Wet lashes, red nose, half-opened mouth and she had never looked more adorable.
Hamdan held his breath after the words left his mouth, waiting for an answer. Everything was in her hands one more time and he knew he not only needed a positive answer, it had to be something definitive, something that showed him that what she said was true. It was the only way he could put everything else behind and move on with Sarah by his side. No ifs or buts, he only hoped for a small and simple...
"Yes," Sarah whispered.
His breathing resumed and the corners of his mouth lifted, imitating hers.
"Oh my God... Yes!" She confirmed, jumping to lace her arms around his neck.
He closed his eyes while his arms encircled her tight, lifting her from the ground. She wrapped her legs around him and he felt so much joy that words completely left him, he simply let the happiness soak right into his bones while holding her up.
"I'm sorry. About everything," she hid her face on his neck. "I'm sorry that I left, I'm sorry that it took me so long—"
He tilted his head back to shush her with a kiss. His stomach clenched with excitement when their lips found each other, the longing for her kisses falling down into pieces, his agony dissolving away.
He spun them around once, making her laugh.
"I'm sorry too, but it doesn't matter," he assured her, putting her back down on the floor. "Nothing else matters. We will be a family and that's all I care about."
She beamed and ran a finger alongside his hairline. "I missed you so much."
He said I love you three times with a peck on the lips between each one. "I'm officially the happiest man in the world."
She giggled and held onto him from behind the neck.
"Let's go home," he proposed.
Her face radiated bliss through every pore. "Okay," she nodded.
He kissed her forehead and they walked holding hands. At the entrance, he bent over to pick up Sarah's letter from the floor and put the crumbled piece of paper in his pocket. Before setting foot outside, he stopped and looked at her and then down at their hands. She intertwined her fingers around his and squeezed.
"I won't let go if you don't," she said.
Hamdan returned the gesture and glancing at her, he contemplated the brand new beginning ahead of them. They were going to get married, and the how and what everyone else would say, seemed like the tiniest details, because everything that was important to him was there holding his hand. And she said yes.
---
On his way back from the bathroom, he picked up his boxers from the floor, put them on and went to open the door to let Rooster in again, after he politely kicked him out for privacy. The day before, Sarah worried about her dog being alone in the apartment, so Hamdan sent for the Labrador.
She peeked at her phone and let it back on the bedside table before lying back in bed wearing her panties only. To Hamdan, she was positively the sexiest, most beautiful creature to step on the face of the earth and when she pulled the sheets up to cover herself, he crawled onto bed to stop her.
"Don't. This is my favorite version of you."
"The naked version?" She wondered, turning sideways to be face to face.
He nodded with a smirk across his face. "Well, you're not entirely naked but I'll settle for this," his hand landed on her waist. "Why did you cut your hair?"
She brushed her hair back, away from her face. "It was too long."
He wrinkled his nose to show disapproval.
"What? You had that whole goatee situation going on for a while and I didn't say a word," her index finger made circles in the air around his mouth.
One of his eyebrows shot up in his forehead. "Because my goatee is awesome."
Sarah pressed her lips together and opened her eyes wide before laughing.
"I should go," she said.
"No, why?" His hand traveled from her waist to possessively rest on her butt cheek.
"Because I have to train. You didn't let me quit yesterday, remember? And also, I need to see Princesa, let her know I'm not going anywhere," she propped herself up and rested her weight in one arm. "If I leave now, I can get there before everyone else and change into some clean clothes I left in my locker."
Hamdan groaned his disagreement.
"We should keep things normal, as they are," she suggested. "At least until we talk to our parents."
Hamdan had set up a meeting for later that day with his father, both Hamdan and Sarah wanted to share the news with their families as soon as possible, despite the reactions they might have to endure.
"Are you ready to meet with him?" He asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Sarah bit her lower lip, dwelling on the idea. "See? That's another reason why I should ride, I'll be more relaxed."
"You don't have to come if you don't want to."
"I want to. I want to see him, I want him to see us together because we're together on this and everything else. You don't have to do anything alone anymore," her hand went to scratch his beard.
"I'll figure out my mom after meeting my father. I have to check when we can see her."
Sarah pushed her head back and complained. "She's going to hate me!"
"She won't. I'll tell Futaim and Maryam to be there for backup."
"Yes, please," she pleaded bug-eyed. "I really, really, really want her to like me, even if it is just a little bit."
"And then... I'll check my schedule to get rid of some stuff so we can go to Texas."
A big grin parted her lips. "I can't believe we're having this conversation!" She plopped back into bed and scooted closer. "I'm so excited that you're coming, I want to show you everything! Grandma Fay is going to love you, little piece of ham," she chuckled.
"She can call me whatever she wants, I have a lot to thank her for," he cleared his throat. "Now, about your dad... I'm worried."
"It'll be fine," she comforted. "I'll tell mom to unload all the guns in the house before we arrive."
"That's not funny."
She laughed and pecked him on the lips. "As soon as we have a date for our trip, I'll call to give them a little heads up about what's going on," she racked his hair with her fingers and sighed. "Finally... All the lies, the hiding, the secrets, everything will be over."
After all that time, he was going to be able to give her the relationship she deserved and shout to the world what an important place Sarah had in his life, he would be the proudest husband and he only wished that his family would join them in the most important moment of their lives.
"Listen, about my family..." His fingers were drawing circles on her lower back. "My mom, my sisters in particular, I'm sure they'll push for a big wedding, but we don't have to do anything you don't want to."
"How big?" She wondered.
"I don't know... Five, seven days."
"What?"
"Again, we don't have to."
Her crooked mouth let him know she was thinking about it.
"It's fine. I'll go with the flow," she shrugged. "I don't even care, I mean, of course I care. I want our wedding to be beautiful and perfect, but I kind of want to get everything over with and just be your wife."
My wife.
To hear that was even better than when she said I love you.
"We could go to Vegas instead of Texas," he suggested.
"Get married by Elvis? That would be so much fun!"
"Let's do it!" He rolled and pulled her by the arm.
"No!" She pulled him back. "My parents would never talk to me again, are you kidding me? Their only daughter eloping to Vegas? And your family! Oh my God! Don't forget that we're trying to get people on our side."
He tucked her hair behind the ear and let his fingers go down to the back of her neck. "I want to call you my wife now."
"Soon," Sarah promised.
"How soon?"
She rolled her eyes. "I told you Hamdan, we're not having a Summer wedding in Dubai."
"Who cares about the heat?"
"Everybody! November, I like November."
It seemed so long. He did not want to wait but she was right, besides, it will give them time to get everyone on board like she mentioned. His eyes then fell on her bare fingers. It bothered him.
I have to get her a ring and do things right.
"What?" She asked, squinting her eyes.
He rolled on top of her. "Don't go."
"Yes. I have to," she pushed him off and got up to pick her clothes from the floor. "What about my training, what's going to happen with that?"
He sat on the edge of the bed. "Nothing. You can keep doing it."
"But people will see me differently," she pondered. Her bra and top were back on place. "I don't want that."
"Or... you could have your own stables."
"Excuse me?" She asked with her eyebrows pushed together.
He held her hands and she stood between his legs. "All this time you kept my hands tied but that is over. From now on, anything your heart desires, we'll make it happen."
Her smile turned into a gasp. "I bet my stables would kick your stables butt," she challenged, lacing her arms around his neck.
He chuckled thinking about how much fun they would have spending the rest of their lives together. "Don't go. I'll cancel everything. I want to stay in bed with you all day."
"We were in bed a good part of the day yesterday," she took a step back and started putting her pants on.
His mind drifted off to the fun they already had the day before. Tom and his comment about make up sex came to mind.
"Tom is right, you know? Maybe we should break up more often."
Her hands went to her waist and she angled her head. "Okay, first of all, we didn't break up and second, what are you talking about?"
He wiggled his eyebrows. "Nothing."
"The two of you are having your own conversations?" Suddenly, her face turned serious. "Have— have you been talking to Tom?" She inquired.
"No. But what if I was?"
She shook her head. "Nevermind."
There it was. Whatever she was not telling him, she was thinking about it, but Hamdan could not understand how Tom was related to everything, he had always been so supportive of their relationship.
"Sarah, call me crazy, but if we're getting married I would expect us not to hide things from each other."
She puffed and placed herself between his legs again. "Later. After talking to your dad, I'll tell you everything," her hands resting on his shoulders.
"Why wait? Is this about Tom or my father? I don't get it."
"Later. I promise."
Her phone buzzed on the bedside table and she picked it up.
"Speaking of... It's Tom," she started saying at loud what she was typing. "Guess, where, am, I. I think there's a good chance he will implode."
He did listen to her, but his mind and eyes were away.
"Hey," she said, holding his face with her free hand, making him look at her. "I always keep my promises," she winked and planted a kiss on his lips.
"Stay here with me," he begged with his hands on her hips.
"No. You go to whatever you have to do. I'll go mend Princesa's broken heart and I'll see you after lunch. Let me know when you are sending the car. Ugh, I still need to figure out what I am going to wear," she pouted. "Anyway, I love you future husband."
He pulled her by the nape to kiss her. His tongue roamed around her bottom lip, urging her mouth to open up for him. When she did, he deepened the kiss and with a quick motion, he spun her around so she ended up in bed again, underneath him.
"No! No! No!" She protested.
He grabbed her wrists and put her arms above her head, the cell phone still in her hand.
"Hamdan..."
With his nose, he traced a line from her ear down to her neck. "Tell me to stop," he challenged, working his way back with kisses on the other side of her neck.
She moaned while his hands went up to her ribs underneath her shirt, but she abruptly squirmed away and left the bed from the other side.
"Okay, no," she panted with both hands up. "I gotta run."
"Coward."
"That won't work this time," she smiled and shook her head. "Be good, Rooster!" She called, picking her shoes up by the door, then turned to Hamdan and blew him a kiss before leaving the room. "I love you!"
***
If you have read all the way up to here, thank you so much for keeping up with my story. Please, don't forget to vote on this chapter or any other that you have enjoyed. It would mean a lot to me.
XOXO,
Sophie.