Honeymoon from Hell II

Other titles by R.L. Mathewson:

The Pyte/Sentinel Series:

Tall, Dark & Lonely

Without Regret

Tall, Dark & Heartless

Tall, Silent & Lethal

The Hollywood Hearts Series:

A Humble Heart

A Reclusive Heart

The Neighbor from Hell Series:

Playing for Keeps

Perfection

Checkmate

Truce: The Historic Neighbor from Hell

The Game Plan

The Neighbor from Hell Collection I

Double Dare

Double Feature: The Game Plan/Double Dare

The EMS Series:

Sudden Response

Dear Reader,

I’d like to start off by saying thank you for all your support and kind words over the
years. It’s because of you that I am able to do be there and take care of my children by
doing what I love. So, on behalf on my children, I wanted to say thank you.

Now, moving onto to this mini-series. I never planned on writing the Honeymoon from
Hell series. It started off as a Chronicle or two on my website, which is how I continue
giving life to the characters that I’ve created and fallen in love with. When I wrote a
teaser about Jason and Haley’s honeymoon I was hooked and immediately wanted to
write the whole story out as well as the honeymoons for the rest of the Bradfords, but
I wasn’t sure how it would turn out or if it was even something that you would be
interested in reading about.

Well, while I was trying to decide what to do I wrote the Chronicle to let you see how
Haley broke the news of their impending family to Jason. After that I really couldn’t
stop thinking about this series, but time was a factor.

So, I decided that I would write the series and release it in December 2015 after I was
able  to  get  out  the  books  that  I  promised  you.  At  the  same  time  iBooks  was  doing
what iBooks does best, helping self-published authors like myself get a chance to show
readers  what  they  could  do.  iBooks  helped  me  out,  gave  me  my  real  break  and
honored  me  with  the  first  title  of  Breakout  Author,  so  I  decided  to  make  my  already
busy schedule even busier and write this series early so that I could say thank you to
iBooks  for  everything  that  they  did  to  me  and  release  this  mini-series  early  through
them.

Some  readers  are  upset  about  the  wait,  and  I  am  sorry  about  that,  but  I  wouldn’t  be
who  I  am  if  I  didn’t  step  up  and  show  my  appreciation  and  gratitude  to  those  who
have  helped  me  and  my  children  when  we  needed  help.  With  or  without  this  early
release  through  iBooks,  this  series  would  not  have  been  released  at  Amazon.com  or
anywhere else before December because of my workload, so please don’t feel slighted,
because that was not my intention.

Now, as for this HFH, you will notice that the prologue is one of the last chapters of
Playing for Keeps. That was done so that you wouldn’t need to go back and re-read the
end of the book to figure out where we left off. It also leaves you with the choice to
skip it and move on to the rest of the story.

With that being said….

I hope you enjoy the Honeymoon from Hell mini-series.

Prologue

(Just a little recap in case you need a refresher)

“I think I can manage that,” Trevor said, rolling his hips into her grip and making Zoe
lick her lips in appreciation.

She  really  wasn’t  sure  how  she’d  survived  the  last  week  without  him.  Five  years
without  plain  old  sex  was  nothing  in  comparison  to  seven  days  of  going  without  sex
with  Trevor.  She  prayed  that  she  never  had  to  experience  this  kind  of  torture  again,
because she was positive that she wouldn’t survive.

Of course, she knew that if she truly wanted sex that all she had to do was yell his
name and he would have come running, which was part of the problem. She needed a
little space to make sure that this wasn’t just about sex for either one of them.
Although she’d missed touching him and holding him, she’d actually missed just being
with him more.

She  missed  his  smile,  the  way  he  glared  at  her  when  she  teased  him,  the  way  he
pouted  when  he  ran  out  of  food,  and  she  even  missed  his  bossiness.  She  just  missed
him  and  up  until  a  few  hours  ago,  she  hadn’t  been  completely  sure  if  he  wanted  her
for her or for the arrangement, but after his cute little antics, she knew that he loved
her.

His  attempts  to  see  her  were  so  sweet  and  entertaining.  When  her  hot  water  had
suddenly stopped working, she’d almost called out to him, but then she’d heard him in
his  bathroom  muttering  to  himself  for  her  to  hurry  the  hell  up  so  that  he  could  turn
the  hot  water  tank  back  on  before  the  pipes  burst.  So  with  a  little  pleased  smile  she
sat back, curious to see what else he’d do.

When  he’d  snuck  into  her  apartment  to  entice  the  dogs  with  his  underwear,  it  had
taken every ounce of strength that she’d had not to laugh her ass off as she pretended
to  be  asleep.  It  had  been  especially  difficult  when  the  dogs  managed  to  steal  the
underwear  out  of  his  hand  and  make  a  mad  dash  for  the  kitchen.  For  about  five
minutes she discreetly watched as Trevor did his best to chase after the dogs without
making any noise. She had to admit that for a man his size, he did a pretty good job of
quietly  running  after  her  dogs,  except  for  the  occasional  curse  that  is.  When  he’d
finally managed to grab the two dogs and shut the door behind him, she’d buried her
face in her pillow and laughed until it hurt.

He was just so damn cute.

Her favorite moment of course, was when he was outside jacking up her car while his

cousins and uncles all stood along the sidewalk taking pictures and laughing their
asses off at him. Except for the few times he’d flipped them off, he ignored them as
he’d struggled with frozen nuts and bolts for almost two hours straight. Of course, he
probably would have finished a lot faster if his family hadn’t been throwing snowballs
at him while he’d worked.

They really were an entertaining family.

Still she’d held out, curious to see what he’d do next. When that something else had
been shutting off her heat, she gave in and came over, even more curious to see how
far he would take things.

Except once he had her where he’d wanted her, he’d left her alone. She couldn’t even
begin  to  describe  how  disappointed  she’d  been  when  he  hadn’t  joined  her  in  the
bathtub.  An  hour  later,  disappointed  and  wrinkly,  she  climbed  into  bed  waiting  for
him to join her there. She’d really been looking forward to falling asleep in his arms,
but  the  jerk  never  showed  up  so  she  decided  that  maybe  it  was  her  turn  to  make  a
move.

“But we’re going to do it my way,” Trevor announced just before he took her mouth in
a quick, too quick, passionate kiss.

“What’s this now?” she asked in a daze.

“I said we’re doing this my way. While I work, you’ll talk,” he said, grabbing the hem
of her oversized tee-shirt and yanked it up and off her in a matter of seconds, leaving
her completely nude. Trevor’s rough sound of approval sent shivers of anticipation
throughout her body.

“Talk?” She watched as he devoured her body with his eyes and she was thankful that
the room was dim enough to make her feel comfortable.

“Uh huh,” he said, pulling her forward. “You tell me all about this new arrangement
while I make up for seven days, sweetheart.”

She opened her mouth to answer, but the only thing that came out was a loud
strangled moan as Trevor closed his lips around one of her taut nipples and sucked,
hard. She had to grab his shoulders and hold on before she fell over.

He wanted her to talk? Now? He really couldn’t be serious.

“W-we can talk later,” she suggested, hoping that he’d do that little thing with his
teeth and tongue that she loved.

He did.

But then he pulled back and she nearly whimpered.

“I think,” he said, leaning forward again and running the flat of his tongue over her
nipple, “that this is the perfect time for you to tell me what you had in mind.”

“But later would be better,” she said, sounding a little desperate and not really giving
a damn. The man had a gifted mouth and she was more than willing to let him use
that gift on her.

“I think now is perfect,” he murmured, tracing a line with his tongue from one nipple
to the other. He traced around the nipple that practically begged for his attention
before he drew it into his mouth and sucked.

“Now?” she choked out.

“Get talking, woman,” he said around her nipple.

“About?” she asked hazily.

He chuckled around her nipple before he flicked it with his tongue and pulled back.
“This new arrangement of yours,” he reminded her.

“Oh right, the arrangement,” she said numbly.

“Get talking or I stop,” he said and just to prove that he was serious, he pulled away
from her breast.

“Okay, okay,” she said, grabbing the back of his head and yanking him back to where
he belonged. With a small chuckle, he took her nipple back into his mouth.

She forced herself to ignore how unbelievably good he felt or the fact that he held her
hip tightly so that she couldn’t move against him and focused. If they were going to
have any hopes for a future there were a few things that they needed to clear up.

“How many children do you want?” she asked, knowing that this was by far the most
important question. If he was hell bent on only having one kid it was going to become
a bit awkward.

“As many as you’re willing to give me,” he said, pulling back and releasing her nipple
with a wet

pop. “Next,” he said, burying his face in the crook of her neck as one hand

continued to squeeze and caress her breast as the other slid from her hip to her
bottom where his talented hand kneaded and squeezed, forcing her to cradle his
erection.

“Next....okay, um,” she said absently as she tried to rub herself against him and this
time he allowed it. “If um, if we get married we’re going to need a bigger home,” she
said, remembering his offer to buy them a house. She wasn’t sure if he meant right

away or sometime in the future, but with twins, Bradford twins, they were going to
need more space soon. Not to mention a large kitchen with more storage space and
maybe a larger fridge.

“I’ll build you a house, sweetheart. Anything you want,” he promised against her neck.

“I just want you, Trevor,” she said, knowing nothing else really mattered as long as
she had him.

“You have me, sweetheart,” he said, pulling away just far enough so that he could look
into her eyes. “I promise that you will always have me.”

“No more pretending,” she said, feeling her chin quiver, knowing that it would kill her
to go one more day pretending that he wasn’t everything to her. Out of everything
that had happened between them that was the one thing that hurt the most.

“Never. I’m going to make damn sure that everyone knows that you’re all mine,” he
swore just before he swooped in and took her mouth in a hungry kiss.

“You promise?” she asked against his mouth, feeling her heart race.

“Promise,” he swore.

“Any other conditions for this new arrangement that I should know about?” he asked,
moving his mouth back to her neck.

“Just,” she said, licking her lips as he nibbled and licked his way down towards her
breasts, “that the sex condition is still very much in effect.”

“I suppose that will be fine,” he murmured huskily, running his tongue down one
breast until he could once again take her nipple into his mouth.

“A-and I get to name our kids,” she said, hoping that he was properly distracted,
because she had some really cute names for boys that she really liked, names that
were really pretty and underused.

“Not fucking happening,” he said, releasing her nipple.

“But-”

“Not happening,” he said as his hands returned to her hips. With a gentle grip he
guided her off of his lap and onto her back. “As much as I love you, I just can’t let you
do that to my boys, sweetheart.”

“But-”

“Not happening,” he said, pushing her legs apart as he shifted on the couch until he

was crouching between her bent legs.

“What about Frances or Julian? Those are both-oh my God, don’t stop doing that!” she
practically screamed when he lowered his head between her legs and began lapping at
her slit.

“So,” he said casually as if he weren’t currently driving her out of her mind by
leisurely running his tongue between her slit, just missing her clit, “let me see if I
understand this new arrangement.”

She may have whimpered when he traced her slit with the tip of his tongue and she
damn well knew that she moaned when he teased her clit. Licking her lips hungrily,
she rotated her hips, desperate to force his teasing tongue to go where she needed it,
but he simply grabbed her hips and held her where he wanted her.

“You’re going to be at my beck and call for sex,” he mused and she moaned in
agreement. “I’m going to take care of you while you worship me and we’re getting
married. Did I miss anything?”

“I really don’t remember you proposing or more importantly, saying yes,” she
managed to point out when all she wanted him to do was stop talking and get back to
licking.

“I did. You just don’t remember,” he said, tracing her slit with the tip of his finger as
he flashed her that sexy grin of his that drove her crazy.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I did,” he said, sliding his finger between her slit to tease her entrance.

“I think I would have remembered that,” she said, licking her lips as her body
trembled in anticipation.

“You  were  overcome  with  joy.  In  fact,  if  memory  serves  me  correctly  you  said  the
sooner  the  better,  because  you  were  looking  forward  to  waking  up  at  three  in  the
morning  to  me  licking  you  out  and  having  access  to  my  body  twenty-four  seven  so
really you should be-”

“You’re right,” she said, panting as she rolled her hips into his touch, closing her eyes
in bliss as he took the hint and slid his finger inside her. “You did propose. It was
beautiful, memorable even, so we can probably move on to the actual sex now, right?”
she asked, sounding desperate and not really caring at the moment.

He chuckled, the bastard. “I suppose we could do that,” he said, pressing a kiss to her
thigh as he slid his finger in and out of her at a delicious rhythm. As he fingered her,
he took his time trailing kisses up her leg, before pausing between her legs to drive

her insane by taking her clit between his lips and sucking.

She reached down and ran her fingers through his hair, encouraging him to continue
and loving the way he groaned as though licking her affected him just as much as it
did her. After a minute he pressed one last kiss to her wet slit before he pressed a trail
of kisses north, pausing at her soft stomach to press a tender kiss where their babies
were.

Zoe bit her lip as she tried not to cry out as her body tightened in anticipation of the
powerful orgasm she knew that he was setting her up for. When he took her mouth in
a hungry kiss she slid her hands down his back and between them, cupping him
through his underwear and loving the way he thrust against her hand.

Without any hesitation, she released the two buttons that somehow managed to
restrain his long, hard erection and freed him, guiding him to where she needed him.
With a small groan, he removed his finger and slid inside her. She couldn’t believe
how good he felt.

Without a condom she could feel the smooth velvety skin and hard veins to perfection.
He felt so good, so right, she decided as she pulled his mouth down for a kiss. As he
devoured her mouth, thrusting his tongue into her mouth the way he was thrusting
his cock inside her, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

“Love you.....love you, Zoe,” he said, groaning as he quickened his pace.

She opened her mouth to tell him how much she loved him, but he chose that moment
to do a little twist thrust with his hips that sent her flying. Digging her nails into his
back, she threw her head back and let out a strangled scream that only seemed to set
him off. He began pounding into her until she was forced to hold onto him or have her
head slam into the arm of the couch. In seconds he had her screaming his name as he
groaned out his own release.

For several minutes they laid there trying to catch their breath as they held each
other tightly. They probably would have stayed that way for the rest of the night if
her traitorous stomach hadn’t growled, startling them both.

With a pleased grin, Trevor ran his fingers through his sweaty hair as he pulled away
from her, pausing again to press a tender kiss to her stomach. “I guess it’s time to feed
the baby,” he said, looking and sounding truly happy and she couldn’t help but smile.

Never in a million years would she have thought that a woman like her could make a
man like him happy, but he was and for the first time in her life she was truly
content. She had a good job, good dogs, babies on the way and a man that she’d fall
more in love with each passing day.

“I’ll go make you a sandwich,” he said, tucking himself back in his boxers and shooting

Chapter 1

“Please,  just  let  me  die,”  Zoe  whispered  harshly,  hugging  her  bent  knees  tightly
against  her  chest  as  the  hot  water  continued  to  rain  down  on  her,  giving  her  some
relief  from  the  nausea,  not  much,  but  at  the  moment  she’d  take  whatever  she  could
get.

“Sweetheart, you need to take this pill,” Trevor patiently explained from where he
knelt on the bathroom floor beside the bathtub, holding a pill and the cup of ginger ale
that was even at this distance causing her stomach to lurch violently.

She clamped her mouth shut, because just the thought of putting anything in her
mouth right now made her pray for death. She couldn’t do this. She just couldn’t, she
decided, unaware that she’d started shaking her head with a miserable moan. All she
wanted to do was sit here under the spray of hot water for the next five months until
it was time for the babies to come out, but she knew that was impossible thanks to
the small hot water heater that would probably only last for a few more minutes.

“Please take the pill,” Trevor said soothingly. “It will make you feel so much better.”

“It will make it worse,” she muttered pathetically as she tightened her hold around
her knees, noting with dread that the water was starting to cool off.

“I promise that it will make it all better,” he crooned softly as he pulled the curtain
back slowly and attempted to approach her with the pill and the ginger ale that
promised to send her running back to the toilet.

“I-I can’t,” she muttered, stubbornly turning her head away.

“You can,” he said, reaching up and turning the water off. “I know it doesn’t feel like
it, but this will make you feel so much better.”

Biting her lip, she shook her head.

“It will dissolve very quickly.”

Another shake of her head.

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll let you go for my balls?” he offered, promising her the one thing
in the world that would make her even consider risking another three hours curled up
by the toilet, praying for death that had refused to come.

“It won’t work,” she argued, swallowing back the bile that threatened to send her
crawling out of the bathtub and returning to the spot by the toilet that she was
starting to consider hers.

“It will. The doctor promised that these would take care of your nausea almost

immediately,” Trevor said, holding the pill out to her with a hopeful expression that
was going to get him slapped.

“He  said  the  same  thing  about  the  last  pills,”  she  reminded  him  with  a  barely
suppressed  shudder  as  she  remembered  her  reaction  to  the  last  prescription  that  the
doctor  had  called  in  for  her  earlier,  the  one  that  he’d  guaranteed  would  ease  her
stomach. The moment that Trevor had returned from the twenty-four hour pharmacy,
she’d  popped  two  pills,  chased  them  down  with  a  sip  of  water  and  immediately
regretted it.

“I know he did, sweetheart, but I think this will work,” Trevor promised in a cooing
tone that had her opening her eyes just so that she could glare at him.

“How exactly can you make that promise?” she demanded, scowling at the bastard
that had done this to her even as she reached out and grudgingly took the pills from
him.

“Because this time I skipped your doctor and went straight to Uncle Ethan,” he
explained as though that meant something special to her.

“How exactly does that help me?” she had to ask as she forced the pill in her mouth,
squeezed her eyes shut and accepted a sip of ginger ale from the impregnating bastard
all while trying not to remember what happened the last time a pill slid down her
throat.

“Because I refused to leave him alone until he wrote you a prescription for the good
shit,” he said, sounding unconcerned as she blindly reached out and slapped her hands
against the side of the tub, waiting for the moment when she would pray for death,
but…

It never came.

“Oh my God,” she mumbled, opening her eyes and taking her first relieved breath in
hours since Trevor had offered her an egg salad sandwich, which had triggered some
unholy reaction in her body and had sent her running for the bathroom in the first
place.

“Better?” Trevor asked with an approving smile as he held the cup of ginger ale to her.

“Mmmhmm,” she murmured in agreement as she took a slow sip of the cold soda,
nearly moaning in relief when the action didn’t cause her stomach to rebel. “Much
better,” she agreed on a sigh, placing a hand over her sore stomach while he pulled the
cup away.

“Why don’t we get you out of there and in something a little more comfortable?”
Trevor suggested with a sympathetic murmur that took her by surprise and made her

feel so special, because she knew without a doubt that he really loved her and their
unborn babies.

Sniffling back a sob, she shot him a grateful smile and allowed him to help her out of
the tub. When he wrapped her in a large fluffy towel, she had to bite her lip to stop
herself from doing something silly like crying, something that she was afraid that she
was going to end up doing a lot over the next five months.

“I love you, Trevor,” she found herself saying, unable to keep so much emotion to
herself, not right now.

God, she was pathetic, she thought with a sniffle even as she sent him a shy, watery
smile, unable to believe just how lucky she’d been to find someone so sweet and kind
like Trevor.

“I love you, too, sweetheart,” Trevor said soothingly as he wrapped another towel
around her and pulled her close so that he could hold her. “I love you so much, Zoe,” he
said, making her smile even as she sniffled and closed her eyes, content on staying in
the arms of the sweetest man alive.

*-*-*-*

“You. Sick. Bastard!” Zoe snapped, unable to believe that the man trying to drag her
away from the kitchen table was the same man who’d held her and whispered how
much he loved her as he kissed her only an hour ago.

“Let go, Zoe,” Trevor said firmly, reaching over to wrestle the maple syrup coated fork
out of her hand.

“No!” she screamed, reluctantly giving up her slippery hold on the fork and grabbed a
handful of syrup soaked Eggo waffles, desperate for the buttery sustenance, and took
a large, satisfying bite as Trevor continued to pull her away from the table and
towards the front door.

“We’ll grab food afterwards,” Trevor calmly explained as she struggled to get free and
grab the last waffle.

“Just let me finish!” she begged, close to crying when it became obvious that she was
never going to get a chance to enjoy that delicious Eggo waffle in all its syrupy glory.

“I’ll feed you after the ceremony. I promise,” Trevor said, but she wasn’t listening as
she went limp and let him drag her away.

“My waffle,” she whispered with a little sniffle as she was carried outside and loaded
in Trevor’s truck where she sadly nibbled on the handful of waffle that she’d managed
to save.

“At least we know the pill works,” Trevor said, sounding oddly triumphant as she sat
there, nibbling on her handful of waffle as she glared at him.

“I hate you,” she bit out evenly, never sure of anything more in her life.

“Sure you do,” he murmured in agreement, not really sounding all that concerned as
he slowly backed out of the driveway.

“I do,” she mumbled, feeling her bottom lip start to tremble as she finished her last
bite of waffle and absently accepted the handful of wet naps that Trevor held out to
her.

“I know you do, sweetheart,” Trevor said, pausing by a stop sign to help clean her
hands for her so that she could sit there, trying not to break down in tears, again.

When her hands were freshly cleaned, she folded her arms over her chest and glared
out the window, struggling not to cry and it was working too, until he reached over
and took her hand into his. As soon as he touched her, she lost it.

“Aw, sweetheart, it’s okay,” Trevor said softly as he pulled the truck over, set it in
park, somehow managed to unbuckle her seatbelt and pulled her onto his lap. “Shhh,
it’s okay, sweetheart.”

“N-no, it’s not,” she sobbed against his shirt, wondering why she couldn’t seem to stop
crying. She felt like she was going crazy. One minute she felt like she was going to be
sick, the next she felt like she’d starve to death if she didn’t eat everything in sight,
then the next she couldn’t stop crying because she was happy, sad, tired and even
cried when she was hungry. She couldn’t seem to stop crying, and God, how she really
wished that she could stop crying.

“You’re just tired, Zoe,” he explained as he held her, kissing her forehead in a way
that mildly pleased her.

Sniffle. “I am a little tired,” she admitted with another sniffle.

“I  know,  baby.  I  know,”  Trevor  said  soothingly  as  he  gently  placed  her  back  on  her
seat  and  carefully  pulled  her  seatbelt  back  on  her.  “Why  don’t  you  close  your  eyes?
We’ll  make  this  quick  so  that  we  can  get  you  back  home  and  in  bed.  How  does  that
sound? Hmmm?”

Biting her lip, because she was honestly afraid that if she opened her mouth that she
was going to further humiliate herself by turning into a blubbering idiot, she nodded
and closed her eyes, deciding that perhaps a little nap was exactly what she needed.
Snuggling against the door, she released a little yawn as she settled in for a refreshing
nap.

As she felt Trevor pull back into traffic, something occurred to her, something that
she should have wondered when he’d rushed her to get dressed, downstairs and out
the door at barely six in the morning on their day off.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“To the courthouse,” Trevor explained, sounding unconcerned as she sat there,
frowning and wondering why they were heading to the courthouse on the weekend
when he went ahead and cleared things up for her.

“I figured we’d get married and just get it over with,” he said with a shrug.

Chapter 2

“No.”

Sighing, he reached for her hand, “Zoe, if you would just listen. I-”

“No,” the stubborn woman said with her arms folded over her chest as she continued
to glare at the vending machine in front of them.

Shoving his fingers through his hair, he looked over at his uncle and cousins, but the
useless bastards simply continued to stand there, munching on their snacks, watching
to see how he was going to handle Zoe without her going for his balls, which he’d
technically already given her permission to do.

“We’re not speaking,” she bit out when he opened his mouth to try and smooth things
over.

Clearing  his  throat,  he  shot  his  Uncle  Jared  a  questioning  glance  only  to  find  his
uncle,  leaning  back  against  the  back  door,  nibbling  on  a  bag  of  Cheetos  and  looking
bored.  Great,  so  much  for  getting  help  convincing  the  woman  that  he  loved  that
marrying him was for the best. Reluctantly, he shot a glance over to his cousin Jason
to find him sitting on one of the wooden benches lining the walls, watching him with
what  could  only  be  described  as  a  smug  expression  and  letting  Trevor  know  that  he
wasn’t going to lift a finger to make this any easier for him.

Great.

Just fucking great.

“I’m wearing my oversized grey sweatpants and one of your old tee shirts,” she bit out,
every single syllable somehow filled with more rage than the last, which he’d have to
admit, was actually impressive.

Frowning, because he was sure that he was missing something important here, he
looked over her baggy outfit, not really seeing the problem and shrugged.

It was perhaps the single dumbest thing that he’d ever done in his life.

Her mouth slowly closed until it was obvious that she was clenching her jaw tightly
shut as her eyes narrowed on him. She considered him for a long minute, making him
wish for the first time in his life that he’d made a habit of wearing an athletic cup, but
before he had a chance to cover his balls and drop to the ground where he would most
likely curl up into a fetal position, she took them all by surprise.

She cried.

“What the hell did you do?” Jason demanded, looking pissed as he shoved past Trevor

and put his arm around Zoe, who simply stood there, silently crying, adding a pathetic
sniffle here and there while every man in his family glared at him like they were
dying to kick his ass.

“What is wrong with you?” Uncle Jared demanded as he took Zoe by the hand and led
her over to the bench by the front doors, giving her a warm smile that only seemed to
make her cry harder.

Jason followed after his father, pausing long enough to slam Trevor in the shoulder
and send him a glare before he sat down on Zoe’s other side, taking her small hand in
his and trying to comfort the frustrating woman, who couldn’t seem to stop crying.

“H-he t-tossed the c-clothes to me and told me to get d-dressed,” she managed to get
out with a sniffle that for some reason had every one of his relatives shifting their
glares back on him.

“H-he didn’t even tell me where we were going,” she said, pausing to add another one
of those sniffles that he was starting to blame the hormones for. “H-he wouldn’t even
let me eat. He just told me to get dressed, dragged me down here and said that we
were getting married.”

“That’s more than most women get in our family,” he pointed out with a mumble,
expecting some support from the men in his family, but all he ended up getting were
more glares, a few more shoulder shoves and a, “Better watch your back,

bitch,” from

his Great Uncle Theo.

“I-I understand that I didn’t have much of a choice, b-but I would have liked to have
worn something pretty on my wedding day,” she said with a sniffle, further inciting
the rage filled glares being shot his way as his mind latched on something she said.

“Wait, what do you mean that you didn’t have a choice?” he demanded, even though
he had to admit, she really didn’t have much of a choice. She was his and that’s all
that mattered, but the way she’d said it rubbed him the wrong way.

“Well,” she said with a sniffle that had his eyes narrowing to slits, “it’s just that I
really never thought that I’d end up settling.”

“Settling?” he repeated back slowly, sure that he’d misheard her.

She nodded solemnly as he stood there, seething.

“I know, sweetheart,” Uncle Jason said, giving her hand a comforting pat. “I know.”

“I know that I don’t have a choice anymore, not with the babies on the way,” she said
with a little heartfelt sigh as she placed her hand over her soft stomach, reminding
every Bradford in the room that she was carrying two of them and bringing their

animosity towards him up another notch and seriously fucking him over. “This just
isn’t how I’d pictured my wedding day I guess, pregnant, wearing sweatpants and
hungry.”

“He didn’t feed you?” Jason asked, shifting a glare towards him that should have
rightfully killed him on the spot.

“I made her five goddamn plates of waffles!” he snapped, sick and tired of the fickle
bastards screwing him over because of a few sniffles and lip trembles.

This was a fucking Bradford elopement and they damn well better start remembering
that!

“I-I was still hungry,” she admitted with a beautiful blush and another one of those
damn lip trembles that had his eyes narrowing impossibly further.

“Is the Justice of the Peace ready?” he asked, keeping his eyes locked on the woman
that was obviously enjoying screwing him over for her own entertainment.

“They’re still trying to talk him off the ledge,” one of his cousins said around a yawn
even as he continued to glare at Trevor like he was Satan himself.

“Someone get him down here so that we can get this over with,” he said, forcing
himself to bite back a smile when he saw Zoe do the same, clearly enjoying herself,
which was fine with him.

Just as long as she was legally obligated to put up with all his bullshit by the end of
the day, she could screw him over however she wanted.

*-*-*-*

“Look, you don’t have to do this,” Uncle Jared said, licking his lips nervously as he
shifted an anxious glance towards the double doors leading to the courtroom where
Trevor stood, arguing with a group of his cousins and uncles, trying to convince them
that he wasn’t neglecting their poor little Zoe.

“We can get her out through the back,” Jason said, gesturing towards the back doors
where only two Bradfords stood guard, but something about the way that they were
glaring at Trevor told her that if she really wanted to leave, that they would not only
step aside, but they would probably also give her a ride somewhere and buy her
breakfast to make sure that she was really okay.

This really was a sweet family, she thought, biting back another pleased smile as she
did her best to look upset about this forced elopement. Never in a million years could
she have ever hoped to become part of a family like this, one that enjoyed screwing
each other over, but in that same breath would die for one another. They were

Chapter 3

He. Was. Going. To. Fucking. Throttle. Her.

The Justice of the Peace looked like he was seconds away from a panic attack.

Most of his uncles and cousins looked torn between frustration and amusement.

His  Uncle  Jared  stood  there  by  Zoe’s  side,  determined  to  make  sure  that  his  “special
girl”  wasn’t  forced  to  rush  into  something  that  she  might  regret.  Since  she’d  asked
him  through  a  teary-eyed  smile  to  stand  up  for  her,  the  betraying  bastard  had
somehow  forgotten  that  he’d  orchestrated  a  forced  trip  to  the  JP  of  his  own,  taken
part in more than a dozen of these and had been at his house at five this morning with
coffee and donuts, explaining the best way to kidnap Zoe and get her to the courthouse
on time without her killing him.

Now the bastard was determined to make sure that Zoe wasn’t rushed into doing
something that she might regret later. So, thanks to his asshole uncle’s meddling
ways, they were still standing here, waiting for Zoe to answer the damn question!

“M-miss?” the Justice of the Peace asked with a hesitant stammer as he risked a
glance up to find Zoe standing there, worrying her bottom lip as she “thought over her
options,” as she’d explained thirty minutes ago to the amusement of his uncles and
cousins.

Narrowing his eyes on his soon-to-be wife, and she would damn well be leaving this
court house as his wife, he bit out, “Zoe,” putting everything into that one word.

Blinking innocently at him, she admitted, “I just want to make sure that I’ve reviewed
all my options before I settle.”

Lips twitching, he asked, “And?”

She released a long-suffering sigh as she reluctantly nodded. “I guess we could see
where this goes.”

“You…guess….,” he repeated back dryly, still stunned that a woman like Zoe was able
to not only knock him on his ass, but to make him love it.

She was short, plump, feisty, sarcastic, loved to tease and torment him, couldn’t cook
to save her life and he couldn’t wait until she was finally his.

“I do,” he said firmly, keeping his eyes locked with hers.

The Justice of the Peace cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I-I haven’t got to that part
just yet.”

“Don’t fucking care,” he said with a smile for the woman that he loved as he reached
up, cupped her face and kissed her.

He heard the Justice of the Peace say something else, heard his Uncle Jared call his
name and his cousins tease him, but he refused to stop kissing her, refused to let her
go until he heard the words that would make her his.

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the Justice of the Peace finally announced,
damn near making him sigh with relief as he pulled back, smiling down at his wi-

“You  know,”  Zoe  said,  cutting  off  his  thoughts  of  triumph  with  a  mischievous  smile
and  that  look  in  her  eye  that  told  him  that  he  was  seriously  about  to  be  fucked  over
just  for  shits  and  giggles,  “technically  we’re  not  married  until  after  the  wedding
night,” she finished with a careless shrug and a yawn.

He wanted to argue with her, but-

She was right.

Shit!

She wasn’t his, not yet, but he wasn’t worried about it…

Not at all…

*-*-*-*

“Let’s go,” Trevor said, grabbing her hand as he walked past her and headed straight
for the exit.

“And where are we going now?” she inquired with a frown, wondering if Uncle Jared
failed to mention another step in a Bradford Kidnapping, and yes, apparently this was
a well-established practice.

“To make this thing legal,” he bit out evenly as he dragged her off towards his truck.

“Umm,  I’m  pretty  sure  that  we  just  made  this  thing  legal  twenty  minutes  ago  when
we  signed  the  marriage  certificate,”  she  felt  obligated  to  point  out  as  he  opened  the
passenger  door  of  his  truck,  carefully  picked  her  up  and  placed  her  inside,  pausing
long enough to kiss her cheek before he closed the door.

At that point she sat there, stunned while she watched as Trevor, who was normally
pretty laid back, shove his cousins and uncles who’d come out to congratulate him out
of the way, run around the car, stumbling and tripping along the way twice, before he
finally managed to get his door open, drag himself inside with a wince, slam the door
shut and start the truck. She opened her mouth to ask him if there was perhaps a
chance that he’d lost his goddamn mind when he threw the truck in reverse, sped out

of the parking lot and forced her to reach up and grab onto the plastic handle that up
until this point, she’d never had a reason to use before.

As  Trevor  sped  down  the  street,  taking  corners  a  little  faster  than  her  stomach  was
comfortable  with,  slammed  on  his  horn  and  screamed  at  a  little  old  man  who’d  made
the  mistake  of  taking  his  time  taking  a  left  on  Apple  Oak  Road,  she  sat  there,
squeezing  her  eyes  tightly  shut,  regretting  her  decision  to  choose  today  of  all  days  to
screw with Trevor’s head. Okay, so maybe she didn’t completely regret screwing with
his  head  since  it  did  entertain  her  on  so  many  levels  to  do  it,  but  perhaps  she  could
have toned it down just a bit?

Then again, she would have missed that incredibly sexy possessive expression on his
face every time she’d screwed with his head if she had. God, she loved that look on
him, she mused as he pulled into their driveway and parked next to her car, which she
was ninety-eight percent sure had finally died a few days ago.

“Do you want pancakes?” she asked, unbuckling her seatbelt, hopeful that he chose
pancakes.

Just the thought of digging into a large stack of thick, fluffy pancakes had her licking
her  lips  and  her  pulse  racing  even  as  she  had  to  wonder  when  this  constant  hunger
and  fantasizing  about  food  would  end.  Then  again,  she  was  carrying  Bradford  twins,
which  pretty  much  guaranteed  that  she  would  be  living  in  a  state  of  near  starvation
for the remainder of her pregnancy. Since the knowledge that she could probably out-
eat Jason actually frightened her a bit, she decided to focus back on the here and now.

“I  could  go  for  some  pancakes,”  she  explained  as  Trevor  opened  his  door  and  jumped
out,  “but  I  think  I  ran  out  of  milk  and  eggs.  If  you  could  run  to  the….to…
the…..ummm, what the hell are you doing?” she felt obligated to ask as she suddenly
found herself lying on her back across the bench seat, her sneakers suddenly gone and
tossed  over  Trevor’s  shoulders,  her  sweatpants  yanked  down  to  her  ankles  and  her
panties-

“Hey!”  she  gasped,  grabbing  holding  of  her  panties  and  doing  her  best  to  keep  them
right where they were as she felt them rip  apart,  but  the  determined  bastard  licking
his  lips  scowled  at  her  as  though  she  was  coming  between  him  and  his  favorite  treat
and judging by the way that he was licking his lips that just might be-

“Stop that!” she admonished, desperately holding onto the remains of her panties with
one hand while she used the other to thread through his hair, trying to summon the
strength to push him away as he slid his very talented tongue inside her.

“So fucking good,” he murmured with a groan as his tongue slid free and he shifted
his attention to her slit, tracing it with his tongue while they both moaned with
pleasure.

“T-Trevor?” she said, forcing his name from her lips as she struggled to remember
why they needed to talk.

“Can’t wait to feel you wrapped around my dick, hot, tight and wet,” he growled
against her clit as she felt him slide a finger inside her.

They  could  talk  later,  she  decided,  giving  up  her  hold  on  the  ruined  remains  of  her
panties  and  instead  focusing  on  just  how  good  his  tongue  felt  tracing  little  teasing
circles  around  her  clit  and  core.  God,  the  man  knew  how  to  use  his  tongue,  she
thought  with  a  moan  and  a  twist  of  her  hips,  demanding  more  and  damn  well
expecting it.

When he rewarded her by turning his head and licking her at an angle that had her
breath hitching, she spread her legs further apart, placed a shaky foot against the
dashboard, closed her eyes and-

“Hey, Trevor, Dad wanted me to stop by and remind you about the curse-Oh, my God!
My eyes!” Jason shrieked a bit hysterically, at least she thought so, as she shoved
Trevor away, rolled onto the floor of the truck with a pained grunt and curled up into
a tight ball, squeezing her eyes shut and pretending that she was in her happy place.

Chapter 4

“Do you want more pancakes?” Zoe asked with a small, shy smile, not quite meeting
his eyes as she stabbed a plastic fork into a stack of pancakes and dropped them on his
plate without waiting for an answer.

She didn’t bother asking Jason if he wanted any more. She just shoved the Styrofoam
container of pancakes at him, grabbed the last bag filled with boxes of food, whistled
for Max and Toby to follow her, and quickly fled the room like the hounds of hell were
nipping at her heels.

“Great,” Trevor said, spearing a sausage and shoved it in his mouth as he scowled at
the door where his wife had made her escape only seconds earlier, taking his boys
with her. “Just fucking great.”

“It should make for an interesting wedding night,” Jason said with a chuckle as he
reached over and grabbed the bottle of maple syrup and poured it over his food.

Trevor  sighed  heavily  as  he  dropped  his  fork  and  shoved  his  plate  away.  “Not  at  this
rate,”  he  said,  dropping  his  head  in  his  hands  with  a  heavy  sigh,  wondering  how  he
was going to manage to make his wife forget what happened long enough so that they
could  consummate  this  marriage  before  she  came  to  her  senses  and  realized  that  she
could do so much better than him.

“Are you going to eat that?” Jason asked even as he reached for Trevor’s food.

“No,” he said, rubbing his hands roughly down his face, wondering how he’d managed
to fuck this up so quickly.

“Good,” Jason said, reminding Trevor that he hadn’t been the one to fuck this up.

This was the bastard’s fault, he realized, dropping his hands away so that he could
glare at the asshole.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, reaching over and snatched back his plate
of food, not because he wanted it, but because he’d be damned if the asshole was going
to have it.

“Dad sent me to warn you,” Jason said, stabbing his fork in the stack of pancakes and
stealing it off Trevor’s plate, before dropping the stack back on his own plate with a
satisfied sigh.

“Warn me about what?” he asked, reaching over to steal back his pancakes when
Jason simply dropped his fork, grabbed the stack of pancakes and stuffed them in his
mouth with a shrug.

“Don’t make me bitch slap you,” Trevor snarled, tempted to go ahead and do it
anyway.

“Then I won’t be able to give you the one and only warning that will probably save
your ass,” Jason said, not really sounding all that concerned as he swiped the last
sausage link off Trevor’s plate.

Shaking his head in disgust, because he thought his cousin was smarter than this, he
shoved away from the table and stood up. “Don’t start spouting that bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit and I have the scars on my legs to prove it,” Jason said, helping
himself to the rest of the orange juice as Trevor stood there, trying to figure out what
the hell he was talking about.

“What scars?”

With a long-suffering sigh, Jason propped his foot on Trevor’s abandoned chair,
yanked up his pant leg and pointed to the tiniest, little…

“What exactly am I looking at?” he asked, tilting his head to the side as he tried to
figure out what Jason was trying to show him.

“The scars from that animal attack I survived after my truck broke down,” Jason
explained, nodding towards his tanned, muscular leg.

“Are these invisible scars that only you can see?” Trevor had to ask when a second
inspection failed to come up with anything.

Grumbling  something  about  vicious  little  bastards  that  almost  took  his  leg  off,  he
shoved  his  pant  leg  down,  sat  back  and  shoved  a  piece  of  bacon  in  his  mouth.
“Whatever,”  Jason  sighed,  “I  came  over  here  to  help  you  not  to  be  mocked  and
belittled, you insensitive prick.”

“Well,” Trevor said, getting to his feet, “save your bullshit and get the fuck out. I have
too much shit to do.”

“As long as you’re not doing something stupid like taking Zoe on a honeymoon then I
could give a flying fuck what you’re doing,” Jason said with a shrug as he picked
through the last of the take-out containers, searching for any tasty morsels that may
have previously escaped his notice.

“The curse is bullshit,” he said, grabbing his cellphone and double-checking to see if
the travel agent that he’d been stalking since last night when Zoe had reacted poorly
to the delicious sandwich that he’d made her, had been able to come up with anything
decent.

Junk mail, an email from one of his tenants bitching about one of his asshole cousins
getting them all banned from another restaurant, coupons, more junk mail, and-

“Oh, thank fucking God,” he said with a chuckle as he shook his head in disbelief,
unable to believe his dumb fucking luck.

“What?” Jason asked, arching a brow in question.

“Nothing that you need to concern your pretty little head with,” he said, sending a
quick response to the travel agent to confirm the last minute package that she’d
managed to find for him.

“Don’t do it,” Jason said with a shake of his head as he returned his attention back to
looking through the take out containers.

“Mind your own fucking business,” he said absently, wondering if they’d have time to
consummate the marriage before they had to pack and race across town to make their
flight. When he thought about the way she’d moaned his name and how it had felt to
slide his tongue inside her, he decided that he’d make the time.

“Wait a year,” Jason said, giving up his search for food and grabbed the last bottle of
maple syrup.

“I can’t,” he said, shaking his head as he shoved his phone in his back pocket.

“You really can,” Jason said, popping the top off the bottle of syrup as he tilted his
head back and chugged the rest of the syrup.

“In a year we’ll have twins and no time to go on a honeymoon. I’m doing this now,” he
said, more determined than ever to do this. “She deserves to have a real vacation,” he
said, remembering the excited little smile that she made every time she mentioned
going on her first real vacation.

He was fucking taking her, come hell or high water, on a real vacation. After all the
bullshit that she’d been through in her life, she deserved this and more. Plus, it would
show her just how much he loved her so he was definitely going to do this.

“Then do it after the babies are born and Haley and I can watch them so that you can
take her on a nice vacation where you don’t have to worry about this stupid fucking
curse kicking your ass and fucking with your marriage.”

Trevor shook his head. “She’s waited long enough. I’m not going to make her wait any
longer.”

Shaking his head with a heavy sigh, Jason tossed the empty syrup bottle away.
“You’re going to regret this.”

He thought about Zoe and that mischievous smile of hers and shook his head. There
was no way in hell that he was going to regret giving Zoe the perfect honeymoon, but
first…

He had to give her the perfect wedding night.

*-*-*-*

“Zoe?”

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter and bit her lip, as she laid there trying to pretend
that she was asleep while Trevor called her name and her puppies playfully nipped at
her toes.

“Baby, are you awake?”

“No?” she said, shaking her head as she pulled the covers over her head.

“Are you hiding?” Trevor asked as he gently pulled the covers off her head.

“No?”

“I see,” he murmured, sounding thoughtful as the puppies gave up attacking her toes
and stumbled over each other to get to her face to give her puppy kisses until Trevor
picked them up with a chuckle and placed them on the floor.

“Is Jason still here?” she asked, opening her eyes just enough so that she could see for
herself.

“No,” Trevor said, leaning down to kiss her temple. “He left.”

“Okay,” she said, pulling the covers back over her head, deciding that the humiliation
of getting caught with Trevor’s head between her legs demanded that she spend the
rest of her life right here, beneath the covers where there was absolutely no chance of
running into Jason ever again.

“Are you hungry?” Trevor asked, pulling back the covers so that he could kiss her
temple, her cheek and then her neck, which she had to admit, helped to take the edge
off her humiliation.

A bit…

“I could eat,” she admitted, deciding that mentioning that she was starving after
eating all of those pancakes, hash browns and sausages would probably only add to
her humiliation.

“Do you want to go out to eat?” he asked, pressing another kiss to her neck, this time

just beneath her pulse point, tickling her skin with his early morning whiskers and
making her toes curl with pleasure.

And risk the chance of people guessing by the expression on her face what she’d been
caught doing? No, she was good. “No, I’m kind of tired,” she said, which was sadly the
truth.

She’d never been so tired before in her life. Then again, when she wasn’t tired, she
was hungry and when she wasn’t hungry she was tired. Exhaling softly, she tilted her
head to the side to give him better access to that spot just below her ear. This
pregnancy was already taking its toll on her and she wasn’t exactly sure how she was
going to manage five more months of this.

“Do you want me to run out and get something for you?” he asked, gently suckling on
her neck as he deftly reached beneath her tee shirt and bra and palmed her breast,
which she had to admit also took the edge off her humiliation.

Her body responded instantly to his touch, her nipples hardened and became sensitive,
responding in a way that they never had before. God, she wanted him, she thought
with a desperation that actually frightened her. Licking her lips, she grabbed hold of
his t-shirt and tore it off him, barely aware that he was growling in approval or that
he’d released his hold on her breast, reached down, shoved her sweatpants as far down
as they would go, ripped off her panties, shifted back away from her, flipped her over
onto her stomach and-

An inarticulate scream tore from her lips as he entered her in one hard stroke. The
scream had barely finished echoing throughout the room when she suddenly found
herself pulled back onto her knees, her back against Trevor’s bare chest, his hands on
her large breasts, using his hold to keep her against him as he took her.

“Fucking love you,” he groaned, kissing her neck hungrily as his grip tightened around
her breasts. “Love you,” he groaned as he slammed into her, “Love you so fucking
much.”

She tried to answer him, tried to tell him how much she loved him, but all she could
manage were needy little whimpers, sobs and breathless cries, demanding that he
fuck her harder, begging him not to stop even as her body violently trembled as each
thrust sent her closer and closer to the release that she knew that she wasn’t ready
for. When it hit, she screamed the only thing in the world that mattered to her.

She screamed his name.

Chapter 5

“Oh, my God, you are,” gag, “the best!” Zoe said, pressing the back of her hand to her
mouth as she was forced once again to stop on the gangplank, grab onto the rail, bend
over and take a deep breath as she struggled not to throw up.

“Is everything okay, miss?” one of the ship’s crew asked as he held out his hand to
help Zoe up the rest of the way, but one glare from Trevor had the man dropping his
hand quickly and taking a hasty step back.

“I’m fine,” she said with a huge smile as she continued the rest of the way up the
gangplank, looking really excited even while she looked like she was going to be sick
at any moment.

“Baby, are you sure?” he asked, placing his hand on her lower back as apprehension
tingled up his spine, making him wonder if this was such a good idea after all.

“I just haven’t taken my pill yet,” she reassured him with another one of those smiles
that managed to make him smile back and quickly forget about any lingering
misgivings that he may have had about taking her on this trip.

“Why don’t we go take care of that right now?” he suggested with a smile for his wife
even as he sent the man waiting to take their bags to their suite a look that told him
that he better move his ass.

Three hours later, he decided that taking his wife on a cruise for their honeymoon was
fucking genius. Thanks to the pill his uncle had prescribed for her morning sickness, a
shower  to  help  her  relax  after  they  were  forced  to  go  through  the  ship’s  mandatory
emergency  drill,  the  last  minute  deal  that  his  travel  agent  had  managed  to  get  them
for  this  mini-suite  and  the  fact  that  his  wife  was  naked  and  wet  in  his  arms,  he  was
definitely feeling good about this honeymoon.

“What do you want to do first?” he asked, running his hands down her damp back and
down to her ass, eliciting a moan of pleasure from her as he kissed and nibbled her
neck, praying that the first thing that she wanted to do was to test out the queen size
bed only a few feet away.

“I was thinking,” she said with a sheepish little smile as she stood on her toes so that
she could press a kiss to his chin, “that I could take a nap? I’m kind of tired.”

“Of course,” he said, smiling as he pulled back just a bit so that she wouldn’t realize
that he’d had other plans for that bed.

Apparently,  he  wasn’t  able  to  hide  his  hopeful  intentions  from  her,  because  she  sent
him  an  apologetic  smile  as  she  pulled  back,  grabbed  one  of  his  shirts  from  his  bag,
pulled  it  on  and  curled  up  in  the  middle  of  the  bed.  Before  he  could  ask  her  if  she

wanted company, she was softly snoring and he was left standing there having
absolutely no fucking clue what he should do while she slept.

He’d never been on a cruise before and to be honest, he’d never had any interest in
going on one, but he was on one now for one simple reason.

His wife.

She’d  always  wanted  to  go  on  a  real  vacation,  but  had  never  been  able  to  afford  one
before.  She  didn’t  like  talking  about  growing  up  in  foster  care,  but  from  what  little
she’d  told  him,  he  knew  that  the  day  trips  that  she’d  gone  on  with  the  group  homes
she’d  stayed  at  and  the  small  weekend  trips  that  a  few  foster  families  had  taken  her
along on in no way counted as a vacation. At least, not in his opinion and now that she
was part of his family, he was going to fix that.

He’d  take  her  all  over  the  world  if  that’s  what  she  wanted.  He’d  work  weekends  and
nights,  sell  all  of  his  properties  to  make  it  happen,  anything  to  make  her  happy,  but
first  he  had  to  figure  out  something  to  do  to  kill  the  next  hour  or  two  so  that  his
beautiful  wife  could  catch  up  on  some  much  needed  sleep.  He  considered  crawling  in
bed  behind  her  just  so  that  he  could  hold  her,  but  then  decided  that  pressing  up
against  all  her  delicious  curves  would  probably  make  it  difficult  for  him  to  keep  his
hands off her and since he was trying to behave, that just wouldn’t work for him.

He looked around the suite, noting the small love seat and the flat screen television on
the wall and dismissed the idea of watching television to kill some time. She needed
sleep and he was damn well going to make sure that she got some, which meant that
he was going to have to kill a few hours walking around a really big fucking ship with
nothing to do.

Throwing  his  beautiful  wife  one  last  glance,  he  walked  over  to  the  small  table  in  the
corner,  scribbled  a  note  letting  her  know  where  he  was  going  and  placed  it  on  the
pillow  by  her  head.  Unable  to  help  himself,  he  leaned  over  and  kissed  her  forehead,
chuckling  as  he  moved  back  and  out  of  the  way  as  she  swatted  at  him  in  her  sleep.
Grumbling something that made him smile, she turned over onto her side, curled up,
snuggled back into her pillow and commenced with the cute little snores that he would
happily listen to for the rest of his life.

Deciding that there was nothing else to do, he quickly changed into a pair of cargo
shorts and a grey Bradford Construction tee shirt. Unable to help himself once again,
he leaned over, kissed his wife and chuckled when she went to swat at him again.
Sending her one last look, he grabbed his keycard and headed for the door, wondering
how he was going to kill the next few hours. He let himself out, making sure to close
the door quietly behind him.

“May I tidy your room and store your luggage for you, sir?” a cruise employee asked

with a congenial smile as he came to a stop in front of Trevor.

“My wife is sleeping,” Trevor said, gesturing for the man to continue on his way.

The employee nodded. “I’ll make sure that I keep the hallways quiet, sir.”

“Thank you,” Trevor said, before adding with a proud smile simply because he couldn’t
believe it, “she’s pregnant.”

The man’s smile instantly warmed. “Congratulations, sir.”

“Thank you,” Trevor murmured as he walked away, shaking his head in wonder.

In  a  matter  of  months  he  was  going  to  be  a  father  and  he  couldn’t  fucking  wait.  He
was  going  to  work  his  ass  off  to  be  the  best  father  to  his  children.  He  didn’t  care  if
they were as smart as his cousin Jason or dyslexic like him, he was going to love them
and  be  there  for  them.  He  was  never  going  to  make  his  children  feel  like  shit,
unwanted or like some fucking obligation that he got stuck with because he forgot to
use a condom one night.

His children were going to know from the start that they were loved and fucking
adored. He’d always be there for them.

Always.

The same could be said for Zoe. Like the rest of the men in his family he took his
marriage vows seriously. He would never fuck around on her. He would never want to
or feel the need to cheat on her. Bradford men were raised to take marriage seriously.
When you gave a woman your word that you would always be there for her, take care
of her, love her and cherish her, you did it.

Bradfords took marriage fucking seriously, which is why the men in his family didn’t
marry  unless  they  were  out  of  their  fucking  minds  and  ready  to  make  someone  else
the  center  of  their  world,  to  put  someone  else’s  needs  and  wants  first.  For  years  he
never  thought  that  he’d  ever  really  find  the  one  that  he  would  give  anything  just  to
see smile. He always thought that when he got married that it would be to a woman
that met every single one of his requirements, but then came along Zoe…

Christ, she blew away everything that he ever thought that he would want in a
woman. She was……she was…

She was fucking everything to him.

“Excuse me? Could you hand me a towel?” a beautiful brunette wearing a barely-there
two-piece bikini asked with a coy smile as she reached up and pushed back a strand of
wet hair behind her ear.

Trevor barely spared her a glance as he reached over grabbed a towel off a cart, tossed
it to her as he stepped past her and out the door onto the sunlit deck where dozens of
couples were walking around, smiling and looking like there was no where else on
earth that they’d rather be than strolling around this damn boat while all he wanted
to do was to go back to his room and curl up with his cranky wife and watch the
game.

Sighing, he walked past a young couple wearing matching baby pink shirts declaring
that  they  were  honeymooners  and  rolled  his  eyes.  Fucking  pathetic,  he  thought,
feeling bad for the poor bastard that was already whipped. That was definitely no way
to  start  a  marriage,  he  mused  absently  as  he  pulled  his  cellphone  out  to  see  if  he’d
missed  a  call  or  a  text  from  Zoe,  letting  him  know  that  she  needed  him  before  he
shoved  it  back  in  his  pocket  and  stepped  around  the  poor  bastard  that  had  willingly
given  up  his  rights  to  call  himself  a  man  and  strolled  down  the  deck,  keeping  to  the
left and out of the way of couples and children rushing over to the railing to stare at
the ocean.

Seven fucking days on a boat, he thought miserably. What the hell was he supposed to
do for seven days? he wondered. Well, he knew exactly what he wanted to do for seven
straight days, but he didn’t think that his wife would be on board with his plans. He
could have happily spent their honeymoon at home, in their bed, fucking her blind and
been able to honestly say that it was the perfect honeymoon, but his wife would have
been disappointed.

Not  with  the  sex,  he  mentally  corrected  with  a  chuckle  and  a  wistful  sigh,  but  with
the honeymoon. Zoe wanted to travel, to take real vacations and even though he was
content  with  the  trips  that  he  took  with  his  family  every  year,  he’d  happily  take  her
wherever  she  wanted  to  go  no  matter  how  bored  out  of  his  fucking  mind  he  was.
Maybe there was a lounge or somewhere that he could kill a couple of hours, he hoped
as he passed several signs for a kids’ center, the entrance for the water slide and spa.
When he saw the sign for the casino he sighed and kept walking.

There had to be a bar or a lounge somewhere on this fucking ship, he thought as he
walked past a large pool, deciding that if he couldn’t find somewhere decent to grab a
beer and catch the game that he’d find a spot by the pool to lounge and kill time with
a few beers while he waited for Zoe to wake up. Maybe he could…he….could…he…

“No fucking way,” he murmured softly to himself even as he closed his eyes and slowly
reopened them, praying like hell that he was just seeing things, but when he opened
them, the sign was still there.

Licking his lips, he walked forward as though he was in a trance and reached for the
doorknob with a trembling hand, praying like hell that this wasn’t some kind of sick
joke, and walked inside, letting the door marked, “Buffet,” close slowly behind him.

Chapter 6

“Well, this is kind of boring,” Zoe had to admit even as she reached down and
straightened the pillow with a discerning eye, pulling it slightly this way and that way
until at last it was perfect and she was officially out of things to do while she waited
for Trevor’s return.

She  looked  over  at  the  small  alarm  clock  by  the  bed  and  sighed  before  glancing  back
down  at  the  note  that  he’d  left  her.  He  should  have  been  back  by  now,  she  thought,
worrying  her  bottom  lip  as  she  considered  pulling  out  her  cell  and  texting  him,  but
two things stopped her. One, she didn’t want to start off their marriage as a nagging
wife,  always  demanding  to  know  what  he  was  doing  and  who  he  was  with.  She’d
never been that type of person before and she didn’t plan on starting now.

The other reason she wasn’t trying to text him of course was very simple, she had
absolutely no idea if they were in international waters yet and wasn’t exactly eager to
find out the text and calling rates. Call her crazy, but she wasn’t willing to spend half
her paycheck just to find out what her husband was up to…

“Oh, God,” she thought, chewing her bottom lip as she struggled not to smile and
quickly lost that battle.

She was married to Trevor and carrying his babies, which had the terrifying ability to
frighten  her  just  a  bit  so  she  decided  to  focus  on  something  other  than  the  fact  that
she  could  now  eat  more  than  her  husband  and  most  of  the  men  in  his  family.  She
picked  up  their  empty  luggage  and  squeezed  them  inside  the  small  closet  in  the
corner,  double  checked  her  outfit,  which  unfortunately  did  nothing  to  hide  the  fact
that she could lose a few pounds.

Shoving  that  rather  depressing  thought  aside  and  the  reminder  that  carrying
Bradford  twins  was  only  going  to  make  her  bigger,  she  decided  to  focus  on  the  fact
that  she  was  on  her  first  real  vacation  and  she  was  going  to  damn  well  enjoy  it.
Determined to pretend that she wasn’t the chubbiest woman on the ship, she grabbed
her keycard, pulled the edge of her tank top down in a futile attempt to hide her full
figure,  checked  her  hair  and  left  the  room,  deciding  to  have  a  look  around  while  she
went looking for her husband.

She  walked  down  a  short  hallway  before  she  came  to  a  door  that  led  to  a  large  pool
deck  where  children  were  running  and  smiling,  women  were  lounging  by  the  water,
enjoying the sun and the appreciative looks the men around them were sending their
way. Zoe paused briefly by a railing to send a wistful glance at a set of empty lounge
chairs  and  contemplated  lying  down  for  a  few  more  minutes,  a  little  terrified  that
after a five-hour nap that she was still tired.

Then again, she could also go for something to eat. Actually, if she was going to be

honest then she’d admit that she was starving and the sooner that she found Trevor so
that they could grab dinner, the better. God, she couldn’t remember ever being this
hungry before, but then again she seemed to be thinking that about twenty times a
day.

That  actually  brought  up  another  interesting  question,  exactly  how  long  would  it  be
before  all  this  food  that  she  was  forced  to  eat  would  start  showing  up  in  her  ass  and
thighs?  She  was  going  to  be  huge,  she  thought  miserably  even  as  she  accepted  the
inevitable,  because  really,  there  wasn’t  anything  that  she  could  do  about  it  now,  not
when she was carrying Bradford twins. She started to head down the stairs when she
realized  with  dread  and  a  pathetic  whimper  that  she  was  actually  really  hungry,
again.

At  least  her  stomach  wasn’t  threatening  to  send  her  running  to  the  bathroom,  she
realized, relieved that the pill that Trevor’s Uncle Ethan prescribed was still working.
She  walked  by  the  entrance  for  the  spa,  making  a  mental  note  to  check  it  out  later
and kept walking, glancing around, hoping to run into Trevor, but with every passing
second it became obvious that she was either going to have to go back to the room and
wait  for  him  or  hunt  down  a  cruise  ship  employee  and  admit  that  the  incredibly  hot
man  that  had  somehow  lost  his  mind  and  married  her  had  probably  come  to  his
senses,  jumped  off  the  ship  and  was  currently  begging  a  judge  to  grant  him  an
annulment.

That  rather  depressing  thought  had  her  stopping  in  her  tracks,  turning  around  and
heading  back  towards  their  room  where  she  could  do  her  best  to  stop  the  tears  that
were threatening to come, but then common sense kicked in and she couldn’t help but
smile.  Trevor  Bradford,  easily  the  hottest  man  that  she  had  ever  laid  eyes  on  had
dragged  her  across  town,  demanded  that  she  marry  him  before  he  dragged  her  back
home,  determined  to  have  his  wicked  way  with  her  just  to  make  sure  that  she  was
his.

He  loved  her,  she  thought  to  herself  with  a  ridiculously  pleased  smile  as  she  turned
right back around and decided to get something to eat while luck was still on her side
and her stomach wasn’t making her wish for death. She could really go for a burger,
maybe  two,  she  decided,  nearly  sighing  with  relief  when  her  stomach  growled  in
approval,  demanding  that  she  move  her  ass  a  little  faster  and  find  something  to  eat.
She’d  look  for  Trevor,  but  only  after  she  got  something  to  eat,  because  she  really
didn’t think that passing out on the deck among hundreds of strangers would really be
one of those magical moments that she would want to savor for the rest of her life.

Food was definitely in order first. Then she was going to hunt down her husband so
that they could start enjoying their honey-

“Would Zoe Bradford please return to your room immediately,” came the intercom
announcement, letting her know that she was going to have to put her plans off for a

bit, which apparently didn’t set well with the twins that she was carrying…

Not. At. All.

*-*-*-*

“Mr. Bradford, your wife will be here soon. Please, just try to calm down and-”

“Kill. Me,” Trevor demanded as he grabbed the ship’s doctor by the collar and yanked
him closer. “I don’t want her to see me like this!”

The doctor released a long-suffering sigh as he reached up and easily removed Trevor’s
weak grip from his barely wrinkled starched white shirt. “Mr. Bradford,” he began in
that tone that Trevor did not much care for, not at all, “you’re not dying.”

“You  don’t  know  that!”  he  snapped  back  weakly,  closing  his  eyes  as  he  gave  up  his
attempts  to  shake  some  sense  into  the  doctor  and  grabbed  one  of  the  thick  fluffy
pillows  off  the  bed  and  hugged  it  with  everything  that  he  had,  praying  for  a  quick
death before Zoe could see him like this.

“Mr. Bradford,” the doctor began, but Trevor wasn’t about to let the judgmental
bastard waste what precious seconds he had left with more of his bullshit.

“Listen to me,” he bit out, squeezing his pillow tightly, pausing only long enough to
slowly inhale, praying that it would be enough to settle the violent attack currently
destroying him from the inside out, “I haven’t had a chance to change my will yet and
my wife is pregnant,” he began only to let out a pathetic groan when the violent storm
playing out in his stomach threatened to send him diving for the wastebasket.

He just wanted to close his eyes and give in and die, but he needed to do this one thing
first. He needed to do this for his wife and children. “I want my wife to inherit all my
properties, my bank accounts, my life insurance, absolutely everything,” he said,
pausing to swallow back the bile that once again threatened to take him to his knees,
giving him further proof that the end was near as a thought occurred to him.

“Except my Yankees memorabilia. Give that to my cousin Jason,” he managed to get
out, pleased that he’d managed to do the right thing and protect his poor defenseless
Yankees shirts and balls from the evil woman that fucking adored the Red Sox.

The Red Sox?

What  kind  of  sick  bastard  would  support  a  team  like  that?  God,  he  must  really  love
her, he realized with a pathetic groan as he curled up into a tighter ball, praying that
one  of  his  uncles  or  cousins  stepped  in  and  made  sure  that  his  children  were  raised
right  with  Yankees  posters  on  their  walls  and  Yankees  shirts  on  their  backs.  They’d
step in and do the right thing if they saw Zoe trying to brainwash his children with all

that Red Sox propaganda bullshit.

They’d do the right thing, he reassured himself as he rolled over onto his other side
with a pained groan, wondering when his stomach would stop twisting and turning
and finally put him out of his fucking misery.

“I think we should give this another chance,” the doctor said calmly as he held up a
bottle of pills, making Trevor’s stomach twist in agony at the memory of what the last
pills that the doctor forced down his throat had done.

“No,” he managed to croak out as he buried his face in his pillow, willing for the ship
to stop shaking, moving, rocking, whatever the hell they wanted to call it, but it
needed to stop immediately.

“I’m sorry about the last pills, but these should help you,” the lying son of a bitch
promised.

Clenching  his  jaw  shut  tightly  so  that  the  sneaky  bastard  couldn’t  shove  any  more
poison  in  his  mouth,  he  squeezed  his  eyes  shut  and  shook  his  head  as  much  as  he
dared, which wasn’t a hell of a lot. God, he wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact that
every  single  movement  and  breath  that  he  took  made  him  wish  for  death  or  the  fact
that  he’d  just  spent  the  last  five  hours  sitting  in  a  buffet  unable  able  to  eat  a  single
bite of food, because just the thought of eating any of that food had made him queasy.

“I need you to try these pills,” the sick bastard that had somehow managed to get a
medical license said more firmly while he laid there, waiting for his loving wife to
return so that he could say goodbye to her.

Grimacing, he shook his head, slightly.

“Mr. Bradford, I promise you that these will help,” the doctor said with a sigh of
exasperation that was going to get his ass kicked.

“That’s what you said the last time,” Trevor managed to bite out, struggling not to lose
what was left of his breakfast at the reminder of what happened as soon as the last
pills had hit his system.

“Some people react badly to those pills once sea sickness kicks in, but these pills
should do the-”

“What’s going on?” his loving wife asked, interrupting the bastard trying to kill him
and making him sag with relief because he knew that everything would be okay now.

“Are you his wife?” the doctor asked with a slight hesitation that Trevor found
insulting, but since he could barely move without praying for death, he decided to add
it to the growing list of offenses that was going to get the smug bastard thrown

overboard just as soon as the world stopped spinning.

“Yes, what’s going on?” Zoe asked, for some reason sounding a bit impatient and not at
all like a loving, devoted wife should sound like when she found her husband, the man
she loved and adored, on the verge of death.

At least, in his opinion she didn’t…

“He has a touch of sea sickness and won’t take these pills that will-”

Before the doctor could finish spouting more of his bullshit, he suddenly found himself
shoved  onto  his  back,  his  wife  straddling  his  chest,  and  not  in  the  good  way,  pinning
his  arms  by  his  sides,  his  nose  pinched  and  two  large  pills  shoved  in  his  mouth  all
while  the  woman  that  he  loved  glared  down  at  him,  daring  him  to  refuse  swallowing
the pills that were guaranteed to make him sicker.

When he turned his head to spit the pills out, she slapped one of her dainty little
hands over his mouth and tightened her pinch on his nose as she calmly said with a
serene smile that actually frightened him a bit, “Swallow.”

He did, but not because he was afraid of his wife, which there may have been a slight
possibility at that moment that he was, but because he was curious what the hell had
happened to make his normally sane wife lose her fucking mind. He could have easily
shoved her off and freed himself, but the thought surprisingly never even entered his
mind. He would never do anything that could hurt her.

So,  he  laid  there,  glaring  right  back  at  her  as  he  slowly  swallowed  the  pills,  dry.  As
soon  as  the  pills  went  down  his  throat  she  removed  her  hand  and  calmly  got  up  and
walked  towards  the  door  as  though  this  little  break  in  sanity  never  happened.  Even
the doctor that had been trying to get him to swallow the damn pills for the past half
hour stood there, slack jawed as he stared after Zoe.

Obviously  feeling  the  need  to  explain  her  crazed  actions,  she  turned  around,  cleared
her  throat  delicately  and  explained,  “They’re  serving  fried  chicken  in  the  lower
restaurant in twenty minutes,” she said with a shrug and a sheepish smile that made
the doctor take a hasty step back, probably thinking that the woman was insane, but
since Trevor knew that she was simply trying to keep up with the twins that she was
carrying,  he  simply  placed  his  hand  over  his  stomach,  rolled  over  onto  his  side  and
promptly fell asleep.

Chapter 7

“Can I get you anything else, ma’am?” Edmund, the cute waiter who’d she’d gotten to
know quite well over the past two days, asked as he picked up another empty glass
and plate.

“Another  banana  split  and  a  chocolate  milk?”  she  asked,  not  quite  able  to  meet  his
gaze  as  she  stepped  aside  so  that  he  could  place  the  cheeseburger  platter,  plate  of
lasagna,  American  chop  suey,  chicken  tenders  with  French  fries  and  onion  rings  on
the table that he’d just cleared.

“With extra bananas,” he said with a smile and an understanding nod as he pulled out
his tablet and added her order while she stood there, trying not to think about the fact
that he’d probably spent more time in her room over the past two days, bringing her
food, than anywhere else.

“Please,” she said right around the time that the pained groan sounded from the floor
reminding her to ask for something else. “And more Gatorade, please?”

“Certainly,” Edmund said with a nod as he grabbed the last empty plate and placed it
on the cart, which earned a small grunt that they both knew by this point meant,
“Thank you.”

He  started  to  push  the  cart  towards  the  door  when  the  large  tan  hand  was  suddenly
raised  in  the  air,  holding  a  twenty-dollar  bill.  With  a  smile  and  a  murmured  thank
you,  Edmund  accepted  the  money  and  continued  to  push  the  cart  towards  the  door
that he’d left propped open. Once he’d pushed the cart out, he allowed the door to close
behind him.

“Do you want to try and eat something?” she asked the large man curled up in the
fetal position on the floor as she cut the cheeseburger in half.

He didn’t answer her, but he did open one eye so that he could narrow it accusingly on
her before he shut it and resumed softly groaning miserably from the spot that he’d
claimed on the floor by the door as his. The only time he’d left that spot in the last two
days was to use the bathroom, take a shower, three attempted baths to soothe his
stomach and one time to crawl on his hands and knees to the balcony with the hopes
that the fresh air would somehow make him feel better.

Nothing of course worked.

Well, technically the pills worked since they stopped him from getting sick every time
that he smelled food and managed to knock him out for a few hours at a time, but
they also made him dizzy, his vision a bit blurry and left him incredibly thirsty. He’d
probably gone through two gallons of Gatorade a day, which of course meant that he
would have to get up more frequently for trips to the bathroom, which exacerbated his

dizziness and would allow his nausea to kick in once again.

The poor guy just couldn’t seem to catch a break, she thought with a pitying shake of
her head and a small sigh as she picked up half her burger and took a big, satisfying
bite that nearly earned a moan of appreciation, but she knew better than to do that.
Not with poor Trevor stuck on the floor, starving, grumbling and having an absolutely
miserable time.

Not that she was having a great time, because she definitely wasn’t, not with Trevor
like this, but she had to admit that it was rather nice to get a break from the constant
hunger pains that came with carrying Bradford twins. When she wasn’t eating, and
she still couldn’t believe that she could eat so much and not even feel the slightest bit
full, she was sitting on the floor, holding Trevor’s head in her lap and holding his hand
as he suffered through this.

Part  of  her  wished  that  they’d  never  come,  but  the  other  part  of  her,  the  one  that
couldn’t help smiling whenever she thought about how sweet Trevor was to bring her
on  this  trip,  was  glad  that  they’d  come.  She’d  never  been  on  a  trip  before  and  even
though  most  people  would  probably  rank  this  as  a  horrible  trip,  one  that  they’d
probably pray would end soon, she was actually enjoying herself…sort of.

Bad  or  good,  this  was  her  first  real  trip  and  she  was  going  to  do  her  best  to  enjoy  it,
even  while  she  rubbed  Trevor’s  back  as  the  poor  man  dry  heaved  in  the  bathroom.
Most  people  would  probably  call  her  crazy  for  trying  to  enjoy  this  trip  when  it  had
obviously  gone  to  hell  quickly,  but  she  didn’t  care.  She  was  on  her  honeymoon  with
her  incredibly  handsome,  albeit  sick,  husband  and  she  was  determined  to  enjoy
herself.

“Kill…me…,” Trevor groaned as he dragged himself across the short distance,
wrapped his hand gently around her ankle and held on even as he caressed her ankle
with small circles with his thumb.

Taking another bite of her burger, which she’d like to point out was really good, she
knelt down on the floor next to him so that she could run the fingers of her free hand
through his short, soft hair.

“It will be fine,” she promised him even as she took another bite of that incredibly
juicy burger and wondered if she could get Edmund to bring her another one before
the dinner rush started.

*-*-*-*

“Are you sure about this?” Zoe asked as she continued to rub his back while he stood
there, holding onto the railing as he struggled not to lose his Gatorade breakfast.

“Yes!” he bit out, glaring at the gangplank with a determination that most of the
people rushing past them found a little frightening, but he didn’t give a damn.

He was getting off this damn boat today, going to the medical center and getting the
medication that his uncle called in for him so that he could fix this damn honeymoon.
Taking a slow, deep breath, he forced his feet to work and take him past the gawking
tourists, concerned cruise employees and made his way to the line of taxis, keeping his
wife’s hand firmly in his.

“Maybe we should look into getting a hotel room and see about getting a flight home?”
Zoe suggested, shooting him another worried glance while they made their way slowly
to the taxi stationed in front of the wharf.

“No,” he said firmly, determined to fix this honeymoon even if it killed him and
judging by the way this honeymoon had been going so far, it damn well might just do
that.

“It’s fine if you want to go home,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile, letting
him know that she meant it.

For  a  moment,  he  considered  giving  in  and  saying  the  hell  with  it  just  so  that  he
would  never  have  to  set  foot  on  that  ship  again,  but  he  just  couldn’t  force  the  words
from his mouth when he knew that it would mean taking away the first vacation that
Zoe  had  ever  had.  She  deserved  this  vacation  and  he  was  going  to  do  everything
within  his  power  to  make  sure  that  she  always  remembered  it  and  not  because  he
hadn’t been able to leave the fetal position for the last two days.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she joined him in the cab that had damn well
better take them where he could get this fixed.

“To pick up something that my uncle had shipped over,” he said, praying that his
uncle had been able to pull this off, because otherwise he was going to have to spend
the next week curled up on the floor of their suite, dying a slow, painful death.

Since that wouldn’t help him romance his wife, he was going to have to do something
about it now while he had the chance.

*-*-*-*

“How are you feeling?” Zoe asked, still unable to believe the change in him.

“Great,” he said with a smile as he settled back on the lounger and released a loud
satisfied sigh that let her know that he was feeling a hundred times better, but it was
the fact that they’d just spent the last five hours in the buffet that let her know that
Trevor was over the terrifying sea sickness that had once kept him hostage in their
room.

“Good,” she mumbled, giving up on trying to force a smile since he had his eyes closed
and couldn’t see her anyway and glanced around the large deck, noting all the women,
and a few men, who just couldn’t seem to take their eyes off her husband.

Not that she could blame them, she thought with a wistful sigh as she stole a glance
towards her husband and-

“Umm, why exactly are you shoving pharmaceutical bottles in my face?” she felt
obligated to ask as she sat back just far enough so that she could grab the brown
bottle that he insisted on giving her out of her face.

“It’s not a pharmaceutical bottle,” he grumbled, sounding oddly content as he laid
there in the sun, getting his already tanned, perfectly defined muscles even tanner,
which she had to admit, did make her want to lick her lips in appreciation.

“Are you going to rub some of that on me or what?” he asked around a small yawn as
he rolled back over onto his stomach and laid his head on his folded arms as he waited
for her to commence with the rubbing.

“What exactly is this?” she asked, lowering her sunglasses on her nose so that she
could squint down at the bottle in her hands.

It  was  a  bottle  of  sunblock,  the  sport  kind  that  guaranteed  coverage  for  up  to  four
hours,  which  actually  had  her  shoulders  sagging  in  defeat  and  fighting  back  the  real
urge  to  cry.  She  hadn’t  slept  much  in  the  last  couple  of  days  because  she’d  been  too
busy  either  shoving  food  in  her  mouth  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  appease  the
Bradfords that she was carrying or taking care of the one currently giving his body a
little wiggle to remind her that he required someone to rub sunscreen on him when all
she wanted to do was go back to their room and sleep. She’d planned on getting a little
nap on the beach today since this was the first dock day, but her husband apparently
had  other  plans  that  had  taken  them  all  over  the  island,  hanging  out  in  a  waiting
room  that  was  kept  at  a  crisp  thirty  below  zero,  then  promptly  dragged  her  to  the
other  side  of  the  island  so  that  he  could  fill  several  prescriptions  before  she  was
dragged  back  to  the  ship  where  Trevor  slapped  on  a  seasickness  patch  that  his  uncle
had prescribed him and proceeded to check to see if the medication worked.

It  did,  but  just  to  make  sure  that  it  wasn’t  a  fluke,  they’d  spent  five  hours  in  the
buffet  room  so  that  he  could  try  everything  at  least  a  dozen  times  before  declaring
with  that  incredibly  sexy  smile  of  his  that  they  were  going  to  start  their  honeymoon
the  right  way,  tonight.  Unfortunately  for  her,  she  wasn’t  interested  in  started  their
honeymoon. What she was interested in was the queen-sized bed waiting for her back
in their room.

“Trevor, I-”

“Start on my legs?” he suggested, cutting her off and making her sigh heavily, mostly
because she was starting to get a little cranky.

“Fine,”  she  muttered  unhappily  as  she  shook  the  bottle,  flicked  the  top  open  and
turned it over to squeeze some in her hand when she noticed the hot platinum blonde
with  medically  enhanced  assets  standing  over  them,  running  her  eyes  hungrily  over
Trevor  even  as  she  shot  him  a  knowing  smile,  letting  Zoe  know  that  the  blonde  had
set her sights on Trevor.

Normally, she might have explained to the woman that he was married, screwed with
the blonde’s head for her own enjoyment, but today all she wanted to do was go curl
up in bed and go sleep for the next twelve or so hours. Knowing that she had no other
choice in the matter, she did what she had to do.

She held up the bottle to the blonde and with a tilt of her head gestured towards
Trevor, who looked close to falling asleep as he waited for his sunscreen body
massage.

With a coy smile, the blonde accepted the bottle and Zoe made her escape, too
exhausted to care that she’d just given an incredibly hot woman the right to run her
hands over her husband, Zoe got to her feet, yawned and somehow managed to make
it to her room where she promptly passed out just as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Chapter 8

“Zoe?” he said, glaring down at the small woman curled up on the bed, hugging his
pillow and looking absolutely exhausted, he realized with a frown. He tossed the half
empty bottle of sunscreen on the couch and was about to sit down on the bed next to
her when he remembered the half-gallon of sunscreen coating his back and remained
on his feet.

“Baby?”

Nothing.

“The ship’s sinking,” he said gently, leaning over to brush a few strands of hair out of
her face, making sure to move his arm out the way before she could swat at him as
she grumbled angrily in her sleep.

Sighing heavily, because he had no idea what else he should do, he straightened as he
looked down at his beautiful wife before he glanced over at the alarm clock and
couldn’t help but sigh again as he looked back down at his wife. It looked like they
weren’t going to be able to have that romantic stroll around the ship before dinner like
he’d planned.

Well, that was fine, he decided as he grabbed a pair of boxers and headed for the
shower, re-adjusting his plans for the rest of the night to accommodate her nap. By
the time that he’d finished his shower and was sure that he no longer smelled like he’d
bathed in a gallon of sunscreen, he’d readjusted his plans for the night.

They’d still have a romantic night. He’d make damn sure of it. They’d just have to
start their romantic evening a little later than he would have liked, but that’s okay,
because he would make it work in his favor. If they got dressed now they’d still have
time for a short romantic stroll around the deck before they made it to the restaurant
in time for the reservations that he’d made once he’d determined that he wasn’t going
to die on this ship.

After dinner he’d take her for another stroll, stop by the top deck where he was told
there would be soft light and romantic music. He planned on holding her in his arms
until the moment was right. Then he would pull out the necklace that he’d bought for
her at the over-priced jewelry store on the ship that he’d found earlier, take her back
to their room where he’d lay back and let her show him just how much she loved him,
hopefully with her mouth…

God, the things that she could do with that mouth of hers, he thought, groaning long
and loud as his cock started to rise to the occasion, remembering all too well what it
felt like to slide inside Zoe’s extremely talented mouth. The way she wrapped her lips
around the tip of his cock and sucked was fucking incredible.

He absently ran his towel over his eager cock and stomach as he left the bathroom,
wondering if she’d be up to-

Getting out of bed in time for dinner.

Biting back a frustrated groan, he dropped the towel and walked over to the bed. “Zoe,
sweetheart?” he said softly as he reached over and gently shook her shoulder. “It’s
time to get up.”

Nothing.

“Sweetheart? It’s time to get up,” he said a little louder as he leaned over and kissed
her cheek. When she didn’t even bother to swat at him in her sleep, he realized just
how tired she really was.

“Shit,” he hissed softly as he reached back and rubbed his neck, wondering how he
was going to salvage this night now.

There was no way that he was going to be able to get her going in time to make their
reservations,  but  they  could  still  grab  food  and  spend  the  night  in  each  other’s  arms,
dancing  by  the  moonlight  as  he  told  her  just  how  much  he  loved  her.  It  wasn’t  how
he’d hoped to spend the night, but he could make it work, he decided as he dropped the
towel  and  climbed  in  bed  with  her,  pleased  when  she  rolled  over  in  her  sleep  and
curled up against him, bringing her leg up over his and-

“Shit!” he bit out with a grunt when her knee made contact with the body part that
loved her the most and brought tears to his eyes.

When she released a pleased little sigh and snuggled in closer to him, he decided to
take it like a man and hold her while he pretended that his poor cock wasn’t suffering
in silence.

*-*-*-*

“What time is it?” she whispered, not bothering to open her eyes because she simply
wasn’t sure that she could manage to do even that.

“A little after ten,” Trevor answered, sounding a little grumpy and if she wasn’t
struggling to stay awake at the moment, she would probably ask him what was
wrong.

She yawned as she snuggled closer to him and instantly felt herself relax even more,
which was surprising since she was already…

“Zoe?” Trevor whispered, but it was too late. She’d already fallen asleep.

Leaning down to kiss her forehead, he glanced at the clock above the television and

sighed. So much for that romantic dance beneath the moonlight, he thought as he
pulled her closer and resigned himself to trying to make the best out of room service.
He’d be able to order candles, a romantic dinner for two and maybe some roses, but it
was probably going to cost him a fortune, but if it saved their romantic evening then
he’d do whatever it took.

*-*-*-*

“Trevor?” Zoe whispered a little louder, this time earning a soft groan as he shifted
behind her, which of course caused that large erection that had teased her awake to
brush up against her in just the right way.

Licking her lips, she had to force herself to resist the urge to push back against him.
God, she wanted him so badly that she felt like she would literally die if she couldn’t
have him in the next minute, but unfortunately for her, nature was also calling and
she couldn’t ignore that call no matter how much she wanted to and God, did she want
to. It felt like it had been years since the last time she’d had sex when in reality it had
only been a few days thanks to Trevor’s adverse reaction to being on a boat.

She  really  wanted  him,  but  she  really  needed  to  use  the  bathroom.  So,  it  was  with  a
heavy  heart  and  a  pathetic  whimper  that  she  reluctantly  pushed  Trevor’s  large  arm
away,  forced  herself  to  climb  out  of  that  warm,  comfortable  bed  and  headed  for  the
bathroom.  After  she  took  care  of  business,  she  decided  to  brush  her  teeth  and  take  a
hot  shower,  hoping  that  it  would  help  wake  her  up  so  that  she  could  properly  take
advantage of her husband.

Oh,  and  she  fully  planned  on  taking  advantage  of  him,  she  thought  with  a  wicked
smile as she closed her eyes and dropped her head back, enjoying the feel of hot water
running  through  her  hair  and  over  her  body.  There  was  just  something  intoxicating
knowing  that  the  incredibly  handsome  man  asleep  in  the  next  room  belonged  to  her.
She still couldn’t believe this was how her life had turned out, happily married to the
man that she loved with two babies on the way.

She’d  always  dreamed  of  having  a  family,  but  she  never  really  thought  that  it  would
happen  for  her.  She’d  had  friends  over  the  years,  people  that  she  cared  about,  but
after  growing  up  in  foster  care  she’d  gotten  used  to  people  coming  in  and  out  of  her
life,  sometimes  without  so  much  as  a  goodbye,  so  she’d  never  really  cared  if  anyone
stuck around, never expected it.

Not once.

She always just counted herself lucky to have had them in her lives for as long as she
did. Friends were always like boyfriends, they came and went and maybe if she was
lucky they’d remember at Christmas time and send her a card. Other than that, she’d
always been fine with the way that her life was until Trevor came into her life,

annoying the hell out of her even as he entertained her.

Thanks to Trevor, she now had uncles, cousins, good friends, a family of her own and
more importantly, a best friend. He was the best friend that she’d ever had or
probably ever would. He made her happy, made her smile even during those moments
when it was hard to believe that someone could feel that way about her, that someone
loved her so much that he was willing to do whatever it took to keep her. She loved
him and she couldn’t wait to show him just how much.

“Good morning, Mrs. Bradford,” Trevor whispered hoarsely in her ear as his large
arms wrapped around her and pulled her back against him.

Smiling, because she really couldn’t think of a better way to start her day….or night,
she really had no clue what time it was, she leaned her head back in silent demand
and sighed with satisfaction seconds later when he took her up on her invitation and
leaned down and kissed her.

“Good morning, Mr. Bradford,” she said, smiling against his lips.

“Well,” he said, pausing to tease her bottom lip with a gentle nip and a kiss, “I think it
might just be too soon to start with the ‘Good mornings’ since it’s barely one in the
morning.”

Wincing, she brushed her lips against his in silent apology for making him miss
dinner. “I’m sorry about dinner. Do you think the kitchens are still open?” she asked,
right around the time her stomach released an embarrassingly loud growl and her
cheeks started to burn.

It was going to be a long pregnancy, she thought miserably, deciding that if he
commented on either her blush or the growl that she was going to have to kill him,
which she hoped that she wouldn’t have to do since she really wasn’t thrilled about the
possibility of becoming a widow.

Thankfully, mostly for him, because it meant that he would be allowed to live to see
another day, he didn’t mention anything or even give her one of those sexy chuckles
that she normally loved as he leaned back down, brushed his lips against hers, adding
a firm nod as he released her. “I’ll go order us a late dinner. What are you in the mood
for?”

Everything,  but  she  just  couldn’t  admit  that  even  to  a  man  that  would  understand
probably  better  than  anyone  about  how  hungry  she  was,  more  like  starving.  God,
when  was  the  last  time  she  ate?  There  was  the  breakfast  buffet  this  morning  that
Trevor  made  her  go  to  before  they  left  his  morning,  then  they’d  grabbed  lunch  while
they  were  out  picking  up  his  medicine,  grabbed  a  snack  after  that  because  she’d  still
been  hungry,  grabbed  another  one  on  the  way  back  to  the  ship,  hit  the  buffet  once

they got on the ship, and then she grabbed a sandwich a bottle of chocolate milk on
the way to their room. That was less than twelve hours ago, so she’d understand being
a little hungry, but she was absolutely starving. She could probably eat everything on
the ship and still be hungry, she realized miserably as she did her best not to pout.

“I’ll surprise you. How does that sound?” he asked, placing his hand over her bottom
and gave it a squeeze as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder that had her licking her lips
and reminding her that there was another hunger that she could really use his help
with.

“I’ll be quick,” he promised her as he gave her ass another appreciative squeeze,
letting her know that he planned on taking care of that other hunger just as soon as
he got back.

Smiling with anticipation, she ducked her head under the water and-

Slapped her hand over her mouth, shoved past Trevor and dropped to her knees in
front of the toilet seconds after her stomach violently turned on her, adding another
lovely memory to their trip.

Chapter 9

“Shhh, it’s okay, baby,” he said, feeling completely useless as he knelt there, rubbing
her back and pushing her long wet hair over her shoulder.

“P-pill,” she said between gasps as she hung her head, closed her eyes and breathed in
slowly while it took him a moment to figure out what she wanted.

Her pill…

Shit!

Of course she needed her pill and he was kneeling on the floor like an idiot. She was
supposed to have one every twelve hours and she hadn’t had one since she woke up
yesterday morning. She’d been so terrified of being laid out another day with morning
sickness that she’d practically jumped from the bed and dove for the bottle of pills.

He should have tried harder to wake her up earlier, given her a pill and made her eat
something to make sure that it didn’t upset her stomach. Instead he’d been so focused
on giving her the perfect honeymoon that he’d fucked up and had forgotten to take
care of her.

Now she was paying for his mistake.

Some husband he was turning out to be, he realized, shaking his head in disgust as he
pushed her hair out of her face, awkwardly got to his feet in the cramped bathroom,
turned around and within seconds realized that the bathroom door was locked.

“Shit,” he groaned, because this was just getting better and better.

“W-what?” Zoe managed to get out before she started dry heaving again.

“Nothing,” he said, praying that was true, because otherwise things were about to get
a lot more fucking interesting.

He tightened his grip on the latch and tried to yank it up, but it wouldn’t move. He
wiggled it, put his weight against the door and yanked, but the damn door wouldn’t
move. Not one single fucking inch.

“T-Trevor?” she said, sounding absolutely miserable as she sat on the tiled floor and
leaned back against the wall with a small groan. “What’s wrong?”

He yanked on the handle and shoved on the door, but the damn thing wouldn’t budge.
“Shit,” he said, closing his eyes in defeat as he dropped his forehead against the door
and for the first time in his life, wondered if all those stories that his uncles and
cousins had told him over the years might be more than just typical Bradford bullshit.

A Bradford curse, he thought with a snort of disbelief as he closed his eyes and banged
his head against the door. A fucking Bradford curse…

“What’s wrong?” Zoe asked with a slight groan as she pulled her knees up, wrapped
her arms around her indrawn knees and promptly dropped her head on her knees.

He shook his head as he pushed away from the door. “You wouldn’t believe me even if
I told you,” he said, shaking his head as he turned around and dropped down on his
ass next to his wife.

“Try me,” she muttered as she leaned over until her body was pressed up against his.

He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “It’s just bullshit.”

“Is the door jammed?” she mumbled against her arm as he pulled her closer.

“Yes,” he reluctantly admitted, feeling like an ass for somehow managing to lock them
in the bathroom.

There was a heavy sigh before she pointed out, “Then we have plenty of time for you
to enlighten me.”

Knowing that he was going to sound like an idiot and wondering why he was telling
her this, he kissed the top of her head and decided to share something that he had to
admit had actually scared him when he was a kid. Like most of his cousins, he’d
always thought that the men in his family were bullshitting him to amuse themselves,
but even believing that it was all bullshit hadn’t stopped him from worrying about the
day when he actually got married and tried to take his wife on a honeymoon.

He’d  always  tried  to  tell  himself  that  it  was  bullshit  and  for  the  most  part  he’d
believed  it,  especially  since  he  knew  how  much  joy  the  men  in  his  family  took  in
fucking  with  the  younger  generation’s  heads,  but  there  was  another  part  of  him,  the
one that still made sure that at least one light was on when he watched a horror flick
that had always been terrified that it might actually  be  true.  When  Jason  came  over
to  remind  him  of  this  curse,  he’d  brushed  it  off,  deciding  that  it  didn’t  apply  to  him,
because he’d done something no other Bradford had done before.

He’d brought in professional help.

The  others  had  made  half-assed,  fucked  up  plans  on  their  own,  waiting  until  after
they’d tricked their brides into saying, “I do,” before deciding where to take their new
wives to make up for the terrifying experience they’d put them through getting them
to  the  altar.  He’d  been  so  damn  positive  that  he’d  figured  out  where  they’d  gone
wrong,  figured  out  how  to  do  this  right  that  he’d  instantly  dismissed  the  possibility
that the same fate awaited him.

He’d been so damn sure of himself…

He’d  done  everything  right,  made  sure  to  leave  all  the  decisions  in  the  hands  of  a
professional,  someone  who  knew  how  to  find  the  best  places,  the  best  deals,  knew
which  cruise  line  had  the  best  reputation,  the  best  times  to  travel  and  most
importantly, he’d made sure that she’d never planned a vacation for another Bradford,
which  had  made  her  perfect.  She  was  untouched  by  the  Bradford  curse  so  any  trip
that she planned for them should have been safe.

This trip had been nothing but a fucking nightmare from the start. Zoe was carrying
twins and having a hell of a time doing it. When she wasn’t starving, she was sick,
and when she wasn’t sick, she was fucking exhausted. He thought with the help of the
pills that his uncle had prescribed for her that she would at least be able to enjoy the
cruise, relax, catch up on her sleep and just enjoy herself.

Instead thanks to him, she hadn’t had the chance to rest or relax since she’d spent the
last  few  days  taking  care  of  him,  making  sure  that  he  got  to  the  bathroom  in  time,
keeping him hydrated, running her fingers through his hair when he thought that he
was  going  to  die,  holding  his  hand  when  the  stomach  cramps  became  too  much,
violently  shovinglore  pills  down  his  throat  when  he  refused  to  take  them,  and  had
spent most of the morning navigating a tropical island trying to fill a prescription for
him when she should have been relaxing on the beach with the rest of the passengers.

Once  the  medication  kicked  in,  he’d  hoped  to  salvage  what  was  left  of  their
honeymoon, but unfortunately she passed out before he could pull out all the stops and
properly  romance  her.  During  the  entire  time  that  he’d  been  falling  in  love  with  her,
he’d  failed  to  show  her  just  how  much  she’d  come  to  mean  to  him.  He’d  treated  her
like a fuck buddy when she’d been so much more than that. He’d planned on rectifying
that on this trip, but nothing seemed to be going his way.

Every  time  that  he  got  a  chance  to  do  right  by  her  something  else  would  happen  to
fuck  up  his  plans.  Morning  sickness,  seasickness,  exhaustion  and  now  it  seemed  that
they  were  trapped  in  their  suite  bathroom  without  her  pills.  For  a  minute  he
considered trying to break the door down, but quickly realized that there wouldn’t be
enough room to allow him to slam into the door and do any real damage. He could try
yelling,  but  he  doubted  that  anyone  would  be  able  to  hear  him.  Since  the  cabin
steward wouldn’t be checking on the room until later in the morning, this was going to
make  for  a  long,  interesting  night,  especially  since  he’d  just  realized  that  his  patch
had fallen off and his medication was on the nightstand right alongside Zoe’s.

*-*-*-*

“Are you going to start talking?” she asked, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as she
waited for the nausea to pass.

“Give me a second,” Trevor said roughly, cluing her into the fact that she wasn’t the
only one struggling not to give in and lunge for the toilet.

“Are you o-”

“I’m fine,” he promised her, cutting her off before she could finish and gave her
shoulder a gentle squeeze, silently asking her to just let it go.

“So, this bullshit?” she reminded him, hoping that it would be enough to distract
herself from the fact that she was starting to feel hungry, which of course was
aggravating her morning sickness, which promised to be a good time.

He chuckled weakly as he pressed his lips against the top of her head. “You really
want to know?”

“Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” she pointed out on a small gasp as she desperately
fought against the urge to drop onto her side, curl up into a ball and pray for a quick,
painless death.

The long-suffering sigh would have normally had her rolling her eyes, but she just
didn’t have it in her at the moment. “Fine, but remember that I didn’t make this
bullshit up.”

“Duly noted,” she said, matching his sigh as she turned her head and opened her eyes
so that she could look at him as he shared this riveting tale with her.

What  she  saw  had  her  biting  her  lip  as  a  wave  of  sympathy  hit  her  right  around  the
time that another wave of nausea slammed into her, making her close her eyes as her
heart broke for him. The last couple of days had been pure hell for him, but he’d done
it for her. He knew how much having a real vacation meant to her so he was putting
himself  through  hell  to  make  it  happen  for  her.  He  really  was  a  sweet  man,  she
thought  as  she  tried  to  think  of  anything  else  other  than  the  fact  that  she  was
probably only minutes away from shoving Trevor aside and lunging for that toilet.

“Well?” she asked when he didn’t say anything else.

“Give me a minute,” he said tightly, sounding like he was struggling not to make a
lunge of his own. Since she probably wouldn’t be able to hold back if she heard him
lose it, she decided that it would probably be for the best if they sat there in complete
silence for a few minutes and enjoy the peaceful sounds of air slowly blowing through
the air ducts, filling the room with fresh air, which was probably why she hadn’t lost
it yet.

“Okay,” he finally said only to pause once again to take a deep breath before he
continued, “according to Bradford lore-”

Chapter 10

“Uh….huh…,” Zoe said slowly in a way that told him exactly what she thought of his
little announcement. “And what exactly does that mean?”

He closed his eyes with a soft groan and dropped his head against the door. “It means
exactly what it sounds like.”

“It sounds like Bradford bullshit,” she said matter-of-factly, making him chuckle
despite the fact that the slight motion of the boat made him want to curl up and die.

Christ, why did the boat have to rock so fucking much?

He chuckled weakly as he tightened his hold around her. “That’s what I thought too,”
he said with a shrug before he admitted with a touch of embarrassment, “At least
that’s what I hoped it was.”

“Feel like explaining exactly what that means so that I can properly mock you?” she
asked in that teasing tone that he loved so damn much.

He felt his lips twitch even as his stomach lurched, threatening to put an end to this
conversation before it even had a chance to start. He took a deep breath, wishing like
hell that he’d listened to Jason and put this off until after they’d hit the one-year
mark. If he had, they could be home right now, curled up in their bed, making love
before grabbing a late snack and making love again.

Instead,  they  were  stuck  here  on  this  godforsaken  boat,  stuck  in  this  fucking
bathroom without their anti-nausea medication and talking about something that he’d
always hoped was bullshit. Christ, if he’d married anyone else, he wouldn’t have given
a  flying  fuck  about  making  sure  that  giving  her  the  perfect  honeymoon.  He  would
have just given her a wedding night and kept putting her off until after the one year
mark,  because  he  couldn’t  possibly  imagine  going  through  this  kind  of  bullshit  for
anyone else.

“Apparently,” he started to say, and he really didn’t know why he was telling her this,
“the men in my family have been cursed to fuck up for two hundred years or so. I’m
not really sure when this started, but what I do know is that every Bradford that
brought their wife on a honeymoon before the first anniversary always regretted it.”

“And you regret taking me?” she asked, merely sounding curious when any other
woman would probably be crying prettily and demanding that he make it up to her
with declarations of love and promises to make it up to her, but not Zoe…

“Yes,” he admitted, refusing to lie to his wife, even about this.

“Because…” she prompted, making him smile despite the fact that the damn boat

wouldn’t stop rocking.

“You deserve better than a honeymoon where you’re forced to take care of me, because
I had no fucking clue that I get seasick. You also deserved to wait until after you had
the babies so that you could enjoy your first real vacation,” he admitted with a slight
shake of his head until the movement threatened to unman him, “you deserved better
than this.”

She chuckled weakly as she leaned against him. “I have no complaints.”

Sadly, he didn’t think she did either, which pissed him off more. She’d never had
much, so she’d never expected much and he certainly fucking succeeded in making
sure that trend had continued, he thought, feeling sick, which had absolutely nothing
to do with the boat and everything to do with the fact that he’d failed his wife.

She was his now, his responsibly, and his job to make sure that she finally had the life
that she deserved. He should have done things right from the beginning, should have
taken her out, worked his ass off to win her heart instead of pretending that the only
thing that he wanted from her was sex when it had been more than obvious that he’d
wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

He couldn’t go back and make this right, but he could make it up to her. He would
spend the rest of his life making this up to her, but first he needed to get her out of
this damn bathroom and get her medication so that she could at least enjoy what was
left of their trip.

“I want a do-over,” he said, opening his eyes and forcing himself to stand up when all
he wanted to do was to curl up with his wife on the floor and wait for the goddamn
rocking to stop.

“A do-over?” she asked slowly from where she sat on the floor.

“Mmmhmm, a do-over,” he agreed, managing a tight nod as he placed his hands
against the door and pushed with everything that he had, but the damn door wouldn’t
budge.

“What exactly is a do-over?” Zoe asked, pushing to her feet only to crawl back to the
large shower, turn the hot water back on and settle limply in the corner with a
mumbled, “Better, much better.”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” he said absently as he grabbed the handle and tried to
open the door, but the damn thing wouldn’t budge. After a few more tries he
considered banging on the door and yelling for help, but common sense told him that it
was pointless.

So instead, he turned around, pressed his hand against his stomach and shuffled his

way over to the shower where his wife was, praying that he’d make it without
embarrassing himself. As soon as he reached the shower, he sat down, pressed his
back against the wall and nearly groaned with releif when the hot water hit him.

“Better?” Zoe asked as she carefully shifted until she was sitting between his legs and
leaning back against him. As soon as her warm, soft back pressed against his stomach
he moaned with pleasure.

Christ, that felt good.

“God, yes,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer as he closed
his eyes and simply savored the woman in his arms and the hot water pouring down
on them, helping them relax and somewhat settling their stomachs. He didn’t have to
open his eyes to look down to know that she was smiling.

He just knew.

“I don’t want a different honeymoon,” she said, snuggling back against him, shifting
his arms and in the process rubbing her large, wet breasts against his arms and
making him wish like hell that they weren’t both sick to their stomachs, because she
felt so fucking good in his arms.

“Too bad,” he said, leaning down to press a kiss against her bare shoulder, “you’re
getting one.”

“I don’t get a say in this?” she asked, running her finger through the drops of water
rolling down his arms.

“No, you don’t,” he said, kissing the top of her head before he tilted his head back
against the shower wall so that Zoe could lay her head against his chest and get more
comfortable.

“I see,” she murmured sleepily as she settled back against him.

“After the babies are born, which I’m naming by the way,” he decided to remind her
for the sake of their unborn children, “and you feel comfortable being away from them
for a few nights, we’re going to do this again.”

“Another cruise?” she asked, trying to sound casual, but he wasn’t buying it.

“We can go on another cruise,” he said, chuckling when she shifted anxiously against
him, trying to hide how excited she was about the prospect of going on another cruise.

“I suppose we could do that,” she said, adding a little shrug that had him smiling. “If
you think you can handle it, that is.”

“I’ll bring plenty of medicine next time. Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” he

promised her as he tightened his arms around her and sighed, savoring the hot water
as he made a mental note to stash his anti-nausea medication in every room of their
suite the next time.

“How long do you think it will be until they find us?” she asked after a few minutes of
companionable silence.

It  probably  wouldn’t  be  until  late  morning,  but  he  didn’t  have  the  heart  to  tell  her
that,  so  instead,  he  simply  kissed  the  top  of  her  head  and  held  her  closer  as  he
imagined  that  they  were  somewhere  else,  preferably  somewhere  that  wasn’t
constantly rocking back and forth…back and forth…back and-

“Oh, fuck,” he managed to get out before he was forced to carefully set his wife aside
and added a whole new level of fucked up to their honeymoon.

Chapter 11

“I think it would be for the best if we never spoke again or made eye contact for that
matter,” Trevor said, pointedly looking away from her and out the large floor to
ceiling glass window of the small airport terminal.

“For how long exactly?” she had to ask as she forced herself to bite back a smile that
would probably prolong this little pout fest, which she had to admit was entertaining
her.

“For eternity,” he said, folding his large arms over his chest as he pointedly glared at
one of the large airplanes that was taxiing down the runway and was that a blush
creeping up his neck?

Yes,  yes  it  was,  she  realized,  forced  to  bite  back  yet  another  smile  as  she  suddenly
found  the  small  snack  store  to  the  right  extremely  interesting.  He  was  just  so  damn
cute, but she knew him well enough to know that he probably wouldn’t appreciate the
compliment right now. The man was embarrassed, which was kind of silly considering
that  they’d  been  trapped  in  that  bathroom  for  eight  hours  before  someone  finally
found them and another hour before maintenance was able to get them out of there.

She’d managed to bite back most of the morning sickness with hot showers, a few hot
baths and slowly sipping cold water from the tap, but not Trevor. Every little noise
and movement seemed to set off his seasickness and once it started, it wouldn’t stop.
He’d spent the majority hugging the toilet, groaning miserably and begging her to kill
him and put him out of his misery.

When she’d refused, he’d glared at her, in between dry heaving of course. Even as sick
as she’d felt, she’d felt bad for him. He’d looked so miserable sitting there on the floor,
hugging the toilet and begging her to close her eyes and block her ears so that he
could “maintain what was left of his dignity as he died like a man.”

His words.

Not hers.

Apparently it was okay for him to kneel by her side, hold her hair out of the way and
press a cold cloth to her forehead and the back of her neck when she was sick and
didn’t want him to see that, but it was completely a different story when the big baby
wasn’t feeling good. When she tried to remind him of the vows they’d taken, through
sickness and health he’d simply cut her off by demanding that she close her eyes, hum
and go to her happy place while he did what needed to be done. The only time he’d
allowed her to touch him was when they sat in the shower or when he kneeled by the
tub and hung his head so that she could run her fingers through his hair as he gently
caressed her stomach. Other than that she was forbidden to acknowledge his presence

in any way and it hadn’t gotten any better since they were rescued.

He refused to look at her, barely said two words to her and hadn’t stopped pouting or
glaring since he’d grudgingly given in and accepted the cruise ship’s generous offer to
refund their money and arrange for a flight home. They had another hour before their
flight took off and honestly, she wasn’t really sure that she could take another minute
of him acting like this. She was exhausted, hungry and getting crankier by the
moment and the last thing she had patience for was a grown man pouting.

Realizing  that  she  was  seconds  from  taking  her  souring  mood  out  on  him  or  doing
something  stupid  like  crying,  she  stood  up,  grabbed  her  purse  and  headed  for  the
snack shop. She was relieved when he didn’t follow her, because she honestly needed a
break  from  his  bad  attitude.  She’d  waited  her  whole  life  to  go  on  a  real  vacation,
somewhere  to  relax  and  enjoy  herself,  get  pampered  and  take  a  break  from  a  real
world and he was ruining it for her.

She  wasn’t  mad  that  they  had  to  call  an  end  to  their  trip  early,  especially  after  the
bathroom  incident,  but  his  bad  attitude  was  killing  any  remaining  joy  that  she  had
left for this trip. It had been her first vacation and even though it hadn’t been perfect,
she’d enjoyed herself. She’d enjoyed walking along the deck, staring out at the ocean,
visiting  that  beautiful  tropical  island  even  though  all  she  got  to  do  was  hang  out  in
waiting rooms and sit in taxis, it had been a wonderful experience for her. For a first
real  trip,  she  had  no  real  complaints  because  she  knew  there  would  be  more  trips  in
the  future  with  Trevor  and  then  one  day,  with  their  children,  so  she  wasn’t  going  to
allow  herself  to  get  hung  up  because  one  trip  that  hadn’t  ended  well.  They  had  a
lifetime  together  and  the  big  jerk  was  hell  bent  on  pouting  over  something  that  was
over and done with.

“You’re mad,” he whispered as she felt his arms wrap around her waist and pull her
close.

“I’m fine,” she lied, focusing all of her attention on the selection of candy bars and
snacks in front of her as she struggled not to cry.

He chuckled softly as he kissed her cheek. “No, you’re not.”

“I am,” she said, hating the way that her voice broke.

“I’m sorry,” he said, giving her another kiss before he released her and grabbed a few
candy bars before he stepped away from her and walked over to the coolers.

Needing something to do, she grabbed a king sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup bar and
headed towards the small line waiting at the cash register. A few seconds later he
joined her, but he didn’t say anything as they waited to pay for their stuff. Five
minutes later she was sitting in her chair, staring down at the unopened candy bar in

her hand as she struggled not to cry.

The funny thing was, she had absolutely no idea why she felt like crying. She also felt
like stealing his orange juice so she did that, not even bothering to look his way as she
did it, because she knew that if he bitched about it that she would probably start
crying hysterically while she kicked the shit out of his ankles.

She  also  wanted  a  nap…a  nap  and  a  soak  in  a  hot  bathtub  followed  by  another  nap
and  that  Milky  Way  candy  bar  that  he  was  holding  so  she  simply  reached  over  and
took  it.  She  silently  dared  for  him  to  argue  and  bitch  about  taking  his  food,  but  he
smartly  kept  his  mouth  shut.  When  she  finished  the  drink  and  candy  bar  that  she’d
helped  herself  to,  she  couldn’t  help  but  notice  the  bag  of  chips  that  he  was  now
holding. Deciding that a salty treat sounded good, she reached over and snatched the
bag out of his hands and then the bottle of water he started to open.

Still he said nothing.

He didn’t say anything as she finished off the chips and the water or when she
suddenly placed a hand over her mouth and one over her stomach, jumped to her feet
and ran towards the ladies room. He still didn’t say anything when he followed her
into the stall, closed the door behind them and locked it or when he knelt down by her
side and brushed her hair out of the way so that he could rub her back.

“I’m fine,” she gasped, panting a bit a few minutes after everything that she’d
consumed had made a reappearance.

“You need to take your medicine,” he said softly as he continued to rub her back.

“I’m planning on taking them when we board the plane,” she explained even as she
squeezed her eyes shut, praying that she wasn’t about to have a repeat of the last five
minutes.

“Sir? I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. This is the women’s
bathroom,” a woman with a raspy voice said firmly.

“My wife’s sick,” Trevor said, continuing to rub her back and letting her know that he
had absolutely no intention of leaving her while she was like this.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m going to have to insist that you leave this bathroom now,” the
woman said more firmly and Zoe didn’t need to take a peek outside the stall to know
that the woman probably had her walkie-talkie in hand, ready to call for backup if
Trevor didn’t comply immediately.

“I’m fine,” Zoe said, licking her lips as she shook her head, trying to will the nausea
away. “Just go,” she said, in no mood to beg airport security to release her husband. It
just wasn’t the way that she wanted to end their honeymoon. Granted, she also didn’t

want to end her honeymoon the way that it was already heading, but at least she had
a choice in how she spent the next few days. She could either spend them pouting at
home or working on getting him bailed out of jail and trying to arrange another way
home.

“Fine, but I’ll be right outside waiting for you if you need anything,” he said, not
sounding particularly happy about leaving her, but he didn’t have a choice and he
knew it.

Without another word, he left. As soon as he was gone she took a deep breath, closed
her eyes, willed her stomach to stop putting her through hell and stood up. She wasn’t
exactly  surprised  to  find  the  female  security  officer  standing  by  the  door  when  she
finally  left  the  stall,  guarding  the  door  to  make  sure  that  Trevor  didn’t  return.  The
officer  didn’t  say  anything,  but  the  expression  on  her  face  told  Zoe  that  she  wasn’t
exactly what she’d expected to find.

It was a look that she was going to have to get used to, she realized, not really caring.
Let them stare, whisper and wonder how a woman like her landed a man like Trevor.
Let  them  wonder,  she  didn’t  care,  because  she  knew  that  the  large  grumpy  bastard
loved  her  and  that’s  all  that  mattered.  She  splashed  some  cold  water  on  her  face,
washed  her  hands  and  did  her  best  to  rinse  her  mouth  out  before  she  grabbed  a
handful  of  paper  towels  and  headed  for  the  door,  mentally  preparing  herself  for  the
next  five  hours  of  pouting  until  she  could  finally  crawl  into  her  own  bed,  go  to  sleep
and  ignore  the  man  that  she  loved  until  he  begged  for  her  forgiveness  with  an  extra
large brownie sundae.

God, she’d kill for a brownie…

Maybe she should walk down to the coffee shop that she’d spotted in terminal C and
see if they had any-

“Someone stole our bags,” Trevor announced as soon as she stepped out of the
bathroom, interrupting her dreams of devouring a fudge brownie and making her
realize that this honeymoon from hell wasn’t over yet.

Chapter 12

Ten Seriously Fucked Up Hours Later….

“Security said that all the stores are going to close in thirty minutes. Do you want
anything?” he asked, not at all surprised when Zoe continued to sit there on the floor
with her back against the wall and her forehead resting on her knees.

“No, thank you,” she murmured softly, tightening her hold around her knees, clearly
still pissed at him for losing their bags.

Having absolutely no doubt that saying sorry again would be pointless and in no mood
to  chance  saying  something  that  might  make  her  cry,  he  nodded  like  an  idiot  and
walked towards the area of shops in the next terminal. He looked over his shoulder a
few  times  to  see  her  still  sitting  there,  resigned  to  waiting  another  twelve  hours
before  they  found  out  if  there  were  any  available  spots  on  the  next  plane  heading  to
Massachusetts.

He  should  have  never  left  their  bags  like  that.  He  normally  never  would  have  made
that  mistake  in  a  million  years,  but  when  he  saw  his  wife  go  pale  and  run  for  the
bathroom,  he’d  reacted.  The  idea  of  letting  her  go  into  that  bathroom  alone  to  suffer
through  this  by  herself  had  never  even  occurred  to  him.  He  only  wished  that  the
security  officer  had  kicked  him  out  sooner  so  that  he  could  have  caught  the  asshole,
who  simply  picked  up  their  bags  and  walked  out  of  the  airport,  managing  to  grab
another bag and two purses without anyone noticing.

Thanks to his fuck up, their bags were gone along with Zoe’s identification, credit
cards, cash, their boarding tickets and her medication. They still had their phones and
he had his wallet, but that was it. It had taken them five hours, a dozen phone calls to
his Uncle, Jason and the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles before the airport
would accept that Zoe was who they claimed she was, but by the time that they did
they’d already missed their flight and the two heading to Boston after it.

While they’d waited for the airline to confirm her identity, they’d used the time to file
a  police  report,  report  her  credit  cards  and  debit  card  stolen  and  found  out  that  their
travel  insurance  didn’t  cover  any  of  the  shit  that  had  been  stolen.  They’d  also
discovered that the cruise line hadn’t bothered to buy travel insurance for their plane
tickets so he was going to be forced to replace the tickets on his own dime. The airline
had  been  willing  to  honor  his  original  ticket,  but  that  would  have  meant  abandoning
Zoe and there was no way in hell that he would ever do that.

So,  they  were  stuck  here  until  they  could  grab  two  standby  spots,  which  was  just
fucking perfect. Spending the night in an airport was the last thing that he wanted to
make  his  pregnant  wife  do,  but  if  they  went  to  a  hotel  there  was  a  good  chance  that
they  would  have  to  go  through  all  this  bullshit  to  confirm  Zoe’s  identity  again

tomorrow.

Twenty-five  minutes  later  his  arms  were  loaded  up  with  ginger  ale,  orange  juice,
candy  bars,  chips,  a  bunch  of  snacks,  two  throw  blankets  and  a  small  Eeyore  stuffed
doll that he hoped would put a smile on her face. When he found her in the same exact
spot  that  he’d  left  her  in  he  realized  that  there  was  absolutely  nothing  that  he  could
do  to  make  this  right  for  her  and  that  made  him  feel  like  the  biggest  asshole  in  the
world, because he’d failed her. Biting back a sigh and having absolutely no idea how to
make  this  better,  he  placed  the  shopping  bags  filled  with  junk  food  and  blankets  and
sat down next to her.

Dropping his head back against the wall, he repeated the only thing that he could
think of saying since this whole thing started. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” she said, sighing heavily as she raised her head and let it drop
against the wall, mimicking his position.

He chuckled without humor as he looked around the abandoned terminal. “There’s not
much else that I can do.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“No?” he asked dryly. “I should have never brought you on this trip.”

“So, you keep saying,” she mumbled quietly, resuming her position and going back to
ignoring him.

Shaking his head, he wrung his hands in frustration, desperately trying to figure out
a way to fix this and make this right for her, but he was out of options and they both
knew it. The only way to fix this now was to get her home and that might not happen
tomorrow, not if they couldn’t get their hands on two tickets heading north and with
the way things were going, he really didn’t see that happening.

“Look,”  he  said,  rubbing  his  hands  roughly  down  his  face,  “I’ll  make  this  up  to  you.  I
promise,  but  for  right  now  we’re  just  going  to  have  to  make  the  best  of  this.  It’s  not
like this could get any worse,” he added with a shaky laugh as his words sank in and
when  they  did,  he  got  to  his  feet,  trying  not  to  think  about  exactly  what  could  go
wrong  trapped  in  a  steel  contraption  flying  through  the  air  thousands  of  miles  above
the ground as he grabbed Zoe’s hand and pulled her towards the exit.

*-*-*-*

“Are you really planning on driving the entire night?” she asked from where she sat,
curled up in the passenger seat, doing her best to ignore how upset her stomach was.

“Yes,” came the firm answer, which didn’t really surprise her since he’d obviously lost

his mind a few hours ago when he’d dragged her to the rental car counter, rented the
last car on the lot, which also happened to the be the one without a working radio or
air conditioner and announced that he wasn’t taking a chance on the curse getting
them while they were stuck ten thousand feet up in the air and decided that driving
for the next twenty-two hours would be safest course of action.

Normally  she  would  have  argued,  but  with  the  way  things  were  going  they  probably
would have been stuck at that airport for a few days before they were able to get two
seats on the same flight home. Now she just wanted to get home and she didn’t care if
that  meant  sitting  in  a  car  for  the  next  twenty-two  hours  with  a  man,  who  for  the
most  part,  was  still  ignoring  her.  The  only  time  he’d  spoken  to  her  over  the  last  ten
hours  was  to  ask  her  if  she  was  okay,  thirsty,  hungry  or  if  she  needed  to  use  a
bathroom.  They’d  only  stopped  once  so  far  and  that  was  to  get  gas  and  for  Trevor  to
make a few quick calls to make sure that she had a new bottle of pills waiting for her
at home.

“Oh, come the fuck on!” he suddenly snapped, drawing her attention to the fact that
he was slowly steering the car over into the breakdown lane.

Almost too afraid to ask, but knowing that she couldn’t pretend that something was
seriously screwed up with this honeymoon, she forced herself to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Everything,” he snarled, throwing the car in park, threw on the hazard lights and
before she knew what was happening, he had her out of the car and walking towards
the next off-ramp.

As they walked along the litter decorated highway, Trevor started making phone calls.
She only half listened since every other word that came out of his mouth were colorful
curses, some of which she’d never heard before. Apparently the rental car place had
given them a lemon and the game plan was to find a hotel and stay there until Jason,
who’d volunteered to come get them and bring them home so that they could, and she
was quoting both men on this one, “Put an end to this seriously fucked up
honeymoon.”

Yeah,  that  made  her  feel  great,  she  decided  as  she  stepped  around  what  appeared  to
be  a  small  pile  of  used  condoms.  She  didn’t  say  anything  and  he  didn’t  ask  her  to  as
they kept to the side of the off-ramp and followed it until they came to an intersection
that  sat  directly  in  front  of  what  she  could  only  describe  as  a  flea  motel.  She  didn’t
need to ask to know that was their destination.

When he took her hand into his and led her across the deserted road she simply went
with him, too exhausted physically and emotional to argue at this point. Twenty
minutes later, they were standing in a room that hadn’t been renovated since the
early eighties. It even had one of those fat little televisions with bunny ears set up in
the corner alongside a VCR that was flashing the 12:01.

As  Trevor  once  again  pulled  out  his  phone  and  started  making  calls,  she  took  in  the
rest  of  the  room,  idly  wondering  if  he  had  any  quarters  on  him  since  that’s  what  the
television  operated  on  and  apparently  so  did  the  bed.  She  couldn’t  even  say  that  was
all  that  shocked  when  she  looked  up  and  saw  the  mirror  above  the  bed.  When  she
pulled  open  the  top  drawer  of  the  nightstand  and  saw  the  collection  of  condoms  and
empty  condom  wrappers  surrounding  a  worn  copy  of  the  Bible,  she  decided  that  the
chair by the door would make an excellent bed for the night.

First thing she needed to do though was to lower the heat. It had to be ninety degrees
in  here.  She  walked  over  to  the  thermostat  and  turned  it  down  only  to  discover  that
the cover spun freely and there was no way to set it. She also discovered that she was
wrong.  It  wasn’t  ninety  degrees  in  here,  but  a  crisp  eighty-four  degrees.  Turning
around,  she  walked  past  Trevor,  who  was  now  pacing  the  length  of  the  small  room
while  arguing  with  Jason  about  whose  honeymoon  had  been  more  fucked  up,  and
attempted to open the window only to discover that it was painted shut.

Shaking her head, because she really should have expected it, she walked past Trevor,
headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She focused on doing what
needed to be done and not on the questionable state of the bathroom. After five
minutes of inner turmoil and deep soul searching, she decided to risk it and take a
shower in the rust stained tub.

She  closed  her  eyes  and  did  her  best  to  ignore  the  feel  of  the  hard  water  coating  her
skin and hair. After two minutes she decided that she was clean enough and shut off
the  water.  She  grabbed  a  threadbare  towel,  telling  herself  that  it  was  clean,  and  did
her  best  to  dry  off  before  she  reluctantly  wrapped  it  around  herself.  She  stood  there
for  another  moment,  contemplating  her  choices,  put  her  clothes  back  on  that  she’d
been wearing all day and take the chance of contaminating her only set of clothes with
whatever was out there or wear the towel, pretend that the hotel was clean, the linen
freshly  washed  and  that  she  wasn’t  going  to  have  to  jump  back  in  the  shower  first
thing in the morning and scrub her skin raw to kill whatever bacteria she’d picked up
during the night.

Deciding  that  the  idea  of  sleeping  in  her  clothes  and  then  being  forced  to  wear  them
tomorrow  once  they  were  freshly  coated  in  whatever  that  funky  smell  was  coming
from was not for her, she resigned herself to scrubbing her skin off tomorrow morning
in the rust coated tub. She grabbed another threadbare towel to use as an added layer
of  protection  between  her  and  the  chair  and  opened  the  bathroom  door  only  to  groan
in disappointment when she spotted Trevor, shirtless and asleep in her chair.

Great, just great…

For a few minutes she stood there, contemplating shoving the large bastard off the
chair and reclaiming it as her own, but it would probably only earn her a glare and
another one of those apologies that made her want to beat the shit out of him with one

of the lumpy, yellow stained pillows on the bed. Shooting him a glare of her own, she
turned around and carefully laid the towel on the bed and then added the one that she
was wearing, deciding that Trevor’s discarded shirt would have to be sacrificed this
night to save her skin from the questionable stains and odors decorating the
bedspread.

Praying that she didn’t end up contracting lice, bed bugs or worse, she walked over to
where Trevor’s shirt laid on the bureau and-

“I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulled her against his warm
body. “I’m so sorry about this whole fucking trip, sweetheart,” he said, kissing her
bare shoulder before he added, “but don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you.”

Closing her eyes, she sighed, hating herself for what she had to do, but he’d left her
with no other choice, now had he?

Chapter 13

“What  the  hell  are  you  doing?”  he  snapped,  doing  his  best  to  avoid  her  next  assault
even  as  he  tried  his  best  not  to  do  anything  that  would  make  the  crazed  woman  get
hurt  while  she  was  attacking  him  with  the  lumpiest  pillow  that  he’d  ever  seen,  or
rather, felt.

“Stop saying that you’re sorry!” she yelled, landing an impressive blow to his back
with the pillow that was starting to give off the scent of urine, vomit and some other
unknown and equally offensive odor with every blow.

Unable to take another second of that nauseating odor, he grabbed the pillow from his
wife, pretending that he didn’t notice the greasy texture coating the stained
pillowcase, and tossed it over his shoulder. “What the hell is wrong with you, woman?”
he demanded as he was forced to place himself between her and the bed when she
went to grab the other pillow.

“Stop saying you’re sorry!” she repeated with a vicious glare that had his balls pulling
up tight in a desperate attempt to get out of her reach.

“Why?” he snapped, frustrated beyond belief that he had absolutely no idea what to
say to this woman to make this right for her.

“Because even though this trip wasn’t perfect, it was still the best trip that I’ve ever
been on and you ruined it!” she snapped through trembling lips as she yanked his shirt
on and roughly wiped away the tears beginning to spill down her face and making this
a thousand times worse for him.

“I didn’t know that I was going to get sick!” he snapped right back, having absolutely
no idea how to talk to her when she was this pissed and praying like hell that he
didn’t end up saying something stupid that was going to end up pushing her away.

“I’m not mad because you got sick, you jerk! I’m pissed because you were so damn
determined to focus on what went wrong with this trip that you didn’t even try to
enjoy it!”

“It’s pretty fucking hard to enjoy something when I’m locked in a bathroom, our
luggage getting stolen, being unable to stand without feeling like shit or

being forced

to  watch  my  wife  suffer  since  I  couldn’t  fucking  get  your  pills  because  I  was  fucking
dying!” he shouted and he would have said more, oh so much more, but the little snort
of  amusement  had  his  rant  coming  to  an  abrupt  halt  and  his  eyes  narrowing
suspiciously on the small, deliciously curved woman in front of him, desperately trying
to  hold  back  her  amusement,  but  he  could  see  it  in  her  eyes  that  it  was  a  quickly
losing battle.

“Yeah, it was a close call,” she managed to get out with a snort of amusement as she
bit her bottom lip and looked away, clearly struggling not to laugh, which of course
pleased him.

It was the closest that she’d come to smiling in days and he’d be damned if he was
going to let her keep it from him. So, biting back a smile of his own, he did what he
had to do.

He used typical Bradford bullshit to make his wife smile.

“I could have died!” he pointed out dramatically, deciding that even Jason couldn’t
have done a better job.

She cleared her throat and said, “Yes, yes you could have.”

“I could have!”

“Mmmhmmm,” she murmured, pressing her lips tightly together as she struggled not
to laugh so he kept pushing, refusing to stop until he got that smile from her.

“It was a close call! I’m lucky to have survived!”

A snort of amusement escaped those beautiful lips before she asked, “From
seasickness?” obviously forgetting just how close to death he really came.

Typical, he thought with an inward sigh…

“From starvation!” he snapped, insulted that she could belittle his brush with death.

“Ummm,” she muttered as her lips twitched with amusement as she reached up and
rubbed the back of her neck as she searched for the right words, “it was only a couple
of days.”

“It was thirty-six hours of hell!” he snapped, wondering how a woman that was
supposed to love and adore him could forget something like that. “I’m dangerously
underweight now!”

Her eyebrows shot up in stunned surprise as she shot him a questioning look while
she took in his large frame. “You weigh over two hundred pounds,” she pointed out
unnecessarily in his opinion.

“I lost ten pounds!”

“Really?” she said with that same stunned expression that was going to get her
beautiful ass spanked, “because you really can’t tell.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

Her answer was a shrug that had his eyes narrowing on her.

“Are you calling me fat?”he demanded, his eyes narrowing to slits on the woman who
was clearly enjoying herself.

“Well…,” she said with a shrug, letting her words trail off with a look that said it all.

God, he fucking loved this woman, he thought with a wicked smile as he grabbed her
by his shirt and yanked her up on her toes and kissed the cruel woman, who so easily
dismissed his brush with death.

*-*-*-*

There really was nothing like teasing her husband, she thought with a smile as she
wrapped her arms around him and happily returned his kiss.

“You’re a cruel woman,” he said against her lips as he tore open her shirt.

“You knew that when you married me,” she reminded him with a groan as he released
the remains of the shirt on the floor, leaned down, grabbed her by the back of her
thighs and picked her up.

“Yes,” he growled, standing up straight and taking her with him as he started to walk
backwards, “I did.”

He sat down on the chair by the door, adjusting her on his lap as he did. “I love you,”
she told him, needing to tell him just how much he meant to her, how much she loved
him, but knowing that she would never be able to tell him how much this honeymoon
had meant to her, she decided to show him.

“God, I love you, Zoe,” he groaned when she shifted on top of him, rubbing against the
erection creating the wonderfully large bulge in his pants. “So fucking much,” he said,
panting slightly as he palmed her ass and moved her against him.

She slowly rocked against him while she kissed him and ran her hands over his arms
and chest, greedily running her fingers over all the hard muscle covering his body.
She still couldn’t believe that a man like this wanted her, probably never would, but
she was done trying to figure out how she’d lucked out, falling in love with a man as
wonderful as Trevor and just accept it.

“I need to fuck you,” he growled, releasing one hand from her bottom so that he could
undo his fly and pull down his zipper.

She continued to grind against him, moaning when his hand brushed against her slit.
When he used his hold on bottom to pick her up so he could slide a finger inside her,
she damn near lost it. Gasping against his mouth, she grabbed onto his shoulders and

used the hold to roll her hips, bringing his finger deeper inside her as she rode his
hand.

“Trevor,” she whispered hoarsely, her voice breaking even as she released a little
whimper, needing him so badly that she thought she’d die if she didn’t feel him inside
her soon.

Wrapping one of her arms around his shoulders so that she could keep riding his
finger, she reached down between them and pushed her hand inside the opening of his
pants and wrapped her hand around him, loving the way that his hard cock jerked
against her hand in approval.

He rewarded her with a second finger, leaving her helpless to do anything but grind
against his hand harder as her head dropped back. His fingers felt so good inside her,
but she knew that in a minute he’d give her something that would feel so much better.

“So fucking beautiful,” he said as she felt his lips wrap around her nipple and gently
suckle.

“Oh, God!” she shouted as that one move sent a jolt of pleasure between her legs.

She’d forgotten just how sensitive her nipples were now. When he teased her nipple
with his teeth, she thought she’d die of pleasure. She couldn’t take it any longer. She
needed him.

Now.

“Please!” she pleaded, not really caring that she was begging him or the fact that she’d
never begged a man to fuck her before him, but then again, she’d never been with a
man like Trevor before. He knew her body better than she did and had no shame in
making her beg, which at moments like this one she was happy about it.

“Please, what?” he asked softly, clearly hell-bent on making her beg until she was too
desperate for him to care that she was screaming it, something that she was getting
close to doing with every passing second.

“Please fuck me,” she gasped, knowing exactly what he wanted to hear to get what she
wanted.

The  answering  growl  had  her  breaths  coming  faster  as  she  reluctantly  released  her
hold on his cock and placed her arm around his shoulder as she eagerly awaited what
was  coming.  He  removed  his  hand  from  between  her  legs,  gave  her  nipple  one  last
lick,  moved  his  mouth  to  her  neck  and  suckled  the  spot  right  below  her  chin  that
drove  her  crazy,  grabbed  her  hips,  shifted  her  over  the  tip  of  his  cock  and  pulled  her
down  on  top  of  him.  A  strangled  cry  escaped  her  as  he  slowly  slid  inside,  filling  her
completely and making her wonder how she’d survived the last few days without this.

“You feel fucking amazing,” he growled approvingly as he shifted beneath her as he
pulled her down so that she slid down another delicious inch.

“You feel better than amazing,” she said, panting hard as she licked her lips and
struggled not to immediately come, but it was a losing battle and they both knew it.

He pressed one last kiss to her chin before he leaned in close and whispered in her ear,
“I’m going to fuck you all night, sweetheart, and when I’m not fucking you, I’m going
to be licking your pussy until you beg me to let you suck my cock.”

Just  like  that,  she  lost  it.  Her  back  bowed  as  her  orgasm  slammed  into  her,  causing
her  to  slide  down  the  rest  of  the  way  until  he  was  completely  inside  her.  Before  she
was  done  screaming,  he  had  his  thumb  pressed  against  her  clit  and  was  gently
rubbing  it,  forcing  her  body  into  another  powerful  orgasm  before  the  last  one  was
finished and making her seriously question the likelihood of surviving the night.

Chapter 14

“Mmm,” Zoe moaned, shifting her hips as he leisurely licked her out. “That feels so
good,” she groaned, making his cock harden painfully.

He moved his hand slowly over his cock, stroking himself in time with the movement
of his tongue over her-

“Are you fucking kidding me?” the inconsiderate bastard snapped, punctuating his
displeasure with another kick to their hotel door.

“I said we’d be out in a minute. So, calm the fuck down and wait!” he shouted only to
murmur an apology to the little clit that he’d abandoned so that he could get rid of the
asshole trying to rush them.

“Don’t stop,” his very demanding wife moaned as she ran her fingers through his hair,
encouraging him to continue to lick her out.

“Not stopping,” he swore as he flicked the tip of his tongue over her clit.

“Thank God,” she moaned with obvious relief as he slid his tongue down between her
folds and then inside her, enjoying her sweet flavor as he gave his cock a squeeze and
another stroke.

“You  said  that  an  hour  ago!”  Jason  yelled,  sounding  pissed  and  for  good  reason.  He
had  just  driven  fourteen  straight  hours  without  sleep  to  come  pick  them  up  only  to
find  himself  forced  to  wait  for  them  while  he  finished  apologizing  for  the  fucked  up
honeymoon to his wife.

Granted, he was expressing that apology through sex since the actual words only
seemed to piss her off.

“Give us five goddamn minutes!” he shouted, ready to kill the bastard if he didn’t take
a hint and give them some time to finish this.

They heard Jason grumble something about insensitive bastards and a donut shop
down the street and took that as their cue to take their time, finishing this the right
way.

“Stand up,” he said, giving her wet slit one last lick before he pulled back and waited
for her to comply.

Not even ten seconds later, she was on her hands and knees and presenting him with
her beautiful ass. Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to one round cheek and then the
other before he moved over her and slid inside her, nearly coming when her tight
pussy greedily grabbed hold of his cock and held on, refusing to let him go.

“Want me to stop?” he asked, panting hard as he started fucking her.

“Harder,” came the answer that had him smiling even as he complied. “Please, fuck
me hard-”

“The donut shop is closed,” Jason announced as he once again returned to irritate the
shit out of them.

“Then go wait in the fucking car!”

“I can’t!” Jason snapped back, pissing Trevor off enough to realize that the bastard
wasn’t going to leave until he beat the shit out of him. He started to pull out of Zoe to
do just that when Jason’s next announcement had him cursing and diving for his
discarded pants.

“They’re towing my car away!”

“Shit!” Trevor groaned as he yanked his pants up and stuffed his painful erection in
his pants as he rushed over to the door and yanked it open right around the time that
his wife screamed and dove for cover.

“Oh, look at that,” Jason said with a smile and a sigh, “it looks like you’re ready to
go.”

Knowing that he couldn’t kill him, at least not until after he’d brought them home,
Trevor settled on glaring at the bastard. “I hate you.”

Jason shrugged as he turned around and headed down the hallway, whistling, “It’s a
small world,” just to piss him off as Trevor slammed the door shut in an attempt to
stop himself from going after the little bastard.

The first chance that he got, he was going to-

“Oh, fucking hell,” he shouted as his cock was suddenly pulled free and traced with
the most talented tongue that he’d ever encountered.

Slapping  a  hand  against  the  wall,  he  looked  down  to  find  his  wife,  naked  and  on  her
knees, sucking his cock as she slid her fingers between her legs, moaning as she did it
and  letting  him  know  that  it  was  going  to  be  a  while  before  she  was  ready  to  leave,
which was more than fine with him since there was no where else on earth that he’d
rather  be  than  in  this  disgusting  hotel  room,  apologizing  to  his  beautiful  wife  and
making damn sure that she knew just how much he loved her.

Epilogue

One year, seven months, two weeks and three days later…

“This is more like it,” Trevor said with a sigh of satisfaction as he slid inside her.

She couldn’t help but smile as she ran her hand down his bicep, making sure that the
patch was still on his arm. “This is more like it, huh?” she asked teasingly as she
shifted beneath him so that she could take him deeper.

“Mmmhmm, this is the perfect trip,” he said with a wicked grin as he ducked his head
and took her nipple between his lips.

“We haven’t left the room in four days,” she felt obligated to point out, gasping in
pleasure when he began to roll his hips and hit just the right spot.

“That’s,” he said, pausing to gently tug on her nipple with his teeth, “what I call a
perfect vacation.”

“Spending the entire cruise in our room, making love?” she asked on a moan as her
eyes flickered shut, her mouth opened on a gasp and her toes curled in pleasure as
Trevor did that thing with his cock that drove her out of her mind.

“Mmmhmm, the perfect vacation,” Trevor agreed absently as he switched his
attention to her other nipple.

Gasping, she dug her heels into the bed and spread her legs further apart so that she
could push against him. “We could have saved a lot of money and stayed home if all
you wanted to do was to spend a week in a bed,” she somehow managed to point out,
which actually impressed her that she was able to form a coherent sentence at this
point.

“We don’t have room service back home,” he reminded her, giving up his claim to her
nipple so that he could take her mouth in a hungry kiss.

“So,” she said, pausing to return his kiss, “your idea of a perfect vacation is nonstop
sex and food?”

He chuckled as he took her hands in his and moved them above her head as he
continued to slowly thrust inside her. “Sounds like the perfect vacation to me,” he
growled, moving his attention to her neck and that spot just beneath her chin.

She pushed against him, needing him deeper as she hungrily licked her lips. “So,
you’re enjoying yourself then?”

“I’m in fucking heaven right now,” he answered with a pleased growl that almost had
her forgetting her reason for asking.

“I’m glad,” she said, entwining her fingers with his as she closed her eyes and allowed
herself to savor the moment.

“Me, too. I think that we should leave the boys with Jason and Haley every year and
go on a cruise,” he said as his thrusts became a little harder and a little faster, making
it difficult to catch her breath, never mind remember that she had a purpose for this
trip.

“I’m sure that something could be arranged,” she said, opening her eyes so that she
could watch him as she added, “but probably not next year.”

“And why’s that?” he asked, releasing one of her hands so that he could palm her
breast and nearly making her scream when it brushed over her sensitive nipple.

“Because I’ll probably still be breast feeding,” she said, biting back a smile as she
watched comprehension dawn in Trevor’s eyes.

He paused mid-thrust, swallowing nervously, he asked, “Again?”

“Mmhmmm,” she said, leaning up to brush her lips against his curved ones as he
released his hold on her breast and placed it over her soft stomach where their babies
were growing.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Smiling against her lips, he kissed her. “Well, I think we should make sure,” he said,
starting to thrust again even as he continued to smile.

“And why’s that?” she asked, panting slightly as he increased his thrusts, forcing her
to struggle to keep up.

“Because, this time I want a little girl as perfect as her mother.”

About the Author

Writer, Facebook stalker, mother of two and hot cocoa addict, R.L. Mathewson lives
life to its fullest.

When she’s not chauffeuring her children to and from school or their various
activities, she runs a Lego Club for a bunch of chocolate addicted children, blasts
Sirius XM’s The Highway, writes, edits, cooks, cleans and oh yeah, she even watches
movies on Netflix.

It’s safe to say that she does it all…………..

Intrigued?

Of course you are.

If you would like to know more about this author, her latest books or information on
the latest methods to stalk people on Facebook, visit her site:

www.Rlmathewson.com

Or you can email her directly at,

Rlmathewson25@gmail.com

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