Two years after Dana's funeral
Nothing was more beautiful than watching how she arched her back off the mattress, her lips slightly apart, her eyes rolling back as her orgasm rolled over her.
While she took a moment to recover, he laid down on the bed again, kissing her warm sweaty skin up from her waist to her lips. She was so beautiful, so incredibly beautiful.
And she was his.
Four months ago they had said their vows and every day since felt like a gift. It had been a wise decision to move to Croatia. He had seen how happy it had made her, and the knowledge that he could still make her happy after everything Maddox had done to her, filled him with a deep love for his wife.
Together with Charley and their son she often went to the market and there were two girls of her age with whom she was becoming friends. It was a little difficult because they didn't speak the same language, but the girls seemed to get along very well and weren't too hindered by it. Slowly they started to get used to their new life among strangers. His own future plans were still blurry – he wasn't used to having no job – but they didn't lack anything and as long as she loved him, he had achieved his main goal.
"What are you thinking of?"
Only now, Ruben realized that he had stopped kissing her and he looked up to her. Leaning into her, he stroked her cheek. "About how happy you make me." His hands glided across her arms until he reached her wrists which were lying above her head, and he pulled them closer to take off the bondage tape. His thumbs stroked her skin for a moment, but it wasn't irritated and he assumed she hadn't been in pain.
He had never dared to suggest it himself, no matter how horny it made him. After everything Maddox had done to her, he assumed that bondage would no longer be one of her fantasies since it might call up bad memories, but she'd told him that she thought it was thrilling and that she trusted him to stop when she asked him to.
He pressed kisses to her wrists, where after he sat up straight, wrapping his arms around her. With a naughty look in her eyes, she looked at him. "Now it's my turn."
Since he had focused on her pleasure this time, he had postponed his own momentum for such a long time that he hadn't came at all. He allowed her to tie his arms behind his back while he shoved to the side of the bed. She sat down on his lap and kissed his lips before they wandered off to his shoulder, bending his head until his mouth was close to her nipple. He wanted to pull her close and hold one of her breasts, but his hands were still tied. From his shoulder she moved her lips downwards, until she knelt between his legs and took his hard length into her mouth.
He wished he could bury his fingers in her hair so he could guide her to keep up the perfect pace. There however was nothing he could do; he had surrendered himself to whatever she wanted to do with him. Not that she ever disappointed him; he never regretted to relinquish control and still he found it hard to give up control time and again.
Teasingly, she pulled back her head, looking up to him. Her tongue glided across her lips. "I think I'm gonna leave it at this."
"Dane..." he answered in a frustrated grunt since he was about to burst.
Laughing, she climbed on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. Hugging her back was impossible.
"Patience, my dear. Patience is the answer to everything."
. . .
Holding hands they went downstairs a little later. The door to the terrace was opened and when they went outside, they saw Charley sitting in the grass. Casper was sauntering around her, throwing with toy cars. He was cooing, and even the girl was smiling.
Dana and Ruben sat down with them in the grass and he caught his son when he launched himself upon his father. Lifting him in the air, he swirled him around above his head while the boy was giggling. When he lowered the kid down again, Casper wrapped his arms around his father's neck, resting his head on his shoulder.
"You tired, little man?" he asked.
The boy didn't answer, but he had closed his eyes.
Ruben got up and carried his son inside. In the kid's bedroom he laid him in bed and handed him his teddy bear when he started to rub his eyes.
"Bedtime story?" Casper asked with a tired voice.
Ruben knew that he would fall asleep before he had turned over the first page, so he took his son's favorite book and opened it on a random page. Already after two paragraphs he heard Casper's deep and steady breathing. He put the book away, stroked the blonde hair from his forehead and pressed a kiss to it. Then he stood up.
In the doorway he turned around to watch the sleeping boy. Casper was just over two years old now. At the thought of having another child, he felt a tickle in his stomach.
As soon as he had returned to the garden, he sat down behind Dana and wrapped his arms around her. Burying his nose in her hair, he held her tight. There was a nervous feeling in his chest, but she always encouraged him to tell her what was on his mind.
"You ever thought about taking another child?"
He saw the surprise on her face when she turned towards him. "You're serious?"
He shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe we can adopt one. A little girl who has lost her parents."
She leaned with the back of her head against his shoulder while she thought about his words. "Maybe we can. I want Casper to have a little brother or sister."
His lips wandered off to her temple. Oh, he was so blessed with a woman like her. There was nothing in the world he would trade her for. He knew he didn't deserve her, but they knew they belonged together, like yin and yang.
"I love you," he whispered.
She snuggled closer to him. "Love you too, Ruben."
. . .
Maddox would have seen the twitching muscle in her jaw. The dark glint in her eyes. Would have heard the darkness in her voice.
Ruben didn't. All he could see, was what he wanted to see – the woman of his dreams who had given up everything to be with him and who promised him a brighter future than he could ever have imagined.