I made a slow walk to the front door, giving him time to cover the short distance from his room to the entrance way so he could meet me. As I pushed the door open I saw his blonde head come round the corner at the end of the hallway. A beautiful smile stretched across his face that I couldn’t help but mirror.
Today was a big day. Today Clay was coming home.
“Hey, beautiful girl!” he chirped as he got up to me and wrapped his arms tight around my waist.
“Hey, baby.” I hugged him back, still being careful of him. It scared me, being close to him, just in case I hurt him or something. I sighed contentedly as his familiar smell filled my lungs. I hated to leave him at nighttime’s, but I wasn’t allowed to stay here with him at the centre. Tonight would be the first time in two months that I would get to sleep in a bed with the love of my life, and I couldn’t wait to fall asleep in his arms.
He pulled back and cupped my face in his hands, his green eyes burning into mine, they showed a happiness that had been growing more and more each day. He’d been counting down the days until he could come home, it had felt like forever but finally it was here.
“I had a dream about you last night,” he whispered, kissing my lips gently.
I smiled against his mouth, as I gripped the side of his shirt, wanting desperately to pull him closer to me, to crush his body against mine. We hadn’t been together for a long time, not through lack of him wanting to though. He’d practically been begging for attention but I just couldn’t bring myself to take things further than a quick fumble with him. I was terrified of hurting him, what if it was too soon and it caused him more problems? That thought never left my mind and made me feel slightly sick. It’s not that I didn’t want his body because damn, Clay Preston was a serious hottie, he literally drove me crazy with desire but I loved him too much to rush anything.
“Oh you dreamt about me? What were we doing?” I teased, raising one eyebrow at him.
He smirked at me, kissing me again lightly. “This,” he whispered, pulling me closer to him. “And this,” he purred, kissing my neck making my stomach get butterflies. “And this.” His hands slipped down to my ass, squeezing gently.
I tried to control my body’s urges and rein in my raging hormones, but it was hard. “Oh really? Right in the middle of the reception?” I asked breathlessly, as his tongue trailed up the side of my neck.
He laughed and pulled back, “No, we were back in Vegas actually.”
I smiled when he mentioned Vegas, jeez I wish I was back there with him right now. It felt like we were different people back then, two teenagers without a care in the world, not like now.
“Maybe we could go there again one day. You could win some more money at cards!” I teased, pulling away as he nibbled on my earlobe.
He grinned and took my hand, nodding. “Definitely.”
I raked my eyes over him slowly, taking in every flawless inch of him. He looked so handsome today in just a plain grey t-shirt and light blue jeans, his hair was getting a little long and he kept brushing it back off of his forehead. I’m betting that will be one of the first things he wants to do when he gets home, have a haircut, he hated his hair getting long.
“Shall we get started then, Clay?” I asked, nodding back towards where the training room is. He smiled and nodded, leading me through the hallway toward the changing room so we could do his last training session before he was finally discharged.
After two hours of swimming and him doing some weights and resistance training, he was finally signed out of the centre to be an outpatient. They’d given him a training routine that he was to continue with on his own. I smiled when I scanned it over, swimming was on there five days a week. That was definitely my favourite thing we did together, I also liked the massages I had to give him after to relax his muscles. I’m just glad he couldn’t see my face when I was doing that, I would imagine that I looked like some sort of desperate horny beast or something when I rubbed my hands over his body.
After we packed up his stuff, I sat on the bed watching as he checked all his cupboards, making sure he had everything. He liked to have independence, I think he liked that I let him do little things like this on his own, instead of fussing over him too much. He’d told me that the way his mother fussed over him, made him feel less of a man in some way, I didn’t ever want to make him feel like that so I wanted him to do what he could.
Clay had finally started speaking to his parents again a couple of weeks ago. I think because he was getting better he had decided to try and get on with them, if things hadn’t worked with the operation, I’m betting that things would be very different. I’m pretty sure that if he was in a wheelchair then he would always have in the back of his head of what could have been, so he wouldn’t be able to see them again. Things were strained with them, everyone a little uncomfortable because although he was talking to them, he hadn’t forgiven them.
I personally hadn’t forgiven them either and I don’t think I ever would be able to. I had always liked Linda and Richard, but when I looked at them now, all I could see was them letting down their son and being selfish. The way that Linda had dismissed my relationship with her son had hurt me to the core, and I would never be able to forget it. So I put on a fake smile and pretended, if I had to do that for Clay so he could have a relationship with his parents, then that’s what I’d do.
When he looked like he was finally done packing up, I went to get up off of his bed but he shook his head, putting his hand on my shoulder. “No way, Riley bear. If this is the last time I’m in this room then I’m so making the most of the bed before we go,” he stated, smirking as he stepped closer to me, his face inches from mine.
My mouth started to water at the thought of his body but I couldn’t do that, not yet, not until he was completely ok. He kissed me hard, moving closer to me so I had nowhere to go but onto my back on the bed. He grinned against my lips as he lowered himself down on top of me, kissing me deeply. The kiss was so good it made me feel like my toes were curling up.
I moaned into his mouth as his hand slid down my body, gripping my thigh, moving my leg so it wrapped around his body. I instantly panicked that I would hurt him and pulled away quickly.
H groaned and put his face in the side of my neck. “Riley!” he whined.
I stroked the back of his head, “I’m sorry. I just…..Clay, it’s just……” I mumbled.
He sighed and kissed my neck gently, “Yeah, I know.”
I gripped my hand in the back of his hair. “I just want to wait a little while. Just in case. I’m sorry,” I said honestly. I really was sorry, this whole situation was my fault and maybe I was just making it worse for him instead of helping him. Maybe I should just give him what he wants, goodness knows I wanted it too.
“You don’t have to be sorry, Riley bear. I know what you’re thinking about, and it’s ok,” he whispered, kissing me again. He rolled off of me and gripped his arms around my waist, pulling me on top of him instead. I instantly took my weight on my hands and knees so I didn’t hurt him. He laughed and ran his hands down my back, gripping my ass and pulling me down onto him. “I know you’re worried about hurting me, but I think this position would work really well. I could just lie back and let you do all the work,” he teased, waggling his eyebrows at me.
I laughed uncomfortably, “Clay…..just a little longer. Please?” I begged, I needed him to stop doing this to me because every time he did my will to say no crumbled a little more.
He smiled his sexy little smile that I loved so much and nodded. “Know what I really dreamt about last night?” he asked, changing the subject.
I lowered myself down on him a little more, but still being careful. “What baby?”
He smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear, his fingertips brushing across my cheek lightly, making my skin tingle where he touched. “We were in Vegas like I said, but we’d just got married again.”
I smiled, “We did?” I asked, my heart was starting to drum in my chest again. I didn’t think Clay wanted to marry me again, usually whenever I mentioned it he changed the subject immediately. Maybe he felt a little rushed, maybe he was secretly glad we weren’t married so young.
He nodded and kissed the tip of my nose. “Yeah, and you looked beautiful in your white dress.”
I gulped, was he ready to talk about it now? “I didn’t think you’d want to marry me again….”
He frowned and looked at me like I was crazy. “Riley are you kidding me? Of course I want to marry you again, you’re the love of my life. I just wanted to wait a little while before we spoke about it, I just wanted to make sure that you were ok being tied to someone like me.”
Someone like him? He thought he was doing this for me again? Did he really still not understand how much I loved him? “Why wouldn’t I want to be tied to the most perfect boy in the world?” I asked, trailing little kisses along the line of his jaw, making his hands tighten on my hips.
He moaned breathlessly, pulling on my ass again so I pressed against his crotch harder, I could feel how excited he was and I started to feel guilty again. He was a guy and he hadn’t had any physical attention for eight weeks, this was probably killing him.
“I was wondering, Riley bear….” He trailed off as I bit his chin lightly.
“Wondering what, Clay?” I whispered, licking the rim of his ear.
“Shit Riley, I can’t concentrate while you’re doing that!” he moaned. I laughed and pulled away from him slightly, looking him in the eyes, nodding for him to continue. He took a deep breath, looking a little nervous as he took my left hand, rolling my engagement ring around my finger. I wasn’t wearing my wedding ring anymore, I’d taken it off and had it handing on my necklace instead, because technically we weren’t married. Clay refused to take his off though.
“Riley, I know I already asked you once before and you said yes, but things have changed a little since then….” I swallowed loudly, was he going to say what I think he was going to say? “….But I love you more than anything in the world. I will always love you, and I wondered if you would do me the honour of marrying me……again.”
I couldn’t breathe, I felt the smile stretch across my face as a hundred butterflies seemed to take flight in my stomach. Clay Preston wanted to marry me again and I couldn’t be happier about it. He was just looking at me worriedly, and suddenly I realised I hadn’t actually answered his question.
I bent my head and kissed him softly, relishing in the feel of his lips against mine. Kissing Clay just seemed to make everything right in the world. With his lips against mine I felt like the luckiest and most special girl in the world because the most amazing boy loved me and wanted me. He kissed me back immediately, tangling his fingers in the back of my hair, pulling me impossibly closer to him.
By the time I pulled away we were both a little breathless. I looked him right in the eyes and smiled, “Of course I’ll marry you again, Clay,” I whispered. He really had no idea how much I loved him, I would do anything for him and yet he still worried that I would change my mind. Maybe he’d gone crazy or something.
He laughed, grinning as ran his hand down my back. “Thank you Riley bear. I’m gonna be a great husband, you won’t regret it.”
I brushed my nose against his lightly, “I know what kind of a husband you’ll be, baby.” He would be the best husband in the world, I knew that from personal experience.
* * *
Clay’s POV
I couldn’t be happier, I had the girl of my dreams sitting on top of me and she’d just agreed to marry me again. Nothing could make this moment better. I trailed my hand down her back until I got to the waistband of her jeans. Scratch that, we could be na**d, that would make this moment better!
“Are you ready to go, baby?” she asked, stroking my face softly.
I nodded, I couldn’t wait to get out of this place. I’d been here for six weeks and although it was a nice place, I just needed to get out, be with my girl in familiar surroundings, start to move on from this and look to the future.
She smiled and pushed herself off of me, I resisted the urge to pull her back down on top of me again, I had missed her like crazy last night, the same as I had done every night since she first left when I was in the hospital. Riley felt like home to me, and I couldn’t get enough of her time or attention. She held down a hand to me and I took it, letting her help me off of the bed and onto my feet. I hated that I needed help for things, but I guess there was nothing I could do about it. I just needed to accept that until everything was back to normal then there would be little things that would have to change. My body was getting stronger everyday, if I carried on with the training the way I had been then in a few months everything would be perfect again.
She went to grab my suitcase so I took her hand, kissing the engagement ring that she still wore, before taking the handle of the case. It was a pull along so I wouldn’t have to lift it anyway, she was just being over cautious as usual.
I said my goodbyes to all of the staff on my way out, ignoring the one nurse that I tried to stay away from because she was an obsessive flirt. She really was terrible, she wasn’t too bad in front of Riley but in the evenings she was boarding or sexual harassment. I couldn’t keep the grin off of my face as I walked out of the front door for the last time, heading over to Riley’s car. She was obsessively tapping away on her phone, she looked so happy that it made my heart drum in my chest.
Riley drove us back to her parent’s house. We were going to be staying there for a while so I could recover little more. Our apartment was on the second floor, so Sarah and Brian had offered to let us stay at their house for a month or so, so I wouldn’t have to trudge up and down stairs to get home each time. Apparently they’d converted one of the downstairs rooms into a bedroom for us.