Page 147 of I Promise You
I suck on her neck, leaving her marks there too.
There’s not a place on her skin where I haven’t left a mark. I circle her clit as I pound inside of her.
“Oh, oh, oh,” she whimpers from solace. Every flick makes a moan come out of her sweet tongue.
Then she clenches down on my dick and it sends me roaring behind her, in my own climax. I push myself deeper, tightening my muscles all over her body, yet careful not to harm her or her cervix. I don't need her entering early labor on me.
I’m coming hard, grunting while I bite down on her shoulder just enough to reflect my claim on her.
“I love you, Mrs. Rider,” I tell her as I slow down my movements, emptying every single drop of my come inside her.
“I love you, infinitely.”
I could listen to her say those words over and over again and I would die a happy, fulfilled man.
I grab a hold of her breast again and suck on it. Her hard nipple in between my teeth. I’m playing with it as she continues to recover from her orgasm.
I pull out of her, standing by the bed, headed for a last-minute shower before I’m on a C17 back to Iraq at around midnight. She doesn’t know I’m going back there, but she understands the classification of the missions and hasn’t asked.
She takes off her dress, slipping under the blankets.
Her long black hair has grown out tremendously and it goes all the way down past her breasts onto her bump, guarding her nipples.
I touch the doorknob to our bathroom, about to swing it open, but Ari's sniffles stop me.
I turn to face her. Tears all the way down her cheeks.
Shit.
“I don’t want you to go. I’m about to give birth any day to our son and daughter. What if you miss it?”She holds onto her pregnancy pillow for comfort, squeezing it underneath her fingers. “What if...you don’t come back? Forgive me for saying it, Danny, but I can’t do this without you. You have to come back to us. Y-you have to.” Her brown eyes, glistening with tears, plead with me.
I don’t say anything at first. There’s nothing I can say. After everything that’s happened to us, I understand why she’s having a moment like this.
I walk over to her, then plant a kiss on her forehead.
“I won’t miss the birth. You’re my home, Ari. I’ll come back. I always have. I promise you.” She grabs my hand, intertwining her soft fingers in mine.
“You know I’ve always thought of you as my ocean.” I squeeze her hand.
She slaps my arm, snapping her teeth.
“Your ocean! I knew it, you think I’m a whale.” She crosses her arms.
“No, Ari,” I kiss her lips profoundly. God, I’m a lucky bastard with a wife like her. “You’re my ocean because to me, an ocean has always been a place of tranquility, serenity, but most of all, natural beauty. Your waves represent patience, second chances, and ever since I met you, you’ve washed away all of my doubts…my demons. Our love is like an ocean, limitless and never-ending. Our story will always have more to explore.”
I kiss her tummy once before standing. She watches me, biting her lip.
When I surprised her at her friends’ wedding, watching her look out at sea, that’s when I knew she truly was heaven-sent.
“And you’re like Wrightsville Beach. Your love comes in different waves, fracturing my boundaries, pushing and pulling me past my limits in ways that transcend me further. You’re relentless, unforgiving, and unpredictable, but smooth in the most remarkable ways, my love. Strong and unyielding. Your eyes are as blue as the water, especially during the summer when the sun shines on it just right. Your hair is as sandy as the beach, and when a sea breeze hits, I always get lost in the peaceful scent just like yours. And when the sun sets, it’s my favorite. You know why?”
“Why?”
“When the sun sets, the sky turns orange, red, and gold, and it reminds me of the summer we fell in love in Iraq.”
I look away from her, licking my lips, and I know the first thing I’m going to do when our kids can walk.
“Let’s have our wedding there,” I tell her, leaning on the wall.
