Page 29 of Protecting Her

I only had a short time to find her though. I didn’t care if we launched her career or not, but the deal she’d made with these new people might not make it possible to spend much time with her. Would they look after her health?

I realized I was already micromanaging and told myself to stop as I headed for an airport nearby. I dropped the car off with the rental agency and headed for my flight. I had a little bit of a wait and took the call from Henry when it came through.

“Did you go to the cabin, mate?” I heard him ask in my ear. I had my headphones on to keep the conversation private, at least on his end.

“I did, yeah. Why?” I was confused, but I had called a cleaner in, so that shouldn’t have been a problem.

“The cleaner says there was nothing for her to do. It was already spotless.” Henry laughed, and I had to laugh with him.

“Yeah, I sent in my own cleaner. I was there for about a week, and made a little bit of a mess, so I thought a cleaner was the least I could do. Thanks, man. It wasn’t the healthiest time for me, but it was what I needed at the moment.”

“I hope you are going to try to get this woman back, Kevin. This life, it’s getting old, isn’t it? Sure, easy sex and no wife mean life is uncomplicated, but it’s hollow isn’t it? I’m starting to feel a little lonely.”

“Aw, come on, we aren’t that old.” I laughed. Henry made it sound like life had passed us by.

“No, but I think it’s time we both tried to settle down, don’t you?” Henry had a point.

“I’m trying. If this works, I’ll be the next in line for wedding bells.”

“I’ll hold you to that. Now, if you have anyone in mind for me, just let me know. I haven’t found one yet.”

“I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.” I heard my flight called over the speaker. “My flight is boarding. I’ll call you soon, Henry. Wish me luck.”

It was Friday night, and the sun had already gone down by the time my plane took off. Emily hadn’t returned my calls yet, and all I knew was I needed to go to New York City. She’d found out that much.

What would I do when I got there? I’d have to find a way to locate her. I couldn’t just go around to apartments and ask for Ember, now could I? I decided to go to the hotel until I heard from Emily. It was all I could do really. Especially now that I was exhausted.

I had a lot of beer to get out of my system too, and a lot of sleepless nights to make up for. It wasn’t a surprise when I got to my room that I fell asleep. What was a surprise was what I dreamed about.

I’d become used to sex dreams about Ember; she fulfilled all of my fantasies in real life so it wasn’t a surprise I dreamed sexy dreams about her. What did surprise me was dreaming about a wedding day with her.

In the dream we were in a large cathedral, and she had started to make her way down the aisle. She was in a pale white dress with light purple flowers in her hand, some variety I couldn’t identify, with a train that trailed out behind her for a long way. She was beautiful, heavenly, and I couldn’t imagine when she’d ever looked more beautiful.

As always, she didn’t have a lot of makeup on, and her skin was free of the substance that I actually hated. The concealer stuff that came off on everything. She never wore it, and it was one of the things I liked about her. She would enhance her eyes with eyeliner, eyeshadow, and sometimes mascara, especially on stage, but that was about all. It was all she wore now. With just enough lip gloss to make her lips soft and wet looking, she was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen.

The priest, which was odd because we weren’t even Catholic, started to speak and the crowd went quiet. I couldn’t hear a word the man said, however, because all I could focus on was the brown depths of Ember’s eyes.

This beautiful young woman was about to become my wife, and I couldn’t have been more proud. She’d chosen me, which was unbelievable. I didn’t deserve her.

And then we were on our way down the aisle, two new gold bands on our fingers, and smiles wreathing our faces. Throughout the entire day, which wasn’t long because it was a dream and time jumped around, all I could see was her face and eyes. Even when she leaned in to speak to me, all I could concentrate on was the way she smelled and the heat of her skin against mine.

We danced at one point, swayed together in perfect time. It was magic. What else could have been better?

Our wedding night came, a nice quiet cabin on a desolate island with pure white sand. Sand so white it looked like snow when the moon rose. Ember was on the beach in a long white cotton dress, her hair blown by the breeze. She started to walk away, into the sea, and I followed her.

I heard my voice, but didn’t know if I’d spoke or not. She didn’t stop, so maybe I only thought the sentence. “Where are you going, Ember?”

I felt the tug of sand and water at my feet, and I wanted her to stop, but she was too far ahead. I did the only thing I could do, and I followed her deeper into the water. Soon, it was over my head, and I kicked my legs and stroked my arms into the water, but I didn’t see her now. I dove beneath the waves, but I couldn’t find her.

I drove through the water, my eyes open despite the sting of salt, and tried to locate her. Above me, waves continued to crash, and the surge took me back toward the beach. I kicked back out into the depths and surged through waves until I was in calmer waters. I had to come up for air. My lungs were on fire, and I was about to pass out. I didn’t want to stop my search, but I needed air. I broke the surface of the water and gasped in a lungful of air. I swiped at the water on my face and looked around. She wasn’t on the surface, nothing broke the solid midnight blue of the ocean lit only by the full moon.

Then, I looked back toward the beach, and she was there. Naked as she waited for me. How had she got back there? When had her hair dried? I was confused, but happy to see her alive and on the beach. Safe, she was safe there.

I swam back to her, and she laughed as she ran into the house. I caught up to her and covered her face in kisses. My playful joy soon turned to passion, and I let my fingers trail down her side until I found that round part of her ass and snugged her into my hips. I knew she could feel how hard I was, how eager I was to be inside her.

Those sweet walls that I’d missed so much would suck me in, wrap me in liquid heat, and hold me inside of her with ease. Her fingers grasped at my shoulders as she twisted beneath me, and at last, I could hear her voice. She panted my name, over and over again, until I quickly found the center of her, hot and wet for me, and drove into her.

I thought I’d die the minute I sank into her. So exquisite, that sensation of being tightly wrapped in hot, velvety honey. Fuck, it was so good. I buried my head in her neck and we moved together, over and over as our bodies fought to find that heavenly place meant only for the two of us.