Free to Love

Chapter 67

Joanna

"What are you thinking about, Mrs. Mendes?" my husband asked as he stood in front of my beachside lounge chair toweling off his hair and dripping all over my feet.

"Well, I was thinking about our wedding and how perfect it was. Then I watched you get out of the water. When you turned around to get your towel, I noticed how your swim trunks were clinging quite nicely to that amazing ass. That made me wonder if it was time to go back to our hut for a nap."

"A nap? You tired, baby?"

"I was being polite. I'm not tired at all, but I really want to go to bed," I said with a mischievous smile.

We'd been in Bora Bora for three days. It had taken 20 hours to get here, though it wasn't such a miserable trip since we were in first class. Shawn had rented one of those private huts that sits over the water. The floor had glass windows built into it, so you could see the azure blue ocean when you looked down. Our hut was set far apart from the others, so it felt like we were all alone. We'd walk along a dock-like footbridge from our hut to the sandy white beach where we had our own cushioned lounge chairs. The beachfront bar was a short distance away, and Shawn made the walk often to get us tropical drinks made with fresh fruit. The resort that owned the hut was close by, so we'd walk there for dinner each night. We had brunch delivered to our room mid-morning.

It was insanely luxurious and indulgent, and I was loving every minute of it. I'd managed to let go of any concerns about the expense. Maybe that was easier to do now that we were married.

Married. I was married to Shawn Mendes. How had I gotten so lucky to meet and fall in love with such an amazing person? And he loved me, too. I had no doubts about that.

Later, we were sprawled out naked on the crisp white sheets of our bed, listening to the sound of the water lapping at the posts that held up our hut.

"I'm so happy right now," Shawn said, his voice slightly rough.

"Mmhmm. Me, too. Everything has been so wonderful."

"I told you the wedding would be perfect, didn't I?" he asked.

"You did. And you were right. It could not have been lovelier."

Our wedding day had been incredible. From the church service to the reception, everything had gone smoothly, and the entire event had been joyous. I'd worried for nothing.

"What if we made a baby that night? Or maybe right after we got here?" Shawn asked.

He was so eager for me to get pregnant. I wanted it, too. Desperately. I hoped it happened immediately for his sake.

"We'll find out in a few weeks," I said. "The wedding timing was lined up nicely with when I was supposed to ovulate, so you never know."

"And it was okay for you to drink the first few days we were here?"

"Everything I read said that until implantation, it's no big deal. Now that we could be in that window, just keep getting me the alcohol-free drinks."

"You don't mind?"

His hand was lazily caressing my back. His touch was so relaxing. I let out a sigh of contentment.

"I don't need booze," I told him. "Being alone with you in this location is enough. It's intoxicating."

"I should write a song about that," he said.

"I'm sure no one has ever expressed that sentiment in music before," I said teasingly.

"Oh right. There have been quite a few songs about being drunk on love. Maybe I can give it a different spin."

"I have total confidence that if you were to write it, it would be the best of that type of song. You are so talented."

"You have to say that. You're my wife."

"Naw. I'd tell you if something you wrote sucked," I joked. As if anything he wrote could be bad.

"Ouch."

"Can you sing me our song?" I asked. "I'm feeling sleepy and I want to hear it as I drift off."

Shawn proceeded to sing the song he'd written for our wedding. He'd surprised me by performing it during the reception. It was a beautiful love song full of references to our lives. I'd cried, of course. Someone had recorded it and posted it on YouTube, with our permission. I'd watched it several times already. At the end of the performance, Shawn had wiped the tears from his eyes before pulling me into his arms. Each time I watched that, I fell in love with my husband a little more.

"I love you," I murmured as I let my eyes close once he'd finished the song.

When I woke up several hours later, the sun was setting. Shawn was sitting on the couch looking at his phone.

"Sorry I slept so long," I said as I sat up in bed and stretched. "The four S's have been wearing me out."

Shawn looked up from his phone screen. "Four S's?"

"Sun, sand, sea, and sex."

He chuckled. "All wonderful things. Hey, I got an email from Jean. She sent pics of the kids. They're having a great time."

With a six hour time difference, it wasn't easy to connect with the children whenever we wanted. We tried to chat briefly once a day, but mostly we were kept abreast of their lives via emails from Parker and Jean.

"Show me," I said as I climbed out of bed. I grabbed Shawn's shirt off the ground and threw it on.

I sat down next to him and he showed me the pictures of Gracie and Nolan sitting on Parker's lap 'driving' his tractor.

"I bet they don't miss us much at all," I said as I saw their big smiles.

"I miss them, though," Shawn said wistfully.

"I do, too. This is our honeymoon, and we're trying to make a baby, so I get that we needed to be alone. From here on out, let's take family vacations. Okay?"

My handsome husband leaned over and gave me a kiss. "This is why I love you so much."

That night we had a late dinner at the resort. After eating some delicious Polynesian food, we went over to the nightclub. The previous nights we were still too tired from jet lag coupled with late nights of sex. Finally, we had some energy.

Shawn and I both sipped non-alcoholic pineapple drinks while sitting in a quiet corner of the club. As the evening wore on, I got more and more tempted to hit the dance floor. The DJ was playing some insane remixes.

"Come dance with me," I begged.

"We'll get spotted. Do you want pics from our honeymoon all over the internet?" he asked.

"As long as they aren't pics of us naked in our hut, I don't care. I'm feeling this dance music. You danced at our wedding, so I know you can do it."

"Only for you," he said as he stood up, taking my hand in his.

A couple hours later, we were both drenched in sweat, but I couldn't get Shawn off the dance floor. He was having way too much fun, partly because he'd decided to switch to the rum-filled version of his drink. Once he was spotted by resort guests who recognized him, people were offering to buy us congratulatory drinks left and right. He took quite a few people up on their generosity.

The club closed and we walked back to our hut, the sand feeling soft between our toes as we carried our shoes.

"I can't believe the DJ played one of Mark's remixes. That was pretty cool," he said, slurring his words slightly.

"I love that you're not shy about singing and dancing to your own music," I said.

Sure enough, pictures surfaced online. Shawn and I looked adorably happy. We didn't mind the world seeing that at all.