Page 60 of Courageous Yearnings

“If I have to carry you over the threshold, we’ve got problems, husband,” she teased. “I have zero upper body strength and am currently not touching the ground. Let’s get to walkin’, Hero.”

“I love you so much,” he whispered openly, taking a few steps inside and kicking the door shut behind him as he set her down. To his utter amazement and wonder, Blythe kicked off her heels and curled her finger toward him, walking toward the bedroom.

“C’mon…” she murmured huskily, causing a shiver of desire to race up his spine. “I’ve got something special to show you.”

Lance cursed and began yanking open the buttons on his jacket at the sound of her laughter as she disappeared into the bedroom. As he tugged his arms free, he threw it on the couch and stopped dead in his tracks, shocked.

There, in between them, on the floor of their bedroom was a brand-new Yamaha amp with a huge red bow on top – and his shoddy guitar was propped up on a stand like it was some glorious piece of jewelry.

“Ohhh, Blythe… what did you do?”

“I decided that I wanted my gorgeous husband to have every chance to play,” she said softly, her hands clasped before her as her eyes glowed with joy. He wasn’t expecting this, her, the amp, any of this and was truly moved. She had such a big heart, flinging herself forward toward happiness with no fear, no reservations – and it was staggering to know that it was all for him.

She chose him.

“I’m sorry that I turned you down when you asked me out that first time,” he began, unsure what to say because he felt like so much time was lost and he wasn’t worthy of her. She just kept surprising him, winning him over, and her soul was taking up every space in his heart.

“You’re here now,” she smiled at him, her eyes shining. “That’s all that matters, isn’t it? It’s not a specific date, a time, a missed opportunity, but rather a second chance to have something beautiful.”

“It’s more beautiful than I could have ever pictured,” he admitted.

“Our love is, isn’t it?” she agreed and then hesitated, lifting an eyebrow in a challenge once again. “So are you going to play your wife a song… or are you going to play with your other ‘instrument’?”

“Blythe!” he blurted out, shocked… and then laughed. His sweet, innocent, gentle girl had just levied a lewd comment that rivaled anything some of the guys said at the station. “The mouth on you, woman…”

“So close it, husband,” she taunted, curling her finger toward him again. “Don’t keep your wife waiting, Hero… my goodness, you looked darn good in that uniform.”

“Oh yeah?” he grinned, yanking his belt free from the loops with a single snap and practiced flip of his wrist, causing an audible pop. Her eyes widened as her lips parted in awareness. “Now someone was teasing me with a piece of lingerie…” – and to his disbelief, Blythe started jumping around and waving her arms excitedly over her head.

“Right here! That was me!”

Lance laughed at the playfulness, the unabashed anticipation in her expressive face, and knew that loving his beautiful bride was going to be even better than he imagined. He crossed the room in seconds and drew her into his arms, kissing her tenderly.

Early the next morning, Lance awoke with Blythe curled up against him. He turned slightly toward her, pulling her closer, never wanting any of this to end. Instead of getting up to start the coffee, he lay there just admiring his miracle before him.

Blythe had smudges under her eyes from her mascara and eyeliner from yesterday, there was a big dark curl sticking up weirdly from her forehead right beside a spot that was matted down where she’d obviously drooled at some point, and yeah, his girl could saw logs when she was sound asleep, but man, she was the best thing God ever created.

His finger touched her cheek softly as he replayed yesterday in his mind. There was one moment where he wished that he had come to her as innocent as she was before him, and it was humbling to see such trust, love, and acceptance in her eyes. Every time she jumped, laughed nervously, purred like a kitten, or made an indescribable sound – he felt like a titan that could move mountains.

And a dark eye cracked open, meeting his.

“Hey…” she said hoarsely – and immediately moved her hand to wipe the drool from her chin.

Somehow, Lance was able to stifle the chuckle in his chest because she’d left a wet spot on his chest for the last twenty minutes. As she sat up, she rubbed her hair wildly scratching her head, he grinned. He did the same thing sometimes because it just felt so good.

“Hey yourself, Mrs. Cortes… are you hungry?”

“Is that an invitation, Hero?” she asked huskily, wagging her eyebrows at him as he melted into a puddle. My goodness, he’d unleashed a monster and was here for it. If this was what married life was like – he would have married her a long time ago!

“For food, you insatiable woman…”

“Oh hush, we both know you don’t mind.”

“Not in the slightest,” he laughed, climbing out of bed and handing her the pale blue satin robe that said ‘Bride’ on the back. “I’m gonna go start the coffee and make a little something for us.”

“I’m going to hop in the shower and calm this chaos down,” Blythe replied, pointing at her short hair that was sticking up in various places. “I guess if you can make it through this, then you can handle anything.”

Lance laughed and shook his head at her words. He liked this playful side of Blythe, and it was just so wonderful that she was natural around him. He’d dated girls who refused to let their makeup get mussed up, or they needed to spend twenty minutes in the bathroom brushing their hair right after they were seated at a restaurant. That wasn’t his thing. To be honest, the drool and snoring surprised him more than her hair, but that secret would go with him to his grave.

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