by Nicole Snow
“Dearly beloved,” he begins. “We're gathered here today to unite two hearts once lost in holy matrimony, Ryan Caspian, and Kara Lilydale.”
My eyes flit to the side. Matt stands there in military dress, my best man and best friend. He gives me a subtle smile and flashes a thumbs up.
I know the boys and girls from the office are cheering me, too. Leonard, Becky, and so many more who got rich on the way up, making Punch Corp a world leader in new technologies.
They helped me achieve that dream. It's been a stepping stone to this one, but now I have to do the rest alone. Wouldn't have it any other way.
“Ryan,” the priest says, turning to me. “Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife...”
For better and for worse.
In sickness and in health.
To have and to hold.
Till death do you part?
Each phrase hits like lightning. The full, outrageous enormity of what I'm about to do stabs through my ribs, so sudden I have to lift her hand to my lips, and plant a kiss on her precious skin.
I love this woman. I'll never doubt it.
Through hell, through heaven, through five years of loss, through six glorious months back together, and all the years we had as kids. I'll love her to the end of time. I know it more than I've known anything in my life.
I can't keep them waiting. My hands lock tight on hers, pulling her closer, and for just a second, I'm lost in her jade green eyes.
“Obviously, it's a 'yes.' Kara, I love who you were, who you are, and who you're bound to become. Love that you're gong to be by my side the entire time, having my kids, and being the best girl any man stuck on this rock could ever wish for. Didn't think it was possible to love you more, Kara-bou, but I do today. I love that you're mine forever, and you're going to remember it every time you're flashing those rings.”
That's right. Rings. Plural.
She's wearing both wedding rings. Our past, present, and future are reconciled on her hand.
Her face twitches. I reach up and gently clasp her chin, wiping away the tears that come down. We're lucky the priest speaks slow, prepping for her part, because she's in no condition to say anything for the next sixty seconds.
“Do you, Kara, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband...”
To love and to cherish.
To worship and adore.
Today and all your days.
The crowd coos softly when I pull her into my arms. It's all I can do to steady her as she's shaking, overwhelmed with the same wave that hit me a minute ago.
Five years of pain go up in flames. We did it.
Against the odds, against the assholes, against the world, we won. There's no love like the one worth fighting for. Today brings us so much closer to winning the battle for good.
I give her a look, rubbing my thumb softly along her cheek. Don't rush. Whenever you're ready.
Her eyes open. She looks at the priest, before turning her eyes my way again. Next to me, Matt sniffs. I think the big marine is holding in his own emotional storm.
“Love you, Ryan, and I'm proud to be your wife. I never thought I'd be standing here today, marrying the one, the right one, the only one who's ever believed in me and didn't give up. So many things tried to get in the way, tried to take you away from me, but they didn't. I believe it's fate, and there's nothing like it to make me believe you're the only man I'll ever call my husband. Too many people have loved and lost. We won, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime win for our hearts.”
There's my girl. I'm smiling at her eloquence, the sweetness in her voice. Mostly, I'm actually able to control the need to haul her into bed right now because those eyes on mine are about more than just sex.
So much more. I clasp her hands, waiting for the priest to say the final words.
He speaks legalities. Then what everybody gathered has been waiting for.
“Please, kiss the bride.”
Like he even has to ask. Like I wouldn't turn the world over on its ass just to get her, pull her into my arms, and push my lips down on hers.
Everything explodes the instant we kiss. She's swept up in my embrace amid the cheers, the laughter, the tears. She's crying, letting loose everything she's held inside while we kiss, but it doesn't interfere with her tongue.
It's hot on mine. Desperate. Wanting.
I take her mouth, letting my hands roam across her body. Tonight, as soon as the big day's finished, I'm going to fuck my wife like she's never had it before. And if she's going to give me the wedding gift I think she is, I'm going to be sore for the next week.
We're trying to eat our cake, stopping every minute for about a hundred people clinking their glasses, wanting us to kiss for them yet again. We indulge them, but it's really for ourselves. They can't see my hand on her thigh, clenching through the thin white fabric, ready to shred her pretty gown the second we're alone.
Smiling, I pick up my fork, and feed another bite into her mouth. Can't take my eyes off those lips. They're pink and perfect and ready to be wrapped around my cock.
Streams of people come by to give us their well wishes. We hear the chatter all around us, too, the latest town gossip.
Turns out Drayton Financial botched a couple hundred annuities for the town's wealthiest citizens. They've been slammed with so many lawsuits they'll probably never recover, and that's nothing compared to the restitution fund the FBI set up to claw back money made off Nelson's victims.
Nobody's seen Reg since the night we left him in the woods. I had a private investigator trail him a couple months ago. The man tracked him to Chicago, where he's wasting the last of his family fortune on high end escorts and thousand dollar heels, drinking himself into a sorry stupor most nights.
I'd feel sorry for him if he hadn't crushed my girl. I'm grateful I get to rebuild her, love her like he didn't. God help me, I'm still a little jealous, every second the miserable prick is alive and breathing.
I don't let Kara mention him, nor does she bother.
“I haven't seen them this happy in years,” she says, leaning into me, motioning to Bets, Matt, and Holden several tables down.
I throw my arm around her and nod. “The family's fixed. Only a matter of time before your brother decides to leave the service and settle down. Hope he finds a better woman, someday.”
“Me too,” she muses, sucking her bottom lip. “That could've been me, Ryan. I might've made his mistake, marrying the wrong one. If the timing was different, or I'd turned you in the first time you showed up on my doorstep...I could've lost everything. And if I'd screwed up, gotten a kid into this mess...God.”
“You didn't,” I growl, laying a hand on her cheek. “Only kid coming out of you is going to be beautiful, and happy babe. We're going to make the happiest little things on earth.”
She reaches for my hand, clenching it tight, giving me a look that makes my dick jerk. “Are you sure you're ready for this?”
Her voice is just a whisper. I lick my lips, staring through the crowd, wondering when we can slink off without anybody noticing our absence.
“Kara, baby, I've been waiting my entire life,” I say. “We made our mistakes, screwing around with the wrong people, thinking we were dead to each other. That's all over. We're married now, and you'd better believe I want to build a family like yesterday.”
“I hope we can be good parents. Daddy died so young, and you had it rough, moving through all those orphanages.”
“Just tells us we know what family means.” I rub her thigh beneath the table, waiting until she does the slow turn, her big green eyes burning. “We don't half-ass, Kara-bou. After everything we've been through, we can't. I love you with all my heart, and our son or daughter's going to share it all, because they're part of us. Maybe our best parts. Real question is, are you ready to get the hell out of here?”
She smiles, pushing her fingers into mine. We kiss one more time before I help her up, making our way through the crowd one more time. Sh
e's more ready to go than I am, her skin glowing with the warmth that tells me she's dripping wet. Her lips open in a silent moan every time my hand reaches her back, winds its way down, and flies off just above the top of her ass.
“Is our boat ready?” I ask the limo driver, as soon as we slide into the back.
“Absolutely, sir. The captain reported in about an hour ago, and told me to let you know there's even a fresh bottle of Dom chilling on ice in your private quarters. They're waiting for you to board.”
“Great.” That's all I say before the car jerks down the winding road leading away from the lighthouse.
It's only a quick drive to the marina. Good thing, too, because I can't keep my hands to myself.
Kara doesn't stop me. She puts her little hands over mine when it goes between her legs, pressing the dress dangerously close to her pussy.
She's about to be mine for the thousandth time with me in her, and the first time as my lovely wife.
I'm ready to fuck so hard our yacht almost capsizes. Every inch pulses, throbs, screams to be inside her, from my swollen balls to my pierced tip. It aches to mark her from the inside out.
We're ready for marriage, ready for a family, ready to make our love mix blood.
“I love you,” she whimpers, trying to stop my hand from stroking her through the bridal layers. “God, I can't wait.”
Neither can I. She's breathless, blushing, going beet red and hot to the touch with primal need. When I push her hand away and rub slowly between her legs, I feel the dual rings clinging to her fingers. Something about having her wearing my symbol makes me want to rip through her dress, pull down my pants, and fuck her right here in the back seat.
But it's our honeymoon, and she deserves better. I'm putting million of dollars to work this week to make her swoon, and give us the best send off into the future money can buy.
It's a small price to pay for happiness, for love, for the bright dreams I nursed in the dark all those miserable years.
We've worked like dogs to get here. Tonight, we're working on our family, and I'm going to shoot every hot drop of come I have into her.
“Please let the crew know if there's anything you need, Mr. Brooks” The Captain escorts us to our room personally once we're on the ship.
“It's Caspian,” I remind him with a smile. “That's the old name. I know it'll take time for the real one to sink in, and I'll keep correcting the world until it does. There's nobody I'd rather be than Ryan, wed to the lovely Mrs. Caspian.”
Kara nuzzles her face into my shoulder, drunk on my words, or a little too much wine back at the reception. Doesn't matter to me, as long as she's feeling good.
“Ah, of course. My apologies. I've followed the tabloids, of course, but old habits die hard. Have a wonderful night, and please let us know if you need anything,” he says, putting his hands up in apology before he heads down the hall.
He's not the only one making the adjustment. It's taken everybody around the office months to start calling me Ryan, or Mister Caspian, ever since I set the record straight.
I'm a new man, leaving Tanner to die in that other world, the lonely, miserable one I've left behind for good.
Names are just words. But mine's the only one I want hanging on her lips tonight, tomorrow, and every night after.
“Let's see the bed where I'm going to have my wife for the first time,” I tell her, pushing my keycard against the scanner lock. The door pops open.
Before we cross through, I lift her up, carrying her over the threshold. No, this yacht isn't our home, but it's going to be the first place we're living as man and wife for the next week as we cruise the Great Lakes. It's also where I'm planting my seed deep. My balls tighten, burning a little hotter at the thought.
She laughs as I carry her into our spacious room, and throw her down on the silver sheets. The bottle of Dom sits next to the bed on ice, as promised. I'm not interested in having a drop unless it involves slurping it off her naked body just now.
“Careful,” she pleads, feeling the eager force in my hands when I start tugging on her dress.
Lucky for her, I'm a disciplined man. I take my time, careful not to tear a single scrap of her dress as I lift it away, piece by ivory piece, stripping her down to the bare, beautiful skin I've been craving on mine since the second I saw her coming toward the altar.
“Don't know how you wore them all evening,” I tell her, sensing the wetness in her panties when my fingers go between her legs. “You're soaked, Kara. You've been craving my cock for hours. Admit it.”
“Mmm, guilty,” she purrs, wrapping her arms around my neck.
She grabs at my tie, lifting it out of my jacket. Grabbing her wrists, I spin her around and pull her down on the bed, making her straddle me.
Her bra cup comes down easily when I push the right side. Wise choice, considering I've fulfilled all the requests I've had this evening to please be gentle with the clothing. My mouth finds her hard little nipple, takes it between my teeth, and sucks.
Kara grinds her pussy into my bulge. Her feral moan singes my ears, and soon I'm snarling, tearing her bra away by the strap. I throw the lingerie over her shoulder to the floor, pulling her ass onto me while my mouth goes to work, alternating each breast.
My tongue flicks each bud, softening them, already eager to move to her clit. If it isn't as hard and swollen as the ends of these tits, it's going to be soon.
She oozes into lust with a breathless moan, panting every time her hips lurch into mine. I resist the urge to buck back. There's a wildcat moving on top of me, and I'm damned sure not going to risk going off anywhere inside her, throwing my seed into her womb.
This isn't just honeymoon fucking tonight. We're here to breed, and knowing I can give her my kid causes my pierced dick to leak like mad down my shaft.
“Ryan, yes!” her hand covers mine when it goes between her legs, tugging at her panties.
“Stand up,” I say, lifting her off me. “Take the edge of the bed, and bite the sheet, love. They're going to hear you scream through these thin walls when you come on my mouth if you don't.”
The filthy thought causes her back to arch when she obeys. I'm smiling, standing behind her, dropping to my knees. Fuck, I want them knowing. I want the entire ship to hear the frantic monkey sex we're going to be having all night, and I think she knows it.
I don't give a damn who hears us, sees us, or strokes themselves off, wishing they could fuck their wife half as hard I take mine. We've suppressed our love long enough, and tonight's our night to put it on parade.
My fingers hook her panties in the center. I'm waiting. Refusing to jerk them down until her legs start shaking.
Only takes my lips falling down above her ass for about three seconds before it starts.
There she is. My panting, begging, needful little wife. Beautiful and helpless, trembling for every inch of me.
She buries her face in the bed, suppressing a scream, when her panties hit her ankles. My face moves into her before I've even got them off. The hot, wet bundle remains in my hands while I'm growling, pushing my tongue into her, tasting the pussy that's going to be clenching, sucking, and coming on my cock all night.
There's no words for this sweetness. My tongue strokes long and hard, teasing her clit when she starts to arch. Her feet leave her panties behind with slow, halting steps.
My hands clasp her ass, and my elbows hug her thighs, keeping her legs open for me. I eat my fill, and fuck, she tastes amazing.
My tongue lashes her clit every time she moans for me, quickening when the moans become screams.
Her shrill vibrations cut through the bed. The room sways gently around us, a sign the ship is out on the water. We're going out to sea, just as she's coming.
Growling, I fuck my tongue into her delectable cunt again and again. Her pussy convulses a few seconds later, tempting me to bring her off.
Naturally, I do.
I lick, suck, and grind my face between her legs. Her hip
s buck, twitching as her body fights for control. I don't stop until she's given everything up.
It takes forever before the trembling in her legs dies down. Then I'm on my feet, caressing her spine, kissing my way up her back. She collapses on the bed, sucking in oxygen, while I undress. It's a mercy when I free my cock from the trousers holding it in all evening.
It's needier than it's ever been in my life.
When I'm naked, I grab her by the waist and turn her around. She gasps, seeing how hard I am, past ready to fuck her into nirvana and back.
Her fingers go around my cock. It jerks in her hand when the warm gold rings press into it. I take her chin in my hand, tilt her up, and pull back before she can kiss me.
“You really want it, don't you, baby girl?”
“I want your baby, Ryan. Please.” Her eyes shine big and bright, green gems twinkling with wicked truth.
“Yeah?” I push her hand off, grabbing my cock in my fist. Pre-come trails out as I move it over her, depositing it on her belly, just above the spot where her strip of hair begins. “Then take every fucking drop I put in you, love. First of many I'm going to put in that soft little belly. First of many nights you'll be savoring this dick as Mrs. Caspian, my knock out, gorgeous, horny wife.”
She bites her lip. I can't hold back when I see the tension in her face, the insane need in every square inch of her skin.
I pull my cock back, tugging her legs around me. Then I'm sinking in, angling my way to the edge of her womb, making her gasp when the head of my cock presses as far as it can go.
Discipline is the only reason I've earned my money and won her hand in marriage. Too bad even I have limits.
I can't hold back as soon as I'm in her hot, wet center. My hips roll on, instinct taking over, the need to claim her, fuck her, and knock her up pounding in my temples.
It's in my veins and in my sweat. Grunting, I quicken my strokes, feeling her clenching around me in a matter of minutes.
“Ryan! Oh, God.”
Oh, fuck me. I almost lose it when she explodes on my cock a second later, clenching the sheets so she doesn't fall off, stabbing her heels into my muscular ass. My cue to fuck her harder.