Chapter Text
Then…
You were pissed. In five days you were supposed to marry Billy and start your lives together but there he was, standing at the tiki bar, flirting it up with the bartender. Jealous fury coursed through you, seeing him laugh and charm the hot blonde. You knew he was deliberately putting on a show because he was angry with you, he’d clocked your entrance the second you entered the beachside bar - but it still irritated you and you had enough of it. Well, two could play that game.
You turned around and headed to the bar that was on the opposite end of the resort, a safe distance away from Billy and his stupid antics.
The breeze from the ocean had a slight chill to it. You contemplated going back to your room to pick up a shawl but decided against it. As you passed by several of the other guests heading to dinner, they greeted you with a smile and nod. An older couple walked ahead of you, hands intertwined together, laughing and chatting. It warmed your heart to see them, but it also saddened you. Would that ever be you and Billy? Right now, you didn’t think so.
The poolside bar was crowded, filled with people partying and socializing. You took a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself to get into “work” mode. You were a great schmoozer, it just wasn’t an inherent part of your personality and you actively had to work at it. But forcing yourself to have a good time was better than being stuck in your room and seething at Billy.
Spotting a group of people at the bar you and Billy had chatted with earlier, you made your way towards them.
An hour later you were on your third drink and actually having a great time with a guy named Andrew when you felt someone’s arm snake around your waist. Billy. He pulled you close, your back flush against his chest, his way of reminding you that you were his.
“Having a great time?” Billy asked.
Oh, he was pissed. You could hear it in his voice right away even though he sounded perfectly friendly to everyone else. “Wonderful time,” you replied flippantly, not turning around.
“Andrew, right?” Billy asked, extending his hand out to the guy in front of you. “We met at the lobby bar earlier.”
Andrew shook his hand, oblivious to the tension in the air. “Yeah, I remember. Billy. Feeling better? Your wife said you came down with something.”
“We’re not married,” you said, deliberately goading Billy.
“Not yet.” Moving to stand beside you, he planted a hard kiss on your bare shoulder. “Looks like you’re taking good care of her though. Where’s your wife?”
“Oh, she’s around here somewhere.”
Billy dipped his head to the side. “Maybe you should go look for her and leave mine alone.”
Finally sensing the hostility, Andrew mumbled, “Alright man, see you around,” and left right away.
You took a sip of your drink, purposely ignoring Billy which he didn’t like. Not at all.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
You shrugged your shoulders. “Enjoying myself.”
“Clearly.” His dark eyes blazoned with rage, peering at you closely. “If this is you getting cold feet, get the fuck over it. You’re marrying me. No matter what.”
“Oh, were you discussing the wedding when you were flirting with the bartender?”
Eyebrow cocked, he gave you a smug grin. “Saw that, did you?”
“Disappointed I didn’t stab her?”
“Always.” He took the drink from your hand and finished it off in one swig. “Are you still planning to stick to the ridiculous no-sex rule?”
You shot him a dirty glance before standing up to leave. “You might as well go back to the bartender. That’s the only way you’re getting any.”
As you made your way out of the bar, he came up from behind and grabbed your elbow to spin you around. “Why you pushing me away?”
“What are you talking about?”
He glared at you, leaning in close. “You spring this whole no-sex thing out of the blue-”
“I just wanted our first night as a married couple to be special. You’re acting like I asked you to be celibate for a fucking year! It would only be until the wedding.”
“Yeah well, that’s too fucking long.” His eyes trailed down to your breasts, inhaling you in. You’d chosen to wear a strapless maxi dress for dinner on your first night in Barbados, and while it was loose and comfortable it also required a strapless push-up bra which did wonders for your cleavage. “You look like this and then tell me I can’t fuck you?”
You tried to hold on to your anger but it was difficult, especially considering the look of pure lust on Billy’s face. “There are couples that don’t have sex for months,” you pointed out.
With every step that he advanced towards you, you retreated backwards, taunting him.
“That’ll never be us.” His voice was hoarse as his fingers linked with yours, his arm encircling your back. “And you don’t want that anyway.”
“No, but I do want us to wait. It’s only five days.”
“Five days of fucking torture,” he grumbled.
He led you to the beach, the sounds of waves crashing against the ocean calming your nerves. The beach was dark and isolated, a picturesque heaven with a full moon shining amongst a thousand stars. You followed behind Billy as he tugged you to a nearby lounge chair and the two of you lied down, wrapped in each other’s arms, both watching the sky together.
Cold, you clung to him while he rubbed your arms and back. “Sometimes I can’t believe we’re actually here.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, lips grazing your temple.
“That we’re together, we’re getting married.”
“You’ll be mine. Legally.”
You chuckled. “I don’t think marriage gives you ownership over me.”
“Whatever.” He took your hand and kissed the tips of your fingers. “Legal or not, I own every fucking inch of you.”
“Every inch, huh?” You teased, sitting up and shifting your body so that you were now straddling him. “What about this part?” Your fingers smoothed down your neck, his hungry gaze following your movement.
“Mine.”
Eyes locked with his, you shimmied the top of your dress down, exposing your satin push-up bra. He reached out to caress your boobs but you slapped his hand away. “Can’t touch. That’s the rule.”
“So you can touch me all you want but I can’t do the same?”
“Bride’s prerogative.” Your hips started grinding against his, deliberately slowing your movements atop him so you could feel his erection through all the layers of clothing between you. “Just because we can’t fuck doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.”
His fingers tightly clenched the arms of the chair, his face tense as you continued to tease him.
Your hands gripped his stomach as you circled your hips in the other direction. “Think it’ll always be like this between us?”
“Always.”
“Maybe you’ll wake up one day and decide you don’t want to get married.”
He groaned, and you could see he was trying to focus on your words and not give into the fucking ecstasy from your hips rolling atop his erection. “Never… gonna… happen.”
Pressure spooled in your stomach as your wetness soaked through your panties and onto his shorts, both of your breaths coming out in short spurts.
“Want to be inside you,” he muttered through gritted teeth.
You shook your head. “No. Not allowed.”
“Then let me see your pussy.” His teeth pulled at his bottom lip, eyes pleading with you. “Let me eat you out.”
Before you could respond he was lifting you by the waist and dragging you close and then you were on his face and his mouth was between your thighs and he was fucking you with this tongue and you were screaming with pleasure at everything he was doing to you. But the voice in your head didn’t want to give up full control, no, absolutely not, and despite your trembling knees you picked yourself up and maneuvered yourself around atop his face. As he fucked you with his tongue, you unzipped his shorts, took his cock in your mouth and started sucking him off, leading to one of the most erotic experiences you’d shared with him.
He came first in your mouth, you followed shortly after, and by the time your hearts had stopped pounding and some semblance of reality returned it was minutes later and he was spooning you from behind.
“Five days is too long.”
You turned around in his arms, facing him. “I just gave you a blow job and that’s still not enough?” You pouted.
His eyes brimmed with emotion as he studied you. “It’s never enough. I could fuck you every day and every night and I’d still want more of you. Always. That’ll never change.”
“How can you be so sure?” You sounded so vulnerable even to your own ears, you couldn’t imagine how pathetic you must have sounded to him.
He lifted your chin to meet his eyes, his gaze intent. “Because I love you.”
Those were words he didn’t say often, it had taken him a long time to even admit he felt that way about you, but every time he vocalized them your heart swelled and you were ready to burst with happiness.
“And I always will. Nothing’s gonna change that. And I don’t want to wait another five days to make you mine.”
“I’m already yours, remember?” You dropped a tender kiss on the tip of his nose.
“Marry me.”
You chuckled. “We already did this bit? You slipped the ring on my finger when I was sleeping. Told me I had to marry you, you wouldn’t accept no for an answer?”
“I mean marry me tomorrow, not five days from now.”
“Billy, our friends are flying down here to see us get married. We can’t just push up the wedding-”
“We can put on a show for them too, but let’s do something with just the two of us. Tomorrow.”
You saw the rush of excitement on his face, the way his eyes lit up in the dark - but the realist in you warned you to temper his expectations. “Is all this just because you want to get laid sooner? Fine. Forget the no-sex rule-”
He pressed his finger against your lips. “No, has nothing to do with that.” He sat up partially, resting his weight on his elbow. Forehead creased with worry, he watched you intently. “Don’t you wanna marry me?”
“Of course I do. You know that.”
“Good, because you don’t have a choice.”
You ruffled his hair playfully. “Do I ever?”
“So we’ll get married tomorrow.” He kissed your hand. “And you’ll be mine. Forever.”
You smiled, feeling closer to him than you ever had before. Closing your eyes, you snuggled him tightly.
***
The wedding ceremony took place the next night in one of the private gardens at the resort, under the stars, with the Marriage Officer officiating and with two members of the resort staff serving as witnesses. You wore a red slip dress and he wore his pin-striped suit and you couldn’t remember the last time he looked so elated. You were not the type of couple to write your own vows but when he promised to love and cherish you as long as he lived you knew he meant every word of it. As did you.
After the wedding the two of you slow danced in the gazebo, without any music, simply holding each other in the moonlight. And by time the two of you reached your suite, your clothes were already ripped off and you two were clawing at each other. You didn’t make it to the bed, barely even making it inside the suite.
It was the first night of the rest of your life together, and it was the happiest you’d ever been.
***
Now…
“Are you okay?”
Matt Murdock’s words brought you out of your reverie. You gave him a small smile, nodding your head. “I’m fine.”
He leaned in to whisper in your ear. “Do you need a break?”
“No, let’s just get this over with.”
Although hesitant, he resumed the negotiation with the opposing lawyer sitting across from you.
Throughout the talks, you felt Billy’s eyes on you. As much as your heart wanted to believe he was watching you like he used to before the accident, his molten eyes full of love and lust, you knew that wasn’t the case. These days he only looked at you with contempt and anger, like you were the bane of his existence.
When a short break was ordered, you rushed out of the boardroom. The walls felt like they were closing in, you couldn’t breathe.
“Here,” Matt said, giving you a bottle of water.
Despite his lack of sight, Matt seemed to always know when you were struggling. It was like he had a sixth sense when it came to people’s emotions, probably why you and him became fast friends after Karen introduced you a few months ago.
“We don’t have to go through with this,” he advised. “It isn’t too late. Just tell me you want Anvil-”
“No. I’m tired of dragging this out. I just want to move on.”
“You helped make the company what it is now. Half of it’s rightfully yours.”
You shook your head ‘no’. “I want to cut all ties with him.”
On cue you felt Billy’s eyes on you, standing at the other end of the room. His face was beautiful as always despite the scars from the accident, and when you looked at him long enough you could almost convince yourself he was the man you fell so deeply in love with, the man you married. Except he wasn’t, and hadn’t been in the last two years. He was no longer your Billy and it was time to face that reality.
An hour later the negotiations were finally complete and the two of you had reached a settlement. After the documents were filed, you and Billy would be officially divorced.
Four and a half years of marriage obliterated in the span of an afternoon.
You could see the relief on Billy’s face as he left the room with his lawyer, his happiness at finally being rid of you. Even though it had been your idea to draw up a prenup in the first place, you had fought against it as your way of buying more time and holding onto the marriage. Maybe Billy would be himself again, maybe he’d remember you and love you like he once did. But your altercation with him last week had finally shown you that he was a changed man.
You didn’t cry after the accident. When Billy was in a coma for weeks after the crash, you didn’t cry then either. You stayed strong and reminded yourself he would come out of it. Because this was Billy. Your Billy. And he wasn’t going to let an accident take away everything he worked so hard for. When he regained consciousness and it soon became apparent he’d lost large fragments of his memory – including all reminders of you – you still clung to hope. You didn’t give into tears.
But right now, as Matt walked alongside you to your car, you finally fell apart. The tears rushed out, your knees gave way and you fell to the ground and sobbed for your husband. Matt held you tightly and tried his best to console you, but the grief was overwhelming. Because it hit you at long last that Billy was gone. The man you loved more than life itself was dead.
All remnants of him had disappeared and the love that you shared with him no longer existed.
To be continued…
A/N - Um, thoughts???