The Fight for Us (49 page)
Authors: Elizabeth Finn
Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Literature & Fiction, #Contemporary Fiction
He toyed with her clit, spreading her lips with his fingers, and letting his thumbs brush around and over the tight nerves that were begging for more. He kept thrusting, never stopping the steady plunge into her body. It was only after she came with gritted teeth and her fingers gripping and twisting in the sheets at her hips that he stopped toying with his fingers.
When he leaned over her, bringing his lips right up to hers as she still struggled to breathe and catch her breath, he started pounding. He was driving himself deep into her at a pace that was nearly violent, and she clutched his shoulders and held on, letting him consume every inch of her depth. His lips brushed hers, and he panted against her mouth until he finally fell apart. He came with his eyes wide and his lips parted. He grabbed the pillow over her shoulder to bury his face in it as he yelled out loudly, muffling his sound with the thick down-filled pillow.
“Fuck…fuck…fuck,” he panted as he finally lifted his face from the pillow. He brushed the hair from her forehead as he tried to chuckle. The laugh caught in his throat as he struggled to catch his breath, and she was the one laughing then. “Good morning, Joselyn Abigail Verna. What would you like to do today?”
She smiled. “Marry you, Isaiah Hugh Henry.”
He hummed. “I like that. So before the end of the day, you’re going to be Joselyn Henry. You know that, right?”
“Who said I want to take your name?” She chided.
“I say. That’s who. If that’s not good enough, I demand it.”
She chuckled. “Well, aren’t you just a bit old-fashioned.”
“Not at all. I’m possessive, and you either take my name or I’ll pee on your leg to claim you.”
“Did you really just tell your bride you were going to pee on her leg?”
“I did.” He nuzzled into her neck as he laughed.
“I love you, Isaiah.”
The warm humming sound he returned sent a trill through her veins as it vibrated against her skin.
“I love you too. Now, shall we go eat some frozen pizza for breakfast?” He sat up, leaving her body as he moved.
She followed him, wrapping her robe back around her body. She watched as he redressed in his sweatpants, and she trailed him down the hallway to the main part of the house already smelling deliciously of pizza.
She took her slice of pizza and coffee and grabbed a throw blanket from the couch on her way out to the deck. She covered her legs as she sat in the Adirondack chair and propped her legs up on the wooden ottoman. The blanket kept her legs warm, and she sipped her coffee as she stared out at the foggy water. Isaiah joined her, taking the chair next to hers, and he reached for her hand. He turned to her and smiled sweetly.
“You know what?” she asked.
“Hmm?”
“The girls leave for volleyball camp in t-minus three days.”
He chuckled. “I’m going to miss them. But do
you
know what?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m going to enjoy fucking you all over the house, outside the house, and perhaps even in the hammock down on our dock—though I’ve yet to work out the logistics of that one. Seven whole days alone. You should be prepared for lots of fucking.”
“Aren’t I always? You are a bit insatiable.”
“Yes, you always are. You are perfect for me in so many ways, and you’re passion happens to be one of those ways.” He looked at her again and smiled. “Not the only way you fit me so perfectly, but certainly one of my favorites.” He squeezed her hand gently.
“You could almost make that into wedding vows, you know?”
He laughed. “Sure. Thank you for marrying me, Joss, because you like sex as much as I do.” He mocked, and she giggled.
The girls sprinted out the door and past them to the back yard. They were planning, scheming, and more or less taking over the pre-wedding planning.
It was only going to be a small affair with Steph, Steph’s parents, the mayor and a few of the councilmen Isaiah was close to. Hell, even Joss’s parents decided to make the trip back. But given the way the girls were excitedly sweeping their arms around, framing the picture with their hands, and jibber-jabbering in a flurry, Joss wasn’t entirely sure they weren’t going to be a bit disappointed with the simplicity of the whole thing.
It was early-August, and the weather was warm and comfortable. They’d been living together for a year and a half, and she knew she’d found her happiness in Isaiah. They had contentment and comfort with one another. There were no more skeletons lurking in any closets. They’d laid them out on the table, and they’d destroyed them together. It was a hard sought peace they’d found together, and they deserved it. He deserved it, and she’d be damned if she didn’t too. She was going to marry this man today, and she was so very worthy.
* * * *
Isaiah winked at Joss as she smiled cheesily up at him. He was struggling to pay attention to the reverend’s words at this point. There was only a small group in attendance. It’s what they wanted, and she’d decided a simple white sundress would be plenty formal for her. She looked stunning. He loved her casualness. She dressed up nearly every day for work, and he liked peeling her out of a dress suit as much as he was looking forward to peeling her out of the lovely white sundress. But this was how he preferred her—casual and comfortable with her hair loose, long, and wavy down her back. Her blue eyes sparkled in the afternoon sunlight, and he got goose bumps just looking into them.
When it was finally time, he said the words. “I do.” His voice was husky, and his throat tight as he fought back the emotion.
She watched his mouth as he said those words, and when she glanced at his eyes just as the last of his voice fell off his lips, he chuckled even with tears in his eyes. He dashed one away quickly, still laughing. Her tears had been falling for a while, but it wasn’t stopping her from smiling ear to ear.
She actually interrupted the reverend with her, “I do,” stepping on the poor man’s rehearsed words before he’d even fully gotten the question out of his mouth. It sent a round of laughter through the small group around them, not to mention Isaiah standing in front of her.
Harp was standing over her shoulder, watching him intently with her eyes brimming in tears, and Isaiah knew full well his own daughter was standing behind his shoulder likely fighting her own tears.
“You may now kiss—”
And his lips were on hers, and she was in his arms. She shrieked in excitement even as his lips still pulled on hers, and when he set her back down, still with his mouth on hers, she bounced on her feet as Nat and Harper laughed at them.
“Chief Henry?”
“Hmm?” He hummed into her mouth.
“Chief, you can…uh…”
“Right.” He finally pulled his lips from hers, and he laughed as the reverend shook his head.
Once the reverend had announced them to the small group, the applause and cheers erupted. The group broke up quickly, slowly meandering from the spot down by the water toward their deck, and he and Joss watched as Nat and Harper walked with the others. Joss’s mom had her arm linked with Harper’s. Her parents really didn’t know him, but Joss did. She knew him perfectly, and that was the only thing in the world that mattered to him.
He wrapped his arms around her as she turned toward the water, looking out across the smooth surface. He loved this time of year. He loved this place, this home, this town, this island, and more than all of that combined, this woman.
“I love you, Joselyn Henry.”
As they strolled slowly toward the house, his hand remained on hers. “Are you happy?” He glanced at her as he spoke. He knew she was. He’d asked her that question often over the past year and a half, but it wasn’t in need for reassurance anymore. It was at first, but not now. He could see it in her clearly now, and he simply liked to see the way her face lit up when she responded.
At first, when he would ask that question, he wasn’t sure how much he could believe her. She’d been through a hell of a lot after all. She had questioned her ability to give
him
happiness at first—odd to his perception, but she had. But her confidence had grown, day by day and week by week, until her affirmation had some substance to it, and he started to smile when she’d reply to that exceptionally loaded question. And he started to become addicted to that sweet expression on her face when she would respond. Even through the stress and worry of Todd’s trial and her recovery from the ordeal, he’d pushed her. He’d pushed her and asked her to fight, and she had—so had he.
They’d both spent Todd’s trial worrying something would go wrong. The fucker had been stupid enough to reject a plea deal, and that meant a trial. And it was a hell of a trial. But Todd’s undoing was his pride and entitlement. A plea deal simply didn’t work well with his type of brain malfunction. He was found guilty of nearly every charge lodged against him—the most serious of those being the attempted murder charge. They wouldn’t be worrying about him for a good twenty or so odd years thanks to that one.
But it was all past them now, so when he asked if she was happy, he sat back and enjoyed the response. He believed her. She was very definitely happy.
“Yes.” Her smile was broad. “Are you happy?” She’d asked him the same question each and every time he asked her.
“Yes.” And he always answered the same way. He stopped her short of the deck, pulling her to face him, and he clasped her hands in his. “Thank you for fighting. There was a time I wasn’t sure either of us were strong enough, but we were.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and he brushed one away as it fell to her cheek.
She snuggled up to his chest, wrapping her arms around him. “We’re worth it. We were then, we are now, and we always will be. I understand that now. I understand it, because you convinced me of it. I will always fight for us.”
He leaned to her ear, letting his lips touch in exactly the way she loved. “That’s my girl.”
The End
About the Author
Elizabeth is a multi-published contemporary romance author, and her passion is creating stories packed full of believable conflicts, characters who leave you rooting for them, and romance that might just short-circuit your e-reader. She likes her characters flawed, but they always find the best part of themselves on their journey, and her readers find themselves devoted to her honest and heartfelt voice.
www.facebook.com/ElizabethFinnFiction
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