My Naughty Neighbour Ch. 15

I leaned in and kissed her as I slipped the gold band onto her finger. Once it was in place, her arms wrapped around me and she kissed me as deeply and lovingly as she ever had before. Probably only mere moments passed, but it felt like a thousand years of bliss to me. I never wanted this moment to end.

She pulled back from the kiss finally and smiled. "So now I'm your wife. I can't believe I'm saying it. But I've got the proof right here."

She held up her hand to show me, clearly delighted. "I suppose it's probably best you did it this way instead of proposing, or else I'd be all girly-squee, and trying to get us married somewhere or something dumb. Are you sure I can't take it home with me?"

I smiled cheerfully. I really wished I could have let her. But no. "The only reason this works, Lynn, is because you've managed to separate your lives into something you can balance. Nothing would make me happier than to know you're wearing my wedding ring, but it would just complicate things, when you've worked so hard to reach this point that we both love."

"It's true," she sighed, acknowledging my logic. "I don't want to admit it, but you're right, you frustrating male. But you promise it'll always be handy for me to put on when I come over?"

I nodded. "I'll even let you decide where to keep it."

"And I do have to get back," Lynn said, her voice quiet and tinged with regret. "Walk me to the door, Michael, and slip it off my finger as you kiss me goodbye. I want you to be the one to put it on my finger and take it off, as often as possible. That means something very deep to me. Like you'll always be claiming me again, and I need to return."

We stood and walked slowly to the door, holding hands and pressing as close as possible. In the foyer, we stopped, and she looked up into my eyes, her arms around my neck.

"The only thing missing from our wedding night was consummating our marriage," she whispered, her lips so close to mine. "But I promise I'll make that up to you, a million times over. You've given me the most incredible gift, Michael, and I'll never stop showing you how much I love you..."

We kissed then, deeply and soulfully, so desperately in love. I felt her trembling as I removed the ring from her finger, and then she broke the kiss and leaned back against the door, taking a deep breath. She opened my hands and looked at her ring, stroking it gently.

"Take good care of her for me, Michael," she said softly, looking up into my eyes. "You'll hear from me tomorrow, if you don't see me. And you'll definitely see me on the twenty-sixth. I love you, my husband."

"And I love you, my darling bride," I replied, caressing her cheek. She trembled before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. With more resolve than I might have had, she turned and opened the door and stepped out into the night, with snow falling all around. A final look back at me, and then she began walking away.

Her pace picked up, and soon she was running through the snow, letting out a whoop of joy. She ran all the way back to her house, and disappeared inside. I closed the door and leaned against it, sighing and not exactly sure what to do.

Lying in bed some time later, I was looking at the ring on my finger, wondering if the thing to do was to wear it all the time, or to put it on when Lynn was with me. If I wore it all the time, people would assume I was still pining for my ex-wife like some idiot. Everyone knew I was divorced, after all.

I wanted my time with Lynn to be special, to be our time when we were married, unburdened by all other considerations. I would wear it when I was with her. It just made sense. We could put the rings on one another's fingers each and every time. What could be more perfect than that?

A single text just after midnight reading 'Merry Christmas, husband! I love you!' was what I heard from her that night, and to be honest, that was enough. She was thinking of me, and I felt a deep contentment about it. Christmas apart wasn't the end of my world. I'd resolved to not work, just in case she could visit, but also because this would allow me to spend my entire day lost in thought about her. Triple time was that big a deal for me.

Lynn...

I allowed myself to finally drift off, and my thoughts and dreams were centered on that golden goddess, and everything she'd come to mean to me. I'd never loved anyone this much, and her feelings for me were so obvious and raw. It warmed my heart as I started to sleep.

It was a good life now, one made wonderful by the love of my naughty neighbour.

***

End of Part I

Author's Notes: As you can see, this is not the end of the story by any means, merely a pause before the new year and new arc begin. Originally, there'd been no Part I, II and so on planned; I was just going to plow right through, but I thought better of it. Christmas gave me a logical pause location, and allows me to collect my thoughts, plan things out, and resume when the time is right. Like Chapter 4 of 'Love You, Daddy!', this is merely a save point; the story will continue.

I'm also looking to catch up on other stories that have suffered neglect recently. Stories based on real-life events, such as this one, or Twin Cities Tryst, and Like A Daughter To Me, take a lot of emotional and mental effort on my part to put out, because I have to pare them down, or else they'd all be a million words per chapter, and I don't think even my most devoted readers would put up with that.

With this chapter of MNN completed, I can now hit up The Great Khan, The Tale Of Amberley Bloodstar, Like A Daughter To Me, and Sapphic Serenity, all of which need some lovin' especially Khan. The Freja & Jeanie arc over in the Alexaverse is going to be a big hit, if people's reviews and PMs to me are to be believed. I also have another story I'm working on to get ready for publication, and I'm very excited for it. Only time will tell.

In case you're wondering about the quip concerning gay marriage being legal, this story takes place in 2008. So the video game system Lynn's son was obsessing over was doubtless a PS3, and the feds had not legalized gay marriage yet. Just in case you were tempted to send me a 'Well, actually...' PM.

It's June, but I was listening to Christmas music while getting this chapter done. The reasons may seem obvious, but people passing my office here at work still give me strange looks when they hear what's playing out of my laptop. Hey, buddy, mind your own business! Don't we have a show to shoot or something? Hmmmmm?

Well, better get this edited and then submitted. I hope you've enjoyed MNN thus far, and don't worry, Mike, Lynn, Xiong, and the rest will be back. As for me, I'm destined for Inner Mongolia, where Boldbator and his wives await my scribing. He's not exactly a patient man, even for a medieval warlord. Wish me luck.

Keep your stick on the ice!

- Management