Page 69 of Teaching Roman

Roman stretched out and caught me around the waist, laying a gentle hand on my stomach. “Someday. But let’s get you through med school first, okay?”

I gave him a small smile, grateful that he understood how I felt. I wanted a family with Roman more than anything. But I wanted him to myself for a while first. In the bathroom, I took care of business and then rummaged in my purse for my lipgloss. My phone was blinking a new message and I slid the lock screen.

JILLIAN: You aren’t going to believe what I have to tell you.

You aren’t going to believe me either,I thought. If I texted her right now that I was married, she would think it was a practical joke until I got home with a ring on my finger. Strike that. I would probably have to show her the marriage license and produce the chaplain along with a Holy Bible for him to swear on. I thought I might feel nervous post-wedding, but instead my tummy did an excited flip, sending a rush dancing through my skin.

I tapped to read my next message.

CASSIE: Keeping out of trouble?

It was her voice in my head as I read the text, complete with her coy, knowing tone. I glanced around the bathroom and thought about it. It couldn’t have been coincidence that Roman and I were back in the same villa we’d spent our first night together in. I didn’t know how she’d pulled it off or how she even knew we had gotten married, but I wasn’t surprised. She’d probably called half of Mexico to check up on me, including the street vendor who sold us my wedding bouquet. I’d have to bribe her to find out how she knew, but my gut told me this was all her doing.

I sent them both back a message saying I had a surprise for them, too.

I checked my hair and brushed my teeth and was surprised to discover that I was nervous. It wasn’t like it was my first time, except it was my first time as a married woman. My reflection rolled her eyes. I glanced at my sundress and decided it wasn’t quite sexy enough for my waiting husband. Stripping it off left me in my bra and panties. I’d never really walked out to Roman in anything that could remotely pass for lingerie. Not that this could. I tugged off my bra and turned around in the mirror. Its removal seemed to improve things. After a minute, I stripped my panties, too.

I had definitely never walked out naked to Roman before. He’d undressed me or I’d kept my shirt on or we’d been treading water in the ocean, but I’d never gone to him like this—bare and vulnerable.

Our wedding night seemed like a pretty good place to start.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. Roman’s back was to me as he poured champagne into two flutes.

“Someone knows,” he said, without looking at me. “Look what was in the fridge.”

“I suspect I know who.”

“Let me guess..” Turning then, his mouth fell open. He abandoned the champagne flutes and stepped closer to me. I couldn’t move, locked in his penetrating gaze.

“Mrs. Markson.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me roughly to him.

“You’re still dressed.” My hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him down for a kiss.

“Care to remedy that?” he asked as our lips met. All my vulnerability melted away as his body pressed hard into mine. I pushed his shirt up, and he whipped it over his head so quickly I only had a second to register the absence of his kiss before our tongues tangled back together. Roman’s hands slid from my hips to cup my ass, lifting me up and around his waist. He held me there—steady and strong—while he explored my mouth. The ache in my chest built until I felt as though I was so full of him that I could float away from wanting. His lips left mine, dropping kisses along my neck, as he worked his way up to my ear.

“I’m glad we got married in the morning,” he murmured. His breath was warm, and it tickled against my sensitive skin, sending ripples of anticipation through my body.

“Mmhmm” was all I could manage past the dizzying longing pulsing through me.

“Now I can make love to you all day.” He carried me to the bed, laying me down cautiously, as though I was made of glass—something fragile and precious. My eyes didn’t leave his face, even as I heard a zipper. Roman stepped out of his pants, our eyes trained on one another. With gentle hands he pushed me up toward the pillows at the head of the bed.

“What do you have in mind?” I asked.

“I want to worship my wife. Get comfortable,” he told me, dropping to his hands and knees and pushing my legs open. “I’m going to be here a while.”

My head fell back as his tongue dipped between my legs. He paid homage there, kissing and sucking until I was on the edge. But he didn’t let me fall over it. The result left my body humming with a pleasure so intense that it vibrated through my skin. Every nerve was on alert, desperate for release and desperate for him to continue the beautiful torture.

When I couldn’t take it anymore, his mouth vanished and my eyes flew open to find him kneeling on the edge of the bed, a smug smile on his face.

“The wedding vows said “to have,” I said with a groan. “I looked it up.”

His grin widened. “Is that a hint?”

“I’m just following the rules.”

“In that case.” Roman gripped my thighs and lifted me to meet him, entering me with a smooth, powerful thrust. I gasped, overwhelmed by the moment. My husband was touching me. My husband was inside me. Nothing about that scared me, it exhilarated me. I circled against him as the pressure in my body built.

“I love you, Jessica Stone-Markson,” he said in a soft voice, sending a surge quivering through me. He pushed against me, harder, responding to the clenching need of my body and I felt another ripple.