by Alexa Land
“What day did you go see them?”
“I was there Tuesday morning. What about you?”
“Tuesday afternoon. You beat me again.”
I smiled and said, “It just goes to show this was meant to be.”
“It really was.”
I grabbed his hands and exclaimed, “Marry me, Duke!”
That made him smile. “I figured my yes was implied in my proposal.”
“I mean tonight! Let’s go to the Elvis chapel at our hotel and get married while it’s still our birthday.”
“I’d love that,” he said, “but what about your family?”
“What do you think about getting married again when we return to San Francisco? It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a small ceremony with the people we love. I really want tonight to be fun, spontaneous, and only for us. But we can still include everyone by doing it over again once we’re back home.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“I wish I could call my mom and dad and tell them what’s going on, but my phone didn’t fit in my pockets.”
The gondolier said, “Here, use mine,” and leaned forward to hand it to me, while juggling the long pole he used to push the boat through the water.
Duke and I both thanked him, and I dialed the number. When my father answered, I blurted, “He said yes! This is Quinn, by the way. We’re in a gondola, and I had to borrow a phone so I could call you right away!”
“That’s fantastic!” My dad sounded emotional. “Who proposed first?”
“I did, by less than a minute. Way to keep it a secret that we were both planning the same thing!”
The call was on speaker, and my mother yelled, “We’re so happy for both of you! Congratulations!”
“Thanks, Mom. And guess what? We’re getting married tonight! We don’t want to leave you out though, so we’re going to plan a second ceremony with the whole family when we get back to San Francisco. Are you okay with that?”
My mother said, “You’ve always followed your heart, Quinn, and if it’s telling you to get married tonight, then you go right ahead and do that with our blessing. We’ll celebrate together when you get home.”
“Thanks for being so understanding.”
“We love you, son,” my dad said. “We love you too, Duke! Welcome to the family!” Duke was smiling as he murmured a thank you.
My mother added, “Oh, and happy birthday to you both! You certainly found a fantastic way to celebrate!”
We spoke for another minute, and after we said goodbye, Duke placed a call to the Elvis chapel. The only remaining timeslot of the night was in less than half an hour, and we added our names to the list. I handed the phone and a big tip to the gondolier as he pulled up to the dock, and he said, “I see a lot of proposals at this job, and I have a good feeling about you two. Congratulations, boys!”
We thanked him and stepped off the boat. Then Duke raised my hand to show off my engagement ring and yelled to the people waiting in line, “He said yes!”
I held up his left hand and exclaimed, “He said yes, too!” Everyone cheered and applauded as Duke and I joined hands and took off running.
*****
We tumbled out of the cab at the Polynesian Princess, ran through the hotel, and arrived at the wedding chapel just as a young brunette with a bouffant hairdo and a clipboard yelled, “Blumenthal-Takahashi party, last call!”
“We’re here,” Duke said as we came to a stop right in front of her and gasped for breath. She was chewing gum and wore a nametag that said ‘Priscilla.’ That had to be a part of the Elvis theme, and I idly wondered what her real name was.
Not-Priscilla said, “Welcome! Come on inside. There are a just few formalities to get through, won’t take but a minute.”
Duke and I sat across from her at an ornate, gold-painted desk. We handed over a credit card and our IDs, filled out a couple of forms, and paid extra for the deluxe video and photo package, so we could share it with my family. Then she asked, “Do you have any witnesses, or any special requests?”
I glanced at Duke, who smiled at me and said, “Go ahead, put a Quinn spin on it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I told the woman, “We’d like to get married at the base of the volcano. As for witnesses, I’ll be right back.” I got up and dashed from the chapel while Duke chuckled.
A group of alpaca enthusiasts were checking on their animals before bed, and I ran over to them and said, “Hi everyone. Would you and your alpacas like to be the witnesses at my wedding? I’m Quinn, and about to marry an amazing man named Duke. You’ll like him.”
A short woman of about sixty-five with a curly, red wig exclaimed, “We’d love to! Oscar’s never been to a wedding. Hey, you know what? I think I still have his parade top hat packed, let me run and get it!”
I had no idea who Oscar was, but I said, “Great! Meet us at the volcano in five minutes!”
She called, “You got it, sonny,” as she scurried to some storage boxes beneath the canopy. The rest of her friends chattered excitedly and bustled after her.
Duke and the woman with the bouffant were waiting outside when I returned to the chapel. ‘Priscilla’ adjusted her off-the-shoulder Hawaiian print dress as she told me, “We’ll get going in just a minute. Elvis has left the building.” She looked around to make sure her coworkers weren’t watching and pantomimed taking a drink. Then she said, “Don’t worry, he’s a pro, so he’ll be back. We’ll meet you at Kila-fake-a. That’s what I call the volcano. You know, like Kilauea, but not?” I liked her.
Duke took my hand, and he and I walked to the edge of the pool. It was vivid turquoise and lit with underwater lights, which cast interesting reflections all around us. I looked up at my fiancé and asked, “Do you want to call your parents and tell them you’re getting married?”
“No. I went to see them last week, on the way back from your parents’ house, and…well, let’s just say it’s official now. They’re no longer a part of my life.”
“What happened?”
Duke’s voice was low and steady as he picked up my hands and ran his thumb over my rainbow ring. “I told them I was getting married and asked them to come to the wedding. They were furious. My mother said I was going to hell unless I changed my ways, and my father told me until I repented, I wasn’t welcome in their home. Loving you isn’t a sin. It’s just not. But I know they’ll never be able to overcome their bigotry, so instead of trying to argue with them, I said goodbye and left. I doubt I’ll ever see them again.”
“Oh God Duke, I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll be alright. It hurts, but it’s also a relief in a way. That relationship was beyond toxic. All my parents ever did was make me feel less-than, but no more. There’s just the loose end of paying back the loan, and then I’ll truly be free of them.” He pulled me close and said, “But this isn’t the time for looking back and being sad. Just the opposite! Today is a new beginning. It’s my birthday, and I’m marrying the love of my life! You make me feel like anything is possible, Quinn, and I’m so excited to begin our lives together and see what the future holds for us.”
I wrapped my arms around him and asked, “Are you really okay with marrying me right now, like this? I know it all happened really fast, and it’s alright to change your mind about the rushed Elvis wedding. We can go home and plan a proper ceremony if you want to. You know, the way most people do it.”
He said, “You’re not most people, Quinn. This is fun and unexpected, and beyond anything I could have imagined. In other words, it’s exactly you, and that makes it perfect.”
I pulled him down to my height and kissed him, just as the woman with the big hair called, “It’s time, boys! Save the smooching for the honeymoon!”
Duke smiled at me and said, “Oh hey, the honeymoon! I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Do you think you’re ready for the final step?”
“Oh yeah. I’d been planning on that tonight anyway. Looks like our firs
t time will actually take place on our wedding night.”
I chuckled and said, “So old-fashioned.”
He leaned in and licked my earlobe, then whispered in my ear, “There’s nothing old-fashioned about what I’m planning to do to you.” A shiver of pleasure skittered down my spine as we went to join our makeshift wedding party.
*****
I never in a million years could have come up with anything more perfect than our wedding. Duke and I were married just before midnight on our Halloween birthday, while dressed as Batman and Robin. The ceremony took place at the base of a fake, glowing volcano, surrounded by alpacas in top hats and neckties, their enthusiasts, and a ragtag group of hotel guests. Two people were in bathing suits. A few others wore Halloween costumes. One guy was dressed like a giant lobster, which delighted me to no end.
The ceremony was short and sweet. Priscilla took pictures, and the man we’d seen earlier, who for all we knew really was Christopher Walken, filmed it with a small camcorder. Hawaiian Elvis, with his mighty pompadour and big, gold sunglasses, asked, “Quinn, do you take this man to be your hunka hunka burnin’ love, and do you promise to love him tender, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, all the days of your life?”
I squeezed Duke’s hands and looked into his eyes as I said, “I absolutely do.”
Elvis said, “Duke, do you take this man to be your lovin’ teddy bear, and do you promise to love him tender, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, all the days of your life?”
“I do.” I was overwhelmed by the love in Duke’s eyes when he spoke those two little words.
“Then by the power vested in me by the great state of Nevada,” Elvis swiveled his hips, swung his arm around three times, and gestured at us with both hands, “I pronounce you married. Go on now and kiss your husband.”
Elvis broke into a fantastic rendition of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ as Duke picked me up and kissed me. One of the alpacas sneezed, and our audience applauded as cameras flashed around us. Afterwards, a lot of people shook our hands and congratulated us, and then we signed the marriage certificate. It was witnessed by the assistant with the bouffant, whose name turned out to actually be Priscilla, and the woman in the red wig, who signed her name ‘Glenda Farbernugen and Oscar the Amazing Alpaca’. I couldn’t have been happier.
Finally, Priscilla said, “Mazel tov, boys! I’ll be assembling your photos, wedding video, and documents in a keepsake box. You can pick it up anytime tomorrow, since I know y’all are going to be busy tonight.”
Duke grinned and murmured, “Definitely.”
He took my hand, and as we headed to the side entrance of the hotel, I smiled at him and exclaimed, “We just got married!”
“We did!”
“That means we’re now…wait, what are we going to call ourselves? Duke and Quinn Blumenthal-Takahashi?”
He thought about that, then said, “If you’re okay with it, I’d like to take your last name. Seems fitting, to go with my new family and the whole new life you and I will be building together.”
“That’d be amazing! Duke Takahashi. You sound like a movie star!”
He chuckled and held the door for me. “I don’t know about that, but it does have a nice ring to it.”
As we started down the long, quiet corridor that led to the lobby, I changed the subject with, “Since we’re headed to our hotel room to begin our honeymoon, maybe this is a good time to mention that I brought along condoms, and if you want to use them, I won’t be offended or anything.”
He stopped walking and turned to me with a puzzled expression. “Why would we do that? We both got tested a few weeks ago, and we know we’re going to be monogamous, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
I’d used condoms without fail in the past and got tested regularly. The results had always been negative, including my most recent screening, and Duke had gotten tested with me to show his support. There was no reason for concern, but I still found myself saying, “It just, you know…might give you peace of mind.”
“Where’s this coming from?”
I shrugged and murmured, “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
I studied the peach-colored tile floor, and after a moment I said, “I just thought the idea of fucking someone with my track record might make you a little uncomfortable. Maybe that’s part of the reason why you put this off as long as you did. I mean, we said we loved each other weeks ago, and you still didn’t fuck me. If you’re nervous about doing this without protection, that’s totally understandable. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t bring up the idea of using a rubber, just because my STD test came back negative.”
Duke’s voice was gentle when he said, “Look at me, Quinn.” I glanced at him from beneath my lashes, and he cupped my cheek in his big hand. “The reason I’ve waited this long is because I wanted our first time to be special. I’d been planning this trip since the beginning of October, and I latched on to the idea that this would be when it happened. And then, I have to admit, I freaked myself out a little, because I started building it up so much in my mind. I began overthinking where we’d be when it happened, what the hotel room would be like, what I’d say and do. I have a problem with feeling like everything always has to be perfect. I’m sure you know that, given how rigid I was when you first moved in. But I’m trying to change, and I spent the last couple of weeks working on letting go of those expectations and trying to take some of the pressure off.”
I asked, “So, how are you, now that it’s about to happen?”
“A lot less nervous than I thought I’d be. That 1970s porn palace of a hotel room threw me for a loop, but you know what? It’s actually good that it ended up being so different than what I’d imagined. It helped me let go of the last of my preconceived notions about what our first time is supposed to be like.”
“That’s great.”
“It is, and I know I have nothing to worry about. I trust you, and you accept me as I am, so there’s no pressure to try to act suave, or cool, or manly, or whatever. I can just let go and have fun.” I smiled at him, and he added, “Now, as far as the condom question, we’re monogamous and we’ve been tested, so we don’t need them and I’m not worried.”
“Okay.”
He rested his hands on my shoulders and added, “I want you to know I don’t care that you have a past, Quinn. So I’m not the first guy you slept with. So what? I’m the last, and that’s all that matters.”
I said, “I like that perspective.”
Duke pivoted me so my back was to the wall and ran his hands down my arms as he said, “Any other comments or concerns? Speak now or forever hold your peace. Hey, you know what? Our wedding ceremony didn’t include that part.”
“Who was going to object, one of the alpacas?”
“Possibly. I felt like Oscar was judging me.”
“He did seem a bit judgmental,” I said. “It was probably the top hat. It made him think he was better than everyone else.”
“Nothing worse than an alpaca with attitude.” He looked in my eyes and lowered his voice. “That was a serious question, though. Are you worried about anything else, and if so, should we talk about it before I take you upstairs and fuck you?”
I grinned and said, “I’ve never heard you say fuck before.”
Duke surprised me by running his hands down my chest, then pinching my nipples and rolling them between his fingers. I drew in my breath and looked around, even though I knew we were alone in the long hallway, and he leaned against me and said, “That word is overused. It should be reserved for what I’m about to do to you.” I shivered with pleasure, and he pushed his leg between mine and rubbed his thigh against my swelling cock.
“Not that I’m complaining,” I murmured, “but we have to make it all the way up to the tenth floor, and as you pointed out earlier, these shorts don’t hide much.”
“You’re too sexy to resist,”
he said, “and I’ve been wanting to play with your nipples all night. I’ve seen you shirtless many times, but never without those little silver studs. It’s surprisingly erotic, kind of like I’m seeing you naked for the first time.”
“Is it?” He nodded, and then he shifted his gaze to my chest and circled both nipples with his thumbs. As he grew bolder, I started to feel shy, almost as if the universe was trying to maintain our usual equilibrium. I stammered, “It’s just, you know, the nipple rings didn’t go with the Robin costume, so I…oh God.” Duke ran his tongue down my chest and sucked on my left nipple, and my cock jumped as a jolt of electricity shot directly to my balls. “We should wait until we get to our hotel room,” I murmured, even as I rubbed my cock against his thigh. “What if we get in trouble?”
He kissed his way back up to my neck, then said, in between nibbling on my earlobe, “I’m pretty sure we’re not the first couple to make out in public in Las Vegas.”
“True.” It was becoming tough to focus as lust clouded my thoughts, and I whispered, “Why do I feel like it’s my first time?”
“Well, it’s our first time, so….”
“Only technically. Even if you’ve never fucked me, we’ve done plenty of other stuff.” I moaned quietly as he grazed the tip of my cock through my clothes. When he licked my neck, pleasure radiated through me and I murmured, “How are you so good at this?”
His breath was warm on my ear as he cupped my ass and told me, “There are advantages to taking it slowly. It’s almost as if we’ve spent two months on foreplay, so I’ve had time to memorize your body. That’s how I know this makes you weak in the knees.” He licked my nipple and blew on it, and the surprisingly intense sensation really did made my legs shake.
I slid my hands down his back and told him, “We have to go upstairs, because I need you in me more than I’ve ever needed anything in my life.”
He glanced to his left, then said, “In a minute. We’re about to have company.”