Prologue
June 2013
Julie sat in her wheelchair studying her reflection wondering if she was making the biggest mistake of her life. At eighteen she was fresh out of high school with no future. As a child she had lost her legs and arms in a horrifying accident that left her scarred both physically and emotionally. Her life had been bleak and the chances of it improving were zero. Until Alex entered her life.
Alex, her neighbor, was forty-two, divorced, and with a daughter in college. He too was scarred emotionally after his divorce. Perhaps that was why, despite their gap in age, they had connected. When he talked to her and looked at her there was none of the pity and repulsiveness Julie had grown used to. They shared a common love of reading and even liked some of the same authors. Despite her disability he had taken her camping - first in his backyard and then to an actual park. He never let her use her physical limitations as an excuse to avoid something.
Their friendship blossomed into love. He had given her her first kiss at Christmas. Two days after her eighteenth birthday she had given him her virginity.
Now, sitting here in a wedding dress, she was about to give him her life. Why was she so scared? Alex was her true love. Her soul mate. When he looked at her she saw her feelings reflected. When he said "I love you" it made her melt.
They had eloped. It had been Julie's idea, and Alex reluctantly agreed when he saw she was not going to budge. Normally he did not relent to her stubbornness. He had wanted to have a small wedding closer to home and invite their family and friends. Julie only wanted the two of them.
For being the happiest day of her life, the wedding sped past. One moment she was in the little room waiting for the ceremony to begin, the next Alex was lifting her into his van while being showered with bird seed to the cheers of the strangers who happened to be there.
At the cabin they had reserved for their honeymoon Alex carried her in and deposited her on the sofa.
"Shouldn't you carry me into the bedroom? It would be more romantic in their."
He laughed. "I have to get our suitcases."
She stretched out, pulled her wedding dress up, and parted her legs. They were amputated just above the knees, and her thighs were clad in opaque white stockings to conceal the scars. She gave him a clear view of her womanly charms.
"Are you sure you want to wait?"
"I left the van doors open. I'll be right back." He darted out the door and returned a moment later carrying two suitcases and breathing hard.
"Now..." He said and dropped onto the sofa next to her. "Let me kiss my beautiful wife."
She wrapped her right arm his neck. It was amputated just above the wrist while her left arm was amputated just above the elbow. Her wedding dress was a rather plain, short sleeve gown.
Their lips met. She tasted banana on his lips from the snack they shared along the way. He smelled of sweat and... there was another smell that she associated as him - a mixture of the body wash he used, his deodorant, and some other physical scent. It was intoxicating.
"Do you love me," Julie asked breathlessly when their lips parted.
"I love you more than anything in this world."
She smiled. "I will never get tired of hearing that."
"Then I will tell you every hour."
She laughed. "I'll hold you to that." Her look turned mischievous. "Would you like to open your wedding gift?"
Alex looked surprised. "I thought we weren't buying gifts."
She wiggled back and spread her arms. "I'm your gift. And you can unwrap me if you want."
Alex scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom. He placed her gently on the bed and sat next to her. She twisted so he could unzip the back of her gown, which he did very slowly. Beneath the dress she wore a white satin corset bought recently. When the gown was completely unzipped he pushed it open slightly and placed his warm lips on her shoulders.
"You are so beautiful..."
A shiver ran through her as his lips made a warm, damp trail from one shoulder to the other. His fingers traced the top of her corset slowly as if to enjoy the sensation of her skin. By the time he stopped kissing and caressing her, Julie was breathing hard.
Her body ached for him. Needed him. Wanted him. It was such a strong sensation like hunger or thirst. It took all her willpower not to turn and fling herself atop him and impale her body on his shaft. Instead she sat there waiting to see what he would do to her next.
Alex's fingers pushed the gown the rest of the way from her shoulders and let it fall around her waist leaving her corset exposed from the wait up. The cups of the corset concealed her breasts completely. During puberty her breasts had not grown to more than small bumps. What there was of them was crisscrossed with scars, and they were not identical in shape. In short, they were ugly lumps attached to her chest. The corset also concealed the myriad of scars that covered her back. By some miracle her face had been spared any marks.
When she and Alex made love she always insisted on wearing some form of top, and she only permitted him to see her breasts when they made love at night. Now, on their honeymoon, she was going to show him everything, and the thought made her stomach twist.
A sigh escaped her lips, and she felt the tension slowly melt as his hands reached up to cup her cheeks. If he only touched her face the rest of her life she would die a very happy person. As his warm hands caressed her his lips resumed their tasting of her shoulders. The longing she felt grew.
Alex moved and gently gripped her shoulders and guided her onto her back. Alex stretched out next to her resting his head in his hand and running a finger along the curves of her face.
"Your eyes are so beautiful. Like little sapphires."
She blushed even though he had told her the same before.
His finger traced her nose.
"I have never seen a nose so perfectly shaped. It is the perfectly sized and curved."
He ran a finger along her lips. "And these... These are the most luscious and wonderful lips in the world."
Suddenly she snapped at his finger and bit it. Julie giggled as he jerked his finger back to look at it.
"You're awful!"
Julie grinned. "That's not what you normally say when we're in bed."