“The greatest thing I’ve ever done with my hands touched you. Nothing gives me more pleasure than that, Eden, nothing,” he rasps before capturing my lips to rob me of all senses with a soul-stealing kiss. His tongue delves into every corner of my mouth before setting an unhurried pace. Breath stolen, body starving for this man I moan. Every swipe of our tongues has a raw intensity filled with yearning in the mixture of our billowing breaths.
When our eyelids flutter open, I pull back enough to run my gaze over his face; I trace each thin line that crinkles at the corners of his eyes, study the sadness hidden behind them.
He’s holding in so much pain it breaks me to see the way it stares back at me. I’d gladly take it all away if I could.
The pain is clouded over when his hands slide down to my stomach. I still holding my breath.
“We made a baby. I can’t believe it.” He moves in, murmuring at my ear, sending chills up and down my spine. “Going to love watching you grow, feeling the baby kicking my hand in the night while I hold you close. I won’t ever stop proving how much I love you, how much I want all our dreams to come true.”
Heat climbs my body — Mason’s thick erection pressing into me. I’d take it in my hand if there weren’t so much lingering between us.
“My dreams came true the day I became your wife, Mason. We’re beyond either having to plead and beg and grovel. We both hurt each other. We need time to get past it, and we will. Together always and forever. I promise.” Love presses at my chest.
I swallow down the agony of this past month because the truth of the matter is, love might not be fair, it might hurt and squander your dreams while shattering you in the process, but love is unconditional. Love is invisible, but it hears and speaks through the beholder.
“Eden, I don’t deserve you talking sweet. I’m holding you to that promise, though. Cherishing it like I’m going to you.”
“If you don’t, then neither do I. We’re a team, Mason. When one falls, the other should pick them up. I had a right to be angry. It’s how I handled it that was wrong. I thought about a lot of things while I waited for you to wake,” I begin, then pause to crane my neck to make sure Aubrey closed the door when she went back to the waiting room.
Not that I care if she hears. Not that she doesn’t know this scraping of the barrel was what brought me to realize I’m as guilty of breaking promises as Mason.
“The outcome of what could have happened to you made me think about how short life is. I don’t believe many people stop and realize that until it’s too late. We go about living our lives with the belief terrible things aren’t going to happen to us. We hold grudges, get angry, and strike to hurt because we think it’ll make us feel better when, in reality, it makes us feel worse. I want to trust neither of us will do that to each other again.” We won’t. Hurting each other is part of love. It should never come in the way we’ve damaged one another. Not when we’re better together than we are apart.
Mason winces as he rolls over onto his back, and like I’ve done many times before, I rest my head on his chest right over his heart.
“You need to rest and heal.”
“I know. I’m fighting it as long as I can. You feel to good. I’ll prove you can trust me, Eden. I’m not turning to alcohol to heal. I lost control of my life. If I never have another drink, it’ll be too soon.”
A smile slinks across my mouth. I can hear Mason wanting to end with, I promise. It’s on the tip of his tongue.
“I’m not going anywhere, never again. You don’t have to prove anything to me Mason. I know the man you are underneath that pain. You might have to vie for my attention with Sparky now. Other than that, I don’t want to be anywhere your not.”
“Ah, you mean with the dog. I take it Sparky is a boy.” He coughs a tight laugh and clears his throat.
“Yes, CJ named him.” I snuggle closer, hoping Mason doesn’t ask how Sparky got his name. We have a long road of recovery ahead of us. I don’t want to lose the baby steps we’ve made.
“I can’t wait to meet him. Can’t wait to meet our baby. I lied to you a minute ago. I need one more thing from you. Please forgive me for everything leading up to this moment.”
“Under one condition,” I say softly.
“Name it.”
“You forgive me too.”
“Done.”
“I don’t want to break our promises anymore. I love you, Mason. I love you so much, and I promise to help you get through this.”
Many years ago, I met this boy who took my hand and made a promise he would always protect me from the eye of storms. I promised things to him too. I vowed to be there for him when he needed me, no matter what. I made a promise to support his goals and ambitions, to stick by him through hardship, and to celebrate his triumphs and defeats. I vowed to stay by his side when times were tough. We both promised one another that any challenges we might face, we will conquer them together, because we are a team, always and forever.
Epilogue
Mason
Several years later.
“Next time you ask me to step in and be the cut man, I’m spending more than one night in Vegas. I’m taking my wife with me. I’m renewing my vows in front of Elvis, and you're going to be my best man. You do know that’s where Aubrey became my wife, right? Both fake and real. Still got the fake gold band. You though, you take the cake on Vegas trips. I should probably hate you for taking over Cocky Bastard too — not all that excited about you moving in on my title and now my city, mate. Not only becoming the coach of the new heavyweight champ of the world, but you had to go and find your wife one of these. You are a scene-stealer.”
Chance holds up the box containing Eden’s gift, shaking it in my face. “Dirty deed, my friend. Real dirty deed.”
“A scene-stealer? The hell you think our lives are some romance novel?”
“Now that would be good. Cocky Bastard and Fateful Fighter.”
“Yeah, no thanks. Cocky Bastard is all yours. Matter of fact, you wear the title well. Fateful Fighter is a thing of the past.”
“It better be. You wait until I tell Aubrey about this, she’ll be over here stealing it. I didn’t even know they made these things. The last new item I received was a key trinket.”
Right. The key chains. Eden has about ten of those damn things around the house. Every time I grab my keys to my new motorcycle, I have to stare at the crack of Chance’s ass in a small picture hanging on the key hook. It’s not like I don’t see enough of his ass.
In the figurative sense, that is. I wouldn’t have it any other way to be honest.
“Is that jealousy I’m hearing? I can’t help the sales clerk knew who I was and sold it to me and not you.” I chuckle. “That was the funniest thing I’ve witnessed.”
“Fuck off. How could that woman not know who I am? This bobblehead is me see, my name is on the box, you copycat asshole. Although it doesn’t look a thing like me. Who made this anyway?” He flicks the light on, pulls the box holding the statue I stumbled upon in a gift shop in Vegas when we went in to buy something for our kids, and shows me his picture on the front as if I haven’t already seen it. The expression on his face when I held it up was priceless.