Story of Love (Josh & Riley's Wedding Novella): Love in Bloom: The Bradens

by Melissa Foster

  “I love you, Riley June,” he said before taking his first taste of her sweetness, and then there was no holding back. He loved her with his mouth and hands, moving with her as she bucked and writhed, begging and digging her nails into his shoulders as he took her up, up, up, until she finally lost her last shred of control. She came hard and loud. Thank Christ they were a wing away from the others. He craved the way she gave herself over to him, surrendering to their passion without embarrassment. He moved up her body, kissing every inch of her hot flesh, lingering around her belly, taking pleasure in knowing that deep inside her their baby was growing. When they were eye to eye again, the head of his cock resting against her slick heat, he gazed into her eyes and his heart swelled to near bursting.

  “You are my life, baby. My love, my hopes, my dreams. My everything.”

  “Josh,” she whispered. “You’ve always been my everything.”

  As their mouths came together and their bodies became one, the chaos of the day faded away.

  Chapter Six

  FROM THEIR PERCH on a lounge chair on the patio of the suite in the east wing where Riley and Josh had made love into the wee hours of the morning, Josh watched the sun creep over the mountains and pulled the covers around Riley. She snuggled closer, twining her legs with his. After too few hours of sleep, they’d taken a warm bath together—their last as an unmarried couple—and had gathered pillows and blankets and gone outside to watch the sunrise. The air was crisp, bringing the scents of pine, dew, and love.

  Last night, when Riley had found out about her dress, she had been so edgy from the brownie madness, she hadn’t felt the full impact of her ruined wedding gown. But on their way out to the patio she’d taken a good long look at her dress, mourning the loss of the perfect gown she and Josh had designed together. Josh had held her while she cried, whispering memories they’d created while they were designing the dress, and she’d realized, it wasn’t the clean white skirt of the gown that had made the gown so perfect. It was the time they’d shared when designing it, the way they’d combined both of their ideas and poured their love into every aspect of the design process. It was heartbreaking for sure, but how upset could she really get over two sweet little boys trying to help her make her dress even more beautiful. Max and Bree might have little designers on their hands.

  “We’re getting married,” Riley said softly, dragging her fingers along Josh’s abs beneath the blanket.

  “You’re going to get lucky again if you keep doing that.” He leaned down and kissed her.

  She laughed, warmed by his adoration of her. His affections were endless, his gaze seductive, and his touch, well, her body was already stirring in all the best places just thinking about being naked beneath him again. But she had things to do this morning. With the craziness of the night before, she’d left the cake on the counter and she wanted to put it away before the kids or Josh saw it.

  She pushed up, putting a little space between them before she changed her mind. “I have to go put the cake away.”

  He slid his warm hand up her arm. “I’ll help you.”

  “Nice try.” She leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss. “This is my surprise to you. You’ve already indulged in one thing that was supposed to be saved for our wedding night. You’re not getting the cake.”

  He tugged her back down on top of him. “I’d rather have seconds…I guess I mean sevenths…of you than a cake any day.”

  “Glutton,” she said, thinking of all the ways they’d made love. Not an inch of her body had gone untouched.

  “Only for you, babe.”

  His entrancing dark eyes summoned her closer, and he guided her hips over his. He rocked beneath her, pressing temptingly against her as he took her in a torturously slow, insanely electrifying kiss. Then his hands were on her ass, holding her tight against him as he thrust harder, and thoughts about the cake spiraled away. He pushed his hands down the back of her jeans, clutching her bare ass, and groaned into the kiss. God, she loved the way he made her world spin and her heart flutter. A flock of birds flew past, stirring the air and chipping away at her lust-addled brain.

  “Josh,” she said, breathless, as she pushed from his grip. “We can’t.”

  “Oh, baby, we can.” He pulled her close again, and she giggled as she struggled to be set free.

  “The kids will see the cake,” she said as he nibbled on her neck. “And then they’ll want it, and their parents will be stuck trying to make them forget about it. We can’t do that to them.”

  He looked up at her with a sinful, and somehow pouty, gaze that did hot and twisty things to her insides. The rising sun reflected in his eyes, and her mind drifted back to the reason she’d said no in the first place.

  “I’m sure I’ll hate myself for this.” She peeled his hands off of her and pushed to her feet. “But we already have a decorated dress, and the girls will all have puffy eyes in our pictures from lack of sleep, I’m sure. At least let me hide the cake before we have crying kids to deal with, too. I’ll come right back. I promise.”

  He held her hand as she moved away, and with a long sigh, he rose to his feet instead of letting go and tugged her against his chest again. His mouth claimed hers, making all of her best parts beg to stay. When their lips parted, she was dizzy with desire.

  “I’ll be waiting.” He undid the button on his jeans and began unzipping them.

  “Oh Lord. I’ll be fast.” With her heart sprinting in her chest, she turned and bolted from the room. Taking the stairs two at a time, she mentally planned how she would relocate the cake from the kitchen to the dining room and close the heavy wooden doors. When she reached the landing, she slowed her pace so as not to thunder through the main section of the house and wake anyone up. Walking quickly through the living room, her mind drifted back to Josh, and goose bumps rose on her flesh. She could still feel his lips on hers, his hands on her skin, his erection against her—

  A high-pitched shriek snapped Riley out of her daze. She ran through the archway to the kitchen and stopped short at the sight of Max standing on a chair—and a handful of hissing raccoons scrambling off the counters and out of cabinets, sending the plates from last night’s munchyfest—and what was left of Riley’s wedding cake—careening to the floor with a loud crash as the four-footed savages scurried out the door to the terrace.

  Max continued shrieking, and Treat barreled into the kitchen, followed by Rex, Jack, and Dane. Treat swept Max into his arms and carried her out of the room, passing Hugh and Hal on their way in.

  “My cake!” Riley yelled, teetering on tiptoes. As if that would do any good against ravenous raccoons.

  “Out of the kitchen,” Jack commanded, and she was quick to obey, despite her ruined cake. She watched from just beyond the entryway as Max tried to catch her breath within the safety of Treat’s arms just a few feet away. Jack and the others threw open cabinets and checked under furniture for any lingering rascals.

  “We have to check the house,” Rex said, and pointed to the living room, dining room, and the stairway that led to the bedrooms. Hugh, Hal, and Dane each took off in a different direction.

  Please, please don’t let there be raccoons near the children.

  Jack reached for the door, and cursed loudly.

  “What?” Riley backed up farther, fear rippling through every inch of her body. She envisioned droves of raccoons running toward Jack.

  He turned dark, apologetic eyes toward her. “They climbed the canopy.”

  Her heart sank. The canopy? The drapes Josh sent back four times, until they were dyed the exact color he envisioned? Her eyes shifted to the bits of cake and broken dishes strewn across the counters and floor, and she reached for the wall to steady herself.

  “Oh, Riley,” Max said from behind her.

  Riley couldn’t stop the rush of tears springing from the corners of her eyes. A thick arm circled her shoulder, and Treat pulled her against his broad chest as she sobbed. She was vaguely aware of voices and
footsteps as the others came downstairs. It was like all the forces of the universe were against their wedding taking place, and the raccoons were the straw that broke the camel’s back. Suddenly all the sadness, all the confusion of the last twenty-four hours, which had been simmering somewhere deep inside her, hit the boiling point.

  Nothing was going to stop her from marrying Josh.

  Not a hole in a wall. Not decorations drawn by sticky little hands or a ruined cake. Not even a horde of raccoons would keep her wedding from taking place. Goddamn raccoons. Ruined my cake. Ruined our canopy. What the hell else can go wrong? She pushed from the safety of Treat’s chest and wiped her eyes.

  “Treat,” she said harsher than she meant to. “Get ready to officiate our wedding.”

  “Riley,” Jade said softly. “What…?”

  Pushing past her mother, Jade, and Lacy, Riley stalked toward the stairs. “I don’t care what else happens. It can rain so hard that we need Noah’s Ark to survive, or a swarm of bees can attack us as we say our vows. I. Don’t. Care. Our baby is going to have married parents!” She stormed down the stairs, too upset to care about the footsteps coming after her.

  “Baby? Riley Roo—”

  Oh shit. Did I say ‘baby’? Shit, shit, shit.

  Her mother’s voice lingered in her ears as she descended the steps and walked quickly down the hall toward the suite where she and Josh had spent the night. She didn’t care about the drapes or the cake or even the paparazzi, for that matter. Let them come and get all of this on video. None of that mattered.

  “Baby?” Jade and Max said in unison, catching up to her, with Lacy and Savannah on their heels.

  “You’re pregnant?” Jade shifted little Hal on her hip.

  Her mother was beside her now, too. Her concerned gaze boring into Riley.

  Riley clenched her teeth together, shifting her eyes to the floor as she walked.

  “Riley!” Jade grabbed her arm, slowing her down. “You’re pregnant and you didn’t tell me?”

  The hurt in her best friend’s eyes nearly brought her to her knees. “I…” The others were watching her intently, hanging on to her every word. She glanced at little Hal, whose wide dark eyes were moving between Riley and Jade.

  A swarm of love and guilt tightened like a noose around Riley’s neck. It was all she could do to choke out, “They said I couldn’t get pregnant, and then I did. And you guys were so happy with your babies and adorable families, and Josh and I…We’re hanging on to a shred of hope that our pregnancy will stick.” Her throat nearly closed with her confession. She couldn’t take it. It was all too much. She walked away on shaky legs.

  “Riley,” her mother called after her. “You thought you couldn’t have children?”

  The devastation in her mother’s voice brought painful memories of the day she and Josh had received that awful news. Riley had cried for what felt like a week straight, and Josh had shed a river of tears, too. But she hadn’t realized then that her mother must have experienced the same agonizing torture. She’d wanted a big family, but she’d never been able to conceive after having Riley. Riley slowed her stride, feeling a pang of guilt and sadness.

  “Ri, that’s why you need to share this with us,” Jade implored. “You’re my best friend, and it kills me to know you went through that alone. And now. Oh, Riley,” she said sadly. “You must be scared to death. You don’t have to go through this alone, too.”

  This slowed Riley down even further, because hadn’t she known that all along? “But I’m not alone,” she said softly. “I have Josh.”

  “It’s not the same,” her mother said gently. “Honey, nothing is the same as having the support of women who understand and have been where you are. As a woman who wanted a big family and ended up with just one perfect daughter”—she reached for Riley’s hand and gave it a squeeze—“I understand what you’re going through. Josh is the most important part of your life now, as he should be. But he can’t know what it feels like to have life growing inside of you, so he can’t know what it’s like to be told you’ll never give birth to a child. Not on the same level as a woman who knows what it’s like to be willing to give your heart and soul in order for that life to thrive. We’re here, baby girl. We’re always here for you. Not to replace Josh. Just to accompany him in supporting you.”

  The noose pulled tighter, and worse, the truth of her mother’s words brought another type of guilt. The realization that Riley had cut her best friend—friends—and her family out of this part of her life, not to spare their feelings but maybe to spare her own.

  “I was scared,” she said just above a whisper. “Talking about it makes it more real, and…” She glanced at Jade and little Hal, at Max, who was looking at her with so much empathy it made Riley’s chest ache. Lacy and Savannah huddled closer with the same emotions written on their faces. “I was jealous, too, and that’s ugly and hateful and so wrong.” As they moved in to embrace her, her emotions threatened to suffocate her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, turning away. “I can’t…I just can’t.” She ran down the hall, ignoring their continued offers of support as they raced behind her, and threw the door to the suite open.

  “Josh, I want to get married now, and—” Her legs stopped working at the sight of Josh lying on the bed with his arms crossed behind his head. Buck. Naked.

  Max and Jade bumped into Riley’s back, jolting her overloaded brain into panic mode.

  “Oh shit.” Josh jumped from the bed and scrambled into his briefs.

  “Holy moly,” Jade said.

  “Perfect. Just flipping perfect.” Riley threw her hands up in the air and turned around as Max and Jade ushered the others, who were peering around them to see what the fuss was about, out of the room, shouting, “Go, go, go!”

  Jade turned as Riley tried to close the door and said, “Forget us. Take him!”

  Riley closed the door, leaned her back against it, and covered her face with her hands. Too frustrated to laugh or cry, she made a garbled, mewing noise that rivaled the frantic sounds the raccoons had made earlier.

  Josh planted one hand on either side of her head and pressed his body to hers. “Why did they see me naked?”

  She whimpered from behind her hands.

  “Baby, talk to me.”

  She spread her fingers apart and looked at his smiling face. All the anger drained from her body, and she dropped her hands. “Raccoons got the cake.”

  “Raccoons…”

  “Mm-hm. And they ruined the drapes, and this would never happen in New York!”

  “And everyone followed you down here because…?”

  “I might have said something about being pregnant.” She winced, but his smile widened. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I lost my mind when everything got ruined…Wait. Why are you smiling?”

  “Because I love you so much. When everything went to hell, your mind went straight to our unborn child.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Baby, that’s beautiful.”

  “Or neurotic,” she offered. “Oh God, Josh. Max and Jade saw you naked.”

  “Yeah, that kind of sucks, but right now…” He reached behind her and locked the door. “I’m going to take all your stress away.” He lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. “We can worry about that later. Hugh says it’s bad luck not to make love to your bride before the wedding.”

  “That’s not exactly what he said.” Shivers ran up her spine as he rid her of her bra and pulled her pants down to her ankles. “But the kitchen is a wreck, and your brothers and father and Jack are searching the house for raccoons.”

  “And they’re quite capable of carrying out the search. Just this once, can’t we be a little selfish?” He knelt and pulled off her remaining clothes, stripped from his briefs, and lifted her into his arms. Her legs wound around his waist as he lowered her onto his hard shaft. They both groaned at the deep, penetrating connection. Her entire body flamed, greedy for his love.

  “Jo
sh, we should help them,” she said halfheartedly, trying to fight the lust coursing through her and do the right thing. Her back met the wall, and he thrust into her. “Oh God you feel good.” Her good intentions were no match for their love. “We should…” Be selfish. Be very, very selfish.

  “Later,” he promised, thrusting harder. “I thought about making love to you the whole time you were gone, and nothing.” He dragged his tongue along her lower lip. “Nothing…” He gyrated, grinding his cock exquisitely over all her sensitive nerves. “Is going to keep me from loving every ounce of stress out of your beautiful body.”

  “Yes,” she pleaded, and he did. Loving her harder, deeper, and oh so perfectly. Obliterating her stress until all that was left was his sweet voice whispering sweet everythings in her ear and his hot body moving over her, inside her, around her, cocooning her from the rest of the world and righting all the upended pieces of herself.

  Chapter Seven

  AS THE DIMMING sun set over the picturesque mountains, Josh stood beside his siblings and father, who was his best man, in front of the altar they’d built. Cleaning up had taken all day, as did Riley’s baking. Riley and her mother had worked together to make another wedding cake, and despite what happened to the first one, she still refused to let Josh take a peek before the wedding. The drapes had been clawed to shreds where the raccoons had climbed them and were ruined beyond repair, but that didn’t stop Josh from creating the perfect arbor for their wedding. Layla, Adriana, and their mothers, helped gather enough wildflowers to cover the frame of the wooden structure. Rex found lattice in the woodshed and hung it between the legs of the frame, and with the help of their brothers and Jack, they meticulously strung more lights, which Charlotte had found in a storage room marked “Holiday Decorations,” around the pretty wooden arbor. The chandelier still hung from the center, though part of one arm had broken off. Presumably from curious four-legged creatures.

  The only four-legged creature Josh wanted to be around was Hope, who had appeared in his dreams last night. She’d been standing in the grass at the base of the stairs, as she was now, with a flower wreath the girls had made hanging around her thick neck. Smiling. It was a strange sensation to see a horse smile—and to think, even for a moment, that maybe he was the last to understand what his siblings must have known all along. It didn’t matter if his mother was spiritually connected to the horse or a necklace, or even this place. All that mattered was that she was alive in their hearts, and of course because of that they’d see or sense her everywhere. He’d simply been too caught up in work and building a life to look beyond the forest to see the trees.