by Tania Joyce
“Hear, hear.” Kara raised her flowers and her eyebrows.
Lexi clicked away on her camera.
Gemma drew his hip against hers. “I’m addicted to him in every possible way. I lost any form of free will and sanity the moment we kissed. I’ll never stop loving him. But for legal purposes, I say, I do.”
“You’re both fucking crazy if you ask me.” Hunter’s eyebrows shot sky-high and he sucked in a long, deep breath. “Okay, moving on. You’ve both prepared your vows. Let’s hear ’em.”
Kyle cleared his throat. Gemma handed her bouquet to Kara and he took Gemma’s hands in his. This was it. Declaring his love for her in front of his dearest friends, the heavens and all the galaxies. The moment he’d been waiting for.
He inhaled, long and slow, and entwined his fingers with hers. “Gem, there aren’t enough words to describe how much I love you. You are my titanium, my kryptonite, my universe. You . . . are my everything. You own my body, my soul and my heart. Music binds us. I live and breathe for you. Always have. Always will. More than once you have brought me out of darkness, and my future is bright because of you. I will love you for all time, in this lifetime and every one after it. With that, I promise myself to you.”
Gemma wiped a tear from her cheek. Her hands trembled in his. “Kyle. We had a beginning, but there is no end. My love for you grows stronger and deeper each day. You have stopped me living in the past, taught me to treasure the present, and to look forward to the future. Your faith and trust and belief in me makes me a better person. You are my grounding, my solidarity, my foundation. The flame we ignited grows brighter every day. Life is wonderful because of you. Your love has saved me on countless occasions. Has shown me that love conquers all. I want to be everything you deserve and more. My heart beats in time with yours. Music runs through our blood, unites our souls. You . . . rock my world. Here, in front of the universe, I promise myself to you.”
Tears swelled in his eyes; his heart filled his chest. There was and only ever would be Gemma.
After an exchange of platinum rings and a blessing, Hunter said, “With the authority vested in me thanks to New York’s All Loved Up website, I now declare you husband and wife.”
Kyle’s heart soared. He caressed Gemma’s face and kissed her. Kissed her with all his being. Her warm lips on his sealed their lives together.
Finally, she was his. Finally, they were a family.
“I love you,” she whispered between his kisses.
“Love you more.” He pressed his lips to hers. Love for her filled his smile. He grabbed her hand and took a step back. Her cheeks flushed red from their kisses. Nice.
Hunter slapped him on the shoulder, pulling him out of his daze. “Congratulations.”
“Hunt.” Gemma giggled. “You are crying.”
Hunter wiped his eyes. “I may be a little emotional. Yes.” He hooked his arms around Kyle’s and Gemma’s shoulders. “You guys are the best. You two may be married, but we will always be three. No matter what. I promise you that. I love you both. Always will.”
“Thanks, Hunt.” Gemma kissed him on the cheek and slipped from his embrace.
The girls and Hayden rushed forward to congratulate them.
“Those vows were beautiful.” Kara wiped her eyes with the pads of her thumbs. How she could do anything with such long nails baffled him. She stepped in beside Hunter and hooked her arm around his waist.
“I can’t believe we’re married.” Gemma’s voice soared like an eagle over the ocean waves lapping gently against the shore. “We did it.”
Lexi gave them a hug and a kiss. “You two are amazing. Congrats.”
“Makes us all have faith in finding the one, someday.” Hayden slapped him on the back, his eyes diverting to Lexi.
“It will happen one day, dude. I’m sure.” Kyle grinned, shook Hayden’s hand and turned back to his gorgeous wife. She radiated as the sun set behind them. Her hair turned golden and caught the soft breeze. He slipped his arm around her slender waist. “Let’s get photos and get on with the celebrations.”
Hunter gave a sly nod and a smirk. “You just want to jump into practicing making rock star babies.”
Gemma’s eyes widened. “Sex, yes. Babies, no. The only thing we’ll produce are more hit singles.”
Kyle couldn’t agree more.
“Fuck yeah.” Hunter pumped his fist.
Lexi took copious photographs of the six of them together with the camera set on the tripod, and a zillion more with her handheld of him and Gemma on the beach, by the house, in the gardens and on the pergola. They looked awesome on the preview screen.
By the end of the evening, Kyle’s cheeks ached from smiling so much. With their four friends by their side, marrying Gemma in this spectacular setting had been truly magical.
With everyone lying around on the outdoor lounges, fire torches threw a soft glow over the grassed area by the pool. Gemma sat with the girls, sipping champagne. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as his fingers slipped down the steel strings of his guitar. His acoustic was an extension of him as much as his bass guitar, and much nicer to play on vacation alongside Gemma. He stopped and waggled his finger at her. “Gem. Come. I have a song for you.”
“For me?” She brushed her fingers down her throat.
He couldn’t wait to trail kisses down her neck, feel her pulse beneath his lips. Her in that dress—it was hard not to think of anything else.
“Yeah. Come sit here.” He patted the cushion beside him.
She drifted to her feet and floated over to him, her cheeks rosy, a combination of sunshine, champagne, and the sexy buzz hovering between them. She sat and touched her lips against his.
He strummed the strings louder. Everyone turned to listen. But Gemma was the only one he focused on. Locking onto her eyes, he sang his swoony ballad.
As long as the moon rises,
As long as the sun does set,
As long as my heart does beat,
As long as there’s air to breathe,
As long as there’s fire in my soul,
With you, I know I’ve found my home.
Best thing is now and forever,
I get to call you mine.
I want to touch your long hair,
I want to taste your sweet lips,
I want to wake up next to you,
Want all your dreams to come true.
There is just one thing I know,
Each day my love for you does grow.
Best thing is now and forever,
I get to call you mine.
I love your fine smile lines.
I’ll love you for all time
Love it when you lie next to me.
I love the way you have to stand,
On your tiptoes to kiss just me.
Best thing is now and forever,
I get to call you mine.
There is not one thing,
That I want to miss.
My heart belongs to you,
And everything I possess.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do,
My love for you is so true.
Best thing is now and forever,
I get to call you mine.
Now until the end of time,
I get to call you mine.
Tears gleamed in her eyes as he struck the final chord. He placed his guitar down beside him and she leaned in to kiss him, soft and sweet. “You’re mine too. Until the end of time. Love you.”
Kara placed her hand over her heart. “Oh, that was beautiful.” She turned toward Hunter and thumped him in the arm. “Why don’t you write songs like that for me?”
“Because I’m not a sap.” Hunter grabbed the champagne from the ice bucket on the low-set table in front of him. He refilled Kara and Lexi’s glasses, and his own.
Gemma held out her glass for Hunter to fill. “Yes, you are. I’ve seen some of the stuff you’ve been working on. You’re a real romantic at heart, Hunt. Our next album will be badass and s
exy as hell.”
“Oh, yay. Image revamp.” Kara chinked her glass against Gemma’s.
“Let’s not talk work.” Hayden dug into the cooler next to his chair and grabbed a beer. Swiping the stereo controller off the table, he clicked the music on. “We’re here to party. Let’s get it on.”
The Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber duet “I Don’t Care” came on.
Lexi, sitting next to Hayden, held up her hands and swayed to the music. She sang so off-key it hurt Kyle’s ears.
He leaned over and kissed Gemma on the shoulder. “Wanna dance?”
She took a sip from her glass and put it down. “Love to.”
He took her hand in his and walked over to the lawn just beyond the lounge chairs. Drawing her into his arms, he held her close, smelled her floral perfume, felt her heartbeat against his. Perfect.
As waves crashed rhythmically against the shoreline and the string lights, wrapped around trunks of palm trees and the pillars of the house, twinkled gently, Kyle swayed in time to the music with Gemma. He held her hand over his beating heart. “So, my beautiful wife, we did it.”
She tilted her chin. Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the firelight. “Husband. Yes, we did. It was perfect.”
Underneath the sliver of moonlight, he kissed her, tasted sweet champagne on her lips. The millions of stars in the heavens watching them was better than a stadium full of fans, better than accolades and awards, better than music itself. He had Gemma, now and forever. He wanted nothing more.
He hooked a strand of her hair floating in the breeze behind her ear and skimmed his fingertips down her cheek. “Can we stay this happy forever?”
She toyed with one of the undone buttons on his shirt. “We have it good. Won’t be hard.”
Movement caught his eye. Hayden had grabbed a six-pack of beer and wandered off down the beach with Lexi, who swung a bottle of champagne between her fingertips. No doubt they were trying to get away from Hunter who was getting hot and heavy with Kara on the lounge.
Kyle slid his hand around Gemma’s waist. The silky fabric of her dress was cool beneath his fingertips. He eyed the crystal straps on her shoulders. He was sure—one little nudge and the whole dress would crumple to the ground.
She stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. “You wanna get out of here?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
He swooped her into his arms and carried her up the steps into the house.
“Go get some loving.” Hunter hollered.
“Planning on it,” he said, sweeping Gemma through the open French doors, and headed toward the ground-floor master bedroom.
By the time he kicked the door closed, she had his shirt half off and trousers undone. He yanked the half-unbuttoned shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor. Her hungry lips found his. God, he wanted her. Loving her was so easy.
His cock ached, straining against his pants. But he grabbed her hands and stopped. Took a long, slow breath. He wanted to embed this moment into memory.
The dim lights shimmered against her gown, danced off her fair skin. In the middle of the huge bedroom decorated with dark wood furniture, corner lamps and a huge ceiling fan with rattan blades, he drank in every inch of her gorgeousness. Her eyes, her body, her soul. “Gem, for the next ten days of vacation, and for the rest of our lives, I’ll make love to you hard and fast, and any and every way you want to, but tonight, let’s not rush.” His heart had other ideas. So did the blood rushing to his groin. Tonight he wanted to make love to his wife. All night. Slowly. Tenderly. Lovingly.
He skimmed his fingertips up her arms, leaving goose bumps in their wake. “I want to touch every inch of your skin.” He trailed kisses up the side of her neck and nibbled on her earlobe. “I want to taste every piece of you.” He slid his hands around her waist and lowered the tiny concealed zipper at her waistline. “I want to take every part of you in.”
Her eyes darkened, wicked and inviting. “We can do slow.”
After gliding his hands up her bare back, he circled the tips of her shoulders. “Ever since I saw you in this dress, I’ve wanted to do this.” He hooked his fingertips beneath the rhinestone straps, slid them off her shoulders, and let go. The silk fell to the floor like a sheer scarf floating on the breeze. It pooled at her feet like liquid gold. At the sight of her in only a pair of white lace panties, his dick hardened even more. “God, you so do it for me.”
“Good. Because you’re kind of stuck with me forever.” She stepped forward, slipped her hands around his neck, and drew his mouth to hers.
He moaned against her lips. Her peaked nipples pressing against his bare chest sent heat storming through his body. He hooked his hands around her bottom, picked her up and lay her in the center of the grand four-poster bed. Kicking his trousers and boxer-briefs off, he hovered over her and edged between her legs. “I love you. So much. You rock my world.”
She scraped her nails up his back, drove them into his hair. Tingles skipped down his spine. “You got it wrong. You’re my rock. My world.”
He tormented her mouth with light kisses. “You are mine . . . Mrs. McIntyre.”
Her hair fanned over the huge pillow and she giggled. “That sounds so weird. But I love it. I love you. Now . . . make love to me.”
“Gladly.”
He took pleasure in teasing, taunting and tickling her skin before he eased off her panties. Every little moan and groan that escaped her lips embedded deep into his heart. Every taste of her lips and flesh branded into his brain. Every lock of their gazes united their souls even more. Just when she was on the tip of begging for more, he rolled over and drew her on top. She wasted no time in mounting his cock. Rocking and riding him until their bodies sheened with sweat. Each kiss seared, hot and hungry.
Her hands, fingers and lips touched him in all the right places, sent shivers and shudders surging through his veins, pumped blood into his engorged dick.
As the waves broke lazily onto the shore beyond the French doors and his panting breath licked against hers, they drove each other over the edge. His hot release spilled inside her as she clenched around him. Heaven. Pure heaven. Buried deep, he savored the aftermath and quakes coursing through their bodies. Held her against his chest. His heart raced in time with hers. His dick throbbed. The scent of their love-making filled the air.
She was the only one who he had such a powerful connection with.
She would always be the one in control of his heart.
He loved her. More than anything. Was totally rapt.
He was hers.
Forever.
Epilogue
Gemma slipped her transmitter into the pouch on the back of her leather pants and hooked her in-ear monitors over her shoulders. Her heart pummeled against her ribs. She closed her eyes and stretched her head from side to side. Taking in a full breath, she focused. It had been one month since her honeymoon. New York was sinking under the weight of Thanksgiving paraphernalia—autumn leaves, corncob, and pumpkin-shaped table decorations, wall hangings, dried flower arrangements, and oversized stuffed turkeys. She was about to go on stage at the Prudential Center in New Jersey with the guys. Her first performance since Vegas. The first time as Kyle’s wife. The first time since being kidnapped.
I got this.
The electric vibe in the dressing room had their crew, entourage, Kyle and Hunter in a buzz, but the frenzy of butterflies wouldn’t settle in her stomach.
Kyle, rocking a pair of ripped red jeans and a black button-down, slipped over to her side the second Carla finished styling his hair. His bedroom eyes roamed over her sequined halter top, her red pants with rhinestone trim, and her face plastered in stage makeup before settling on her lips. He nuzzled into her neck, whispered in her ear, “Damn, you’re sexy.”
Heat flushed her cheeks. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She slid her hands around his waist, clutched onto his ass and pulled him close.
“Kyle,” Hunter, dressed in a pair of red jean
s with large white stars on them and a shimmery black button-down, hollered and walked toward them. “Stop eye-fucking Gem. We have a show to do.”
She hooked her arms around their waists and formed a tight-knit group hug. Her knees jiggled; her nerves shook. She pulled the guys in closer. “I didn’t think I’d be this anxious, but with you guys beside me, I’ll nail it.”
“You’ve got this, Gem.” Hunter nudged his hip against hers.
“Once that music starts, you’ll feel right at home.” Kyle kissed her temple. She inhaled the smell of his delicious woodsy cologne and let it fill every corner of her soul, calming her mind. Yeah. She was home. These people were home.
“Let’s do this.” Her voice boomed with confidence, but her insides skipped like a scratched CD.
Sophie tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped. “It’s time.”
Gemma smiled a nervous smile. No need to be on edge.
Sophie had done an incredible job rescheduling their canceled show. It had sold out in record time. Every cent of the profits would be donated to the Victims of Crime Center that supported those affected by stalkers and domestic violence. Pulling out of her embrace with the guys, Gemma widened their circle and formed a huddle with everyone present.
“This night is extra special.” She spoke from the depths of her heart. “I’m grateful to be here. Because of all of you. Because of the faith and love and family we have built over the years. You are my strength. You all hold a place in my heart.” Pursing her lips for a second, she fought the tears stinging her eyes. “Let’s show the world that nothing can tear us apart. We are one. We are Everhide. Let’s give this crowd one hell of a show.”
Kyle thrust his hand into the center of the circle. Everyone followed. “This one’s for Gem.”
“Yeah!” Together, they chanted and flung their hands in the air. “Woohoo!”
Sophie snapped her fingers and pointed toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Careful not to smudge her eyeliner, Gemma dabbed tears from her eyes with the tip of her finger. She followed the guys and Sophie through the white concrete maze of corridors toward the stage. Every step she took played in slow motion.