The Happily Ever After Search

by Amanda Kay

She leaned her head back so she could look at him. “Nope, I was hoping you would be coming back.” He leaned down and kissed her nose.

  “I’ll leave you two to talk,” her dad said before winking at her and leaving them, presumably to go finish getting settled.

  He turned her so she was facing him, “So, sweetheart, what is it that we have to talk about?”

  She wrapped her hands around his waist, linking them on his back. “How would you feel about dad moving here and living with us?” She felt her breath hold. She wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, but even if he let her down she knew it would be gently.

  “Tai, if you want Dale to come live here with us, then I think that is a great idea.” She smiled and launched herself closer so her lips found his.

  He returned her kiss with just as much passion as they had the first time they ever kissed. It was something that was never lost on her. She knew how lucky she was to have found this after such a hard break up with Jordan.

  “I have a question for you about the wedding,” Raiden said. This surprised Tai, because she knew she had carte blanche to do whatever she wanted. This was what Raiden wanted to give her. A wedding of her dreams.

  “Shoot, playboy,” she responded to his statement.

  “Do you think Jordan will be my best man?” Her eyes widened she did not expect this question.

  “I don’t know, Raiden. I assumed your dad would be,” she answered.

  “I would like him to, but I just don’t know if he’ll be able to, and I think I’d rather him watch from the comfort of a chair.” He was showing a level of vulnerability, that only she got to see and he didn’t show it often.

  “It wouldn’t hurt to ask. It might help if you tell him Bethany will be my maid of honor.” She winked at him, because the truth was, they were doing everything they could to get those two together, but Bethany was just scared. Tai understood completely. When you’re told for as long as she was, that you’d most likely be marrying someone for the good of the country and then that changes in a blink of an eye, it’s hard to open yourself up to someone else, especially when you know they could rip your heart open.

  “Hmm...that’s a good idea. Tai? Jordan’s going to have to be patient with her.” His tone now morphed into seriousness.

  “I know, more importantly, he knows.” Raiden nodded.

  “So, where do you want the wedding?” She couldn’t help but smile at that question

  “Here, in our meadow,” she smiled brightly.

  “Our meadow?” he frowned and Tai felt worried.

  “Umm...?” she stuttered not knowing what to say.

  “Tai, I’m kidding. This is perfect. Our meadow is perfect.” He brushed her lips with his.

  “Good, now if we are going to eat, I need to cook dinner. Is Lee coming down?” Raiden nodded, but sadly. She squeezed him tightly and he returned her embrace. The truth was, they didn’t know how long Lee would remain in their lives. There were good days, but mostly bad days when it came to his health.

  Raiden

  Dale had left, but when he came back for the wedding he was staying. Tai’s mom though, was still a sore subject. Tai wanted her at the wedding, so they were sitting on the bed and Tai was complaining about making this call.

  “She needs to be here. Sweetheart, you would regret it if we didn’t invite her,” he paused and she sighed.

  “I know that, but things are still strained. She pushes Jordan and me at least once a conversation. I just want her to drop it. She doesn’t get it or she thinks she’s making it up to me by putting the blame on herself. Hell, Raiden, maybe it’s both.” It bothered Raiden that Tai’s mom couldn’t see how much he cared for her. Sure, she hadn’t been out to visit like Dale had. However, all but one conversation he had been privy to.

  “Let’s make this call, sweetheart. She needs to know that we’re getting married in three months,” Raiden said. He was determined to get this over with.

  “One question first. Did you talk with Jordan?” Raiden nodded cautiously. “Good, what did he say?”

  “He said he’d be honored. Why?” He wasn’t sure why Tai wanted this information now.

  “Leverage, playboy.” She smiled that smile that told him all he needed to know. When her mom brought up Jordan and how they should be together Tai could throw the fact that he had agreed to be his best man in her face.

  “Make the call, sweetheart,” he said amused with her now.

  Tai

  “Hi, Darling. Am I on speaker?” her mom answered.

  “You usually are, mom,” Tai responded flatly, looking to Raiden who shrugged. She knew he hated that her relationship with her mom had gotten so broken. He wanted to help her repair it, but her mom wasn’t making that easy.

  “Hi, Raiden,” her mom finally said.

  “Hello, ma’am.” Raiden was his usual polite self. One of the things Tai loved about him was his respect when they were on the phone with her mom. Afterwards, he vented and tore her to shreds. She got on his nerves, mostly because of the Jordan thing.

  “So, honey, how’s Jordan?” Tai sighed. Of course that would be her first question.

  “Good. In fact he’s agreed to be Raiden’s best man in three months,” Tai smiled at Raiden. She was glad she had that weapon in her back pocket.

  “Tai Marie Coretti,” her mother gasped. “That boy loves you. How can you force him to watch you marry another?” Tai sighed at her mother’s agitation.

  Tai went to speak, but Raiden silenced her. Usually after his greeting he remained quiet unless her mom asked him a question. This was going to be interesting.

  “Ma’am, no disrespect, but if Jordan loved her, if you loved her, neither of you would have done what you did. Second, I do love your daughter and you constantly force Jordan on her I don’t appreciate that. I was the one who suggested that Tai start calling you. Third, our wedding is in three months we would love for you to attend. I will pay your way. Goodbye.” Raiden ended the call and left Tai shocked. He rarely got upset, but when he did he wasn’t to be trifled with. Her mom tried to call back but Raiden moved the phone to the nightstand.

  “No, sweetheart, no more today.” Tai smiled at him crawling into his lap.

  “You never cease to amaze me, playboy,” she laughed.

  Raiden

  He was stressed out. Her mother crossed the line there by blaming Tai for causing Jordan pain. She wasn’t, but still, even if she was, he deserved it and he would be the first one to admit that. He was happy for him and Tai, though, he was still working on Bethany and was being incredible with her hesitations. He understood that Bethany never thought she would get the chance at love and now that she had...well, she wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. He thought back, Jordan was happy about being Raiden’s best man and a little confused by the offer as well.

  “Dude, thanks for meeting with me,” Raiden said standing and extending his hand to Jordan as he approached the usual table.

  “Of course, what do I owe this meeting to?” Jordan asked taking the seat in the booth across from him.

  “Well, I was wondering if you would be my best man.” Raiden thought there was a chance he might not do this because of Tai, so he just waited.

  “You want me to be your best man?” Jordan questioned back.

  “That is what I asked, man, hard of hearing?” Raiden joked. Ever since Jordan was the one behind Kai’s car when Tai had been kidnapped they had really developed a friendship, but still Raiden understood his confusion.

  “Raiden, I would love to be your best man. I need to ask how Tai feels about it, though?” Raiden could understand this as well.

  “She’s fine, although we both always assumed my dad would be my best man, but with his health, I’m just not sure.” Jordan nodded.

  “I get it. I care about Tai. I regret how things ended, but not that they ended. Tai’s right, we just weren’t ever meant to be.” It was Raiden’s turn to nod.

  Tai’s voice brought him back to the
present, “What are you thinking about, playboy?”

  “My conversation with Jordan. He said he regrets the way things ended between you two, but not that they ended.” Tai nodded in agreement, straddling his lap in the process.

  “I know what he means.” Her voice now laced with seduction. She slid forward on his lap immediately waking up a certain part of his body. He found her lips tossing her to the bed and coming over her all in one movement. No one was going to tell him this woman was meant to be with someone else. Tai was his.

  Tai

  His lips began trailing down her neck and then to her shoulders. Brushing the strap of her tank top aside, his teeth casually grazing her skin in his oh so careful way. “Shit, playboy,” she hissed in pleasure. The shockwaves he always managed to send through her body never ceased to take her by surprise.

  “You trust me right, sweetheart?” She opened her eyes and stared at him. He had stopped his kisses. What was this about?

  “Always, Raiden.” She didn’t use his nickname because she saw how serious he was being and she wanted to make sure he knew she was dead serious about her statement. Trusting Raiden was something that came so naturally from the moment they met. He tugged her shirt down and his kisses resumed down to her breast. He stopped at her nipple placing a gentle kiss. She shivered his lips always caused her to shiver especially when their intimacy was at its highest. His kiss then turned into a gentle suck.

  “Mmm,” she moaned. His teeth began to apply pressure to her nipple as he sucked. It was a lightning bolt to her body further south. “Playboy, please,” she begged.

  He stopped what he was doing and his eyes shining with desire, the stress being placed on his jeans noticeable. He removed her clothes and then his. She drank him in as he climbed back over her, his weight resting on his arms from his wrists to his elbows.

  “Fuck!” he hissed pushing into her. That was the usual reaction to any sexual encounters between them this past week. She had been on the pill only two short weeks. After day seven Bethany’s mom said that they should be okay to forego any other protection methods if they chose. She of course urged against it, but Raiden, well he wasn’t having any of that. He made no secret about it and Tai agreed. If she did get pregnant Raiden had expressed he would be ecstatic about it. He pumped into her hard and fast and she relished the feel of his flesh against hers, no more rubber. Just his cock deep inside of her, loving her.

  His quick movements, mixed with his warm up on her breast had her screaming his name in only a few short minutes, with him following quickly behind. He released his weight, staying buried inside. She wrapped her arms around his back and began slowly stroking her fingers across his skin. “Damn, playboy,” she muttered into the crook of his neck.

  “Damn is right, sweetheart,” he muttered back.

  Raiden

  Raiden had all day meetings in the capital. He was missing Aishan and Tai terribly. He hated when he had to come here for governing, but such was life. Usually he made these trips with his dad, but things were going downhill fast. “Hi, Raiden. How’s Lee doing?” Elder Tom asked. He was one of his dad’s top aides and things went through him and the other elders before decisions were made.

  “I’m just hoping he can hold out till Tai and I get married,” Raiden said on a sigh.

  “I’m sure he will. Is Tai going vampire?” Raiden had been getting this question all day.

  “No, not forcing her to change, and since there is nothing against it, I don’t see why she should,” he replied.

  “Good man, your father is proud of you. I’m proud of you.” Tom was one of the night dark vampires who admired how Raiden’s dad had lived and ran things. There weren’t many but some very loyal ones. Kai Lukas and his family had recruited some of the non-loyal ones in their plot to destroy the society Raiden’s dad had created. He despised Kai for a lot of reasons, the biggest one being spineless. Kai had been hanging around Gloria far too much for it to just be a plot anymore. Raiden knew the Lukas family wasn’t going to take too kindly to that, but Kai didn’t have the guts to stand up to them.

  “Need go, Tom. Have to get back to both dad and Tai.” Tom nodded and headed out into the night. Raiden headed to his car pulling out his cell in the process. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said when he heard her pickup.

  “Hey, playboy.” Her voice was laced with something, worry, doubt, he wasn’t really sure, but he knew something was wrong. He had been gone all day ‘please don’t be dad.’

  “Everything all right, Tai?” he asked, firing up his car to race home.

  “Yeah, playboy, just had a migraine all day and been feeling really blah. I checked on Lee a few times, but not as much as I should’ve. Sorry, playboy.” She was filled with guilt. It was not something she needed to feel guilty about if she was sick he understood.

  “I’m sure dad is fine. Tai, are you resting?” he asked, concerned for her. He was hoping this was just a bug and not something else. If he was going to lose his dad, he wasn’t losing Tai as well.

  Tai

  Her head was still pounding, nothing she did eased it either. The bedroom was dark when a dim light filled the room. Raiden was home, thank goodness.

  “Sweetheart?” he questioned, still from the doorway.

  “I’m awake, playboy.” She felt awful and was pretty sure she sounded awful.

  He came to the bed crawling next to her. “Oh Tai, sweetheart, are you okay?” His voice concerned.

  “Not really,” she sighed. Her head was throbbing and she knew any minute she’d be getting up again to throw up. “Excuse me, Raiden.” She barely got out rushing towards their bathroom. She could feel Raiden follow behind her but she couldn’t focus on that. He kneeled next to her and she felt his hands brush her hair from her neck, holding back better than she was. His other hand began small circles on her back. “Sorry, playboy, you’re probably tired and now you have to take care of me and Lee.” Was she apologizing to her fiancé for being sick? It proved exactly how out of it she had been all day.

  “Don’t, sweetheart.” He spoke low and gently, she was grateful for his whisper.

  She finished purging and rested her head on the toilet seat. She felt him shift towards the large Jacuzzi tub, and she heard the whine come from the pipes as the water was turned on. “Have you eaten today?” He sounded so far away, but she knew he wasn’t.

  “Nothing has stayed down,” her words coming out in a groan.

  “Okay, sweetheart, bath time.” He undressed her and lifted her into the tub. “Rest love, I’m going to go check on dad and I’ll be back to help you out and get ready for bed.” She just nodded the water felt warm, just hot enough to be soothing. She felt her whole body drift as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back along the tub edge.

  Raiden

  It had been a week since his meeting in the capital. Tai was feeling better, but he knew she wasn’t one-hundred percent, but she was trying to hide it. He felt she was pushing herself with the wedding planning. He went looking for her. She had come home about an hour ago, but he had yet to see her. As he reached the top step she was coming out of the bedroom that was hers for all of a day.

  “What were you doing in there?” he questioned.

  “Putting away my dress,” she said like it should have been a no brainer.

  “Oh, you could’ve put it in our closet,” he suggested.

  Her eyebrows raised and she shook her head, “No, playboy, not a chance.” She laughed and headed in the direction of their room.

  He followed behind. “How are you feeling today?” he asked.

  “Good,” she replied dismissively. Probably because he had been asking this question way too much this week.

  “Tai, we need talk about the wedding.” She spun around to look at him this time.

  “What about it?” The worry clearly creased on her face.

  “Maybe...we should...” She cut him off when he struggled to find the words.

  “No, Raiden...Please don’t sa
y it.” She was panicking. He moved towards her. He didn’t want her to think he didn’t want to get married. He absolutely did, but he didn’t want her killing herself to put together her dream wedding in just three months.

  “Tai, you’ve been sick. Maybe we shouldn’t get married in three months. Maybe...” She cut him off again.

  “Damn it, Raiden! No! I’m fine. If you don’t want to get married say it!” she yelled the panic gone and full out anger taking its place.

  “Sweetheart, I want to marry you, so badly. But not at the expense of you getting sick because you’re stressed about getting everything done.” He tried to remain calm. He wanted her to see that it didn’t matter when they got married just that they did. Sure, this three month rush was more for him than her, but he needed to put her first.

  “No! I’m not waiting. I’m fine!” She wasn’t fine. Raiden could see it. She was stressed, he didn’t want that. She was getting sick. She glared at him clearly unsure of what to think and then she shoved past him right out of their bedroom.

  “Fuck, Raiden!” he cursed. He knew this would be a sore subject. Jordan had done the same thing, but this wasn’t the same. He knew how it looked though.

  Tai

  Ok, so she probably overreacted. No, she knew she did. It just took her by surprise. For a brief moment she flashed back to the night Jordan ended things. Raiden wasn’t Jordan though, he wasn’t trying to postpone or stop their wedding he was just concerned for her well-being. He had enough going on worrying about his dad. He didn’t need to worry about her health, too. She still wanted to get married in three months, but maybe she could find a way to not push herself too much. She remembered back to the last wedding she was planning, she was super busy with things but she never felt stressed. She knew why, her mom was there taking away those stressful moments when she couldn’t make a decision. Damn it, even then she should’ve known the way her mom was talking up Jordan that something wasn’t adding up. It wasn’t normal mother-talk when referring to your daughter’s fiancé, it was always more.