The first rays of the early sunrise filter in through the curtains of the window and onto your face as your eyes flutter open, slowly waking you up.

It’s the first thing you notice, the morning light. But once you register the weight of a strong arm banded across your abdomen and an equally strong body pressing against your back, memories flood through your brain. A big grin creeps across your face as you remember the day before.

Married.

You’re officially married to the love of your life, your best friend, your own hunky crane boy.

Mrs. Rennell. You’d proudly sport a name tag of your new title every day if you could.

The wedding had been perfect. Both of your friends and family were able to attend, and while you and Gary were crushed that his nan couldn’t make it, her phone call during the ceremony had been one of your personal highlights of the whole day. The smile on your face grows wider as you remember it now.

The venue, the doves, the memory box, celebrating with your loved ones— you couldn’t have asked for a more special wedding. But in all honestly, you didn’t really need a whole spectacle. All that mattered was that you and Gary were together, leaving hand-in-hand as husband and wife. A small part of you wouldn’t have even minded eloping, but once Chelsea had volunteered to plan the wedding, you knew there was no way you were denying her.

Even if you and Gary were dead on your feet by the time the festivities ended, the fun hadn’t ended there. Your face flushes as you recall what you had done to each other last night. Gary did indeed make good on his vow to try new things, but you never doubted he would deliver. And deliver. And deliver. You lost count how many times, really.

A slight shuffle from behind you brings you out of your thoughts as the man in question stirs from his sleep. Gary sighs, and you melt back into his embrace. He holds you even tighter to him as he buries his face in your hair and curls his naked body around yours. You faintly remember being the big spoon as you both finally settled down last night, but like always, you’ve ended up switching positions.

“Morning, love,” he murmurs. His voice is gravelly from sleep, and it sends a shiver down your spine.

“Good morning,” you whisper back. “Sleep well?”

“After the night we had?” He snorts. “I reckon I slept like the dead. You wore me out, woman.”

“It was our wedding day. I had no choice but to pull out all the stops. Wasn’t like you were holding back either, babe.”

“Do I ever?” His thumb absentmindedly rubs back and forth on your skin. “Besides, I couldn’t help myself. You were a proper vision in that dress, Mrs. Rennell.”

Your heart clenches. It sounds so much better coming from him. “I do like looking good for you, Mr. Rennell.”

“You always do.” Gary brushes some of your hair aside and kisses your bare shoulder. “I love that about you. It’s part of what made me step forward that first day in the villa. Felt like so long ago now, but at the same time not really, you know?”

You hum in agreement. “And now we’re married.”

He sighs deeply, contentedly, as if those few simple words had given him all the peace in the world.

“We’re married,” he whispers. “I can’t believe it.”

“Me neither. After you locked yourself in that dovecote, I wasn’t sure we were ever walking down the aisle.”

“Oi!” He pinches you lightly even as he laughs. “You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

“No, probably not,” you chuckle.

“Maybe I’ll stick you in a dovecote, see how you like it.”

You twist your head around to playfully narrow your eyes. “Threatening me already, babe? Wait until your nan hears about this.”

You're joking, obviously, but he still pales a little. “She’d castrate me,” he mutters.

“Not if I beat her to it.”

Gary laughs and hugs you tighter. “I don’t doubt it, love. But I know you can’t stay mad at me for long.”

“And how do you know that?”

He drops his forehead onto your back as his hand caresses your hip. He breathes, “Because I always know how to make it up to you.”

Your breath hitches as his thumb rubs slow circles on your skin. Gary drops another kiss on your shoulder, then his lips graze up towards your neck, your jawline, and lastly your earlobe. With slow, deliberate movements, his palm traces the dip of your waist and around your torso to lightly cup your breast. Your exhale is shaky as your body reacts to his familiar touch.

“Not too sore from last night, are you, Mrs. Rennell?” Gary whispers in your ear.

You’ve barely shaken your head before he leans up and over you to capture your lips in a passionate kiss. Your arm reaches above you and hooks around his neck, bringing him closer. He rips the blankets off and blindly tosses them away so he can have his way with you. His morning wood presses against your inner thigh, and you waste no time grasping it, giving it a squeeze.

Gary moans. His mouth leaves yours to drop to the crook of your neck, and he sucks at your skin hard enough to leave you whimpering. Your hand grips his cock tighter as you stroke up and down. He breathes heavily into your neck, enjoying the pleasure you’re bringing him, then his own hand slides down between your legs.

You shudder as the pads of his fingers trace your slit. Your hand on his length falters for a second and your teeth sink into your bottom lip when Gary starts circling your clit with just the right amount of pressure and speed. You love how well he knows you, knows your body and its needs and every peak and valley of your curves, and your legs spread wider as you trust him to take care of you like he always has.

Your arousal soaks his hand, then with a gentleness that makes you sigh, Gary pushes a finger into you. His other arm snakes underneath your torso to cup your breast, tweaking and pulling your nipple between his thumb and forefinger. You pant hotly, intoxicated by his touch, but your panting turns into a strangled moan when he adds a second finger. His thick digits easily slip in and out of your wetness, and when he curls them inside you, your vision goes blurry for a moment.

You try your best to keep stroking him too, but as his movements quicken, your muscles go rigid in anticipation. It doesn’t take long for him to finally bring you over the edge, and you come with a low moan of Gary’s name.

You focus on that singular, rippling sensation between your thighs. Gary gives you no reprieve as he continues stroking you, prolonging your release and nearly making your limbs tremble. When it finally subsides, he removes his fingers, and you slump back to bask in his embrace.

Even as you’re coming down from your high, heat flares in your core again when Gary lifts his two fingers in his mouth, and he sucks before releasing them with a moan.

His face buries into your neck. “So lovely,” he purrs while he rolls his hips into you. “Always so lovely for me.”

“Gary,” you sigh.

He extracts your hand that has still managed to loosely encircle his cock, and he gently pushes you down, telling you he wants you on your stomach. Your body is alight with fire as Gary positions himself behind you and kisses and licks up your spine, brushing your hair away so he can touch every inch of your back. His cock brushes your thigh, and you lift your hips a little so you can buck into him. A low laugh rumbles from his chest at your eagerness. Gary straddles your legs, his strong thighs framing yours, and drags the head of his cock along your dripping slit.

“Please,” you gasp. “Gary —”

He makes a satisfied noise. “Don’t reckon I’ll ever get tired of hearing that.”

He grasps your hips and pulls up, forcing you to your knees. Reflexively, you arch your back as much as you can for him. You rest your cheek on the bed and look back at Gary, whose smoldering gaze is raking down your body and lingering on your backside.

Finally, it lands on your face. Beneath the raw hunger that darkens his hooded eyes, you recognize a warmth so sincere and candid and so utterly Gary that your chest tightens at the sight.

You really love this man.

“Ready?” he murmurs. His hand smooths over your bare skin while the other firmly strokes himself.

You nod, and he nods back. His jaw clenches as he eases his head into you, and your mouth falls open, already feeling stretched out. The only sounds in the room are the light panting of his breath and the pounding of your heart thundering in your ears as Gary sinks further inside.

Once he's fully sheathed, his pelvis flush with your rear, he groans and tilts his head back. You let out a small sigh of your own. You two did this just last night, but it always seems to feel like the first time.

Gary takes a moment to simply bask in the intimacy. His throat bobs as he swallows, his eyes flutter shut.

Then like a switch turning on, he drops his head back down and roughly squeezes the flesh of your cheeks with both hands. He pulls out to the tip and slams right back in, so hard you jerk forward on the bed.

Your gasp is sharp enough that it hurts your lungs, but the brutal pace he suddenly sets has you grasping the sheets in pleasure.

“Fuck,” Gary growls. “You feel so good, love.”

You whimper, too blissed out to properly form words.

With rough strokes, Gary drives deep into you, and you surrender to him by tilting your hips up, arching your back, moaning about how good he feels too. His big hands grip everything he can touch, though they never stray far from your ass. Your skin is probably red from all the squeezing and kneading he’s been doing, and when he slaps it, you mewl, knowing a mark will probably form there.

Everything Gary is doing is reducing you to a heady, panting mess, more of your wetness coating his length and a light sheen of sweat covering your body. Gary feels your arousal intensify, and he hisses a curse. He manages to maintain his punishing pace as his knees shift a bit, but impossibly, the slight change in angle makes him hit even deeper inside you.

Caught off-guard, you tense up, the coil inside you wounding tighter.

“Oh god, yes,” you moan as your eyes screw shut. “Gary, I’m — Gary —”

You cut yourself off with a cry as the coil suddenly unravels all at once. Your body writhes and squirms while you come again, a tidal wave of euphoria cresting over you, but even through the haziness, Gary’s soothing palms safely grip your hips to keep you grounded. His thrusts come to a halt as he helps you ride out your climax, your walls fluttering around him.

He exhales in satisfaction. “Still breathing down there?” he teases.

You huff out a weak laugh. “I think so. Why don’t you come over and check?”

He bends over and brings his broad chest flush against your back while he braces himself up on his elbows, and you shiver when you feel his cock shifting inside you. His chin rests on your shoulder blade as he flits his eyes around your crimson skin. He smiles.

“Stunning,” he murmurs. “Just as I expected, even if your face is as red as a tomato.”

You let out a short laugh, then in retaliation, you clench your inner muscles around him. His moan is strangled, and the way his jaw goes slack makes you smirk.

“Oh, you’re a cheeky little thing,” he breathes.

Without warning, Gary abruptly pulls out and flips you on your back, then he leans over you to grab both of your wrists and restrain them above your head in one of his large hands. You barely have time to open your mouth before he buries himself back into you, plunging in and out of your slick heat.

You cry out as your head digs into the mattress. “Oh fuck! God, yes —”

Incoherent words sputter out of your lips as Gary ravages you. You plant your feet on the bed to try to buck your hips in time with his, but he’s too much for you, his thrusts so relentless that you’re starting to feel lightheaded at the inevitability of a third climax.

With the hand that’s not holding your wrists, Gary grips your thigh and wraps your leg around his waist. The new position has his cock brushing against your clit with every stroke. You sob, mind-numbing ecstasy electrifying through you.

“Please,” you choke out, your eyes rolling back. “I’m so close, please —”

“Fu-uck, oh fuck,” you hear him gasp. He hikes your leg higher on his waist. “Come on, love. One more. I want one more.”

Your back lifts entirely off the bed in near agony, your restrained hands desperate to find purchase on anything. Mercifully, Gary releases your wrists to hold himself up by his forearm close to the side of your head. You scramble to dig your nails into his shoulders.

He growls your name, the huskiness of his voice making you tremble, and you lock eyes with his. The ocean blue of his irises is barely visible, his pupils fully blown out. He’s looking at you like he wants to devour you whole, and it’s almost too much for you to handle.

You feel every nerve within you building up to that familiar crest. You’re struck frozen, fire pooling in your abdomen, static ringing in your ears, your breath torn from your lungs —

One last powerful thrust of his hips, and you plummet over the edge a third time.

Your brain short-circuits as time stops and your world narrows down to just this, wave upon wave of violent pleasure. A long moan rips out of you and lava boils through your veins while you tremble and thrash on the sheets, but Gary’s firm grip on your leg lets him keep pounding into you. It borders on pain, the overload of sensations you’re experiencing. You can’t decide if you want it to stop or have it go on forever, can’t decide whether you want to pull Gary closer or push him away.

Your eyes regain focus and your toes uncurl as you come down from your high, and you float back to reality in a daze. Exhaustion overwhelms you, but you still muster whatever energy you have to spread your legs as wide as you can for Gary.

He clutches you like a lifeline as he chases his own release with frantic movements and loud grunts. In a mixture of fascination and adoration, you watch his brows knit together, his nostrils flare, his lips form your name. His darkened eyes blaze into yours as if he can’t bear to look away from you for even a second.

His features suddenly tighten, and you know he’s about to come. In encouragement, you lift your hands up to thread your fingers through his hair. You tug lightly, and Gary finally lets go.

He tenses, his groan is guttural as he releases inside you. The hot spurts of his cum and the pulsating of his cock make you hum in contentment. He continues thrusting jerkily, and between your legs, you feel a slight tremble in his thighs. Gary struggles to keep his eyes open, but he does, never wavering from yours.

It’s only when his hips gradually still that he breaks eye contact, and he slumps on top of you, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck.

“I love you,” he murmurs hoarsely.

With a soft smile, you return the sentiment and wrap your arms around his neck as you both catch your breath, reveling in bliss.

The two of you lay there in a sweaty mess of limbs until Gary’s weight becomes overbearing. You pat his arm, and he stirs, lifting his head to squint blearily at you.

“You’re crushing me, mate,” you chuckle.

“Oh.” He laughs too as he carefully pulls out of you and shifts over to the side to lay on his stomach. “Sorry, love.”

His head rolls over to face you, and he reaches up to tuck your hair behind your cheek. You grab his wrist before he pulls away to keep it cupped around your face, then you press a kiss on his palm. He smiles adoringly, stroking your skin with his thumb.

“Alright?” he asks. Concern flashes in his expression as he briefly looks down at your body. “Wasn’t too rough, was I?”

“Never. I think you could’ve been even rougher.”

His lips curve up in a small, devilish smirk. “We’ll see how you’re feeling later tonight, then.”

You merely huff a light chuckle in response.

“Not bad for our first morning as husband and wife, yeah?” he muses.

“Not at all,” you whisper, your lips spreading into a giddy smile. “But I have a feeling a lot of our mornings are going to start out like this anyway.”

You and Gary stay in bed for a bit chatting aimlessly before you take a quick bath together to clean yourselves off. The minute the soap suds are washed down the drain and you towel yourselves dry, Gary carries you back to bed, burrowing under the covers. He cuddles you close, your head on his firm chest as it rises and falls with his slow, rhythmic breathing.

He speaks quietly while playing with your hair, and your heavy eyelids start drooping. It doesn’t take long for you to drift off, safe and secure in your husband’s arms.