“Um… Strictly speaking, this can’t be considered our wedding night, yes? Samuel, we’ve already registered our marriage… Besides, we’ve had kids long ago, Natalie murmured without turning back.
“While we’ve done all that ages ago, tonight is of a different significance to us.” Samuel turned her around, forcing her to stand face-to-face with him. Their faces drew infinitely close, making the other all they could see.
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me, Samuel?” “For marrying me and giving me children.” When Natalie heard that, her heart skipped a beat. Samuel’s words were neither romantic nor sweet, yet such warmth suffused her that she almost melted into a puddle.
Lifting her head, she solemnly gazed into his eyes through her slightly narrowed ones. Her lips turned up, forming a mesmerizing curve. “You’re welcome.” At her answer, the smile on Samuel’s face deepened.
Unable to resist the temptation, he dipped his head and again captured her rosy lips with tenderness written all over his face. It was as though she had smeared honey on them, for he couldn’t get enough every time he kissed her. Exerting strength, Natalie pushed the man in front of her away. “What’s wrong, Nat?”
“Why are you now becoming increasingly… unrestrained?” “You like me to be restrained?” Samuel drawled insatiably, enfolding Natalie in his arms. Gah! What kind of question is this?
Natalie’s lips were a touch swollen. She couldn’t help snapping her eyes up to glare at the man. This question obviously requires me to forsake my shame! “Samuel, you’re=”
“So, do you like it or not?” “Why had I never known that you’ve also got such a wicked side to you, Samuel? How do the rumors describe you? Aloof? Ascetic? Resolute? Ruthless? If anyone else were to see you right now, they’d definitely be shocked to the core!”
Sometimes, Natalie truly wanted to show Samuel’s current demeanor to others. While her thoughts wandered, the man again captured her lips sneakily. “Samuel!”
“Don’t worry. No one will ever have the privilege of seeing the unrestrained and wicked side of me right now. I promise you’ll be the only one to witness it in this lifetime!” Effortlessly scooping her up with both hands, Samuel carried her to the bed and gently placed her down. “I don’t know what else to say about you.”
“Do you like it?” “No,” Natalie denied half-heartedly. In truth, that was a lie. She actually loved having Samuel dote on her alone. Nonetheless, she couldn’t admit it easily, lest the man made fun of her. Then, she would be even more embarrassed and ashamed. “Okay, never mind, then.”
Someone like Samuel was more or less aloof in the past. But because of her then, he was no longer as unapproachable and became down- to-earth. That gave her a sense of security and made her feel very much gratified.
Her love for him started as a tender shoot in the past, but it had then grown into a towering tree in her heart. As her feelings brimmed over, Natalie couldn’t help confessing, “I love you, Hubby.” She mostly called Samuel by his name in the past, rarely addressing him affectionately with a nickname, much less “Hubby.”
Not only did that address make Samuel’s Adam’s apple bob violently, but it also sparked an inextinguishable fire within his tense body, the flames blazing increasingly hotter.
“I love you, too.” Natalie fantasized about a heartfelt confession from the man in return, but all she got was him putting her through the wringer ceaselessly. The path they experienced in the past was blanketed with thorns, so it stood to reason that all that was left was happiness.
