Page 151 of Too Far

My wife.

We hover close, neither one of us pulling back from the other as we share breath. Eventually, she blinks, and the spell is broken.

“Aren’t you cold?” I ask as she retreats and settles on her back again. I don’t know why I bother asking. It can’t be more than seventy degrees, and her nipples are very clearly on display.

Thank god for the umbrella barricade. Sharing her with the boys is enough. I refuse to let anyone else gawk at her perfect, perky tits.

“Feeling the sun on my skin is worth it,” she replies, smiling at the sky with her eyes closed.

She holds one hand up to shade her face and cracks one eye open to focus on me.

“Lay with me?”

My heart stutters at the request. First from excitement. And then from fear. If this is a trick and she pushes me away? I told her to punish me. Use me. Make me pay. Fuck. Now it’s time to man up and take anything she dishes out.

Nothing but sincerity emanates from her as I drop to the blanket beside her and lower onto my back.

I keep a healthy distance between us, trying in earnest to give her the space she insists she needs.

Rolling to face me, she props her head in her hand. “What are you thinking about?”

“How we’re not out of the woods yet,” I confess.

Getting married was just step one. There are a dozen calls to make, piles of paperwork to complete, and notices to send. Kylian is working hard today to get logistics lined up for the bulk of our plans. I can’t help but be agitated, though, by the to-do list nagging at the back of my mind.

Sighing, she props up onto her elbow. “We can go. If you have things to take care of, or you don’t have time…”

Fuck. I didn’t mean it like that.

“No,” I counter harshly. “There’s nowhere else I want to be today, Siren. There’s no one else I want to spend the day with.”

It’s true.

I’m just not great at compartmentalizing or managing the sense of overwhelm that washes over me every time I think about the consequences of what I intend to do.

“I want to be here with you,” I confess. “More than I want anything in the world.”

Her face softens, a small smile teasing at the corner of her lips as she wiggles closer and rests her head on my bicep.

The weight of her—her very presence—is the most gratifying sensation, a soothing balm to my frayed, anxious nerves.

She sighs. “This was a good idea. I’m really glad we get this day together.” Fingertips brush the hair off my forehead. “We’ll get through what happens next. We’ll get through it together. Now is not forever. I promise it won’t always be this hard.”

“You can’t promise something like that,” I argue, my vulnerability on full display.

“Yes I can.”

Swallowing past the trepidation clogging my throat, I wrap my arms around her and hold her closer. “How do you know it won’t always be this hard?”

Shame washes over me. She shouldn’t be the one doing the comforting. She’s the one who compromised, sacrificed, gave up the option to marry any of the guys by settling for me.

“Because we’ll be together. And because I won’t leave you.”

I close my eyes and nod. Swallowing past the frustration, I choke out, “I’m sorry I pushed you away, Siren. I’m sorry I broke us and went back on my word. If I could take it all back—”

Fingertips rest against my lips, silencing me. But she doesn’t pull out of my hold. In fact, she cuddles closer, as if she knows exactly what I need in this moment.

She’s perfect. Perfect for me.