If This Is It (An Arranged Marriage Love Story)

Chapter 21: As You Wish

We pulled into the valet at the hotel a dreadfully long time after the ride started, three hours, two minutes, and twenty one seconds later  to be exact. James threw the keys at the young attendee before grabbing my hand and powerwalking up the steps. 

"After you, my lady," James murmured as he swung our suite's door open.

I timidly and slowly walked in before him. I rotated back to face him after stopping a few inches away from the bed.

His hand was gripping the door handle aggressively which did not match the calm and slow pace the door was actually closing at. 

He turned and his radically blue eyes took my breath away.

Had they always been that deep of blue?

Surely no, I mean, I would've noticed, right?

Right, they were usually the color of the ocean at the surface, not the down deep color of the ocean.

His hands made their way into his pockets as he waltzed over to me. One of his hands grabbed my waist and the other grabbed the left side of my face as he leaned in and kissed me passionately on the lips.

I wrapped my arms energetically around his neck as his lips continued to press against mine. The need we both had for each other was growing by the second. I pulled away and met a very concerned look coming from James's face. 

"Can I at least change into what I was planning to wear last night?"

He smirked. "What's the point?" Before I could answer, he dragged his lips against mine painfully slow. "It's just going to come off right away again, isn't it?" he murmured against my jaw before kissing my neck. 

"Y-Y-Yes," I replied shakily as his lips got closer to my sweet spot, "but this is a very special moment for me and I would like to make it as memorable as possible." 

He bit his lip as his eyes twinkled, his head slowly returning to it's usual spot that hovered over me. "As you wish." 

He released me from his grip and I ran over to the bathroom once I had grabbed that red lace dress. 

I bit my lip as I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

This was it, this was all I had to offer.

Would he like what he saw?

What if I'm not enough?

I took a deep breath as I opened the door. I stared down at my toes as I made my way over to him. 

I felt his hand caress my chin as he lifted my gaze to his. "Nicole?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you look at me when you came back in?" I

tried to look back down at my feet as my face flushed, but his strong grip kept me looking up at him. "I was afraid you wouldn't like what you saw."

He snorted as he shook his head. "I need you to remember something very important, okay?"

I nodded.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever been privileged to meet in my entire life. I don't want you to ever forget that! You are absolutely perfect in my eyes and you can't change that."

"Are you sure?"

He chuckled as he removed his hand from my chin. "100%." 

I smiled as I jumped into his arms and kissed him with all the passion I could muster.

He smiled as I did so, pulling me tighter up against him as he carried me over to the bed. As he hovered over me, he asked, "Nicole, do you love me?"

"Yes," I replied immediately.

"Do you love me?" I asked him hesitantly.

"With all my heart and soul," he stated lovingly. 

We then kept kissing for the rest of the afternoon, both hearts very content. 

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I woke up to find myself still extremely wrapped in James's arms. I looked up as he looked down at me.

"We are now officially married," he stated cockily with a huge smile.

I rolled my eyes as I tried not to giggle. "Yes we are." We smiled at each other before leaning in for a kiss.

James deepened it and I sighed out of the fondness of this sensation, it was becoming familiar to me. 

"Should I order in?" James asked me breathlessly a few minutes later as I laid on top of him.

"Sure."

We both reached for the room service menu at the same time. Our hands met and entertwined as they both brought the menu over to our bodies. 

I snatched it out of his hand quickly and began reading it while he hmphed in the background. "Can we order a custom dish? I mean, you are the duke."

"I'm sure I could. What did you have in mind?"

"Smoked salmon, cheese, and bread on a platter for us to share."

"I like the way you think." He called in and were very open to making us something special. 

After calling in, James slipped on some pajama pants and I put on a robe so we would both be presentable when the food arrived. 

James brought the silver platter over to the bed and I giggled happily. He then pulled a bottle out from behind his back. "I also thought some champagne to celebrate would be nice too."

I smiled as he poured me a glass before pouring himself one as well. 

"What does it look like for the cheese and bread options?"

I furrowed my eyebrows as I observed the tray closely. "For cheese, our options appear to be ardrahan, corleggy, and cashel blue. The bread looks like blaa, or to us, white rolls. Oh! They are still warm too!"

I turned to see James holding up a bit of bread with a piece of smoked salmon and ardrahan cheese on it. "Open up." He slipped it into my mouth and I closed my eyes, savoring the yummy taste.

When I was done with my bite, I turned to him. "What cheese would you like?" "I'll try the cashel blue please." I added it to the rest of his bite before feeding it to him as well. 

As I took a sip of champagne, I decided to ask a question I had been wrestling with. 

"James?" 

"Yes my love?" 

"When did you know you loved me?" 

I looked over to see his eyebrows furrowed which meant he was thinking. 

"When I kissed you after our mud war while it was pouring rain outside. It's just the feeling I got when I kissed you, it was the feeling I knew I had been waiting for my entire life."

He took a sip of champagne before staring in my eyes dreamily. "Do you know when you fell in love with me?"

I gave a small smile as I tapped my fingers on my knee. "After I thought you cheated on me actually." 

His face twisted as though he was in pain. "I still feel so bad about that."

I shook my head. "Don't, it's all fixed now." I motioned to the room and gave him a smile.

He grabbed my wrist with a mischevious glint in his eye was he pulled me down towards his lips. I pressed myself tighter up against him and grew warm to the tips of my toes as he groaned in response.

"I love you so much," he murmured against my lips.

"I love you so much more," I murmured back.