Page 20

Rebecca

T here were lots of hugs and well wishes as Mitch and Rebecca were dropped off at Rebecca’s loft.

“Well,” she said when they were alone in the elevator. “I think that went better than I thought it would.”

“Alex and your father look at me as if I’m evil incarnate. As if I have violated you in eighteen different ways.”

“A girl can wish. I think we are only up to fourteen,” she said as she put her arms around his neck, sinking against Mitch as the elevator doors opened.

“And I know you are tired, and jet lagged and ready to get to bed. Besides, we’ve already consummated our wedding, so I won’t be expecting you to satisfy my needs tonight.

Tomorrow is a different story, however.”

She used her key to open the door, and then Mitch swung into action, throwing her over his shoulder, to her delight.

He locked the door and deposited her on the bed. Then Mitch tossed off his clothing in less time than it took to comprehend. Rebecca sat up on her elbows and smiled.

“And here I thought you really were tired.”

“No, I played that up to make it an early night, so I could get you back here and be naked. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” she said. “And I don’t need you to be gentle. My need for you… well… I’m kind of ravenous.”

They ended up on the rug next to her bed, but Rebecca didn’t know how they ended up there because they had started on the bed.

Now, they both had rug burns on their backsides.

As she panted—straddling his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist, his body still deeply rooted inside hers—she said, “I think I might have passed out for a few seconds there.”

Mitch swallowed hard, leaned against the side of the bed, and held Rebecca to him as he said, “It was very intense… And very, very good. Damn. I’ve never…”

She rested her head against his shoulder and let him rub her back as she said, “I know… It is like our bodies were made for each other. We know just what to do.”

She had never fit so well with a man. He was a good ten inches taller than she, but their bodies were made to give each other pleasure.

It was such a remarkable thing. Her other lovers, well, she hadn’t had that many, but none of them could satisfy her so completely.

The orgasms she had with Mitch left her entire body trembling.

They weren’t a feel-good moment. They were a feel-good hour.

She wondered if it was just the fact Mitch was making love to her.

To look up and see his face. To know it was Mitch sharing the experience, the feelings, and the passion.

That helped everything along, but it was a combination of Mitch and his perfect body.

“I’m not done with you yet, but if you’re tired…”

“No, I’m not tired. I’m just getting warmed up,” she said. “I’m not done with you yet, either.”

“I love you,” Mitch said as she smiled, and he kissed her damp cheek.

“I love you too,” she said as he grazed on her chin and then found her lips.

Picking her up as he stood, he placed her on the bed and leaned into her so that she would sink into the mattress, their lips meeting again.

This second time they made love was slower, gentler, and much more sensual compared to the satisfying, primal need of their first mating, which had more to do with action and satisfaction than emotion.

Later, she handed him a bottled water, cold from the fridge, as they lay in the tangled sheets.

They each drank deeply from their bottles, and then Mitch asked, “Would you really be okay with me working for your family business?”

“I think I’d love it,” she said, looking at Mitch’s face and noticing the way it softened. “I think we’d have a ball.”

“Good, because it sounds kind of interesting,” he said, setting the water on her nightstand and reaching for her.

***Mitch***

The next day, he wondered if he had channeled some ancient ancestor who proclaimed, “Mine,” when his woman was beside him.

Mitch could not explain it, but when the jeweler showed him a diamond eternity band for his Bex—and he slipped it on next to the emerald, and it not only fit but looked nice—he relaxed a little.

“It is gorgeous,” Rebecca gushed.

“I like that it looks like a wedding band to anyone who would look,” he said.

“What?” she whispered, “So people will know I’m taken? That I belong to you?”

He didn’t have to think at all before responding. “Yes, damn straight. You are mine, and I am yours.”

“Then you will understand why I want you to wear a ring. My ring,” she said, as her right hand discretely lowered and cupped his butt. This was what he liked about his Bex. She could be naughty, which he loved.

He kissed the tip of her nose and repeated, “Yes.”

She turned to the jeweler who was staring at her engagement ring and said, “Now then, something for my husband, something in platinum. How about some diamonds?”

“No, you get to wear the diamonds. I just want a smooth, plain band,” Mitch said.

“A big, thick one,” she said with a straight face.

After a few minutes of looking, they settled for a plain platinum band that she slipped on his finger.

“Why are you smiling like that?” she asked.

“I guess this makes it real. We belong to each other,” he said and earned another kiss from her.

The jeweler looked uncomfortable. Mitch thought he should. He was the third wheel in their intimate moment.

“We will take them,” Mitch said, his eyes never leaving Rebecca’s face.

“The total is going to be?—”

“Just put them on my card,” Mitch said, handing the man his platinum credit card. It seemed right to use a platinum card. “We’d like to wear them out because we are already married.”

“Well, congratulations! Might I say I love your emerald. What a gorgeous piece. I know we don’t have anything like it in the store. Where did you get it?” the jeweler asked.

“Mom gave it to me to give to her,” Mitch said, still looking at Rebecca, who smiled and let Mitch pull her close for another hug. “It is a family piece.”

“Your mother must have thought you chose well,” the jeweler quipped.

“She thinks of my Bex as a daughter,” Mitch said, making Rebecca laugh.