away. I knew I needed to apologize. The hard part was that both of us had spoken the truth. Abby had all too easily guessed my issues with fatherhood, and I had let my worst fears about her slip out. In the two years we’d been together, we’d rarely fought over anything of real importance. I’m not saying I didn’t treat her like a callous dickhead several times when we first started dating, but everything else had always clicked into place so easily for us. Now we were twenty-four hours into our marriage and had just experienced our first major fight. And it was a real doozy.
Some newlyweds fought about paint colors and finances. Abby and I had to go straight for the jugular and fight about our future family. With a ragged sigh, I rubbed my eyes that were stinging from the bonfire’s smoke. At least I thought it was the smoke. Maybe I was being a real p-ssy and crying over our fight.
The truth was I didn’t hate the idea of having kids someday—just not anytime soon. I loved Jude and Melody, and now Bella had me wrapped around her little finger. But at the end of playtime or hanging out with them, they went home with their parents. They weren’t my sole responsibility. Babies and kids took a lot of work, time, and energy that I wasn’t ready to give yet. Of course, I wanted to get Abby pregnant someday. She was going to make the most amazing mother in the entire world. But I didn’t know why she had to have such baby fever now when she was only twenty-three. She was acting like she was thirty-five, and her biological clock was ticking. We shared so many of the same likes, dreams, and passions that it was hard imagining we were so far off the mark with the baby thing.
After extinguishing the fire, I dejectedly made my way to the house. I didn’t know what I was going to say to Abby. I tried going over it in my mind as I trudged through the cool sand. Somehow I knew I needed to lead off with Yes, I’m a giant, unfeeling bastard…and then follow up with Please, please forgive me. At the same time, I knew I had to somehow make it clear that although I was sorry for what I said, I wasn’t changing my mind about when we were going to start a family.
The house was dark when I got inside. I started for the bedroom when I heard a sniffle from the living room. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a heap of blankets on the couch. Somewhere underneath it was Abby. And she was crying.
Damn, I was a bastard.
With an exasperated sigh, I threw my head back and gazed up at the ceiling. This is so not how I envisioned this night to be. “Abby, you don’t need to sleep on the couch. If anyone should, it’s me.”
“I’m fine,” she sniffed.
“Would you please come to bed, so we can talk about this?” She huffed contemptuously like I was some mega horndog, trying to get her into bed to screw through my apology. “I mean, I think the mattress is big enough that you don’t have to worry about touching me if you don’t want to.”
“Just leave me alone,” she snapped.
Although the words ‘I’m so sorry’ formed on my tongue, I couldn’t say them. Instead, I grumbled, “Whatever,” before stalking back to the bedroom. I jerked the sheet and comforter down before flopping down on the mattress. The instant I turned over, pain jackknifed through my chest. Although I was all alone in bed, Abby remained all around me. Her scent of jasmine and vanilla mingled on the sheets while her strawberry shampoo filled the pillow next to me. A few withered rose petals still littered the sheets from where we had made love last night.
I don’t know why I remained in bed instead of going to apologize. Oh yeah, I was being my usual stubborn-a*shole self. But although it had come out all wrong, my words were steeped in truth. I wasn’t ready to be a father, and my greatest fear was Abby becoming pregnant by accident or on the sly. Deep down, I couldn’t imagine that she would ever do something like that, but it was still a fear.
After tossing and turning for a couple of hours, I finally fell into a restless asleep.
When I woke up the next morning, I rolled over to snuggle against Abby. The moment I felt the cold, empty spot, it came back to me what had happened the night before. “F*ck,” I muttered, as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. If I didn’t man up and apologize, the remaining five days of our island paradise were going to be absolute hell.
I slipped out of bed and slid into my boxer shorts and then made a quick bathroom stop. “Abby?” I called from the bedroom. “Angel, we need to talk.”
After she didn’t respond, I stalked down the hall and to the living room. Gazing around, I found the room empty. Craning my neck, I peered into the kitchen. She wasn’t there either. After I’d checked the spare bathroom and bedroom, fear streaked through my chest that she’d called the shore and asked for the boat. I ran outside onto the porch. I started for the stairs when a flash of red out in the water caught my eye. Gazing out into the water, I saw her swimming in my favorite bikini of hers.
With a sigh, I made my way off the porch and down the beach. She had just surfaced again when I started into the water. At the sight of me, her eyes widened and then she quickly looked away. I thought for a minute she might try to swim away, but instead, she held her ground. “Hey,” I said, when I finally reached her.
“Hey,” she replied softly, still refusing to look me in the eye.
“Angel…I need you to look at me. Please.” When she finally lifted her chin and met my gaze, I sighed. “I’m so sorry for the things I said last night.”
Her eyes closed as if she were in pain. Finally, she opened them. “I’m sorry, too.”
My brows furrowed. Here we were both apologizing, yet there still was this giant divide between us. As I literally treaded water, I felt like I was fighting to keep my head above the surface in our relationship. How did we get back to the way we were?
“I guess this was our first fight as a married couple, huh?” I asked.
“A pretty big one, too,” she murmured.
“I’m sorry. I hate fighting with you, Angel. Most of all, I hate to see you upset.”
Abby’s blue eyes blazed with intensity. “Then try not to say such hurtful things next time.”
“I’ll try. I promise.”
“Okay.”
As an uncomfortable silence still hung around us, I sighed. “You know, I was afraid when I woke up and found the house empty that you’d left me.”
“I would never do that to you.”
“I know. It was just this irrational fear I had.” I exhaled a long, ragged breath. “I guess, it’s kinda like the fear I have of you getting pregnant on the sly.”
Abby shook her head. “How could you think I would ever do that?”
I furiously rubbed my face, letting the salty water sting my eyes. “I don’t know why.” At her wounded expression, I added, “I don’t think, deep down, that you would really do that, but, it is a fear of mine.’”
She inched a little closer to me. “We’re in this marriage together, Jake. It’s a partnership where we make our decisions together. Even though I would love nothing more than to have your baby, I don’t want to until you’re ready. More than anything, I want to know that you trust me.”
“I’m sorry, Angel. I do trust you. I swear. You’ve never been anything but trustworthy and faithful to me.”
“Then stop worrying.”
I drew in a ragged breath. “Somehow I can’t help but wonder how you can still love me when I’m denying you this.”
“Oh Jake, my love for you doesn’t stop just because there’s a rough patch in the road, or I don’t get what I want.”
“Really?” It was hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that someone could sacrifice so much for me just because they loved me.
She nodded emphatically. “Of course not. I may be disappointed or hurt, but I could never love you less.”
I stared into her eyes, seeing the unconditional love for me burning bright in them. I felt like such a fool for ever doubting her. “Angel, I love you so much,” I blurted before jerking her into my arms. The motion caused us to lose our balance, and we dipped under the surface of the water. We remained lip-locked with our arms wrapped around each other as our feet kicked to keep us from sinking. When we broke the surface again, I pulled away. “Let’s get to where we can touch.”
“Okay,” Abby murmured, her blue eyes hooded.
We swam closer to the shore, and the moment our feet could touch again, I took her back in my arms. Abby gripped my shoulders before hopping up to wrap her legs around my waist. My fingers went to the strings at her back. With one tug, the bikini top gave way, and her delicious tits spilled out. Gripping her hips, I pushed her further up my body where I could suck on her nipples. As they puckered and hardened in my mouth, Abby gasped. Her fingers came to tangle through the wet strands of my hair. “Jake,” she moaned.
“I want to f*ck you, Angel,” I growled against her chest.
“Not here,” she panted.
“No love-making in the ocean?” I questioned as I ground my erection against her core.
Her hooded eyes met mine, and she gave me a lazy smile. “It’s not good for the girl.”
“Oh, really?”
She shook her head. “You’d be good, but the potential infections from the salt water wouldn’t.”
I laughed. “Okay, Angel, I’ll take you to the house.”
With her legs wrapped tight around my waist and my arms underneath her ass, I started walking us out of the water. I kept my mouth firmly on Abby’s. Anxious to be inside her, my tongue thrust in and out of her deliciously warm mouth just like I wanted my dick to be doing. At the same time, Abby kept up a relentless pace of rubbing herself against my dick.
We’d only made it half-way up the beach when she broke our intense kiss. “Take me out here, Jake,” she insisted.
My brows shot up in surprise. “You can’t wait for the house?”
“No,” she moaned. “I want you right now.”
“Damn, Angel, are you trying to kill me?”
“Please,” she begged.
Gazing at the palm trees below the house, I steered us over to them. I eased her down onto her feet on the sand before ripping her bikini bottoms down. I couldn’t resist bringing my mouth between her legs. When my tongue flicked against her *, Abby cried out, and her knees buckled. With one arm, I pushed her back upright. Her fingers tugged on the strands of my hair as I licked and sucked her p-ssy. I didn’t bother thrusting my tongue into her. No, I was reserving that one for my throbbing dick.
Just as she was about to come, I pulled away. She whimpered in protest and thrust her hips forward. “You’re going to have to wait until I’m inside you,” I said, as I rose up off the sand.
“No fair,” she pouted.
“Well, I could say you’ve been a bad girl—you know, refusing to talk to me last night and making me think you’d left me on the island.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So you admit you were a bad girl?”
She eyed me for a moment, trying to decide how playing along with me would benefit her. “Yes, I guess I was a little bad.” After nibbling on her bottom lip for a moment, she floored the hell out of me by saying, “Maybe you should spank me and teach me a lesson.”
At just the suggestion, my head snapped back like she slapped me. We’d never gotten real down and dirty like this. Sure, a playful smack here and there, but never like what she was suggesting. “You think you deserve it?”
“Mmm, hmm.”
“Fine then.” Grabbing her hands, I jerked them above her head. I then whirled her around and placed them on the tree trunk. For a moment, my hand massaged the globe of her ass. Glancing at me over her shoulder, Abby waited expectantly for my next move. Deciding to really play the part, I barked, “Did I say you could look at me?”
Abby jerked her gaze from mine and stared ahead. I pulled my hand away and then cracked my open palm against her cheek. She gasped as her whole body jerked. Just as she was getting used to the sensation, my hand went to her other cheek, and I smacked it good. “Do you like that?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Is it making you a little wet?”
“Maybe.” She glanced over her shoulder and shot me a defiant gaze. “Why don’t you check and see?”
“You better hold on tight. I plan on f*cking you hard.”
“Good.” She gripped the trunk of the tree as I made work of getting out of my boxers. “Please, Jake.”
Without any more foreplay, I slammed into her with one brutal thrust. We both groaned. When I recovered enough to think more about my actions, I asked, “Did I hurt you?”
“No. And don’t stop.”
“My pleasure.” My hands came to grip her hips so tight I hoped I didn’t end up bruising her. With a relentless pace, I thrust into her while pushing her on and off my dick. The sound of wet skin slapping together, echoed around us. I leaned into to lick and bite at her neck. My teeth scraped along the sensitive skin below her ear.
“Jake, oh yes, Jake!” Abby cried, as she fought to keep her hold on the tree. It was only a few moments later when I felt her walls tense around my dick, and she went over the edge. She collapsed against the tree trunk, but I pulled her back against me so she wouldn’t get scraped. After a few minutes of harsh thrusting, I came with a loud shouting curse, burying my face in the silky strands of her hair. As I started coming back to myself, I slipped my arms around her waist while nuzzling her neck.
“You okay, Angel?”
“I don’t think I can walk,” she admitted.
I glanced down at her sheepish expression. “Aw, come here, baby,” I said. I picked her up and then gently deposited her into the hammock next to us. I grabbed her bikini bottoms off the ground next to us to do a little clean-up on her.
With a lazy grin, she said, “Aw, thanks. You’re my hero.”
“No, thank you. That was some fantastic f*cking.”
She giggled. “You’re terrible.”
“It would almost be worth another fight to have make-up sex like that, I mused as I eased in beside her.
Her eyes drooped closed, and she yawned. “No, I don’t want to fight anymore,” she protested feebly.
I kissed her cheek. “I know, Angel. I was just teasing you. The last thing I want to ever do again is hurt you.”
She snuggled against me, draping her hip over my thigh. “I love you.”
“I love you, more.”
Her index finger came to trail circles over my chest. “You know, I really missed you last night.”
“I missed you, too. And waking up with you.”
She grinned. “So you could have your morning wood taken care of?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, so I could feel you next to me.” I stared intently into her eyes. “I’ve never felt more safe or more content than when I’m in your arms.” I stroked her cheek with my finger. “You make everything better, Angel. Hell, you make it easier to breathe.”
Tears pooled in Abby’s eyes before she dipped her head to kiss me, letting her love for me flow out through her actions. When she pulled away, she smiled before lying her head on my chest right above my heart.
Completely sexually satisfied and exhausted from my restless night before, I fell into a deep sleep. When Abby and I finally woke up, it was mid-afternoon. “Did you have a nice nap?” I asked her.
“Yes, because I was with you.”
“You’re such a sweet little flatterer,” I said, as I kissed the top of her forehead.
“You’re welcome.”
“Hungry?” I asked.
“Mmm, hmm, but just for you,” she replied, her hand coming to cup my dick.
My eyes widened in surprise. “Damn, I think I’ve married a nympho!”
She grinned up at me. “Would you want me any other way?”
I laughed. “No, I suppose not.”
Within seconds, her hand managed to work me to full mast. “I’m not sure this is going to work,” I said, motioning to the hammock and how easy it was to have a foot or arm poke through the ropes.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” she replied, with a wink. She then rolled over to straddle me. Her hips rose up, while her hand guided my erection deep inside her.
“Ready for me already, Mrs. Slater?” I panted, as my dick slid in and out of her wet core.
“I’m always ready for you,” she murmured breathlessly.
“That makes me a very happy man,” I replied. My hand came to cup her bouncing breasts. Abby moaned and gasped with pleasure as I pinched and tweaked her nipples to hardened buds. As our movements grew more frantic, the hammock started to jerk and sway. One hand abandoned Abby’s breast to stroke between her legs. Her moans grew more and more intense the harder I stroked her *. She then cried out and threw her head back as the first wave of the orgasm hit her. The feel of her walls tensing around me caused me to come. Once I finished shuddering inside her, I grabbed Abby’s shoulders and pulled her down to me. As she rested her head on my shoulder, she remained straddling me with my dick still buried inside her.
I ran my hands over the silky strands of her hair. “That was amazing.”
“I thought so too,” came her muffled reply against my chest.
When I opened my mouth to say something else, the rumbling of Abby’s stomach made me smile. “Guess we worked up an appetite, huh?”
She pulled her head up to smile sheepishly at me. “I didn’t have breakfast, either.”
“Then we better get up and call the island. I can’t be the reason why my beautiful bride passes out from hypoglycemic shock.”
Abby eased up her hips, and I regretfully slid free of her. On wobbly legs, she got out of the hammock. I followed quickly behind her. I wrapped my arm around her waist not just for support, but because I couldn’t imagine going one second without touching her. Yeah, I was that crazy in love with her.