I can’t help but laugh. The design was precious—just a simple band with two interlocking hearts on top—but it ended up going on a necklace I could wear to save a blackened finger.
I have no clue where that ring is. True to his word, I got a bigger and better ring when he proposed to me after I accidentally got pregnant with Lucy. It was just a matter of time because it was going to happen anyway—the engagement, not the pregnancy—our timetable just got hastened a bit.
“I thought I should recreate that moment, too,” Jim says, and my gaze falls to his hands. I had forgotten he was holding something there. He reveals a black box, then opens it. In the candlelight, I can see diamonds twinkling. “I had a jeweler recreate the design. I hope I got it right as my memory isn’t the sharpest.”
I gasp as I see he did indeed get the design completely right. Thin band, the interlocking hearts identical to the ring he gave me, except this one isn’t made of cheap silver but rather encrusted with diamonds.
“Jim,” I whisper, overwhelmed and scared all at once. Because this right here is having an impact on me as I’m sure he knew it would.
“It’s a new promise,” he says softly, taking the ring from the box. Jim picks up my left hand and zeroes in right where my wedding band and engagement ring used to rest but I took them off the day I asked him to leave.
Part of me wants to jerk my hand away, while another wants to throw myself into his arms.
Instead, I hold my breath while he slides the ring onto my fourth finger and the weight of it feels right.
“It’s my promise to you, Ella, that I’m going to do whatever I need to do to give you the happiness I apparently denied you for so long. I can’t apologize enough for it, but I’m hoping your heart can forgive and learn to trust in me again, no matter how long it takes. I just want a fair shot.”
My eyes go from the ring twinkling from the candles to Jim’s face, whose expression is more earnest than I have ever seen before. While I don’t know if he can truly change to make me happy in the way I need, I firmly believe he’s going to try his hardest.
I don’t answer, merely leaning even farther forward to touch my palms to his cheeks. Curving them, I use the leverage to pull him to me and I kiss my husband.
Softly at first, a kiss filled with gratitude for his thoughtfulness.
Deeper after I inhale his fragrance and feel his hands at my ribs.
I can’t seem to stop myself, so I push off the chaise and straddle Jim’s lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. This kiss goes deeper, Jim groaning in approval at my bold move. His hands slide to my back, then down to my ass. He inches them under my t-shirt—his t-shirt really—and flirts with the edge of my panties.
Immediately, I go soft and wet for him. Just that little touch coupled with his kiss has me yearning for everything from this man. He’s offered to do whatever it takes to make me happy. At this moment, I don’t need another thing.
Jim’s mouth pulls from mine, skating down my neck. I shiver as his lips graze my skin, and he murmurs, “There’s one other thing we could do to recreate that night.”
A bolt of lust hits me between my legs, and Jim pulls back to look at me for permission. His hands are still on my ass as he tilts his head, waiting for my approval.
That night, after he told me he loved me and I said it back, I let Jim touch me between my legs for the first time. It was transcendental for me. In hindsight, I’m surprised I didn’t lose my virginity that night, but Jim is the master at dragging things out to build up the need.
I answer him by pressing my lips to his, fisting my hands in his hair and kissing him hard. Jim groans as he kisses me back.
And then his hand is down the front of my panties, his long finger pressing into me. My head falls back at the feel of that invasion, so thin compared to his cock… but for someone who hasn’t felt that inside of her in such a long time, so filling, too.
My back arches, and I cry out as he crooks his finger inside me. I start to squirm as he drags it out, immediately starting to circle my clit with all the moisture he gathered. My hips start rotating, pushing into his hand, demanding he go faster. Jim’s hand goes to the back of my head and he crushes his mouth on me, our kissing only heightening the pleasure for us because, truly, it’s the most intimate of acts.