FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

Bonus Chapter One: The Wedding Night

THIRD PERSON POV

Physical touch has always been Hunter and Fern's love language...to be held softly, tightly, playfully, or even for security. They could communicate without words and hear each other as clear as a song. There were moments where even touch wasn't necessary...Their endearing, captivating gazes had unique ways of embracing the other's body without using their arms, and breaching their souls without a sound.

Tonight, was one of those moments. The message emitting from their concurring, pumping heartbeats was evident the instant the newlyweds stepped into the private suite, hushed from all sound within and around. For the first time since the end of the war, Hunter and Fern were completely alone.

The room was clean, poise, and simply romantic. Bride and Groom would not be disturbed, nor would they disturb others. The atmosphere was perfect—cozy, tranquil, and sensual.

And yet...

"Well..." Fern hummed, breaking the silence. Her bare arms hugged her waist. "I suppose we should go to bed."

"To bed? Or to sleep?" Hunter's smoky voice reverberated in Fern's chest. A nervous chill crawled up her spine. She was far from feeling weary; the adrenaline of the last thirty-six hours have been superlative, enchanting, and real. She prayed the momentum to never falter—she felt like she would never need to sleep again.

"I—Well—I don't know." Her stammer revealed her ironic anxiousness. "Are...you ready to take that step? I mean, we just got married today, after getting engaged yesterday..."

"Fern," The sergeant turned his wife by her shoulders, then caressed his palms down until he squeezed her biceps. Her bare skin was incredibly warm under his touch. Her cheeks were tinted under the dimmed light source. When she inclined her head to meet his gaze, his breath shuddered. While they sparked with her wittiness and fierce nature when the sun's rays touched them, Fern's dark orbs were softer than velvet in the moonlight from the window...

Breathtakingly irresistible...

"I promised you we'd take this new adventure on and I'd spend every moment with you. It is you I've chosen to love, to overcome any struggle, path, and fight, and to see we support each other whenever the other is lost."

Hearing Hunter recite his vows swooned Fern until she grew weak in her knees. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears. Her fingers latched onto his snatched waist with a shaky breath, and she leaned into him with her head fully arched. Her mind churned in overdrive to search for the right words.

"So," Her airy reply grazed over his lips; he tasted it with his tongue. "which is it?"

"You tell me." he purred.

"Well," she smiled enticingly. "Either way, I can't sleep in this dress." She raised a knowing brow as she backed away slowly. "Will you help me?"

Heat rose to Hunter's ears as he bowed his chin. After Fern gracefully pivoted and gathered her luscious hair over her right shoulder, his fingers worked at unknotting the cord, gently tugging as he gradually loosened it. Fern's lips curled in amusement each time her body slightly jerked backwards.

Thud.

The off-white, spiralled rope dropped to the floor.

Fern swallowed her gasp when she sensed her husband's fingers freeing each button down her back. With each release, the bodice loosened, the neckline drooped and the delicate cowl sleeves slipped from her shoulders to her wrists. The soft fabric cascaded over her breasts and gathered around her waist. A shiver rippled up her spine when gentle kisses were planted on the nape of her neck, then her breath proceeded to sigh with frisson through her nose. Hunter paused her undressing and stroked his hands up her arms and smoothed over her shoulders, all while kissing her neck and the area behind her left ear. His warm lips pressed harder and longer the more Fern leaned into him, her head floating to her right while her eyes fluttered closed.