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11
Stripping me of his clothes, Rhys directed me to only keep on the bracelet he’d gifted me that evening. Happy to comply, I gave in and let him have control. It was more than the first time we slept together in New York. This time, the need was out there and each kiss or movement was desperate to find its fix.
I could think only of the heat between us, the euphoric way my body responded to every thrust between the mattress and Rhys, the feeling of weightlessness in his arms as he carried us from here or there, or how I melted against him when my legs could no longer move. And then, I couldn’t even think.
Rhys spun me around in a cloud of lust, dropping us in a knotted mess on the mattress. Beads of sweat rolled across my skin as I caught my breath beneath him, my body floating somewhere between fire and a cloud. Rhys hovered just above me, our bare chests grazing with a gasping inhale. My heart sped in response to the tickle of his hair against my throat once Rhys lowered his face, his warm lips slowly kissing a trail along my collarbone and sternum. I lay there limp and happy, keeping my eyes closed until his fingers pressed into my hips and his tongue trailed below my navel. I barely lifted from the mattress, all energy taken out of me moments prior, but my body still responded under his control.
His tongue and lips, warming my skin with each invigorating kiss, slowly returned to my throat, where Rhys hummed with pleasure while I lifted my fingernails to his back. When his mouth met mine again, our kiss was one of gratitude and passion. Balancing his weight once more on his elbows, Rhys’s chest grazed mine as he caged me beneath him. Lifting a hand to my face, he softly wiped away my stray hair as his tired eyes fixed on mine.
“Will you spend the day with me?”
Returning his smile, I reached for him, rewarded with the hard lines of his toned muscles. “Don’t we need to be with Sadie and Matthew all day?”
“No.” He lowered to kiss me again. “Not until dinner. Tomorrow’s the day we won’t see one another until the ceremony. We’ll be like separated lovers in some sort of fairytale.”
I hummed, amused with his description. “And,” I teased, trailing my fingers around his chest, “what if they catch us?”
Rhys’s chuckle was a low rumble that vibrated against me with our closeness, turning to a tickle that spread goosebumps across my skin as he danced his fingertips down my arms until one latched around my bracelet. “What if they catch us?”
Neither of us had the answer to that question. Curled against Rhys in bed, his bare arms tightened around me, there wasn’t urgency to think of what would happen, or even how to define whatever we were. Halfway between bliss and sleep, I stared at my bracelet, watching every prism of diamond capture light as I spread my palm against Rhys’s chest.
He took me everywhere the following morning, filling my history-loving heart with excitement. Our smiles spread to each other each time our eyes met. Time was cut short as we meandered through the park in which we first met, with Sadie frantically calling me about the dress she chose for the rehearsal showing more of her baby bump than she wanted. I tried not to be resentful, but it was typical Sadie.
Sneaking back down to my hotel room after a day spent with Rhys, and a shower together that lasted until the hot water ran out, I was running out of time to get across the hotel to where Sadie waited for me in a tizzy. I slipped on the dress I’d packed for the rehearsal and styled my hair and makeup as quickly as I could, having never taken off the diamond bracelet.
Sadie’s door flew open, a cloud of my frantic sister spinning just inside in only her bra and panties. “You took forever!”
“Calm down,” I grumbled, following her inside. “You’re going to ruin your makeup and look even worse than you think you do.” I knew getting to her level would get her attention. “I think you look beautiful though, and look at that baby. Sadie, it’s so real!”
“It is,” she paused the spinning, spreading her hands around her stomach. “Mia, I need you to fix the way my dress looks on me.”
There I was once more, trying to help my sister. I let this time slide because she was getting married the next day, and because I wasn’t even listening to what she was saying while I tried to help her find something to wear. My thoughts were on my day, the previous night, the prisms of my bracelet that filled my thoughts with Rhys each time I moved my hand.
We met Amelia and mom in the hotel lobby before taking a cab to the rehearsal dinner. All mom talked about the entire ride was how perfect she thought Matthew was, just like she spoke about Amelia when she and Benji were getting married. The backseat was an incessantly loud back and forth about Matthew and Sadie, while I stared out the window at raindrops and pedestrians thinking of seeing Rhys again.
The rehearsal was more intimate than I imagined, but so was the wedding party. Matthew knew thousands of people, his circle spanning the globe, but he and Sadie opted for only Rhys and me to be in their bridal party. His family followed the tradition of hosting the dinner and family from outside of England, so there was still a crowd, but it was smaller than the five-hundred person guest list they’d narrowed down for the wedding.
Wanting to spend more time with Matthew, since I knew I’d likely not see much of him or Sadie once they wed, I tried to connect with him about anything I could think of. His mother had little patience for me, but she adored my sister, so I didn’t know how much effort to put into a relationship between Matthew and I.
“Do you have much time off after the wedding?” Matthew handed me a flute of champagne while waiting for my answer.
“I have a few days,” I replied, wishing for more time there. “Tell me about your honeymoon.”
It felt robotic. I could usually talk to anyone, but it didn’t feel genuine with Matthew and I wondered more if that was because of the first interaction we had, which made me feel guilty. Reminding myself that it was more than me, but also Rhys’s side of the story, and everything messy with Matthew and Sadie, I didn’t feel like such a horrible person.
While Matthew outlined the itinerary for Fiji and wherever else they’d be traveling to, my eyes wandered behind him. Standing near a table only sparsely filled with guests, I noticed Rhys staring at me with a drink in his hand and a grin on his face, taunting me while I spoke to his brother.
“I’ve never been there,” I muttered in response to wherever Matthew was discussing. My distracted gaze locked on Rhys, who winked at me before turning to greet a dinner guest.
Listening to Matthew wasn’t the torture I’d given myself strategies to cope with before leaving for dinner, and I felt bad that his brother had my attention while Matthew was trying really hard to befriend me.
Eventually, my mom found me and wouldn’t leave my side. I figured it was because she maxed out Benji and Amelia’s patience and, in their eyes, I was single and could manage being mom’s date during the rehearsal dinner.
After Sadie and Matthew gave a toast, we ate dinner, and then walked through the routine for the wedding. It was opposite of what I’d experienced in weddings back home, but there was not a single thing about London that seemed to make sense since Christmas.
That’s not true.
Looking across the aisle to Rhys, his hand extended to mine so we could practice walking down together, I knew there was one beautiful thing that made sense.
