A/N: Aww thank you thank you thank you to bee-327, Chelsietx, ClarisseMarie, hpfan144 and to the two guests for all the wonderful reviews and kind words that you left for me on the last chapter. I really do appreciate them all and honestly can't thank you enough for the support. Here's the next chapter for you all now. Enjoy, and please do to let me know your thoughts when you're finished :) Thank you x
"We're back, and with us, we bring some delicious treats for us to enjoy," Diego smiled and set a tray down on the table as he and Vee returned a short time later. "Churros and hot chocolate sauce," he said, lifting the bowl of hot chocolate sauce from the tray and setting it down in the middle of the table. Followed by the plate of churros and bowls for everyone.
"Yum, my favourite," Juana smiled happily and licked her lips as she moved her glass of wine to the side and rested her arms down on the table in front of her.
"Mine too," Clarisse smiled as Vee set her tray down with another dessert on, along with the cutlery and napkins.
"And because I know this is José's favourite, we also have tarta de manzana casera," Vee smiled as she lifted the dessert plate from the tray and set it down on the table next to the plate of churros.
"Oh delicious," Joseph smiled up at her. "That is my favourite, thank you."
"You're welcome," Vee smiled as she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, giving him a quick side hug before moving to sit back down at the end of the table next to him. "Please just help yourself. There's plenty for everyone."
After everyone had helped themselves and started tucking into the delicious treats that Vee and Diego had prepared for everyone, Juana watched as her brother scooped a small bit of his tarta de manzana casera onto his spoon and lifted it to Clarisse's mouth, feeding it to her in such a romantic and loving way, before watching her smile contentedly at him as he leant closer to give her a quick kiss and turning back to his dessert.
"So, what have you got planned for the rest of your honeymoon?" Juana asked with a smile and took a bite of one of her churros.
"Well since Clarisse spent the day playing golf with me yesterday, we are spending the day shopping for her tomorrow," Joseph smiled while lifting his bottle of beer from the table and taking a swig of it.
"Oh you went to golf with José?" Juana asked as Joseph put his beer back down on the table. "That must've been fun? Especially since he's so competitive when it comes to golf," she teased and averted her gaze to her brother.
"It was rather fun, yes. And he actually wasn't that bad yesterday, were you?" Clarisse teased as she turned her head to look at her husband putting a spoonful of his dessert in his mouth and sitting back in his seat with a sly smile.
"How did you find it? Have you played before?" Juana asked as Clarisse looked back at her while resting her elbow on the edge of the table and raising her hand up to rest against the side of her neck.
"I have, yes, and don't mind it, actually. I find it rather relaxing," Clarisse smiled and picked up her glass of wine from the table with her free hand, her other hand remaining on her neck, as Joseph placed his hand on her back. Slowly smoothing it back and forth lovingly a few times before coming to rest on her lower back. "I just never got to play as much as I would have liked to over the years."
"I don't mind it either. It's a great pastime," Vee smiled as Clarisse nodded in agreement and took a sip of her drink. "Who won?"
"Me, I did," Clarisse smiled cheekily while setting her glass back down on the table in front of her before turning her head to look back at her husband and raising her hand slowly up in the air as he laughed and shook his head beside her.
"Oh that's a surprise, José hardly ever loses at golf," Diego said, and Pedro nodded in agreement. "Good for you."
"He's usually such a pro. No one else stands a chance at winning when he's playing," Pedro said. Remembering previous games that he had played against Joseph and how he had lost every single one of them to him.
"He is usually, yes. But apparently, I was too much of a distraction for him. Which of course resulted in him losing," Clarisse laughed as Joseph's hand moved from her back around to her side. Her hand instinctively going to grasp hold of his as she leant back a little.
"You were, you were a major distraction for me yesterday. Hence why I played so rubbishly," he smirked while putting his other hand across in front of him and onto her other side, tickling her and making her and everyone else laugh.
"Stop," Clarisse laughed uncontrollably and wriggled in an attempt to stop him. When he finally did, she sighed in relief and tried to catch her breath as he sat laughing beside her. "I'll get you back for that," she said breathlessly, her gaze fixated on him.
"Is that a promise?" He smirked and took a casual sip of his beer. "But what can I say? The last time you played, even though we were together, I couldn't touch you or even be too close to you because we were out in a public place. Yesterday, however, now that we are married, I could be right there next to you, and I got to touch you as much as I liked, but not only that. The thought of you standing there a few feet behind me in your golf attire while I was trying to take my shots, especially when you held your club across the top of your shoulders, made me lose all concentration. Over and over again."
"Next to me?" Clarisse exclaimed and started laughing. "You were hardly ever next to me. You were always right behind me with your hands on my hips."
"Ooh, was he doing that 'let me show you how to play' trick?" Vee asked as Clarisse looked over at her and nodded.
"Yes he was," Clarisse replied, and all three women laughed. "Even though I already know how to play."
"Yep, Diego is the same," Vee laughed, her gaze going to her husband sitting at the other end of the table.
"And Pedro, too," Juana laughed as she turned her head to look at her husband sitting beside her. "I think it's a man thing. Ego booster, perhaps? Trying to impress us ladies by showing us how to play. Repeatedly." She teased.
"Mhmm yes, maybe," Vee said, and all three women laughed once again as Juana raised her hand up to briefly cup her husbands face.
"We can't help it," Pedro laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "We like to help in any way we can, and if that means standing behind you to show you how to play, then so be it."
"We like to be close," Diego smirked and winked at Vee as Clarisse leant closer to Joseph and whispered in his ear while putting her hand up on his chest.
"Anyway, that's enough about golf. I think I'm going to go to the bar and make myself a cocktail," Vee smiled and rose to her feet. "Would anyone else like a cocktail?"
"Not for me, but I will have a scotch on the rocks if I may, please?" Joseph smiled up at his sister.
"Of course you can," Vee smiled at him then at her husband and Pedro, "you can't because you're both driving. But Juana and Clarisse can," she said, looking down the table at them both with a smile, "would you ladies care to join me for a cocktail?"
"Oh, absolutely," Juana chuckled as she rose to her feet and stepped away from the table. "I won't say no to a cocktail. But as long as it's just one, I gotta get up early to get the boys to school tomorrow."
"Me too," Vee said and looked to Clarisse. "Are you going to join us?"
"One won't hurt," Clarisse smiled as she got to her feet before glancing at her husband and following Vee and Juana to the bar.
"It's never just the one, though, is it?" Diego said with a chuckle and got to his feet to start clearing up the dessert bowls and cutlery as Joseph watched the women walk away together. "Not when those two get together."
"You can say that again," Pedro agreed as Joseph turned his head to look back at them, "those three words, 'one won't hurt', are three of the most dangerous words when it comes to those two. Especially when cocktails are involved. And now they've dragged Clarisse into it, too."
"Yeeees," Diego laughed as he looked up at his brother-in-law. "Good luck bro, they have officially led your wife astray."
"Welcome to our world," Pedro said, and Joseph smirked.
"That makes a change, it's usually me who get's the blame for leading her astray. Especially over the last two weeks," Joseph said and picked up his beer from the table as they all laughed.
"That looks tasty. What cocktail is that you have there?" Joseph smiled as the ladies returned to the table a short time later, and Clarisse placed a scotch on the rocks down in front of him. "Thank you, my love."
"You're welcome," Clarisse smiled as she moved around to her seat and sat down beside her husband so she was slightly turned to him and crossed her legs. "And we are having sex on the beach."
"Are we?" Joseph asked mischievously and lifted his arm to rest it along the back of her chair as she took a drink of her cocktail through the straw before placing her glass down on the table in front of her.
"Well no, you're not. You are having a scotch. But Vee, Juana and I all are," Clarisse said as she placed her hand down on her husbands thigh and paused a moment as he smirked mischievously at her. "Okay, I realise now how that sounded," she said, and everyone laughed as Joseph leant closer to her, to whisper in her ear.
"Not yet my love, but going from what you told me at the pavilion I can make it happen soon," he smirked and kissed her neck before pulling back to find her biting her lip in anticipation at his words.
"I thought we were anyway, from what you said on our first night here. You were sure that we would experience all of what I said, and much more, on this trip," she whispered with a coy smile and moved her face closer to his, to place a slow, simmering kiss to his lips as he nodded, remembering their conversation in the jacuzzi on their first night in Puerto Rico.
Pulling back a moment later, Joseph reached out for his drink from the table and rose to his feet. "If you four don't mind, Clarisse and I are going to go up to the upper deck for a little while."
"Of course we don't mind," Vee smiled as Clarisse got to her feet and picked up her drink. "See you both soon."
"Have fun," Juana smirked mischievously.
"We will," Joseph smiled and placed his hand on Clarisse's lower back as she led the way over to the steps leading to the upper deck.
"Is everything okay?" Clarisse asked once they reached the top of the steps and turned to her husband.
"Yes of course," he nodded and stepped closer to her while slipping his hand onto her side. "I just wanted a little time alone with you. Shall we go sit down?"
Turning her head, Clarisse looked over at the seating area and smiled. "Sure," she said, looking back at him with a twinkle in her eye.
Taking her hand in his, Joseph led her over to where there were several double comfortable seats and set his glass down on the table before turning to sit down. "Come here, you," he smiled and putting his hands out onto her hips, he pulled her closer to him and gently down to sit on his knee.
Smiling, Clarisse wrapped her arm around his shoulder, her hand going to the nape of his neck, as she leant to one side, to set her glass down on the table next to his before sitting back properly in his lap and putting her other hand up on his chest. "It's been such a beautiful day," she said and he nodded.
"It has, and it'll get even better when the sun starts to set," he smiled up at her while placing one hand down on her thigh and smoothing his other hand up under her blouse to rest on her back. "I have got to say, you have been very brave today."
"How so?" Clarisse asked, her fingertips toying with one of the buttons of his shirt.
"Well not only did you go snorkelling and swimming with everyone else, and didn't hide away with that love bite on your neck," Joseph smiled and studied her a moment. "But you went without putting any makeup on after we had been swimming too. Showing my family the real, beautiful person that you are and I'm so very proud of you for doing that."
"Thank you," Clarisse smiled and gazed into his eyes a moment. "Well I feel comfortable around them, and regarding the love bite we are all adults. We are on honeymoon too, so it's no secret what we've been up to." She smiled, trying not to laugh as Joseph smirked cheekily up at her. "That we've been, um..." trailing of, she bit her bottom lip in anticipation.
"Yeeees? That we've been..." he teased, trying to get her to finish saying what she was going to say.
"Yeeees," Clarisse smiled and they both laughed as she looked down at her hand resting on his chest. A blush now creeping over her features. "You know what I mean."
"I do, of course," Joseph smiled and moved his face closer, burying it in the side of her neck a moment as she tightened her arm around his shoulder. Wanting, longing, to hold him close. "I love it when you blush," he said softly against her neck a moment later and lifted his face to look up into her eyes. "But you have no need to be embarrassed. As you said, we are all adults, and yes they know exactly what we have been up to."
"I still find somethings hard to talk about," she whispered. "I'm still not used to all this. Not really."
"I know, but it is still early days remember," Joseph said and studied her face as he raised his hand to brush her hair behind her ear with a smile. "We have only been married a little over two weeks after all."
"I know," Clarisse nodded and smoothed her hand from his chest, up to rest on top of his shoulder. "And I know that when you are married people will automatically know what goes on. They know what a marriage entails. Mostly it's obvious when a married couple are happy together and have a healthy sex life because they can't keep their hands off one another."
"Like us," Joseph smiled as he rested his hand back down on her thigh. "We can't keep our hands off one another."
"Yes, just like us," Clarisse laughed before nodding slowly. "However, with Rupert we were anything but happy together. Well we had some happy moments together towards the end of his life, but only as friends. Not husband and wife. But during the course of our marriage it was never obvious that we had that type of relationship. It was very private. Although our marriage is private too. It's more obvious to people what goes on behind closed doors with us. That we can't keep our hands off each other. But it was never like that with Rupert. Never. So it was never obvious that we only ever had sex once in a blue moon. Whereas now…" she smiled at the thought of now and looked down, focusing on the top button of his shirt.
"Whereas now you have a full on sex life, you are happy, you are satisfied and everyone knows what you've been up too," Joseph said with a mischievous smirk and watched as Clarisse looked back up at him.
"Yes, exactly that," she said and they both laughed. "And I've never been happier. So much so that I can't get enough of you. I crave you so very much. All day every day."
"Good, because I can't get enough of you either," Joseph smiled with a twinkle in his eye and wrapped his arms around her waist as he gazed into her eyes. "I love you so very much Mrs Elizondo."
Taking her bottom lip between her teeth, Clarisse's tummy fluttered at the mere mention of her married name and watched him lean in closer to her before closing her eyes. "I love you too, Mr Elizondo," she whispered and snaked her arms around his neck as his lips pressed slowly to hers, her top lip nuzzled oh so deliciously between his, in what quickly became a very heated kiss between them.