“Are you sure about this? You can always say no, you know that, right? It’s not like this is written in stone or anything.”

  “Courtney! Come on now, you know I’m sure. Wouldn’t you be if I asked you? When we get to your and Eli’s wedding day, do you think you’ll just turn around and say no, never mind?”

  “Hell no!” Courtney grinned, looking at me through the mirror while she made sure my veil was pinned properly into place. “Are you kidding me? We’ve been together since you two got engaged, and that’s been what, a year now?”

  “Something like that, yes.”

  “Exactly! If I can make something work for a year, there’s no way I’m giving it up. Besides, if there’s any chance that romance shit is legit, for me, it’s with Eli. And if you tell him I told you that, I’ll murder you and make it look like an accident.”

  “Ha! Okay, your secret’s safe with me, I promise. Now would you get my locket?”

  “Are you sure you want to wear that? You wear it every day, you know? Don’t you want to wear something extra special?”

  “This is special,” I answered softly, fingering the smooth, worn metal as Courtney fastened it into place. “This is the most special piece of jewelry I have, and I can’t imagine getting married with anything else.”

  “All right, if you say so, but why? Why is it so special to you, I mean?”

  I smiled and thought back to my thirteenth birthday, so long ago, but so clearly imprinted in my memory that I was sure it would never fade at all. Neil had given me the locket for that birthday. He had walked from his house on the hill to my front door with locket in tow, sitting inside of a little velvet box very similar to the one he’d presented my engagement ring with.

  My mother had answered the door and had retrieved me for the red-faced, nervous boy standing there and waiting for me. As Courtney led me to the vast backyard of Neil’s family home, the scene for our small wedding, I could still see that little boy version of Neil standing there and waiting for me. I could see him in the man that was waiting at the end of the aisle. He had waited until my mom had left the two of us alone and then he had shoved the box towards me, asking me if I would be his girlfriend at the same time.

  “Do you, Fay, take this man, Neil, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

  “I do.”

  “And do you, Neil, take this woman, Fay, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

  “I do.”

  “With the power invested in me by the state of Alaska, I now pronounce you man and wife. Neil, you may kiss your bride.”

  As Neil leaned in and kissed me, kissed me as he officially made me his wife, I could still see that time so long ago when he had leaned forward and kissed me chastely after I had told him that I would love to be his girlfriend. I realized in that moment that he was still at least some of that little boy, while I was still some of that little girl. We were those versions of ourselves as well as the versions we were now, and we would be both and more as we went about the process of growing old together.

  I kissed him back, and as he took me by the hand and led me down the aisle and back towards the massive house the two of us would live in now, I thought I might have just caught the faintest glimpse of what it meant to love a person for the span of a lifetime. It was too big to hold onto, and I was sure that I would lose sight of it sooner rather than later, but in that moment. I felt that I understood everything. It filled my heart with joy.

  “Follow me,” he said.

  “Follow you where?”

  My thoughts had been such that I had been paying more attention to what was in my head than to where I was going. When I looked up, I saw that he was in the process of leading me to the master bedroom. Over the course of the last year, Neil had seen to it that almost the whole interior of the house had been made over, and the master bedroom was now where we slept. It was a lovely room, and one I still felt grateful to be able to call my own, but I wasn’t too sure why we were going to it now. All of our friends were still downstairs, getting ready to party and celebrate our wedding, and our bedroom had nothing to do with that. Still, his fingers were intertwined with mine, and he was leading me towards the bed, his intentions suddenly crystal clear.

  “But Neil, we can’t! There are people waiting for us down there!”

  “Let them wait. I love you, Fay. I love you, and I want to show you that.”

  The part of me that wanted to play a good hostess was anxious to fight him and insist that we go downstairs and save what he had in mind for later. But there was a whole other part of me that I wasn’t sure had even existed before this second relationship with Neil. In so many ways, it was a continuation of the relationship we’d been a part of for almost all of our lives. This was the part of me that wanted to let him love me, that wanted to love him back, and this was the part of me that won out.

  I didn’t put up any kind of fight. Instead, I raised my hands over my head in a submissive gesture that made him smile a little. He took the simple white shift I had chosen as my wedding dress and pulled it over my head, laying it out gently so that I could put it back on again when we were done. My arms came down, and I stood before Neil, naked. I stood before my husband and looked up at him with wide, expectant eyes. His face looking back at me was all sweet smiles and tender lines, and when he kissed me, it was after cupping my face in both of his impossibly large, strong hands.

  He kissed me slowly. His lips moved on mine with something approaching timidity, feeling for my reaction as he went. Practically on my tiptoes to do it, my arms moved up to his neck and plunged into his slightly disheveled hair. I pulled him toward me as I used my tongue to separate his lips. I slipped it inside of his mouth, smiling as we continued to kiss. He groaned into my mouth.

  I could feel him growing hard against my hip, and one of my hands began to slide down his chest, taking my time to unbutton his shirt as I went. He wore no undershirt beneath, and very soon, I had his bare chest exposed so that I could run my hands along the length of his muscles and feel his heart hammering underneath his skin.

  “Are you nervous?” I asked with a smile, half joking and half serious as I peered into his eyes intently.

  “Of course, I’m nervous.”

  “Are you?” I asked again, genuinely surprised by his response. “But why? How could you be nervous about being with me when we’ve been together so many times before?”

  “I’m always nervous when I’m with you. Every time I look at you, every time I touch your skin, there are always nerves.”

  “But why?” I laughed, my hands still moving over his skin, moving down to the buckle of his belt as I liberated him from his pants. “I don’t want to make you nervous! That’s awful!”

  “It’s not awful. I’m glad you make me nervous. It reminds me of how special you are. Every time I’m with you, I get to remember how lucky I am to have you. I get to remember how lucky I am that you took me back. I swear to God, Fay, I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to show you how happy you make me. There’s nothing I won’t do for you, nothing I won’t give you. I get nervous when I’m with you because you’re the only thing in this world I know I can’t live without.”

  Without realizing it was happening, tears had begun to slide silently down my face, but they were happy tears, and my own little reminder of how much I had gained over the past year. I kissed him on the place where his heart lay and then pulled at his pants, standing back a little as he removed them the rest of the way.

  My hand went to his long, throbbing member. My fingers ran along the length of him slowly, savoring the feeling of him beneath my fingertips. He gasped, then shut his eyes and threw his head back while my hand moved steadily. I could feel him growing slick as I grew slick at the same time. When neither of us could take it any longer, he gently removed my hand and led me to the bed.

  He climbed on top, and then I climbed on top as well, moving my body so that I was hovering above him. When I was in position, I stopped and looked down upon him, surveying all of the wonderful things he was and reveling in the feeling of his eyes roving over me. The two of us had built quite a history for ourselves together in his bed, and despite that fact, there was something about this time that felt different to me.

  This time when I looked down upon him, I knew not only that I belonged to him but that he belonged to me as well. It was the most empowering feeling I had ever experienced, and when I reached down to guide him inside of me, I cried out with immediate pleasure, already so wet I wasn’t sure that I could take much more. I hadn’t planned this interlude, hadn’t thought it was the best idea, but now that we were in the middle of it, there was nothing in the world I wanted more.

  “God, Fay,” he sighed, his hands moving to my hips while his thumbs traced little circles on the sensitive skin that lived there. “God, I love you so much it hurts me.”

  “Don’t let it hurt. Just love me. Just love me and let me love you back.”

  We began to move at the same pace. His dick was deep inside of me. The feeling caused me to moan.

  I sat up so he was deep inside of me, and I began to move my hips back and forth, rolling my body as I did so.

  “That feels so good,” he said to me as his hands reached up and grasped my tits. He squeezed them, and the feeling caused me to move faster. I felt myself getting closer and closer to my climax. Then he stopped me and grabbed my hips, pulling me down so our chests were touching.

  He began to move his cock in and out of me quickly.

  “Oh fuck,” I moaned into his ear.

  “Are you gonna come for me?” he asked.

  It turned me on, and I felt myself getting closer to my release once again. Neil started moaning more, and even though we’d only had sex a few times, I knew he was getting close. “Come for me,” he said into my ear.

  He moved faster, and I moved my body with him. In an instant, I felt the best release of my life. Neil wrapped his arms around me as he had his climax, and I had to admit the feeling made the end of my orgasm even more intense.

  I climbed off of him and laid next to him on the bed.

  “I love you, Fay. You know that, right?”

  “I do,” I answered dreamily, fighting off the sleep that threatened to come in preparation of the celebrating still left to do. “I really do.”

  “And do you know what else?”

  “No, I don’t. Tell me?”

  “This is it, Fay.”

  “This is what?”

  “This is it. This is the fairytale. It’s what everyone is looking for, what you were looking for. It’s the fairytale, and you and I actually found it.”

  Book 2 - Desire

  Flora

  I had finally made it. It had taken me years of preparation, hard work, and a strict regimen of saving my funds and ensuring I had exactly what it took to be accepted. Still, I was already under a mountain of student loans and every time I spoke to them, my parents reminded me that they believed this was a stupid endeavor.

  Yet, it didn’t matter. I had done exactly what I had told everyone I was going to do, and I hadn’t given a damn what anyone said. I had successfully ignored the doubt and the expectation of failure that loomed in the one-horse, honky-tonk town where I grew up, like a thick summer haze.

  It had seemed that everyone who lived by my parents either had failed in their life, or were well on their way to failure, before they even had a chance. It was expected.

  Those who left, were back within a year and those that decided to stay “for one more year,” ended up being buried in the family plot without that elusive year ever being up. For decades, people had made the excuse that they were almost ready, that they were going to follow their dreams and leave this town. Some aspired to goals that were similar to mine. Some, simply wished to get the hell out of the town and didn’t care where they ended up, so long as it wasn’t down the street from their momma and daddy.

  However, I had a plan. From an early age, I knew that no matter what, I was going to make it work and now, I had made it to college. I was living in a dorm, in a whole other state, able to pursue my life the way I wanted to. I was finally free to be the person I had always known I could be.

  Now, the semester was already over and I had settled nicely into my new life. I worked hard from the moment I stepped foot into my first class and I had excelled. In fact, I was currently at the top of my class and I couldn’t be more proud of myself.

  With every class I attended and every paper I wrote, I knew I was one step closer to getting my MBA. After school, I didn’t have much of a plan. I was too worried about the present. I had worked too hard to get distracted with what could be. I needed to focus on the present time, because this experience had taught me that if I didn’t focus on it and continue to encourage myself, no one was going to do it for me.

  Even my parents, who would tell anyone that they were supportive of my decisions, didn’t care in the least for the way I had progressed. They thought I was wasting my time and money; as though it was theirs to spend. Every time I spoke to them, they made it abundantly clear that I was wasting their time. They thought that I should marry in the town, never get anywhere in life and allow one of those dimwits to provide for me.

  While they didn’t say it quite that way, that was exactly how I felt and therefore, every time they hinted toward their wishes, I had to keep from bursting out laughing.

  Nope, I was doing this all myself, for myself and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

  I had told myself a long time ago that even if I did find a husband who was able to properly provide for me, I wasn’t going to let him. I wanted to take care of myself, since there are no guarantees in life.

  My parents were the best example of that. While I still think they love me, they only liked me until they realized that I had no interest in maintaining the family modus operandi of a sub-par existence. I never went hungry, but it was always a struggle and I couldn’t help but think if my family hadn’t settled for living like my grandparents had, in a changing time, they could’ve done better. They should’ve done better.

  When they realized that I was nothing like them and their guilt wasn’t enough to make me stay, they decided that they simply were no longer interested in what I wanted to do in my life. Most parents want their children to do better but for some reason, my parents wanted to stick me in the same rut they were milled into and squander all the potential I realized I had.

  When my momma and daddy made their own intentions clear, however, I was hurt, but it taught me a valuable lesson. I was never going to expect anyone else to understand why I wanted to do something. I was only going to expect people to respect what I was doing and why I was doing it. I wasn’t going to rely on anyone.

  After all, if I couldn’t rely on my own mother and father, how was I ever supposed to truly rely on a man?

  However, none of that mattered now. I had another three and a half years left to focus on school and after that, my priorities would shift to my career. That didn’t leave much time for a social life and I certainly wasn’t going to waste it gambling on love or obsessing over emotion.

  My roommate on the other hand, thought of school as one big party.

  “Come on!” Riley groaned, sitting on the couch next to me, “Finals are over, Flora. There is absolutely no reason you can’t go out and celebrate.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her, contemplating what she was asking me to do.

  “Celebrating doesn’t always involve booze,” I answered, though I knew she was likely going to talk me into going with her to this one.

  “It does if you’re an adult…” She retorted, returning my glower, “And last time I checked, you’re an adult, am I right?”

  “Of course, I am,” I snapped, “It’s just not as much fun for me to go get wasted as it is for you.”

  “Come on! I swear! It’ll be fun and besides, you might even get laid,” she grinned.

  “Now, that’s a reason I definitely shouldn’t be going,” I replied with a smirk, “I do not need that kind of drama in my life.”

  “What drama?” Riley insisted, “Make sure you wear protection; he has fun, you have fun, if you’re drunk enough, neither of you will even remember your names in the morning. It’s a win, win! No strings attached.”

  “You really believe that?” I asked, in a serious tone.

  Realizing that I was no longer joking with her, Riley sighed, “Look, you’re in college now, not your stupid small town, where there are eyes peering around every corner. People here don’t care who sleeps with who, unless they’re directly involved in the situation…and even then, sometimes it’s a mutual agreement, but don’t worry about that…”

  Her smirk told me she was trying to induce a little bit of humor, but I didn’t react to it.

  After a pause, she added, “While I understand your struggle and I get that you don’t want to screw anything up, you’ve got to live a little, or you’ll regret it. If you’re going to do something reckless, it’s much better to do it now, without having to worry about school. You did great. You deserve a break.”

  Even though I didn’t try to encourage her, I was certain she had already won; though I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of telling her that. So, I simply shook my head.

  Knowing that she had won this argument, she laughed.

  “I promise you, Flora, we’re going to have a great time!”

  I rolled my eyes, knowing for sure now that I was overruled.

  So, when the time came, I got dressed, with Riley’s unwavering guidance; which consisted of her picking clothes out of her closet and insisting that I wear them.

  “You can’t go to the party looking like a librarian,” she teased as she pulled out a skimpy skirt with a black and red checkered pattern and black ruffles hanging down, slightly below the seam. When she looked at me, she was grinning widely, “Unless, of course, you look like this.”

  By the end of the Riley makeover session, I couldn’t deny that I looked hot. My dark hair was tied up in the back with a black newsboy cap, turned slightly to the side, a crimson tank top, with a sheer black sweater that tied in the front.