NFH Honeymoon from Hell II (9 page)

“
Is the door jammed?” she
mumbled against her arm as he pulled her closer.

“
Yes,” he reluctantly
admitted, feeling like an ass for somehow managing to lock them in
the bathroom.

There was a heavy sigh before she pointed
out, “Then we have plenty of time for you to enlighten me.”

Knowing that he was going to sound like an
idiot and wondering why he was telling her this, he kissed the top
of her head and decided to share something that he had to admit had
actually scared him when he was a kid. Like most of his cousins,
he’d always thought that the men in his family were bullshitting
him to amuse themselves, but even believing that it was all
bullshit hadn’t stopped him from worrying about the day when he
actually got married and tried to take his wife on a honeymoon.

He’d always tried to tell himself that it was
bullshit and for the most part he’d believed it, especially since
he knew how much joy the men in his family took in fucking with the
younger generation’s heads, but there was another part of him, the
one that still made sure that at least one light was on when he
watched a horror flick that had always been terrified that it might
actually be true. When Jason came over to remind him of this curse,
he’d brushed it off, deciding that it didn’t apply to him, because
he’d done something no other Bradford had done before.

He’d brought in professional help.

The others had made half-assed, fucked up
plans on their own, waiting until after they’d tricked their brides
into saying, “I do,” before deciding where to take their new wives
to make up for the terrifying experience they’d put them through
getting them to the altar. He’d been so damn positive that he’d
figured out where they’d gone wrong, figured out how to do this
right that he’d instantly dismissed the possibility that the same
fate awaited him.

He’d been so damn sure of himself…

He’d done everything right, made sure to
leave all the decisions in the hands of a professional, someone who
knew how to find the best places, the best deals, knew which cruise
line had the best reputation, the best times to travel and most
importantly, he’d made sure that she’d never planned a vacation for
another Bradford, which had made her perfect. She was untouched by
the Bradford curse so any trip that she planned for them should
have been safe.

This trip had been nothing but a fucking
nightmare from the start. Zoe was carrying twins and having a hell
of a time doing it. When she wasn’t starving, she was sick, and
when she wasn’t sick, she was fucking exhausted. He thought with
the help of the pills that his uncle had prescribed for her that
she would at least be able to enjoy the cruise, relax, catch up on
her sleep and just enjoy herself.

Instead thanks to him, she hadn’t had the
chance to rest or relax since she’d spent the last few days taking
care of him, making sure that he got to the bathroom in time,
keeping him hydrated, running her fingers through his hair when he
thought that he was going to die, holding his hand when the stomach
cramps became too much, violently shovinglore pills down his throat
when he refused to take them, and had spent most of the morning
navigating a tropical island trying to fill a prescription for him
when she should have been relaxing on the beach with the rest of
the passengers.

Once the medication kicked in, he’d hoped to
salvage what was left of their honeymoon, but unfortunately she
passed out before he could pull out all the stops and properly
romance her. During the entire time that he’d been falling in love
with her, he’d failed to show her just how much she’d come to mean
to him. He’d treated her like a fuck buddy when she’d been so much
more than that. He’d planned on rectifying that on this trip, but
nothing seemed to be going his way.

Every time that he got a chance to do right
by her something else would happen to fuck up his plans. Morning
sickness, seasickness, exhaustion and now it seemed that they were
trapped in their suite bathroom without her pills. For a minute he
considered trying to break the door down, but quickly realized that
there wouldn’t be enough room to allow him to slam into the door
and do any real damage. He could try yelling, but he doubted that
anyone would be able to hear him. Since the cabin steward wouldn’t
be checking on the room until later in the morning, this was going
to make for a long, interesting night, especially since he’d just
realized that his patch had fallen off and his medication was on
the nightstand right alongside Zoe’s.

*-*-*-*

“
Are you going to start
talking?” she asked, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as she waited
for the nausea to pass.

“
Give me a second,” Trevor
said roughly, cluing her into the fact that she wasn’t the only one
struggling not to give in and lunge for the toilet.

“
Are you o-”

“
I’m fine,” he promised her,
cutting her off before she could finish and gave her shoulder a
gentle squeeze, silently asking her to just let it go.

“
So, this bullshit?” she
reminded him, hoping that it would be enough to distract herself
from the fact that she was starting to feel hungry, which of course
was aggravating her morning sickness, which promised to be a good
time.

He chuckled weakly as he pressed his lips
against the top of her head. “You really want to know?”

“
Wouldn’t have asked if I
didn’t,” she pointed out on a small gasp as she desperately fought
against the urge to drop onto her side, curl up into a ball and
pray for a quick, painless death.

The long-suffering sigh would have normally
had her rolling her eyes, but she just didn’t have it in her at the
moment. “Fine, but remember that I didn’t make this bullshit
up.”

“
Duly noted,” she said,
matching his sigh as she turned her head and opened her eyes so
that she could look at him as he shared this riveting tale with
her.

What she saw had her biting her lip as a wave
of sympathy hit her right around the time that another wave of
nausea slammed into her, making her close her eyes as her heart
broke for him. The last couple of days had been pure hell for him,
but he’d done it for her. He knew how much having a real vacation
meant to her so he was putting himself through hell to make it
happen for her. He really was a sweet man, she thought as she tried
to think of anything else other than the fact that she was probably
only minutes away from shoving Trevor aside and lunging for that
toilet.

“
Well?” she asked when he
didn’t say anything else.

“
Give me a minute,” he said
tightly, sounding like he was struggling not to make a lunge of his
own. Since she probably wouldn’t be able to hold back if she heard
him lose it, she decided that it would probably be for the best if
they sat there in complete silence for a few minutes and enjoy the
peaceful sounds of air slowly blowing through the air ducts,
filling the room with fresh air, which was probably why she hadn’t
lost it yet.

“
Okay,” he finally said only
to pause once again to take a deep breath before he continued,
“according to Bradford lore-”

“
Bradford lore,” she
interrupted him in a teasing tone that he simply
ignored.

“
According to
Bradford lore
,” he said
stressing the last part, and she didn’t need to open her eyes to
know that he was probably glaring at her, “it’s bad luck to take
your honeymoon before the first anniversary.”

“
Bad luck how?” she asked,
mostly to keep him talking so that she could focus on his voice,
amazed at just how much the sound of his voice was able to soothe
her.

“
Because everything goes to
hell.”

Chapter 10

“
Uh….
huh
…,” Zoe said slowly in a way that
told him exactly what she thought of his little announcement. “And
what exactly does that mean?”

He closed his eyes with a soft groan and
dropped his head against the door. “It means exactly what it sounds
like.”

“
It sounds like Bradford
bullshit,” she said matter-of-factly, making him chuckle despite
the fact that the slight motion of the boat made him want to curl
up and die.

Christ, why did the boat have to rock so
fucking much?

He chuckled weakly as he tightened his hold
around her. “That’s what I thought too,” he said with a shrug
before he admitted with a touch of embarrassment, “At least that’s
what I hoped it was.”

“
Feel like explaining
exactly what that means so that I can properly mock you?” she asked
in that teasing tone that he loved so damn much.

He felt his lips twitch even as his stomach
lurched, threatening to put an end to this conversation before it
even had a chance to start. He took a deep breath, wishing like
hell that he’d listened to Jason and put this off until after
they’d hit the one-year mark. If he had, they could be home right
now, curled up in their bed, making love before grabbing a late
snack and making love again.

Instead, they were stuck here on this
godforsaken boat, stuck in this fucking bathroom without their
anti-nausea medication and talking about something that he’d always
hoped was bullshit. Christ, if he’d married anyone else, he
wouldn’t have given a flying fuck about making sure that giving her
the perfect honeymoon. He would have just given her a wedding night
and kept putting her off until after the one year mark, because he
couldn’t possibly imagine going through this kind of bullshit for
anyone else.

“
Apparently,” he started to
say, and he really didn’t know why he was telling her this, “the
men in my family have been cursed to fuck up for two hundred years
or so. I’m not really sure when this started, but what I do know is
that every Bradford that brought their wife on a honeymoon before
the first anniversary always regretted it.”

“
And you regret taking me?”
she asked, merely sounding curious when any other woman would
probably be crying prettily and demanding that he make it up to her
with declarations of love and promises to make it up to her, but
not Zoe…

“
Yes,” he admitted, refusing
to lie to his wife, even about this.

“
Because…” she prompted,
making him smile despite the fact that the damn boat wouldn’t stop
rocking.

“
You deserve better than a
honeymoon where you’re forced to take care of me, because I had no
fucking clue that I get seasick. You also deserved to wait until
after you had the babies so that you could enjoy your first real
vacation,” he admitted with a slight shake of his head until the
movement threatened to unman him, “you deserved better than
this.”

She chuckled weakly as she leaned against
him. “I have no complaints.”

Sadly, he didn’t think she did either, which
pissed him off more. She’d never had much, so she’d never expected
much and he certainly fucking succeeded in making sure that trend
had continued, he thought, feeling sick, which had absolutely
nothing to do with the boat and everything to do with the fact that
he’d failed his wife.

She was his now, his responsibly, and his job
to make sure that she finally had the life that she deserved. He
should have done things right from the beginning, should have taken
her out, worked his ass off to win her heart instead of pretending
that the only thing that he wanted from her was sex when it had
been more than obvious that he’d wanted to spend the rest of his
life with her.

He couldn’t go back and make this right, but
he could make it up to her. He would spend the rest of his life
making this up to her, but first he needed to get her out of this
damn bathroom and get her medication so that she could at least
enjoy what was left of their trip.

“
I want a do-over,” he said,
opening his eyes and forcing himself to stand up when all he wanted
to do was to curl up with his wife on the floor and wait for the
goddamn rocking to stop.

“
A do-over?” she asked
slowly from where she sat on the floor.

“
Mmmhmm, a do-over,” he
agreed, managing a tight nod as he placed his hands against the
door and pushed with everything that he had, but the damn door
wouldn’t budge.

“
What exactly is a do-over?”
Zoe asked, pushing to her feet only to crawl back to the large
shower, turn the hot water back on and settle limply in the corner
with a mumbled, “Better, much better.”

“
Exactly what it sounds
like,” he said absently as he grabbed the handle and tried to open
the door, but the damn thing wouldn’t budge. After a few more tries
he considered banging on the door and yelling for help, but common
sense told him that it was pointless.

So instead, he turned around, pressed his
hand against his stomach and shuffled his way over to the shower
where his wife was, praying that he’d make it without embarrassing
himself. As soon as he reached the shower, he sat down, pressed his
back against the wall and nearly groaned with releif when the hot
water hit him.

“
Better?” Zoe asked as she
carefully shifted until she was sitting between his legs and
leaning back against him. As soon as her warm, soft back pressed
against his stomach he moaned with pleasure.

Christ, that felt good.

“
God, yes,” he said,
wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer as he closed
his eyes and simply savored the woman in his arms and the hot water
pouring down on them, helping them relax and somewhat settling
their stomachs. He didn’t have to open his eyes to look down to
know that she was smiling.