× Amelia ×

My mother once told me that a man who kissed you in public and was happy to show you off to the world was worth fighting for.

I used to be grossed out by the constant attention my parents paid each other when I was a kid. Every time they would kiss each other full on the lips in front of me, I would say, "Yucky," and laugh.

There was nothing yucky about the kiss Willem placed on my lips before dropping his gorgeous ass on the chair in front of the massage bed I was on.

His white button-down shirt was tucked out of his checkered trousers and the top three buttons were undone. A gold chain with a black rectangular pendant that I hadn't seen before adorned his neck. With his fresh haircut, he looked downright scrumptious.

Scrumptious, a word I rarely used, but to reiterate Lucette's earlier comment given the circumstances it seemed fitting.

My eyelids lowered halfway as the soft relaxing piano music and the scented candles around me lulled me into a deep state of relaxation and zen.

I was lying face down and butt naked on a comfortable bed on the balcony of Willem's bedroom. The ocean was a distance away, so I couldn't hear it over the music playing but I could smell the salt in the warm air.

Earlier we'd eaten steak with potatoes and roasted veggies on the patio and the taste of fine dining still hadn't left my mouth. The malibu pineapple cocktail Francois had served up with it was just perfect.

After that, the same lady who was about to give me a massage — Katherine, that was her name — had given me a manicure and a pedicure.

I didn't know what it was, but a fresh coat of gel polish applied by someone who knew what the hell they were doing was a surefire way to make a woman feel sexy and desirable.

And of course, Willem's intense gaze was a bonus. I pictured his hands on my body instead of Katherine's. I remembered the way he'd grip, hold and flip me over during sex. The confident manner in which he'd do so was the icing on the cake.

Katherine applied pressure in the area between my shoulder blades and I groaned in pleasure and pain.

"How much longer?" Willem asked.

I glanced up at him, wondering if he had extra plans I didn't know about. I found out soon enough what those plans were when Katherine left and he stared across the room at me with purpose and intention flaming in his eyes.

Three long strides later and he stood in front of me. My body softened and I fell into his arms. He drew me in, wrapping me in a storm of his desire and setting my heart ablaze.

He kissed me gingerly and then with a raging hunger I had yet to experience. His hands explored my body, getting rid of my robe and touching me everywhere at once.

We made love on the bed with the balcony doors open. He took me hard and fast, his strokes short and powerful at first. I shattered in his arms and when I thought he was done, he slowed his pace down. His body settled above mine and I opened my legs to accommodate him.

We kissed and he buried himself deep inside my heat. I moaned, rocking my hips beneath him, loving how I could feel every hard inch of him penetrating my wet core.

No words were spoken between us. They weren't needed. Our bodies spoke for us instead.

I miss you. I want to be with you. You make me want to risk it all, to run free and say fuck everyone. You're my fairytale love, the one I thought I would never have. I can see it, us, our future together. It will be messy, ugly, pretty, and romantic. And when life gets hard, I won't leave nor forsake you. With you I know I'll find a perfectly flawed love. I will be seen and I will be desired.

Sweat coated our bodies until we were both too tired to move. I lay down quietly beside him, studying the fine lines at the corner of his captivating gaze.

I would be leaving him at the end of the week. I hadn't quit my job and now I had to go back. Those kids and their parents were relying on me.

Oreo jumped on the bed between us, his black and white fur glistening when he settled down by my ribs. I didn't know what Filo was feeding him, but he'd gotten fat.

Willem touched his round belly and he rolled over to enjoy his belly rub, soft purrs coming from between his exposed fangs.

"I don't want you to go," Willem said slowly, softly, his voice matching the way he was petting Oreo with extreme care. He looked at me with guarded eyes. "But I understand why you have to leave."

I moved closer, draping my leg over his body and laying my head down on his chest.

"Before you go, I want to explain the pictures with Jessie," he said, his voice rumbling from his chest beneath my ears.

"Hmm. You don't have to explain. You told me you saw her that day and I'm working on trusting you."

"Working on it, huh? I thought we were past that, Amelia."

I lifted my head to look at him because I knew by the usage of my name and the tone of his voice that he was serious. "I trust you."

"Good. I trust you too."

The days flew by fast, and before I knew it Filo and Xiomara were helping me pack my suitcase. I never went out to dinner with Xiomara and I felt like a horrible person, especially after she asked me to be her son's godmother.

I took her number and promised to call her. With everything that was going on, I needed a friend. I felt empty in so many ways as if my life before Willem was just a dream from a million lifetimes ago.

Willem had been focusing his energy, sexual and otherwise, on me. I tried my best to relish every second of it while Bradley was still in a coma and Willem was struggling to come to grasp with the reality that Bradley was his brother and not his nephew.

I couldn't help but feel like Bradley was Willem's entire world and that my presence had somehow taken away from that.

I visited Bradley one last time before Willem dropped me and Oreo at the airport. He'd offered to babysit Oreo until I returned but I couldn't bear to be apart from him.

For a long time, it had always been me, Oreo, and my father. Now it was just me and the moody black and white cat.

And Willem?

And Willem.

I'd given love a chance and hopefully, it wouldn't let me down. And maybe, just maybe the fairytales I always believed in weren't just fairytales with unrealistic happy endings.

Getting back into the operating room for Bradley's surgery taught me that life was too short to spend it alone. Life was too short to not give love a chance. Life was too damn short to not spend it with the one person who made my heart pulse and caused my mind to light up with happiness.

✨