Page 107 of The Broken Vows

“Oh God,” she whispers when I move my hips and begin to thrust shallowly, taking my time with her. I’ve never felt closer to her, never felt more united. I didn’t even realize how much I missed this.

“You’re so beautiful, Celeste. Do you have any idea how crazy it is that I get to call you mywife? Fuck, I might well be the luckiest man alive.”

She smiles and pulls my lips to hers. “I don’t know about that. But I definitely am the luckiest woman in the world, because I still get to call you mine.”

“I’ll always be yours,” I promise, her as my hand runs down her body until I’ve got it nestled over her hip. I pull out almost entirely, loving the way she whimpers for me, before thrusting back into her hard and fast, taking her the way she likes it, and I just know I’ll never get enough of her.

Ten years from now, I’ll still love her the same.

ChapterNinety-Four

Zane

Celeste turns toward me as I pull up in front of her parents’ house, throwing me the most adorable puppy eyes. “I don’t want to go, babe. I just want to spend all day in bed with you,” she says, her voice all cutesy.

I bite down on my lip as I turn to face my wife, so fucking tempted to do as she asks, and drive straight back home. The last two weeks have been heartbreakingly beautiful — there’s no other way to describe the way the walls between us came down, both of us filled with cautious hope and so much love that it’s barely containable. The island changed everything for us. We’re no longer running from the past — instead, we’ve embraced it in an effort to move past it. We can’t change what happened, but we can decide whether we let it control us, whether we’ll let it dictate our actions.

Overcoming trauma isn’t easy, but our couple counseling sessions are helping more than either of us could’ve expected. I always thought I knew my wife better than anyone else, but it’s becoming clear there’s so much I didn’t understand — not truly. I was so caught up in the injustice of the entire situation that I failed to truly think about what drove her, and how much she’s still grieving a woman neither of us really knew in the end.

“Celestial,” I reprimand. “I’m already on your mother’s shit list for missing so many cooking sessions. Are you trying to get me killed?”

She sighs and reaches for me, her touch gentle as she cups my face and pulls me in for a kiss. “But if you take me home, I’ll ride you the way you like,” she whispers against my lips. “Isn’t that more fun than being ordered around by my mom all day?”

I groan as I kiss her, my resolve wavering. Lately, it feels like I’m rediscovering my wife all over again, even though she’s been by my side all along. Maybe I wasn’t truly letting her in, not until I nearly lost her all over again. Everything has felt different ever since I took her to my private island, the distance that was always between us diminishing a little more every day.

Celeste gasps when I pull away from her, and the way she pouts at me makes my heart skip a beat. “Zane,” she pleads, her tone whiny.

I chuckle and peck that delectable mouth of hers. “No way,” I tell her. “You don’t understand how scary your mom is, do you?”

She groans in defeat when I get out of the car and throws me a cute little glare as I walk around it to offer her my hand. Fucking adorable. I entwine our fingers and pull her to the front door, loving the way she melts into me.

“There you are,” Clara says when we walk into the kitchen. Her eyes drop to our joined hands, and she grins at me. Sometimes she looks at me with such a proud gaze, and it makes me feel so accepted. I wasn’t sure if she’d ever forgive me for what I put Harrison Developments through, but she never even mentioned it. The only thing she ever said that even remotely referenced the past was that she missed me, and that she’s happy Celeste and I found our way back to each other.

“I’m thinking of making ratatouille today. What do you think, Zane?”

Celeste sighs and wraps her hand around my waist as she leans into me. “I’m here too, you know. You only ever ask Zane for his input.”

Clara throws her daughter one of her classic deadpan expressions. “Yes, because he can actually cook. Years of lessons and you still can’t fry an egg without burning it.”

I press my lips together to keep from laughing, and Celeste narrows her eyes at me. “You’re good at other things,” I tell her, before pressing a kiss to her temple. She’s started to make me breakfast on weekends, but she always burns at least one thing. I haven’t mentioned it, and eat everything she makes me with a smile on my face, but my beautiful wife is just not… a great cook.

Clara nods. “You’re especially good at gathering vegetables from the veggie patch,” she says, her tone filled with mock indulgence. “So why don’t you go do that, sweetie?”

My beautiful wife pouts before she turns on her heels and storms out, and I chuckle as I follow her, my heart racing. Some days I’m not sure we’ll make it, but then there are days like today, and they make it all worth it.

Celeste looks over her shoulder and smiles as her gaze roams over my body, slowly taking in my jeans and the black tee I’m wearing today. “I’m going to steal this one,” she tells me, nodding to herself, and I burst out laughing as I grab her and push her up against the side of the shed, just out of view from any of the windows.

“Celestial, you already have a massive collection of my t-shirts. What do you need this one for?”

She places her palm against my chest and tilts her head up to look at me. “I’ve got this whole nefarious plan,” she tells me as she slips her hand underneath my t-shirt, a slow smirk spreading across her face when my abs instantly tense underneath her fingers. “If I steal them all, you won’t have anything to wear, and then I can keep you naked in our bed forever.”

I burst out laughing, pure joy spreading through my entire body. “Fuck,” I whisper, my forehead dropping to hers. “I love you.”

She gasps, like she still isn’t used to hearing those words again, and her lips crash against mine. I moan and bury a hand in her hair, fucking enchanted by the way her body moves against mine, the way she parts my lips and deepens our kiss, like she can’t get enough of me.

Her hands roam over my body, and it’s my turn to gasp when she undoes my jeans and lets her hand slip into my boxers. “Crazy girl,” I whisper against her mouth, before lifting her up against the shed.

Celeste’s legs wrap around me, and she rolls her hip teasingly. “Just saying,” she murmurs against my lips just as she grabs my cock and squeezes. “If you’d just taken me home we’d be in bed right now, and you’d be buried deep inside me.”

---