Dusk

by Romig, Aleatha

  I looked at my watch as I sat the large box I’d brought on the new sofa. It was nearly eight in the morning, the morning of our wedding.

  I supposed if I’d given my wedding much thought, I’d imagined one day having a ceremony in a church, the pews filled with family. Part of me feared that Lorna had imagined the same thing. With the way our life was, that wasn’t an option.

  The day we planned was less festive—yet the outcome would be the same.

  Last week we’d gone with the protection of Sparrows and applied for our marriage license. A small fee was all it took. Today, with the same bodyguards, the two of us will make our trip to the Cook County Marriage and Civil Union Court.

  Retrieving the long white box, I made my way to our bedroom and pushed open the door. This room was still as it had been the first time I’d snuck my fiancée into my bed. It would take time to make the entire apartment ours. What we’d done in this room to make our future ours didn’t include decor. It was the time we’d spent as one, the hours spent holding her as she contemplated love and loss, and the nights we’d talked until the sun rose.

  I laid the box down on the unmade bed as I walked toward the attached bathroom. The door was slightly ajar, but my steps stuttered, wondering if this was a good time for me to interrupt. As I came to a stop on the threshold, the door opened, pulling inward as Lorna looked up at me.

  Wrapped in a fluffy towel, the dew of a recent shower upon her alabaster skin, as water dripped over her shoulders and her red tresses hung in damp curls, she was the absolutely most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. A smile came to my lips as I reached for her left hand. The ring I hadn’t had when I proposed glistened in the bathroom light. With a simple platinum band and a six-point setting, the two-carat diamond was similar to my future wife, not overdone but simply stunning.

  I lifted her hand to my lips and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. “I hope you haven’t changed your mind.”

  Her lips curled upward and her green eyes shone. “About what?”

  Unable to keep my hands to myself, I reached for her waist and lifted her to the vanity. Working my way closer still, I moved between her knees as she leaned back upon the counter. It was the perfect view, seeing her front before me and her back in the reflection. Taking the edge of the towel in my grip, I gently eased the hem away and let the towel fall.

  “Reid,” she said, her gaze fixed on me. “Isn’t this bad luck, seeing a bride on her wedding day?”

  I took a step back to better see.

  I scanned her freshly showered body, now completely bare. From her freshly painted toenails to her wet hair, Lorna was spectacular in an uncomplicated way. She didn’t need makeup or expensive dresses. Her smile could light up a room, her voice a song, and her touch was like that of a master artist bringing not only vibrant color but also a settling hue.

  “Is it bad luck to fuck the bride-to-be?” I lifted my eyebrows. “I mean, it’s my last chance to make love to Lorna Pierce.”

  She sat forward, her knees still spread, and reached for my neck, pulling me toward her. “I don’t know. Are you going to fuck me or make love?”

  With her question, my circulation rerouted. “Lorna, I didn’t come back here for that.” She peppered my neck with kisses as she untucked my shirt and began to pull it over my head. “I-I came to give you something.”

  Lorna leaned back, her fingers roaming my abs, her firm round breasts and tight pink nipples on display. “Then give it to me. I don’t care. Fuck me. Make love to me. I need to know you’re here. I want to feel you inside me. I want to know that’s where you belong. And I belong with you.”

  “Fuck.” The word rumbled off the tile and chrome like thunder before a storm.

  Leaving the towel behind, I slid my arms around her, one behind her back and the other under her knees. She was light as a feather as I carried her back to the bedroom and laid her upon the bed.

  “What’s that?” she asked, seeing the box.

  “It can wait.”

  A wide smile broke across her face as I reached for my belt. Within seconds, I was dressed the same as she. In other words, we were equally undressed. Lorna lay back, lifting her arms as I climbed slowly up her body. Inch by inch, I kissed and nipped her ankles, knees, and thighs, until I found my way to her core. The wetness from her shower was mostly gone, but as my tongue delved between her folds, new wetness was found.

  Her hips bucked as I took my time, sucking and teasing. With one hand I held her in place as her legs tied me in a vise. Her moans and whimpers filled our bedroom. It was right as she was on the edge, as I felt her legs grow stiff, that I moved higher. Leaving her warm, wet pussy, I found each of her perfect breasts. They were barely a handful and perfect. I could worship them for hours. The way her nipples tightened and areolas darkened was like a jolt to my dick.

  Lorna’s receptiveness was a drug to my libido. I wanted to see how far I could take her, to what new height. It was as if each time we were together, I needed to see if I could elicit more, because more for her was also more for me.

  “Reid.”

  My name echoed off the walls.

  A deep kiss of her lips and I found my place. Centered at her entrance, I watched her gorgeous face as I pushed my way deeper. The way her back arched, her neck stretched, and her lips opened to the perfect “o” kept me going. Her body quivered as I sank deeper. Her pussy contracted, tightening, yet her essence bid my entry.

  “I’ll never get tired of how fucking good it feels to be inside you.”

  Green eyes peered up at me, shimmering in the morning light coming from our open curtains. “Good, because I’m loving the way it feels to have you there.”

  “I want to make love.”

  Her smile grew. “I think that’s what this is.”

  I lifted my chest above her, my arms on both sides of her beautiful face. “No, Lorna. Tonight, when we’re Mr. and Mrs. Murray, I plan to fuck you. All night. But right now, I want to make love to you. I want you to know how fucking much I adore you, how much I know this is right. You and me. We’re right.”

  Lorna wiggled beneath me, making me unbelievably harder. “Make love to me. And tonight, I’ll be ready.”

  I did.

  Time passed without notice.

  Our bodies covered with perspiration as the temperature between us grew. It wasn’t an explosion, but a simmering inferno, the slow and steady flame that provides life. If I could ask for anything it would be that the comfort we shared, the pleasure we both gave and received, that those qualities would never fade, that on our fiftieth anniversary we would feel the way we did right now.

  Over and over Lorna found ecstasy and more than once I did too. We were different in many ways and yet we fit together like I’d never known. Perhaps it was the contrast, the sheer beauty in my dark skin against her light, my girth to her petite frame, or my deep, guttural growls to her soft mewing, that made our union feel so right.

  Or maybe it was as I’d said—we were simply meant to be.

  In the entire universe, we were meant for one another. The stars aligned the night we met. There was no other explanation and no course of action but for us to stay as one.

  It was true we’d both experienced life’s ups and down. Lorna wasn’t my first and I wasn’t hers. That didn’t matter. What mattered was that we would be each other’s last. For the rest of our lives, for eternity to come, we were meant to be with one another.

  Straddling me, Lorna’s back arched again as she came undone. With a satisfied sigh, she collapsed upon my chest, our bodies still linked.

  “I hear your heart,” she said, her cheek against my chest.

  “What is it saying?”

  “It’s saying if we plan to make it to our appointment at the court, we need to get dressed.”

  I lifted my arm to see my watch. “Shit. The car is coming in less than an hour.”

  Reid

  Nine years ago

  “Shit,” I said again before lifting he
r face, her cheeks flush from our activity. “Sweetheart, have you eaten?”

  Her gaze glistened. “Not food.”

  She eased off of me. “I need to shower again.”

  “Shit.” The word seemed to be foremost in my vocabulary. “The car will be here.”

  Lorna sat up on the bed beside me and looked down at the floor. “Are you going to tell me what that is?”

  “Oh.” I hurried off the bed and lifted the box, straightening its lid and the bow. “It’s something for you.”

  She peered my way suspiciously. “Reid, we said no wedding gifts.”

  “It’s not a gift.”

  Her chin came up as she giggled. It was a beautiful sound. One I wanted to hear over and over. “I think it was the big bow that might have thrown me off.”

  I pushed it closer. “Okay, it’s a gift. But it’s not a wedding gift.”

  “I see. It’s a gift on our wedding day...but not a—”

  “Jesus, woman, will you just open it?”

  Her smile sparkled as she loosened the bow. It didn’t seem to matter that we were both still completely naked or that we’d recently completed a marathon lovemaking session. We were two people completely comfortable in one another’s presence.

  When she lifted the lid, her gaze came to me. “It’s a big box.”

  “I’ve heard size is important.”

  Lorna’s eyes scanned me up and down. As she made her way up to my eyes, she said, “Not as important as skill. But when you have both, it’s the best combination.” She looked back into the large box and pulled away the tissue paper. “Oh, Reid.”

  When she looked up, her green eyes were glassy.

  “It’s not supposed to make you cry.”

  Lorna reached in and pulled the ivory dress from the box. It was satin, and designed to fit only her. I’d found her measurements from the time Mason had arranged a special dress for her, the night we’d met.

  “I hope it fits. I know this isn’t a real wedding, not with a church or any of that, but I wanted you to...well, I guess, I thought...”

  Lorna climbed to her knees and scooted to the edge of the bed until she was right in front of me. She lifted her arms to my shoulders. “It is a real wedding. We’re getting married. And this is beautiful. I was debating on what I even had to wear with my grandmother’s necklace. I figured it wasn’t important, not with everything that is happening and has happened.”

  Palming her cheeks, I gave her a kiss. “You are always the most important. I know me and I know my work. If I ever forget that, I want you to remind me.”

  Lorna nodded. “I will.” She crawled off the bed. “Now go. I have no time to get ready.”

  “In a few hours it will be official.” I reached for her hand and took one last look at all of her. “You will be mine, forever.”

  “Well, unless you want me to go to the court nude, you better let me get ready.”

  I walked to the closet and grabbed my suit from a hanger and my shoes from the rack. “I’ll get ready in one of the other bedrooms. I’m making you a sandwich.”

  “And a cup of coffee,” she called as she hurried back into the bathroom.

  Half an hour later, I paced by the breakfast bar where a turkey sandwich and cup of coffee waited. Every few seconds, I turned toward the hallway, wishing for Lorna’s entrance. Every other second, I checked the clock.

  I sent another text to the capo whom I’d chosen to drive us.

  We had another four canvassing the courthouse waiting for our arrival.

  Things were still hot with a few of the remaining old Sparrow guard. And then there were the issues with the McFadden outfit. I wasn’t taking a chance for anything to ruin my wedding day.

  My phone buzzed with a text message.

  “NEED YOU ON 1.”

  “What the fuck?”

  The text message was from Sparrow.

  Instead of texting back, I hit the call button. I didn’t wait for him to say hello. “I’m not available.”

  “Fuck that,” he said. “Sparrow comes first. McFadden just pulled some shit, and we need you down here. I need you to access their communication.”

  Communication?

  “Fine,” I said, trying to keep my voice low. “It can wait until we get back. Our appointment is in forty minutes. The car is waiting.”

  “No, the car isn’t. You’re needed here. Come down to 1 and bring Lorna.” The phone went dead.

  I continued to stare at my phone, expecting something—anything.

  Heat rose under my collar as my heart beat in double time. This was beyond what I expected from even Sparrow. My jaw clenched. There was nothing that couldn’t wait. “Fuck him.”

  I began to text our ride when I heard footsteps coming from the hallway.

  I looked up as my breath caught in my chest.

  Standing at the end of the hallway was a goddess.

  I began at the top of her head. Her red curls were pulled up into a twist with small curls near her cheeks. In her hair was a hairpiece made of tiny ivory satin flowers that had been with the dress. She wore more makeup than normal, but not too much. Her eyes were striking and her lips pink. Around her neck was a simple string of pearls. They were her grandmother’s and she’d said she would wear them. The dress I’d chosen fit like a glove, the neckline showed just a hint of the round breasts I knew were there. It accentuated her trim waist, and flowed in what the saleswoman called a straight skirt that landed asymmetrically near her calves. Whatever, she was dazzling.

  On her feet were matching ivory shoes, the kind that showed the tips of her toes.

  When I looked back up, she was staring my way. “So?”

  I laid my phone on the counter. “You’re beautiful.” It was woefully insufficient, yet it was simply the truth. No, it went further. She wasn’t just beautiful. She was the most beautiful bride anywhere since the dawn of time.

  Lorna stretched her neck as she scanned me and my suit. It was the one I’d worn the night we met except I’d exchanged the tie for an ivory one, to match her. “You’re very handsome yourself.” She looked past me. “Who were you talking to?”

  I forced a smile. “No one. Come on, our car is waiting.”

  It had better fucking be waiting.

  When we entered the elevator, I hit G for garage. The doors closed and the elevator moved, stopping too soon, on floor 1. Floor 1 was the Sparrow floor where others were allowed. Capos came there to make reports. Deliveries were made there. It was secure, but not as secure as 2 or the apartments or penthouse.

  I knew that it was possible to redirect the elevator. I just thought it wouldn’t happen to me.

  “What’s happening?” Lorna asked.

  I took a deep breath. “Nothing. This will just take a minute.”

  When the doors opened, Patrick was waiting. He looked as he always did, wearing a gray suit. That meant nothing. If he wasn’t in pajamas, he wore a suit. The man didn’t understand casual wear.

  I didn’t speak to him. I sent my message in the form of daggers flying from my dark gaze.

  “It will only take a minute,” Patrick said apologetically. “I’ll wait with Lorna.” He turned his eyes on her. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thank you. Um, I’m sorry you couldn’t come. I guess Mr. Sparrow doesn’t want too many of you in one place.”

  I let out a breath. “Where the fuck is he?”

  “Conference room four,” Patrick said as he continued his conversation with Lorna.

  I turned on my heels, a million thoughts racing through my mind. The first was my resignation. I believed in everything Sparrow stood for, but I wouldn’t, I couldn’t allow him to undermine the one part of my life he couldn’t control. If Sparrow couldn’t handle that separation, then I couldn’t handle our connection.

  I reached for the door handle on conference room four, not thinking about its size. It was where large meetings were held. We had conference rooms of all sizes. Four was the largest. As the door opened,
I stopped.

  I wasn’t an emotional man. One didn’t do what we did, live through what we’d done, and wear emotions on his sleeve. But at this moment, words failed me as the room blurred.

  Quickly, I blinked away the moisture as I took in the room.

  The conference table was gone. Chairs lined both sides in sets of two. There weren’t a lot present, but the ones that were there were filled. I recognized faces. There was Dr. Renita Dixon and her husband. Jana and her husband, Keaton and his husband, and Marianne and her partner were present. Apart from the doctor, they were our crew on most flights and their significant others. There were also others present who were considered trusted in the Sparrow organization.

  At the front of the room, along with flowers and candles, was Sparrow, dressed as he did for Michigan Avenue. He wore a dark suit and tie.

  I made my way to the front of the room. “I was about ready to tell you to shove—”

  Sparrow stopped my word with a sad smile and a shake of his head. “I don’t give a fuck how you want to be married. But his sister deserves better than some sorry-ass courtroom.” He turned to the man at his side. “Reid Murray, this is Judge Bronson.”

  I’d never met Judge Edward Bronson, but I was aware of him and his affiliation to Sparrow. He was a federal judge, a bit above performing weddings. Instead of saying that, I offered my hand. “Thank you, Your Honor.”

  “I’m assuming you have your license?”

  I tapped my suit coat. “I do. We filed last week.”

  “That’s all we need.”

  Someone near the door hit a switch and killed half the lights. The change made the candles in the front glow as music came from some unknown source. The guests stood.

  And then the door opened.

  I took a deep breath as Lorna came forward, escorted by my friend Patrick.

  In her grasp was a bouquet of flowers. Unlike her dress, it was made up of an array of brightly colored flowers. I hadn’t thought of a bouquet. I didn’t know if it was Sparrow or Patrick, but whoever chose the arrangement, chose perfectly.