Marrying the Marine-epub (23 page)

“Good morning, Taylor,” she said warmly as she passed the glass cases displaying assorted desserts.

Taylor smiled, then slid a fresh caramel pecan pie into the case. “Good morning, Sandella.  Last night after you left, we got a huge order for a wedding.”

She paused in her tracks.  “How huge?”

“They need a wedding cake that feeds one thousand people.”

“One thousand people! Who’s getting married?”

“Richmond Spaulding.”

Sandella gasped. While she’d never had the opportunity to meet the wealthy millionaire, Richmond Spaulding, she’d heard an awful lot of nice things about him. He was the most eligible   bachelor in this small town and throughout the states.  She’d also heard that the women in Hilton Head Island were constantly throwing themselves at him, or at least vying for his attention.

“When’s the wedding?”

“In three weeks.”

“Three weeks!”

Taylor nodded. “Mr. Spaulding’s fiancée wants you to come by the home, that’s if you can, for a consultation.”

“I’d be more than happy to go meet with her. I’ll call her later to schedule an appointment.” Sandella perused the small sitting area for her customers, then as she headed toward her office a wave of nausea churned in her stomach.

Entering her office should provide her with a sense of peace, pride, and joy, she thought, closing the door behind her. But considering she didn’t have Braylon to celebrate with, the only thing she felt was sadness. She flopped down on the peach leather couch adjacent to her desk and rubbed a hand over her belly.

What if I’m pregnant?
She separated the flaps of her purse, reached inside, and pulled out the early pregnancy test. For weeks now she hadn’t been feeling herself, but had chalked it up to her horrible situation involving Braylon and Madison. However, now, with her period two weeks late, she’d finally stopped by the drugstore on her way to work this morning and gotten the darn test. 
If I’m pregnant, I’m not going to tell him. I don’t want him with me just because I’m pregnant.
She sighed. 
That’s dumb to even think such a thing. He wanted me before, and had asked me to marry him. He loves me. I can feel it in my heart.   

Just as Sandella stood to go take the pregnancy test, her desk phone rang. She tossed the test back into her purse. “Hello.” It was Taylor.

“Mr. Spaulding is on the other line and he wants to know if you can come by his house this morning to speak with his fiancée, Leila.”

Getting a big business opportunity like this brought a cheerful smile to her face.  “Please put him through to me.”

By the time Sandella had ended her phone call with Mr. Spaulding and the morning rush crowd had come and gone, it was high noon and she was exhausted. She told Taylor to hold her calls, kicked off her shoes, and plopped down on the sofa to relax. With her elbow propped up on the edge of the sofa, her nipples felt sore, and her eyelids began drifting. 

Braylon hovered over Sandella while she lay with her back pressed into the cushions of the couch. As heat swarmed inside her love canal, she spied the door and noticed she’d failed to lock it.  Dear Lord, what if Taylor or one of her other employees walked in on her and Braylon about to make sweet love? “Braylon, wait,” she moaned.

He eagerly zipped down his jeans. “I’ve waited long enough.” He yanked her skirt up to her hips, pushed her panties to the side, and inserted two of his big fingers into her opening.

“We can’t. Not in here,” she moaned, pressing her pubic bone against his tormenting hand and causing his fingers to slip deeper.

“I want you. Now. And I’m not taking no for an answer. I’ve missed your sweet, delicate pussy, Sandella.” His sensual words stirred her, aroused her, made her wetter.  

Unable to refuse his request, she parted her quaking thighs and let herself sink into the whirlwind of pleasure he bestowed her with.  He crushed his mouth into hers, then slid his tongue to the back of her throat. As his thick fingers plunged her essence, their tongues curled and lapped and sucked. It’d been so long, too long, since she’d felt his dominating male physique on top of her and his sheathed cock grinding her belly.

Sweat saturated her back, and oh…oh…oh, Goooddd! Her breathing heightened. Just as she was about to come, he pulled his fingers from her entrance, sniffed them, then one by one he sucked off her creamy fluid. 

He reached inside his pants and pulled out his heavily veined shaft. The engorged head looked delicious and made her mouth water. “Do you miss this?” he asked, fisting the beast. He grazed her arm with his steely tool. Tremors of delight pimpled her arms and her nipples snapped into tight buds.

“Yes, baby. I miss you, so much, baby. Please, please,” she begged, writhing with the need to be fucked by him. “Please make love to me.”

“I miss you too, baby.” He dropped hard kisses on her forehead, then plunged deep inside her wet cunt.

Arching his back, he stroked…and stroked…and stroked her deliciously.

As his massive cock stretched her walls bringing her sheer pleasure, she dug her nails into his back. A few moments later a shallow cry rolled off her tongue and she exploded around the thick circumference of his stroking member.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

“Sandella. Wake up. Look outside.”

Sandella’s eyes fluttered open. Slouching on the sofa, she crossed her legs and felt herself having an orgasm. Her sensitive womb was shattering into a million pieces. She rolled her head backward and cupped her opened mouth.  “Ahhhh!”

“Hurry up or you’re going to miss it!” Taylor shouted.

“Miss what?” She flung open the door.

Taylor ran over to the window and opened the blinds. She pointed up at the sky.  “That!”

When Sandella gazed up at the sky, her breath caught in her throat. “Oh my God!” A jet was flying high in the sky writing a message. It read:
Sandella, will you marry me?
“I don’t understand. I—”

“I love you,” came the deep voice from behind.

She whirled to find Braylon standing in her office looking just as sexy now as he had a few moments ago in her dream, her wet dream.  The black cotton shirt he wore snugged tightly against his ripped chest muscles, and the black denim jeans did little to hide the knot pressing against his zipper.

“Braylon.” His name slipped softly from her lips. What was he doing here in the flesh? She tried hard not to get her hopes up.

“Taylor, I’d like to speak with Sandella alone.”

With a huge smile displaying at the corners of her mouth, Taylor nodded then flew out of the room.

Braylon shut the door. “I got the results back from the paternity test,” he said, getting straight to the point. “He’s not mine.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me again if I wasn’t. I’m so sorry, baby, for keeping the truth from you. I was wrong for doing that, but my love, I didn’t want to hurt you until I was certain.” He got down on one knee, reached in his pocket, and presented her with the diamond he’d given her while at the house a few weeks ago. “Again, will you marry me?”

“I think I’m pregnant,” she blurted.

His eyes stretched wide. “Grandma said that you were.”

“She did? But I didn’t tell her. I haven’t told anyone. I haven’t even taken the test to confirm it yet. How did she know?”

He chuckled. “She said she had a dream about fish which means someone close to you is pregnant. You’re the only person she could think of.” He looked down at the ring, then recaptured her face. “Are you going to answer the question? I want you to marry me, and I promise, I’ll never hurt you again.”

The mere fact that Braylon had been willing to leave her if Drayton was his disturbed her, and she fought hard to bring herself to grips with the fact. But considering his past with his father had once nearly destroyed him a part of her had to understand. “So you promise you’ll never hurt me again.”

“I swear. You have my word. Just say you’ll marry me, baby. I’m begging you to take me back.”

A soft whimper escaped her. “Yes. I’ll marry you, Braylon.” He slid the ring up her finger.  She looked up at the ceiling and let the tears slip from her eyes.

He stood and cradled her wet face in his large hands. “I can’t wait to share the rest of my life with you. Now let’s go to the store to get a pregnancy test.”

“I already have one in my purse.”

“Let’s take it now.”

She nodded. She walked over to her desk drawer, reached into her purse, and grabbed the pregnancy test.

Three minutes later, Sandella came out of the restroom, smiling.

“So what are the results?”

She placed a hand on her stomach.  “I’m pregnant.  Are you sure you can handle a new wife with mood swings?”

Braylon’s face split into a happy grin. He strode over to her, draped an arm around her waist, and kissed her lips. “Not only am I sure about you and the baby, but I’m ready to begin my life with you.  I want you to move in with me, today. Will you please do that for me and for him?” He lowered a flat palm to her belly. 

“What makes you think it’s a boy?”

“Because, baby, the Wexler men are known for their dominant
y
chromosomes.” He now placed both his hands on her belly and held her to his chest like he never planned on letting her go.

Fourth of July, nine months later.

S
andella stood at the sliding glass door of her Victorian style home in Harbor Island admiring the beauty of her backyard. The hot sun shined down on the glistening river. A white luxury yacht sailed by, making its way toward Hilton Head Island. Barbeque-scented smoke spiraled from the grill up into the summer air. The day seemed perfect, she thought, beaming in delight.

As Braylon stood on the wooden deck of their home grilling shrimp, chicken, ribs, and steak, she pulled back the sliding glass door, strolled through the patio, and stopped when she reached the middle of the deck. Making an effort to fashion him a pretty smile, she caressed the swell of her protruding pregnant belly. “Sonny just arrived,” she said, referring to Braylon’s middle brother. 

Braylon’s face lit up as he returned her smile. He lowered the cover on the grill, walked up to Sandella, and slipped his tongue into her mouth. As she savored the salty flavor rolling off his tongue, her body tingled with need.
Mmmm.
She could never get enough of her husband.

“I can’t wait to eat your pussy after they leave,” he breathed against her soft, sweet lips.

Laughing against his mouth, she playfully hit his arm. “Do you ever think of anything else?” she asked, loving the man she’d married.

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Getting you pregnant, over…and over…and over again. As soon as you pop this one out,” he rubbed circles over her full belly, “and after you get your six-week checkup, I want to start trying again.”

Smiling, she fisted her hips. “Six weeks?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Get in here you two lovebirds!” Her brother, Aric, shouted from the kitchen. 

Sandella’s heart filled with joy when she and Braylon entered their formal dining room to find Willa, Drake, Royce, her brothers, her father, and the rest of the Wexler men crowded around the long, rectangular table. Everything looked so festive.

A square cake with fireworks was centered on the table. Red, white, and blue balloons floated to the ceilings. And Fourth of July plates, napkins, and cups decorated the side table.

“Where’s Caroline?” Braylon probed.

Aric confirmed, “Oh, she and Chandler went horseback riding.”

Braylon’s brows dipped. “I hope Chandler’s not trying to make a move on my baby sister.”

Kane squinted.  “Why not? You made a move on his.”

The room filled with laughter.

Suddenly, a sharp pain sliced through Sandella’s midsection. She grabbed her belly as her spine curved. She took a deep breath.

Braylon put a gentle hand on her lower spine. “Are you okay?”

Releasing a breath, she nodded. “Yes. I think I’m having Braxton-Hicks.”

A wide smile developed on Kane’s face. “I’m gone be a grandfather soon. Hot damn!”

LATER ON THAT EVENING
Braylon stood in the family room at the foot of the staircase peering up to the second level. “Hurry up, Sandella,” he yelled out, “it’s time to light the fireworks.” The rest of the crew was outside anxiously awaiting for the show to begin. To make this a night to remember, he’d purchased sparklers, firecrackers, and assorted fireworks. 

Sandella’s hand glided along the black railing as she slowly descended the staircase. When she finally reached him, the corners of her eyes crinkled. She gasped. She clenched the sides of her belly. “I think it’s—” Water gushed from her center, down her legs, to the carpet. “I’m in labor,” she said, panting harshly.

His heart spun. “I’m going to get the bag.” He scampered up the staircase, grabbed the baby bag sitting in the corner, then darted back downstairs to where she now stood breathing sporadically. 

“Ahhh!” she bellowed, perspiration dotting her forehead. With one hand on the rail, she clamped his arm. Her knees buckled. “It hurts so bad,” she cried, “I don’t think I can walk.”

“Sonny! Chandler! Aric!” Braylon yelled for his brother and brothers-in-law.

Sonny and Aric charged inside the room. “Jesus Christ!” Aric said. “Is she in labor?”

Braylon nodded. “Help me get her in the car.”

Aric and Braylon lifted Sandella off her feet. When they opened the front door, all of their family members stood out in the front yard looking excited. Kane wheeled up to the Hummer with a big smile on his face. “Somebody get the god damn door!” He patted his shirt pocket. “Damn, I done ran out of cigarettes!”

Sonny flung open the rear door, and the men slid Sandella onto the seat. Braylon jogged around to the driver’s side, hopped in, and just as he put the car in reverse, the black stallions carrying Chandler and Caroline came galloping up in the driveway. Colorful fireworks erupted in the dark sky overhead as Braylon sped away from the beautiful scene, his heart palpitating wildly in his chest.