Chapter 193

I had not meant to bring up the subject of sexual fidelity. But that’s what I did, by accident.

That’s what a wedding ring represents, isn’t it? And here I had gone and asked my husband if he ever took his ring off. Just after we reunited after being separated.

“No,” I answered, shaking my head. “I’ve never taken my ring off, not since you gave it to me. When I thought you really wanted to divorce me, I thought about it. But it seemed wrong and sad and I never could do it. And I didn’t mean to imply anything by asking you that…”

He arched an eyebrow. Said nothing. And kept watching me, with less and less patient curiosity, as I continued on with my efforts to remove his wedding ring.

My little plan was not going super smoothly so far.

“Yena. Why are you trying to take that off?”

“Hush,” I said, giggling nervously. “I will explain in just a minute. I only want to take it off for a second, okay?”

“Okay.” An amused smile tugged at his lips, but his eyebrows still looked stern.

“Why didn’t you get a ring that fit you better?”

“It fits me perfectly. For a ring I don’t take off.”

Finally I took Nolan’s hand and brought it to my face, put his ring finger all the way into my mouth and got my lips around the ring to wet and loosen it.

His chest rumbled with a low growl and he mumbled, “Oh, fuck.”

His body stiffened and started edging closer to mine while I tongued and sucked on the ring until it came loose. I withdrew his finger from my mouth and slid the ring off the rest of the way by hand. He seemed to have stopped caring about why I was doing what I was doing.

I laughed quietly, this time with enjoyment.

I had to climb over Nolan’s body to get out of the bed, since three sides of it were flush to the walls of our narrow little room on the train. I pushed his hands away when they tried to keep me there on top of him. “Give me a minute,” I said again, and he let me go reluctantly.

Once off the bed, I got down on one knee beside it.

Nolan sat upright. He turned his body to face me and planted his feet on the floor, one on either side of me, so I was kneeling in between his knees.

Then I took off my own rings. I had two of them, and they interlocked. My engagement ring with the big diamond, and the matching wedding band. I held all the rings together in one hand.

“Nolan,” I started, “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Yena.” He reached out and pushed a loose curl behind my ear, then let his hand linger to stroke the underside of my chin.

I closed my eyes. “That’s good, but shush. I have a whole thing to say to you right now.”

“Oh. Okay. Sorry, Princess. Go on.” He pressed his lips together, suppressing another amused smile.

I beamed. An involuntary reflex, just something that happened when he called me that.

“After we talked last night,” I continued, “I realized something. You and I need a fresh start. I need you to really believe me when I tell you that I want nothing more than to be with you. The last time we got married, you were the one who chose me. I want to give this ring back to you today, and have you put mine back on me, knowing that this time, I am the one choosing you.”

Nolan’s bright smile returned, breaking across his face all at once.

I took our rings and held them up between us.

“Let’s renew our vows. We could have another wedding. Something little and simple this time, of course. I don’t want to keep worrying about the past. Our future will be different. Nolan… will you please marry me—again?”

He snatched my hands into his and used them to pull my entire body up and onto his lap, and kissed me.

“Yes,” he said into my mouth. “I’d love to marry you again.”

I sat into his lap comfortably, wrapping my legs around his torso. Somehow he had done a magic trick, stolen the rings out of my hand while distracting me with that kiss.

He handed his ring back to me and then held out his left hand so I could put it back on him.

“You’re tricky.” I snatched the ring back and started trying to slide it onto his finger.

“Oh. You have no idea.” He smiled deviously.

I struggled with the ring again. It did not want to go over his bottom knuckle. For practical purposes as well as for fun, I brought his hand back to my mouth and licked his finger all over to get it wet again. It worked; I was able to push the ring into place after that.

Nolan slowly shook his head back and forth while I did all that, and I started feeling some movement between his legs. I wanted to feel that some more… so I sat down into his lap more deeply.

His body was stiffening, but he remained on task enough to take my left hand in his and delicately slide my rings back onto my wedding finger. Then he kissed my knuckles ceremoniously, gazing up at me with a very serious look in his emerald eyes.

I petted the soft scruff on the sides of Nolan’s face. He had not shaved this morning, I think simply because he was distracted in the hotel room and didn’t think of it. But I loved it when he let his fast-growing beard stay for a little while. He was impossibly handsome either way, but the scruff made him look wild. I liked the way it felt on my skin, too.

He broke out into another big smile.

“What?”

He laughed, brought a hand up to my neck and pulled my face in close to his. When our lips were just barely touching, he said, “I just adore you.”

Then he kissed me, deeply and frantically like he wanted to eat me alive.

The hand on my neck swept to the back of my head and he clutched me to him hard. His tongue moved inside my mouth in a familiar, aggressive rhythm that started making me feel weak and wobbly. The hand that wasn’t grasping a fistful of my hair roved my backside, stoking and groping my curves.

I came up for air when I could, catching breath in little gasps. It seemed like Nolan didn’t need to breathe. Not when he could be losing himself in kissing me like this.

I took one of his hands and guided it in between my legs.

Finally he tore his mouth away from mine. We locked eyes while his fingers started to explore.

His mouth fell open and he trembled a little when he felt how wet I was.

“I adore you, too.” My voice came out breathy and quiet.

Finally, it seemed like he really believed me.