Chain Reaction 2.86: The Embodiment

     A long flight later finds Alex and me at Island Falls. A limo takes us to a nice beach house. We're going to be staying here for a long, blissful month.
     "Do you like it?" Alex asks with hope in his voice.
     I smile, just happy to be here, just happy to be with him, happy to be married to him, wondering at how lucky I am that someone as wonderful as he is loves me. "Sure."
     He holds out his hand. "Come and have a closer look."

      We go through a security gate, and he shows me the enormous movie screen setup set up in the middle of the pool. We stand in awful lighting that totally washes us out. The Maker did a mediocre job in Photoshop to get us to where my dress wouldn't blind everyone looking at the picture. This is the only picture she got.
     "This is crazy." I look at him and laugh. A television set up this close to a swimming pool? That's asking for it.
     "This is something the previous owner did with it. We can change it if you like."

     He takes me upstairs to the main living area. "The previous owners included all the furniture in the price, so I think that does make it easier."
     "The rental price?" I ask, confused. Of course they would include furniture for their tenants, right?
     He blinks a few times and looks at me in a curious way. "The purchase price. I bought it, Emily."
     I turn from where I'd been looking at picture on the wall. "You bought it?" My mouth hangs open.
     He scratches the back of his head. "Well, yeah. I guess if you don't want to keep it, we could sell it. I wanted to surprise you." He smile sheepishly. "Surprise."
     A little noise of happy shock escapes me before I throw my arms around his neck. Then, I start laughing. "You... you bought... you bought a house to surprise me. Most men just buy flowers."
     "I thought that by now you'd have figured out that I'm not most men." Then, he gives me a look that makes my insides clench up. If he doesn't kiss me soon, I'll... He does.
     As he kisses me, I get a little lightheaded thinking about the fact that I'm married to Alex. Married to Alexander Goth. He's wonderful, and he's mine.
     He pulls me toward a door. "Have a look."
     I smile and turn the knob, but the room behind the door isn't what I expect.

     "They had a son, so, uh, it's a spare room. We can do whatever you want with it." He smiles nervously.
     "I like it just the way it is," I reply and throw my arms around his neck again. After a too-short kiss, I wiggle out of his arms and want to discover what's behind the other door. He watches me walk past him with a look of hunger in his eyes.

     Seeing me open the door and step into the room, he says, "Yes, please do figure out what's in that room." He starts loosening his tie. I have to fight to keep back a giggle.

     I look out the window. "Well, that's the million dollar view."
     Alex ignores the view, walking in front of me instead. "I'm sure it is, but right now, I don't care. I've been waiting entirely too long to peel you out of that dress. The only view I want is you naked under my hands."
     He doesn't give me a chance to react to his bold statement before he's all over me, pushing me back against the bed.

    I have never been so happy. I hope this lasts forever.

      There's a great restaurant right next door, so we become frequent patrons.

      I love my husband, and I love that I can call him my husband. He just... He has a way of speaking that oozes charm. And he loves me. How did I get so lucky?

      After dinner, he pulls me back behind the house so that we can dance on the beach. The restaurant is playing music in the background, but we can barely hear it. It doesn't matter. I'd bet Alex could dance even without music. After a while, we just stop and sway on the spot in a kind of mobile cuddling.

     "Are you happy?" he asks me.
     The question takes me by surprise--but not enough to make me want to lift my head off his chest. I like this. So, I answer in the way that first comes to mind. "I'm in heaven."
     "Really?" He sounds ecstatic, kind of how he might've sounded when he was fifteen or so, innocent and full of hope.
     I laugh quietly. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? You certainly know how to show a girl a good time, Mr. Goth."
     His voice is choked up when he replies, "All I've ever wanted, I have right now. You are the embodiment of all my hopes and dreams." His thumb runs across my knuckles while my insides melt.

      I continue my earlier statement. "And you know how to make a woman swoon simply by the power of your words."
      He takes his turn chuckling. "I just say what's on my mind."
      "Then you have a very romantic mind."
      "I guess I do, especially if it concerns you. I just have so much emotion inside me that it spills out."
      "I love that. I just wish I could reciprocate as nicely as you give it to me."
      "As long as you keep being you, that's all, everything that I need." We're quiet for a long while as we listen to the water from the lagoon lapping against the shore. The wind has a cooling effect, and I snuggle closer to my husband.
     Eventually, he speaks again. "Are you still wanting to start a family?" The question knocks the breath out of me. I wasn't expecting that right now. Since I don't answer, he keeps talking. "Because I just want you to know that I want whatever you want. Yes, I would love to see your belly growing with my child, but it doesn't have to be if you've changed your mind from what you'd said earlier." He gets quiet, and I feel that he won't say anything else until after I speak.
     "All I know is that I do want a baby. One. I don't know beyond that."
     He kisses the top of my head. "I'm glad. But I hope you don't want one immediately. We have time. You're young, and my age is not an issue." He pauses. "Of course, if you want to start now, we will. I will move heaven and earth just to make you happy, Emily. I'm only saying all this because I want you all to myself for a while before I have to share you."

      This makes me lift my head. "Share me?" I ask with a joking undertone.
      "Yes," he replies a little too seriously. One of his hands comes up to stroke my cheekbone. The hand travels down my neck to glide down the side of my breast before passing my waist and ending at my behind. As his hand moves, he whispers, "Just mine." The way he presses against me tells me we're soon going to be headed to the bedroom...if we make it that far. For now at least, he leans down to kiss my neck. I open my eyes and notice how gorgeous the moon looks tonight...

     ...before Alex expertly distracts me.

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Because it's my job to look for these things, I can't believe I screwed up and had Alex at the beginning of the chapter in a tux different from the one he got married in, so I apologize. These pics were taken 2 months previous from the release date. Normally, I check, but I guess I didn't. :)

Now, how many of you actually noticed?

I changed my Granite Falls to Island Falls. Their honeymoon house is Strandhaus Tropicana (4) by LiLaLu72.

Next chapter, we hear from Drake. :)

Click here to go to 2.87
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