Page 132 of Married with Mayhem

The bed is empty when I emerge from the shower. I find Sabrina standing by the front window. She’s wearing my old Gino’s Pizzeria tee and drinking a small container of orange juice. Her hair is adorably messy and for a second I’m just blown away that this incredible, perfect girl is mine.

No wonder why I never fell in love before. I was waiting for her all along. No one else has ever or will ever measure up.

Sabrina turns her head and gives me a smile. “There’s a family of squirrels in the yard,” she says and sets her orange juice down on the windowsill. She stretches her arms, the peaks of her nipples visible through the thin fabric. “I was dreaming of you earlier. It was such a nice dream.”

I drop my towel in a hurry. Still flushed with sleep, she’s cooperative and giggly as I peel the shirt off and roll her damp panties down. We’re going back to the bedroom.

Sabrina, no longer tired, is in a feisty mood and demands to be on top. As if I’m going to complain about watching her bounce on top of my cock. We’ve been trying to be more careful so I slide on a condom, which has the added bonus of helping me last longer as she takes me into her body one inch at a time.

I love how she doesn’t hide from me anymore. She rides me with sexy confidence, holding back nothing and giving me a prime view of her flawless naked body.

“You’re perfect, Brina,” I tell her and she comes, throwing her head back, looking for all the world like a goddess on earth as she trembles.

I hold back until she’s finished. Then I seize her gorgeous hips to push as deep as possible and fill the condom.

But now I’m in need of another shower and so is she. I can’t think of a better way to solve this problem than to carry her into the bathroom and shower together. She loves it when I rub shampoo into her hair and I take my time lathering her up. At the end, I help her towel off gently and offer to cook breakfast.

While I stand at the counter and whisk frittata ingredients in a glass mixing bowl, Sabrina sits at the tiny kitchen table, cuter than ever in a loose pink dress with her damp hair falling over her shoulders.

“The signal here is spotty,” she says and clicks some laptop keys.

I turn around to give her a grin. “I guess I’ll have to find other ways to entertain you.”

My choice to wear only a pair of nylon gym shorts while standing in the kitchen is deliberate. I know how much she likes to look and I can feel her watching me when I turn my back.

Sure enough, in a few more seconds her chair scrapes the wood floor and she stands behind me, sliding her arms around my waist. She plants a kiss along my spine.

“What happened here?” Her fingers lightly touch a faint bruise on my lower right side, beneath my ribs.

That bruise has been there for two days and I hoped she wouldn’t notice. Silvio was having trouble collecting on a debt and offered me a tidy sum to make the problem go away. I did, and while the guy is still in the land of the living, he won’t soon forget that it’s a bad idea to snort all his cash up his nose before settling his obligations.

“Minor job hazard,” I assure her. “I forgot it was there.”

She continues to prod the area gently. “They hurt you,” she says in a soft voice and kisses two of her fingers before touching the bruise again.

I take a break from food prep to turn around and wrap my arms around her, flashing back to the day of our wedding. Her uncle’s men had roughed me up and Sabrina knelt in front of me with pain in her eyes.

“They hurt you.”

Those bruises were nothing then and they’re nothing now. The one thing in the world that has the power to destroy me is losing her.

I give her a soft kiss of reassurance and she’s content enough to return to her seat while I shove the frittata in the oven and then cut up a fruit salad.

Sabrina is excited for the carnival. I hope she’s not going to be disappointed. From what I remember, the annual carnival in nearby Cherrytown is small and ordinary. Nico and I loved it when we were little but by the time we were teenagers we would quickly get bored.

Then again, I doubt Sabrina will be bored. She has a way of being easily delighted.

After breakfast, Sabrina wants to go for a walk. Her summer dress and delicate flats aren’t really suited to hiking in the woods so I offer to carry her on my back.

“Tell me if I get too heavy,” she teases in between admiring the scenery while hugging my neck.

“That’ll never happen,” I tell her and she kisses my neck, making it tough to focus on the nature trail.

In a little while, we come to a small clearing dotted with wildflowers and surrounded by tall trees. The only noise is bird music and the vague, constant bubbling of an unseen creek.

The words are running through my head.“Marry me, Sabrina.”It’s on the tip of my tongue to speak them.

Later. I’ll bring her right here to this spot. There will be a full moon tonight. After she’s had her fill of the carnival games, I’ll carry her here and get down on one knee to propose for real.

---