In this moment Lauren was just a person, and Normani was simply a woman. Despite the things that manipulated the space around them, God had designed them to be in this exact place at this exact time, doing exactly this. woman and woman shit. Wife and wife shit.
"We're married," Normani thought, a mixture of terror and absolute joy bubbling inside her.
They were attracted to each other at the most basic of levels. Their nature calling them toward a common ground as they stood in front of one another. This was love in its most simplistic form.
They hadn't felt this way in quite some time. Life had a way of reducing love ... of burying it beneath mistakes, resentment, regret, and imperfection.
Today, however, Normani remembered exactly what it felt like to love Lauren Jauregui. It was so pure. Her heart beat to the rhythm of the rise and fall of her chest. It was like she lived for her, like it was her breath that kept the chocolate beauty alive. Over the years they had drained one another, but with God present in their union, their love had been revitalized. Nothing had ever felt so effortless.
It was like the miracle of birth. Normani had pushed and pushed and screamed and fought and pained to deliver them to this place, this holy place, this sacred place of matrimony. It hadn't been easy. In fact, it had been hard, but they had made it, and now they stood, just staring at each other as if they were seeing each other for the first time.
Normani could see the curiosity in Lauren's eyes. As soon as she had slipped the flawless diamond ring on her finger, she had transformed. Like a caterpillar into a butterfly, Normani's metamorphosis was stunning. She was hers and she, Lauren's. Normani knew that she wanted the Cuban. Her labored breaths and torpedoed nipples screamed for her before she even touched her.
The tears in her eyes matched Normani's very own, pools of disbelief mixed with desire that threatened to spill onto their cheeks. Their love had endured so many things.
There were still chinks in their armor, wounds that still needed healing, but this night wasn't a night to work out their issues. This was their wedding night, and the way their hearts filled to capacity as candlelight flickered around them made them put every indiscretion to the side. Normani was afraid to move, afraid to speak, as if the perfection of the moment would diminish if she did anything other than just be present. This women, this queen, with her pale white skin and mysterious eyes, was hers. In a generation where black women were being deceived by counterfeits, she had found an authentic women. She was a rarity, and she was so undeserving, yet here she stood. Signed, sealed, delivered ... she had papers in her Chanel bag to prove that it was real.
As if it were an unspoken rule, Lauren didn't let words leave her lips. She reached out and grabbed the chocolate hands hand, both her hands, as they stood silently vowing to remember this precious moment. They were magnified in not only their love for one another but for God's love for them. Nothing had ever felt so good.
They were flying high in an alternate universe, and Normani never wanted to come down. She had forgotten how much she loved this women. She loved her dirty drawers. She adored the shit out of the younger girl, and when Lauren closed the space between them she waited with bated breath for their lips to connect. She was gasoline.
Lauren framed her face with her hands, cupping it fully as she tasted her soul. Every apology that had gone unspoken, she, now poured into her with this kiss. Lauren was so appreciative of her, and she felt it, not only in her growing strength that pressed against her, but in the way that she spoke to her without even speaking at all.
••••••••
Normani turned around and Lauren slowly peeled her out of her dress, enjoying the anticipation of the moment. The cool air kissed her skin, causing her to shiver as the dress fell into a heap at her feet. She planted a single kiss with her chapped lips on the back of her neck, causing her to gasp. Her every nerve ending came to life, waiting for the touch of the Cuban's skilled hands. The roughness of her fingertips as she massaged her tense shoulders turned her on. Lauren was all women. Everything about her was rough around the edges. She was abrasive, aggressive, but somehow she softened the young women.
Like da Vinci molding clay product, she had put in the years, the time, the understanding, to make a masterpiece of a women. She turned to her, and when she saw the wetness on her face, she finally allowed her own tears to fall.
Lauren's hands slid down her body, and she scooped her under her backside. Her legs wrapped around her effortlessly as he carried her to the king-size bed.
She laid Normani down, and as she hovered over the brown beauty, removing her suit jacket, the older girl smiled sheepishly. Lauren did that to her. Made her blush. She was dope that way. Lauren had no room for insecurity, however. She was her foundation, her protector, and she was about to take her time pleasing his new wife.
Normani gasped when she divided her. Her nails dug into the Cuban's muscled back as she stroked her slowly into a rhythm. Normani matched her multiplying her passion and subtracting anything from her mind that could be a distraction. They were solving the world's hardest equation. Somehow together, they had figured out the price of love, and they were buying that shit in bulk.
The friction from her fingertips as she rolled Normani's nipple and the raw grunts of pleasure that escaped Lauren as she stroked Normani made her back arch. She wrapped an arm under her body, pulling the goddess into her, as if they weren't close enough, as if they weren't connected enough. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and rolled onto the pillow beneath her head. She felt the pressure building in that secret place between her legs. Normani had been brought to orgasm many times before, but this storm that was brewing was unlike anything she had ever felt.
"Lauren," she whispered frantically.
"I know," Lauren growled, never letting up. Her hands slid from the pale back to her ass, and she pulled Lauren into her as the pace picked up. She was so strong that the entire bed rocked and the headboard banged against the wall.
She kissed her to stop herself from crying aloud as she finished. Nothing about Lauren was selfish, and she went from her lips to her breasts, to her stomach and finally ...
"Oh my God," Normani moaned as her to new wife put her mouth on just the right place to bring her to ecstasy too.
When she was spent, Lauren laid beside her and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, spooning her.
"Are we going to make it?" Normani blurted out, but she regretted the words almost as soon as they left her lips. It was the reason why they hadn't spoken. Their conversation was a direct contradiction of the fairy tale they had just experienced. Her gaze fell on the diamond broach on the floor that Trey had given her. Instantly she felt guilty for thinking of him on this night.
"I'm going to do whatever it takes to make you happy, Normani. Every moment of every day I'mma be a better women," Lauren told her fiercely. Her silence spoke volumes. "Look at me," Lauren whispered. Normani turned over, facing her.
"I promise." She nodded, and her chapped lips kissed her forehead. She nestled into her chest, wishing they could stay right there forever.
This bungalow that sat on the beach in Barbados was their safe haven. It was perfection. They were worlds away from anything that could tear them apart.
Yet she feared that everything would fall apart as soon as they returned to the real world. She prayed that she was wrong, and as she closed her eyes she tried to play back everything about that night to keep it in her memory forever.
