I SMOOTH THE WHITE FABRIC of my dress down my front and take a deep breath. Even though we’re already married, I can’t help but feel nervous today. This ceremony somehow feels more official than the courthouse wedding we had so many months ago. Legally we’re already married, but this time it feels like by the end of the day I’ll have a husband.

“You look amazing, Iz,” Jess tells me. I turn to her and smile as the mess of butterflies crashes around my stomach.

“Thanks,” I respond, forcing a nervous smile onto my face.

There’s a light knock on the door and Val pokes her head through. Her face breaks into a smile and she slips into the room with her arms outstretched.

“Izzy! You are radiant!” Emma follows soon after her, both of them wearing the soft lilac bridesmaid dresses that I chose for them. Over the past few months they’ve welcomed me into their circle of friends and I haven’t looked back. It’s been so nice to have real adult female friends to rely on. They surround me in a tight embrace.

Emma leans down and brushes Jess’s hair out of her face, pinning it back in place. I smile as I watch her, knowing that I’ve gained so much more than a husband with Dave. I’ve gained an entire family and network of friends that truly care about me.

“Do we have time for a quick glass of champagne?” I ask, glancing at the bottle in the ice bucket next to the vanity.

“Obviously!” Emma exclaims with a laugh. She walks over to it and pops the cork with an expert movement as Val prepares the glasses. She lines three up and I glance at Jess, grabbing another glass.

“Put a drop in this one, I want to toast my wedding with my sister.” I wink at Jess and she blushes. I don’t think she’s ever tasted alcohol before, but by the way her eyes are sparkling I can tell she won’t say no. Val fills the flute a quarter of the way and hands it to Jess with a smile. The four of us stand in a small circle: them wearing light purple floor-length silk bridesmaid gowns and me wearing my white wedding dress.

“To life, love, and second chances,” Val says solemnly.

“To second chances,” I repeat. Our glasses meet in the center of the circle with a soft clink and we all take a drink together. I glance at Jess and see her cheeks redden as she sips the golden liquid.

“How does that taste?” I ask her.

“Gross!” she exclaims with a grimace. She hands the glass back to me and I laugh before finishing the last of her champagne.

“Don’t want to let it go to waste,” I explain with a laugh. My stomach is still full of butterflies. I don’t know why I’m so nervous, I’ve already been married for months! We’ve been living together as well, so it’s not like our lives will change. Still, it feels important.

We finish our drinks and I try to ignore the nervous excitement in the pit of my stomach. In just a few minutes, I’m going to walk down the aisle into Dave Langley’s arms. I can hardly believe it, after all these years.

There’s another knock on the door and I hear the wedding planner’s voice float through.

“You’re needed in 5 minutes, Izzy!”

“Ok,” I call out. I glance at the girls around me and smile. “Ready!”

The door opens and the wedding planner nods. She ushers us forward and my heart starts thumping. From that second onward it’s a flurry of activity and ceremony and music and voices. It’s almost deafening as we go down toward the ceremony hall, or maybe that’s the just my heartbeat roaring in my ears.

There’s a moment of silence as the procession starts — first Clay and Val, then Emma and Elliot, and finally me and Jess. I’ve decided to walk down the aisle with my sister by my side, since she’s the one who’s been there for my whole life. My father is in the crowd, but I don’t look for him. I glance down at Jess and she holds out her hand. I slip my fingers into hers and turn to face the aisle.

We take two steps through the arch and I see Dave for the first time since yesterday. All of a sudden, the roaring in my ears disappears and the butterflies in my stomach fall away. He’s on the other end of the aisle but all I can see is him. He’s wearing a navy suit with a lilac tie, and his hands are clasped behind his back. His chest looks broad even from the other end of the room. The corners of my lips start tugging upwards as I look at him. He meets my gaze with those piercing blue eyes and I feel a wide smile break across my face.

I have to stop myself from running to him. I feel Jess squeeze my hand and I feel like I’m floating toward him, like Jess is the only thing holding me down to the ground. There’s no one in the room except him and me. I see his eyes soften and a smile creep across his face as I get closer. My heart starts thumping as I get to the dais and he walks down the three steps to meet me. He gives Jess a kiss on the cheek and she goes to sit down. I hardly notice. All I can see is Dave, who turns to me and grabs my hands in his.

Gently, he lifts both my hands up to his lips and places a soft kiss on them. We stare at each other for another second and I feel like my chest is exploding. My whole body is singing, vibrating with joy and excitement. We both turn to the officiant and walk up to the dais together.

After ten years and the two most traumatic experiences in my life, I can finally say I’ve found happiness. Dave moves a fraction of an inch closer to me and I can feel every atom in my body shifting toward him in response. My cheeks hurt from smiling and I can hardly hear a word being spoken. It doesn’t matter, anyway. All that matters is the two of us together.

Before I know what’s happening, the audience erupts in applause and we’re walking back down the aisle, hand in hand. My mind is doing cartwheels and my heart feels like it’s filling up my entire chest. I can’t stop looking at Dave, seeing every detail of his face like it’s the first time all over again.

We’re married, again, but somehow it feels more real this time.


***DAVE***


“I can’t believe it’s all over,” she says as we collapse into the hotel bed. “All that planning for the wedding and it’s like I didn’t even get to experience any of it.”

I kick off my shoes and take off my shirt before lying down next to her. She’s taken off her wedding dress and is lying on the bed in the most tantalizing white bra and panties I’ve ever seen. Her cheeks are flushed and her hair has started falling out of the carefully styled curls they’ve been in all day. It’s spread around her head like a halo as she stares up at the ceiling with misty eyes. She turns her head toward me and a soft smile floats across her lips.

“You are gorgeous,” I breathe. Her smile widens and she turns onto her side to face me.

“So are you,” she responds, and then pauses. After a few seconds she speaks softly, barely moving her lips: “I’m happy.”

Those two simple words set my chest on fire. I know exactly what she means, and it’s much more than just the afterglow of a good day. The unsettled feeling that’s plagued me for the past decade has melted away and I feel a lightness in my whole body that I’ve never felt before. When Izzy walked up the aisle to me, I felt like I would never be alone again.

I’ve found my partner, my soulmate, my wife.

I trail my fingers along her side and she closes her eyes and shivers gently. I feel myself smile again. My cheeks are sore from smiling and laughing so much today but I can’t help it. Every time she moves or breathes it sends another shock through my chest and I can’t help but let my lips curl upwards into a smile.

Her skin is soft and smooth under my fingers, it’s almost addictive to touch. I let my fingers roam up and down her side, along her arm, back up to her neck and across her jaw. She sighs gently and my thumb drags across her lips lightly. Her soft pink lips gently part and I watch, mesmerized, as my thumb moves across her bottom lip.

Izzy opens her eyes and reaches her hand up to place it on my chest. I’ll never get tired of feeling her hands on my body. I let my hand drift down to her waist and squeeze her gently, pulling her closer to me. She wraps her arm around me and our bodies fuse together, every curve of her body fitting perfectly into mine. The feeling of her skin against mine makes all thought leave my head until all I can focus on is her touch.

She grinds her hips gently toward me and my already hard cock pulses in my pants. My hand drifts to the small of her back and we push our bodies together. Her fingers tangle themselves into my hair and our lips meet.

Her kiss is intoxicating. She moans gently and I feel my cock pulse again. I pull her into me until our lips are crushing together in a passionate kiss. We’re locked together, intertwined, grinding and pulsing and kissing with a fervor I’ve never experienced before.

Finally Izzy pulls away, lying on her back next to me. I shift my weight so I’m partially on top of her, and let my hands move up and down her stomach, cupping her breast and reaching up to gently stroke her chin.

“My wife,” I breathe gently.

“Nothing new there,” she laughs. I grin.

“It feels new.”

She nods and smiles before pulling me down toward her. My hands find the clasp of her bra and I fumble with it for a second before pulling it off her. Her breasts fall free and immediately my mouth is on her nipples, kissing and licking and biting gently. She moans and wraps her fingers into my hair, pressing my face down into her chest.

I can’t get enough of her. The taste of her skin, her smell, the way she moves — it’s almost too much for me. My cock is so hard it almost hurts. It’s straining against my pants. I know she can feel it because she keeps grinding her hips into me, arching her back as she tries to get her body closer to mine.

Her hands move down to my waistband and then we’re undressing each other. She rips the pants down my legs and I do the same to her panties. Her naked body is smooth and soft. As soon as our clothes are off we wrap our bodies together. I slip my hand between her legs and groan when I feel her wetness.

Izzy’s hand wraps itself around my cock and I can feel it pulsing between her fingers. She moans gently and starts stroking me as I move my fingers up and down her slit. Our lips are still locked together, while our bodies shiver and buck at each other’s touch.

She shifts her body and positions my cock between her legs. For a few moments I’m in pure ecstasy as she slides the tip of my cock up and down her slit, covering it in her wetness. I groan and she smiles devilishly. She grinds herself on my cock and I watch as her eyes close and her mouth falls open.

I can’t take it anymore. I take my cock in my hand and push it against her opening, plunging it deep inside her in one smooth stroke.



***IZZY***


HE FILLS ME UP completely. I can feel every inch of him inside me and the feeling is pure, unadulterated pleasure. My eyes close and my back arches as he grips my waist and pushes himself into me a little bit further. I feel my body opening, spreading, accepting him inside me and I lean into the feeling. My hands grab whatever they find: his shoulder, his bicep, his neck. It’s out of my control.

My body bucks and grinds and moves in ways that I didn’t know were possible as he drives his cock into me. His grunts fill me with more pleasure as I sense his cock pushing deeper inside. I’m moaning and groaning with him, the two of us locked together in pure ecstasy.

He shifts his eyes to meet mine. I almost gasp as we stare at each other. I can’t look away. I don’t want to look away. He’s my husband now, legally and emotionally.

We were married before, but it’s different now. This time, it isn’t overshadowed by money or a contract or the threat of losing his inheritance. This time we chose it. I chose him, and he chose me. And right now he’s choosing me all over again.

He runs his fingers up my sides and cups my breast, squeezing it before dipping his head down again and taking my nipple between his lips again. I moan as the sensation sends a thrill directly down to my core. His tongue swirls around my hardened nipple and his hand grips my hip, fingers sinking into my flesh.

Every touch sends me closer and closer to the edge. It’s like our bodies were made for each other, like my body is outside of my control when he touches me. My blood has turned to fire as he runs his hands all over me, kissing me and biting me and touching me as his cock drives into me deeper.

His muscles are hard and smooth under my touch, and I can’t stop running my hands over his shoulders and along his back. He grinds his hips into me, pushing his cock a fraction of an inch deeper inside me and I dig my nails into his back. Dave exhales into my ear and I drag my nails down his back, unable to contain the pleasure I feel deep in my core. I can feel my wetness flooding my opening, covering his cock in my pleasure.

Our bodies move as one. I move my hips just as he does. I move my hands down his body as he grips my waist with his. My lips are hungry for his taste and he crushes his mouth against mine. We kiss, we twist, we thrust, we grind. It feels like his body is somehow part of me, the way it moves completely in sync with mine.

Dave reaches down between us and places his thumb over my bud. Gently, he swirls his finger over it until I’m moaning and calling his name.

“Dave,” I say. “Don’t stop, that feels so good.”

“I’m not going to stop,” he breathes in a husky voice. “I’m not stopping until you come all over my cock.”

His words send a shiver down my spine and I feel my walls contract around his hard shaft. He pumps his cock deeper into me and swirls his finger around my clit until my breath runs ragged and I’m panting with every thrust. My nails sink into his arms and I throw my head back as a scream escapes my lips.

Suddenly my whole body is on fire. Heat starts filling my veins and I feel my body contract and twitch. My walls flood as my orgasm grows from a dull warmth to a raging inferno. I’m arching my back, kicking my legs up and gripping the sheets in my hands. My mouth is open in a silent scream and the breath leaves my body. Dave’s cock is like a rod, penetrating me over and over as my walls grips onto him with strength I didn’t know I had.

At the peak of my pleasure I feel him get even harder, and then release his seed into me. The feeling sends another wave of pleasure crashing through my body. I can feel his cock throbbing with his orgasm, heat pulsing from it as we grind our bodies together one last time. My hands let go of the sheets and fly to his body, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down on top of me. I wrap my legs around him as our orgasms start to subside.

For a few minutes I can’t think, let alone speak. Dave’s pulse is racing, I can feel his heart beating on top of me. My own breath is ragged and my heart is thumping. All I can do is lie there and close my eyes and try to take in the sensations that are overwhelming my body.

As our bodies settle down, I sigh and enjoy the last few thrills that pass through me. Dave shifts his weight and slides off me, draping his arm over my chest. I turn into him and we rest our foreheads against each other. I feel completely exhausted and energized at the same time. I open my eyes and tilt my chin up to kiss the tip of his nose.

Dave scrunches his nose and a smile creeps across his face. He moves closer and lays a soft kiss on my lips.

“I love you,” he whispers.

I brush a strand of hair off his forehead and run my fingers along his scalp. I take a deep breath and let the emotion fill me up to the brim.

“I love you too,” I answer. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer. We’re naked and sweaty and it’s the best feeling in the world to be next to him. His hands find the small of my back and I tuck my head under his chin. His arms wrap me in a warm embrace and I sigh contentedly. I’m home. I’m finally home.