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My voice stayed quiet because even though I was overjoyed about the fellowship, I also knew what my receiving it meant for us. My words from five years earlier floated back to me, and an excited shiver rippled through my body.
“Come home, now,” he said, and I acquiesced.
The drive felt longer than usual, made even longer by me having been away from him for a few days for work. We had a beautiful house in Northfield, New Hampshire, but when I knew I’d be on call, I stayed close to the hospital, in a hotel or with Jack, just in case. Traffic was moving slowly on the highway, and my desperation to see Adrian was warring with the overflowing amount of joy pulsing through my veins.
When I finally pulled into the driveway it was two hours later, despite my efforts to cut the ride down by speeding. I didn’t even get my bag out of the car. I just strode up the driveway, pulled open the porch door, pulled my shoes off, and pulled open the front door. There were lights on downstairs, and when I opened the door, I was met with the flickering of candles.
It was beautiful. There was something covered on the stove, obviously waiting for him to heat it up and candles covered every surface of our dining room—the kind of romance I had only read of before meeting Adrian. I looked for the man, but he was nowhere to be seen. I padded over to the wingback chair he loved that was in front of the lit fireplace, and sure enough, there he was. Silver had begun to speckle his beard, and I thought it only made him more handsome. His eyes were closed, eyelashes casting soft shadows from the fireplace over the tops of his cheeks. He was wearing a cable knit sweater and jeans, and I knew he’d dressed up for our dinner but fallen asleep waiting for me.
I pressed a soft kiss to his lips, just enough to wake him up, and he stirred.
“I’m home, darling,” I said quietly, and his eyes shuttered a few times until he managed to keep them open.
And then he was up, running a hand through his hair and over his face, and it was the same thing I’d seen him do every time he was stressed.
“Oh, shit. Fuck, I’m sorry,” he said quickly, “I meant to be waiting with dinner. Then, you were late, and I just sat down for a moment. I thought I could just—I’m sorry, babe.”
I smiled at him and smoothed his hair down from where he’d fluffed it up.
“Don’t worry about it, darling. Tonight is about you, me, and my fellowship.”
“Your fellowship,” Adrian muttered. “Your fellowship.”
He was patting his pockets, and without warning, pulled something out and dropped to a knee in front of me.
“Stephanie Christophers, we have had a long road to get to this point, and I’m not sure I would have survived it without you—I know you’re probably expecting it, but I have waited more than five years to ask you this question. I have never had any doubt that you are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, and even if you’ve made me wait until my hair is gray and my back hurts when it’s cold, I love you. I’m not sure I’ve ever loved anyone but you, and I would like to ask you, finally, if you will marry me.”
The grin that had been on my face somehow grew even wider. I looked down at the man that held my entire heart and felt everything. I was melting under his gaze.
“Of course, I will marry you, Adrian. I’ve known I would say yes to this question from the second I woke up in that hospital and saw you waiting for me. There’s never been anyone but you, no matter how much I tried.”
I laughed dryly at the last part, and Adrian stood, holding my hands in his own. I was finally able to get a clear look at the ring, even as tears filled my eyes. It was a small silver band, with diamonds set around it in varying patterns of sizes. It took me a moment to realize that they looked like vines, and it became infinitely more beautiful. Then, my vision blurred with the wet droplets that began falling from my eyes.
“Don’t cry,” Adrian said, even though he looked like he was about to cry himself.
Instead of answering, I kissed him. I kissed him and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him some more. It was like I couldn’t get enough of him, of his mouth, and of everything he meant to me. Our life that we had built together was only more perfect with the prospect of walking down an aisle one day and declaring that I was his and he was mine, in front of everyone we loved.
His hands ran up my back, skirting under the t-shirt I had on, and suddenly, all thoughts of the dinner he had prepared were gone from my mind. We’d had sex plenty of times in the years we’d been together, but every time, it was as special as the first time.
Without thinking too much, I pulled my shirt off, and Adrian hummed in approval. I couldn’t understand how he never got sick of me, never thought I was anything less than beautiful, even with all my scars. Although, I knew he felt the same. Even though his eyes were showing signs of wear in the crow’s feet that were threatening to land there, even though we’d been together too many times to count, even though I knew every inch of his body better than my own, every time I saw him naked, it was a new and enlightening experience.
I pulled his sweater over his head, and he was smiling when he reappeared, his hair fluffed madly from the action. I smoothed it and kissed him again, my eyes falling shut as our torsos pressed together. The warmth of his skin felt burning against mine, but in the best way possible, and I felt his hands undo my bra with practiced expertise while we kissed. Once my bra was out of the way, we were completely free of any barrier on our upper halves, and I reveled in it, pulling him closer and closer. I kissed each of the shoulders I had cried on multiple times, ran my fingers down the arms I had fallen asleep in most nights for the past five years, and grazed my teeth down the firm lines of the chest and stomach where I had found comfort by curling into when the nights were long.
I dragged my nails over his nipples, only to hear him hiss as I sank lower. I couldn’t deny the satisfaction that seeing the silver band on my finger gave me as I did this. It was a way he had marked me ashis, and even though there was no doubt about it, I wanted the whole world to know. I wanted everyone to see the ring and know that I was madly in love with one man, and that he was madly in love with me.
His arms traced over my back and settled on my head as I fell to my knees in front of him, leaving several inches of space between us. He knew what I wanted and willingly undid his fly and lost his pants. We didn’t need words for this, and the sound of his labored breathing as he pulled out his already semi-hard member was arousing me beyond the sight of him. His pleasure was what got me going, causing him pleasure and knowing that I was the only one that could do that for him.
He closed the distance between us, and I obediently opened my mouth, letting him lay himself on my tongue. I enveloped him in the warm heat of my mouth and pulled off of his member slowly. He groaned, low in his throat, and I felt myself grow ever wetter, reveling in the sound. I let my hand with the ring on land on the base of his shaft and saw how the diamonds glinted in the reflections from the fire. I ran that hand up and down once, feeling him harden in my mouth. I knew I could make him come like that if I wanted to, and he was watching me with an expression that said it wouldn’t take too long. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I was taking my time with him, like I knew he would with me.
Once he was at full hardness, I rose to my feet and kissed him again. He smiled into my mouth.
“So hot,” he uttered, like a schoolboy in love.
“I could say the same,” I returned.
He slid a hand between us and tweaked one of my own, hard nipples and I gasped.
“Don’t be cheeky,” he said slowly. “It won’t get you anywhere.”
