ARIANA'S POV:
I sat curled up on the couch, holding the phone tightly against my ear as my mom's voice crackled through the speaker.
"Somehow, your Aunt Rebecca was right..." she sighed.
I rolled my eyes, leaning my head back against the cushions. "Seriously? You actually agree with her?"
"I just mean that what she was trying to imply makes sense, Ariana. You two should really start thinking about settling down properly. You should think about starting a family. Everyone does it; it's not like it's something unique or weird."
"For me, it is," I shot back, my voice laced with frustration. "I don't like the idea of rushing into the whole baby thing right now."
"Have you actually talked about this with Mykel?" she asked, her tone shifting to that classic, probing motherly cadence.
"Yeah, we have. He feels the exact same way," I said, feeling a small wave of relief at having my husband on my side. "And honestly, it's a good thing. I don't want anyone trying to force me into anything."
"No one is forcing you, honey. We're just suggesting it," she replied smoothly. "Whether you actually do it or not is entirely in your hands."
I let out a scoffing laugh. "Yeah, right. That's exactly what you said the day before the wedding. You told me I should take things slow, let him discover things about me over time, and then you turned right around and told him everything about me anyway."
"No, I didn't!"
"Yes, you did, Mom! Mykel told me everything. He said you even told him what my favorite ice cream flavor was."
"Honey, there must be some kind of misunderstanding," she pleaded, sounding genuinely baffled. "I really didn't tell him."
"If you didn't tell him, then how did he know? Huh? It's not like he has psychic powers to just guess random details about my childhood."
"I don't know, but I swear I didn't tell him anything."
I sighed, rubbing my temples. Maybe she really did just forget, I thought, tired of arguing over it.
"Okay, okay, whatever. I'm hanging up now. I need to go check on how dinner preparation is going."
"Alright, sweetheart, just think about,"
"Bye, Mom."
I hung up the call before she could finish her sentence. Tossing the phone onto the cushion beside me, I leaned back against the couch and stared blankly at the ceiling. I bit my lower lip, my mind spinning into deep thought. Between the constant pressure from family and the mysterious way Mykel seemed to know me inside and out, my head was a chaotic mess.
Hours later, the house grew quiet. Dinner had come and gone, and the heavy silence of the night settled over us. I walked upstairs to our bedroom, Mykel following close behind me. The moment I closed the bedroom door and clicked the lock into place, the atmosphere shifted entirely.
Before I could even turn around fully, Mykel's hand wrapped firmly around my wrist. He pulled me flush against his chest, eliminating every inch of space between us. I gasped against his lips as he captured my mouth in a deep, bruising kiss. His tongue intertwined with mine effortlessly, tasting of the lingering warmth of the night. As he pressed me back against the door, I could feel the rigid heat of his hard bulge pressing directly against my stomach.
The heat between us was sudden and consuming. He broke the kiss just long enough to guide me toward the bed, pushing me back onto the mattress. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small foil packet.
Seeing the protection in his hand, a sudden, reckless impulse sparked inside me. I reached out and caught his wrist, stopping him.
"Don't," I whispered, my voice trembling slightly but filled with certainty. "Make it raw."
Mykel froze, his dark eyes locking onto mine, burning with an intense heat. "Are you sure? Because once we do this, there's no going back."
I bit my lip, hesitating for a fraction of a second as my mother's words flashed through my mind. To hell with the rules.
"Yeah," I breathed, looking straight into his eyes. "I'm sure."
With a low growl, he tossed the packet across the room where it landed forgotten on the floor. He leaned over me, pulling me impossibly closer as his hands slid down to grasp my thighs, spreading my legs wide. He leaned down, his lips trailing hot, searing kisses along my inner thighs, making me arch my back and moan softly into the quiet room.
Without another word of warning, he aligned himself and drove suddenly and deeply inside me.
I gasped loudly, the sheer fullness of him taking my breath away. My fingers clawed at the mattress before desperately grabbing the pillow beside me for leverage. Mykel didn't wait for me to adjust; he immediately established a relentless, heavy pace inside me.
He was going hard and rough, his movements filled with a raw intensity that left me completely breathless. Every time a loud gasp or sob tried to escape my throat, he brought his lips back to mine, kissing me deeply to swallow the sound. He pinned both of my wrists securely above my head with one hand, anchoring me to the bed as he dominated my senses.
His lips dragged down my jawline to the sensitive skin of my neck, then down to my collarbone. He sucked deeply, marking me, leaving dark bruises that would undoubtedly be there in the morning.
"Mykel..." I moaned his name, my head tossing back against the pillow as the friction grew almost unbearable in the best way possible.
He shifted his weight, his lips moving lower to suckle tightly at my breasts, sending jolts of electricity straight to my core. With every heavy thrust, he moved deeper and deeper inside me, deliberately angling his hips until he struck my g-spot with an unforgiving rhythm. The sensation was overwhelming, causing my vision to blur as I practically saw stars behind my eyelids.
After a few more agonizingly perfect moments, his body tensed, and with one final, deep thrust, he finished completely inside me. The heat of him filled me, sending a wave of aftershocks through my lower abdomen.
But he didn't pull away. Instead, he rested his forehead against mine, his breathing ragged and heavy. He looked down at me with an insatiable hunger, his body already hardening inside me once more. Without a word, he shifted his grip on my wrists and began a second round, pulling me right back into the storm.