Dalton wondered if Mandy had fallen asleep as he pulled the bike into a field not far from their house. She’d been quiet, seeming to be content to stay curled up behind him – he wouldn’t be surprised if she had – she hadn’t slept well in at least two weeks worrying about the wedding. Picking their path through the field, he headed to the big tree they loved. They’d come and had picnics here during the summer.
This was a place they’d discovered when Walker was an infant. Sometimes the only way to get him to sleep was to take a ride in the car. They’d found this field while out riding around during one of those long nights. It had become a special place to them. They’d started coming to the spot more often than just when Walker couldn’t sleep. He played here now, they came to relax here; this was their own private sanctuary off a less traveled backroad.
He parked the bike under the tree and shut off the engine. Mandy hadn’t moved. “You still with me?” he asked as he turned his head, wishing he could see her.
She nodded against his shoulder, tightening her grip around his waist. “Just comfortable and relaxed.”
Her voice was muffled through the front of the helmet and he wanted desperately to see her face. He maneuvered himself off the seat and turned around to face her, helping rid her of the helmet.
“There’s the face I wanna see,” he used his index finger to tip her chin up, smiling back as she gave him a grin.
He watched as she put her hands up to her hair, trying to fix the damage the helmet had caused. “It ruined my hair didn’t it?”
He wouldn’t tell her it looked like he’d just fucked her for five hours straight, instead he pushed a tendril out of her face. “Looks just as good as it did when we left Christine’s.”
She playfully rolled her eyes. “You’re lying, but I love you for it.”
They were quiet, both just enjoying each other’s company. It had been way too long since they’d relaxed together, without the expectation of wedding planning or the responsibility of a toddler.
“Thanks for coming to get me at the shop,” she was saying. “When we get home, we need to go over the seating chart one more time.”
She stopped talking as Dalton put a hand over her mouth, effectively cutting her off. His eyes bore into hers. “No wedding talk tonight, no Walker talk tonight,” he let go and cupped his palm around her cold cheek. Leaning in, he stopped when their lips were a breath away from each other. “Tonight we talk about us.”
“Is talk a euphemism for something?” she asked, a dirty grin on her face.
“Could be,” he put his arms around her waist, his hands cupping her ass as he pulled her towards his body. She was small next to him, and it made all his protective instincts come out. She was going to be his wife. In a few days, she would legally be his and he couldn’t wait. “Could be I just miss the hell outta spendin’ time with you.”
“I know,” she reached up, kissing his throat. “I miss you too.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mandy didn’t fight back the moan that escaped when his big hands pulled her closer so that their bodies touched. It had been a while since they’d not been on duty as parents, she realized. They hadn’t been just Mandy and Dalton, ‘the couple’ in months. The last time they’d tried to get all sexy with one another, they’d ended up in the ER with Walker because of an ear infection. When his fever had spiked to 103, she’d freaked out. Dalton had put his pants back on and driven them there without ever telling her she was overreacting or doubting her. If anyone deserved this time for just the two of them, it was the man in front of her.
She curled her arms around his neck and leaned into his chest, tilting her head up, so she could reach his throat easier. When her lips connected with the saltiness of his skin, she attacked. Nipping, sucking, licking, tasting, and doing everything she could to remind herself of the couple they’d been before. Dalton was a treat she hadn’t indulged in for too long.
“Fuck Mandy,” he tangled his fingers through her hair – completely destroying the intricate style Christine had spent so much time to create – and pulled her mouth closer to the pulse point in his throat.
Feeling the beat of his heart made her own heart speed up. Scooting closer to him, she used her teeth to nip the skin and then soothed the burn with her tongue before sucking the flesh deep.
“Mark me,” he moaned as he yanked on the strands of her hair. “Let everybody know I’m yours and you’re mine.”
Her head spun as she felt her body being lifted off the seat of the bike. She squealed, releasing him from her mouth as he stood. Dalton wrapped her legs around his waist and got them clear of the machine.
“Was afraid we’d kill ourselves,” he mumbled as he captured her lips with his again, owning her.
His kiss was an imprint she wanted to wear like his property patch. She felt him stumble as he walked them to the tree, their tongues dueling, their hands fighting for position on each other’s body. For a split second her legs gave out, and he had to grab by her ass again before pressing her up against the rough bark of the trunk.
They’d never done this out in the open before, but Mandy had to admit it was a huge turn on, the fact that neither of them wanted to wait until they could make it a few miles up the road to their house.
“I want you so bad,” he ground out as he released her lips and moved to her ear, grasping the lobe between his teeth, pulling harshly.
“I want you too,” she fought to rid herself of her jacket, throwing it down on the ground, weather be damned. She wore a thin sweater and her nipples pebbled in the cold air with nothing to protect them.
Pressed against the tree, she had some leverage. Using it, she helped Dalton push her sweater up and free one of her breasts from its lace prison.
His warm mouth engulfed the turgid tip and the contrast between his warmth and the cold air was enough to make her core clench. “Oh God,” she breathed as she knocked his hat off his head, burying her fingers in the strands of his hair, pulling him closer to her body.
“Dalton, I need you to get me off,” she whined. “I didn’t realize how long it’s been.”
He knew exactly how long it had been, and he could tell her, but that would mean he’d have to remove his lips for her body. Fuck that, because then reality might seep in just enough to make her want to put the brakes on this encounter. There was no way he was letting that happen. They needed this.
As he pressed her up against the tree, he brought his hands down to the belt buckle holding his pants up, wrenching it apart. The metal clanged against itself as he unbuttoned and unzipped as fast as he could.
“Hurry,” she panted above him.
Pushing his pants and his boxers down his hips, he pulled his cock free, inhaling deeply as the air hit him, cooling his skin.
“Fuck, gotta get you out of yours,” he groaned as he tried to work on her leggings.
Unhooking her legs, they tried to push them down, but when that didn’t work; he gripped them on her thighs and yanked down the middle seam, sighing with relief when he heard them rip.
“Oh my God, Dalton, those were brand new,” she threw him a glare.
“Don’t give a fuck,” he pushed his thigh between her legs to make room for his body, jerking the panel of her panties to the side, and thrust himself home. “Finally,” he breathed in her ear as he braced his arms and began the rhythm of thrust and withdraw that they both loved so much.
Dalton felt her grasp him around the shoulders and pull him closer, thrusting her body towards his. “Feel good?” he buried his face in her neck and ran his tongue along the column of her throat before moving his head down and grasping her neglected nipple in between his teeth.
“Right there,” she hissed out. “It won’t take long if you keep doing that.”
Those words were great news because his balls had already drawn up tightly against his body and he was ready to explode. He realized they’d taken spontaneity and the ability to be loud for granted. With Walker they h
ad to kind of plan sex, and then be quiet when they did it. The roughness, the unexpectedness, and the sheer volume they could use to express their love was a huge turn on now. One he hadn’t been prepared for and he almost apologized as he felt himself spill into her.
Pushing his hand between their bodies he rubbed against her clit and sucked on her nipple in time with the aftershock thrusts into her body, and just as he felt his orgasm ebbing, hers overtook her body and she screamed loudly, throwing her head back against the wood of the tree.
There, in a deserted field, in the middle of the night, they panted and laughed as they regained a part of themselves they hadn’t known they’d lost.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Later on that night, they lay in bed, wrapped up in each other. After coming in from the cold, they’d both taken showers, called to check on Walker, and eaten a dinner of frozen pizza and ice cream while watching a stupid reality show on TV. Mandy relaxed against Dalton’s chest and he was content to play with the hair spread out against his pectoral muscles.
“Do you think we should go pick him up?” she worried, as she grabbed Dalton’s fingers one by one, tapping them with the tips of her fingers.
“Walker?” His voice was deep with the relaxation neither one had been able to have in so long, and maybe a little sleepiness as well.
She pushed herself up on her elbow, jostling his eyelids from where they had been almost closed. “Yeah, I mean I feel bad that we’ve just kind of pawned him off.”
He closed the gap between them, pulling her back down onto his chest. “We didn’t pawn him off. He’s with his grandparents, where I’m sure he’s having the time of his life,” he forced her chin up so that he could look into her eyes. “We need our time too, babe. It doesn’t make us bad parents. I promise.”
“It feels weird,” she admitted. “Knowing he’s so far away.”
He chuckled. “It’s thirty minutes. He’s going to be fine, and so are we.”
She settled back in against him and did her best to believe he was right. They would be leaving him with family for seven days at the beginning of the year so they could take a honeymoon, and she knew she was going to have to get used to it. Her eyes popped open; they were going to be getting married! The very thing she’d wanted to happen for most of her life.
Her brain fired up with all the things she knew she had to do before the date. Grasping the cover with her hand, she went to fling it back and off of her, when she felt Dalton’s strong fingers wrap around hers.
“The wedding stuff will be there tomorrow, Mandy,” he rolled them so he lay half on her, half on the mattress, pressing her down into the warm sheets. “Tonight, I want you to get a good night’s sleep. I want you to wake up refreshed in the morning for a change and we’ll both do what needs to be done.”
“But there’s so much we could be doing without Walker here,” she argued.
He opened his eyes; the dark orbs peered down at her. “And we can also focus on spending time together, the one thing that most good marriages have in common.”
She lay back against the pillow, letting out a deep breath. How could she argue with the words he spoke when she knew he was so right?
“Tomorrow,” she nodded.
“Tomorrow,” he affirmed as he wrapped her tightly in his arms, kissing her on the forehead. “Tomorrow we’ll kill your to-do list.”
“I’m holding you to that, Barnett.”
He grinned, his voice sleepy against her ear. “Hold me as long as you want, babe.”
Christmas Eve
“I didn’t think I would be this nervous,” Mandy breathed through the nerves tightening her chest as she sat in a chair in one of the dorm rooms at the clubhouse, waiting for Christine to finish fixing her hair.
“You’re gonna be fine,” Christine assured her, as she ran her comb through Mandy’s hair, doing her best to work her magic.
“That’s what Dalton’s been saying all along, but I feel like my heart’s about to come outta my chest. I know there’s a whole list of things we need to do, and I need to check the weather again,” she tried to grab her cell phone, but Tatum cut her off by grabbing it out of her hands.
“Sis,” Tatum forced her to sit back down in her seat. “What you need to do is freakin’ relax! You’re gonna ruin this because you don’t know how to delegate. Your to-do list is getting done; Mom’s handling it. I’m checking the weather and making sure we’re prepared. Your groom has your son. The ladies of the club have the food, and your hair and makeup is in capable hands. You just sit there and think about all the kinky shit you’re gonna do on your honeymoon.”
Mandy couldn’t help but laugh as Tatum left the room. “I don’t know what the hell any of us are going to do with her,” she shook her head at Christine. “She’s grown up way too fast for me.”
“I know,” Christine smiled. “I remember when I first came to be with the club and she was just a toddler, maybe not even that old. And to see the way she carries herself now, the things she does and the stuff she says, it’s amazing to me. She’s going to make someone very happy one day.”
And she wants that person to be Remy. Mandy added to herself. She hoped like hell her sister wouldn’t be disappointed in her hope for a man to love, or her rush to make it happen. If anyone believed in things taking their time and coming back around, Mandy did. Had she not been patient and willing to accept Dalton and all his faults – they wouldn’t be here right now. There were times when she wondered if she’d been crazy to put up with his bullshit, but she had to admit, the last year and a half had been the happiest of her life, and it was because of the joys he’d ultimately brought to their family.
“We got a delivery,” Drew announced as he came through the door, carrying a vase of roses.
“They’re my favorite,” she beamed as she looked over at her brother. “Did you or Dad get them for me?”
Drew set them down in front of her. “Neither. Your husband got them for you.”
Dalton had never gotten her flowers before and it was almost enough to make the waterworks come. She was the type of woman who never asked for anything, and most of the time she was happy spending the day with her Dalton and their son, but to know he’d done this….well, it touched a place inside her heart.
“I’m just delivering them… and checking up on my daughters,” Drew smiled softly over at Charity who held one of the twins they’d been blessed with.
“They’re doing fine, I promise,” Mandy reached out and grabbed her brother’s hand. “By the time they leave here tonight, they’ll sleep all night for you.”
He laughed loudly. “I’ll believe that shit when I see it,” he walked over to Charity, kissing both of them on the forehead, then leaned down and kissed his other daughter who lay in her car seat. “̓Cause I don’t think we’re gonna sleep a full night until these kids are eighteen.”
Denise chose that moment to come into the room. “Just remember. You reap what you sow,” she winked.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “I was such a shit for a few years. I hope they take after her,” he jerked his thumb at his wife. “She’s the beauty and brains of this operation. I just do a little bit of the heavy lifting.”
Charity smacked him on the shoulder. “Get outta here. You did your good deed by delivering the flowers. Now leave us ladies alone to get ready.”
He leaned in for another kiss and reached in, hugging Mandy before he left the room.
“Wait,” Mandy stopped him. “Can you give this to Dalton for me? You know as a family we always had a gift we could open on Christmas Eve. I want him to be part of the family tradition.” She handed him a wrapped gift.
Drew gave her a smile. “I think that’s the perfect way to officially introduce him to the family.”
When she could, Mandy reached over, grabbing the card out of the vase. Her hands shook, although she couldn’t think why. It wasn’t like Dalton hadn’t become a romantic man in the past almost two years. He had. He’d done
so many things differently and he made her feel like the best thing in his world. Taking the card out of the envelope, she flipped it over so she could read it.
Thank you for never giving up. Thank you for making me the man I am. Thank you for allowing me to be a father. And most of all, thank you for loving me enough to help me see my true potential when I couldn’t see past the end of my nose.
I love you, our family, and the joy you bring to my life daily. See you when I see you. I’ll be the dude wearing the suit, even when I wish I was in jeans and my cut.
– D
She laughed, pushing tears away from her eyes as she read his note. The one thing they’d argued about was wearing a suit, and he’d conceded. She hadn’t seen him in one since their Prom and she was dying to get a glimpse of him today.
“Don’t mess up your makeup,” Christine did her best to fan Mandy’s eyes.
With a light touch, she dabbed away the tears using a borrowed handkerchief but she knew those were happy tears, and they’d probably fall all damn night.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dalton did his best to calm the motion of his knee as it jiggled up and down. The heel of his foot wouldn’t rest on the floor as he waited for Mandy to make an appearance. Reaching inside his suit pocket, he grabbed out the flask she’d given him as a gift and took a liberal drink of the Pappy Van Winkle she’d filled it with. It burned going down but it did wonders to calm his nerves.
They had decided the first time they saw each other would be before anyone else saw them. She’d been worried about being able to control her emotions and truth be told, he’d been kinda worried about his. Now, he sat in the back hallway of the clubhouse, waiting for her to appear.
His mind wandered as he tried to wait patiently. Everyone they knew and loved had congregated outside under tents with plenty of heaters inside to keep everyone comfortable. Thankfully there had been no freezing rain, although the temp had dipped down into the thirties. They were going to be able to pull this off; he knew it deep in his heart.
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