Saturday
It was late when we finally left the hospital. There was something so wonderfully normal about being in the back seat of our car with Ian behind the wheel. It made the past few weeks seem like a terrible nightmare. Except for one thing.
I leaned my head against James’ shoulder. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being so excited about this.”
“You really thought I wouldn’t be?” He ran his fingers through my hair.
“I was nervous that you might not be. And I really didn’t mean for it to happen, I…”
“Penny.” He tilted my face toward his. “We’re lucky to both be alive. This is a blessing.”
“I love you. I love you so much, James.”
He responded with a kiss. Soft and slow. The kind of kiss that builds in the pit of your stomach and spreads in every directions until your whole body tingles with desire. I grabbed the back of his neck to deepen the kiss. I had been so worried the past few weeks. I hadn’t felt this fire since our wedding day.
“You have no idea how badly I want you right now,” he whispered against my lips. “All I did was dream of you. All I ever do is dream of you.”
“Let’s pretend it’s our wedding night. Let’s pretend nothing bad happened.” I felt like we had been robbed of one of the best moments of our lives.
“Baby, I’m already one step ahead of you.” He opened up the door. I hadn’t even realized that the car had stopped. James leaned over and unbuckled my seatbelt. “Come with me.” He stepped out of the car and put his hand out for me.
I grabbed his hand and let him help me out of the car. We were standing outside the hotel we visited the first time he had brought me to the city. It was also where Mason and Bee lived. But I had a feeling we weren’t here to see them.
“What are we doing here?”
“Come with me.”
We walked hand in hand up the front steps and into the ornate entrance.
The concierge immediately stepped out from behind his desk. “Right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Hunter.”
I glanced up at James, but he wasn’t giving anything away. He just smiled down at me as we followed the concierge. I heard the music before we reached the door.
“Our song?”
“We don’t need to pretend it’s our wedding night. Tonight is our wedding night.” He pushed open the doors.
A single guitarist was in the ballroom, playing Hands Down the way that we had first heard it together in Central Park. The lights dimmed as I stepped into the room. It was like I was transported back in time to when we visited New York back when I was James’ student.
James lightly touched my wrist, sending shivers up my arm. “Penny, may I have this dance?”
I turned around and smiled up at him. “Of course.” I clasped my hands behind his neck. “How did you plan all this?”
But he silenced me with a kiss as he pulled me closer toward him. His hands slid down my back stopping right above my ass.
The song ended and the lights cut off, but he didn’t stop kissing me. I couldn’t see him, I could only feel his hands on me, his lips on me, him pressed against me.
He groaned as I leaned into him and his hands slipped to my ass.
I needed him. He was right, we didn’t have to pretend. We had never had our wedding night together. This was it. “Do we have a room here?” I said breathlessly.
“We do. Or we can go home. Or we can go to the airport and go on our honeymoon. Anywhere you want to go. I just want to be with you.”
“Let’s go upstairs.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
I could feel his smile against my lips. He grabbed my hand and we walked as quickly as we could toward the elevators.
The concierge looked up as we passed. “Mr. Hunter, do you need…”
“We’re good,” James said as we stepped onto the elevator. As soon as the doors closed he pressed my back against the side of the elevator. “We’re so good.” He lifted my hands above my head and kissed me hard. He kissed me like he had that very first time in the pouring rain, pressed against his car.
I’d never get enough of this passion. Or this overwhelming feeling of finally being his. When we first met, I had this feeling that this was something big and scary and perfect. I knew it all along. But I never thought I’d be this lucky. I never thought I’d really be his. And I certainly never thought that he’d be mine.
The doors dinged open and he pulled me into the hall, stopping in front of the same room we had gotten almost three ago. I grabbed the keycard from him and slipped it into the door.
“Wait,” he said before I could open the door. He lifted me up into his arms.
“James!” I laughed. “You’re not supposed to be lifting anything.”
“I’m carrying my new bride through the threshold.”
I saw the strain on his face. And the effort he was putting in was admirable, but completely unnecessary. “Put me down. You’re going to pull your stitches out again.”
“It’s tradition, Penny,” he said through a clenched jaw as he kicked the door open with his foot. He was breathing heavily as he placed me down on the bed.
“James, sit down.”
He didn’t protest as he sat down next to me on the bed. “I’m sorry. I wanted tonight to be perfect.” He coughed into his hand.
“It is perfect.” I straddled him on the bed. “Just take a minute to catch your breath.” I put my hands on his shoulders and watched him as his breathing became more steady again. “Why did you bring me here?” I glanced over to the window. I remembered him fucking me against it. I remembered him saying he wanted the whole city to know I was his. The memory sent goosebumps up my legs. I needed him to catch his breath, but all I wanted was for him to do that to me again.
“I was thinking about what you said about Mason and Bee. About how he should propose to her on top of the Empire State Building because it means something to them. And, well, this place means something to me.”