Title: Now and Forever

By: tayryn

Rating: NC17/MA

Disclaimer: not mine.

Summary: they’ve wasted too much time

~CS~ ~SC~

Wrapped securely in her once, and future husband’s arms, Sophia laid her head on C.C.’s chest and relaxed fully into his embrace; trusting him to support and guide her across the dance floor.

“So, I‘m coming to you today, to tell you that I have finally learned my life’s lesson, and that is, I love you so much. And no matter what has happened, nothing can change that… and… if you’ll have me, I want to be your wife again.”

Her words from earlier flitted through her mind as she listened to his heart beat steadily beneath her ear, and she smiled. Never had she been so sure… so certain of anything… than she had been in that moment.

She loved C.C.

She’d always loved him.

She always would.

And she wanted to be with him… wanted to share her life with him… again… always.

“You and I? Baby, we’ve been around the block so many times, no matter how much we’ve loved each other… and God knows we have. We never got it right.”

Even as C.C. had said those words, Sophia had seen the hope flash in his eyes. She’d known he wanted that, too; wanted them to be together… had known that he still loved her. However, it had been the look on his face as he’d said those words that had given her pause… the fear mixed with the hope that had made her hesitate with a brief moment of uncertainty. But she’d pressed on… knowing with every fibre of her being that it was right, that she belonged to him… with him; that their hearts and souls were irrevocably joined to one another and always would be.

“So, I’m coming to you today…”

She’d watched C.C.’s face as she’d spoken, watched the emotions play over his face. Surprise had quickly given way to the hope she’d seen earlier… and then had, just as quickly, morphed into elation.

And love.

So much love.

“If I will have you? IF I will have YOU? My darling, don’t you know, in this whole world, all I want to be married to is you. I love you. I love you so much.”

He’d pulled her into his arms then, and rained kisses all over her face while murmuring over and over how much he loved her. And after making sure that it was what she’d truly wanted, they’d embraced fully; their mouths meeting in a kiss that expressed all that words could not.

It’d been a deep, loving kiss. One filled with familiarity… acknowledging all the years between them, and the love that had never, truly, died. It had also been a kiss filled with excitement… for the future they would embark on together, both knowing that this time they were truly going to make it.

Sophia tightened her arms around C.C., tilting her face up to press a soft kiss to his neck as he continued to waltz her around the room. Yes, she thought, they were definitely going to make it this time.

“What are you thinking about?” C.C.’s soft voice murmured the question in her ear.

“Us,” she answered as she lifted her head from his chest and met his eyes. The large, dazzling smiled that she loved, but hadn’t seen in quite a while, spread across his features. She felt an answering smile form on her mouth and reached up to trace her fingers over his lips.

“Anything in particular,” he kissed the tips of her fingers, “or just in general?”

“A little of both,” Sophia replied and slid her hand along his cheek to cup the back of his head, her fingers playing with the curls at the nape of his neck. “I love you…” she whispered, suddenly feeling the need to say the words once again.

“I love you,” C.C. echoed, his eyes softening with the emotion as he brought the hand he was holding against his chest to his mouth and brushed his lips over her knuckles. “So what were you thinking about?”

Sophia laughed and shook her head before laying it on his chest once again. C.C. responded with a chuckle and tightened his embrace as he continued to move them around the room.

“I love dancing with you,” she said in a quiet voice as one song gave to another and then another. “No one else has ever held me the way you do…” she felt him tense slightly, and knew that he was thinking of her past lovers, but he quickly relaxed when she stroked the back of his neck with her fingers.

“How do I hold you?”

“Like I am the most precious thing in the world.”

“That’s because you are.”

Sophia smiled as she tucked her forehead under his chin and snuggled closer. For the first time, in a very long time, she felt truly whole. “Promise me…” she began in a whisper. “Promise me that you will never let me go ever again.”

C.C. pulled her even closer and buried his face in her hair. “Are you kidding me?” He kissed the top of her head. “I finally have you back in my arms… I promise you, I am never letting you go,” he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Ever again.”

Sophia hummed happily, closed her eyes and nestled into C.C.’s arms once again as they continued to dance.

As the evening wore on, they shared a few dances with their children, and C.C. even surprised Sophia by graciously allowing Lionel to steal her away for a dance before they found their way back into each other’s arms. After sharing a couple of more dances, she lifted her head from his shoulder and met his eyes.

“As enjoyable as this evening has been, I think I would like to be alone with you now,” Sophia reached up to cup his cheek. “Take me home, C.C.”

C.C. nodded and led her from the dance floor. They said their good byes to their children, as well as the bride and groom then left the reception.

~CS~ ~SC~

“When would you like to get married?”

The question was asked softly, breaking the comfortable silence that filled the car as they drove home. C.C. glanced over at Sophia to see her watching him, her eyes filled with the question she’d just voiced.

“As soon as you’re ready,” he replied with a gentle squeeze to her hand then returned his attention to the road. “I don’t want to rush you.”

“Tomorrow?”

“You want to get married tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t want to wait?”

“No,” Sophia stated. “I told you, C.C., we’ve already wasted too much time,” her fingers tightened around his. “I don’t want to wait.”

“All right then. Tomorrow.”

Sophia smiled and leaned her head against the window with a whispered, “…tomorrow…”

~CS~ ~SC~

Descending the stairs, Sophia made her way into the living room. Expecting to find C.C. waiting for her, she was surprised to find the room empty.

“C.C.?” She called out. “Darling?”

Her lips curled into a gentle smile when the lights in the room suddenly dimmed, and soft music began to play. Moments later, she sensed his presence at her back just before his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her against his chest. She laid her hands over his and sighed happily.

“Tired?” C.C. asked as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“No,” Sophia shook her head.

“Fancy taking a walk on the beach?”

“Now? What time is it?”

“Almost twelve,” C.C. answered then nudged her with his chin. “Come on… I promise it won’t be a long one.”

“C.C…. I’m in my nightgown.”

“So? Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“I’m barefoot.”

“So am I.”

Sophia angled her head to the side and back and looked up at him. “You’re up to something.”

“What something? All I want to do is take a walk on our beach with the woman I love.”

Sophia narrowed her eyes at him but couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her lips at the hopeful look on his face. “All right, a short walk on the beach.”

“Great!” C.C. grinned and released her.

“I still think you’re up to something, Capwell,” she said as he stepped around her.

“You’ve got a suspicious mind,” he told her as he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

“That’s just because I know you, darling,” Sophia smirked.

C.C.’s laughter echoed through the house as he grabbed her hand and pulled her after him.

~CS~ ~SC~

“This was a lovely idea,” Sophia murmured and wrapped her arm around C.C.’s as they strolled along the water.

“Glad I suggested it?”

“Yes,” Sophia laughed softly and squeezed his arm; glancing up at him as she did. “Oh, now you’re going to be insufferable, aren’t you?”

C.C. merely chuckled and leaned down to brush a quick kiss into her hair.

They fell into a comfortable silence; the sounds of the waves lolling up on the sand guiding the pace of their walk.

“What’s that?” Sophia asked as she suddenly stopped and pointed to what looked like flickering lights ahead of them a little ways down the beach.

“What’s what?”

She stepped in front of him, gesturing ahead of them. “That. What is that?”

“Oh, that.” C.C. commented and placed his hands on her waist. “Just a little surprise,” he said as he urged her to resume walking.

“I knew you were up to something,” Sophia told him. “C.C., what have you done?”

“Just wait. All your questions will be answered in a few minutes,” he said with a smile in his voice as they continued their walk.

As they drew closer, it suddenly became clear to Sophia that the flickering lights were torches; a half a dozen of them, burning brightly in two rows; the flames dancing in the ocean breeze. Standing at one end, was a familiar man dressed in black, and just off to the side, a woman in a pale blue dress.

Sophia stopped and turned to look at C.C. with a question in her eyes.

“It is now,” he glanced at his watch, “twenty after twelve, which means…”

“…it’s tomorrow…” Sophia finished his sentence in a whisper as a large smile bloomed across her face.

C.C.’s eyes were tender as he reached out; one hand on her shoulder, the other cupping her cheek. “I love you so much,” he told her, his voice unusually soft.

“I love you, too…” she echoed quietly.

C.C. brushed his thumb along her cheekbone. “I know this is unexpected, but I didn’t want to wait to marry you either.” He took a deep breath. “Our first wedding, as you once pointed out to me, was a huge affair with four hundred of our closest friends.” Sophia giggled softly and nodded as he continued. “And I know that was my doing. Our next two weddings were planned by the kids, and they were wonderful ones to be sure but…” his voice trailed off and he shrugged. “I want this one to be different.”

“Different how?”

He stroked his hands down and up her arms, warming her through the silk of her robe. “How does a nice simple ceremony sound? Just you and me, with only God as our witness, as it should be,” he said. “I’ve realized that those other weddings were for everyone else. The first one, big and splashy for society… the next two for the kids,” he lifted his hand once again to her cheek. “This one needs to be about us, baby. About the promises we’re making to each other. No one else. Just us.”

Sophia’s eyes softened with love as they grew bright with tears. “Oh, C.C….” she exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and slid her hands up his chest as she rose up on her toes to kiss him. “It’s perfect.”

C.C. wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight against him as he returned her kiss, turning it into his to her. He tapered it off with a series of soft, breathy touches of his lips to hers before resting his forehead against hers. “Ready?”

“Mmhmm,” she nodded, and tilted her head back to brush her lips against his once again then gave him a loving smile. “I am very ready.”

Wrapping his arm about her shoulders, C.C. led Sophia over to where the minister waited at the torches.

“Jonathan,” C.C. held his hand out to the minister in greeting. “Good evening.”

“C.C.,” the older man replied, shaking his hand. “You’re looking good.”

“Thank you,” C.C. said then looked down at the woman at his side. “You remember my bride to be, Sophia?”

“Of course. Good to see you again, Sophia.”

“You as well, Jonathan.”

“And,” C.C. continued, gesturing to the petite woman standing beside the reverend, “of course, his lovely wife, Eileen.”

Sophia smiled and reached out to shake the other woman’s hand. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Eileen replied with an easy smile.

Reverend Harrison rubbed his hands together then turned to C.C. “So, are you ready to begin?”

C.C. glanced at Sophia and at her nod, turned back to Jonathan. “Yes, we are.”

The reverend smiled. “Very good,” he said then stepped over to one end of the lit torches. His wife moved to stand behind him, just off to the side. He then gestured to the sand in front of him. “If the two of you would stand before me.”

C.C. and Sophia took their places, standing before the minister with their arms wrapped around each other; their hands clasped between them instead of simply holding hands. It wasn’t traditional, Sophia mused to herself, but then, nothing about the two of them had ever really been traditional.

“C.C., Sophia, we are here tonight, in the sight of God, to join you together as husband and wife in holy matrimony. This is a sacred moment… bringing the fullness of your hearts as a treasure to share with one another, and your dreams to bind you together in eternal commitment,” Reverend Harrison paused and looked back and forth between them before continuing. “I charge you both to remember that love and loyalty alone will serve as the foundations of a happy and enduring home. This is both the easiest and hardest part of any relationship… and I know you both are aware of this, otherwise you would not be here.”

“For the fourth time,” Sophia quipped softly, her eyes sparkling brightly up at C.C. full of love and amusement.

C.C. brushed his lips against her forehead. “Fourth and final time, baby.”

Jonathan chuckled softly and smiled at the two of them as he continued. “It is not the number of times you’ve been wed that matter, it’s that you have both grown and learned what it is you need to be complete. And that need… is each other. You have learned that it is your love for each other that will truly sustain you, and that it is your love for each other that you must continue to nurture and fight for.”

C.C.’s arm tightened around Sophia, pulling her closer.

“Within the Bible, nothing is of more importance than love.  We are told the crystalline and beautiful truth: “God is Love”.  We are assured that “Love conquers all”.  It is love, which brings you here today, the union of two hearts and two spirits.  As your lives continue to interweave as one pattern, remember that it was love that brought you here today, it is love that will make this a glorious union, and it is love which will cause this union to endure.” 

Reverend Harrison paused, his gaze moving back and forth between C.C. and Sophia.

“C.C., do you take Sophia to be your wife?  Do you promise to love, honour, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and hold only to her forevermore?”

C.C. smiled, his eyes locked on Sophia’s as he responded with a quiet but firm, “I do.”

The minister nodded and turned to Sophia.

“Sophia, do you take C.C. to be your husband?  Do you promise to love, honour, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and hold only to him forevermore?”

Sophia returned C.C.’s smile, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she returned his gaze, and answered.  “I do.”

“A marriage ceremony represents one of life’s greatest commitments, but also is a declaration of love.”

As the minister continued to speak, reading a small passage from the book of Corinthians, C.C. and Sophia continued to gaze into each other’s eyes.  Before either of them knew it, they heard the minister call their names as the soft chuckles of the reverend’s wife reached their ears.  They broke away from each other’s gazes to look at the minister questioningly.

“Your vows?”

“Oh, right.”  C.C. grinned at the older man.

The minister laughed and then continued.  “Repeat after me.”

C.C. turned back to Sophia, and before the reverend could say anything, began to speak. “I love you, Sophia, as I love no other.” The hand on her back came up to cup her cheek as he continued. “All that I am I share with you. I take you to be my wife, through health and sickness, through plenty and want, through joy and sorrow, now and… forever.”

The tears she’d been fighting to keep at bay spilled from her eyes as Sophia nuzzled her cheek into his palm. “Oh, C.C....” she whispered, her hand tightening around his as she held it against her chest. “I love you. I have always loved you, and I always will. All that I am I share with you. I take you to be my husband, through health and sickness, though plenty and want, through joy and sorrow…” her eyes softened and filled with deep emotion, “…now and forever.”

Unable to stop themselves, they leaned in and exchanged a soft, breathy kiss.

Reverend Harrison glanced at his wife and shared a loving smile with her before turning back to C.C. and Sophia. He held up his bible, which was clasped between both hands. When he removed his top hand, two gold bands lay on the sacred pages, glittering in the flickering flames of the torches.

Sophia’s eyes widened at the sight before she turned her smile on C.C., shaking her head softly in amazement. He’d thought of everything.

“The wedding ring is a symbol of eternity,” the minister began. “It is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two hearts in endless love.” He paused then held the bible out to C.C. “And now, as a token of your love and deep desire to be forever united in heart and soul, you C.C., may place this ring on the finger of your bride.”

C.C. reached out to take the simple gold band and grasped Sophia’s left hand in his. “My darling Sophia, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.” He slid the ring onto her finger then lifted her hand to brush his lips over the band, sealing his commitment to her.

Reverend Harrison turned to Sophia, holding out the bible with the remaining ring. “By the same token, Sophia, you may place this ring on the finger of your groom.”

With trembling fingers, Sophia lifted the ring then focused her attention to C.C., taking his left hand in hers. “C.C., my love, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.” As she spoke the words, she slid the ring onto his finger, and like he had before her, she lifted his hand and pressed a kiss to the gold band.

They grasped each other’s hands between them, their eyes focused solely on each other as the minister continued.

“For as much as you, C.C. and you Sophia have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God, and thereto have pledged your faithfulness to each other, and have pledged the same by the giving and receiving each of a ring, by the authority invested in me as a minister of the gospel according to the laws of the State of California, I pronounce that you are husband and wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Those that God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”

As the minister’s voice trailed off, Sophia slid her hands up her husband’s chest, threaded her fingers into his hair, and drew his head down to hers. “I love you…” she whispered against his lips as they sank into a loving, tender kiss.

Eileen Harrison stepped up to her husband, and slipped her hand into his as the couple before them continued to kiss, apparently forgetting that the older couple was present. Jonathan glanced down at his wife and she smiled up at him, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze.

The kiss lingered and deepened, neither C.C. or Sophia giving any thought to the reverend and his wife who continued to watch them with undisguised affection.

“You may kiss the bride.”

At the softly spoken words, C.C. and Sophia began to laugh softly then broke out of the kiss when their laughter prevented them from continuing. Sophia glanced over at the reverend and his wife, and gave them a sheepish smile before burying her face in C.C.’s chest, still giggling. C.C. chuckled and dropped a kiss to the top of her head before tightening his embrace.

Reverend Harrison smiled at them. “All we have left is to sign the marriage license, and then we shall leave you two to celebrate your reunion,” he told them and gestured to his wife who held up a small clipboard.

They quickly signed where needed, and then with the license folded and tucked safely in C.C.’s pocket, and one arm wrapped around Sophia, they bid good night to the Harrisons.

“Thank you, Jonathan,” C.C. shook the man’s hand.

“Yes, thank you,” Sophia smiled at the older couple, her eyes full with the gratitude she felt. “We appreciate your doing this for us.”

“You’re welcome,” Jonathan replied as he reached for his wife’s hand. “It does our hearts good to see you both together again.” With those parting words, and more smiles, Reverend Harrison and his wife left; walking hand in hand along the shore.

“Well, Mrs. Capwell… it’s just you and I.” C.C. told her when the other couple slipped from you.

“Mrs. Capwell…” Sophia echoed quietly as she lifted her head from his chest and gazed up at him, her eyes brimming with happiness; a broad, brilliant smile on her face. “I love the sound of that.”

“So do I,” C.C. admitted as he wrapped her in his arms, and began to gently sway her in time with the rhythm of the water.

As they moved to their own music, Sophia looked at the new ring on her finger. It wasn’t like her previous wedding rings, it wasn’t a large diamond, or a fancy engraved number… it was just a simple gold band with a simple inlaid design. The honest simplicity of it, of C.C.’s choosing it in recognition of how far they’d come to arrive at this point together, touched her deeply, and she felt her heart swell with the love she felt for the man holding her in his arms.

C.C.

The father of her children.

The man she’d known and loved for more than half of her life.

Her husband.

‘My husband,’ Sophia thought, feeling a sudden surge of possessiveness as she slowly slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. She laced her fingers in his thick hair. “Mine…” she murmured, as she tugged his head down, bringing his mouth to hers and kissed him hungrily.

C.C. moaned. His hands tightened on her waist and he drew her closer, deepening the kiss.

“C.C….” Sophia broke off the kiss and met his gaze; her eyes mirroring the desire she could see swirling in his. “Let’s go back to the house,” she said, her voice was soft and filled with need. “I want to make love with my husband.”

C.C.’s eyes darkened as he brought his hand up to cup her cheek, running his thumb back and forth across her bottom lip. “And, I would love nothing more than to make love with my wife.”

He leaned down and brushed a gentle kiss over her lips, then stepped away and held his hand out to her.

Sophia took it with a smile and, hand in hand, they headed back to the house.

~CS~ ~SC~

Entering the room before him, Sophia turned to watch as C.C. closed and locked the door to their bedroom.

‘Our bedroom…’ the words echoed in her mind as she looked about the room that they’d shared so many passionate days and nights. It was both familiar and yet… “You changed it…” Sophia said quietly.

C.C. slipped his arms around her from behind and nuzzled her temple. “Mmhmm…”

Gone was every trace of Santana’s remodeling. The walls had been repainted dark sapphire blue, and in place of the contemporary furniture that woman had brought in, were classical pieces done in deep cherry mahogany.

“I wanted something that was more to my tastes.”

“I like it,” she told him as her eyes fell on the bed.

A very large four-poster bed.

The biggest one Sophia had ever seen.

“I thought of you… of us… when I bought it,” C.C. spoke softly against her ear, following the direction of her gaze. “When I saw it, all I could think about was you and I… lying in each other’s arms amidst the blankets, losing ourselves in each other…”

“C.C….” Sophia moaned softly at the images that filled her mind as C.C. continued to whisper to her all that he wanted to do to her… with her… in their bed, and the arousal she had felt stir to life while they were dancing on the beach surged within her. She eased out of his arms and turned to face him, catching his hands in hers, and with a sensuous smile, led him over to the side of the bed. “Love me…”

It was whispered softly in the quiet of the room.

“…always…” C.C. responded as he reached out and ran the backs of his fingers against her cheek.

They slowly began to remove each other’s nightclothes, each taking turns to undo buttons, pausing between each article of clothing that fell to steal a kiss or to caress each new area of exposed flesh, until they were both standing gloriously naked before each other.

“You are so beautiful,” C.C. whispered in a husky voice, reaching out to brush his fingers through her hair, following the curve of her ear and then trailed them down the smooth column of her neck to her shoulder. “You get more beautiful with each passing year.”

“I think we need to get your eyes checked,” Sophia told him with a smile.

C.C. chuckled and shook his head as he lifted his hands to cradle her face. “You have always been beautiful to me, but never more so than when you look at me the way you are now… your eyes filled with desire,” he stroked his thumbs gently on her cheek under her eyes, “…with love.”

“I do love you… so much,” Sophia said softly as she turned her face to press a kiss to his palm. “And you are still the most handsome man I have ever met,” she told him, a broad smile spreading across her face as she ran her hands down his chest, relishing the feel of the soft hair as her fingers followed the trail that arrowed down across his firm stomach.

“Now who needs to get their eyes checked?”

Sophia laughed as she walked her fingers back up his chest until her hands were resting on his shoulders. C.C. joined in her laughter as he pulled her closer, feeling her body press fully against his; flattening her breasts against his chest, and trapping his erection between their bellies.

They moaned at the contact.

Their lips came together again in a fiery kiss as C.C. guided her down onto the bed, covering her body with his before rolling them so that Sophia was lying on top of him. He ran his hands down along her back to her ass, squeezing gently and drawing her closer before sliding them back up to her shoulders.

Pulling her lips from his, and gazing deep into his brown eyes, Sophia felt a shiver of anticipation run through her at how dark they’d grown; so dark… and so intense with desire.

C.C. reached up, slid his hands into her short blonde hair, and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. Smiling up at her, he lost himself in the smoky azure hue of her eyes before drawing her lips back down to his and rolling them over so that she was beneath him.

Sophia moaned as C.C. pulled his mouth from hers and trailed his lips along the smooth column of her throat in a leisurely exploration. He rained kisses over her upper chest as his hands stroked down her sides, caressing every inch he could reach.

“C.C….” it was a breathy gasp as his mouth closed around her nipple, sucking it into the hot cavern of his mouth, teasing and whirling the rosy tip with his tongue. His fingers traced circles around her other breast, teasing the tender peak until he moved and took that nipple in his mouth, applying the same sweet torture.

Her hands gripped his shoulders as he moved lower, pressing a series of open mouthed kisses in a scintillating trail down her body, pausing to outline her navel with his tongue, which caused Sophia to giggle and shift under him. C.C. raised his head and met her eyes, flashing her a smile before continuing on his erotic journey.

Sophia watched through lidded eyes as C.C. caressed, kissed and licked his way down her legs; grasping her ankle and pressing soft kisses to each of her toes, while gently massaging the soles. When he finished with her feet, he leisurely made his way back up her legs in the same manner, his hands and lips caressing her now highly sensitized flesh.

When C.C. came to the patch of glistening blonde curls at the juncture of her thighs, he raised his head to meet Sophia’s eyes. He smiled at seeing the arousal he could see flashing in her blue depths before he lowered his head again, and pressed his mouth against her.

“C.C.!”

C.C. smiled inwardly as she cried out his name again, and clutched at his head; her fingers threading in his hair to hold him to her as he loved her with his mouth.

“Oh god…” Sophia moaned again, arching her body against him as he slid first one finger inside her and then another, thrusting them in and out of her wet warmth. “…C… C!”

C.C. continued to move his fingers inside her as his mouth and tongue swirled, teased and sucked on the sensitive bundle of nerves, until he felt her body begin to tremble, her inner muscles beginning to spasm around his thrusting fingers.

“C.C.?” Sophia suddenly gasped and lifted her head off the pillow as his mouth ceased its pleasurable ministrations to her swollen flesh.

He lifted his head and reached out with his left hand, the fingers on his right hand still moving within her, and clasped hers from where it was clenching the blankets and entwined their fingers. He smiled at her, his gaze a myriad of emotions… the strongest one, love, shining brighter than the others.

Sophia returned C.C.’s smile as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and then groaned his name as he once again lowered his head to her sex, his mouth resuming its pleasurable torture.

“Mmm… C.C.…” she moaned loudly, and thrust herself against him as he intensified the pressure of his mouth; increasing the speed of his fingers within her. She loved it when he gave her this unique pleasure… something she had never allowed with her other lovers; the level of trust it implied, not one she’d felt with them. But with C.C…. in spite of everything they’d been through, she trusted him… with her life… with her body.

With her heart.

With every thrust of his fingers… every flick of his tongue, Sophia felt the sensations within her grow and intensify. C.C. knew her… knew her body… knew how to touch her… what she liked, and knew what to do to send her into mindlessness.

“Oh… god… C.C.!” She suddenly cried out, her body tensing then arching off of the bed as a tidal wave of pleasure washed over her; leaving her drowning in a sea of sensations.

C.C. groaned in delight as he felt her juices flow around his fingers into his palm, and quickly pulled them from her, lowering his mouth to thrust his tongue deep inside her. He consumed her essence with relish, her flavour rushing over his taste buds, causing his arousal… his need for her… to surge.

With a last loving kiss against her, C.C. slowly began to kiss his way up her trembling body. He rained kisses over her breasts, pausing to suckle at the faint crescent shaped scar on her left breast then trailed his lips up her throat to cover her mouth with his in a deep, burning kiss as he settled his body against hers.

Sophia moaned, tasting herself on his tongue and kissed him back hungrily. She drew her legs up, cradling him between her thighs, and arched beneath him… telling him with her body that she was ready.

As they continued to kiss, C.C. slipped his free hand between their bodies, wrapped it around his throbbing member, and brought it to her waiting entrance, stroking the head along her sex, coating his length with her juices. He broke off the kiss, and pushed up on his elbows. Locking his eyes with hers and with measure of control, in spite of the urgency he felt, C.C. sank into her welcoming warmth.

Twin moans filled the room as their bodies were finally joined.

C.C. smiled down at her, the love he felt for her, shining in his dark brown eyes. “I love you…” he whispered with a gentle squeeze of their still entwined hands, then lowered his mouth to give her a loving kiss.

Sophia slid her free hand up over his shoulder, around his neck, and into his thick hair, pulling him closer, wanting to feel his body completely against hers. She moaned softly at the feel of his firm chest against her breasts, the soft hairs tickling and caressing the hard sensitive tips.

C.C. stretched their joined hands above their heads on the mattress, his other hand slipping under her body and up her back to grasp her shoulder as he began to slowly thrust his hips against her.

“C.C.…” Sophia breathed against his lips at his gentle movements.

At her soft utterance of his name, C.C. lifted his head and felt like he was going to drown in the desire and love he saw swimming in her dark, passion-filled eyes. “Baby…” he moaned softly as she moved beneath him, meeting his gentle thrusts.

They quickly fell into a familiar rhythm, rocking their gently; both content to love each other slowly, savouring the sensations of being together this way again after so long of being apart. Their eyes remained locked; communicating far more than mere words ever could, sharing the whisperings of their souls.

Sophia’s hand moved up and down C.C.’s back, her fingers trailing along his spine as she arched into him, wanting more as the feelings and sensations flowing through her body began to grow. “C.C.…”

C.C. smiled and lowered his lips to hers, kissing her softly but with growing passion as he altered their rhythm, rolling his hips against hers before beginning to thrust more fully against her.

Breaking away from the kiss with a gasp, Sophia moaned her approval and arched beneath him, matching his new rhythm with ease. She gazed up at him, and felt her heart skip a beat as her eyes locked with his, the passion, desire, the want and need, but most especially the love shining in his chocolate depths, reaching out and enveloping her soul.

C.C. held her gazed as he continued to stroke deep within her, the emotions blazing in her dark, cerulean eyes humbling him to his very core. The desire and passion he knew was mirrored in his own eyes, as well as his want and his need for her.

But it was the trust.

The trust and love shining bright in her eyes that captured his heart, wrapping him in a warmth unlike any he’d felt before.

“Sophia…” her name was a breathless moan as he felt his control begin to slip; the slow, steady pace he’d been keeping becoming too much and too hard to maintain. “Sophia… I…”

“I know,” she replied in an equally breathless voice as she shifted beneath him and wrapped her legs around him.

“God, Sophia,” C.C. groaned as she tightened her legs around his hips, pulling him closer.

“No more holding back…” Sophia told him, and arched beneath him for emphasis, thrusting her hips up against him.

“No more holding back,” he echoed and lowered his head to give her a soft kiss then resumed moving inside her.

“C.C.…” she cried out when he slipped his free hand between their bodies and unerringly found her clit. He stroked the sensitive bundle of nerves, his fingers keeping time with the now frantic thrusting of his hips. She could feel the coil of arousal winding tighter and tighter… knew that she was on the edge. “…mmm… oh, god…”

“Come, baby…” he thrust harder and deeper into her slick heat; circled his fingers firmer against her clit. “Come for me…”

Suddenly, Sophia cried out his name, her body tensing then writhing as her release consumed her.

C.C. watched, holding himself still, deep within her, as her orgasm washed over her; his fingers still dancing over her sensitive flesh, drawing out her release as her body quivered beneath his. He watched as she flew apart, his name a mantra on her lips, and then slowly came back together in his arms.

Sophia opened her eyes, not realizing she’d closed them, to see C.C. gazing down at her, an expression of unabashed male pride and utter love on his face. “C.C.,” she smiled up at him, and then feeling the strain in his body as he held back his release, she ran her hand down his back and tightened her legs around him. “Let go, C.C….”

With her words, C.C. released her hand and slipped his arms beneath her, sliding them up her back to grasp her shoulders, and buried his face in her neck as he began to move heavily against her, driving himself deep into her welcoming body. It wasn’t long before he felt the telltale signs of his release tingling down his spine, the tightening low in his stomach that told him he was close. With a hoarse cry that was her name, his hips jerked convulsively against her and then he was lost in the maelstrom of his release.

Sophia sighed happily, her arms tightening around C.C. as he sank bonelessly into her embrace; his panting breath warm against her skin. She eased her legs from around his waist, sliding them down to tangle loosely around his legs.

“I love you. I love you so much.”

Sophia smiled, turning her head to brush a kiss against his temple at his murmured words. “I love you, too.”

With a soft murmur and a kiss to her shoulder, C.C. nestled deeper into her embrace, and Sophia sighed happily. They lay, still entwined, for several long minutes in a comfortable silence as their hearts and their breathing slowly returned to normal.

She loved that he didn’t simply roll off of her… loved the feel of his body blanketing hers with his warmth and found the weight of his body comforting. Beneath him, feeling his heart beat against hers… feeling his chest move with every breath he took… Sophia felt safe and whole… and loved.

C.C. leisurely kissed a trail up along her throat to her mouth, covering her lips in a sweet, loving kiss. Ending the connection with a series of soft, breathy touches of his lips to hers, he gazed down at her, losing himself in her luminous gaze. “Okay?”

“Mmhmm…” she hummed in response, and traced her fingers down his spine. “I am very okay.”

C.C. grinned and brushed another kiss against her lips then slipped out of her before shifting his weight off of her so that he was lying beside her. Missing his warmth, Sophia immediately rolled towards him, and quickly snuggled into his arms, her legs tangling with his beneath the blankets he drew up over their cooling bodies; and laid her head next to his on the pillow.

“So… how do you want to tell everyone?” He asked, stroking her cheek with the backs of his fingers then trailing them down her arm.

“I don’t know,” Sophia answered, her own fingers busy playing in the soft curls on his chest. “But I would like to tell the kids first.”

“We could tell them at breakfast. From the looks they were giving us at the reception, I have a feeling that they’ll all be here in the morning.”

Sophia nodded her agreement.

“And now, the most important question,” C.C. smiled. “Where would you like to go on our honeymoon? The Chalet? Hawaii? A month long cruise on our yacht?”

“I…” she shook her head. “I don’t know. I hadn’t given it much thought.” A soft smile graced her lips as she placed her hand over his heart. “I just want to be with you, C.C.. The where doesn’t matter. And to be honest… it doesn’t really matter if we even go anywhere.”

“You don’t want to go on a honeymoon?”

“I didn’t say that. If you wanted to whisk me off someplace where we can lock ourselves away from the world for days on end,” Sophia arched an eyebrow as she gave him a large, teasing grin. “I certainly wouldn’t argue.”

C.C. responded by tickling her, only stopping when she grabbed his face between her hands and kissed him soundly. “I’ve missed you,” C.C. whispered as the kiss ended, “So much.”

Sophia’s eyes filled with tenderness, her heart skipping a beat at the truth in his words; the emotion in them. His face still clasped in her hands, she stroked her thumbs over his cheeks as she leaned in, closing the distance between them once again. “I’ve missed you, too,” she admitted in a quiet voice then kissed him softly.

And she had.

Terribly.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sudden realization of what she’d almost done to them… to their future… because of a decision she had made in an attempt to help their eldest daughter. A decision, at the time, she’d believed was best for her family.

It had been a mistake.

One she’d realized just a little too late.

And then, wanting to get back at him… to hurt him like she’d been hurt with his involvement with Santana, she’d turned to Ken; knowing that seeing her with a younger man would hurt C.C..

And it had.

She’d seen it in his eyes every time they’d run into him.

But she’d not gotten any pleasure out of C.C.’s pain. In truth, it had only hurt her more to see him hurting… to see his heart breaking every time he had to witness her and Ken together.

Marrying Ken had been a mistake.

She knew that now.

Oh, she had loved him.

She had.

However, and she knew it then surely as she knew it now, what she’d felt for him had been wholly insignificant, and had greatly paled, in comparison to what she felt for C.C. She’d loved him, yes. But she hadn’t been IN love with him.

And it had been a mistake to marry him.

She had known it when she’d married him, in spite of the air of certainty she’d projected, and as she lay now within the circle of C.C.’s arms, his warmth surrounding her, she knew it now. It HAD been a mistake.

“Hey… what’s this?”

Sophia blinked as his words pulled her out of her thoughts, and she felt his finger brush gently under her eye. It was then that she felt the tears on her cheeks. Tears she hadn’t realized she’d been shedding. Tears she felt him tenderly wiping away.

“Baby?”

“I love you so much,” she told him in a rush of breath, and caught his hand in hers. She pressed her lips to his palm. “And, I am so sorry for everything that has happened because I…”

He shushed her by placing his finger over her lips. “Sssh… it’s in the past now, honey, let’s leave it there.”

“But…”

C.C. shook his head. “It was a rough time for all of us, and I know you did what you had to do. What you felt was best for Eden. I know that. What happened after that…” he gestured absently with his free hand. “It happened. It’s over, it’s done, and we can’t change it. All we can do is learn from it, and move on. And that’s what we’re doing. Here. Now. You and I. In this moment. Okay?”

A smile slowly touched Sophia’s lips and she nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.”

“I do love you, C.C. So very much.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

They closed the distance between them, their mouths meeting in a loving kiss. They kissed… long and slow, conveying without words the feelings in their hearts, until their need for air forced them apart.

Sophia rested her forehead against C.C.’s. “So…” she began breathlessly. “You said something about the two of us sailing off into the sunset together?”

C.C. chuckled and pulled her deeper into his embrace. “If that’s what you want, baby.”

Sophia tilted her head back to meet his eyes. “All I want is you, C.C.”

“You have me, Sophia. You always have.”

“I have, haven’t I?” Her eyes filled with fresh tears at the realization.

“Yes,” C.C. nodded. “And you always will.”

Suddenly, without warning, Sophia pushed C.C. onto his back and rolled on top of him. She rose, the blankets falling away, revealing her fully to his gaze as she drew her knees up along side his body so that she was straddling him. She splayed her hands across his chest.

“Promise me… promise me that we will never be apart again,” she implored him, her fingers curling into the hair on his chest.

C.C. placed his hands on her thighs. “I promise, baby.”

“And, I know it’s a cliché, but… I don’t want us going to bed angry. I know better than to think that we’re not going to argue,” she told him then smirked down at him. “It’s one of the things we do very well.”

“We certainly do,” C.C. chuckled and nodded. He slid his hands up her thighs, over her hips and up along her sides until he was cupping her breasts. “We’re also very good at making up.”

“Mmhmm…” Sophia hummed as he caressed her with his thumbs, and gave him a heated look as she felt the tendrils of arousal begin to build within her once again. “I’m serious, C.C. We’re both so stubborn and strong-willed, that it’s going to happen,” she told him, and brought her hands up to cover his, holding him against her. “But, baby… I don’t want us to follow our usual pattern. I want us to talk to each other… to not let things fester.” She dropped her hands to the pillow on either side of his head and leaned down over him. “I want to sleep in your arms every night, C.C. I don’t want to lie in this bed with you with anger between us, separating us.”

“I don’t want that either,” C.C. told her, lifting his head from the pillow to kiss her gently. “I’ve waited too long to have you back in my life, to hold you every night…” his hands moved from her breasts to her face, cradling her cheeks tenderly. “I promise to try, honey. That’s all I can do.”

“That’s all I ask…” she whispered against his lips then straightened back up. Her gaze grew desirous at the feel of his arousal growing beneath her. She rocked her hips against him and smiled at his low moan. “Now, Mister Capwell…” her hands raked down his chest. “I do believe this is our wedding night…”

A slow smile spread across C.C.’s face. “Why, Mrs. Capwell, I do believe that you’re correct…” he said then reached up suddenly to pull her down on him and roll them over. He grasped her hands and pinned them over her head as he settled his hips in the cradle of her thighs then stilled.

His gaze caught hers.

The look he was giving her took her breath away.

Sophia had never seen C.C.’s deep brown eyes filled with so much love… so much tenderness. There was desire present… it radiated off of him… but it was the love. The undeniable love that made her heart swell with want of him… with wanting to be as close as possible to him.

She wrapped her legs around him and whispered, “Make love to me…”

“Now and forever…” he whispered back.