Page 29

Alex undresses me slowly, peeling the lace from my skin until I’m bare beneath him. He trails his lips along the curve of my waist, my hip, and the soft underside of my thigh. And when he moves back up—when our eyes meet again—I see everything.

Love. Need. Wonder. Gratitude.

He doesn’t rush to take.

He worships.

Every kiss, every touch, every press of his mouth to my skin is a vow.

He rises above me, muscles flexing in the candlelight as he crawls up the bed, his body covering mine, shielding me from everything but him. The heat of his skin meets the softness of mine, and the weight of him—solid, grounding—presses me deeper into the mattress. It’s not heavy. It’s home.

His hand slides along my jaw, thumb stroking the corner of my mouth.

His voice is thick with emotion. “This is what I’ve been waiting for––being inside you for the first time as your husband… and you as my wife.” He pauses, eyes shining. “I’ll never forget this moment.”

My chest tightens, my heart climbing into my throat.

“You’ve always been the only one for me,” I whisper back, threading my fingers through his hair. “And now I’m yours in every way. Always.”

When he enters me, it’s slow. Deep. Devastating.

We both inhale—our bodies meeting, molding, memorizing.

His forehead presses to mine, our breaths mingling in the warm space between us. “You feel like heaven.”

I cradle his face in my hands, my thumb brushing the edge of his jaw. “You feel like home.”

He moves inside me with measured care at first. His hands grip my hips, and thread with mine above my head, anchoring us together.

It builds—steady, rhythmic, rising like a wave that has waited all night to crest.

The sounds between us are sacred: the hush of breath, the low groans, the whispered words.

Every time our eyes meet, it’s like falling all over again.

The rhythm deepens. Quickens. Turns urgent.

Not rough. Just real.

Two people chasing the same edge, the same high, the same forever.

It begins in my lower spine, tightening with each thrust, each whispered “I love you” shared between us.

When release hits, it’s not just pleasure. It’s everything––years of almosts and never-agains. The relief of survival. The joy of arrival. The ache of being known and loved and needed.

We fall over the edge together, breath catching, bodies trembling, hearts wide open.

And when it’s over, when the high fades and our bodies are still, he doesn’t roll away.

He stays.

Wrapped around me. Inside me.

He buries his face in my neck, arms strong and secure. I kiss his temple, fingers brushing the sweat-damp hair at his nape.

“Forever,” he murmurs against my skin.

“Forever,” I echo.

We lie tangled in the center of the bed, still flushed and slick. His arm wraps around my waist, his hand resting flat over my stomach.

I trail my fingers over his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart beneath my palm. Still fast. Still alive with everything we just gave each other.

Then his body shifts, a subtle stretch and press of muscle as he props himself on one elbow.

“I need to see it. I’ve waited long enough.”

The bedside lamp clicks off, plunging us into a soft, dreamy darkness. And then—click. A small violet beam cuts through the shadows as Alex flicks the black light on.

He scans the space between us with curiosity, the corners of his mouth twitching into a grin. And then the beam catches on something between my thighs.

He blinks. Pauses. Then lets out a low, surprised chuckle. “Well, hello,” he says, his grin widening.

“What?”

“I think what I’m seeing is a stream of my cum leaking out of you.” he says, entirely too pleased.

“Oh my God.” I say, laughing so hard my ribs ache. “I didn’t even think about that!”

He presses a kiss to the top of my head, his chest shaking with amusement. “Hmm… I think I’m gonna enjoy this flashlight. I can see everywhere I’ve marked you now.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“You’re glowing like crazy, sweetheart.”

He moves lower with a hum of satisfaction, sweeping the beam along my inner thighs, hips, and over the arch of my waist. His expression changes—from playful to captivated.

He’s searching now, not for fun. But for the message and meaning.

I hold my breath as he reaches the curve beneath my left breast. And then—he stops.

The light catches it. Faint but luminous. A soft white-ink tattoo, barely there under normal light but now glowing like moonlight under my skin: an infinity symbol, our initials, and today’s date.

His breath leaves him in one sharp exhale. His hand—steady, warm—moves to brush his fingers just above it, not quite touching. “You did this for me?”

“For us,” I say.

He swallows hard, his throat working around emotion. “It’s beautiful.”

“So are we.”

He leans down, and his lips meet the tattoo. “I love it. Best gift ever.”

Then he settles back into the bed beside me, flashlight off now, but the glow still lives in his expression, in the weight of what we’ve just shared.

He curls his body around mine, my back to his chest, his arm wrapped tight around my middle. I stroke the back of his hand with my fingertips, slow and soothing.

“I’ll spend my life showing you just how much you mean to me,” he whispers into my hair, a vow meant only for me.

I close my eyes, heart so full it almost hurts. “Forever’s not long enough.”

He pulls me tighter. And in the soft dark, wrapped in his arms, I believe it.

This is the first night of the rest of our lives.