I thank her for being here today.
I thank her for pushing me over the tall soaring cliff of my fears.
I thank her for showing me that I’m relevant.
The claps continue as I carry my wife, still pressed close and her feet dangling off the floor, out of the hall. When I look back, there are proud grins on my brothers’ faces before the door shuts behind us.
I swiftly jump into the waiting elevator, eager to be alone with her. Her feet touch the floor of the rising car, but she doesn’t pull away from my arms. Her head rests against my chest, and her hands lock around my waist. We step out of the elevator, and I lead her into the suite Zach reserved for the day.
“How ar-re you here?” I hold her beautiful face in my hands as soon as the door closes.
“Zander called me last night and told me you were doing this.” The wide smile on her face inflates my chest. “I’m…so, so proud, Zane. You were amazing up on that stage.”
“I c-couldn’t have done it with-thout you.” I grab her hand.
“I want—”
“I w-want—”
We both start together and then stop at the same time.
“Let me go first.” Vienna’s hands land on my waist, and I feel her light touch everywhere in my body. “I want—”
I place a finger on her lips and shake my head, unable to hold back my smile at the irony. “I never th-thought there’d be a d-day when I’d argue with s-someone for letting me s-speak first. But I need to d-do this.”
Tears shimmer in her lavender eyes, and images of us together flash before me.
“Th-thank you s-so much for coming into my life and filling it w-with beautiful colors of love. Th-thank you so much for sh-showing me my worth. Th-thank you so much for w-waiting for me while I gather the courage to be man enough for you, for th-the both of us.”
Her soft hands drift up, and she brings my face lower. Her forehead rests against mine. “Zane, you were always more than enough for me. You’re beyond my every childhood fantasy when I dreamt of a prince. And thank you so much for everything you did for me. I love you, Zane Teager.”
My breath skitters, heart clenches, as the words I’ve waited to hear for so long leave her mouth.
“I love you, Vienna. My first. My last.”
The rest of my words muffle as she peppers my face with kisses. Her soft lips trail down by forehead to the sides of my face before they press on my jawline, and finally, she captures my lips with hers.
She continues her magic and then abruptly pulls back. Her eyes are wide as she slowly asks, “I’m your…first girlfriend?”
My skin feels hot, but I don’t hide from her anymore and slowly nod. “Th-though you w-were first my wife, th-then my girlfriend.”
She doesn’t return my smile and continues to look at me with wide, shocked eyes. “You’ve never been with anyone before me? I mean not even…a one-night stand, a casual…”
I bite my lip and shake my head. “I never had a relationsh-ship before you. Not even a fl-fling.” She releases a gasp, slowly making me self-conscious. “Is that s-so hard to believe?”
“Is it hard to believe that a hotshot billionaire like you was a virgin before we got hitched? Holy fuck, yes,” she screams and jumps into my arms. My lips curl watching her breathing accelerate. “You know you’re a rarity, Zane, right?”
“I w-want to be yours and noth-thing else.”
“That you are, husband, and I’m not going to spend any more time apart from you.”
And with that one sentence, every remaining cloud of self-doubt clears. My heart has never been fuller.
Fuller of love, life, and thrill.
There’s a renewed energy that surrounds us, and the way she licks her lips and her glossy eyes graze me head to toe, I know she feels it too. There’s no hesitation today when my hand trails up her body. From her waist, to her arms, skimming over her breast, making her breath hitch, and settling over her soft shoulder exposed by her pleasing off-shoulder pullover. My fingers run back and forth over her cheeks as I hold her face in my hands.
There isn’t a sliver of space between us.