RAFAEL
The bathtub filled with vanilla-scented bubbles and pink flower petals was ready for our leisure. The moment I got to know Savannah, I understood a little what she wanted from a relationship. She was the type that liked chocolates and flowers and romantic gestures, she was sweet, so she appreciated being given affection. She deserved these things. I didn’t want her to think I would abandon her as her ex-husband did. Maybe she was already thinking about it by the tone of her questions.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured with twinkling eyes.
“Angus had the servants prepare it. I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it.” She gave me a sweet smile.
I stepped into the water first and soon felt the warm water stream. I extended my hand to Savannah. “Join me.”
She accepted my invitation, stepped into the tub, and we leisurely sank our bodies in the bubble bath. I sat across from her so I could watch her enjoy herself. I brought my legs to her side so she could move freely.
“Thank you.” She giggled. Her eyes glimmered with glee and relief when the water touched her smooth, plush skin that I’d never tire of feeling.
She was so beautiful, like my personal angel that was made exactly for me. Her supple pink lips, big round brown eyes, and a smile that reached her eyes were more than my preference. Her swollen breasts that were half immersed in water were inviting, and my throat dried in need. My cock twitched under the water painfully.
But her physical beauty wasn’t the only thing about Savannah. She was absolutely more than that. Her unfathomable kindness, broad understanding, and sensible intellect rescued me from my darkness. I still couldn’t believe she had chosen me. Why had I not met her sooner? I wouldn’t have become so close to being irredeemable.
She gazed at me, beaming and stroking the bubbles and mild vanilla scent on her arm. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just admiring how beautiful you are.”
She chuckled, her cheeks turning crimson. “I’m flattered. Maybe we’re really meant for each other,” she teased.
“Are you still doubting?”
“No, it’s just… Don’t you think we’re moving too fast? We only just met several weeks ago. But well, if you think about it, we didn’t start like any normal couple.”
“You’re not wrong.” I brushed my finger on her knee and caressed her there back and forth. “How long have you known Reed before you married him?”
I felt her jolt in the water. “Since half of my life. What of it?”
“Was knowing him that long made it much better?”
Her mouth parted. Judging her reaction, she understood my question. “No, but…”
I leaned onto the bathtub and rested my arms on the sides. “You confuse me. You make it so hard for me to read you.”
“And I, you.”
“It’s not our fault we just met. But if you still doubt me, it’s not too late to stop.”
“It’s not like that,” her tone raised an octave. “I don’t doubt you.”
“But you do.” Why else would she say those things?
“I don’t doubt you,” she repeated emphatically. “I’m just… scared.”
“Of what? Tell me,” I coaxed.
“I was married once, and you know what I’ve been through.” She paused and closed her eyes. “I’ve known Edward enough, and he was in my comfort zone, yet we still didn’t work.”
“You’re scared this won’t work because you still think I’m a stranger you met at the airport.” I clenched my fist. The Reeds still made my blood boil. Anyone of them was a big thorn in my chest I couldn’t pull. “But I’m not him. Don’t compare me.”
“I’m sorry if you think I compare you.” She hid her eyes. “In my heart, I don’t intend that.
“It doesn’t matter if I met you weeks ago or yesterday, Savi. When I decided I wanted you, it didn’t matter how long I have known you or who you are anymore. You just have to trust me. We spoke about this. I gave you the authority to decide.”
“What if you don’t know how I smell in the morning? Or if I have gestures you hate, such as sneezing loudly in public or picking my nose while I watch TV? Would you still want me then? Small things like that are important. How much more are the bigger ones?”
She made me want to laugh. “You speak as if you already think of marrying me.”
“I do think about that. This is where it leads.”
As usual, she was perceptive. “But you still have a couple of months to decide.”
She pouted. Her eyes started to well. “You’re not listening! That’s not what I’m trying to say.”
“And you pick your nose when you watch TV?” I held back my laughter. “So what? I already chose you, so none of it will matter to me anymore. Are you bothered by those silly things?”
“Those are just metaphors.” She smiled faintly, somehow convinced, but she was still the one who had the last say. “But well, I decided to walk this path. If you scratch your ass or fart while you watch sports, it won’t matter.”
“See? So what are we worried about?” She looked pretty cute when she was acting like this. “Move aside. I will sit behind you.”
She did as I instructed, so I moved behind her, pulled her against my chest, and wrapped my arms around her petite frame. Her ass touched my cock, and she gasped, knowing how hard I was for her. And she probably didn’t sense it yet, but it was I who was afraid she would one day decide she didn’t want this anymore.
“Are we really doing this?” She moved her butt. “You really want to marry me?”
“Don’t twitch, or I’ll bend you over.”
She cleared her throat. “It’s quite distracting.”
“Don’t mind it,” I whispered, nipping her ear and making her shiver. “And yes, we’re doing this. Because why not? We have come to an agreement to make this real.”
“How about… love?”
I breathed out. I knew she’d bring it up. “My parents have known each other for a long time, but I think they still don’t understand one another. Still, they decided to live together despite the difficulties. Love isn’t enough. It never is. Because feelings fade, Savi.” I planted small kisses on her shoulders.
“It isn’t. I know,” she admitted. “But love isn’t just a feeling, Rafe. It’s a decision, too.” She glanced at me. “Actions allow emotions. Our actions determine when or if feelings live or end.”
I halted. “How do you say so?”
“If you want something, don’t you do anything to have it?” She glided her fingers with mine. “I didn’t tell you this before, but I once wanted to save my marriage.”
Something suddenly pierced my chest. “You did?”
“We’re getting to know each other, so I’m going to tell you.” She chortled nervously. “I didn’t know then that Edward was cheating, of course. My feelings for him were already dying. But marriage isn’t something you decide to do and throw away later when you get tired. I decided to want to love him again, to give ourselves a chance. But when one is no longer willing, the other cannot do anything but oblige. Edward felt it and gave up, and then he found comfort from another. He told me.”
“I don’t think I want to know that, Savi.” I wiped my face down to my chin.
“I’m sorry. I just thought you deserved to know.”
“Do you regret leaving him?”
“He left me first. I don’t regret anything.”
I groaned inwardly. “How about now? Do you still have feelings for him?”
“I don’t,” she said without hesitation and smiled. “Because someone else came. He makes me happy. I just hope he doesn’t change.”
The tight air passages in my lungs subsided. “I don’t think I’m capable of disappointing you, Savi.”
“You see, love is deciding to give your all to the person you care about the most, even if you don’t admit or say it. You want to make them happy, too. Even though I don’t know much, I think that’s what your parents did. I think they still love each other. Edward and I fell out of love, so what happened to us was different. It’s inevitable. The separation made me realize a lot of things.”
Different, huh? Yet, I thought it was the same. I thought she was the same as my mother. There were similarities, but she was not like Mom. She was stronger. But she was right. I knew my parents still loved each other but didn’t show it.
As I’d thought, the scope of Savannah’s mind was unreachable. She made me realize the things I couldn’t comprehend. What was I doing with my thirty-six years of existence? What was I doing while she was growing up to be the woman she became? Oh, right. I was fooling around, chasing my father’s dreams and expectations, and forgetting how to live.
“But don’t you think it’s unfair? They’re still suffering.” I hid my face, ashamed of my family’s flaws she witnessed for the first time meeting them. I stopped meddling with my parents’ issues years ago.
“But do you believe there’s no hope between them?”
I couldn’t answer. I supposed they had. They didn’t give up.
“Hey, I shared my part again. It’s your turn. Aren’t you going to tell me something?”
I laughed softly. “And aren’t you challenging me, Ms. Gibson?”
“Did I?” She turned around and emerged from the bubbles, exposing her swelling breasts and pink crowns that seemed to invite me to have a taste. Just a few nips and licks would do.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my jaw in unison. This woman knew exactly how to mess with my focus.
“What do you want to know?”
“Can you tell me about Gill? I promise I will listen and won’t judge you. Please, I just want to know you better.”
I hesitated, but Savi made me realize a lot of things too. It shouldn’t matter who I was anymore because she chose me too.
“Okay. It started in middle school…”