Hayze watched in amusement as he watched River stick her finger in the meringue he was making for the top of a pie for his and her parents. She thought she was being sneaky but he watched her all the time. She was just too beautiful to take his eyes off of her for more than twenty seconds when they were in the same room.

He adored how childish she was around him. It made things a lot more exciting and bright around the house. It was like adding laughing gas to the vents of his house. The whole house was in a happy, delirious mood when River-rose was going around sprinkling her 'fairy dust.' Also known as her positive aura.

Her happiness was literally his happiness.

When he wasn't working, it was his aim to at least see two smiles come from her.

When things had been stressful at work, coming home to a house with River in it made his whole day.

He slid behind her as she sucked the meringue off her finger and he held back a groan as he felt his manhood react to her with a small twitch.

She always does this to me and she never realizes it

As she went for one more dip, he placed his mouth next to her ear and grabbed her waist. "What are you doing?" he growled playfully.

She yelped and the bowl of sweet, lemony meringue went sliding across the marble counter. He quickly lunged forward and grabbed it before all that whipping and mixing for the perfect lightness went to waste.

"I-i'm sorry," she whimpered.

He frowned and realized she was thinking about things Nico would have done if he had been the one to catch her doing that.

He hated that guys guts for hurting his sweet bella rose. They had went to court, but it was a quieter, more private affair because River really didn't want her parents to know she been getting abused for years and they hadn't known. They would blame themselves for not noticing and she didn't want that.

Hayze secretly held a grudge on her parents now for that reason. Yes, they had practically given her away for marriage but he couldn't really bring himself to be mad about that because it had been such a blessing for him.

He was more upset over the fact that for years they hadn't noticed that River, their own daughter, was being physically abused.

"I'll be good," she cried.

"River," he said sternly. "Somehow you're going to have to get over that mindset that I'm going to hurt you for doing something that you're not supposed to. And I can't always tell you what to do; you can't let people walk all over you like you don't have a say in things, you aren't still a child. We're husband and wife, you're not my child. I like taking care of you but you do know that you have a say in things, right?"

She bit her lip and looked away in embarrassment. "I guess. I am sorry though."

"I know."

"I'm sorry if I'm annoying you. I don't know why I act like I'm younger than I am. I know it gets ann-"

"No. I don't find it annoying. You shouldn't let people change who you really are because that means they don't really care for you."

River shut her eyes tight when she realized that her not even her own family approved of they way she acted. Hayze was the only one who seemed to really care.

°•○●○•°

Hayze felt oddly uncomfortable watching River trying to sit straight in her chair and keep her elbows off the table. He was having a hard time even watching her eat with a fork and knife because it was like watching a robot that had just come back from a short term of etiquette school.

Everyone else at the table didn't seem to realize that River was putting up an act. In front of her own family.

"River, you look wonderful," her mother said as she placed down her glass of expensive wine. "Hayze, has she been a good wife to you so far?"

Hayze clenched his fists under the table and gave his mother-in-law a charming smile. "She's been a wonderful wife. She makes me happy."

His mother 'awed' quietly and turned to her stone cold husband for a reaction which he didn't give.

"How has business been?" His father asked.

"It's been doing well. I've been getting more requests and River's been helping me as well with planning and things." He turned and gave his wife a small smile and she blushed in response.

"Oh that's good," Hayze's mother clapped. "I'm happy you two are getting along."

Hopefully we can be more than getting along soon. "Yes, we have. Haven't we River?"

She smiled cheekily and nodded. "Uh huh." She bit her lip and looked off into the distance afterwards; a little smile on her face.

Cozi preciozo

He looked at her again and the sight of her biting her lip slowly like that made him excited.

"Um, if you will excuse us for a second. I wanted River to show me her old room for a second." He stood up and River looked up in surprise when his abdomen came into her view. She slowly looked up and smiled shyly at him. "Come."

She scurried off her seat, stumbling off her chair and Hayze quickly steadied her before placing a hand on the small of her back.

"We made lemon meringue for you to enjoy. Its in the fridge I think." He subtly tapped River's bum, telling her to go and she immediately walked off towards her room. He followed closely behind her until he saw a white door with stickers all over it and pencil scratches on the frame of the door. He chuckled when he realized she had been the same height for four years now. She had stopped growing when she was fourteen.

When he stepped into her room, he was immediately hit with the faint scent of her and a bit of old paint. This was the room she had stayed in her whole childhood. This was where she had grown up.

The walls were full of little paintings of birds, flowers and vines and it gave the room a kind of mystical, childish aura. The loft was scattered with sketchbooks and old chapter books that looked like they had each been read at least four times.

"Sorry, its kind of messy," she said as she pushed papers and paint brushes aside.

"It's fine."

She seemed to be in awe of her own room. It was understandable since she hadn't been here for almost two months.

"These paintings are done really well."

She looked at her wall and smiled nostalgically. "Thank you."

When she turned to go up the steps of her loft, Hayze stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach. She squealed when she felt his bulge press into her back and he pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck.

"Hai intenzione di mostrarmi il tuo letto?"

He turned her around and chuckled when she couldn't stop stuttering. He grabbed her chin and guided her head to nod. "Si?" he asked as he raised a brow.

"Si," she said breathlessly.

He laughed quietly and practically purred in happiness. "You don't even know what you're agreeing to but still you say yes?"

"Um... yes," she said unsurely.

He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. "Such a good girl."

He let her grip onto his forearms because obviously he was making her feel a little weak in the knees. "Only I can do this to you, si?" he asked as he nipped at her bottom lip and ran his hands through her hair. It was so long and it fell like silk all the way to the top of her bum.

"H-hayze." She was practically whimpering.

"What's wrong?" he teased. He lifted his head as she tiptoed up to kiss his lips and instead she kissed his collar. "River," he scolded playfully. "You got your lip... what is it, gloss? You got your lip stuff on my collar."

She giggled and tried wiping it away but it just smudged across his collar and she started panicking.

"No," he said seriously. "It was a mistake. It can be cleaned and besides, its hardly noticeable. I'm not mad." He kissed her forehead once to reassure her.

"Show me your bed," he said huskily.

She made her way up the narrow stairs and Hayze had to duck down to fit, whereas River barely had to dip her head. Her loft was cozy and she had a little circular window looking out at the sky.

She had little fake glowing leaves plastered to the ceiling and the room screamed nature. Her name fit her so well.

River wrinkled her nose up cutely and then a little sneeze escaped her which made Hayze bump his head on the ceiling.

He cursed in italian and River was already scrambling to his side. She pulled his head down and he stooped down awkwardly to accomadate whatever she was trying to do.

It was a good thing he excercised his legs or else the way she had him squatted down would have had his legs giving out.

She ran her hands through his hair. "Where did you hurt your head?"

The pain wasn't there anymore but he was going to pretend like it was just so he could feel her touching him for longer. Her small hands running through his hair felt amazing.

He placed her hand on the top part of his head and she carefully sat them down on the bed before she ran her hand over his scalp, smoothing his hair back.

He groaned as she placed a kiss on the top of his head and before she realized it, he was throwing her down onto the bed and pinning her into the cool, baby blue sheets that smelled faintly of her. His hand traced up her hip slowly, making its way up to her neck.

When he noticed the panic on her face, he froze up. "I'm sorry bella rosa. Did i hurt you? Was i too rough?"

She bit her lip and looked away from him. "I-i-i..."

He sighed and carefully backed off of her. Images of the bruises on her neck flashed through his mind and made him shake with anger. "Do you think i would hurt you?"

"No." She looked him dead in the eye and repeated herself. "No. I don't think that. It's just..." She trailed off before getting up on her knees and climbing into his lap, straddling him. His hands fell to her hips and he carresed her slim waist and massaged the dimples in her back. "I don't think we should be doing this in a house with our families in it."

He smirked at her. "So you think we should do it somewhere else?"

She blushed and tucked her face into his neck. "Maybe... when we get home."

He grinned and hugged her tightly to him. "Home?"

"Oh i-"

"I like that. My house is your home."