3. Awakening to Consequence

DeMarco woke with a pounding headache, his mouth dry and the sunlight stabbing through his eyelids. As he lay there, his mind raced through the fog—what had he done last night? Flashes of laughter, swirling lights, and the clink of glasses came to him in fragments. He remembered running through city streets, a blur of joy and recklessness.

But as DeMarco shifted, he felt the undeniable presence of someone beside him in the bed. Slowly, a name began to surface through the haze: Ava Park. Did he and Ava really get married last night? The thought sent a jolt of panic and disbelief through him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember the ceremony—a chapel, a wild promise, rings exchanged while giggling in their drunken state. It all felt surreal, like snippets from some movie he’d watched rather than lived.

 He turned to look, heart pounding, and there she was—Ava, her hair spilled across the pillow, her breathing slow and even. For a moment, he just watched her, trying to convince himself this was reality and not the tail end of a dream. 

 But what gnawed at him even more than the shock of marriage was the uncertain void in his memory: had they actually consummated the marriage? His skin prickled with embarrassment—and a little fear. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall if they’d crossed that final line or simply collapsed, exhausted and drunk, after their impromptu wedding.

He finally forced his glued eyelids apart, blinking from the burn he felt in his eyeballs. With each blink, he gets a glimpse of creamy-colored skin, accompanied by a pretty face. Closing his burning eyes again, telling his brain to relax and focus. He opens them once more, and all he sees this time is exceptionally long black hair that is sprawled all over the pillow next to him.

His heart started to race. 

A vague image surfaced: kissing someone passionately in the back of a taxi, the city lights blurring past, laughter echoing in his ears. He tried to piece together the faces and names from last night’s haze—he remembered dancing, toasting, running out into the neon-lit street, but the details were slippery. 

Who had he brought back here?

"What to do?" 

He asks, lying there, pretending to be asleep, in a dreamy state of confusion, as he feels the warm body next to him begin to stir. 

Ava blinked awake and, for a moment, was all smiles, her gaze softening as she glanced at the handsome man sleeping beside her. Warmth flooded her chest, and she let herself linger in the quiet happiness, thinking, ‘Is this what freedom feels like?’

 But then, in a rush, came the memory of her parents' expectations, the wedding hanging over her like a storm cloud, and the guilt that flared at the thought of the man she was supposed to marry. 

‘What am I doing? Have I gone too far just to prove a point?’

Horror twisted inside her, drowning the last trace of joy. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to move, her mind racing with what-ifs and consequences, even as part of her thrilled at the boldness of last night.

She carefully slid out of bed, still pleased by the memory of last night but also slightly embarrassed, hastily gathering her clothes as she tried to steady her breathing and quiet the swirl of emotions within her. 

DeMarco stayed perfectly still, hoping she would say something to him first. He had no idea what the etiquette was for awakening a wife. 

Usually, when DeMarco hooked up with someone, there was a rhythm to it: dinner, a few drinks, conversation—at the very least, he’d remember every step. But last night, he had rewritten all his rules. He’d gotten married—he’d eloped, for God’s sake—after a whirlwind of drinking and partying, and now he was waking up next to someone he was really attracted to and even liked, but she made it clear so many times she was off limits and out of his reach. So they became good acquaintances, friends, someone he only saw from time to time at the club.  

This was a first.

Then, under his eyelids, he sees an incredible image slide out of bed. His eyes moved back and forth, opening and closing. 

'Oh my goodness, she was naked and super sexy!' 

Ava slides from the bed quickly, gathering and rounding up her clothes from the floor. 

He had to say something; it seemed like she was about to run away, and he couldn’t let her leave without knowing clearly what was going on.

So he spoke up, clearing his throat. "Good...good morning," DeMarco said nervously, smiling at her. 

Ava fully turned her nude body around, facing him. His eyes expanded. For sure, she was deliciously nude. He couldn't help but smile more as he caught glimpses of all her loveliness. Her sizable breasts quickly had his attention. Making his rod stiffen as it rubbed against the sheet, standing at attention. It made DeMarco realize he was naked, too. 

Ava, with those large dark eyes, looked at his noticeable manhood. 

"Good morning," she said softly.

DeMarco quickly put his hand over the sheet, pushing down his private. Ava smiled at his reactions.

"Uhm, can you tell me something?" He said, lying in bed, flipping onto his stomach, trying to camouflage his erection that wouldn't go down. 

Humor rumbled in her chest, making Ava snicker. He raised himself on an elbow. DeMarco Bishop was the most handsome man, and his seductive smile also resided in a secret place in her heart.

"Do you remember anything about last night?"

Ava pointed to the bathroom and said, "Can I go put my clothes on first, please?" 

Her words brought his attention back to her succulent nude flesh. His eyes cascaded down her long, shapely frame before he thought to reply.

"Oh yeah, sure." 

She left the bedroom as DeMarco watched her creamy skin. He sees a voluptuous rump that was complemented by pleasing curves, sashaying away. 

When she closed the bathroom door and was out of his sight, he quickly hopped out of bed and picked up his pants. He begins checking his back pocket, where he keeps his raincoat. 

'What?!' Not one pack was open.

'Wait! Wait! Does that mean nothing happened between her and me? Was I too hammered until I couldn't perform last night? Okay, okay, calm down. Being naked doesn't automatically mean you had sex, or did it?'

He hurriedly put on his clothes, and before he could button his shirt, Ava came out of the bathroom. He stares at her like a deer caught in headlights. She is stunningly beautiful to look upon, even fully dressed. She was wearing a form-fitting dress and high-heeled sandals. That wrapped around a pair of shapely ankles and calves. 

Ava looked quickly at the expensive watch on her wrist. 

“I need to head home.”

DeMarco groaned quietly. “So you’re not staying?”  He asked, trying not to look or sound too desperate.

Ava focused on collecting her purse. “No. I can’t.”

“Why not?” He asked, eyeing her suspiciously. He wondered if she was already married to someone else and now had committed polygamy? He wondered what type of excuse she would give as to why she couldn’t hang around.

However, the answer Ava gave made him think she’d heard him wrong. 

“What did you just say?” He asked, his breath coming in pants. 

“I said my…”