I nod eagerly. “Wait, what about the tea?”
He turns the burner off and moves the teapot. “We can make tea after.”
Anticipation boils up in my stomach as he grabs my hand and leads the way upstairs. We’ve been so busy lately with our own projects, we haven’t had as much alone time as we would have wished. He leads me into the bedroom and then pushes me gently onto the bed. I back up with my elbows and Jace climbs onto the bed on top of me. He presses his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. “I am so happy we have the next couple of months to spend time together.”
I nod, but internally, I’m sighing. Between the dual trials, recording the new CD, appearances, and award shows, I’m running thin. I am so tired by the time I do make it home, that I can barely keep my eyes open. I just don’t want Jace to think I’m not giving him the attention he deserves.
I feel his hot breath against my ear and my excitement builds. He presses gentle kisses along the edge of my ear and down my neck. He kicks his feet between my legs, and presses himself closer to me.
I yank off his white cotton t-shirt. I run my hands along his smooth skin and my head falls back as he continues to keep full contact with my skin. I’m shuddering, but in a good way. He moves his head into the opening of my v-cut t-shirt, between my breasts. His lips begin playfully torturing me there.
I reach down and unbutton my jeans, allowing Jace easy access to take them off. He grins at me approvingly and moves his lips back to mine, sucking on my bottom lip. I feel like I am in another world as he continues to expertly maneuver his lips and tongue around my own. His fingers find their way to the opening on my jeans and slip under the waistband on my underwear. I hold my breath as I anticipate what is to come next.
He moves them in and out of me, met with tension, but we are both enjoying ourselves to the fullest. Without warning, he rips off my jeans and throws them to the ground. I can tell he’s had enough foreplay for tonight. He stands up and removes his jeans. His erection is the only thing I can look at as he faces me in nothing but his boxer-briefs. I scoot to the edge of the bed, in only my t-shirt, bra, and panties. I reach for him and pull him to me.
I slide one of my hands into his boxer-briefs and wrap my fingers around his large dick. As my thumb slides to the tip, I feel the wetness and find myself getting even more worked up.
He pushes me away gently, slips off his underwear, and then helps me do the same. When we are both standing there stark naked, staring at one another, he tosses me back onto the bed and pounces on me like a lion. Being naked with someone is already an intimate feeling, but when you can feel every inch of their body on your skin, it’s other-worldly. I grow more turned on by the minute. The wetness between my legs is building.
His hot breath, his tongue, his fingers trailing up and down my body, all these things are sending my senses into overdrive. The tip of his dick rubs me, between my legs, and my breathing becomes shallow. His usual MO is to wait until he knows I am ready for him, but he enters me quickly, and I gasp because it feels so damn good.
His thrusts are slow and deliberate at first. When he senses I like what he’s doing, he moves faster and faster. “Oh God!” I scream out, unable to stop myself.
Jace continues to pump himself deep inside of me but he slows his pace and lowers his head into the crook of my neck. I wrap my legs around his lower back and allow him deeper.
“Peyton,” he breathes out, and I take the hint to stay exactly as I am. He thrusts deeper and faster, and before I even realize it, we are climaxing together. He doesn’t want me to move right away due to sensitivity, so we stay wrapped up in one another for a moment, catching our breath.
“I love you, wife,” he whispers into my ear.
“I love you, husband.” This has become our normal. We are so grateful to have found our way back to one another that we never want to waste another second not telling the other how we feel.
We finally pry ourselves apart and he starts the shower for us. “You coming?” He cranes his neck out from inside the bathroom.
“Yeah, be there in a sec,” I say. I remain sprawled out on our bed reveling in the fact that I not only married my best friend, but that I am lucky enough to spend the rest of my life with him.
* * *
The incredible smell of cinnamon rolls and freshly brewed coffee has me rushing out of our comfortable hotel bed. We’re in town for the trial and decided not to put my parents out and instead get a suite for the short time. “Yum, is this for me?”
Jace spins around with what looks to be flour and batter all over his face and clothes. My heart swells. “You didn’t.”
He nods. “Happy Anniversary.”
I squint my eyes. “Anniversary? We’ve only been married for seven months.”
He chuckles. “We’re celebrating the day we met.”
“We are?” I ask.
“How do you even remember what date that was?” I ask.
He cocks his head to the side. “How could you not?”
Then it hits me, he is referring to the day I tried to…Jesus, I can’t say the words because it makes me feel so guilty. I hurt so many people that day. My face falls.
“Stop,” he says softly. “This is about celebrating, not about reliving past choices. You’re a different person now.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, unsure of myself.
He crosses to me. “I know you, Peyton, but I’m still open to learning more about you each and every day.”
I wrap my arms around his neck. “God, I love you so much.”
“Ditto,” he says, kissing the tip of my nose.
“Technically, the date was August 27th, but I am making up for lost time,” he says. He pulls away, his facial expression turning serious. “Are you ready for today?”
I take a deep breath, shifting my gaze away from him. “Yeah. I guess.”
“Don’t forget we’re a team, okay?” He squeezes my hand. “I’m going to be with you the whole way through.”
It’s Tanya’s trial today. She is facing multiple counts, but the main ones pertain to me: kidnapping, burglary, and conspiracy to commit murder. The state is pushing for a sentence of life in prison.
What she did was wrong, on so many levels, but I’m still human. I can’t help but feel for her. One decision, or I guess in her case, a series of bad decisions led to this, and she can’t take it back. She can’t make the right choice.
I wrap my arms around Jace and just savor the fact that I get the luxury of doing this every day. “Thank you for being my knight in shining armor.”
He chuckles.
I pull away slightly. “I’m serious, Jace. Through it all, you’ve been there for me, and I want you to know how much it means to me. I know things haven’t always been perfect with us, but what relationships are? I can’t imagine going through the hurdles we have and not having one another.”
“Whoa, where is all this coming from?” he asks, surprised.
“I just think there’s no point in keeping our feelings bottled up. If you care about someone you should tell them about it. You never know what tomorrow might bring.” Okay, I probably sound like a bundle of internet quotes right about now, but I believe what I am saying.
He smiles, a puzzled expression on his face and then kisses me lightly. “I love you, you dork.”
* * *
Tanya’s trial lasted ten days. Eight days in court, and two days of jury deliberation. I had to testify, and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, but it definitely wasn’t easy. Having to sit up there in front of the person who wronged me was not easy. Jace was my rock, firm and steady, just like he promised he would be. Anytime I felt uncomfortable I’d just look for him and he would calm me down with one stare.
The jury was unanimous. The slideshow of pictures of my badly beaten and bruised body helped the jury make a quick decision: guilty on all counts. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. She would be eligible for paro
le at the age of 78. She showed no emotion on her face at the sentencing. I did wonder what she was thinking underneath that stone cold façade.
The holidays came and went, taking the cold with them, and finally Olly’s trial began. He is facing a lot of the same counts as Tanya. He’s the one I’m nervous to see. I guess that’s understandable as he almost killed me. Our wedding is this upcoming Friday, and we are hoping his trial wraps up before as everything has been so hectic preparing for our wedding and TV event.
“Should we go over the seating chart again?” I ask, frazzled.
Jace laughs at me, finding humor in my disorganized state. “No, I think four times is good enough. How you doing babe, you okay? You need anything?”
I must look like a serious psycho to him the way he is looking at me. “I just want to make sure everything is perfect,” I say softly.
“I know, I know,” he says, wrapping his arm around me. “Look, I know what is bothering you. Let me call Brent and see if they can find us any information about when your testimony will be.” I close my eyes, inhaling deeply. Mind reader.
Jace rushes out of the room and returns a few minutes later. “So I have good news and bad news, what do you want first?”
“Just tell me,” I say dryly not in the mood for games.
“Okay, so good news, they think it is going to be soon, very soon.” Jace paces around the room anxiously.
“Uh huh, and the bad news?”
“Bad news is that they can’t give us an exact date. They are thinking it is going to be Friday,” he says.
“Friday?” I nearly choke out. “That’s the day before our wedding! What if they are wrong and it gets postponed a day? That’s really cutting it too close.”
Jace nods, swallowing. “Yeah, but legally you have to testify.”
“What do they expect me to do? Testify in my freaking wedding dress?” I cry out, just about to lose it.
Jace rubs my back soothingly. “Everything is going to work itself out, I promise.
Somehow I’m just not sure I can believe him this time.
Twenty Six: It was Simple Minded of Me to Think I Could Maneuver Through Life Without Her
Jace
So I may have been a bit hasty making promises to Peyton I could not keep. I was positive the universe would work in our favor to make it so our wedding and the trial did not intervene with one another, but I was wrong.
Today is my wedding day.
Today is also the day Peyton has to testify in the state’s trial against Olly, as their star witness.
I don’t even know how this happened.
Although she has every right to send me death glares and say ‘I told you so’, Peyton has been surprisingly calm about the entire affair. I worry that she might be bottling a lot of it inside, but I also know not to question her tactics. She has a reason for everything she does.
I haven’t seen Peyton since last night, but now I am going to have to see her in her wedding dress before our ceremony as we are at the courthouse and she is about to take the stand to testify. As I enter the quiet courtroom in my tux, my eyes find her immediately, and I lose my breath. She looks stunning.
Her white princess gown has a train that her two best friends are helping keep off the ground and she is wearing a sparkling tiara with her done-up hair. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen her look so gorgeous. Her eyes meet mine, and I swear I see a hint of a blush spread through her cheeks.
“Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“Yes,” she answers.
“You may be seated.”
Her testimony and questioning lasts forty-five minutes, and we race to make it to our own wedding. Our guests have already been seated, the television cameras are in place, and the only thing missing is us.
By the time we make it there, we immediately hop right into the ceremony. There is a live symphony and walls and walls of white flowers. It’s one of the most extravagant weddings I’ve ever seen, let alone been to. Peyton fits right in among the beautiful décor. She’s definitely a sight to be seen.
I love that even though we were nearly late to our own wedding, everything is so perfect for her. She has all of her friends and family here, she gets the fairytale wedding she always dreamed of, and it’s going to be memorialized for our children.
The officiant asks if we have the rings and Boone and Brooklyn step up giving us the respective ones needed. We chose to write our own vows, and the anticipation inside of my stomach builds as I know it’s time.
“Peyton, I have never met anyone like you before: so passionate, beautiful, and talented. You inspire me every day to be a better version of myself. You are my best friend and my partner, someone I can’t imagine my life without. You push everyone around you to be more, do more, and I hope I can affect change like that in others someday.”
Peyton’s eyes water up. Somehow, I knew she wouldn’t be able to get through this without a tear or two. Even I’m feeling misty-eyed myself.
“Jace, you have been with me through it all: the highest highs and the lowest lows, and your love for me never wavered. You taught me how to be strong, how to fight back, and most of all, how to love with every inch of my being. I want to grow old with you. I want to have children with you. But most of all, I just want to be the wife you always dreamed of.” Peyton swipes a tear away.
We exchange rings and look at the officiant for direction.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife…again. You may kiss the bride!” I close the distance between us and press my lips to hers, as our friends and family look on laughing and cheering.
* * *
After our wedding, Peyton and I took advantage of the small window of time we had together to go on our honeymoon. Bora Bora was breathtakingly beautiful and we had an amazing time lying on the beach, snorkeling, scuba diving, and more. We were really able to relax and enjoy our time. By the second to the last day, the paparazzi found us, but we were so close to going home we didn’t let it deter our vacation.
We’ve been back home in LA for a few months now and both of us have been back on the work grind. I’ve had a few television roles and a few major motion picture cameos as well, but my main focus is on part two of Duel which begins filming next month. Peyton finished recording with the NightCrawlers, and released a CD titled True Self, which went on to hit number five on the Billboard charts. Her band has been on the go ever since, traveling all over the world.
Although we both have extremely taxing schedules, we make sure to spend two weekends minimum a month together. It is widely known that the first year of marriage is the most difficult, so we make sure not to become a statistic.
Olly’s trial came and went. He was convicted on all counts and will be spending the next forty-five years in jail. He will be eligible for parole in 2060. I’m happy both parties got what they deserved. Peyton feels a little differently than I do, but I am just relieved that she is safe and sound.
At the beginning of the year, our lives were so far off course from one another’s, I wasn’t sure we would ever be able to get back to a place like this…but we found one another. Through everything we found each other again. It was simple minded of me to think I could maneuver through life without her. She is the reason I wake up every day, thanking the universe for this life. I will never take her for granted again.
Sneak Peek at the first book in my Infinite Love series, Learning to Live:
Topher
“Yes…yes…yes!” Sophia screams underneath me as I thrust deeper. She is breathing deeply; one might even think she is actually enjoying herself. But I know Sophia better than that. I know she’s faking it. I glance at my diamond encrusted Rolex. Twenty more minutes.
“Topher!” Sophia cries from underneath me. I flick my eyes to meet hers. “God, are you even in there?”
She pushes me off of her roughly, and then gathers the sheets off my bed, covering her body.
/> “Sorry,” I reply, running my hand over my face, and falling flat on my back.
“Sorry? Really?” she exclaims angrily, her green eyes appearing black. “What the hell is up with you lately?”
A lot…but nothing I want to discuss with her. “Nothing,” I lie. “I have to get ready for dinner. My dad is finally going to introduce me to his girlfriend.”
Sophia sighs loudly and then hops off my bed, running straight into my bathroom, and then closing the door behind her. I grab my boxer-briefs and slide them back on along with my jeans, belt and polo. A few minutes later she returns, dropping the sheet to the floor idly, and tossing her clothes back on as well.