“No, leave it.”
My breath stilled as I stared into his gaze. There was one thing I wanted to say—three simple words that were on the tip of my tongue—and yet I wouldn’t lie. I wouldn’t proclaim emotions that I couldn’t share even if on our wedding night it seemed right.
Rett’s large hands pushed the robe from my shoulders, leaving me naked in the firelight. He gently moved my long blonde hair behind me as he scanned my body from my toes to my hair. “Emma, you’re perfection.”
I took a small step and stopped. “Now, may I even our playing ground?” I reached for the loosened bow tie. When Rett didn’t respond, I pulled it free. Next, I began undoing each button down his wide chest. Then, I pulled the tails free and unbuckled his belt. As I worked lower, I knelt down. It wasn’t planned. I hadn’t given my actions that much thought. Nevertheless, soon I was on my knees in front of my equally nude husband.
I peered up. “I want to be everything you want in a wife.” His erection was right in front of me. Rett wanted submission. I didn’t move, staring upward as his chest inflated and deflated with each deep breath.
“Tell me what you want, Emma.”
“I want to please you. I’m not submissive, yet when you’re here and I’m here, I want you to want me.”
His hand came my way.
I placed my palm in his larger one and stood. The music was still playing. The flames were still flickering. He wrapped one arm around me and took my other hand. In seconds, we were dancing, both nude in front of his fireplace.
It was like nothing I’d imagined ever in my life.
It was perfect in every way.
When the song stopped, Rett’s arms encircled me as his forehead came to mine. “I never gave it any thought, not before now.”
“What?” I asked.
“What I wanted in a wife. I honestly never imagined marrying, and if I did, it was strictly for power and influence.”
“Is that what you get marrying me?”
His hands skirted my arms as they came up to my cheeks. “So fucking much more, Emma. You never need to worry that you’re enough or right or if I want you. Banish those thoughts away tonight. We will argue. There are things we need to discuss, but at this moment, you were right. Tonight, I want you to know that you are everything I never knew I wanted and more. You are Mrs. Emma Ramses.”
I smiled at the use of my first name. “And Mrs. Everett Ramses,” I added.
“We have some battles to fight, Emma. What we need to decide is if we’ll fight them together or against one another. I want you on my side.”
“The Ramses side.”
Rett nodded. “It’s your name now.”
I too had many thoughts. There were the things Miss Guidry had said and questions I’d conjured up before our wedding and since. Nevertheless, at this moment, I wanted to be on Rett’s side. I took a step toward his bed and our fingers intertwined. “Come show me.”
His lips curled upward. “What do you want to see, Mrs. Ramses?”
“Not see. You promised me a night of lovemaking, of so many orgasms I’d lose count. I have trusted you, Rett. Don’t let this be where you let me down.”
As he threw back the covers and exposed the soft sheets, I had no concerns about his inability. Whether making love or the simple brush of his lips on my hair, there was a pull and a connection that I wouldn’t deny. Tonight would be a culmination of the intimacy we’d shared, all brought together with the knowledge that now we were married.
I kept count of the number of times he brought me to ecstasy until I couldn’t, until my body was awash on the shore of satiation. We’d both found our mountains and our cliffs. Hand in hand, we’d climbed together only to jump as one. Together we’d found bliss and gone back for more. At some point, I believe I slept in his arms only to awaken to the rhythm of his thrusts. No longer forceful, we had progressed to the part of the night that was what songwriters meant when they spoke of making love. It was the slow and meaningful cadence of two people who simply don’t want to disconnect but rather to stay as one.
When my eyes finally opened, and my body was used, sore, and oh so satisfied, I was alone in Rett’s suite. The sun shone through the tall windows and on the table near the fireplace was a silver-domed dish and a vase with a single red rose. On Rett’s dresser the clock told me that it was almost noon. It appeared that I’d slept blissfully through the night and into half the day.
As I pulled the sheets around me, I realized Rett had done exactly what he’d promised. He’d made love to me throughout the night. We both had questions to be answered and things to share, but last night had not been the time.
My muscles ached as I moved. It was as my feet hit the floor from way up high upon his large bed that I saw the note near the domed plate.
Mrs. Ramseswas scrolled on the outer fold. Opening the paper, I read:
“I could spend every night like last night.