Chapter 74

CHAPTER 74

SLATE

" G od, I'm exhausted," I said as I loosened my tie.

The wedding was over, the guests had gone home, and I finally had my bride all to myself.

In our makeshift honeymoon suite.

It'd been an incredible day that I would never forget, but I was glad it was over. It turned out that everyone wanted a piece of the bride and groom at their wedding, and I hadn't had nearly enough time with my new wife.

Jess smiled as she sat down on the bed I'd had delivered to the hayloft. The DJ had packed up his things, and while we'd been saying goodnight to our guests, I'd had a crew come up to move our bed into position and make it.

It was a far cry from the luxury of the suite where we'd spent our first night together after Logan and Mira's wedding, but Jess had suggested it and I'd happily gone along with the idea. This was the place where she'd wanted to make her bedroom once she finally left her parents' house, and as such, it'd seemed like the perfect place to spend our first night as a married couple.

Tomorrow morning, we'd be jetting off for our honeymoon and when we got back, her parents would be going on a long-awaited cruise. I'd surprised them with it just this morning.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?" she asked, kicking off her shoes and flashing me a pleading smile. "You promised you'd tell me after the wedding and guess what? The wedding is over."

"Sure, but we still need to consummate our marriage," I said, dropping my tie on the chair I'd had brought up for us to sit and have coffee tomorrow morning. "That's part of the wedding."

She chuckled, standing up and padding over to me on bare feet. "Not fair. I need to know what to pack."

"It's taken care of," I said, catching her hands and pulling her to me. "Sophie has got you covered. Your things will be in the car in the morning."

"If Sophie is packing for me…" She groaned as she trailed off. "You do know she's only going to pack lingerie and frilly dresses, right?"

I shrugged and pumped my eyebrows at her. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well, that depends on where we're going." She swiped her tongue across her lips, smirking as she looped her arms around my neck. "No matter. There are ways I can get it out of you, you know."

"Oh, yeah? Tell me more."

She lowered her hands to my shirt, taking her time with each and every button as she spoke. "I'd really prefer to show you. Or you just tell me where we're going and we can get this show on the road."

She dragged a fingertip across my chest, sending a bolt of desire down my spine. "Nah, I think you should show me."

Giggling as she pushed my shirt off my shoulders, she turned and presented me with her back. "A little help here?"

The words were barely out of her mouth when I started tugging at the zipper of her dress, gliding it slowly down the length of her spine. "Two can play this game, you know."

I lowered my head to kiss her neck as I kept working at the zipper, loving how she shivered in my arms and leaned into me. "We're going to Finland, baby."

Her gaze darted to mine, her eyes widening as excitement sparked to life in them. "Finland? Wow. I was not expecting that."

"They've been named the most sustainable country in the world, and I know you've been working with the environmentalists. I figured you might find it interesting to go there. Maybe we could pick up some tips and tricks from them."

"Wow," she repeated, blinking hard. "That sounds amazing."

I dotted more kisses to her throat, murmuring against her skin. "Over seventy percent of the country is forested and it's known as the land of a thousand lakes. Supposedly, its natural beauty is unsurpassed because of that. I got us a gorgeous chalet by one of those lakes, and if we're lucky, we'll even get to see the northern lights. It's the right time of year in the right part of the world, so you never know."

"Slate Spieres," she hummed, turning in the circle of my arms to face me. "That sounds absolutely perfect."

I smiled, gathering her loose curls in my hands and kissing her deeply, finally able to soak up the fact that I was married to this woman.

All the twinkle lights were still on in the barn, giving the entire place a warm, orange glow. The doors were closed though, and I knew we wouldn't be disturbed. It was only us, the stars, and the moon, and although it might've been nice to run her a relaxing bubble bath, we'd have plenty of hot tubs and saunas where we were going.

Besides, tonight, I didn't care about bubbles or baths. I just wanted her. The love of my life who had become my entire reason for being, and I'd known this was where she'd want to spend her first night as a married woman—bubbles be damned.

The zipper of her dress was down far enough now that as I slid the delicate lace straps off her arms, the corset top started lowering between us. If it'd been up to me, I'd have pushed her down and lifted her out of it, but I knew the dress was precious to her, so instead, I pulled away and offered her my hand, helping her to step out of it and carefully hanging it over the armchair with my tie and jacket.

Once that was done, I turned to look at my bride, momentarily speechless at the sight of her in only a pair of bright red, lacy panties. My jaw unhinged and I swallowed hard. "That dress was the only thing that's been between me and this all day long?"

She grinned playfully. "I figured it was better that you didn't know how little I was wearing underneath it. We had a wedding to enjoy."

I kicked off my shoes and just about tackled her onto the bed before I was devouring her mouth again. The woman had always driven me insane, but there was something about knowing that she was my wife that suddenly kicked my libido into a much higher gear.

My tongue swept into her mouth, my teeth gnashing against hers as my kisses became more urgent, my body practically trembling with the need to pump her full of my seed over and over again. I groaned at the thought, ravenous for her as some primal instincts took over.

Jess squirmed underneath me, her legs wrapping around my hips and her calves tightening to keep me in place. I broke the kiss to drag my lips across her cheeks, her eyes, and her ears. After grazing my teeth against her lobes and hearing her sharp intake of breath at the sensation, I grunted and started moving down.

My lips never left her skin as I kissed every inch of her, taking her hands and even pressing kisses to her palms before I moved up the lengths of her arms, to her shoulders, and across her chest. I closed my lips around one of her nipples and she moaned, arching her back as her fingers slid into my hair.

"Slate," she murmured, and I looked up into her eyes, but I didn't need her to tell me what she wanted.

I already knew.

Hooking my fingers into her panties, I rolled them off slowly, still covering her in kisses as I made my way down. I pressed my lips to her stomach, her hips, and her thighs, moving all the way to her ankles and even kissing the bottoms of her feet before I made my way back up. I loved every inch of her and tonight I wanted her to feel that. To feel the knowledge radiating into her very soul that there was no part of her I wasn't grateful for.

Jess was breathing hard, her fingers never leaving my hair, but she moaned and tugged at the strands when I blew hot breath over her sensitive, slick core. Pushing her thighs further apart with my hands, I settled between her legs, running my fingers through her folds before I licked through them.

Her hips came off the bed, her moans turning into incomprehensible words as her fingers tightened in my hair. I sucked her clit into my mouth, my fingertips teasing her soaked entrance for just a moment before I couldn't take it anymore, pushing them deep into her as I started flicking the tip of my tongue over her.

She writhed against me, her hips rocking as my free hand traveled up her side, cupping her ribs before I pinched her nipple. Almost instantly, her inner muscles started contracting around my fingers and I groaned, so desperate to taste her release that I almost couldn't control my own.

Between her incoherent mumblings, I finally made out an "I love you, Slate," and then she came, her orgasm coming to within a hair of triggering my own. My thighs tensed, my hips begging to thrust as I felt her coming apart at the seams.

Breathing hard in the aftermath, I cleaned her up, my muscles tight with restraint. I crawled up the length of her body and pressed another hard kiss to her mouth. She kissed me back, her movements lazy and languid as she wrapped a palm around the nape of my neck and held me to her.

As she recovered, she rolled us over without a word, folding one hand on my chest and staring up at me as her fingers skated across my abdomen. She stayed away from the waistband of my jeans, but my hips were moving slightly anyway, my cock straining against my fly.

"There's something you should know," she murmured as she finally popped open my button.

I was borderline panting, my thoughts scattered and my body on high alert, but if she was bringing this up now, it was obviously important. Screwing my eyes shut, I did my very best to focus on what she was saying instead of tearing my own damn jeans off to bury myself deep inside her.

"Yeah?" I asked. "What's that?"

"The goalie is gone."

I blinked hard. "What?"

She smiled as she dragged my zipper down, making me groan when the side of her hand brushed against my length over the fabric. "You heard me. It's gone."

A slow, ecstatic grin spread across my lips as I folded my arms around her, bringing her mouth back up to mine to claim it. "Are you sure?"

"So sure."

"You did say you wanted five kids," I breathed into her mouth between kisses, both of our hands reaching down at the same time to lift my pants over my erection. "I guess we'd better start trying sooner rather than later."

"Exactly," she replied, tucking her hair behind her ears. She climbed on top of me, her hands in my own as she positioned herself over my tip. "I love you, Mr. Spieres. I know we have all the time in the world, but we might as well start practicing."

I grinned, kissing her again as I thrust into her, unable to wait any longer. She felt so good, squeezing me so tight and so perfect that I moaned her name when she started moving, giving myself over to a wedding night I felt like I'd been waiting for forever.

Jess and I were moving faster than some. We were both aware of that, but what we had was real. And it was right.

I'd waited thirty-six years for this woman and I wasn't planning on wasting another minute.