Chapter 81

Rhys was home right at nine. Pearl had left the rose petal path on the floor and a note on the key table that said "follow it"

Rhys found her in the library, wearing nothing but the Bukowski book he had sent her before New York. She had it covering her chest, and she was laying across the couch, with her legs up over the back and crossed. The fireplace was roaring and she had candles lit with a bottle of wine with two glasses and blankets and pillows on the floor by the hearth.

"Welcome home, honey, how was your day?" She asked. He looked amazing. He was wearing a suit and looked like he had dressed up for her.

He wasted no time closing the space between them.

"I love you." He said and he took the book and put it on the floor. He looked at her. "I really fucking love you. I can't believe how much." And he kissed her.

"I love you, too." She said back, and he picked her up and placed her on the floor by the fire. He loosened his tie and took off his jacket and shirt. He was so sexy in that light. He moved on top of her, kissing her down her neck and body. She arched her back and moaned with delight as his mouth grazed between her legs. She moved her arms over her head and found his tie on floor behind her. She grabbed it and flipped him over onto his back, raising his hands over his head and tying them together. "What's this?" He whispered.

"Keep them above your head." She ordered and began kissing him, his neck, then his chest, his stomach. He grunted and smiled. She licked his thighs and took his balls into her mouth.

"Oh my god." He moaned. She ran her tongue up and down his shaft and he tried to bring his arms down to touch her. "Uh uh." She scolded and he put his hands back. She took him entirely into her mouth, moving her head up and down and choking on his size. He was huge and she didn't have a lot of experience but she loved sucking his cock and making him squirm. "You're going to make me cum if you keep doing that." He moaned. She looked up, her mouth filled with him, her eyes watering, "cum", she said, and he did. He filled her mouth and throat full and she swallowed it all, eagerly lapping it up until he was completely finished.

"Fuck Pearl. What are doing to me?! I want more. I want to be inside of you." He pleaded.

She crawled on top of him and untied his arms. He threw her onto her back and pushed inside of her. "I'm going to fuck you so hard. I'm going to take you, all of you, all night." And he pounded into her. She could feel him deep inside, and she raised her legs onto his shoulders so he could be even deeper. "That's my girl" he moaned. "You're so wet. You're like an ocean for me."

"Only for you. For the rest of my life." She moaned. She felt her climax coming and she didn't hold back. She let it wash over her and the intensity of it almost made her faint. He slowed to let her finish and then he started thrusting into her again, harder and harder. Just when she thought she might have to tell him to have mercy, he cried out, "I'm going to cum. I'm going to fill you up...Feel me. Feel me cum inside of you. Feel what you do to me." And she felt him erupt into her, warm and erotic, his eyes wild. He continued to trust his seed deeper and deeper, until he collapsed onto her, gasping for air.

When they finally caught their breath, Pearl looked at Rhys and said, "I never thought it was possible. I never thought I'd find you. Or that you'd find me." "I'm so glad I did." Rhys said and kissed her forehead.

They spent the night in the library, naked, laughing and talking, reading to each other and making love again before he fell asleep in her arms. She looked around her library and at this beautiful man, lying fast asleep on her bosom. She felt like she held the entire world in her arms and she would never let anything come between them. It was just past midnight and already the best Christmas of her life.

She woke up, a little hung over and looked around, forgetting where she was. Rhys was gone and she wrapped a blanket around herself and walked to the kitchen. "Merry Christmas! I made coffee. How did you sleep?" Rhys asked, kissing her nose. He was wide awake and reading the paper. Although she adored his always happy and positive nature, some mornings she contemplated his sanity. "I slept well. Too well. Forgot where I was." She smiled. "You're home. With me." He answered.

"I'm going to take a shower." She said, taking her coffee with her. "Well don't take too long, we have presents to unwrap and I have a surprise for you tonight." He said, not taking his eyes off the paper.

She took a shower and dried off and came out to see he had laid out a hideous looking Christmas sweater on the bed for her. It had the words "His Elf" embroidered on it.

"Are you serious?" She asked, walking into the kitchen, wearing the fucking thing. She then saw he too, was wearing a hideous sweater. His was equally horrifying and had the words "I like to touch My Elf." Embroidered on it.

She burst into laughter. They both did. They laughed until they were cackling in the kitchen and she almost peed her pants. "I'm not wearing this all day." She said, after she got her shit together. "Oh yes you are. We are having an ugly sweater party tonight and I invited your band. I even got stuff for beer pong." He said, looking very proud.

"Good. God." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Now let's open presents." He said, picking her up and carrying her into the living room.

She saw three gifts under the tree. One was her gift to him and two from him to her.

"Open it." He said. It was a small box that rattled a lot when she shook it. She opened it to find a set of keys. They weren't car keys, they looked like house keys. "What are these for?" She asked. "You'll have to open the second gift to find out." He said, handing it to her. She opened the box and found a manila envelope inside. Pulling out the paperwork, found a typed letter.

"Merry Christmas to you both. I can't tell you how much of a gift it is to have Rhys offer me the opportunity to have a second chance at life. My wife and I were barely squeaking by, drowning in medical debt because of her illness, when he came into my shop, like an angel, to save us. I can retire now and take care of my wife full time. Thank you both, from the bottom of our hearts. It's a Christmas miracle! And thank you Rhys, for letting me stay on and work Saturday's in the shop, so I don't have to let it go entirely. Love to you both, Frank."

She looked up at Rhys. He looked so excited. She looked back down and saw the deed to the bookshop, in her name.

"I heard about his wife around Thanksgiving. I went in to offer to help him, because that place was special to me. To us. And we talked for a long time. He had to put it up for sale, he couldn't run it anymore. I offered to just help him financially but he insisted he wouldn't do that. So I gave him double what he was asking for it. It's yours. Ours. We will always have our little bookshop now. Merry Christmas, Pearl." She collapsed into him, hugging him. He was such a generous, loving, and thoughtful man. How was he real? "Thank you. This is...what you did for him....this is incredible. I can't believe it."

"Maybe Iris can help us with it, too." He said. She hugged him again and kissed him.

"Ok. Your turn." She said, handing him her box, wiping tears away from her eyes. He smiled a big smile and ripped it open. He looked puzzled when he saw an envelope inside. He looked at her and back down and opened it. Inside was a card.

"Save the Date

Pearl and Holden

June 15

3 pm

The Mountain Haven Luxury Resort

Poconos,

Sky Top, PA"

His face lit up and he smiled, picking her up hugging her. "Is this for real? You set a date? What is this place?" He was giddy and could barely express one thought at a time.

"Yes! It's real. Iris helped me. It's a mansion lodge in the Poconos on 5,000 acres. We rented the entire lodge for that weekend, all to ourselves and our family and friends. They had to make some adjustments but they made it happen. I used my advance to pay for it. You and I can figure out all the details but I wanted to have something, in stone, to give you today. We can go visit it at any time and if you don't like it, we can do it somewhere else. I wanted it to be close for all of our family and friends." He was elated. She could see that she had chosen the best present for him.

"I cannot wait! I'm so glad you did this. That you're ready for this. Wow! I want to get on tv and jump on a couch like Tom Cruise!" He hugged her again.

"I love you so much Pearl."

"I love you, too. Poo Poo face." She said.

"Now let's get our celebration on!" He picked her up over his shoulder and carried her into the bedroom.