This chapter is still in honeymoon mode, so the M rate stands until further notice.

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The Cabin by the Lake

The cabin was so cosy and warm. Shane stretched, luxuriating in the silk sheets. She stretched her leg in the hopes of hooking Oliver with it, but she was met by a cold empty bed… he wasn't there. She opened her eyes lazily and looked around but Oliver was nowhere to be seen. "Oliver?" She called softly. If he was inside he'd have heard her. She got up and walked into the bathroom. She found the thick fluffy white bathrobe hanging on a coat hanger by a pile of equally thick fluffy towels. She wrapped herself up in it. The larger one she saw the night before was no longer there. There were also comfortable slippers by the door. She stepped in a pair of them, turned back and walked towards the front door. She opened it and stepped outside. Before she took in any surrounding beauty she looked anxiously around for her husband. He wasn't far. Oliver was sitting by the fire pit reading his Bible. Her heart squeezed tight and did a couple of summersaults when she saw him there, serene and utterly gorgeous. Her love for him swelled within her heart. He really was her husband now. Last night had not been a fantasy or a dream. Then, she allowed herself to look around. The lake was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen and the surroundings were simply stunning. What peace and quiet! They truly were very isolated. The closest cabin was about 500 yards away. There were no human sounds, just nature. She could hear the birds chirping. When was the last time she heard birds or even had time to hear them? She walked over to Oliver.

"Good morning, husband." She said and sat next to him. He put his bible down and patted his lap. She got up from her seat and sat on his lap.

"Good morning, my love. I hope you slept well." He said, kissing the top of her head as she made herself comfortable against his chest.

"Yes, I slept well for the short time we had. What time did we actually go to sleep and what time is it now?"

"I think it was about 3 or 4 am when we went to sleep and it is 9:40 now. So, no, we didn't sleep for very long." She looked up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm not complaining though." She smiled. He smiled back and looked at her with his signature smouldering stare.

"Good, because I'm afraid we're not going to have an awful lot of sleep for the next few weeks… if ever again!" She licked her lips.

"Is that so? I wonder why." She said, teasing him and raised her fingers to his lips. He kissed and nibbled on them. She ran them lovingly over his lips; he was turning her on again. She decided to focus on something else for the time being.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Yes, quite starving actually."

"Shall we go in and get room service or what do we do?"

"Yes, we should. They will deliver whatever we need."

"Well, I need a coffee, first of all."

He handed her the bible and got up, lifting her and carrying her back to the cabin. She just adored being in his arms. She opened the door; he walked through it and put her down gently. She immediately threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

"I don't think I will ever have enough of you, Oliver." He returned the intensity and said.

"Good, that makes both of us." They looked lovingly into each other's eyes, but food was a necessity too, especially in their case! They had an active day ahead of them that would require sustenance. Oliver walked to the rotary phone in the living room area and ordered breakfast with all the trimmings.

"Ok," he said, putting the phone down. "It will take 20 minutes. Would you like to take a shower first? I'll go after you." He suggested. She walked towards him, opened his bathrobe, placed a seductive kiss over his heart and said. "Twenty minutes, huh? I think we should shower together to save time and to make sure we are thoroughly clean." He laughed a throaty laugh and said. "Mrs. O'Toole, are you related to Ms. McInerney? You're both very persuasive." She laughed happily and said,

"I have more power than Ms. McInerney."

"Is that so? Ms. McInerney may not have been aware of her powers. I didn't tell her she had me wrapped around her little finger."

"Really? Well, that's too bad! Her loss, my gain! Shall we get in the shower... please?" She said, tugging impatiently at his robe. He laughed happily, picked her up again and carried her to the shower.

The shower had a rainfall square head 16' x 16' set concealed in the ceiling and a normal one on the wall. They turned on the big one.

They stepped out of their bathrobes and walked together under the soft stream of warm water. They immediately grabbed each other, found each other's mouths and started kissing passionately. Oliver grabbed the bar of soap and started washing his wife, lathering her all over. His hands, slippery and soft, went over every inch of her body. He was very thorough! When he finished, it was Shane's turn to pay meticulous attention to her husband's ablutions. Oh how she enjoyed "washing" every inch of his body! About an hour later they walked out of the bathroom "thoroughly clean". The food, sitting on the table, was cold, but they couldn't care less. They sat and ate everything down to the last crumb. While they had been in the shower, room service had also straightened up the room and made the bed. It was all beautiful and ready for them to mess it up all over again.

They dressed in comfortable clothes and walking shoes and went for a short walk around the lake. It was so beautiful and totally breathtaking. The walk itself was only about 45 minutes using a reasonable pace, but they took about two hours, stopping often to appreciate their surroundings and kiss at every opportunity. When they arrived back at the cabin, there was a new platter of food to nibble and a new bottle of champagne in the ice bucket. Shane looked at him and asked "Oliver, did you order this? It's perfect." He just smiled at her, suggested they carry it outside and eat by the lake. Oliver lit a fire in the fire pit. They sat in the reclining chairs with the food on a table between them. They ate some of it, along with a couple of glasses of champagne. Shane, feeling a bit giggly, moved to his chair and tucked herself under his arm and made herself comfortable on his chest. He was wearing a t-shirt, a hoodie sweater and khaki pants. She slipped her hand under his t-shirt and asked. "Oliver, do you remember my conversation with Becky at the Mailbox Grille? The one you "overheard" or as I like to say "eavesdropped?"

He laughed. "Yes, I remember it. But I was already there when you arrived so I wouldn't classify it as eavesdropping."

"Humm humm," She just turned and raised her brows at him.

"What about it?" He asked.

"Becky read me like a book that day. She immediately realised I had already fallen for you."

"Yes?" He encouraged her to go on.

"What did you conclude after hearing that conversation?"

He smiled, lifted her face to his and gently kissed her mouth. "Mrs. O'Toole, are you fishing?"

"Yes! What did you conclude?" She repeated the question, trying to keep him focused.

"Well, I didn't want to conclude anything, as I was a bit conflicted myself. But it did sound very obvious, to me at least, that you were trying to convince yourself, very hard, you hadn't developed feelings for me. Were you fighting it?" Oliver asked.

Shane focused trying to remember. "Probably! Perhaps even involuntarily, as I don't believe I was completely aware I had fallen for you at that point. All I knew was the fact that you fascinated me." Shane smiled.

"I thought I irritated you." They both laughed.

"We irritated each other, Oliver. Isn't that how love usually starts anyway?"

"Is it? So ours is typical then."

"Oh yeah! Totally!" After they stopped laughing Oliver cleared his throat and said. "Well, I have something to confess."

"Yes?" Shane encouraged him to go on.

"I actually did eavesdrop on another one of your conversations." Shane lifted her head and looked at him, just waiting. "Well, it wasn't my fault to start with as I was, again, already there when you arrived. I could have left though… but I didn't."

"When and where?" She asked, curious.

"In DC when we were there for Rita. I was having breakfast on the last day when you sat behind my booth with Steve."

Shane tried to recall. "I don't remember."

"It was when he told you he had a job for you in DC with an apartment and 4 times the pay."

"Ah! I remember now. Did you hear that whole conversation?"

"Yes! I did." She smiled and pretended to be angry. "Oliver O'Toole, you had an unfair advantage over me. You basically heard me confess I loved you, not once but twice. I never heard you say anything remotely like that a single time."

"You mean until I said it directly to you? What about the hundreds of ways I said 'I love you' without actually saying I love you?" He flashed her that glorious smile he had reserved only for her.

She shimmied up his side and pulled his mouth onto hers. Her hand that was still under his t-shirt started to caress his chest, his nipples and then slowly travel further down his stomach. He grabbed her head and deepened the kiss, weaving his fingers through her hair. She unbuckled the belt on his trousers, pulled down the zipper, reached inside and grabbed him, making him go crazy. He slid his hands under her top and lifted it, bunching it up under her chin and then unhooked her bra. He slid down on the reclining chair, causing her to lose her grip on him. He found her breasts and feasted on them. She pulled her t-shirt, sweater and bra off over her head and dropped the bundle by the chair. He did the same with his own clothes. He sat up on the chair and slowly pulled her trousers down, kissing every bit of newly exposed skin as he went. He made sweet love to her by the fire in the fire pit. They never felt the drop in the temperature as the heat of their passion kept them warm.

As afternoon turned to evening they went inside. Oliver lit the fire in the massive open fire place. They sat on the thick luxurious rug on the hearth and watched the flames in complete silence. Eventually they laid in front of it in each other's arms and simply basket in each other's company doing nothing. Shane had her head on his chest and playing with his earlobe, softly touching it and humming 'I can't take my eyes off you'.

"Shane?"

"Ummm...?"

"I love you! I'm addicted to you. Indeed, I can't take my eyes or my hands off you." He said playing with her forearm lying across his chest.

"Well, my darling it seems I'm equally addicted to you. You make me feel stuff... things... I never felt before. It's almost as if I didn't know my own body till now. You're waking parts of me that had been dormant... waiting for you it seems." He gasped. "That's exactly how I feel." He said thoughtfully and then he continued. "It's not just physical. It's much deeper. It touches... you... touch my very soul."

"Yes! It is deeper." Shane said agreeing. "Love like ours doesn't happen every day, Oliver, it's once in a lifetime, if you're lucky!"

He lifted her face and took her mouth in his, kissing her with the gentlest kiss ever.

They ordered dinner and a bottle of Tempranillo. They sat afterwards and enjoyed the rest of the red wine. They were almost sad they'd be leaving this wonderful place by 11 am the next day. Once dinner was finished, Oliver went to the car and brought in a cardboard box with their names written on it, care of Joe and his leather satchel. He took a few envelopes out of it, all clearly marked and numbered and explained.

"Shane, my darling, the box is for your wedding dress, your shoes and anything else you might wish to leave behind. Dad will take it to our house. Tomorrow we'll leave here at 11am and go to dad's. He will drive us to the airport and keep our car at his place until we come back. Our flight from Denver to Zurich leaves at 4pm. We will start our honeymoon trip in Switzerland and then France, Italy and finally finish it in London. He laid before her a few brochures and booking tickets for various activities.

"Wow!" Was all Shane could say.

"Oliver, this… this is incredible! I thought you were going to take me to Texas or Florida.

"So you approve of my choices?"

"Approve of them? I love your choices. If this cabin is an indication of your taste in honeymoon locations, you, my darling, should become a honeymoon consultant." He laughed happily, relieved. She got up, walked around the table, sat on his lap and said. "My darling, I'd have been content to spend a whole month locked up with you in our home and I'd have loved every minute of it. As long as I'm with you, I really couldn't care less where I am. However, I really appreciate your effort in organising all this."

He picked her hand up and kissed it lovingly. "My Shane, it's my pleasure to take you to exciting places." He cleared his throat and continued, "Actually this is my first honeymoon as well, I never had one with... well... in my previous marriage, so I'm looking forward to this just as much as you."

"Oh!" Shane looked at him confused. "How come?" She asked baffled.

"Well, as you know, we... Ho... Holly and I never planned anything. The whole thing was decided on the spur of the moment, no praying, no consideration or forethought about anything. Just bang, bang, bang!" He looked sad all of a sudden. "No wonder that marriage was a disaster from beginning to end."

Shane couldn't believe the turn in his countenance. "Oliver? Are you okay? Why are you reminiscing about Holly or a lost honeymoon?" Shane felt like crying and her voice sounded as if she was already getting there. Oliver blinked and looked at her. "What? Oh my darling, no, never! I'm not reminiscing about Holly, never!" He repeated it stronger, firmer. "I'm just mourning loss of time with you. Making you wait for so long and wasting my own life... precious time... for so long... for nothing!" Shane couldn't help it and the tears ran down her face. Oliver was mortified. He could kick himself. What an idiot! He thought. "Shane, my darling, how thoughtless of me to mention my previous marriage, especially when I'm so happy. Please forgive me. It was mainly to let you know that this is my first honeymoon as well and it will be my last as a newlywed. There will never be another one. And you and I will have the time of our lives."

"I just love you so much, Oliver, that when you hurt I hurt. When I hear about what Holly did to you, I feel like punching her... really hard! I can't help it."

"Let's not think about it anymore, let's not think about anybody else apart from us. No more wasting precious time with people who don't deserve a single second of it. You and I have more important things to do than to talk about the past. We have a very bright future ahead of us and God willing, it will be a very long one. I hope to be married to you until I'm at least a hundred years old, Mrs. O'Toole." He said pushing her hair from her face and gently kissing her.

She chuckled, "Maybe one day, we can come back here. For our 50th maybe; and see if we aged like fine red wine."

He laughed and hugged her tightly. "Well, one thing is for certain. We may not be able to pull an all-nighter then, but our love will not have diminished."

"Ok, I suppose I'm feeling a bit better now about leaving our little hideout you got for us. I just love this place." She said, looking around lovingly and then she smiled and sighed contentedly.

Indeed, they had a very bright future ahead of them and God willing it would be a very long one.