Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“Okay, time for you to get lovey-dovey.” Horvat laughed as he took Liam from Isaiah several hours later. “You’ve got a dinner to get to. Go wear each other out. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Alone at last. Mark supposed that other couples would be racing toward the nearest bed at this point. He glanced over at Isaiah, hoping he’d have some direction, some indication of what he expected.
But he only yawned. “They somehow got us reservations for Blue Bayou. We get to watch the pirate boats and then go to the electrical parade. If I can stay awake that long.”
“Parade sounds fun,” Mark offered. “I haven’t done that one since I was a kid.”
“Well let’s do it. I want crème brûlée for dessert too.” Isaiah smiled at him, then laughed. “Can you believe we really did it?”
“No,” Mark said truthfully. And then because he could, because this was his person, his husband, he took Isaiah’s hand as they made their way to the restaurant. And the smile Isaiah gave him as he glanced down at their joined hands was worth everything. All the unknowns. All the internal debate.
And Isaiah didn’t seem to be in any hurry to do more than hold hands, taking his time over dinner, and sticking close to Mark for the parade show.
“Okay, now I’m really tired.” Isaiah rested his head on Mark’s shoulder in the darkened shuttle on the ride back to the hotel.
“To bed.” Mark tried to quiet the trepidation in his gut. Everyone was expecting them to have the standard raunchy wedding night fun when all he really wanted was what they’d had the last few nights—sleepy talk and cuddling.
Back in the hotel room, Isaiah wasted no time stripping down to his boxer briefs and flopping on the bed, so Mark did the same thing, landing next to him.
“Mmm.” Isaiah snuggled into his side. “Do you want to watch a movie before we sleep or too tired?”
Damn. What was the right answer here? Mark made a frustrated noise.
“What’s the matter?” Isaiah rolled so that he could peer down at Mark.
“Everyone thinks... Don’t you want to fuck? I mean it’s our wedding night, right?”
Moving faster than Mark would have thought possible, Isaiah pinned him to the bed, straddling his waist.
“Your friends got to you, didn’t they?” He shook his head. “Man, you guys are competitive as hell. One of them thinks we should break the bed and all of a sudden you’re hell-bent to try. Do you want that?”
It was hard to lie with Isaiah holding him down like this, eyes all intent. “Not really,” he admitted. “I mean, I want you. Want to be close but...”
“You do get that it’s not anyone else’s business what we get up to—or not—in the bedroom? Right?”
“I know that. I just worry that you deserve—”
“I deserve you. And our sex life is just that. Ours. Maybe someday you get comfortable, you tell more than just Bacon that you’re demisexual or gray ace. But you don’t have to. This isn’t a competition. Or a script. We don’t need to invite their opinions and assumptions into our private space.”
“But don’t you like fucking?”
“I like making love.” Isaiah put extra emphasis on each word. “And you’ve shown me that that can come in a variety of forms, not all of which have orgasms attached. I’ve had fucking. It’s great and it’s fun and I did enjoy when you nailed me to the bathroom wall. Feel free to do that again sometime if the mood strikes you. But what made it truly great was how I felt about you. That’s what I care about. Making love. With you. And maybe sometimes that means a massage and sometimes it means something else.”
“I love you.” Mark broke free of Isaiah’s hold rather easily, yanked him down for a kiss. “So much. I just don’t want you disappointed. Not tonight especially. If you need—”
“I don’t.” Isaiah kissed him back. “I wasn’t lying about being exhausted. It’s been a whirlwind couple of days. And now I get to sleep all night without baby duty, and we’ve been ordered to have breakfast in bed tomorrow. That sounds pretty spectacular to me. Work in some kissing, maybe a shower together in the morning, and I’m a happy, happy guy.”
“I can do that.” Mark pulled him close, let Isaiah stretch out on him. “Mmm. I want you to fall asleep exactly like this.”
“See?” Isaiah kissed his neck “We’re perfect together.”
* * *
Isaiah slept a full nine hours his first night as a married guy and loved every second of it, waking up draped around Mark, who seriously was the best body pillow ever.
“I miss the shower in the master,” Mark said as he cuddled Isaiah close. Knowing him, he’d probably been awake awhile, but he’d let Isaiah sleep, which was sweet of him. “I’m not sure we’re both going to fit in this one. And you wanted to shower together...”