Amaya“Oh my god, I can’t believe this is actually happening.” Jolene was practically dancing in her seat as we pulled up to the apartment building. I grinned in the rearview mirror. She had been saying that over and over again since we’d gotten into the SUV after loading everything she owned into the back. It surprised me how little she had, but then I remembered that up until a few months ago, the two of us had barely been able to afford to take care of ourselves. I noticed the charm bracelet on her wrist, glinting in the morning sunlight, and I smiled, knowing Kristo had given her something I would never have been able to treat her to.“No, me neither,” I replied. “You’re going to be living with me again. With us.”“Crashing your newlywed thing.” She grinned, chuckling to herself. “When do I start getting to throw wild parties when you’re out of town?”“Never,” I replied firmly, shooting her a look. “Come on, let’s get your stuff unpacked and head upstairs. There are loads we’ve go
Amaya“Yeah, I’m all right,” I assured Kristo, and then I lowered my gaze and let out a long sigh. “Actually, no.”“No?” He moved against me, clearly concerned. He wrapped his arms around my waist, letting his hand rest on my belly. He had fallen into a habit of it recently, even though we both knew the baby was way too small to feel moving yet. It made me feel grounded, being with him like this and knowing I could be honest, so I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair and decided to tell him the truth.“I just feel guilty,” I admitted. “About Jolene.”“What do you mean?” He furrowed his brow. “Aren’t you happy she’s here?”“No, it’s not that.” I shook my head. “I’m so happy she’s here, happier than I could ever tell you. But she spent so long up in that house all by herself while I was down here in the city with you.”“That was a choice you made for the both of you,” he reminded me. “You would have had to give up your career to stay at home and take care of her. You had to do it,
KristoI woke early the next morning before Amaya had so much as opened her eyes. She was sleeping restlessly, having been up and down in the night, ill with the baby. I had gotten up a few times with her, but she had waved me away and insisted I go back to bed.“One of us should be rested for tomorrow,” she told me, bleary and clutching her stomach. I shrugged, happy to go back to bed, the tiredness weighing heavy on my system.I leaned over and planted a kiss on her temple, being sure not to wake her up, and slipped out of bed. I went through the apartment to check on Jolene. I didn’t want her sitting there feeling like she was intruding on anything, but when I stuck my head into her room, she was sleeping soundly with her back to the door, her chest rising and falling slowly and peacefully. I decided to leave her to catch up on some sleep and slid into a long, hot shower. It had been a hell of a day yesterday, and I wanted nothing more than to spend the next few hours getting used
Kristo“Good morning,” she greeted Cleo and me before rolling herself up to the table. “This looks amazing. Is this what you have every morning?”“Oh, no.” I waved my hand. “Most of the time, I just stick to coffee. But we’re celebrating, aren’t we?”“I thought we were just celebrating last night,” Jolene pointed out, and I grinned.“Well, this is your welcome breakfast.” I gestured toward the food in front of us. “Consider it a welcome from Cleo and me.”“Well, it looks fantastic.” She smiled at me. “Thank you so much for this.”“Let me just go get Amaya, and then we can—”“I’m up.” Amaya’s voice came from the doorway to the bedroom, and I turned to find her standing there, looking a little wobbly on her feet. “And don’t wait for me. I’m not feeling so good this morning. I’m going to go lie down.”“Are you sure?” I furrowed my brow, and she nodded before turning to vanish back into the room.“Morning sickness?” Jolene asked quietly as soon as Amaya was gone. I nodded.“She’s been rea
AmayaI could have just crawled back into bed for a nap when the knock on the door came. I glanced over at Kristo, who had been reading a book quietly on the couch, and he shrugged.“Who’s calling on us now?” I asked, sighing deeply. I was so exhausted from the last couple of days, all I wanted was to relax and catch up on some sleep and hopefully not throw up anything I put in my stomach. The nausea had just begun to recede, but I was still taking it slow. Kristo and Cleo had taken Jolene for a walk around the neighborhood while I had tried to make myself useful at home and succeeded only in lying very still on the couch, hoping nobody would appear to disturb me.Kristo stood up, holding his hand out to me to keep me in my seat.“Don’t move an inch. I’ve got it,” he assured me. I lay there grateful my husband-to-be was so helpful. Damn, but if I hadn’t become a little pampered in this life that he built up for me.Before he could say a word, his grandmother swept into the room, not j
AmayaKristo drifted in and out, bringing us coffee and food where he could. I was still feeling a little under the weather, but I had been chugging a bunch of that apparently magical tea, and it was more or less keeping me on my feet. Besides, with the buzz of having everyone around, everyone focused on helping me get this damn wedding off the ground, I couldn’t let any of them down. As though realizing this, the baby seemed to decide to give me some respite, for the time being, a break from the nausea that had been plaguing me, and before I knew it, we had put together the most spectacular wedding I had ever heard of in my life.“Okay, so let me run through it from the top.” I clapped my hands together once I had everyone in front of me. Like me, they all looked a little ragged around the edges but kind of energized, too, like they could have spent another hour on the phone talking about the color of the flowers we were going to have at the ceremony versus those we were going to hav
Kristo“Malaka,” I muttered to myself, forgetting for a moment that my dad was the one on the other end of the line, and he could well understand I had just called him an—“Did you just call me an asshole?” he snapped at me. I rolled my eyes, tempted to point out that the word didn’t have a specific English translation, but playing the smart-ass was only going to land me in a heap more trouble. As if it wasn’t bad enough as it was.“No,” I lied swiftly. “Look, are you sure you can’t get back sooner than that? You need to be here, Dad. It’s my wedding.”“I know,” he replied tersely. “You think I don’t know that? I’m as annoyed about it as you are.”“Then why won’t you just make the effort and actually come back home?” I pointed out. “This is ridiculous, Dad. Even you must be able to see that.”“I didn’t plan it this way,” he snapped back, but I didn’t believe him. I knew my dad well enough to know he had everything in his life carefully planned out. If he was stuck in Greece right now,
KristoI took a deep breath, planted my hands on the desk, and tried to center myself. There was no point getting upset about this. At the end of the day, either he was going to make the effort and come to my wedding or he wasn’t, and there was very little I could do to change his mind if he didn’t want to. Short of flying out to Greece and dragging him by his collar back to Nonna’s house to be there for the ceremony, if he wanted to skip it, he would. And I had a feeling he was going to. Amaya wouldn’t want this to be a stressful time for me. She wanted our wedding to be full of joy, peace, happiness, not me yelling into a phone to my father from half a globe away.I focused on the voices outside the room. Well, they weren’t saying anything, but they were laughing, and that was enough to get me feeling a little better. After a slight delay, Jolene’s nurse Pamela had arrived this morning, and the two of them were getting to know each other. I had offered to stay at home that day to wo
KristoI went to the window and stretched, running my hand through my hair and grinning. I couldn’t believe we were actually in Greece. We were supposed to be arriving right about now, but I couldn’t wait that long to get her alone and was glad I’d incurred the extra expense to fly us out here at the last minute. It was worth it, so we could just be together after the hectic chaos of the wedding.I had called Cleo when we’d arrived, and she’d told me everyone had an amazing time. Nonna had a little too much to drink that night and had held court with stories about her young adulthood in Greece. Everyone had found it hilarious. And it seemed like Cleo and Darla were officially together, judging by the fact that I could hear Amaya’s friend in the background of the call long after they’d gone to bed.Amaya wasn’t awake yet, and I was glad for that. I still needed a little time to come to terms with the fact that I was actually married to the woman fast asleep in the bed behind me. My rin
AmayaOnce I had changed into something more party-worthy, the reception began, and at last, I could really relax and enjoy myself. Jolene and I spent a good hour dancing together before Kristo cut in to get his hands on me, holding me close and swaying with me as the band played a slow song. He kissed my neck softly, and I felt that burning desire for my husband pick up intensity. I couldn’t wait to get him alone, but we weren’t leaving for our honeymoon to Greece until the next day, so I had a while to wait yet.The food was amazing. There was even baklava, which Nonna had insisted on making herself. It wasn’t quite as good as Kristo’s, but I didn’t say a word of that to her. She would never let me hear the end of it. I ate and drank nonalcoholic cocktails, danced, and watched my guests do the same. I couldn’t believe how perfect this was. Darla and Cleo spent the night basically glued to each other’s sides, and I couldn’t help but coo internally over how cute they were.When I fina
AmayaI couldn’t even put into words how nervous I’d been that entire morning. My mind was taken up with questions about whether everything was going to go right. In my head, I was certain something was going to happen, that Kristo’s dad was going to squirm out of it at the last second and let us down, that the flowers weren’t going to arrive, that the dress wasn’t going to fit, that something was going to throw off this whole perfect day we had put so much time and effort into putting together.Then, I was sitting there in the room they had set up for me to get ready in, and I was staring at myself in the mirror, wearing the dress I had fallen in love with from the moment I’d laid eyes on it the week before. Jolene had picked well. She knew blue was my favorite color, and when I had slipped into the dress, even though it barely fit, I’d known this was the one for me. Sitting in front of the mirror, it was hard to believe this was really me, and this was really happening. How long had
KristoDarla, who had stepped in last-minute as a bridesmaid, followed her a minute later. She was wearing a dress in a delicate mint shade, and I could feel Cleo shift next to me when she emerged from the house.“Easy, tiger,” I murmured to her, and she nudged me playfully and straightened up again. I had a smile on my face, and I was beginning to relax. Then, I saw my bride walking toward me down the aisle, and I could hardly keep the tension out of my body.She looked incredible. No doubt about that. She’d told me she had only really looked at one dress, and I could see why. She looked unbelievable in it. It was cut to just below her knees, a flowing skirt that faded from cream to a pale blue color. The bodice hugged her body perfectly, and she was wearing the sweetest veil that covered her face as she made her way toward me. Even through the fabric, I could see the huge smile on her face, as though she couldn’t believe this was really happening. I knew exactly how she felt.It see
KristoI stared at myself in the mirror, wearing the tuxedo Amaya had picked out for me. I had seen myself in it before, of course, in the hurried fitting earlier in the week, but I felt as though I was looking at myself in it for the very first time. I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment and pressed my lips together. Why the fuck was I even nervous? I had done this all before with Amaya. And yet, here I was on my wedding day, scared a little bit shitless.There was a knock at the door, and I spun around at once. In my head, I was sure that somehow this was all going to go wrong, that Amaya was going to back out of it before I got her up the aisle, that the speed this had all happened was going to scare her off in the end. Instead, my lawyer entered, and I rolled my eyes.“What is it?” I demanded. He stood there in the door wringing his hands with a panicked look on his face and wearing a slightly rumpled suit.“I just wanted to let you know there’s still time to get a pr
AmayaBefore he could say a word more to me, I leaned forward and took him into my mouth. He tasted so good, even better than normal, the sweetness of the gel lingering on his body. I could taste that hint of vanilla, just a touch, making him taste like the pastry he had spent all day baking. Guiding him as far into my mouth as I could manage, I wrapped my hand around his base and began to stroke him, taking him deep into my mouth and listening to those appreciative little noises he kept on coming out with. I slipped a hand around his thigh, gripping him tightly, letting him know I would have made him come right here and now if he wanted to. I sank my nails into his skin, wanting to leave marks on his body, to remind him who he belonged to and who belonged to him.I wasn’t sure how long I was there on my knees in front of him, the water running over my body and down my back. I could have stayed there all day, but after a while, it became clear he didn’t want to come like that. He want
AmayaWhen I arrived back at the house, I caught the scent of heaven floating through the room at once. I closed my eyes as I stepped through the door, inhaling deeply—cinnamon, sweetness, a little sharpness. Whatever it was, even if it made me sick, I had to have it right there and then.“Hey, where are you guys?” I called into the house, looking around for Jolene or her nurse. She had arrived today, and Kristo had offered to help her settle in, which I was glad for, as I wanted to get as far ahead on my work at the library as I possibly could before the baby came along.“In the kitchen,” Jolene called back, and I crossed the room to the kitchen. All three of them were there, and Kristo was carefully cutting up some pastries that were still in a steaming-hot pan.“We made baklava!” Jolene exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the pan Kristo was maneuvering his knife around.“I can see that.” I inhaled deeply again and smiled my greeting at Pamela. “And what exactly is that?”“It’s a Greek
KristoI took a deep breath, planted my hands on the desk, and tried to center myself. There was no point getting upset about this. At the end of the day, either he was going to make the effort and come to my wedding or he wasn’t, and there was very little I could do to change his mind if he didn’t want to. Short of flying out to Greece and dragging him by his collar back to Nonna’s house to be there for the ceremony, if he wanted to skip it, he would. And I had a feeling he was going to. Amaya wouldn’t want this to be a stressful time for me. She wanted our wedding to be full of joy, peace, happiness, not me yelling into a phone to my father from half a globe away.I focused on the voices outside the room. Well, they weren’t saying anything, but they were laughing, and that was enough to get me feeling a little better. After a slight delay, Jolene’s nurse Pamela had arrived this morning, and the two of them were getting to know each other. I had offered to stay at home that day to wo
Kristo“Malaka,” I muttered to myself, forgetting for a moment that my dad was the one on the other end of the line, and he could well understand I had just called him an—“Did you just call me an asshole?” he snapped at me. I rolled my eyes, tempted to point out that the word didn’t have a specific English translation, but playing the smart-ass was only going to land me in a heap more trouble. As if it wasn’t bad enough as it was.“No,” I lied swiftly. “Look, are you sure you can’t get back sooner than that? You need to be here, Dad. It’s my wedding.”“I know,” he replied tersely. “You think I don’t know that? I’m as annoyed about it as you are.”“Then why won’t you just make the effort and actually come back home?” I pointed out. “This is ridiculous, Dad. Even you must be able to see that.”“I didn’t plan it this way,” he snapped back, but I didn’t believe him. I knew my dad well enough to know he had everything in his life carefully planned out. If he was stuck in Greece right now,