The Red Sea Diving Resort Lovers

Chapter 3

That night, Ari and I were laying in bed, his fingers trailing up and down my back, my head planted firmly of his chest, the steady beat of his heart being my sole focus. "What's wrong cupcake?" Ari asked, stalling his movement's, his right hand tilting my head up to look at him. "We've lost 20 Ari, I'm just sad, I should've never walked away." I whispered, placing my hand on his stomach, his blue eyes soft while he leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. "Come here." He whispered, lifting me up so I was sprawled across his chest, my head buried in the crook of his neck, his hands locking on the small of my back to keep me close to him. "You left because you thought you needed to, it wouldn't of mattered if you stayed, they were going to pull the mission anyway, I was mad, but I understand." Ari spoke gently, my eyes closing against the warmth of his skin, a deep sigh leaving my lips. "That's not why I left." I whispered, feeling his motions pause against my back, before slowly continuing. "What do you mean?"

"I left, because I thought it would be easier, it would give you the opportunity to be with your family again, your daughter, if I left, I couldn't be hurt. No one could because there would be no more mission." I whispered, feeling Ari's lips on the top of my head before he leaned his back on the pillow, his knuckle grazing my cheekbone softly. "Cupcake," He sighed, his right hand reaching out for mine, locking our fingers together, "Brittney and I divorced for a reason, I love Maya with everything in me, and I love you right up there with her. You've got to stay out of your head about that." Ari reassured, a smile crawling over my lips as he spoke. "Have I ever told you how much I love you Ari?" I whispered, leaning up to press a soft kiss to his lips, his hands holding my sides gently as our lips molded perfectly together, fireworks erupting between the two of us. "I love you too cupcake." He whispered, pulling back slowly to press his forehead against mine. "You ready to return as Guy Thomas' wife he teased, pulling the fake rings off the nightstand to our left. "Always." I smiled, pressing my lips to his one more time before he slid the ring on my finger and shut the light off, both of us falling asleep quickly.

The next morning, Ari awoke first, his body rolling over to face mine and his right hand coming up to cup my cheek. Soft thumb strokes across my cheekbone caused my eyes to flutter open, a smile on my lips as I saw Ari in front of me. "Morning Cupcake." He whispered, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to my lips, my stomach erupting in butterflies at his gentle touch. "It's time to get ready for the meeting honey." Ari whispered as he pulled away. "I know, I just wanna stay here forever." I smiled, pressing my palms to the mattress and pulling myself up. "I know cupcake, I know. After the meeting I figured we could go pick up Maya from school, take her for ice cream before we leave?" Ari asked, moving so his feet were hovering over the floor. "Sounds like a plan bub." I smiled, seeing his smile grow wider as I hopped off the bed, going to the bag in the corner of the room to pull out some clothes. I opted for a pair of black jeans and a white tshirt, my necklace that Ari gave me years ago after our first mission on display resting on the center of my chest, my fingers tracing the cool metal bringing back the day that he placed it on my chest.

Flashback

My flesh was cool, shimmering with a layer of the river water resting on top of it, leaning against a rock as we all caught our breath with the cover of night hiding the group from the Ethiopians who were hunting us. "How you feeling cupcake?" Ari asked, sitting down next to me and placing an arm around my shoulders, both of us gazing out at the group of people we were rescuing. I leaned my head against his shoulder, letting out a deep breath. The current had pulled me under again, for the 5th time this month, each time it was getting scarier to cross, Ari was having to coax me each time we reached the shore. "I'm alright, tired, a little beat up, injured my arm pretty well." I shrugged looking up at him as he smiled, closing the gap between us and sharing our first kiss. "I'm proud of you though, here." He whispered as he pulled away, pulling out a small necklace made out of stone and twine. "I made it one day when we were waiting. I was just waiting for the right time to give it to you." Ari explained, moving me between his legs as he tied the necklace around me. "Cupcake, would you be my girlfriend? I'm tired of this what are we situation." He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Of course Ari." I smiled, settling back into his chest.