“I’m her boyfriend…” I stopped when she began to shake her head no.
“We need next of kin, honey. That isn’t enough.”
I wanted to tell her to fuck off, but Trent stepped up and took over. He gave the information needed and promised to get the rest. Emily hadn’t taken her bag in, so I knew all of her information was still in the car. I’d get that later.
“Give me your keys; I’ll get her purse,” Trent said when I explained where her bag was. The paramedic wanted Emily’s insurance information.
I handed the keys to Emily’s brother and looked down at the mother of my child.
“The baby? How’s the baby?”
“The what?” Trent was suddenly back and glaring at me fiercely.
“She’s pregnant. With my baby. Your niece or nephew.”
“Fuck. I hope she’s okay then.” His face blanched, and fear crept across his face. “Well, I mean, I want her to be okay anyway, but if she’s pregnant too, fuck, this is bad.”
That didn’t help my situation, but I didn’t say anything else. I just stood there, looking down at the beautiful woman I wanted to wake up. She wouldn’t, though, no matter how I stroked blood and soot away from her face. She was still, almost lifeless.
Another ambulance arrived then, and she was rushed into the back of the vehicle. Trent had made it back in time to hand over her insurance card and gave me back the keys.
“Which hospital is she going to?” I called into the back of the ambulance, and when the paramedic called back, I looked over at Trent.
“Meet you there?”
“You know it, brother.” In an instant, the enmity fell away, and I was part of the family. “You want me to drive you?”
“That might be best. My hands are shaking.”
I didn’t want to admit it, but I was terrified.
“No problem. I’ll have Jessi drive your car over. That shaking from stress or the other?”
Trent didn’t have to say what the other was. We both knew what he meant.
“Stress, man. Look, I’ll ask your dad later, but you’re the de facto head of this family since your dad retired, so I’ll ask you. May I marry your sister?”
He nearly drove us off the road, but he soon corrected and had us right behind the ambulance Emily was in again. “Of course. If that’s what she wants.”
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it. But, this?” I held my hands out in the direction of the ambulance. “If she survives this, then that’s what I hope to do. Make her my wife and build a life with her.”
“It’s a tough decision to reach for men like us.” Trent nodded, and I could hear him sigh. “I fought against my feelings for Jessi for decades, man. I know what it’s like. But if you love my sister, then I’m happy to give me blessing. You should still ask my dad, though.”
He winked over at me and refocused on the road.
The hospital was just as chaotic as the place we’d just left. People in medical uniforms rushed around, while people waited in the waiting area. Gurneys were pushed into an open waiting area, and I saw nothing but madness. After a minute, I started to see some direction in that chaos, and a doctor soon came to check Emily over.
“Right, get her down to radiology. Get a line running, what are her vitals?” The doctor paused while a nurse called the numbers out. “Alright. Radiology, now.”
He stopped and looked up at Trent and I, a short elderly man with a shock of white hair, dressed in blue scrubs. His green eyes were bright, observant, and capable looking as he started to ask questions.
“What happened to her? I heard there was a stampede at that place. Was she involved in that? From the multiple contusions and the injuries along her body, I’d guess that’s what happened.”
“I don’t know, she wasn’t with me when the explosions started. She was with her friend.”
Roxie. I’d forgotten about Roxie. I wasn’t about to leave Emily’s side, however. “Trent, can you get somebody to find out about Roxie? I know she’s your sister, man, but I just can’t leave her.”
“You bet. I’ll step outside for a minute.”
“Okay, I need to check others while we get some tests done on her. Oh, and the baby appears to be fine right now, sir.”
“Good.” I felt relief flood through me, but then noticed he’d said, ‘for now’. She wasn’t totally out of the woods in that department then.
Hours later the stream of victims had slowed, and people had either been treated or sent home, or admitted like Emily had. She had woken up, to our relief, but she’d soon fallen asleep again. There wasn’t much they could give her for the pain. Her body was covered in painful bruises that would be deep purple before it was over, and she’d needed stitches in her head, but there were no fractures, as the doctor had feared, and little Caroline/Charlie was doing just fine.
“Dylan? The baby?” she asked when she woke up, her eyes full of tears. “How’s the baby?”
“It’s fine, Emily. You just rest, darling. All is well.” The beautiful eyes I loved more than any others in the world closed and slept again in seconds.
I faced her mom and dad, both in the room with us.
“It might not be the right time for this, but I want to ask her as soon as she wakes up. May I have your permission to marry your daughter?”
“Well, now, you’re Emily’s first boyfriend I think…” Her father started, but his younger bride hushed him up quickly, on the other side of her bed.
“Hush now, honey. This is what Emily needs, what she wants, and you’d be a fool to deny her that. In fact, here … I want you to use my engagement ring, please. She always loved to play with it when she was a little girl, and it’s only right she has it now.”
I looked down at the chunk of diamond she handed me and blinked. It was far from a cheap diamond and would have been gaudy if it hadn’t been so beautiful. A little bit like Emily’s mom, I guessed. The woman had on a bright blue sheath dress, and her hair and makeup were impeccable, even at this time of night.
I nodded and ducked my face away. At least they hadn’t mentioned the fact that I’d had Emily at a sex club masquerading as a strip club. They were grownups, and so were we, so nobody mentioned it.
Jessi came in with Roxie a little while later. She’d spent hours looking for Emily and when Jessi found her, she’d been inconsolable, or so Jessi told me later. “Emily?”
Her voice shook as she came in, and I moved away to let her stand next to Emily. “Baby, oh please wake up and tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m fine, Roxie. Did you bring me ginger ale?” Emily said, sleepily, and I laughed.
“Girl, I’ve spent hours looking for you! You’d better wake up and tell me you’re okay, properly!” Roxie’s tears fell on the pale skin of Emily’s hand, clenched in her own.
“What?” Emily opened her eyes and looked up at us all. “What’s going on? Why are you all in my bedroom?”
“Because you’re in the hospital, darling, not the bed at home.” I stood closer, next to Roxie, and looked down at her. “If you wouldn’t mind, would you give me the honor of marrying me?”
Everybody in the room, except for Emily and I, laughed at my outburst. I didn’t care if they thought it was funny or not. All I could see was her surprise and the happiness in her eyes when she said yes.
Emily
“My God, Emily. It’s gorgeous,” Roxie breathed the words as I turned around, my wedding dress on full display.
“Thank you.” I looked at the long sheath I now had on and beamed. It was sexy, but innocent, perfect for me. It fit me perfectly.
“I can’t believe this,” Mom said, and I turned to her to see tears in her eyes.
“Mom? Why are you crying?”
“Because my little girl is getting married, silly; why else would I be crying? You’re beautiful baby.” She held Caroline, my daughter in her arms, a far cry from the woman I’d grown up with. After my trip to the hospital both of my parents had suddenly
decided that they needed to be in my life far more.
They’d helped me while I was pregnant and were always on hand to act as grandparents to my sweet little three-month-old daughter.
“Why did you wait so long to get married?” Jessi asked, and I turned to her.
“I wanted Caroline here, and then, I needed to lose the baby weight. It didn’t matter to Dylan, but I knew we’d have to look at those pictures forever, so I waited.” Dylan would have married me before we even left the hospital that night, but I’d wanted to have Caroline in the pictures; I wanted her to be part of the whole thing. She was a product of what led to our wedding, after all.
“I love you, gorgeous.” I could barely lean over but managed to place a kiss on top of her head. When I stood, I looked at the group of women around me. “Are we ready?”
“Yes, it’s time,” Roxie spoke up. “Let me get your train.”
It wasn’t very long, but I knew she was happy to be the maid of honor.
The Galia Lahav gown had cap sleeves and was a high-necked mermaid dress that I wanted to spend the rest of my life in. It showed off every curve perfectly, and the chapel train was perfect for the outdoor wedding we’d planned at the edge of the beach of Dylan’s Myrtle Beach resort. The dress was decorated with lace and had strategic panels cutout, but it wasn’t gaudy; it was just sparkly and glistening goodness that I absolutely adored.
I marched down the red carpet set up outside, my dad on one side, and Trent on the other, despite convention. I’d wanted them both to give me away, and they’d agreed. I barely noticed the two hundred white chairs that fell away behind me, or the people in them; I just saw Dylan, in a soft, dark gray tux, and Roxie by his side with Caroline in his arms. Mason stood in as his best man, since Trent had walked me down the aisle, and I saw Laura beaming with pride on the first row, their new baby boy in her arms. Little Mason the second.
He was only a few months older than Caroline, so I hoped they’d grow up inseparable friends. I looked at Dylan through my veil, a similar lace to my dress, and tried to blink away the tears when he lifted the panel that covered my face. Fuck, I hadn’t realized how emotional that would make me.
I swiped at the tear that fell and beamed at him. “Hi.”
“Hi there, beautiful.”
“We can do this.”
“We can do anything together, my dear. Come now, let’s get married.”
The rest was a blur until we kissed. That was when reality set in. I now had a thin gold band on my hand, all I’d wanted, and a husband kissing the world away. He’d wanted something finer, but I told him all I needed was him, and the chance to wear a pretty extravagant dress. And the chance to call him husband, of course. I didn’t need a ring that cost more than some people made in a lifetime. I needed a thin gold band and a simple promise that he was mine, now and forever.
The guests cheered and I kissed his adoptive parents, thanked them for taking care of the man that I married, and for coming, and moved on as the crowd swept us along. Only, this time, instead of falling, I made it to the reception area that had been set up for our party. I found Caroline in my arms and a laugh on my lips.
“Oh, this is wonderful, Dylan. It was all I never dared to dream.” I kissed him all over again as waiters brought food around to our guests.
“Well, my dear, from now on, no regrets, right? From the night we met, until now, I’ve had no regrets, and that’s how I plan to live the rest of our lives.” He kissed then grinned.
I couldn’t wait for the moment he took the dress off of me, but it could wait. We had become used to waiting, and to be honest, finding little moments for some alone time had become almost a game that I really enjoyed. He was mine, and that was all that mattered.
We danced the night away, together, and with our family and friends. Roxie and Nathan came to take Caroline, her godchild, to bed, and Dylan and I quietly slipped away. We would leave in the morning for a honeymoon in Iceland. An odd choice, but when we talked about it, Dylan reminded me of the place I’d told him I always wanted to go. We’d made the arrangements. For tonight, Roxie and Nathan would keep Caroline for us, but tomorrow, we were going to jet off to an unknown land.
Right now, I just wanted to fall into bed with Dylan.
He pulled up against me as we rode the elevator up to the penthouse. I looked up at him. “Hello there, husband.”
“Oh? No more sir?” he asked with a teasing glint in his eyes.
“If you’d like, of course, but I kind of like the sound of husband.” I smirked up at him, and he ended the conversation with a kiss that took my breath away. My hair had been piled up on my head, but his fingers pushed pins out left and right.
Neither of us cared, we just kissed until the ride up was done. Then, hand in hand, he took me to our bedroom. With careful ease he undid every single button on my dress, until it fell to the floor. With strong arms Dylan picked me up and carried me to the bed.
My strapless bra soon disappeared, and the silk panties, the pair that he loved so much, only in bridal white, disappeared. He left the garter belt and the stockings on, though, I noted. “Like those, do you?”
“I do. It’s so sensual.” His fingers ran down my thighs to open them.
The hard ridge in his pants pressed into my center, and I wanted to feel him against my skin. I couldn’t believe he still made me feel so weak, even after all of this time. “I think you need to get naked now, Dylan.”
“As you wish, my dear,” he whispered as I slid my hand down, ready to cup him in my palm. He tried to stop me, but I got up from the bed.
“As you wish, sir. Let me.” I knelt beside him on the floor and used practiced fingers to remove his belt and slide down his zipper.
I looked up into his eyes as I pulled his cock from his pants. He pushed the pants down, and I pulled them away to throw them. They landed on the pile that was my wedding dress.
“Mm, I have waited all day for this,” I whispered with wet lips along his shaft, before I sucked the thick head into my mouth. I loved doing this to him. The tight, silky skin was an addiction my tongue couldn’t give up.
I ignored his moan even if it sent a shiver of excitement through me. I moaned to let him know I was there with him and eager for whatever he wanted to do.
“You fuck my head up so much, Emily.” His words, an accusation, were said with a gentle, pleased tone. I knew he liked how I fucked his head up, and he wouldn’t give it up for anything.
“I hope to fuck all of you before the night’s over, Dylan, not just your head,” I said with a sultry tone before I took all of him, until he stretched even my throat. It had taken some practice, but I’d learned to take all of him.
His hips thrust forward, and I felt him slide a little further down my throat; his gasp of pleasure a harsh sound. “That feels so fucking good, Emily.”
I’d reply, but I was too busy concentrating on him. I wanted to wring far more than that from him. I pushed his thighs further apart and settled a hand over him as I pulled up off of his dick. His thigh muscles were hard against my sides, muscles that he worked hard to maintain. There’d been no sign of a flare at all over the last year, and we lived in silent hope that it would stay that way.
I used every trick I’d learned since the day I met him to tease Dylan. I thought he’d push me off of him, but instead, he thrust deeper, faster, until it felt as if my lips had gone numb from the pace, and he slid between them over and over. My need built as he pressed faster into my mouth, and I knew that if he came down my throat, it wouldn’t be the end of this moment for us. We’d just been married. We had a lifetime to do this and so much more.
I squeezed my hand around him and felt him grow impossibly harder. I moaned around him, and he gasped and twisted above me, completely lost to how it felt to have me fuck him with my mouth.
“Are you wet, my sweet little wife?” he asked, his voice a harsh rasp that nearly made me get up off his dick to ride him. “You always did like blowing me like
this. It makes you so wet.
“From the way you’re gloating, I’d say you’re just as satisfied as I am with the process.” I narrowed my eyes and glared up at him. “But if you don’t stop talking and let me finish what I’m doing, I’m going to make you find out just how wet I am.”
“You know I’d be more than happy to do that.” He pulled me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he fell back on the bed.
Sometimes Dylan preferred to have me over him when he loved me like this, but today, I thought he wanted to feel the silk of my stockings against his face. I’d wanted to make him come in my mouth, but this was good too. We had forever, after all.
With eager but gentle fingers, he explored my silky skin while I propped myself up on my elbows to watch the show. I gasped when two long, thick fingers delved into me, just an exploration, though I wanted far more.
Dylan pulled the now slick fingers out of me, just as he slid his tongue along my throbbing clit. The fingers slid back in so slowly I wasn’t sure they moved, until he had them completely inside of me.
My hips surged from the bed, and my desire turned into an inferno. I couldn’t control myself and pressed my hips down to clench around his fingers, until he began to move the digits within me. The hot feel of his tongue against my sensitive skin nearly turned me inside out.
“Dylan. Fuck. Dylan!” I clenched at the duvet on the bed because I needed more. I needed him to make it all explode, somehow, someway. I knew he knew how to do it, he’d done it so very many times before.
Emotions flooded through me as I realized that he was my husband now, and it was okay to let him know just how much I loved him. Because he was more than just my husband; he was my love, and suddenly I wanted to burst with the weight of that love.
Instead, I came apart beneath him, around him. My body shook as his pace on me increased. The fingers inside of me stretched me, his tongue pressed into me faster, harder, and with a drive that pushed me over the edge. He knew what he was doing, he knew what he had caused within me, and I was sure I’d heard a gloating chuckle as my insides pulsed a wave of pleasure up to my brain.
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