BELLA POV
I woke to the feeling of my own smile, my lips still pressed to the warm, solid plane of Ace's chest. The scent of him—of us—filled my lungs, a heady mix of clean skin and the lingering traces of last night. My hair was a dark curtain tickling my chin, and through a crack in the heavy drapes, sunlight cut golden stripes across the rumpled sheets.
A low, rumbling sound vibrated beneath my ear, and I felt his hand come up to stroke my back. "Morning, sleepyhead."
My wife. The words were a warm whisper against my soul. I am his wife. My heart did a little flip, a fresh wave of disbelief and pure joy washing over me. I lifted my head, meeting his gaze. His eyes, even sleep-softened, held that same intensity that had captivated me from the very beginning.
"Morning, husband," I murmured, the new title feeling foreign and perfect on my tongue. I let my finger trace the strong line of his collarbone, committing the feel of him to memory. "Sleep well?"
He hummed, the sound rich and deep. "Better than I ever have." His thumb brushed my jawline, his gaze dropping to my mouth, and a delicious heat bloomed low in my belly. He's remembering. "I… I still can't believe last night," I confessed, the words tumbling out, laced with a shyness I couldn't quite contain.
"Believe it, Bella. It was real. Every gasp, every shiver, every single beautiful sound you made."
A blush burned my cheeks. "Ace," I whispered, laughing softly to hide my fluster. "You're teasing me."
"Am I?" he countered, a playful challenge lighting his eyes as he propped himself on an elbow. The sheet dipped, revealing more of his chest, and my mouth went a little dry. "Or am I simply reminding you of the truth? You were magnificent, my love. Absolutely breathtaking."
His praise sent a thrill through me. My gaze dropped, but a smile played on my lips. "I… I didn't know I could feel like that." I looked back up, needing him to understand the depth of it. "It was… overwhelming. In the best way."
"Overwhelming good?" His fingers trailed down, tracing the curve of my hip beneath the sheet, and a shiver chased the path of his touch.
I nodded, my voice barely a whisper. "More than good. It was… everything." A sliver of my old nervousness surfaced. "I was so scared, Ace. So scared I wouldn't know what to do."
"And I told you, didn't I?" His voice was impossibly gentle. "You didn't have to do anything but feel." He leaned in, his lips a soft, warm press against my temple. "You did exactly what you needed to do. You let go."
A spark of newfound confidence flickered inside me. "I did, didn't I? It was… freeing." My hand found its way to his chest, my fingers playing in the dark dusting of hair. His heart beat a steady, strong rhythm under my palm. "I still can't quite grasp it all. The intensity."
"It's a lot," he agreed, his voice a low rumble I felt in my very bones. "A beautiful, powerful lot. And it's only the beginning, Bella. We have a lifetime to explore every inch of it."
A lifetime. The thought sent a giddy laugh bubbling out of me. "A lifetime? Already planning our future?"
"Always," he said, his gaze holding mine with a gravity that stole my breath. "From the moment I saw you, I knew you were my future. Did you feel it too? That pull?"
His question reached right into the heart of my memory—that first, bewildering, all-consuming moment our eyes had met. "I… I felt something," I breathed. "A connection I couldn't explain. Like I'd known you forever." I bit my lip, the memory of that dizzying rush still potent. "It was confusing. And a little scary."
"Scary?" A slight furrow appeared between his brows.
"Because it was so strong," I clarified, my voice earnest. "Like a current, pulling me in. I'm not used to feeling things so intensely."
A dark, possessive pleasure flashed in his eyes. "Good. You'll get used to it. Because with me, Bella, everything will be intense." He closed the distance between us then, his mouth capturing mine in a kiss that was anything but a simple morning greeting. It was a slow, deliberate reawakening. His tongue swept into my mouth, tasting of sleep and him, and a soft, needy sound escaped me. My lips parted, welcoming the delicious invasion, my body humming back to life.
When he pulled back, my breath was coming in short, sweet gasps. My head felt light, my entire being focused on the man above me. "Ace," I whispered, the word a plea and a prayer.
"What is it, my love?" His thumb brushed my lower lip, his touch setting every nerve ending alight.
The last vestiges of shyness burned away in the heat of my desire. I met his gaze, letting him see the raw need there. "I… I want to feel it again. I want to feel everything again."
A triumphant, devastatingly handsome smile spread across his face. "My wish is your command, wife." He shifted then, his body moving over mine, his weight a familiar, intoxicating comfort. "Tell me what you want, Bella. Don't be shy."
I exhaled slowly, my hands sliding up to grip his powerful shoulders, my nails pressing into his skin. "I want your hands on me. Everywhere. I want to feel your mouth on me."
"Your wish," he repeated, a dark promise in his voice. His lips trailed a blazing path down my neck, his tongue flicking against the frantic pulse at the base of my throat. I arched into him, a moan tearing from my lips as his hands began to roam. They skimmed over my ribs, cupped the swell of my breast, his thumb circling a nipple that was already pebbled and aching for his attention.
He moved lower, his mouth following the path his hands had forged. He took one taut peak into his mouth, suckling gently, and a sharp cry was ripped from me. Oh God. The sensation was electric, a direct line of pure pleasure that tightened my core and made my hips buck off the mattress.
"That's it, Bella," he murmured against my damp skin, his voice thick with a desire that mirrored my own. "Let me hear you. Let me feel you." He lavished the same attention on my other breast, and my thoughts scrambled, my world narrowing to the heat of his mouth and the expert movement of his hands as they stroked down my stomach, over my hips, along the sensitive skin of my inner thighs.
"I… I can't," I whimpered, my body trembling violently beneath him, awash in a sea of sensation. "I can't think. It's too much."
"Good," he growled, the vibration against my skin pushing me closer to the edge. His fingers found the slick, aching heat between my legs, gently parting my folds. The first, deliberate brush of his thumb against my clit made me see stars.
"Ace!" I shrieked, my body bowing off the bed, my fingers digging into his scalp. "Oh, God, Ace, yes!"
He reveled in my loss of control, his touch becoming more insistent. His fingers delved deeper, exploring my wetness, finding my entrance. He slipped one finger inside, then another, stretching me, filling me with a slow, delicious friction that had me gasping.
"Ah!" The feeling was so intense, so perfect. My legs wrapped around his waist of their own volition, pulling him closer, begging for more. "So full. So good."
"You like that, my love?" he whispered, his breath hot against my ear as his fingers moved in a sinful, curling rhythm, his thumb still working magic on my clit. "Feeling full for me?"
"Yes," I sobbed, the coil of pleasure winding so tight I thought I might break. "More. Please, Ace, more."
He gave me more, his pace quickening, the sound of our bodies a wet, rhythmic counterpoint to my ragged breaths. I was nothing but sensation, a vessel of pure, mounting ecstasy. The pressure built, a seismic wave gathering deep within me.
"I'm close," I gasped, my eyes squeezing shut, my entire body tensing for the fall. "Oh, God, Ace, I'm so close."
"Let it go, my love," he commanded, his own voice strained. "Let it all go for me."
The world exploded. A violent, rapturous convulsion seized me, my hips bucking wildly against his hand as my climax tore through me with the force of a hurricane. A raw, uninhibited cry was ripped from my throat, my inner walls clenching around his fingers again and again, milking the endless waves of pleasure.
The sensations had barely begun to subside when I felt him shift. The sudden emptiness was a shock. My eyes fluttered open in protest, a desperate whimper on my lips.
"Don't worry, my love," he soothed, his voice a husky promise. "I'm not going anywhere." He positioned himself between my legs, the thick, silken head of his cock pressing against my drenched, oversensitive entrance. My breath hitched. "Just want to make sure you're looking at me when I fill you."
My gaze, blurred with tears of pleasure, locked onto his. The love and raw hunger there stole what little breath I had left. "Ace," I whispered.
He pushed forward.
It was a slow, breathtaking invasion. A sigh of perfect relief and intense sensation tore from me as he slid deep, his thickness stretching me, filling the emptiness so completely I could only gasp. A deep groan rumbled in his chest, a sound of pure male satisfaction.
"Oh!" I cried out, my body stretching to accommodate him, welcoming him home. "So big. So good."
He held himself there, buried to the hilt, letting me feel every inch of him. My hands flew to his hair, pulling his mouth down to mine in a fierce, claiming kiss. Our tongues tangled, a messy, passionate dance as he began to move.
He started with a slow, deep rhythm, each thrust a deliberate, soul-shaking possession. My ankles locked at the small of his back, holding him close. The wet, rhythmic sound of our joining filled the room, a primal music that fed my hunger.
"Bella," he groaned against my lips, his breath hot. "You feel incredible."
"You too," I panted, my voice breaking on every thrust. My hips rose to meet him, meeting his power with my own need. "Oh, Ace, faster. Please, faster."
His control shattered. His pace became a frantic, driving rhythm, each powerful thrust hitting a spot deep inside me that made my vision blur. The slap of skin on skin, the creak of the bedsprings, our ragged, shared breaths—it was a symphony of pure lust. Pleasure, sharper and brighter than before, began to coil tightly again, a spring wound to its breaking point.
"I'm close again," I gasped, my head thrashing on the pillow, my nails scoring his back. I was so close to the edge, so impossibly full of him.
"Look at me, Bella," he demanded, his voice a rough, guttural command. His pace was relentless, pushing me, pushing me... "Look at me when you come for your husband."
My eyes, heavy-lidded with pleasure, found his. And as I fell, as the second, more powerful orgasm detonated through my core, I held his fiery gaze. My body convulsed around his, a wordless scream caught in my throat as my world dissolved into pure, white-hot ecstasy.
I felt his own release moments later, a hot, pulsing rush deep inside me that triggered another, smaller aftershock. He roared my name, his body shuddering above me as he emptied himself, his forehead dropping to mine, our ragged breaths mingling.
We lay like that for a long moment, tangled together, slick with sweat and spent. The air was thick with the scent of us. His weight was a comfort, anchoring me to the earth. I felt… ruined. Beautifully, perfectly ruined.
He shifted finally, pulling out with a soft sigh, and collapsed beside me, gathering me into his arms. My head found its home on his chest, listening to the frantic, slowing rhythm of his heart.
"I never knew," I murmured into his skin, my voice hoarse and filled with wonder. "I never knew it could be like this."
"Now you do," he said, his lips brushing my hair. His voice was rough, sated. "And you'll never forget."
A sleepy, deeply satisfied smile curved my lips. His hand stroked my back, his touch now gentle, possessive.
"So," he murmured, his fingers tracing idle patterns on my skin. "Where should my mouth go next, my love?"