So I thought we got a little gypped on the wedding night action….warning there is a little r-rated stuff here so if you don't like reading that, sorry this isn't for you!
The bright burning lights from dozens of sparklers fade behind them in the rear view as they drive away from the reception, leaving their friends and family behind to finish off the party.
Deacon catches Rayna's eyes watching the mirror as they drive off into the darkness. "You sad it's over?" he says lightly. "We could have stayed a little longer if you wanted."
"Nah," she smiles, and leans her head against his shoulder with a happy sigh. "The day just went by so fast. I'm glad to have some time to ourselves finally."
"Me too, darlin. A little celebration of our own."
"I don't want a honeymoon," she had told himweeks earlier when he asked. "There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than at the cabin in your arms." He would have taken her anywhere, but truthfully, he was glad she'd chosen the cabin.
It's a quiet drive up. There is a tired feeling of contentment between them as soft country music plays on the radio, and no words are really necessary. Rayna closes her eyes, the soft smile lingering across her lips as she silently reflects on the events of the day.
Sure, the day has shown its share of tense moments, what with the chaos of the paparazzi and the location change and all, but in the end none of it had mattered when she got to the end of that aisle and saw Deacon standing there. That very instant, seeing the look on his face, had made every second of what came before worth it. They'd fought for this moment every step of the way. And now it was theirs, etched in time as pure and sacred perfection.
He's my husband Rayna thinks, and silent laughter bubbles up inside her, stirring the butterflies in her stomach as she sneaks a peek up at him. He's got a little half-smile on his face that she bets probably matches hers as he drives with one hand on the wheel and the other in her lap, his thumb lightly tracing the rings on her left hand over and over again. She's wanted to marry this man since she was sixteen years old, since he came into her life with a beat up guitar and a song that melted her heart, and showed her what it truly meant to live. He had her then and he has her now.
It isn't too long before they pull off the dirt road and park in the clearing. Neither makes an immediate motion to get out, they just sit quietly for a few minutes, staring out at the reflection of the moonlight off the water. To Deacon's left, the shadow of the cabin rises up, waiting for them patiently.
Sure, they could have went anywhere in the world. But this place means more. They've loved here, and cried here, broke each other's hearts here, fallen back together here over and over again. This is always the place they come back to.
She's my wife, he thinks to himself, and even in silence it sends a tiny thrill through every fiber of his being as he steals a quick kiss before climbing out.
Rayna waits patiently as he comes around to her side of the truck and opens the door, sits there on the edge of the seat for a minute, wearing that same little smile as he leans forward between her knees and presses a lingering kiss to her mouth.
"Did that really happen?" she murmurs.
"It sure did," Deacon says between kisses as her fingers wind into the hair at the nape of his neck and his hands span her hips to pull her against him.
They can't get enough of each other lately. Ever since the surgery, since coming so near to losing it all once again, unexpectedly losing Beverly, dealing with the grief and guilt that came with that, they don't take a single day for granted. She wants him close, misses him by the end of an hour they spend apart. He wants her closer.
"How come you never gave up on waiting for me?" Rayna whispers, her voice wavering slightly. "Through Teddy. And then Luke…"
For a moment there's a bit of insecurity in her eyes, and for her, that's rare. He sees it, even if she doesn't let anyone else see. She's not unbreakable.
Tandy's words come back to him for a second. If you ever hurt her again, I will come after you with the force of a hurricane. He gets it. She'd do anything for her baby sister.
"We never gave up on each other, darlin." he corrects softly.
One more long sweet kiss, and Deacon takes her by the hands and pulls her out of the truck.
They run up the back porch, laughing against the cool night air and the darkness and the moonlight and the stars above, and for a moment it feels like the first time he ever brought her here, when they were so young and so unaware what the world had in store for them.
They pause before they get to the door for one more session of kisses, staring out over the river, him standing behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her hair.
"You happy?"
"Yeah, I'm happy."
"Wanna go canoeing?" Deacon teases next to her ear. She laughs. He turns away, flips on the porch light and pulls open the sliding door, but stops her before she goes inside the cabin and swings her up sideways in his arms.
"Deacon! What are you doing?"
"Ray, I always said I was gonna carry you over the threshold of this cabin, now just let me do it. I've been waitin' a long time for this," he says firmly.
God, I love this man, she marvels silently as Deacon does just that. They land on the couch a few minutes later, her across his lap, already dropping her coat to the floor, anxious for the wedding night bliss she's been waiting on all day.
"I didn't know what to get you for a wedding present," he admits. "I'm not real good at that stuff, and Tandy and the girls were making all kind of crazy suggestions, and…nothing seemed right."
"We said we weren't going to do that, babe." Rayna reminds as she watches him gently push her feet aside for a minute and stand up. He disappears down the hall and comes back a few minutes later well a well-worn Gibson.
"I know," he says as he resettles next to her with the guitar across his lap, "but I thought at least a song might do. Not like we don't have a thousand of those, but…"
"I'd take a thousand more."
As he starts to play, she wonders how it's possible to fall in love with someone all over again with every note, every word. This is a different kind of song. One she know is on that little list they have of songs that no one else will ever hear. Songs that only two people who have shared a lifetime of love and pain can understand.
I've been weak more times than I've been tough
I've been up and down and out and out of luck
The only give I ever gave was given up
But I've had enough
I've been loved a whole lot more than I deserve
Through the thick and thin and bridges that I burned
Still those blessings seem to find me through the curse
This time I've learned
So from hear on out I'm turnin around
Parting ways with the man I used to be
And I'm making you a promise, gonna make it count
From here on out
You gave your best when I was at my worst
You took the wheel through every twist and turn
You were singin by my side
Every time that I forgot the words
By the end of the second verse, tears are rolling down her face, and the sweet wonderful ache in her heart is almost more than she can take. Without another thought, she leans forward mid-chorus and interrupts him with a kiss.
"Don't you wanna hear the third verse?" He gives her a crooked grin as he reaches up with his thumb to wipe a stray tear from her cheek.
"Later," she smiles against his mouth, and takes the guitar from his hands to set it aside, then settles across his lap again, her knees on both sides of his hips, pulling him in by the lapels on his flannel shirt. "It's time for your present now."
"Baby, there isn't one thing on this earth you could give me that I don't already have right here and now," he says as he stares up at her with teasing eyes. "Mrs. Claybourne."
She gets a thrill from the sound of that, even though she knows she'll never be able to legally change it. It's another thing that will be for moments like this, when it's just the two of them, making love in the darkness, kissing good morning in the sunlight.
"Good," she says with a soft laugh as she melts against him and their bodies instantly react to each other's contact. She closes her eyes and leans her forehead against his, already feeling the heat coming alive between them, her blood turning to fire in her veins. "Then make love to me as your wife."
That is one request Deacon doesn't have to be told twice as their clothes quickly hit the floor and they roll back onto the tiny sofa. We need a bigger couch in here, he thinks briefly. But this one has a damn lot of history to it.
"You know there's a big ole bed in the other room," he murmurs as he kisses his way across her neck and down to her breasts, scraping his teeth gently across her nipples, satisfied as she can't hold back a soft sound of pleasure.
"I know," she says, sucking in a breath as his tongue finds its way lower to trace a path in a circle around her belly button. "We'll get to that later. Slow, okay? I just…want to make it last."
"Sure, baby. Whatever you want."
A little while later, "slow" has Rayna coming completely undone, digging her nails into his shoulders, begging for release as he kisses his way back up to her mouth, and she squirms underneath him. He's rock-hard against her thigh, and she is impatient and so on the verge of completely going over the edge that she's seeing stars behind her eyelids.
"That slow enough for ya?" He teases next to her ear.
She raises one eyebrow and reaches between them to stroke the length of him, and this time he is the one raking in a breath. "Not so funny now, is it?"
In response, he brushes her hand away and presses his thighs against hers and pushes deep inside her. She cries out his name in a way that is such a turn-on, he almost loses it right there. They fall into a hard and fast rhythm, anything remotely slow forgotten, and come together in a moment of pure love more powerful and deeper than Rayna thought was ever humanly possible. She can feel their hearts beat the same, feel the blood tangle in their veins, like they have melted and burned into one and the same soul. She can feel his thoughts, his dreams, his love for her all in that moment, because hers are the same.
He holds her afterwards, still joined together while breathing slows and heartbeats return to normal pace, and her head is laid across his chest. There's tears in her eyes, and a couple in his too, because it is different now. The emotional reality is finally hitting home. They've been waiting 27 years to lay in each other's arms as husband and wife.
"Come on," he says awhile later as he sees her eyes start to close. "Big bed, remember?"
With a sleepy smile, Rayna reluctantly rises to her feet and wraps the blanket around herself, then she takes his hand to follow him down the hall to the bedroom.
"Much nicer," she murmurs as they fall onto the cool flannel sheets together. She snuggles in closer as he wraps an arm around her waist and draws her against him. "Babe, will you sing me that third verse now?"
The laughter rumbles in his chest against her cheek, and she smiles in the darkness.
"Right now?"
"Yep. I can't think of a better way to fall asleep on our wedding night than that."
He starts to sing softly in that deep voice that has known exactly how to find its way into her heart since the first time she ever heard it.
I thank god that I'm with you here tonight
Cuz that's all I ever needed in this life
We done love wrong so many times
I think it's time we do love right….
"I love you," she whispers, as her eyes drift close.
"Love you too," he presses a kiss to her forehead.
This is the first night of the rest of their lives.
And this time, nothing in the world can stop them from doing love right.