Unfortunately, we have to delay the cutting of the cake because everyone seems to want to say a toast to wish us well and congratulate us on our marriage. I try my best to be gracious. I really do. But sometimes when you want something done you have to take matters into your own hands, literally.

When we actually do get around to cutting the cake and begin to feed it to one another, somehow the laws of gravity intervene. The large piece I attempt to feed Malcolm slips over the tips of my fingers. It tumbles down his chest, makes a mess of his leather pants and lands, icing side down, on top of his right boot.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I say, not meaning a word of it. Malcolm grins which tells me he's onto my hastily implemented scheme. "We should probably clean that up before it ruins your outfit."

I turn to our guests and see the mark of amus.e.m.e.nt on most everyone's face. I instantly know my attempt at subterfuge isn't fooling anyone.

"Yes, you really should, my sweet," Millie agrees with a conspiratorial wink. "Or the leather will be ruined forever."

"Oh yes," Linn agrees, smiling at me. Although, I am quite positive she's holding back a laugh. "You need to get those clothes off right away. You know... before they get stained."

"Those were my exact thoughts too, ladies. I'm so happy to hear you agree with me." I look at the rest of our guests. "Malcolm and I would like to thank you all for making our wedding and the rest of this evening one we will always remember. Now, if you'll excuse us, I believe I have some wifely duties that I need to attend to."

I place the palm of my right hand over Malcolm's heart and phase us directly to the bathroom attached to his bedroom.

"I don't think they suspected a thing," Malcolm teases as he chuckles about my non-subtle ruse to finally get him alone.

"At this moment, I really don't care," I say, throwing my arms around Malcolm's neck and kissing him thoroughly to finally a.s.suage at least a small portion of my pent up desires for him.

Malcolm wraps his arms fully around my waist and holds me close. Yet, he doesn't make a move to help me remove my clothing. I release his lips from mine and look at him in total bewilderment.

"Is something wrong?" I ask, breathless from the impact of our kiss.

"No, my love, nothing's wrong," he says, smiling down at me with such tenderness it makes my heart melt inside my chest.

"Then why am I still wearing this dress?"

Malcolm chuckles again as his lips stretch into a pleased smile at my blatant eagerness to start our evening together as soon as possible.

"Like I told you earlier," he says, kissing my lips ever so lightly, "I want to take things slow tonight."

I take in a deep breath and gradually let it out, trying my best to rein in my almost uncontrollable pa.s.sion for the man holding me.

I bring my arms down from around his neck and take a step back from him.

"Then tell me what you want me to do next," I say. "I get the impression you have everything about tonight all planned out."

"I have been thinking about it for quite some time," Malcolm admits with a devilish grin. He raises his right hand and gently cups the left side of my face. "I laid out something for you to wear. It's laying on my bed. Why don't you go put it on while I clean the cake off my clothes?"

"Sorry about dirtying you up a bit," I say sheepishly, looking at the trail of white icing Malcolm is wearing. "I just couldn't think of a better way to conjure up a believable excuse for us to leave our own party."

"Don't be sorry," Malcolm murmurs. "If you hadn't done something when you did, I would have."

I smile at his statement because it completely erases the guilt I feel about my ploy to get us away from our party sooner rather than later. I reach out a hand to touch his chest again because I can't seem to control my need to be physically connected to him. I run my index finger through the streak of icing on his chest and bring it to my lips to taste the sweet confection.

Malcolm watches me as I suck the icing off my finger, and I see his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallows hard. I begin to wonder what his reaction would be to me eating the rest of the icing directly off his chest. I take a step closer to Malcolm, forcing him to drop his hand away from my face as I begin to lower my mouth to the streak of white marring his otherwise perfect skin. I glance up into his eyes before I begin and see that he's watching me closely as he remains perfectly still. I take that as my cue to follow through with my desires. I know then that whatever I want, whatever I need to happen that night will be given to me by Malcolm.

As I begin to lick the rest of the icing off, Malcolm's breathing becomes more labored. I lightly stroke my tongue against him, tasting the saltiness of his skin underneath the sweetness of the icing. I decide to be very thorough and take my time cleaning every single grain of sugar off because I can't seem to get enough of Malcolm and all I know is that I want more. I want everything.

Once I've completed the task to my satisfaction, I look back up into my husband's face and see his own pent up desires for me fully exposed in the heat of his gaze. Malcolm grabs hold of me and brings me fully up against him, ravishing my mouth with his lips and tongue in such a way that I'm left with no doubt he wants me just as much as I want him. When he finally does pull himself away from me, neither of us is breathing steadily, and I'm certain if he let me go at that moment I would fall to my knees.

"I've never wanted anyone like I want you right now, Anna," Malcolm tells me, his voice raw with desire. I can feel his arms tremble as he controls his need to have me.

"Then take me, Malcolm," I almost beg because my longing to have him is just as great if not more so. I feel like I've waited my whole life for this moment. It's not just the sharing of our bodies that excites me, but the ability to finally show in actions and not just in words how much I love the man I've pledged my heart, body, and soul to. I want him to know just how much he's loved and that everything in his life up to this point, good and bad, was meant to happen. If one thing had been changed, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that we might not have ever met.

Malcolm leans forward and kisses me on the forehead lovingly, making me sigh in disappointment. It's a sure sign that he isn't going to throw caution to the wind and simply throw me down on the bathroom floor to have his way with me. He intends to keep to his original plan of making my first experience as gentle and pleasurable as he can make it.

"Why don't you go put on what I left for you on my bed?" Malcolm suggests. "I'll clean up and be out shortly."

I sigh, but don't say anything, just phase to the bedroom as he requested.

Laying on the thick red velvet comforter is a white negligee with thin spaghetti straps and a low cut V neckline with a lacy edge. The material looks extremely thin, and I can't imagine that it will leave much to the imagination.

I quickly shed my wedding dress, being careful to lay it out on a nearby chair. I wouldn't disrespect Millie's gift to me by simply letting it lie on the floor in a crumpled heap. I slip on the nightgown and find that it only reaches down to just above my knees. I take out the pin in my hair and let the heavy ma.s.s of curls fall freely past my shoulders. I also unhook the earrings and lay them on the nightstand beside the bed.

Malcolm comes out of the bathroom shortly after dressed in his dark green bathrobe. He walks over to the fireplace and stands in front of it. The red-orange glow from the flames accentuates the angles of his face as light fights shadow. The beauty of my husband completely takes my breath away, and I almost feel unworthy to have a man like him love me. Almost.

His eyes find mine easily in the near dark of the room, and he makes one simple, softly spoken request.

"Come to me, Anna."

I hesitate.

I don't hesitate because I don't want to go to Malcolm, that's not it at all. I hesitate because I suddenly feel the flutter of nervous b.u.t.terflies inside my stomach. This is it. This is the moment I've been waiting so long for. It's the first time since we met that I feel any trepidation in making love with Malcolm. It's only then that I realize his decision to make our first time together an unhurried experience for me was extremely wise. He probably knew I would eventually feel this uncertainty and wanted to walk me through it gradually, not rush me along just to satiate his own burning desires. I knew I would be relying on his skills that night.

For a fleeting moment, I imagine the rest of our lives together and see a mult.i.tude of moments such as this one. Each flash of our imagined future together only confirms for me that we were always meant to be. Neither of our lives would have been made whole without the other one.

I pluck up my courage and walk over to Malcolm, feeling my body become flush with excitement and nervous antic.i.p.ation. As I stand in front of him, I feel uncertain about what to do next and simply put my faith and trust in him to guide me through with a gentle hand.

Malcolm doesn't touch me right away. Instead, he walks around to the back of me, gingerly pulling my hair off my shoulders, better exposing my neck.

I feel him undo the latch of my necklace and remove it from around my throat only to replace it with another necklace.

I reach up a hand and feel the braided silk choker that has a star encrusted with gems dangling from the middle.

"I know we haven't exactly talked about it," Malcolm says. "But I thought it would be prudent to delay having children until your mission is complete."

"I agree," I tell him. "There's no way of knowing what the seals would do to them."

"This necklace was made by JoJo. She's also the one who made your outfit. As long as you wear it, you won't get pregnant."

"She sounds like she was a very resourceful person to have around."

"She was," Malcolm says, letting his fingers linger around my neck after latching the necklace's catch. "I'll tell you more about her sometime but not right now."

The instant I feel Malcolm's warm lips press against the side of my throat my eyes close of their own accord. The unhurried movement of his lips and tongue produce a pleasurable torment, heightening my need to have him. Malcolm gently sucks the sensitive flesh where my neck and shoulder meet, making every inch of my body come alive and crave more. As he slowly works his mouth up the side of my neck, I sigh my contentment and simply wonder what will happen next.

"Anna," Malcolm whispers in my ear, tugging at the bottom of my earlobe with his teeth, "open your eyes, my love."

"Why?" I ask, instantly abiding by his request. I'm only curious about his answer. I would never second-guess Malcolm's motives "Because I want you to watch everything I do to your body," he whispers. "I want you to see how much pleasure it gives me to make you feel how much I love you, how much I want you."

Malcolm splays his fingers against the small of my back, spanning its width. He slowly glides his hands over the thin veil of fabric, reaching around to the front of me until they come to rest on my abdomen. Malcolm angles his hands upward until each breast is cupped within the warmth of his palms. He gently teases my nipples with the tips of his fingers, sending tiny sparks of electricity throughout my body with each new twist and tug.

Malcolm brings his body firmly up against mine from behind as he continues to tease my b.r.e.a.s.t.s with his hands. I gasp slightly when I feel the proof of his desire push itself into my lower back. I feel a moment of unease as I sense the fullness of him, realizing just how well-endowed Malcolm is compared to how small I am.

"Are you all right?" Malcolm asks, returning his lips to the side of my neck. "Your heart's racing."

"How can my heart not race when you make love to me?" I ask, leaning even further back against him and allowing his loving manipulation of my body to wipe away any nervousness I might feel.

"If you need me to stop at any time," he breathes against my neck, "I will, Anna. You just have to tell me."

"Don't you dare stop," I say, feeling my heartache with just the thought of Malcolm not making love to me that night. "I've waited for this moment for far too long. I trust you with my heart and my body, Malcolm."

One of Malcolm's hands leaves the breast it holds to slide down past the flat plain of my stomach. I feel his fingers work to gather the material of my nightgown until his hand is able to go beyond the hem and caress a part of me that no one, besides myself, has ever touched. A gasp parts my lips as Malcolm slides his fingers into the folds and gently coaxes the core of me into a frenzy of sensations.

"Malcolm," I moan repeatedly as the sensations his hands produce threaten to overtake me. I turn my head to the side, needing to taste the sweetness of his mouth with mine as he slowly brings my body to its boiling point. I begin to ache from the pleasure of it all and my legs tremble uncontrollably, threatening to lose their strength.

Malcolm must sense the brink to which his careful ministrations have brought me to because he steps back from me, pulling his hands away from my body. I feel him run one hand down my left arm until our fingers intertwine.

He looks at me and a small smile appears on his face. In a way, he almost looks like this is his first time too, and perhaps it is in a way. Our emotional connection to one another is overpowering by itself. What will happen when we're able to finally connect physically?

I eagerly follow him over to the bed, knowing he'll finish what he started by the fireplace and not leave me with this burning need deep inside me. Once we're standing beside the bed, he lets go of my hand to pull down the comforter and top sheet. He turns to me and hooks his index fingers underneath the straps of my nightgown. He pulls them to the side past my shoulders and lets the gown float to the floor, leaving me completely naked to his gaze.

"Do you know how gorgeous you are?" Malcolm asks, his eyes not just looking at my body with l.u.s.t but also with reverence.

"I know I'm pretty," I admit, not wanting to sound conceited about my physical attributes, but not wanting to act unnecessarily naive about them either.

Malcolm shakes his head. "No. You're not just pretty, Anna." He raises his gaze to mine as if to make sure I hear his next words clearly. "And it's not just your physical beauty that makes you gorgeous to me. I love your body, but it's your spirit that completely floors me every time I look at you. I've never met anyone like you, and I doubt I ever will again in my lifetime. There isn't one thing about you that I don't love completely. And I intend to show you just how great my love for you is tonight."

Malcolm moves his hands to the tie of his robe, but I place a hand on top of them to stop their movements.

"Let me do it," I say, feeling a need to be a partic.i.p.ant in tonight's events and not allow Malcolm to do all of the work.

Malcolm drops his hands back by his sides and simply watches me.

I tug at the knot of his robe tie and loosen it easily with my fingers. The robe hangs open in the front, providing me an excellent view of his naked, muscular form, but my full attention becomes riveted by the center of him, and I can't help but openly stare. I'm curious to know more about that part of his body. I reach out a tentative hand but stop just short of caressing him.

"Touch me, Anna," Malcolm urges. "I want you to know all of me."

I hesitate for a moment but my intense desire to learn everything there is to know about Malcolm wins out. I wrap my fingers around the length of him marveling at how silky his skin feels, yet how rock hard the blood-engorged organ is in my hand. I glide my fingers up and down his shaft feeling him grow impossibly fuller. Malcolm gently stops my movements by placing one of his hands over mine.

"I'm sorry," he says in a husky voice. "I need you to stop doing that or this evening might not last as long as I would like."

I immediately unwrap my fingers from around him.

"I definitely don't want it to end just yet," I say with certainty.

Malcolm grins. "Neither do I, my love."

Malcolm pulls his robe completely off and lets it fall to the floor behind him. In one swift movement, he picks me up and lays me down in the middle of the bed. He lies down beside me sliding one of his legs in between mine and leaning over to continue plundering my mouth with gentle caresses of his lips and tongue. He glides one of his hands from my chest to my hips in one leisurely motion, igniting the flesh he touches along the way.

Without removing his lips from mine, Malcolm slides into a new position until his legs are straddling my hips. He holds his torso up with his arms on either side of me, and I feel the warmth of him rest between my thighs. Malcolm's lips say a gentle goodbye to mine as they begin their leisurely adventure over territory they have yet had the opportunity to lay claim to. I try to contain the growing need I feel between my legs and simply enjoy the slow, pleasurable torture Malcolm's warm mouth is putting my body through. After his lips make a wet path from the base of my throat to my chest, I watch him as he gently squeezes each of my b.r.e.a.s.t.s with his large hands. He slides his mouth over one ample mound to lavish its nipple with his undivided attention, using his tongue and teeth expertly for a long while before giving its twin the same amount of adoration.

Malcolm slides his hands along the sides of my body as he scoots himself further down the bed. His mouth makes a trail from my b.r.e.a.s.t.s to across my abdomen. When his mouth reaches the junction of my thighs, I take in a sharp breath of antic.i.p.ation and continue to watch him even as his head dips below my line of sight.

The first flick of his tongue against me makes me squirm and Malcolm gently takes hold of my hips to help keep me centered. As his lips and tongue weave their magic spell over me, I feel the pleasure of Malcolm's efforts build a fire that isn't meant to be contained. I call out his name when the sensation becomes too much to bear and feel a warm glow of pleasure wash over me like a tidal wave crashing against a rocky sh.o.r.e. Malcolm's mouth lingers where it is, slowly bringing me back down to Earth. He kisses the soft flesh on the inside of my thighs before unhurriedly kissing his way back up to my lips. His fingers soon take the place of where his mouth had been, and he slides one inside me as if testing to see if I'm ready for him. To me, it simply feels like a tease of what's to come.

I pull my lips away from his to speak.

"Malcolm," I say, his name sounding more like a plea than me simply saying his name, "I want you."

I don't have to tell him what it is I want. He already knows what has to be done to satisfy what I most desire to have from him. From the almost drugged look of his eyes, I can tell he has his own needs that need to be met. I feel excited by the thought of him finding his own pleasure inside me and finally ending the torture we've both been living through.

Malcolm straddles my hips once again. With his initial entry into my body, I can feel an impossible stretching take place there. He holds back from pushing his entire length in, only introducing the tip of himself to me. He leans down to kiss my mouth once again as he slides his fingers over my already sensitive core and slowly builds my need for him even more. I feel him slowly push into me a little further, but he stops himself once again, allowing my form precious time to stretch and accept him. I can only imagine the restraint he's using to slowly introduce himself to my body, allowing it time to adjust to him.

I feel a slight ache when Malcolm pushes into me even further. He breaks the contact of our lips, lifting his head slightly until our eyes meet.

The worry on his face tells me the next push will cause me pain and that he would much rather take the sting of what's about to happen onto himself, if such a thing were possible.

I simply bring his mouth back down to mine and wrap my legs around his waist telling him with actions and not words that I'm ready to accept him. I know any discomfort I might feel in the beginning will be well worth it in the end.

Malcolm moans against my mouth as his kisses become more aggressive. My willingness to accept what will come next seems to excite him to a fever pitch as his fingers feverishly work their magic against me. Just as a wave of pleasure from his delicate strumming of my body washes over me, I feel Malcolm push past the barrier marking my s.e.xual purity causing an intense agony. I close my eyes as the throbbing ache overwhelms me. Tears born solely from this pain fall unhindered from the corners of my eyes.

Malcolm lightly kisses each of my cheeks before kissing away my trail of tears.

"Anna..." he whispers, sounding upset that he's caused a pain we both knew would have to happen.

I force myself to open my eyes because I don't want the man I love to feel any guilt about what he just did. There is no one else in the world who I would have wanted to share this experience with, and I feel lucky to have someone so gentle and caring to walk me through it.

I silently rea.s.sure him that I'm all right by lifting a hand and wrapping my fingers around the back of his neck, pulling his lips back down to mine. I enfold my legs even tighter around his waist, knowing he'll realize what it is I want to happen next.

Malcolm understands my silent request and begins to move his hips rhythmically against mine. His movements are slow at first but soon pick up in speed and intensity. With each hard thrust, I feel him excite something within me that I never even knew existed until that moment. As Malcolm continues to rub himself against this sensitive bundle of nerves, I feel an impossible eruption of sensations. There comes a point when I have to pull my mouth away from his just to draw in enough air to survive the pleasure.

Malcolm's breathing becomes ragged as his movements increase in their intensity. With each thrust he makes, a warm wave of pleasure washes over my body making the center of my being feel hot and raw with need. Just when I think it isn't possible to experience more bliss, I feel something inside me shatter, causing an explosion of ecstasy so great I feel as if the world itself has just come apart around us. I faintly hear Malcolm growl out my name as he reaches his own powerful release.

My body welcomes the warmth of him inside me with open arms, as if it's been patiently waiting all this time just for him. I close my eyes accepting the gift from his body as my own slowly floats back down to Earth, like a feather on a warm summer breeze. I instantly feel a completeness that I've never experienced before. It's almost like I was unknowingly missing a part of myself that has finally found its way home.

Malcolm withdraws from my body and lies down beside me, lovingly pulling me into the warm folds of his arms. I wrap my own arms around his neck and begin to cry again, but this time the tears are simply evidence of a happiness so pure words simply aren't enough.

Chapter 12.