Nothing Like the First Time (22 page)

“Glad to hear my creation has made you happy!” Aunt Lizzie exclaimed as she joined us in the kitchen.

I turned and wrapped my arms around her neck, hugging her tight.

She pulled back and I could see tears in her eyes.

Aunt Lizzie took my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen and into the living room, where soft music was playing and Katrina stood waiting for us.

We walked in, champagne in hand
, and looked at the beautiful room. It had ribbons and balloons the same as the foyer, and the soft lighting made everything look stunning.

“Ah, ladies and gentlemen
, here they are, the happy couple.”

She raised her glass in our direction and so did the rest of the room.

Grey’s hand rested at the base of my back. I felt his hand run up my spine and wherever he touched, goose bumps followed. He had loved my choice of backless dress and now I was loving it, too.

“A toast, to Greyston and Carly!” Katrina said.

“To Greyston and Carly!” the room erupted.

I felt the blush creep across my cheeks. I wasn’t used to so much attention.

Grey and I lifted our glasses in toast. I took a sip of my champagne and knew I would be taking it easy tonight. I wouldn’t finish my champagne, but nobody would notice. Then I’d be on soft drinks for the rest of the night.

We made our rounds to speak to people and my glass remained full
. Grey didn’t notice when I put it down on a table somewhere.

The evening passed quickly. There was laughter, love
, and much happiness for all our guests. The cake tasted delicious, as I knew it would. We ate until our stomachs would surely burst. Many stories were told about Grey and me growing up. Friends and family told anecdotes about Grey and me as teenagers and how in love we were. They said we still act like young teenagers in love—I think of that as a good thing. I’ve never been more in love with Grey. What we had as teens doesn’t come close to what we have as adults.

We went home and were bot
h still on a high as we pulled into my drive. I decided to run a bubble bath. I went to the bathroom and turned on the tap. I poured in some of my favorite scented bath salts and lit some candles around the room. Grey came in carrying two glasses of wine and set them down on the side of the tub.

Grey stripped down and I couldn’t help but follow his movements with my eyes, I had to drink him all in. No matter how often I see Grey’s body, it always delights me to see his sexy, muscular frame.

“See something you like?” Grey asked as he caught my stare.

“Oh definitely!”

I stripped my dress off and heard Grey’s sharp intake of breath.

“You are so beautiful
, Carls. So very beautiful.”

I walked towards him and took his hand in mine, leading him to the bath
. He got in behind me and wrapped his legs around me. I lay my back against his chest and sank down into the warm water.

“I love you
, Grey.”

“And I love you
, Carls.”

We lay in the bath for a while before topping up some more hot water. Grey caressed my arm almost lazily as we lay there in content silence. I was almost falling asleep when Grey moved
my hair aside to kiss my neck—he made his way slowly down one side and then the other. I was instantly awake again.

One hand moved along my thigh and up between my legs. One
moment Grey was stroking my leg and the next, I felt his finger move inside me. I gasped at the sudden intrusion and positioned myself so that he had better access.

As Grey kissed my neck and moved his fingers inside me, I felt all warm and tingly inside. I began to spiral as the warmth moved lower and the pressure began to build. I turned my head so that Grey could kiss me
, and as he claimed my mouth with his, he thrust harder inside me and that was my undoing.

Feeling sated, yet hungry, I stood and got out of the bath. I wrapped a fluffy white towel around me
and crooked my finger at Grey in a come here motion. He got out of the bath but didn’t bother with a towel as he followed me to the bedroom.

Grey came into the room behind me and I made him sit on the edge of the bed. I got down on my knees between his legs and that hooded look in his eyes told me all I needed to know—he wanted me and loved when I
took the initiative.

I licked him from the base upwards. I
placed a light kiss at the tip and then kissed my way back down him—he was already gloriously hard and I had barely touched him. I repeated the same motion a couple of times before taking the head fully in my mouth. Grey’s sharp hiss gave me indication that he was enjoying what I was doing. I caressed him with my hand as I licked and sucked just the tip of him. I made my way down, taking his whole length in my throat and Grey lay back on the bed. I knelt up a little higher and began working him harder and faster with both my hand and mouth. His heavy breathing was turning me on and I needed to make him come—this was something I enjoyed doing, giving my fiancé such immense pleasure.

His breathing turned to audible moans and I knew he was
moments from exploding. I kept the same rhythm and it was mere seconds before he came, moaning loudly and chanting my name over and over.

I crawled upwards and straddled him on the bed so that I could kiss him. As our lips met, it felt like they were on fire. The kiss was deep and passionate, Grey’s hands were tangled in the bac
k of my hair. He pulled me to him and kissed me more fiercely. I was already horny, but this kiss was driving my desire further.

As Grey’s hands roamed my body, I felt myself become heady with need. A need for this man to be inside me in a way no other could ever compare. I put my hand between my legs and guided him inside
. I gasped at how rock hard he was and how good he felt inside me where he belonged. I was wet and more than ready for whatever he had to give me. I let my hands roam his muscular arms, then down his body before tracing that V shape I loved so much. I found a rhythm moving against Grey that was enough to make us both moan loudly, but neither one of us were ready to come just yet.

I leaned down to claim his lips in a fierce kiss. Grey’s lips roamed down my neck, then my shoulders before kissing his way downwards and claiming one taut nipple i
n his mouth, while playing the other expertly with his deft fingers. He caressed my breasts and moaned in appreciation as I began to writhe harder against him.

“Oh god, ride me
, baby. Ride me hard,” came Grey’s husky voice.

“Like this?” I asked as I increased the rhythm.

“Hell yes!”

Breathy moans were all that could be heard after that until in the same
moment we both came. I’m not sure which of us cried out louder. I rode out the aftershocks as they took my body.

“You, Carly Summers, are the best lover in the world!”

I could feel the blush creep across my already warm face. Grey was the best lover I had ever had and it was wonderful to be appreciated by him.

“Only when I’m with you.”

That dazzling smile spread across his face and I saw all the love in the world in those chocolate eyes.

***

It was only when I lay looking at my engagement ring that I realized I had completely forgotten to give Grey his ring. I had collected it after a call from the jeweler. It lay nestled in a red box in my bedside drawer. I decided now was as good a time as any and reached to retrieve it from where it lay.

“What are you up to?” Grey asked as I leaned over a little further to reach the ring box.

“You’ll see.” I smiled as I put my fingers around the heart shaped box.

I pulled it out of the drawer and turned to Grey.

“There’s something I want you to have. I couldn’t find the right time to give it to you at the party, and then when we got home we… well, you know what we did.”

Grey turned over on his side to look at me.

“You know how much I adore my engagement ring, right?”

“Yes…” he replied cautiously.

“Well, I wanted to give you something special in return.”

“You have
, Carls, your heart. There’s nothing better than that.”

“Maybe that’s true, but I want you to have this,
regardless.”

I lay the red box on the bed between us. Grey looked at it and I swore I saw his eyes sparkle.

Grey opened the box and gasped as he took out the ring. It shone beautifully. It has to be said, black titanium is gorgeous. He inspected the Celtic band and he looked at me with such love.

“Look inside it,” I said in a hushed voice.

“Oh my goodness, Carls. How?”

“How what?” I asked.

“How did you find something so perfect?”

“There was a beautiful little jewelers when I went out
dress shopping with the girls. I looked through his made to order catalogue and found he did black titanium bands with a few designs that could be etched into it. I chose the Celtic band because it’s similar to an infinity symbol in the fact that there’s no beginning and no end. Then I asked him to engrave the words inside.”

“It’s utterly amazing,” he said as he offered me the ring.

For a moment, I wasn’t sure why he was giving it to me but then it clicked and I took it from him.

Grey held out his left hand and I placed the band on his ring finger.

“Thank you,” he breathed as it slipped onto his finger with ease.

“No
, Grey, thank
you
. You are the one who brought such joy back into my hollow life. I don’t know what my life would be without you in it and I never want to find out. We were apart for too long and I will never let you go again.”

He pulled me in for a hug and brushed his lips
across mine.

“You will never be without me again
, Carls, I swear,” he said before he crushed his lips to mine in a hungry kiss fuelled by desire, lust, and most importantly, love.

Chapter Seventeen

I had a doctor appointment the next day. I was up with the sun and decided to sit and work on my newest piece for the local newspaper. I had been given a regular column and had to read tons of mail every week to answer questions. Why? I was the local agony aunt. Not that anyone knew it was me—or at least I hoped not. The
paper had gone with ‘Ask Abby’ as the title for the column, not exactly original. But as boring as the name was, the job was actually quite interesting. I got to read about people’s problems and offer my sage advice—that was a laugh, I wasn’t quite thirty and they were needing my sage wisdom, as though I was much older and wiser. No one knew who I was or how old I was. They used a picture of a model to go with the column because I point blank refused to let anyone know who was behind it.

I started reading a letter about a girl who had a problem of the rather large and serious variety. She’d slept with two brothers on the same night and
was now pregnant. She didn’t know how to tell them about sleeping with the other and how to go about getting the DNA samples without being honest.

Now, I’ve always thought that honesty is the best policy, but sometimes the people who write into the column just want to be told “there, there, it’s going to be al
l right.”

I wrote my response and moved on
to the next letter.

I had done about eight answers to problems when Grey came into the
living room in just his pajama bottoms. It never got old seeing his glorious chest and arms. His bottoms also hung low—I wasn’t sure if he did this on purpose—and I got to admire the beauty of that beautiful V shape I love so much peeking over the waistband.

I smiled up at my fiancé and he smiled broadly at me, saying nothing, before going to put the coffee on.

As he carried two cups of coffee in and sat next to me, he leaned over and kissed me chastely. He knew I was writing for the column and didn’t like to disturb me too much.

“Good morning
, handsome,” I said so softly it was almost a whisper.

“Good morning
, gorgeous!”

“That your column?” he asked
, pointing to the screen.

“Yeah. I have tons more mail but can only answer ten a week. I have two more to go for this week and then I’m done. But I need a shower
, so I’ll do those later.”

“Can I have a look?”

This was new. Grey hadn’t wanted to see them before, as I had been doing them over the last couple of weeks.

“Sure
,” I said, handing over my laptop.

“Why don’t you grab your shower? I promise not to do anything except read.”

“Okay,” I said as I finished my coffee. I always liked to drink it quite hot, not too nice to drink it when it’s cold.

I kissed Grey lightly on the cheek and then went for my shower.

I was feeling good this morning and couldn’t wait to go to see Dr. Hale. She was a lovely lady and her laughter was infectious.

I showered and dressed with a smile on my face. If I was right, Grey and I would both be very happy shortly. I was keeping a secret from him until I knew for sure
, though.

When I returned downstairs, Grey was
sitting in the same place with my laptop still on his lap.

“You’re really good at this. Not that I ever doubted you, but seeing it for myself…”

“Thank you. You haven’t read it for the last couple of weeks since I started though, so why today?”

“I am quite
skeptical of all that kind of nonsense. Or at least I was before now. Most papers have people who give the answers people want to hear, but you—you’re honest, even if it’s not necessarily going to be easy for the person to read.”

“Well
, I was always taught honesty is the best policy. People don’t need someone to lie to them and say it will all be fine, they need someone to say what they really think.”

“Well
, these answers are great,” he remarked as he placed my laptop on the settee and got up to pull me into a hug.

I leaned against his chest and inhaled the mixture of things that made Grey so appealing. I rested my cheek against his shoulder and wrapped my arms around him. I’d love to just grab him and take him back to bed
, but the doctor appointment really couldn’t wait.

“You better go and get dressed if you’re coming to the doctor’s with me,” I said against his neck.

“I guess I should, we don’t want you being late.”

He cupped my face in both hands and brought me in for a kiss. It started off soft and tender, but then he bit my lip playfully and I deepened the kiss. I needed this man like the air that I breathe.

As we broke apart, I was breathless and could feel a warmth spread throughout me—happiness, that’s what this feeling was. That wasn’t a good enough or descriptive enough word, but at its core, that’s what it was.

Grey smiled at me then headed up the stairs for a shower and to get dressed.

**
*

As Dr. Hale greeted me, she asked if Grey was coming in with me. I told Grey to wait in the waiting room for me. He was more than okay with that because on the drive over, I had told him it was ‘lady problems.’

“So, Carly, I believe you’ve come in for a pregnancy test?” Dr
. Hale asked as she sat opposite me.

“Yes
, Dr. Hale. You know my history, my slightly elevated levels of the HCG hormone can cause me to test positive even if I’m not pregnant.”

“So do you think it would be best if we did
a sonogram?” she asked as she looked directly at me. She was nothing if not friendly and straightforward.

“I…I…guess so.” It wasn’t what I’d had in mind
, but I guess there was no better way to know for sure.

“Well
, luckily for you, this is quite a new practice with quite new equipment, in comparison to some around here. Others would need to send you to the hospital, but we have an ultrasound machine here.” She smiled broadly at me.

“So…we can do it now?” I asked
, a little nervous and excited.

“Yes.
I just have to go next door to retrieve it. Would you like your partner to come in?”

“Not yet
, Doctor, I want to know for sure first.”

“Sure thing,” she said as she got up from her seat.

As she left the office via a side connecting door, I looked around the large space. There were the usual things like scales, a bed, blood pressure monitors, all the things a doctor might need. But the space was decorated so that it looked less like a GP’s room. There were photos of Dr. Hale with her family, pictures of Dr. Hale with her colleagues, and most interestingly, a poster with a kitten on the branch of a tree. It read “Hang in there, kitty.”

I was still laughing about the poster as Dr Hale came back in.

“Is it a private joke or can anyone join in?” she asked as she pushed the scanner in front of her.

“Oh
, I was just laughing at your kitten poster.”

“Oh that, my daughter Kerry gave me that, she said she thought it would brighten the patients
’ day.”

“It’s certainly made me giggle. Sorry, I feel silly now.”

“I can tell Kerry it had the desired effect,” she said with a broad smile.

I looked at the ultrasound scanner. I was scared that I was getting my hopes up. I’d done several home tests and all of them said positive, but I’d always had slightly elevated levels of HCG and the tests could be wrong.

I’d lost a baby when Grey and I were teenagers. I always wondered if he would’ve chosen me and the baby instead of the job if I hadn’t had a miscarriage two months before he left. But I’d gone through the pregnancy and miscarriage alone—I hadn’t breathed a word to my family, nor to Grey. I wasn’t going to tell Grey I was pregnant and then have him stay out of duty to the two of us. I planned to tell him if he chose me. If not, I would’ve been a single mother. I know now that that was the wrong thing to do because he deserved to know either way—but I’d miscarried anyway, so no choice had to be made.

I had been heartbroken when I found out I was losing the baby. I had been in pure agony and had rung Dr
. Hale at home. She came straight round and told me what was happening. She was there every step of the way.

My parents knew now and I had told Grey since he’d got back. Needless to say, my family were mad I hadn’t told them, but sad that I had lost the baby and gone through it alone. Grey had broken down crying. He blamed himself for everything. He said it was the stress of knowing I was moving away that caused me to lose the baby—I had told him that sometimes, we’re meant to carry to full term and have a baby and sometimes, the baby just isn’t ready for this world yet. We had both cried over our loss and got it all out of our system together—we would never forget the one we lost, but maybe one day we’d finally conceive another.

We hadn’t been trying to conceive but I had forgotten to take the pill one day when I was ill. All it takes is one missed pill. I thought I had been lucky, but when I felt more symptoms of pregnancy, I had booked a doctor appointment. Maybe I was lucky, but in a different way.

“Let’s get you up on the bed then
, Carly,” Dr. Hale said as she plugged in the machine and got everything ready for me.

As she put the gel on my stomach and ran the scanner over my belly, what I saw on the screen had me speechless.

“Would you like to call your partner in now?” Dr Hale smiled at me.

“Yes
, please. His name is Greyston.”

She went to the waiting room and called for Grey.

They came in and I was behind a curtain.

“Stay there a
moment while I just see to something,” Dr. Hale told him as she came behind the curtain and picked the scanner back up. She ran in over my belly again and found a good spot to show Grey clearly.

“Come on in
, Grey!” I called.

He walked around the curtain and I saw his jaw drop as he noticed me lying there with gel on my belly and a scanner being run over me. Then he looked
at the screen and a single tear dripped down his cheek.

He sat by me and held my hand as he looked between the screen and me in awe.

Dr. Hale asked if we wanted pictures and of course we said yes.

She printed a couple of pictures off and handed them to us.

Grey’s one tear turned to two and then they started streaming down his cheeks. 

The doctor cleaned the gel off my belly and I stood up to throw my arms around Grey.

We thanked Dr. Hale and she told me to go to the hospital for a proper twelve week scan in about four weeks, because she thought I was around eight weeks pregnant already.

Pregnant. I couldn’t believe it. I was pregnant. There
were no words to describe the feeling of elation when I saw that baby on the screen. My baby. Grey’s baby. Our baby.

We walked out of the doctor
’s and got in the car to go home.

“That’s why you didn’t drink the champagne at our
engagement party, or the glass of wine I poured you the same night when we had that bath.”

“Yes. I had done a test that morning. You know that I can test false positive though
, so it was best to go to the doctor and get it confirmed before I told you. I didn’t want to get our hopes up and then have them dashed. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“Don’t be sorry
, baby. You were worried it might be nothing. I can fully understand.”

“
I’ll have to be monitored quite closely because of the baby we lost,” I said quietly. I didn’t want to talk about that and feel the raw pain of it all over again.

“We’ll do everything we can do. You’re already eight weeks gone, that’s further along than you were last time. You need to take it easy
, Carls.”

“I still need to work to pay the bills. Plus, being pregnant doesn’t make me an invalid. I know what my limits are, what I’m capable of and what I’m not.”

“I know you do, baby, but let me do things for you. No heavy lifting, which includes shopping bags. You aren’t to lift anything more than a bag of sugar. Okay?”

I smiled at my overprotective fiancé. He really was the best a girl could ask for.