Substitute Bride; My Husband's Mistakes

Chapter 4

CELINE:

Jace and I arrived at a magnificent white house after we had finished two bottles of champagne in the car. I was intoxicated and mumbling incoherent words.

Jace wasn't drunk, so he carried me, and I heard him whisper in my ear, "This is so unlike you, babe. You got drunk from just two bottles, and you normally finish up to five in a day without getting drunk."

"What?!" I gasped in his arms, laughing, and I reminded myself to behave well—not knowing I said it out loud.

"I have to be my sister, you know, trying to mimic her now that she isn't around. I miss her so much," I said.

Jace looked at my face as he brought me into the hotel room he wanted us to use for our honeymoon.

"Why not take me home?" I asked him, and he smiled.

"We are home already. Seems like you are too drunk. We are in our house. My room, which is now our bedroom." Jace gently placed me on the bed, and I thought he was taking me to a hotel for our honeymoon.

"I thought," I hiccupped, "I thought you were taking me to a hotel for us to have our honeymoon."

I lay on the bed, too dizzy to sit up.

Jace rose and stripped off his white shirt as I tried to act sober and not drunk.

"Yes," he said, taking off his trousers. "We had our reception there at the hotel, but you know I am a titled man and a politician, which I told you about. So I cannot camp there as you wish. I love my privacy, and that's why I brought you home."

Jace sat on the bed and helped me take off my shoes. I could feel the soft touch of his palms on my feet, gently removing my shoes, and he spoke to me softly.

"It's our wedding night, Clara. I know how much you desired for this night to arrive." Jace's excited voice filled my ears as he dropped my shoes aside.

Seriously, I had no idea what my twin sister and her fiancé had done. Had they been intimate before? I didn't know, and I was nervous about it.

"Clara," Jace brought his face closer to mine, and I inhaled his earthy scent that made me feel so relaxed and gave me assurance that I was safe.

"What are you thinking about? Are you asleep? You don't have to fall asleep yet—the night is just getting started. Wait, let me prepare your bath and help you out of this wedding dress." Jace rose from the bed, and I was so nervous.

*Help me out of my wedding dress?* I pondered as it dawned on me what might happen next.

"Wait. I can do that myself." I tried to sit up, but my intoxicated self rolled away on the bed like a leaf that had lost its value.

I couldn't even sit, and I blamed myself for drinking so much alcohol when I could have told Jace I don't like wine, not to mention champagne.

I had tasted it before when I saw my twin sister using it like a bottle of water on most celebration days. Clara popped several bottles of champagnes and drank them like it was water, and yet I couldn't withstand two glasses.

"There you are," Jace's voice reached me, and I felt his hand move to my back to strip off my white dress.

"Jace, can we not have s*x tonight?" I asked him, and he froze at my inquiry.

"Why? But you have always wanted us to have s*x. Why not tonight?" Jace sounded so disappointed, and I swallowed hard.

'Should I tell him I am not Clara, his real wife?'

"I don't know. I am just shy," I told him. Honestly, I haven't had s*x. I was too decent and waiting for the right time, as I was mostly busy with my bakery shop.

I had kissed Martin Enzo and engaged in several foreplays with him, but we hadn't had s*x—like actually doing the do.

"Clara, I don't know why you're so anxious tonight. You have always wanted me to sleep with you, and now that it's the right time, you want us to take a break? Well, no, because we have to make babies, and I am not getting any younger. It won't affect your modeling career, okay? Since Celine, your twin sister, has traveled to help you, don't you think now is the right time for you and I to have a baby?" Jace kissed my lips as he queried me, and I was speechless.

"No, Martin. I mean, Jace—"

Jace's face darkened in rage, and he asked me, "Who is Martin? Are you cheating on me, Clara? Is that why you wanted us to postpone the wedding—because you have another man?"

Jace moved away from me on the bed, sounding hurt, and I immediately told him, "No, Jace. Please, don't get me wrong. I am sorry. It was a slip of the tongue. You know I am drunk."

Jace sighed and came back to me. "Fine, just relax. Let me help you have your bath."

I was silent, watching Jace help me undress. Then he carried me up from the bed and took me to the bathroom to wash me.

"Jace," I called his name, intoxicated, and he replied hoarsely, "Yes, my love."

"You can call me hubby. When did you start calling me by my name?" Jace asked as he rubbed the liquid soap and wet sponge over my unclad body.

"Huh," I gasped as I felt the water splash on my head. My eyes widened, and I looked at him in shock, seeing him in only his black shorts.

I swiftly looked away, and Jace laughed and said, "Honestly, Clara, you are confusing me with your behavior. Haven't you seen me naked several times? Why are you acting so shy?"

"Oh no." I knew Jace would find out once he discovered I am not the real woman he desired to marry.

"You surprised me today. First with your behavior, secondly with your body."

"My body?" I asked him nervously as he bathed my hands and looked at my face.

"Yeah. You seem more chubby, and your breasts look bigger and fuller. Or are my eyes deceiving me? I cannot wait to suck on them." Jace said, and I looked away, my face flushed.

Jace helped me have my bath and switched on the shower. Once he was done bathing me, he carefully assisted me out of the bathtub and said, "Wait for me on the bed. I cannot wait to r****h you tonight."