At ten-forty-six that evening, Vivienne Anne Cartwright became Mrs. Vivienne Anne Yates.
I practiced saying that name for years, adamant that it would one day come, but it still felt new and exciting as it rolled off my tongue. It was real this time, not just some young girl's romantic rambling.
The moment we decided to get married right away, I wasted no time. I slipped into the short, white pearl-beaded dress that I'd packed with me—a dainty but flirty, feminine piece that came the closest to a white wedding gown—and Oliver threw on his black sports coat.
One of the hotel cars drove us to the courthouse where we filled out the applications and paid the fee. Once our license was issued, we went to the Little Church of the West, a quaint, historical chapel iconic for many Vegas weddings.
We waited at the gazebo for half an hour while the couple ahead of us finished their ceremony. While waiting, Oliver pulled me to a more private corner and presented me a breathtaking ring that featured a simple pillow-cut blue diamond set on a narrow platinum band, encrusted with small, clear diamonds.
"I was going to give this to you for your birthday," he said as he slipped it on my left hand's ring finger. "It wasn't intended to be an engagement ring but I thought you'd like it because it's your favorite shade of blue. The sapphires are too dark and the blue topaz is too light. I thought this was perfect—kind of ice blue."
I smiled, drawing in a deep breath to calm my fast-beating heart as I held up my hand to gaze at the ring as it caught the fluorescent light. "It is perfect. It's the exact match of your eyes."
He looked surprised, the silly man. I grinned and stood on my toes to kiss him. "Why do you think I love this color, Oliver? Because they remind me of your eyes. That's all."
His arms tightened around my waist as he deepened the kiss, his mouth lush and sweet.
Suddenly distracted, I pulled back and searched his face. "I'm not bankrupting you with this ring, am I?"
I didn't miss the automatic grimace on Oliver's face but it was too late to take back a question I probably shouldn't have asked, no matter my intentions. He was a proud man but I didn't want to burden him at a time like this when he was staking whatever he had for a bigger pay out that may or may not happen. I wasn't worried because I had money and as much as I loved the ring, I didn't really need it, but I knew that Oliver would pay whatever price my happiness cost. I didn't want it to cost him everything.
"I can comfortably afford it, Viv," he assured me gently. "Don't worry."
Before we could discuss it further, we were summoned inside the chapel where the minister waited. Having opted for the simplest, most basic package with the least amount of hassle such as the Elvis wedding singer, we were out of there in under half an hour, newly married and each sporting a plain, white gold wedding band on our ring fingers. Our limo driver, counted among our witnesses, drove us straight back to the hotel where Oliver made a big show of scooping me up in his arms from the front steps of the hotel all the way to the room, never once putting me down even in the elevator. People looked at us a little strangely but we didn't really care. I certainly didn't.
I was married to the man I loved all my life.
It couldn't have been more perfect.
I was still floating somewhere in cloud nine, a bit dazed at how quickly things turned around and how much of my life had changed in the last three hours. It actually felt almost illicit, especially because we didn't tell anyone except the people necessary to facilitate tonight's wedding, but I didn't feel a twinge of guilt. The last decade of my life had been leading up to this—nothing could've been more inevitable.
Oliver brought us back to my hotel room, saying it was much tidier and bigger than his, and called room service for a late dinner, a bottle of wine and some decadent dessert.
"Come here, wife," he said with a big smile on his face as he closed the door after room service left. He had chucked his jacket, shoes and socks and with his eyes lit up in happiness, his cheeks slightly flushed, he looked sinfully sexy.
I eagerly stepped into his arms, grazing his chin with my nose. "I know you want your husbandly rights but we probably should eat and shower first. My stomach is starting to make rude noises and we're both stinky and sticky with sweat."
He nipped my chin. "Life is uncertain. Shouldn't we eat dessert first?"
"Delayed gratification shouldn't be an unfamiliar concept for both of us, babe," I teased as I pulled him toward the food. "Come on. Let's eat."
Despite the significant shift in our relationship, switching from being close friends to a married couple in the space of a few hours, dinner was surprisingly easy and familiar except that throughout the whole thing, we couldn't keep our hands off each other.
We couldn't eat much even if we'd been starving. We ate what we needed—our appetites were craving something else entirely.
When I stepped away and let my makeshift wedding dress slip down to my bare feet after Oliver unzipped it, I heard him suck in my name in a low, ragged breath and a sexy thrill shot through my bones.
I may be a virgin but I wasn't innocent. Never had been a day in my life.
"Come here," was Oliver's husky invitation as he reached out to rest his hands on each side of my waist, his fingers sliding under the narrow lace straps of my underwear.
I wound my arms around his neck and pressed my bare breasts against the hard planes of his chest under his shirt, enjoying its contrasting texture with the smooth glide of his hands down my thighs as he pushed my underwear down.
I gasped when my his hand delved between my legs, his long, slender fingers slipping through the slick folds to seek me out.
My teeth sank into his shoulder, suppressing a moan when his fingers slipped in, stroking in and out of me, curving enough just to hit me where it drove me over the edge with some wild, pulsing hunger.
"God, you're so ready, Viv," Oliver murmured against my ear, his lips tracing the shape of it before he pressed a hot, airy kiss on the spot just below it.
"And you're not," I complained with a smile as I pushed him away, regretting losing his skilled touches down there but anticipating the show I was about to get.
"Strip."
His brows arched in amusement as he watched me step back and lean against the wall next to the bathroom door.
I was already fully naked, hot all over, completely aroused and dying for more, but I didn't want to miss out on the chance of seeing Oliver in all his naked glory for the first time. I'd spent years dreaming of this moment to let it pass without ceremony.
When he didn't move, I thrust my chin up at him. "Come on. I want to know what the fuss is all about."
He chuckled softly before pulling his shirt off and sliding down his pants.
My throat went dry at the sight of him in nothing more than his black boxer briefs.
"Not a stitch of clothing left, please," I managed to say through the lump in my throat, motioning quite impatiently with my hands.
He flashed me a crooked smile. "I don't want to scare you."
I raised a brow. "I've seen a dick before, Oliver."
His eyes instantly narrowed. "When, where and whose?"
"Some nameless porn actor in an adult movie I forced myself to watch along with some of my girlfriends back in senior high," I answered without pause, smiling smugly at him. "I believe his name was Carlson Hung."
A mixture of shock and amusement crossed his face. "You watched porn?"
I shrugged. "The girls were debating about what actually happens in real life and trying to discover other ways of pleasing their boyfriends. Sara's brother had some naughty loot in his bedroom and she borrowed it. I wanted to learn so I tagged along."
Oliver groaned. "Have you done more learning since then?"
"I've been out on dates. Many of the guys had been more than eager to whip it out as soon as we were in the car."
Anger quickly replaced his helpless expression. "Who are these bastards? Did any of them force you into anything? I swear, I'll plaster them to the pavement for this."
I laughed, enjoying his reaction a little. "No need, babe. I was quite explicit when I said that if they didn't keep it in their pants, I was going to permanently separate it from their body with surgical precision. They backed off."
His relief was obvious and he managed a weak smile as he scratched his head. "You're really quite frightening, Viv, but it's extremely sexy."
"I'll give you more sexy if you would hurry out of those," I said with a suggestive wiggle of my brows. "I want to see everything that's mine."
If Oliver had any problem with my possessiveness, he was doing a poor job of showing it because satisfaction flared in his pale blue eyes and his shoulders squared before he pushed down his briefs and kicked them off.
I really couldn't have done anything with my jaw as it dropped in awe.
Oh, I'd seen lots of gorgeous men. I knew what a perfect male body looked like although I'd never intimately discovered it myself despite the opportunities that presented themselves. But beautiful male bodies were simply that, really—just bodies that didn't mean much to me.
The man standing in front of me right now was the love of my life and the most beautiful man I'd ever seen.
Tall and possessed of a lean, sinewy body, Oliver's build was almost graceful, belying the strength that his tight, rippling muscles were capable of. His shoulders were broad, his chest smooth and hard, his abs tight and rigid with muscle. A faint treasure line started from under his navel, traveling down to the center of his narrow hips where his cock hung against a nest of dark hair. I barely noticed the rest of his long, powerful legs and large, masculine feet because my eyes were locked in on the thing that very much made him a man. It looked long, huge and eager to invade me. I ached between my legs. I could imagine the feel of him furiously thrusting in and out of me and my muscles clenched almost painfully down there.
I think I know why women can't stay away. He looks like a walking orgasm.
"Vivienne?"
I looked up at the faint echo of my name as it intruded on my lust-fazed thoughts.
His expression hinted at some doubt as if he weren't sure how to gauge my reaction.
I smiled broadly. "Consider me an official worshipper of your body. I want it—every delicious inch."
A low laugh rumbled out of him as he crossed the short distance between us.
"I'm glad you approve," he said as he pulled me flush against him, his erection digging into my belly. "I want your body, too. I've been fantasizing about you in the last couple of years, since I saw you in that little bikini that summer you came home. I don't remember you looking this stunning."
I gave him a half-smile as I rested my forearms on his shoulders. "If you've wanted me that long, then I don't know why you never gave me any indication. I never wanted anyone else other than you, Oliver. I've decided on that a long time ago."
He cupped my breasts and gave them a squeeze. "I needed the timing to be right and I wasn't sure how long it was going to take to get there. That's why when you confronted me tonight, I felt like the rug was pulled from under me. You threw my carefully crafted plans out the window but I quickly realized that you operate on your own timetable, Viv. So if you love me and want me anyway, the right time is whenever we want it to be."
"I love you," I murmured, lifting myself on my toes to kiss him slowly and sensually, shifting slightly so that my breasts grazed his naked chest, my belly rubbing against the now moist tip of him until he groaned softly.
"I love you, too, Viv," he murmured back, brushing his lips along my jaw. "I've loved you for a very long time."
I lowered my eyes to his magnificent chest, about to set him straight that no, he couldn't have possibly loved me for as long as I've loved him, when the verse tattooed in old-fashioned script wrapped around his side just below his heart caught my attention.
Visions of an angel
In years past and coming,
Vanquished this cruel hell
Instead left me dreaming,
Endless days of joy and peace
Never again suffering.
Never should my love for her cease,
Eternity is brief; my love never ending.
My eyes widened as the letters floated before me, like pieces to a puzzle falling in place and making absolute, perfect sense.
He'd gotten the tattoo when he was twenty-four. He didn't want to show it to me at first, no matter how much I pleaded, but I'd peeked parts of it when he'd shed his shirt while hanging out with my brother and their friends at the pool or at the beach a few times. I finally cornered him one time, when he was changing into a clean shirt after an intense tennis match with me. He let me reluctantly read it and when I asked where he got the verse, he smiled mysteriously, shrugged, and said, "I wrote it."
Now that I read it again, the real answer became crystal clear.
"You tattooed my name on you," I said in a shocked whisper, looking up to meet his piercing gaze. "The first letter of the first word of each line spells my name."
There was tenderness in his eyes. "You are my angel, Viv—have been since that day you followed me in the cemetery. You might as well have followed me to the ends of the earth then, because that's where I was headed and where you brought me back from."
He cupped the side of my face and brushed his thumb over my cheek, his forehead resting against my own. "I owe you so much for what you've done for me when my family died and that alone is reason enough for me to have treasured you like I did, even when you were still a kid. I know that you don't like gratitude as a reason but it's part of it, no matter what. But it wasn't the only reason."
Smiling a little, he gazed down at me. "I loved you because you were a good person and you brightened my life like no one else could. You made me smile and laugh and enjoy myself even when things were going downhill. It felt like we were kindred souls for years and that made you more precious to me. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized you weren't just my angel anymore—you were the woman I was unknowingly falling in love with and that's why I couldn't be brash about it. I wanted you for the rest of my life and I knew it would take a lot of work and time to prove myself worthy of you."
My chin trembled as I fought the tide of tears.
I hated to cry, and the times I did my whole life I could count in one hand, but damn if Oliver's confession didn't pull at my heart with a sweet, heavy tug.
"There's nothing to prove, you know?" I told him quietly, sniffling. "I love you in all of your complications, Oliver. There's nothing I would change."
A strange emotion flickered across his face but it was gone before I could define it.
He bent his head and kissed me hard, as if my words had unleashed something in him.
I kissed him back, giving him as good as I was getting, and surrendered without a fight when he swept me up into his arms and carried me into the bathroom. He set me down on my feet near the large shower stall, reaching in to turn the water on without breaking away from our kiss.
A moan escaped his lips and he threw his head back when my hands found his hot and heavy arousal, my fingers gripping him firmly, my thumb smearing the wetness that beaded at the tip.
He easily carried me into the stall, setting us both under the large rain shower head, the warm water sluicing down on us.
In the rising steam, our mouths continued to fuse together hotly, our hands exploring as we soaped each other.
Desire beat a wild dance in my heart, my skin registering every molten touch from him. I was still standing only because he held me up.
"Oh, God," I said in a shaky breath when his mouth anchored on my nipple, sucking it deep into his mouth and pushing at the hard tip with his tongue, swirling around the shape of it with intent. I clung to him as long as I could as he alternated his attention between my breasts before I found enough strength to tear myself away to briefly recover from the onslaught of sensations overloading my senses.
I glanced at him and shivered under his hooded gaze. My eyes dropped to his long and heavy erection that arched upward as if reaching out for me. Before the idea could fully form in my head, I lowered myself on my knees, grasped his hard length with both of my hands, stroking it up and down and watching his eyes burn with intensity, before I took him into my mouth, sucking in the head deep.
"Oh, fuck."
I grinned at Oliver's profanity—a clear sign of his distress because he normally watched his mouth around me—and continued to pleasure him with my mouth like a well-praised student showing off a little. I wasn't skilled in the art of sex but there was a lot of satisfaction in the fact that I could push him to the edge like this.
Given my husband's legendary bedroom skills, whispered and rumored around me for years, I had no doubt that it wouldn't be long before I could hone my own talents and torture him with them.
"Viv, stop, stop." He caught me by my shoulders and hauled me up quickly. "I can't come inside you like this—not the first time."
I couldn't help the crooked smile. "You'll have plenty of chances to come inside me. The first time isn't going to matter much."
He laughed hoarsely and switched off the shower. "Don't drive me over the edge yet or this will be quick and I didn't wait all this time to muck it up."
Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it both around us, patting our bodies down so quickly that I was still quite damp when he swung me up into his arms and clumsily plopped me down the bed.
"Smooth, lover. Real smooth," I teased, laughing lightly. "Throw the lady on the bed, why don't you?"
He groaned and rolled his eyes as he covered my body with his. "I wish I can show you that I have more finesse than this but at this point, I'm really desperate. We need to take it slow because I don't want to hurt you."
"You'll never hurt me."
"I'll do my best," he said before he took my mouth again, his hands slipping down between my legs to gently spread me open.
My eyes squeezed close, my breath catching as his fingers explored me again.
A whimper escaped my lips as he broke away from our kiss but before I could reach out for him again, I felt his mouth at the very center of me, his tongue sliding across it and causing my body to come alive with such indescribable pleasure.
"Oliver!"
My mindless call for him didn't stop the sexual torment he was putting me through. In fact, it seemed to have prompted him to do more of it because his tongue flipped further into me, relentless in its pursuit.
My hands clutched the sheets around me as he persisted, using his weight to pin me down in place that there was no way I could escape the building tension in my body as he pushed me further and further into climax.
For a girl who knew about it but never actually experienced it, my orgasm, if I must say so myself, was a thing of beautiful yet cataclysmic force.
Fuck.
My body rocked for a few moments until it slowed down to a mere tremble, the energy that exploded inside me starting to seep out, leaving me panting and deliciously exhausted.
"Good?" Oliver said as he hovered above me, a smug smile on his face.
"Good?" I moaned. "That was... crazy spectacular."
He grinned. "I'm glad you're pleased. I'm hoping you're relaxed enough to take me now because I'm about to blow and I haven't even been deep inside you yet."
I glanced down at him, now even more enormous than I remembered, the veins thick with blood, the head almost an angry purple-red.
"We need protection," he panted, his eyes sharply narrowing with his effort at control. "I'm clean but I don't want to get you pregnant until you're ready."
I smiled slowly, shifting my legs so I could wrap them around his hips. "I've been on the pill since I was seventeen to keep me regular. I think we're good so don't waste another second."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm all yours, Oliver," I said, urging his hips forward until the hot tip of him brushed my entrance. "I've always been yours so take me."
"Oh, God," he breathed out thickly as he buried his face against my neck, his hands gripping my hips as he thrust shallowly inside me, startling me with the sudden fullness. "Viv, I can't be... gentle."
Wordlessly, I dug my nails into his back to pull him deeper inside of me but I could feel him fighting himself not to rush in.
"You've always been gentle with me, Oliver. You don't have to be in bed," I murmured in frustration, leaning up to bite his left nipple. It shattered his control, a harsh cry ripping from his throat, his hips surging forward instinctively.
I gasped at the quick sting but sucked my breath in as I angled my hips up to take all of him completely.
We groaned in unison once Oliver was wall the way in. The pinch subsided a mere few seconds before Oliver started moving, his restraint so frayed that he was soon pistoning in and out of me with a ruthless pace.
I didn't mind. It felt so slick down there that it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. The friction was quickly building me back up into that glorious height I wanted to crash from again.
I just peaked when Oliver let out a hoarse shout, sinking so deep into me that I could myself vibrate from the inside. Through the haze of my second orgasm, I captured Oliver's face as he climaxed—his brows pulled in, his eyes squeezed shut, his jaw clenched and his skin flushed—and I felt immensely proud and happy that I could make him come apart like this.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him down and pressed my face against his chest, not minding his weight nor the sticky sweat on both our skins. I listened to his thundering heartbeat and deep, laborious breaths, fighting the urge to burst into tears from the emotions that were crashing over me like a tidal wave.
Oliver had finally and truly claimed me as his.
We were married, crazy in love and incredibly happy.
It was the perfect start for the rest of our lives.
***
So, what do you think? I know this chapter is pretty much steam but I think it's important to highlight just how invincible one feels in a perfect moment.
As I continue to write their story, it occurs to me that so much of what they're capable of doing for each other comes from so much of their history and maybe that's how they're going to pull off what they're going to pull off in the end. Stay tuned and see.
Make sure to vote and comment. It would mean the world to me. I've been so sick and miserable this week but I did manage to finish a chapter and post one. The story must go on, right?
See you next week!
XOXO,
Ninya
***
♪♪♪ Chapter Soundtrack: The One by Kodaline ♪♪♪
Tell me,
Tell me that you want me,
And I'll be yours completely
For better or for worse.
I know,
We'll have our disagreements,
Be fighting for no reason.
I wouldn't change it for the world.
'Cause I knew
The first day that I met you
I was never gonna let you,
Let you slip away.
And I
Still remember feeling nervous
Trying to find the words to
Get you here today.
You make my heart feel like it's summer
When the rain is pouring down.
You make my whole world feel so right when it's wrong.
That's how I know you are the one.
That's why I know you are the one