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“Not too many, and if you are it from here on out, I’ll be happy,” she said. “Besides, I got to see one of your lovers in the flesh. I didn’t do that to you.”

“Lily?” he asked with a sad laugh. “Lily and I were never lovers. She wanted to wait until our wedding night. She was a virgin. And I was very frustrated. I wondered if she’d ever come close to being like you, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t.

I had a feeling she’d never enjoy sex, which is a tragedy. ”

Rebecca laughed harshly, “What is this power you have over women, Mitchell Wilder? We all want you to be our first. You’re like the great de-virginizer!”

“Maybe women think I’ll be gentle. I don’t know. Did you?” he asked shyly.

“I really didn’t think about it. I just wanted to have sex with you. I wanted you in a kind of carnal way. It was like, he’s your man. Now go get him. And when we actually made love, I was very happy with myself for choosing you.”

“You always appeared to enjoy yourself, even that first time,” he said. “It made me happy.”

“You knew how to make it good for me, and it was good every time.”

“I wanted you to enjoy it, although I was still in shock that I got to see you naked,” he said. “And you had the perfect little body.” He leaned forward and kissed her breast, then her lips.

“That was kind of thrilling seeing you naked that first time. You were my first naked man that I got to explore,” she said, reaching down to stroke him.

“Well, you’re the only one with whom I’ve been the first. But now I want to be the last, okay?” he asked as his hand rubbed her breast and moved lower to touch her in the way she was touching him.

“I like the sound of that.”

They kissed, and their bodies played together again under the billowy red sheets. And when at last she was laying on him, sated and sleepy, she said, “First time I saw you, I knew.”

Rubbing his hand over her butt, he said, “We just needed to grow up a bit.”

They talked about the first time they’d seen each other. They talked about how hard it had been to say goodbye.

As hard as it was, she told him about Ken and why she’d left him after two years. Mitch told her about Lily, and then they agreed to never talk about their exes again.

They talked about their dreams for the future. They were living their biggest dream, being together.

“I don’t need to stay in New York,” she said.

“I’m tired of London. I want to come home. I will be anywhere you want to go.”

“Maybe it is time to see if there are any opportunities at Stark. Would that be okay with you?”

“I could be a valet. I could park cars,” he said with a smile.

“I’m thinking of something a bit more corporate for both of us, but we can talk to Dad about it. He might need a manager at a hotel, and we could have a lot of fun with that.”

“Like Barbados or Thailand. Someplace we could get a private beach and frolic.”

“Frolic?” she asked.

“Yeah, preferably naked.”

Rebecca laughed. “Even if we aren’t asked to manage a hotel that comes with a private beach, I think we will do alright with just a bed.”

“Actually, any flat surface will do,” he said with a wink.

***Mitch***

Rebecca swirled in the mirror as Mitch watched from the edge of the bed where he sat.

They had a fun shower that morning that had a lot more to do with a bet they had about seeing if he was strong enough to hold her against the tile wall and make love.

Her feet never hit the marble floor. He thought he’d won, but Rebecca countered that she was really the winner.

He felt a little dazed and confused. A sexual haze that was all about Rebecca.

“Well,” she asked, “What do you think?”

She was in a white Chanel summer suit, a few strands of family pearls, and a pair of high heels made of cobalt blue silk.

She had borrowed a five-pound note from him that she had tucked in her bra.

She had sprayed on her new perfume, which made him want to rip the suit off of her.

She had to be the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen.

He had come so close to marrying the wrong person it made him shudder a little.

“I think it is perfect, but I prefer you out of it. Come here,” he said and held out his arms. He didn’t have to ask her twice.

She sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He did not deserve to be this happy. His thoughts turned to their future children, if they’d be so lucky as to have them.

She had been through a lot because of him.

He needed to make it up to her and find out if there was any way they might have a child together.

Maybe they would need a surrogate. He didn’t know, but he knew they would have a baby somehow.

“Let’s get a move on,” she said. “I wonder if there will be a line.”

“Are you sure this kind of wedding is okay?” he asked. “We could get rings first, tell your parents. Maybe invite them to be our witnesses.”

She shook her head. “Tomorrow, we can get rings. I want to get married to you today. I’ve wanted to marry you since I was fourteen. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t cry a little that I’d lost you. I think I’ve waited long enough.”

“I know exactly how you feel,” he said. “Well, I’m a dude, so I didn’t cry every day, but I thought of you every day.”

“I’ll count it,” she said as she kissed him and then jumped off his lap.

“How mad do you think the family will be?” Mitch asked as they left her apartment.

“Mom can throw us a big reception. She always prefers a party to any other event, like a wedding or a funeral. As long as she can decorate or plan a menu, she is good.”

There was a line at the courthouse, but they were third, so their wedding happened by ten thirty with the two of the clerks for the judge acting as witnesses. They signed the documents and then it was time to go.

As they walked down the courthouse steps after getting married, they stopped, smiled at each other, and then kissed.

“Well, how does it feel, Mrs. Wilder?” he asked.

“Wonderful,” she said, then dabbed at a tear as she added, “I have a husband.”

He hugged her and asked, “Are you hungry?”

“I could eat,” Rebecca said with a smile.

“We need you to keep up your energy. How about Katz to commemorate our first date?”

“Only if I get sex later,” she said with a smile.

“I think you can count on that.”

When they got back to her apartment, they made a beeline for the bed, where they stayed for several hours that afternoon.

“Wow,” Mitch said as he pulled Rebecca close. “We really did it, Mrs. Wilder.”

Rebecca laughed and then hugged her new husband. “You’re my husband. I cannot believe it! Finally, damn it, finally! And we consummated it!”

“That really was the fun part,” Mitch said and kissed her.

“We are married! Married sex is fun!” she exclaimed.

“Tonight, let’s have dinner here. I’ll make some pasta. We will drink some champagne, get a little drunk and then have drunken sex.”

“Wait, you cook?” Rebecca asked.

“Yes, but I only make pasta when I want to impress someone. And in this case, I want to get lucky. So, we are having pasta."

“You are going to want to sleep with me when you get a load of what is in my kitchen before you even start to cook. It is quite the aphrodisiac.”

“When it comes to you, Bex, I’m kind of in a permanent state of arousal. Your kitchen might do me in.”

“Well, if it gets too much, I’ll be right at your side to render aid. I’m very well appointed…”

Rebecca’s cellphone chimed with an incoming text from her mother, interrupting what was turning into a very interesting conversation.

Rebecca read the message, looked up at him, and said, “Holy shit.”

“What?” Mitch asked as his hand gently kneaded the warm skin of her breast.

“Mom knows. She wrote: Really, Rebecca, a courthouse wedding? Call me. Now .”

“How did she find out?” Mitch asked.

“I don’t know, but the cat is out of the bag.”

“We haven’t even gotten our rings yet,” he said. “She won’t be happy. Alex said she takes jewelry very seriously. She told him that if he ever gets married, he needs to buy his wife a big ring, and it has to hurt him a little. Considering how much he makes, that is going to be a big ring.”

“Ergo, the way she has my dad get her a bigger diamond with each five-year anniversary.”

“I love your mom. Vic has always been kind to me,” Mitch said.

“Get ready because, tomorrow, I’m buying you a big ring.

I don’t need your mother upset, and I want it to hurt a little.

Sweet, hot pain. And I’d like you to be the one to make sure I hurt a little.

” He kissed her breast and gave the nipple a gentle tug with his lips.

She arched toward him and, at last, moved away.

“Remember where we were. Right there. Now stop, because I’ve got to call her,” Rebecca complained.

“Put her on speaker, spoilsport,” he said as he reached for her butt and gave it a little squeeze.

Rebecca shook her head, “Stop that. I’ve got to act serious, and that is hard to do when I want to respond in kind…or just…jump you and screw your brains out.”

“After the call, you can jump on any part of me you want,” he said, and she made an attempt to push him away, but not too strong. “I’m always up for a good screwing.”

“Shhh…” she whispered as she called her mother and put the phone on the mattress between them.

“Rebecca?” her mother answered.

“Yeah, it’s me?—”

“I’m here too, Vic,” Mitch said and smiled at Rebecca, who shook her head.

“Am I to understand correctly that congratulations are in order?” Victoria asked, her voice softening.

“Yes, Vic. We got married a few hours ago,” Mitch said. “Have I told you that I’m in love with your daughter?”

Rebecca punched his shoulder playfully.

“See, Rebecca? I told you so,” Victoria said. “Welcome to the Stark Family, my sweet boy. You know that I always thought of you like a son, Mitch. And your words are music to my ears. Treat my baby well. Keep her happy.”

“I will do everything in my power to keep her happy. Thank you. You know I always thought of you as my second mother.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so happy you two got married.”

“We are too. Finally! By the way, Rebecca and I were talking, and we were wondering…Would you be interested in hosting us a reception to celebrate our marriage?” he asked.

“Oh, I’d love that. We can talk about it tonight,” Victoria said.

Mitch and Rebecca looked at each other. Silence loomed.

“Rebecca, you haven’t forgotten our plans. We’ve had dinner on the books for several weeks. We will pick you and Mitch up at six.”

“Mom, I’m sorry?—”

“Sounds great. We will be ready,” Mitch said and smiled.

A minute later, they disconnected. When Rebecca was sure they were off the phone, she said to Mitch, “Tonight is our wedding night. Do we really want to spend it with my parents? Because I don’t. I want to fool around.”

“Having dinner is the lesser of several evils. We have to eat. Come on, let’s make the bed and grab a shower. They will be here in ninety minutes.”

They showered together, a little longer than necessary, and then dressed. Mitch wore his new designer jeans from the duty-free shops at Heathrow and his freshly pressed white button-down shirt. Rebecca wore a red halter dress.

“I’m going to need some more clothes if we are going to be social. It is warmer in New York than London, but I do like this shirt.” Rebecca rubbed a hand over his chest and smiled as her hand slipped under the fabric and rubbed his chest.

“Do we look like we’ve had a lot of sex in the last day?” Rebecca asked.

“Yes. We look happy,” Mitch said. “Besides, how much sex have we had? Okay, I lost count, but are they so stupid to think we hadn’t done the horizontal rumba?

I mean, seriously, we love each other. We got married.

But stop touching me, or I’ll toss you onto the nearest flat surface and have my way with you. A quickie before the family arrives.”

“No…we can’t. My lipstick is perfect. Okay, seriously, does the apartment smell like a sex den?”

“No, it smells like your new perfume. The bed looks made and perfect, not like it has been used within an inch of its life.”

“And your cologne. I can smell traces of it,” she said. “Maybe we should brew coffee.”

“Yeah, right, because after I came from London yesterday to be with you after six years of being apart and pining for you, we got married today…and all we could think about was sharing a cup of joe?”

“I…damn it…my parents will know we’ve been having sex. Let’s just have the windows open anyway.”

“We are married. It is okay,” Mitch reassured her as her parents buzzed from the front door. He pulled her close, kissed her, and said, “Let’s make it an early night. I’ve got jet lag.”

“I’m sorry. Are you tired?” she asked with concern.

“No, I just want to have more sex with you, but you bought that excuse, so, good, it worked.”

She smiled, untangled from Mitch, and said, “You really must be tired.” Then she buzzed in her parents.

Thirty seconds later, they appeared. Her mother, Victoria, glowed with happiness for her daughter and Rebecca’s father, Garrison, gave Mitch a stern look. He offered Mitch a hand as Victoria hugged Rebecca.

After Mitch shook hands with Garrison, Victoria hugged Mitch and kissed him on the cheek, then said, “I knew you’d come to your senses.”

Mitch gave an “aw, shucks” shrug and said, “I think I’ve been in love with her since the first time I saw her.”

“I know,” Victoria said, patting his cheek. “I remember the moment it happened. I thought, yes, that is the way it should be.”