Marley's Twisted Arranged Marriage

My stomach was in knots the whole next day. I’d, for the most part, avoided Conrad, but when he did see me, he gave me a smile that made my stomach churn even more. I was so nervous for that night, it was unbearable. All I thought about was how I would manage to embarrass myself, since I knew I would one way or another.
When 6:30 came rolling around, I knew Conrad would be finding me soon.
A knock on my door scared me and I froze, not daring to move a muscle. Maybe they’d leave if they thought I wasn’t here.
“Marley, I know you’re in there. You’ve barely left this room all day,” Andy’s demanding voice boomed from the other side of the door and I left out a breath of relief. The door flew open and he stood on the doorway, giving me an angry look.
“Geez, I thought you died.”
I scowled at him and he didn’t waste any time in making himself comfortable on my bed. “Sorry,” I mumbled pathetically.
“What’s wrong?” Andy asked in a concerned voice. I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off.
“Oh I know what it is. You’re nervous to have sex with Conrad for your first time,” I looked at him incredulously. How did he know we were going to have sex tonight?
“He won’t stop talking about it.” He finished and I nodded in understanding.
“I’m just scared…. What if I do something wrong? What if I don’t even turn him on? What am I supposed to do? It’s my first time, and if you haven’t noticed, I’m not boy experienced and-“Andy slapped a hand over my mouth, effectively shutting me up.
“Stop stressing out! He doesn’t care about what you’re going to be like in bed, don’t you understand that? He just wants to be with you. Now put on your sluttiest outfit, march into Conrad’s bedroom, and SEDUCE HIM, DAMMIT.” My eyes were as wide as saucers when Andy finished yelling at me.
“I- I just-“
“No! I don’t want to hear it! I want you to go talk to Conrad if you really don’t want to do this. Let him understand where you’re coming from. Okay?” He didn’t even wait for a reply from me before he left my room.
I took what Andy had said into consideration. I knew Conrad just wanted to be with me, the physical stuff being a bonus, but what if he got angry with me because I didn’t know what I was doing? I couldn’t help but think of all the bad outcomes that were a possible turn out.
A soft knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts and I muttered a quiet, “Come in” before Conrad opened the door and stepped through the threshold. My stomach was twisting so much that I came to the conclusion that it would never be usable again.
“Hey,” He said, standing by the door. He didn’t look at me. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his baggy blue jeans awkwardly.
“Hi.” I replied softly. I felt like one of those nerdy and shy school girls who was talking to their crush for the first time.
Conrad glanced at me and slowly walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge and looking at me, his expression softened.
“Are you having second thoughts?” He suddenly asked. I heard the edge of hurt in his voice, like he thought I didn’t want to be with him.
“I’m not having second thoughts, I’m just terrified. I wasn’t expecting to have to think about all this stuff until we were married.” I answered truthfully. Conrad brought my head up to look at him.
“It’s normal to be nervous for your first time, everyone is. Marley, I don’t care about how inexperienced you are…. I just want to belong to you and you belong to me.” He said, and when I looked in his eyes, I knew he was telling me the truth.
“You won’t just dump me after, right?” I asked stupidly. I knew the answer from what he had just said, I just want to be sure.
“Are you kidding me? Why would you ask something like that? I’m not going to dump you after we have sex.” Conrad said every word forcefully, forcing it into my head. I giggled at his outburst and he smiled.
“If you don’t want to do this today, I’m okay. I can wait as long as you’re comfortable,” I looked at Conrad. Did I really want to wait months until we were married? I knew we would end up together anyways, with the arranged marriage and all.
“No. I don’t want to wait.”
His eyes widened at my answer; he must’ve been thinking I would say I want to wait.
“Are you sure?” He asked once more. I nodded.
“Well when do you….?” I trailed off, looking at him for an answer. He smirked and was on top of me in the blink of an eye, pinning my arms above my head and straddling me.
“Now.”
Conrad leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine and instantly, all the nervousness was swept out of my body. I hungered for more of him so I wriggled my arms out of his grasp, placing them on the back of his head and pulling his face to mine. He was taken back but quickly eased into the kiss. My fingers tousled with his soft hair, one of Conrad’s hands went to the back of my neck and the other stroked my cheek. Everywhere he kissed and touched me left a trail of burning fire, slowly getting warmer as time went on.
The rest of the night went by as pure bliss, as expected, as our clothes hit the floor and two became one.
** ** ** **
My eye lids slowly opened and the memories from the night before came rushing back to me, like a slideshow. It was somewhat hard to believe that I wasn’t a virgin anymore.
I was lying on Conrad’s bare chest, listening to the rhythmic beat of his heart in his chest, his arm wrapped around my nude waist. I peeked up at his sleeping face through my lashes. He was so loveable.
Wait- loveable? Did that mean I was in love with Conrad? With the way he treated me so gently and careful last night, I wouldn’t be completely surprised. But I couldn’t help but feel scared that we were moving too quickly. I guess it didn’t matter though, since we were getting married after all.
Conrad stirred beneath me and moved off him as he stretched, welcoming the morning. He looked down at me and smiled the most breathtaking smile I’d ever witnessed. Then he bent down and planted a soft and slow kiss on my lips. I didn’t hesitate to kiss him back.
“Good morning,” He mumbled in the kiss.
“Good morning to you,” I said, breaking the kiss and smiling at him. We laid our heads back into the pillows and he dragged me closer to him, my arms wrapping around his torso as his snaked around my waist.
“How are you feeling?” He asked me.
“To be honest, I feel amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever been this…. Content.” I said, feeling embarrassed as soon as it escaped my lips.
“Well I’m glad I’m part of you feeling so happy,” Conrad smiled at me and kissed my forehead, climbing out of bed.
“I’m going to take a shower. Wanna join?” He winked at me and a smirk played on his lips as I giggled.
“No, I think we’ve had enough…. Fun in the past twenty-four hours.” He pouted slightly and slipped his clothes back on before leaving the room and going back to his.
I fell back on the pillows. Why did I turn him down? Now I was going to be bored. Hanging out with Damien was a definite no, and Andy probably wouldn’t abandon Damien for me. I could always see what Caroline was up to….
I slipped into some shorts and a t-shirt as I decided I would bother Caroline. Hopefully she wouldn’t be doing anything too important.
Quickly tying my hair into a loose pony tail, I made my way out of my bedroom door and realized I had absolutely no idea where Caroline’s bedroom was.
“Looking for someone?” I jumped at the sound of Andy’s voice and whirled around to find him leaning casually against the wall, staring expectantly at me.
“Actually, yes. Do you know where Caroline’s bedroom is?” I asked. He nodded and we hooked arms as he started off down the hallway.
“So, did your cold feet go away?” Andy questioned, a sly smirk planted on his face.
“Yeah, Conrad and I talked. Then….” I trailed off, a blush emanating my cheeks. He chuckled and pinched my cheek.
“Aww my little Marley is a woman now!” He cooed in a baby voice. I slapped his hand away and mock glared at him.
“Could you say it any louder?” I yelled sarcastically.
“Yes I can. MARLEY IS NO LONGER A VIRGIN.” He exclaimed and my eyes widened as I slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling his loud laughter.
“Do you enjoy pissing me off?!” I screamed, but I couldn’t help but laugh it off with him. When we finished laughing, I had the sudden urge to ask Andy something.
“Why aren’t you trying to convince me to be with Damien? I mean you’re his best friend, shouldn’t you be his ‘wing man’ or whatever?” I asked quietly. His eyebrow shot up in question.
“I guess I should be, but I know that you love Conrad and no amount of me trying to talk you into liking Damien will change your mind. Besides, what’s the point? You wouldn’t have given up your virginity to Conrad if you thought you had feelings for his brother.”
He was right. No amount of talking would get me to even remotely consider the possibility of being with Damien; I loved Conrad. And after Damien had forced me to kiss him just to get him to leave me alone, I somewhat despised him.
“Can I tell you something?” I suddenly said.
“Of course you can.” Andy replied. I grew an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
“You can’t tell a soul. I swear Andy, if you tell anyone what I’m about to tell you-“
“Relax, I won’t tell anyone. You’re starting to worry me,” There was a hint of nervousness in his voice. I took a deep breath.
“Damien forced me to kiss him yesterday,” I barely whispered the words. Andy unhooked his arm from mine and threw it around my shoulder and brought me closer to him.
“What? Marley, you’re going to have to speak up.”
“Damien told me that if I kissed him for ten seconds, he’d leave me alone,” This time, I was a little louder. His arm grew tense around my shoulder.
“He what?! I’m going to kill him. Why does he keep doing this stuff to his own brother?” Andy yelled.
“You’re acting like a jealous boyfriend.” I pointed out.
“I’m not jealous, and I’m not your boyfriend. I care about you Marley, I feel like an older brother to you, one that should protect you from crazy obsessed boys – even if he is my best friend.” He added the last part quietly. Did I really want Andy to destroy his friendship with Damien just to protect me? I was sure I could handle Damien on my own.
“I’m flattered that you think of me as the helpless little sister,” I muttered sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Andy.
“I’m serious though, what if Damien tries something when Conrad and I aren’t around to stop him? I’m telling you, you won’t be able to fight off a guy as strong as him. I just…. I care, Marley. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
Andy had a sad look on his face. It made my heart sink, looking at his expression. I really loved Andy – as a brother – and he was one of the most caring people I’d ever met, once you got past the cocky exterior.
“I don’t want you to screw up your friendship, just to protect me. Don’t worry about me, I can handle Damien.” Andy smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He stopped abruptly and I found we were in front of Caroline’s bedroom, the door closed.
“Well, this is my stop,” I said and ducked out from under Andy’s arm. He wrapped me up in a bear hug and I didn’t hesitate to hug him back. He was so warm and soft.
“Like I’ve said, I just care. I don’t want you hurt…. Love you Marley.” He said into my hair and I smiled and squeezed him tighter.
“Don’t worry, I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. I promise. And if I ever need anything, I’ll call you. I love you too Andy.” I replied. He hugged me tighter before releasing me and leaving back the way we had come.
I gave a small knock on the door. “Caroline? It’s Marley.”
“Come in!” She cheered from the other side. I opened the door and entered the room, engulfed in Caroline’s loving and motherly nature.