1. Marnie

Marnie

“What is this for?” I giggle as Danny places a silk blindfold across my eyes before he lets me out of the car. We’ve just arrived at the airport for the first leg of our honeymoon journey, and I couldn’t be more excited.

“Because it’s a surprise,” he says, securing the silk at the back of my head while being careful not to tangle my long red hair. “You organized the wedding, and I organized the honeymoon. I want you to feel the same sense of excitement I felt when I was waiting for you to walk down that aisle.”

Danny and I had a whirlwind courtship. We met at the library where I work when he was in town to see his friend and came in needing Wi-Fi and a quiet place to check his email. I was enamored the moment he opened his mouth and this smooth velvety voice drifted past his deliciously plump lips. When he finished his work, he stopped by the desk and balanced a coin on this thumb. “Heads or tails?” he asked. I smiled and asked him for the odds. “Heads, you have dinner with me. Tails, it’s breakfast.” There was such a wicked look in his green eyes, and his roguish good looks had me falling all over myself to choose tails. You see, Oakwood Falls isn’t exactly teeming with eligible bachelors, I wasn’t about to let this one get away.

To this day, I still don’t know if it really landed on tails or if Danny just said it did, but that was our beginning. He extended his stay in Oakwood Falls and a month later, we were married. A week later and we’re here. I can’t see a damn thing.

“While heartwarming to hear, I didn’t blindfold you and make you walk over tarmac before you got to see me in my wedding dress,” I tease before he presses a soft kiss to my lips.

“It’ll be worth it, my beautiful bride. Trust me.”

“I trust you with my life,” I say with a laugh as he guides me forward. “What I don’t trust is my feet not to trip me up.”

‘I’ll keep you safe, precious. Follow my voice, I won’t let you fall.”

“OK. I’m trusting you with my life and limbs here,” I say, holding onto his arms for dear life as we continue on our way. There’s a crunch of gravel beneath my feet, and the sound of jet engines making it hard to hear. A person—a man’s voice—welcomes us, calling us ‘Mr. and Mrs. Cardiff.’ I have to stop myself from squealing. I’m still getting used to that name, and I love it every time I hear it. There’s nothing quite as wonderful marrying the man you recognize as your soulmate and taking his name as your own. Apart from the first time we made love, it’s an absolute merging of his life with mine. It might make me sound old-fashioned thinking that way, but I waited a long time for my Mr. Right to come along. Marrying Danny is my dream come true.

“You have stairs to go up now,” Danny says, moving to stand behind me. The heat of his body presses up against my back, and I have to take a deep breath to calm myself down. There’s something very sensual about being blindfolded and guided by the man who gives your heart a reason to beat. I have to fight my urge to lean into him and grab the back of his neck, so he’ll kiss me the way he does—hungry, pure passion. That’s the best way I can describe it. I spend a ridiculous amount of time reminiscing over the way his mouth feels on mine. The rest of the time I’m actually kissing him. He is my first and my last, and I have to say that I struggle to keep my hands off him.

“You know, my love,” I start, feeling the steps with the tip of my shoe as I begin my climb. “I’d have been happy to lock ourselves away in a little cabin like Gavin and Jolene did. No one around for miles. Just you, me, and a big comfy bed.” Jolene is my best friend, and Gavin is Danny’s best friend. They met at our wedding and were married themselves before the sun came up. It was a bigger whirlwind than Danny’s and my courtship, and it caused quite a stir in our little town due to Jolene’s dad being the mayor. I probably didn’t react that great when I found out. Not because I wasn’t happy for Jolene, but because I was angry over the secret her parents had kept from her and worried that Gavin might not be the best guy for her. I’d only met him once, and he was kinda scary; he didn’t say much and really struggled with people (which is why he lived alone in the mountains above the falls). But after seeing how important Jolene was to him, and how much she adored him, I apologized profusely, and Danny and I even helped them move the rest of Jolene’s things up to the cabin. They seem really happy together up there, which is why the idea seems so romantic as a honeymoon destination.

Danny chuckles, and I feel the bounce of his chest against my back. “We’ll be alone, precious. I promise you that. But I have a feeling you’ll enjoy this place even more than a cabin.”

“I’d enjoy a broom cupboard with you, my love,” I say, smiling over my shoulder at him.

He drops a kiss against my shoulder, sending delighted shudders all over my body. “And that’s exactly why I love you so much. And also, why I want to spoil the absolute fuck out of you.”