Page 51 of The Fates We Tame
Not the place I wanted to spend my first night with Sophia. It’s too much. A rushed wedding, then one bed in a clubhouse. I should have taken her to a hotel or something.
But I wanted the wall of protection the clubhouse provides us.
“I got an idea,” Halo says as if he understands what I’m thinking. “Come with me. This used to be Dad’s room before he passed. We’re renovating each room in the clubhouse one at a time. Dad’s is nearly finished.”
He opens a door three down on the opposite side of the hallway.
It’s clean. The walls are painted a fresh cream, the trim a navy blue. A new mattress, still wrapped in plastic, sits on the bed. There are unopened boxes and packages around the room. Bedding. Pillows. Towels. “Use ‘em,” Halo says. “I’ll get you some food. Pizza good? You want drinks?”
I look to Sophia.
“Pizza’s good. Coke or some water please.”
“We got any champagne?” I ask. “We should at least toast ourselves.”
“The old ladies’ drink of choice when they do book club,” Halo says. “Sure we’ve got a bottle kicking around. Let me check.”
The door clicks shut after he leaves.
Silence settles between the two of us, and I reach for Sophia, pulling her to me. “So, what do we do now?” she asks.
14
SOPHIA
“We start making ourselves at home,” Theo says.
“We do?” There’s a pinch of uncertainty in my voice. I hate that it’s there, but everything suddenly feels overwhelming.
“Look at me, Sparrow.” There’s a certain command in Theo’s tone, and I can’t help responding to it, even as I’m sure he’ll see straight through how I’m feeling.
In the quiet of the room, I do as he says.
He tugs me closer, and I feel his cock harden against my belly.
“Guess I like it when women do as I say,” he says with a grin. He reaches for the pins in my hair and removes them one by one and then removes the elastic holding it all together.
“I’m reasonably certain I won’t always do as you say.”
“I’ll take my chances. But to answer your question, yes, we start to make ourselves at home. Because a home is where we are. It’s not a specific set of bricks and mortar or things. It’s us. So, this is home tonight. We’re gonna make this bed. And while we do, you’re gonna think about whether you’re okay sharing it with me tonight. And we’re going to ask questions to get toknow each other. We’ll do whatever physio we should be doing. And we’re gonna eat. And maybe Halo will find that bottle of champagne and we’ll have a glass to toast getting married. And we’ll shower and fall into bed. And tomorrow we get to wake up married and figure out what the fuck we do next.”
He’s a hot box, his body warm against mine. I place my head against his chest. It’s so sturdy and reassuring, and it’s a precious feeling. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It’s as easy as we make it.”
“I really want to help set things up, but I don’t think I can stand for much longer.”
Theo kisses me softly. “Then let me fix that.” He grabs a chair and places me on it. “You sit here.”
He rips the plastic cover off the mattress and quickly finds the right sheets.
“If you pass me the pillows and pillowcases, I can be making those up.”
Between us we make steady work preparing the bed.
“What’s your favorite color?” Theo asks.
“Still deciding,” I say. “There were some beautiful peonies on Dr. Polunin’s desk. Like a deep, deep pink. I liked those. But I also like the color of the tiles around the pool.”
