by Gemma Weir
“Yes.”
He’s off his knees, the ring is on my finger and his lips are on mine in half a second. I don’t try to look at the rock I can feel on my finger, jewelry is pretty, but this man is the true gift, the one I barely feel like I deserve, but that I’m not sure I know how to survive without now.
“I love you,” he laughs, spinning us around. “Now let’s go get married.”
We’re on the move again, out of the courtyard and through the corridors to where a familiar group of people are all standing. Cora and Bonnie break away from the men as soon as they spot us, their expressions a mixture of hope and concern.
“You don’t have to do this if it’s not what you want,” Bonnie says quietly, ignoring the growls of protest from both Granger and Beau.
“You can stop this, if he’s strongarmed you into this,” Cora says, lifting her head and glaring at Granger, daggers almost manifesting from her eyes. “The men in this family have a way of telling you what’s happening, but forgetting to ask if this is what you actually want.”
“This is what I want,” I assure them, even as Granger drags me into his chest and physically holds me to him, preventing my escape even though I’m not trying to get away.
“Enough,” Granger snaps, loud enough to shock Cora into silence and to have me freezing in his arms. “Huck, sort your woman out, because right now she’s not behaving like my sister.”
Cora’s face pales and she gapes at Granger as if she has no idea who he is right now. “I…”
“We’re getting married, right now. You can either come and watch, or you can leave, but no matter what you choose, I am making Alice my wife, today.”
Steering me away from his family, Granger marches me down the corridor and into the small room, where a judge and a clerk are waiting for us.
Granger is so tense, his shoulders look ready to crack as the clerk asks us a series of questions, taking the small piece of paper Granger offers her, that I now realize is in fact a marriage license, and then motions for us to take our places at the front of the room as the judge steps into position.
The ceremony is short, the judge taciturn, the group of Granger’s family behind us quiet. It’s not exactly what I imagined my wedding would be like when I was a fanciful little girl, dreaming about marrying my price charming.
“Do you Granger Brooks Barnett take Alice May Lowe to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward as long as you both shall live?” The judge asks, his expression serious.
“I do,” Granger responds immediately, sliding a gold band onto my finger
“Do you Alice May Lowe take Granger Brooks Barnett to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward as long as you both shall live?”
For the hint of a second the words die on my tongue, then I look up into the face of this man, that I only met days ago, but who makes me feel understood and cherished and I know, I just know that even though it’s crazy and fast, it feels right.
“I do.”
“By the power vested in me, by the state of Montana, I now pronounce you man and wife.”
I don’t hear anything else he has to say as Granger steps forward, curling his arm around my back and yanking me into his chest. Then his lips are on mine, his kiss consuming, branding, claiming as his fingers tangle in my hair keeping me in place. “Mine,” he whispers against my lips.
“Yours,” I whisper back, smiling into his mouth.
“Alice Barnett, my wife, mine to keep.”
Finally, the world around me seeps back into the bubble his kisses had sheltered me in and the sound of applause and cheering from behind us becomes apparent. I don’t even have time to process it as he ushers me to a table, the clerk handing me a pen and pointing to the place I need to sign.
Beau and Teddy step free from the group and sign the paperwork after Granger does, and then the judge is shaking our hands, congratulating us.
His family surround us. I’d forgotten they were even here. They sound happy for us, but neither Cora nor Bonnie seemed that way before. But they weren’t questioning Granger’s compliance, they were checking on mine. They were worried he had forced me into it. Is that something they really thought he’d do? I mean, he didn’t really give me a choice, but then would I have said no if he had? Would I have told him he was insane and dismissed this idea out of hand if he’d have suggested we get married this morning before he bought me down to the courthouse?
This was planned, the appointment was booked, the license already applied for. When did he do this? We’ve only known each other for less than a week, surely this stuff takes time.
Suddenly a barrage of doubts hits me and I wonder what the hell I just did. I just married a stranger, a stranger whose own sisters were worried he was coercing me into this.
Granger’s face appears in front of mine, his smile so wide it’s contagious and I find myself smiling back at him, even though behind my façade I’m a mess of worry and doubt.
“Mrs. Barnett,” he croons, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me off the floor, spinning us around as he kisses me passionately. “You have made me the happiest man in the world.”
“When did you plan all this?”
“Saturday.”
“We’d known each other a day.”
“And I already knew you were mine,” he growls, his voice taking on that sexy husk that makes my core clench appreciatively. “I want to take you home and fuck you so bad, but my family want to take us out for brunch.”
All of his tension from earlier is gone and there’s a lightness in him now that I hadn’t realized wasn’t there before. “Fuck, wife, I love you so much. I know a courthouse wedding probably wasn’t what you’ve dreamed about, so start planning a big do if that’s what you want. Whatever you want, I want you to have it all, I just couldn’t wait another moment without you being mine.”
His words settle some of the tension sitting low in my belly, his enthusiasm and happiness so consuming I find myself pushing up onto my toes and kissing him.
Before long we’re all moving along the sidewalk as a group, me, my husband and what I suppose is now our family. A sudden burst of joy at having a family again almost stops me in my tracks. Today I got married. Today I gained six brothers and two sisters.
I have a husband.
Granger is my husband.
Instead of the shock and fear I’d expected to feel, I’m surprised at the joy that starts at my toes and works its way up my body to my heart. This man is overwhelmingly good to me, he gets me, accepts me, loves me. All of the doubts that have plagued me vanish and all I feel is all consuming, mind numbing, love.
I love him. I love the way he doesn’t care that I’m insane, likes it even. I love how he can make all of my thoughts turn to him the moment he walks into the room. I love how he sets my body on fire every time he touches me. I love how he takes all of my faults, my insecurities, idiosyncrasies and fears and shoulders them for me. He’s sweet and kind and sexy and gorgeous and… mine. This man is mine, my husband, mine to keep, mine to cherish. He’s the antidote to my poison.
Unable to wait even a moment to tell him, I stop walking and pull on his hand where our fingers are entwined. We’re in the middle of the sidewalk, not exactly a romantic location, but the words are bubbling up my throat, unwilling to be stifled.
“Honey?” Granger asks, stopping with me.
“I love you,” I blurt.
His eyes light up and his full lips part as he looks at me like I’m a mythical creature that he’s never encountered before. “Say it again,” he demands.
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you so much.”
His arms are around me, his lips on mine as he dips me like we’re in a scene out of a romance film. I giggle even as I kiss him back, losing myself in my man, my antidote, my husband.
I barely hear the words of congratulations and welcomes to the family from his br
others, in fact the whole brunch is a blur as I focus on my husband beneath me. He pulled me into his lap the moment we were seated at the table in the bright restaurant, refusing to let me take my own seat, despite my protests that people would stare.
“Let them stare, I want my wife in my lap, so everyone knows you’re mine,” he laughs, his spirit so light and buoyant as he alternates between playing with the rings on my finger and kissing me breathless. “I guessed the size, we can get them resized if they need it though.”
“They’re perfect. What stone is this?” I ask, touching the large yellow stone at the center of my engagement ring.
“It’s a yellow diamond, the same color as your hair.” His huge palm curves around my neck and under my hair as he pulls me onto his waiting lips, kissing me for the hundredth time since we woke up this morning. “I never thought I’d get married, then I met you and it drove me crazy not to own you as legally as I do in every other way. It’s been an hour and I already can’t imagine you ever not being my wife. You’re mine now, Mrs. Barnett,” he chuckles.
When the food comes, he insists on feeding me. Decadent bites of almond cream cheese filled crepes, creamy eggs benedict interspliced with sips of crisp champagne. When we’ve finished, we leave as a group and Granger holds me tightly to his side, not letting me go for a minute.
“Right newlyweds, go home and celebrate while there’s no one in to listen to you making your wife scream, then tonight we’re going to Barney’s and I’m gonna start searching for my woman so I can look as happy as you fuckers do,” Penn announces, laughing.
My cheeks instantly heat, even as Granger’s deep chuckle reverberates through his chest into mine. “See you later, assholes.”
“Granger, Alice,” Cora calls, moving toward us, Huck a step behind. “Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Granger, as much as I love you, you’re my brother but you have to admit that you guys have a do what you want first, ask permission later attitude, especially when it comes to us women. Alice is my sister now too, I needed to make sure you hadn’t bullied her into this wedding, because of your Barnett caveman bullshit.”
As apologies go, it’s not a great one, but given what she said about the way Huck and Beau behaved I guess I can see where she’s coming from.
“Thank you for looking out for Alice, but Cora, you ever try and come between me and my wife again and we’ll have a fucking problem. I love you, you know I do, sis, but just because my brother is a manipulative asshole, that doesn’t mean the rest of us are,” Granger says sternly.
“I know,” she says, tears streaming down her face.
“Fuck, don’t cry,” he says, pulling her to him and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“I’m sorry and I’m really happy for you guys,” she says, pulling back and wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. “Welcome to the family, Alice.” Then her arms are around me, her pregnant belly stopping us from getting too close.
“Thank you for caring, Cora, it really does mean a lot to me that you’d go against your brother to make sure I was okay.” My voice breaks, fuck, now I’m gonna cry.
“Jesus, enough,” Huck says, pulling Cora away. “Go fuck, I can’t deal with my own woman crying, I definitely can’t cope with my woman and my sister crying at the same time.”
Gathering me close, Granger presses a kiss to the top of my head and turns me, opening the car door for me and ushering me inside. His hand is on my thigh the entire drive back up to the mountain to his, or I suppose our house now and by the time we slow to a stop, I can feel the palpable tension filling the car.
“Wait,” he warns when he opens his door and climbs out, immediately rounding the hood and opening my car. Leaning in, he unclips my seatbelt then scoops me out of the car like I weigh nothing, carrying me to the front door and then across the threshold. “Welcome home, Mrs. Barnett.”
I giggle, the sound feeling foreign from my lips as I cling to his neck.
When my back hits the bed I expect him to follow me down, but instead he pauses, standing at the end of the bed, his eyes fixed on me.
“I want you naked, wife. I want to see you in nothing but the rings that I gave you.” His voice is so rough and low he sounds inhuman.
Sitting up, I tug my dress up and over my head, leaving me in my bra, panties and the sheer stockings. Granger’s eyes heat, but he doesn’t move forward, his feet planted to the spot as he watches me, the bulge in his pants getting larger by the second.
Unfastening my bra, I let the straps fall down my arms, but hold the cups in place for a moment, feeling confident and wanting to tease him a little, like I’m the one in control, even though we both know I’m nothing more than a puppet to his master.
Releasing the bra, it falls forward and I wiggle my arms free, not covering my breasts, or nipples that are pebbled and eager for his touch.
Sliding my thumbs into the sides of my panties I push them over my hips, trying to be as graceful as possible while I’m half sitting, half lying down and somehow manage to pull off a semi sexy reveal of the goods, taking my stockings with me, until I’m completely naked, apart from the beautiful gold rings adorning my finger.
“Come here, wife,” he beckons with an arrogant crook of his finger.
Maybe I should play hard to get, make him work for it, but I don’t have enough game to pull that off, or any desire for him to not see I’ll do whatever he asks me to do. So I roll to my hands and knees and crawl off the bed, taking the final step until I’m in front of him, offering him all I have to give. Me.
“Tell me,” he demands, his voice ragged.
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you.”
“Who am I?”
I wrinkle my brow for a minute, trying to understand what he wants me to say, then it dawns on me. “My husband.”
“Yes, I fucking am.” His smile is so gloriously wide that it instantly shatters the sexual tension that had filled every molecule of air. His arms wrap around me and he lifts me off the ground, kissing me as he spins us until I’m breathless and giggling.
“Undress me, wife,” he playfully orders, smacking my butt cheek.
He plays with my nipple as I unbutton his shirt, unlatch his belt, then unzip his jeans and push them down his hips, where he kicks them off. He’s commando beneath his pants, his dick hard, bobbing against his stomach, a pebble of precum pooling at the head.
“I want to see your lips stretched around my dick.”
Dropping to my knees, I look up at Granger as I reach out and wrap my hand around his hard cock. I’m not hugely experienced, this is only the second blowjob I’ve ever given, but my mouth’s watering with the need to taste him. Parting my lips, I lick the bead of precum from the head, keeping my eyes on his as I feed the head into my mouth and suck.
His eyes roll and an animalist groan slips from his parted lips, his hand finds my head, fingers tangling in my hair. Using my limited knowledge of blowjobs, mainly from books, I release the head with a pop and lick down the length of him, using my hand to grip him at the base while my other cups his balls and squeezes lightly. Taking him back into my mouth, I try to take as much of him as I can, widening my lips and pushing my head forward until I gag and have to immediately pull back, sucking at the head again like he’s a lollypop and I’m seeing how many sucks to get to the center.
Whatever I’m doing, he seems to like it. His eyes stay on mine and his grip on my hair tightens as he guides my mouth on and off his dick, praising me as I work him with my fist at the same time as my mouth, wanting him to fall apart the way he makes me whenever he touches me.
“Enough,” he snarls, dragging me off. “I don’t want to come in your mouth, I want to be buried deep inside of you.” Lifting me from the floor, he turns us then climbs onto the comforter, laying back as he urges me to follow him down. “Sit on my face, I want to lick you until you scream.”
I do as he asks, crawling up his body until my core is
straddling his face. I stall, unsure what to do, but he drags me down, his tongue finding my clit and eradicating all rational thought from my mind as he makes me come twice in a matter of minutes, his fingers filling me as his tongue works my body into a frenzy.
I call his name as I tip over the edge for the third time, my muscles wilting from all the pleasure. But he’s nowhere near done with me. “Straddle my dick, wife, I want to watch my cock spread your pussy wide as it takes every inch, then I want you to ride me until I fill you with my cum.”
His dirty talk reignites me and with his help, I straddle his hips. “Put my dick in you,” he orders, his eyes firmly fixed between my legs as I grab his dick and guide it to my soaked entrance.
“Slowly.”
So slowly it feels like agonized torture, I lower myself onto his cock, feeling my pussy stretch around his girth until I’m sitting in his lap, panting with the need to move, to come, to scream. His hands find my hips, and he helps guide me until I get into a rhythm rising and falling, griding my hips until his dick is scraping over that elusive spot inside of me with every thrust. Despite the illusion of control he’s giving me, he’s most definitely topping from the bottom, his hands moving me the way he wants me, controlling the pace, slowing me when I try to go faster, taunting me with an orgasm that stays frustratingly out of reach.
“Please,” I beg.
“Please what?”
“Make me come, I need to come.”
“Tell me.”
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you. Please, please, Granger. Please.”
My begging finally makes him relent and a moment later, I’m beneath him, his dick still inside of me, his body above me as he grabs my legs and lifts my butt from the mattress and into the air.
“Mine. My wife, my woman, mine,” he chants as he fucks me hard, ruthlessly claiming me, slamming me into an orgasm that makes my ears ring and my vision blur as he reminds me over and over again that I’m his now, that I belong to him, that he’s keeping me. When he finally comes, I feel the heat of his release inside of me, feel it dripping down my thighs, and I love the weight of his body as he collapses on top of me.