“It’s not your turn,” I whispered back through clenched teeth. Harvey guffawed and Joan snickered.
“Today I ask for your company, William. Come with me, be my companion and my everything. Take my name, be my husband.” I took his hand in mine and pushed the ring down his finger with a little twist. He winked at me. The pattern on the ring was Irish knots.
“Do you, William, take Cerise to be your wife?” Joan asked.
“I do,” he replied, again blinking back tears. Which, of course, triggered my own waterworks and a fat teardrop snuck down my cheek.
“Do you, Cerise, take William to be your husband?”
“I certainly do.”
“Friends, I now present to you, Mrs. and Mr. Cerise Norrel!”
Our guests clapped and hooted and William pulled me into a gentle embrace.
“We can kiss now, right?” I asked.
“Of course,” Joan replied. “Please do.”
I slid my hand into William’s silky black hair and pulled his face to mine. “You’re gonna get it, Mr. Norrel,” I whispered into his mouth as I leaned in for the kiss.
“Good,” he breathed, and met my lips with a fierce kiss. “Mistress Wifey.”
“Cerise,” he said, “I thought we were past these little delusions.” William laughed and joked as I held the long rope between my hands. “You know those can’t hold me,” he said, smiling, and flexed his muscles cartoonishly. Even though he was being cocky and silly, it was still hot. I glanced toward the door, even though I knew the guests had left long ago. The yacht’s quarters were perfect for what I had planned tonight. On open water, nobody could hear William’s cries.
“Is that what you think, my husband?” I asked teasingly.
“Are you really going to try to be fresh with me on our wedding night?” he asked, sitting up in bed, pretending to be shocked. “I thought this was supposed to be the most tender night of our marriage!” He raked his hand through his bedhead and I wanted to ravage him right there. But I delayed. This was going to be priceless.
I sneered at him in jest. “Last night was technically our wedding night,” I explained. “We woke up for a quickie, so technically it’s the next day.” Dawn was starting to peek in through the windows, so fair game.
“Of course, darling.”
“Mmm, I love the sound of those words,” I said, as his eyes scanned the rope with skepticism.
I approached him slowly, pulling the rope between my hands suggestively. “So you think you can get out of this?” I asked, indicating that he hold his wrists out for me. I had asked William to bring several bags of mine onto the yacht for our honeymoon cruise, and luckily he hadn’t peeked inside.
He looked at me audaciously. “Yes, I can get out—MISTRESS.” He shook his head to himself and muttered the word rope and made the pssssh sound.
I snickered wickedly, and before he could even wipe the smug look off his face, bound his hands together quickly with a two-column tie. “Okay, try.”
His expression was completely and utterly priceless.
His hands wiggled futilely, and he looked at me with sheer confusion.
“What the—” he muttered, desperately trying to free his wrists.
I laughed, then used another length of the stuff to wrap around his feet. When I finished, he struggled wildly, desperately trying to figure out what was going on.