Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Five
Lee unlocked the front door and swung it open. He hadn’t been back to his house since the shooting. Marella followed him inside and they both stood in the living room not saying a word. Lee took her hand and pulled her toward him.
His mind went back to that fateful day. He'd found Marella in their bedroom, fresh tears in her eyes. He'd opened his mouth to speak when she gasped and he heard the cracking sound of that first shot. The second shot had lodged in his hip and he could still remember the blinding pain as he'd turned back to Marella to shield her with his own body. Three more shots had been fired but he hadn't felt them and he couldn't remember anything else.
“If you don’t want to be here we can go back to Kelley’s house. We can sell this place or demolish it. I’ll buy us a new house,” Lee said.
“This is our house, the one we chose together and the house we furnished and restored. I love this house,” Marella replied.
“I know but it’s just a house. I care more about what you’re feeling right now.”
Marella squeezed his hand. “No, Lee. This is our home, it's not just a house. We’re staying.”
She led Lee up the stairs and switched the lights on. The carpet in their bedroom had been replaced and everything was in its place. “Kelley,” Lee murmured as he sat down on the bed. Marella's unease had dissipated the moment Lee had switched the lights on.
Marella switched the lamp on the nightstand on and closed their bedroom door before switching the main light off. Lee pulled his shirt over his head and stood up to discard his shoes and jeans. He lay back on the bed as Marella started undressing and he watched her. He could never grow tired of watching her. He'd known he would always love her, since that day in Kelley's bedroom when he'd held her after her nightmare.
“Stop staring at me,” Marella said.
“I’ve looked at you undress every single day for eight years, the last few months doesn’t count and you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“And how many did you see naked while I was gone?”
Lee pulled the duvet open on her side of the bed and patted it. “You ask me that now, while you’re naked?”
“Technically we were broken up … I just want to know how many,” she said and slid under the covers. “So I can go kick them in the face.”
Lee huffed out a laugh. “We weren’t broken up, not according to me, so zero. I’ve never loved anyone other than you and I’ve never seen anyone naked other than you and that one strip club we went to.”
Marella laughed and sat upright with her back against the headboard. “Is that your new kink now? You like strippers and lap dances?”
“A lap dance from you could work,” Lee said with a smile.
“Right,” Marella said and straddled his lap. “You want me to grind myself against you, get you all hot and heavy, take your money and leave?”
Lee laughed and grabbed her waist, flipping them over and pushed her knees apart. “I’m already hot and heavy.”
Lee pushed his hips against hers and pushed his briefs down. He kissed her and nudged his erection against her opening. Marella lifted her hips and he pushed inside her slowly. She squeezed him tightly as he pulled out again.
“Lee, I’m not on birth control, not since …”
Lee kissed her again and pushed in to the hilt. He leaned on his elbows and looked down at her. “I want a baby, I want to marry you. I want it all, with you.”
Marella's hand cupped his jaw and she smiled. “Yes.”
“Yes, you’ll marry me?”
“Yes,” Marella laughed.
Lee paced himself, plunging into her gently even though he really wanted to fuck her hard. It’d been too long since he’d touched her. Marella had always been the only one for him, the only one to get close enough to know everything.
When Marella clamped down on him, he couldn't control the jerking of his hips and he chased his own orgasm as her nails dug into his shoulders, fantasies of filling her up filled his mind and this time he was determined to do it right.
They lay entwined afterwards, their breaths normalizing and Marella had moved away from him as she’d always done. Lee wasn’t one to cuddle, not even in his sleep. She’d always moved to her own side of the bed, but not now.
Lee moved up right against her and pulled her to his side, spooning her from behind. He heard her crying a few seconds later and wiped a tear away with his thumb. “Talk to me.”
“I’m crying because I’m happy. I’m happy you’re here and I’m happy you’re finally holding me,” she said.
“I’m sorry it took me so long. I don’t ever want to be without you. I don’t deserve you, I know that …”
“Of course you deserve me, Lee. You’re the kindest person I know.”
“At a distance it’s easy to be kind but we both know I’m emotionally stunted. I have no idea why you love me so much but I’m thankful that you do,” Lee said.
“Lee, you slept on the floor next to my bed for days after Kelley found me. Not once did you look at me with disgust or pity in your eyes. I was nearing broken and you accepted me, of course I accepted you as well.”
“This time we’ll do it right, every step of the way. I want to be at every baby class, every appointment, every everything,” Lee said.
“Just promise me you’ll never walk out of this house again and leave me,” Marella whispered.
“Never again. I’m never letting you go again.”
Lee and Marella slept fitfully and he woke up on his stomach with his arm still over Marella’s stomach. He blinked at the bright sunlight shining directly in his eyes from the gap in the curtains. He tapped his hand on Marella’s stomach and she groaned.
“Go make your own coffee,” she mumbled.
“It’s your turn,” he said and shifted onto his back.
“It’s always your turn.”
