I pressed my hips closer.
He kissed my lips, a deep press, then our lips parted and my breaths came quicker.
He exhaled. “Tis time?”
My lips just a breath away. “A little longer...”
“Och, ye are tormenting me.” He put his mouth on my throat. “I want ye, I hae been waiting for so long.”
“So long?”
“Aye, Alexandria, I hae been waitin’ for centuries.”
I pressed against him and teased, my arms wrapped around his head, “We have all the time in the world, husband. You are a time traveler. You have to learn to pace yourself.”
He raised his brow and his head and looked down on me. “Och, ye want me tae pace m’self? But ye are a temptress, enticin’ me in our bed! Yer gardens are just there, within reach!”
I wrapped my legs around him.
He chuckled. “And ye are verra keen on having me, ye are the one tae need pacing.”
“How can you tell?”
“The way ye are pressin’ against me.”
I pressed again.
Then he pulled away laughing. “But... ye are enjoying the torment. I winna beg.”
“You won’t beg? That is a terrible thing to say.”
“Nae, ye are right, wife. I will pace m’self, and I winna beg. Ye are tired from my stroll through yer garden. We will wait. We will talk of the weather and our breakfast in the morn.”
He rolled onto his back and fluffed the pillow under his head. “I will watch the trees through the window and tell ye that I love ye and wish ye a good night’s sleep.”
I laughed. “Oh God, Torin, it’s our wedding night, you can’t go to sleep, it’s cruel! Are you going to makemebeg?”
He pretended to sleep. “Ye might hae tae, I am pacin’ myself.”
I playfully huffed.
He opened one eye, a bit of a smile on his lip.
Then I said, “Please, husband, will you?—”
He growled, grabbed me, and pulled me onto him.
I laughed. “That was easy, I didn’t even finish.”
“Ye win, I just want my bonny wife tae show me the bounce of the bed once more.”
44
LEXI
2004 - LAUREL RIDGE
After we made love again, I lay with my head on his chest, listening to his breaths, the steady thrum of his heartbeat against my cheek.
