“You’d better stop talking like that or I’m going to bend you over one of these tumbleweeds and give you a workout you’ll never forget.”
Twenty minutes later, we finally find the spot where Irlina set up the blanket and guitar. Claire shakes her head in disbelief, unable to speak, as she sits on the blanket and watches me while I set up the telescope. I pull a piece of paper out of my pocket and unfold it to read the instructions and coordinates for the telescope.
“It’s not dark enough yet,” I say once the telescope is set up. “So we’re just going to sit here for a while.”
She smiles as I sit down next to her on the blanket. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m sure you can take a few guesses, but I have some things I need to say first.” She gazes into my eyes, giving me her full attention, as I begin. “I know the past year hasn’t been easy on either one of us, but I want you to know that I’m going to try my best to make every day of the rest of our lives better than the last. I promise that I will try to make you smile every day. But I also know that with the good times come the bad times. Fuck, there will probably be miserable times, but I wouldn’t want to be miserable with anyone else.”
“Chris? What is this? Are you dying or something?” I laugh so hard I almost choke. “It’s not funny! You’re scaring me.”
“I’m not dying. I’m trying to tell you that I can’t wait to start our life together… as a married couple.”
I pull up the sleeve of my hoodie and hold out my left wrist so she can watch as I peel off the gauze. She doesn’t blink as I reveal the tattoo slowly. Finally, I remove the dressing and she covers her mouth. The tattoo reads, “To love is to destroy pain. I love your heart,” followed by tomorrow’s date.
“Why is there a date?” she whispers.
I lift her chin so I can look her in the eye. “That’s our wedding date. We’re getting married at midnight.”
She lets out a deep breath and her lip trembles as the tears fill her eyes then roll down her cheeks.
“Is that okay?” I ask and she nods vigorously though she doesn’t speak. She just curls her arms around my neck and I pull her close to me so I can give her some of my warmth.
I give her a few minutes to compose herself before I whisper in her ear. “Can I play a few songs for you?”
She releases me and wipes her face. “Of course.”
I kiss her cheek before I grab my guitar. The first two songs I sing aren’t my own, but I know they’re songs that she loves: “First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes (she laughs when I sing the last line) and “I Won’t Give Up“ by Jason Mraz.
When I finish, I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I prepare to sing the song I tucked behind the last page of the songbook I gave her for Christmas. I always get nervous the first time I perform a song, especially when it’s a song that means so much to me.
I open my eyes and she smiles, and that’s enough to get me through the first line.
“Bring Me Home”
The sunlight followed you in, but you never saw it coming,
Held the rain clouds like a blanket, and took off running,
Then I grabbed your hand and slowly pointed at the sun,
Closed your eyes and dropped it all just to feel the warmth,
Step inside, it’s cold outside
Girl, you’re not alone
You waited long, you cried
But, girl, you’re still my home
My home
“Love is not the only thing we share,” you whispered here,
We let her in, then let her go, never knew such tears,
The morning came, I paid you my heart, you paid me your life,
Won’t ever forget my purpose, long as you’re my wife.
Step inside, it’s cold outside
Girl, you’re not alone
You waited long, you cried
But, girl, you’re still my home
My home
When the stars fall down upon us
And the last flame flickers out
I’ll be there to whisper in your ear
I love your heart, babe, bring me home.
I finish the song and she takes my guitar from me, then gently places it on the blanket behind her. She takes my face in her hands and looks me in the eye. “I want you to make love to me right here.”
“It’s pretty cold out here and you’ll mess up your hair.”
“You’ll keep me warm and fuck my hair.”
I chuckle as I grab her face. “I’d rather fuck you.”
Crushing my lips against hers, I slide my tongue into her mouth. Her tongue is warm and sweet and she whimpers softly as I pull back to lightly suck on her top lip.
She puts her hands on my shoulders and gently pushes me away, then she proceeds to slowly peel off each layer of clothing. First her coat and sweater, then her shirt and bra. She instantly begins to shiver and I quickly undress so I can hold her against me to warm her up.
She lies back on one end of the blanket and I fold it in half over us as I settle myself between her legs. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my hips. I rub the tip of my cock over her clit and she gasps as she closes her eyes and leans her head back.
“Look at me,” I whisper, and she quickly obeys.
She whimpers as she gets closer to coming. I keep my eyes locked on hers as I slide into her.
“Chris?”
“Yes?”
I dip in and out of her slowly, trying to keep time with every beat of her heart. One beat, in. Two beats, out. With every stroke, our bodies get hotter and closer to climax. I feel myself getting ready to explode, so I pull out and slide my hand between us to lightly caress her clit. Her mouth drops open and she begins to close her eyes again, but I shake my head.
“Keep your eyes on me.”
“Oh, God.”
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you, too.”
When her legs begin to quiver, I ease off and she gasps as I slide back into her. I imagine the beat of our hearts as a song I’ve yet to write. The soft cries she makes every time I hit her core are the music.
Suddenly, she shakes her head. “I’m gonna come.”
I pull out of her again and kiss her hard as I grind my pelvic bone against hers. She moans into my mouth and her entire body begins to tremble. I keep my mouth over hers, kissing her deeply as I swallow her cries of ecstasy. She curls into me and that’s when I slide into her again. I groan as I finally release myself inside.
I brush her hair away from her face, my cock still twitching inside her, as I gaze into her eyes.
“Can’t we just stay here all night and get married another day?” she asks.
“There are over a hundred people waiting for us,” I whisper as I lean down to kiss her neck and I taste salt. “You’re sweating.”
“So are you.”
“Get dressed. I have something to show you.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Claire
“Are you ready?” he asks once we’re both dressed. “It’s the bright star to the right of the cluster of four stars. Right in the center of the star field.”
We never took a telescope when we went stargazing at Jordan Lake. I sidle up next to him and bring my eye to the eyepiece. There are thousands, or millions, of stars in this field, but right in the center there is a cluster of four bright stars. To the right of those is an especially bright star. It twinkles and makes me think of my mother and her smile.
“What is it?” I ask.
“It’s not really a star. It’s an asteroid called Vesta, named after the Roman goddess of home.” He smiles warmly as he fixes a piece of my hair that’s out of place. “I don’t know what happens when we die, but I know that if your mom is looking down on us, she’s looking down from there. And she’s proud of you.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him as tight as I can. “Thank you for being my knight in shining armor.”
“We’d better get going. It’s past nine. We still have to get there and change before Jake and Rachel’s ceremony. Then ours comes right after. If we miss their wedding, we can pretty much count on Rachel never planning another wedding for us again.”
He packs up the telescope and I fold up the blanket. He slings the telescope case over his shoulder and grabs the blanket while I sling the guitar strap over my shoulder and pretend to play as we walk back to the car.
“You don’t remember how to play anything I taught you?”
He grabs my arm and pulls me sideways so I don’t step into a craggily bush, since I’m too busy looking at the frets, trying to position my fingers.
“I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I could play ‘I Will Follow You Into the Dark’ if you gave me a refresher course.”
Once my fingers are positioned in what I think may be the correct placement, I brush my fingers over the strings and the sound that fills the cold desert air sounds nothing like a real song.
Chris shakes his head in dismay. “That’s shameful.”
“Whatever. Where is the wedding?”
“It’s not far from here.”
When we reach the SUV, Chris throws the guitar, telescope, and blanket into the trunk and the driver sets off back toward the highway. Chris pulls a bit of brush from my hair and attempts to smooth down the wildness. I brush a bit of dirt off his cheek and he attempts to bite my hand.
Finally, the car begins to slow and my stomach drops as I see, in the middle of the desert, a collection of white tents illuminated from within with golden light. A makeshift parking lot has been cordoned off to the right where at least thirty cars are parked. Lighted pathways intersect from the parking lot and between the tents. On the far left, there appears to be a reception area enclosed with white linen and the top open to the stars.
“You did this?” I whisper.
“Rachel and I did this, with some help from Senia and my mom.”
“Senia knew!”
“Well, there’s no one, besides me, who knows you better. Leaving the reception area open was her idea, but I picked out your dress.”
I look at him, my eyes wide, unable to contain my surprise. “You picked my dress.”
“Don’t look so scared. I picked it from a selection of dresses that Rachel gave me.”
“I’m only kidding,” I say, punching him in the arm. “I know you wouldn’t pick anything bad.”
He rolls his eyes then instructs the driver to take us around the reception tent and toward a couple of tents where the silhouettes of people scurrying about inside look like agitated ghosts. We get out of the car and Chris leads me to the entrance of the nearest tent, but he doesn’t go inside. He stands just outside with his back to the entrance.
“Mom, are you in there?”
Two high-pitched squeals erupt through the glowing fabric, followed by the sound of frantic footsteps. Senia emerges from the tent first and she’s wearing a beautiful black dress that’s cut just above the knee to show off her long legs. The sleeves are made of a thin, slightly transparent material that covers her entire arm. I’m assuming that’s because it’s freezing out here, but she still looks stunning.
Senia grabs my arm. “Come on, we have to get you ready. Go away!” she shouts at Chris.
Chris reaches for my other hand before I step inside the tent. “See you later, babe.”
He kisses my hand and I sigh as Senia yanks me into the tent and around a wall of folding partitions that I suppose are meant to keep people outside from seeing the silhouettes of our naked bodies.
“There’s my girl,” Jackie says as soon as she sees me.
She gives me a loud kiss on the cheek and I don’t bother wiping off the lipstick because I know Senia is going to make me look perfect before I go out there tonight.
I look past Jackie and Rachel is standing in the corner of the boxed off changing area in front of a full-length mirror.