Page 22 of Embrace

He sighed. “All right. Come on.” He lifted his hoodie and scratched the area under his belly button. The yawn made me shake my head.

“I’m not gon’ hold you, Su. I need a nap. I’m tired as fuck.”

“We can take a nap after our shower. No longer than an hour, though. I want to go out and explore the world. I want to be on somebody’s beach drinking some type of liquor.”

“I got you, beautiful. Let me recharge. I’ll take you out wherever your heart desires.”

Blaze went into the bathroom to shower while I made myself comfortable in the cabana. I pulled out my sanitizing mist to spray down everything. I didn’t want to chance anything. I wasn’t a full on germophobe, but I’d heard too many traveling horror stories.

Blaze took about twenty minutes to emerge out of the bathroom in a pair of basketball shorts and a pair of long Nike socks. He fell onto the bed.

I grabbed my towels, shower shoes, and toiletries. I spent about twenty minutes in the shower as well before I dried off and wrapped my towel around my body. I walked out and headed to my suitcase. I glanced at Blaze who was snoring loudly as I took my towel off and applied lotion before I put on a sports bra and boy shorts.

Blaze looked so cute lying in bed. His usually brooding features were soft and kissable. I climbed into bed beside him and almost jumped with a startle when I felt his arms wrap around me.

My heart thumped with joy inside my chest. Blaze evoked new emotions from me deep within my gut. Even his snores soothed me. I’d never looked at Blaze on a sexual level, often, but in the moment it was hard not to notice how fine he was wrapped around me. I don’t know if I’d be able to keep my hands off of him during the long week ahead.

“Damn it, Blaze. You drive me crazy.” I closed my eyes and leaned into his warmth.

God, let this week bring us closer together and confirm we made the right decision at the altar.

NIGHT ONE

“We’re late!” Suvi whined.

We overslept during our nap. A nigga woke up and didn’t know where he was, the date, or time of day. When I checked the itinerary, I swore under my breath because we had a complementary private honeymoon dinner waiting for us. It was the welcome to Belize part of the Arranged Hearts package. They paid for our dinner, so I didn’t want us to miss out on the free meal. I’d never seen us get ready so fast. Suvi wore a light blue sundress and sandals. I wore a pair of Nike shorts and a black t-shirt with a pair of Jordans to match. I wanted us to be comfortable because dinner would be on a private gazebo near the sea. We arrived at Barracuda in record time.

“We’re right on time, baby.” I held Suvi’s hand to calm her nerves.

“Welcome to Barracuda! My name is Maria, and I’ll be your waitress for today.” The waitress greeted us. She was a short woman with dark brown skin. She spoke great English. I could tell her first language was Spanish because of the way she rolled her Rs.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Maria. We have a reservation paid for by Arranged Hearts under the last name Snow,” I explained.

“I see it right here. Let me escort you to the table,” Maria explained.

Maria led us to a private area near the water. Our white gazebo was decorated with lights, candles, and floral arrangements. The view was breathtaking as we listened to the waves crash onto the shore.

“Do you two need more time to look over the menu?” she asked.

Suvi chimed in. “No, ma’am. We looked up the menu on our way here. We have everything ready to order.”

“Perfect.” Maria held out a notepad to jot down our items as we listed off our orders.

“For our appetizers we’d like the wings and seasoned fries. For our entrees, we want the Caribbean Rib-eye. Can you also throw in a bottle of Merlot?”

She nodded. “Yes. Anything else?”

Suvi made eye contact with me. “Order whatever you want, Su.”

“Can we also add some of the local drinks to the order? I’d like to try the Coco Loco, Jaguar Juice, and The Ripper.” Suvi called out her order.

The waitress wrote it all down and told us she’d be back soon with our drinks.

“I’m so excited to taste everything,” Suvi commented.

“I know you love to eat, baby. I’ll expect Master Chef level critiques.”

“You ain’t said nothing but a word, loser.” She accepted the challenge with a grin.

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