by Taylor Rylan
“Congratulations to you both. I know how much Deputy Fisher has been quite taken with you, young man.”
“Thank you. I think it’s safe to say I’m just as in love with him.”
Judge Wilson smiled at that and nodded at us. When he held out his hand, I passed him the marriage license, and after he glanced at it, he handed it to the other person in the room, who I could only assume was his personal assistant.
“Very well. Have you written your own vows, or are you going with the standard I dos?”
I glanced at Cody, and a sudden panicked looked came over him. Oh no, that wasn’t good. “Standard works,” I said, hoping to relax him, but it didn’t work. He shook his head and stared at me.
“I didn’t get you a ring. We can’t get married without a ring. I know some people don’t wear them, but I want you to. Me too. I want rings,” Cody said as he started to turn and head back for the door. I tugged on his arm and held him in place while I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small bag that had the simple rings in it.
“I have rings. I’ve had them for a while now, hoping and waiting until we got here,” I said as I held up the bag so he could see it.
“Really? You have rings?” Cody asked as he looked at the black drawstring bag.
“Yeah. They’re nothing fancy, but that’s not us. I love you and I’m thrilled you want to wear my ring, but more so that you’re marrying me.”
“Okay, we’re ready, then,” Cody said as he turned toward Judge Wilson who reached for the bag that held our rings.
“All right then. Do you have witnesses, or are Kyle and Sam filling that role?”
I glanced at the two behind the judge and shook my head as I answered. “It’s just the two of us, so if they’d be our witnesses, we’d appreciate it,” I said and felt Cody nodding in agreement.
“Good. Let’s get started, then. Gentlemen, please hold hands and face each other,” Judge Wilson said as he opened the pouch and poured out the two rings and handed the bag to one of the others.
I zoned out as I stared into Cody’s brown eyes. I would never get tired of looking at them because they were so expressive and they always told a story. When he smiled at me and gave my hands a tight squeeze before he raised his eyebrows at me, I turned my eyes to the judge, who was smiling at me.
“I do.” I hoped that was what I was supposed to say, and thankfully, it was.
“And Cody, do you take Adrian to be your husband? To love, to cherish, for better, for worse, in sickness and health, till death do you part?”
“I do.” Cody smiled at me and rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand.
“Gentlemen, here are your rings. Please take them and place them on your partner’s finger when indicated.”
Cody and I took the rings from Judge Wilson, and I was pleased to see that he’d given me the smaller-sized ring for Cody. Whereas I had thick fingers, Cody’s were slimmer but just as capable.
“Adrian, please place the ring on Cody’s finger and repeat after me.”
I carefully held the ring in my fingers and started to slide it onto Cody’s finger as I repeated what the judge was saying.
“As this ring has no end, neither shall my love for you.”
I glanced at the judge when I stumbled. That wasn’t what I was expecting, but I had no complaints.
“Cody, as this ring has no end, neither shall my love for you,” I told him as I slid the ring down his finger. I already knew it would fit. I’d placed the thing on his finger more than once while he was sleeping, just to make sure.
“Cody, please place your ring on Adrian’s finger and repeat after me. As this ring has no end, neither shall my love for you.”
“Adrian, as this ring has no end, neither shall my love for you. I mean that. You’re my marshal, and you’re stuck with me,” Cody said as slid the matching platinum band down my finger.
“Sounds good to me,” I told him before I turned to look at Judge Wilson, who appeared to be fighting the laugher that wanted to come out.
“Gentlemen, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husbands. You two can kiss your groom.”
That was all it took, and I had Cody in my arms and my lips were once again on his. He was mine now, and I was going to do everything I could to make him happy and keep him for the rest of our lives. Our first kiss as a married couple was what I would call sweet. Cody and I tended to keep the heavier stuff for home simply because we liked to see where it took us, so we both kept our mouths closed, but we gave each other several pecks before we pulled away and smiled big, goofy grins at each other.
“Congratulations, you two. I love this part of my job,” Judge Wilson said.
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate your assistance today,” I said as I reached for the offered hand and gave it a firm shake.
“It’s really no hardship. I truly do enjoy seeing people in love get their happy ‘I do.’ Sam will have your license for you. Just get it from her, and then take it back to the clerk and they’ll get you a certificate ordered. You can pick it up later in the week. If you need it before then, you might be able to sweet-talk Phyllis into printing one for you today.”
“No rush. Later this week works, but thank you.” I smiled at Cody again because I just couldn’t help myself. He was my husband. I finally got my guy, for keeps.
We took the license and left the chamber and were met by two more couples waiting in the hallway. It was apparently a busy Saturday for getting married. Who knew September twenty-eighth was a busy day to get married?
“You ready?” Cody asked, and I saw a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Definitely,” I told him as I nodded at the others. We walked back down the hallway and headed toward Phyllis so we could turn in our license and she could file it. We’d need the certificate, but it could wait until later this week. It was obvious that Cody was thinking of other things, and I definitely didn’t want to disappoint my new husband.
4
Cody
* * *
I did it! I was married! That was still sinking in a bit as we walked back to the clerk to file our license and apply for our certificate. Wow, I was married to Adrian now. He was my husband and…wow. I looked down at the platinum band on my finger and smiled. It was simple, just a plain band, but it was perfect because I wouldn’t have to take it off while working or cooking at home. Adrian had thought of that, and I smiled so big my face ached.
“What are you thinking about?”
“How thoughtful my husband is. Damn, that sounds good. You’re my husband,” I said as I tugged on Adrian’s hand and pulled him in for another kiss. I could do that. Not that he wouldn’t kiss me in public before, because he would. But hell, we were married now and I could kiss my husband in public.
I wasn’t the first of my trio of friends to get married. No, Tristan and Walker beat us to that when they surprised everyone by getting married on Valentine’s Day this year. But I always thought I wouldn’t get married. That was until I fell in love with Adrian. He made me see things differently and got me thinking that maybe things would work. Even though I avoided the subject when he brought it up, that didn’t mean I hadn’t been thinking about it.
“You ready to go file this? There’s still time to change your mind, you know.”
I looked at Adrian with what I knew was a hurt expression. He didn’t just say that to me, did he? “Was this a joke? Some scheme to show me it could happen, but you really —”
I was cut off when Adrian pushed me against the wall and his mouth covered mine. He didn’t ask, he simply took, and oh holy hell did he ever take. Adrian’s tongue pushed past my lips easily, and then he dominated me with the kiss. He claimed me, and I moaned out loud and melted against the wall, against Adrian.
“Does this feel like it was a joke?” Adrian asked when he pushed his very hard dick into my hip. I whimpered and shook my head before I pleaded with him with nothing more than my eyes. It worked because Adrian’s mouth was once agai
n on mine while his hand slid around my waist and down into the waistband of my jeans. He gently brushed the top of my crack before he was suddenly gone.
Holy shitballs! Adrian had never gotten so carried away in public. And it was hot as fuck. I looked at Adrian, who was standing on the other side of the hallway, panting just as much as I was. One quick glance let me know that his dick was indeed just as hard as I’d thought it was.
“We are not doing this here. But I want you and have from the moment I saw you in that club. You’re my husband now, and that makes me the most grateful man on this planet. But I work here and there are cameras everywhere, and I am not going to get carried away here.”
I sauntered toward Adrian, and when I reached him, I ran both hands up his chest and linked them behind his neck.
“I can accept that. But if you’re not going to fuck me here, what are your plans, Deputy?” I was playing with fire and I knew it, but too few times did Adrian let completely go and I was certainly in the mood for all of my husband today. Actually, I was always up for all of him, but I had no complaints.
“Right now, we’re going to go file this license, and then I’m going to take my brand-new husband out for a nice lunch. After that I’m going to take him home and show him how much I love him. All weekend.”
I could only nod because that sounded perfect, just like my guy.
“Good. Let’s go,” Adrian said before he turned, and after linking our fingers together, he pulled me down the rest of the hallway and into the room with the clerk, Phyllis, and he handed her our marriage license that was signed by the judge.
“Did you need a certificate today? It’s been a slow day, and it’ll only take a few minutes for it to print. Sam already input your information into the system.”
Adrian and I looked at each other and shrugged before he nodded. We sat down in a pair of chairs and waited.
“Where do you want to go for lunch?” I asked, wondering if he already had a place in mind. If not, I knew what I really wanted but wasn’t likely to get.
“I was thinking we’d go to the Range. It’s not the fanciest place, but it’s nice and they have a pretty good menu.”
“Oh, that sounds good. I love their chicken dishes.”
“Only you would go to a steak house and order chicken.” Adrian chuckled before he leaned in and kissed my cheek. He got up and was gone before I could react, but when I saw Phyllis holding out a piece of paper, I got up and quickly joined them.
“You’re all set. If you need more copies, you can stop in anytime. I’d avoid between eleven and one though. We get real busy then. Congratulations, you two.”
Phyllis handed Adrian the square piece of paper, and I smiled when I saw our names printed on it. I was married.
“Thank you,” I told her before I stepped away. Adrian replied in same, and then he was beside me once again and we left the building and out to his waiting SUV.
The sun glinting off his ring caught my attention, and I reached down and gently rolled it between my own fingers before I lifted his hand to my mouth and placed a kiss on the ring he was wearing. Adrian stopped walking, and we stood there in the middle of the mostly empty parking lot staring at each other.
“I love you. You can’t possibly know how happy I am that you’re my husband. I know I said it earlier, but I would have been fine with spending my life as your partner. But husbands are even better,” Adrian said before he ran a finger along the side of my head and pulled me in for a quick kiss.
“I just hope you don’t regret marrying me in a year or two.” I looked away, not quite ready for him to see the vulnerability there.
“Never. Cody, look at me.”
I turned toward him and saw all the love and devotion that had always been there. If nothing else, Adrian’s feelings were always front and center, and he never hid them from me.
“We’re not them. We’re not even the us that met and fell in love a year ago. But I promise I’ll be the best damn husband I can. I’ll give you all of me.”
“You already do. I couldn’t ask for more.”
“Good. That means I’m doing it right, then. Come on. Let’s go eat so I can get my dessert.”
Adrian tugged me toward his waiting SUV, and it took until we were standing beside the open passenger-side door that I realized exactly what dessert he was referring to. Or whom, actually. My cheeks heated thinking about all the wonderfully sexy things I was going to do with Adrian when we got home. I climbed in, and by the time I had my belt buckled, Adrian was behind the wheel and buckling his own.
“Do we really have to go out for lunch? Can’t we throw something in the slow cooker at home for dinner and then start with dessert?”
“Dammit, don’t be so reasonable. I wanted to treat you. I mean, it’s not every day you get married.”
“Fine. Treat me later. I want you in me. Now.”
Adrian groaned but shook his head. “No. I want to do this right. Food first.”
I sighed, defeated. But when we left the parking lot, Adrian headed toward our place and not Jackson where the Range was.
“Adrian?” I asked, hesitantly.
“Dammit, I want you too much to sit for an hour and eat a steak. I didn’t want us to cook on our wedding day though. I wanted to give you simple and meaningful.” Adrian gripped the wheel with a focused look on his face. I smiled because he was always so very attuned when he was driving.
“You have. Today has been perfect. Well, except for the raging boner you gave me in the hallway of the courthouse. But do you think you could do that again? Only maybe not in the building you work in? Maybe at a club or something, I don’t know.”
The SUV abruptly stopped at a red light, and Adrian looked at me with rounded eyes. “Do what exactly?”
“Kiss me like that. It was hot and you’ve never kissed me quite like that in public before.”
Adrian nodded before he turned back toward the windshield and simply stared at the light. When it turned green, we were off, leaving Sulfur Springs behind and getting closer and closer to our house.
“Adrian?”
“Hmm?”
“Everything okay?”
“Yep, perfect. I’m thinking about where I can kiss you like that. What do you say we go play paintball next weekend?”
What the hell? Why would he want to play paintball? It tended to be painful, mostly for me because Adrian and Bishop were perfect shots and loved to gang up on me and my friends.
“Umm, okay. I’ll see if Tris and Hawke are free.”
“If you want. That means we’ll have to figure out how to ditch them though because I had every intention of blowing you there on the course after I kissed you like you wanted,” Adrian said nonchalantly as he pulled into our driveway. I went instantly hard and had my seat belt unbuckled and was out of the SUV before he even had it put in park.
I left a trail of clothing on the floor on the way to our bedroom, and by the time Adrian made it to me, I was naked and pulling out the bottle of lube. Towel—we needed a towel because I didn’t want to change the sheets, and it was a guarantee that I was going to come more than once because I was too damn excited not to. Not only that, the look on Adrian’s face as he slowly undressed told me I wasn’t going to get out of bed for a while, let alone be able to walk.
“You know, that’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen you wear.”
I looked down at my completely naked body, but when I looked back up, an equally naked Adrian was standing directly in front of me. He reached out and gently took the bottle of lube from me and tossed it toward the center of the bed. When his fingers spun the shiny new ring on my finger like I’d done to his earlier, realization hit me. I had to agree, which was why I’d done the same thing earlier. That ring on Adrian’s finger was damn sexy.
“Make love to me,” I pleaded before I wrapped my arms around my husband’s neck and pulled him in for a heated kiss. Gone was the urgency from just a little while ago. I didn’t want fast and hard.
No, I wanted to savor everything we were about to share. I wanted things to be slow and intense, and Adrian knew just how to give that to me.
The blankets I’d quickly pulled up after I left our bed just a few hours ago were tossed down to the foot of the bed, and I felt the cool sheets against my back as I was gently maneuvered onto them. Our lips were still exploring each other’s in a familiar way. I knew Adrian’s body as well as my own, and when I ran my fingers through his chest hair, we both moaned. I loved his chest, and I often slept passed out on it. It had become my comfort. My home. That’s what Adrian was. He was my home, and I loved him unconditionally.
“Adrian,” I said as I broke from the kiss and panted as I turned my head to the side. Adrian just chuckled and kissed his way down my exposed neck, on his way down to my chest. Oh shit, I was in trouble. I already knew I was going to enjoy this immensely, but I also knew that it would be some time before I felt Adrian inside me. No, he was…oh yeah, right there.
“Yes. Nugh…” I said as I threaded my fingers into Adrian’s thick hair as he gently sucked on my right nipple. He flicked it with the tip of his tongue, causing me to tighten my fingers, but I quickly let go. I didn’t want to hurt him, and if I didn’t let go, I was likely to give it a yank. When he gently blew across the wet peak, I shivered and moaned.
Warm wet heat surrounded the other nipple, and when his tongue flicked at it, Adrian’s fingers gently rolled the wet, cold one he’d just abandoned.
“Fuck yes,” I hissed out as my body jumped into overdrive. I loved my nipples played with, and Adrian knew that. Actually, I loved everything he’d ever done to me, and I couldn’t wait to explore even more things with him.
“I love how responsive you are,” Adrian said before his mouth covered mine again. My protest was cut off by the thrust of his tongue, and when I felt the full weight of him on top of me, I groaned the same time he moaned.
“More. I need all of you,” I begged when he broke from the kiss and once again kissed his way down my neck, this time the opposite side.