“Because?”
I knew my sister. She wasn’t going to let this go. She was going to push and push until I finally caved in and told her what I was thinking. So I decided I’d might as well share my insanity with her because maybe that would shut her up.
“Because even though it’s only been a week, I think I’m in love with him.”
“It’s about damn time you admitted it!” she crowed.
“Wait. What?” I sputtered. “That’s not how you were supposed to react. This is where you tell me all the reasons why I couldn’t possibly be in love with a guy I only met a week ago. It’s your big sister duty to set me straight.”
“No can do, little sis.” She poured the rest of the wine into two glasses and handed one to me. “But I’ll make a toast if you’d like. It seems only fair since I didn’t do one at your wedding, even though I was your maid of honor.”
“I can’t even with you,” I sighed.
“Nice try, but admit it. You wouldn’t know what to do without me.” I choked on my sip of wine, and she pounded on my back until I could breathe again. “That was one hell of a reaction to what was supposed to be a joke. You got something you want to tell me?”
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
Ariana set her glass on the table and shifted in her seat to face me. “What’s up?”
“Alec has a whole life in Chicago. A job on a team he loves. Family and friends. An apartment,” I rattled off.
“And?”
“And I don’t have a job here anymore. Or an apartment. No friends really, except on Facebook. Just you and Mom,” I finished softly.
“Are you trying to tell me you’re going to move to Chicago?”
I nodded. “I just decided today. We haven’t made any plans yet, and Alec said he doesn’t have to be there until early September. So I’m not going to run out on you tomorrow or anything like that. We’ll stay until I know you’re settled somewhere safe.”
“No, Alessia.” She shook her head. “You’re not going to wait to start your life with Alec because of me. I’m already okay. You found me an amazing place to stay for a while, for free. I’m going to use this time to save up so I’ll be able to afford a really nice place all on my own. No roommates. Just me being responsible for myself. Finally.”
“But what about—”
She cut me off with a squeeze of my hand. “You don’t get it. Mom and Dad were shit parents. We really drew the short straw there, but having you for my sister has always more than made up for it. I love you, and I want you to be happy. You’re in love with Alec. Go be happy, dammit.”
I burst into tears, and we both jumped up to hug each other. “I love you too, and I’m going to miss you so much!”
“I’m going to miss you right back. But we can talk, text, and FaceTime as often as we want. And I’ll try not to worry too much since you’ll have your white knight to look after you.”
“Only if he’s ever done with the bookie,” I whined. As though he’d heard my frustrated complaint, the door opened and Alec walked in.
“You’re back!” I cried. Ariana let me go, and I ran towards Alec and jumped into his arms. “How did it go?”
“What the fuck, beautiful? Are you okay?” Alec asked, spinning me around and setting me on my feet so his back was to Ariana when he cupped my cheeks and swiped my tears away.
“Yeah, I was just telling Ariana that I’m going to move to Chicago with you and I got all emotional because I’m going to miss her.”
“Ah, okay.”
“But how did it go for you?”
“It’s all good,” he assured as he turned and led me over to the couch. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap. We shared a private smile, both of us thinking about our serious conversation rule. “The debt is paid, and the guy isn’t going to extend any additional credit to your mom.”
“How’d you manage that?” Ariana asked.
“He was a hockey fan.” Alec shrugged, as though that explained it.
I quirked an eyebrow at him. “And what? He fan-girled over you?”
Alec’s cheeks filled with heat, and it was so darn adorable. “I wouldn’t call it that since we’re talking about hockey, but he recognized me. Asked if I’d autograph a few things for him. I told him I’d be happy to sign as much stuff as he wanted if he’d cut your mom off in the future, so we made a deal.”
“You’re amazing,” I breathed, staring up at him in awe.
“And on that note, I’m outta here.” Ariana clapped Alec on the shoulder as he walked past us, and mouthed “tell him” to me from behind his back.
“Is she gone?” he asked when the door banged shut.
“Yes.”
“Thank fuck.” He kicked off his shoes, yanking my shorts down my legs and my shirt over my head before lifting me off the floor and tossing me on the mattress.
“Holy crap!” I squeaked as I bounced a couple of times. I landed on my back with my head resting on the pile of pillows at the top of the bed.
He quickly followed after me, his palms going to my breasts to cup them. His thumbs swept over my pebbled nipples, and then he bent down to suck one into his mouth. Hard. I felt each deep pull in my womb, like there was a direct line between my breasts and my drenched core. By the time he let go of it with a pop, I was writhing beneath him.
“Walking into that place, all I could think about was getting back out of there in one piece so I could come home to you.” His heated blue gaze swept over my face. “I’m man enough to admit, I was worried.”
“I was, too,” I admitted softly.
His lips kicked up at one side. “Yeah, I got that, beautiful. When you practically begged me to take you with.”
He dropped a kiss on my lips.
“When you hugged me so tight before I left that I could barely breathe.”
There was a brush of his lips against the side of my neck that time.
“With the text message reminding me to be careful before I even made it down to the lobby.”
A nibble at my collarbone.
“The voicemail telling me I’d better not get hurt, or else.”
A tug on the nipple he’d neglected earlier; his teeth biting down gently and making me gasp.
“I can’t begin to tell you what it meant to know how worried you were about me.”
“Maybe you can show me instead?”
“I’ll sure as fuck try my hardest.” His vow was a whisper of sound against my lips before his mouth came crashing down in a brutal, claiming kiss.
He devoured me, our tongues tangled together as his hands went under my back to flick open the clasp of my bra. Without breaking the kiss, he stripped it from my body. Then his fingers went to his shorts and shoved them down his legs. When they were at his ankles, he kicked them off. Ripping his mouth from mine, he pulled his shirt over his head. We were both panting hard, clad only in our underwear—but his didn’t stay on long. Rising up on an elbow, I freed his cock and stroked him from root to tip. It was leaking pre-come, and I flicked out my tongue for a taste.
“You want to show me how worried you were instead?” he rasped, gathering my hair in his fists.
Glancing up at his face, I nodded.
“Go ahead, beautiful. Take it in your mouth, and—oh, fuck,” he groaned when I squeezed the base of his cock and sucked him deep.
I didn’t look away from him, keeping my eyes locked on his hungry gaze while I worked my mouth up and down his hard length. Using his hold on my hair, he guided my pace as he pumped into my mouth.
“Those pretty lips feel so fucking good wrapped around me.” I moaned, and his cock jerked in my mouth. “Fuck, beautiful. Are you getting off on sucking my cock? Is your pretty little pussy drenched? Soaking through those panties of yours, just waiting for me to tear them off?”
I nodded, and my free hand slid down my body. He let go of my hair and gripped my wrist. “Wait, beautiful. I’m so fucking close. I’ll take care of your pussy soon.”
A
gasp slipped from my lips when he jerked his cock out of my mouth. Holding onto my shoulder, he levered himself up and fisted his cock, glistening with my saliva. He tugged a few times, and then it jerked—spurting his come onto my breasts. When he let go of me, I fell back onto the mattress.
I watched as he shoved his boxers all the way off, and crawled over my body. He was completely naked, while I was in my panties with his come all over my chest. It was raw. Real. Dirty. And I was more turned on than I’d ever been before.
“Please,” I whimpered.
“I’ve got you, beautiful,” he promised as he drew my panties off my body. My legs parted, and he wrapped his hands around my thighs to hold me in place. My hips lifted off the mattress when he lapped at my pussy, tormenting me with his tongue. He gave a raspy chuckle in response and spread my legs wider. His breath was hot against my core, his tongue flicking against my clit and dipping lower to slide inside.
“I’m so close already, Alec,” I moaned.
He started to fuck me with his tongue, stiffening it and thrusting into my core with hard jabs. One of his hands played with my clit, flicking lightly a few times before he tugged it between two fingers. I flew apart, shuddering beneath him while he licked me through my orgasm.
“Wow,” I whispered when I managed to stop panting and was able to speak. “Me worrying about you meant that much, huh?”
“It meant more, beautiful. I’m not done showing you yet.” He rose up on his knees and pulled my hips until I shifted lower on the mattress.
I glanced down and gasped when I saw how hard he was since it hadn’t been that long since he’d orgasmed. “Again?”
“You’re sprawled out naked in front of me, with my come on your tits,” he explained as he nudged my entrance with the tip of his cock. “And I’ve got a shit ton of adrenaline pumping through my system. Fuck yeah, I’m ready to go again.”
He sank deep with one hard thrust. “Plus, there’s nothing better than feeling your wet pussy wrapped tightly around my cock. No way am I going to miss out on that. Not even after you sucked me so good I thought my head would explode.”
He began to move hard and fast, going deep with each powerful thrust. He kept his eyes locked on mine the whole time, as the pleasure built for both of us. I felt vulnerable. Exposed—only it had nothing to do with my nudity, and everything to do with the emotions I was sure were blazing out at him through my eyes.
He swiveled his hips, and my toes clenched against the sheets. My climax was so close, and I knew it was going to be a big one. I wanted to close my eyes. To protect myself because I knew there would be no hiding what I felt for Alec in that moment. But I kept them open as my pussy clenched around him and I screamed his name. When I didn’t think I could take any more, he planted himself deep and groaned.
“Do you understand what I was trying to show you?” he murmured as he pulled me close.
I tilted my head back and smiled up at him. “I do.”
“That wasn’t just sex, Alessia. It was more. It’s always been more.”
“I know,” I admitted softly. “Because we love each other.”
His arms tightened around me. “Are you trying to tell me you love me, beautiful?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let me hear it straight up. Give me those three little words.”
I laughed at how he didn’t ask; he told. But I gave him what he wanted anyway. “I love you, Alec.”
“And I love you, Alessia.”
Resting my head against his chest, I sucked in a deep breath in an attempt to hold back the tears that filled my eyes. It didn’t work, but that was okay because they were happy ones. Against all the odds, my life had gone from the worst it’d ever been to more than I’d dreamed of for myself in the span of one short week. And it wasn’t because I had money in the bank and a place to live. No, it was because I had Alec. My white knight. My husband who I loved and who loved me back.
Chapter Fourteen
Alec
“I can’t believe you’re taking a private plane. No waiting in lines. No person behind you kicking your seat. No crying kids. Your white knight knows how to travel in style, you lucky bitch.”
As I handed our luggage over to the flight attendant to stow on the plane, I chuckled at Ariana’s pissy remark. In the month I’d ended up spending in Vegas, I’d gotten to know my sister-in-law fairly well. She loved Alessia. Fiercely. She just showed it in odd ways sometimes. But considering the shit my brother and I had pulled on each other throughout the years, I didn’t have any room to judge.
“I tried to talk him out of it,” Alessia huffed. “But he wouldn’t listen to me!”
“Of course I didn’t,” I murmured when I joined them, wrapping my arm around her waist. “I promised myself that first weekend, when you were so fucking cute with how surprised you were that we were all supposed to fly back home on a private plane, that I’d do my best to get you on one when I convinced you to move to Chicago with me.”
“Like it took a lot of convincing,” Ariana snorted.
“Hey!” Alessia punched her sister in the arm. “Like you can talk. You’re the one who married me off to him that first night.”
“Damn straight.” She flashed us a smug grin. “And you’ll both owe me for it for the rest of your lives.”
“Only because you’ll never let us forget it,” Alessia laughed.
“Probably.” Ariana cocked her head to the side and tapped a finger against her lips. “But if you name your first daughter after her auntie, I might be willing to limit my reminders to once a year on her birthday or something.”
Considering we hadn’t used a condom any of the times we’d had sex and Alessia’s period had been due yesterday, it was a very real possibility that we’d need to pick out baby girl names soon. I’d tried talking her into taking a pregnancy test this morning, but she’d argued that one day late wasn’t anything. The stress of the move could have pushed it back. Or how freaked out she was about meeting my parents in person tonight. And she’d flat-out refused to take the test until after that happened because she was worried about how they’d react to me bringing a wife home from Vegas.
It wasn’t as if they didn’t already know we got married. Andrew had spilled the beans the second he and Josie landed in Chicago, and my mom had ripped me a new one for not being the one to tell her. And for taking away her chance to help her new daughter-in-law plan a wedding.
Alessia had talked to both of them on the phone several times over the last few weeks, when my mom refused to be put off any longer by my excuses about it technically being our honeymoon. She’d even FaceTimed with them twice. But none of that helped with how nervous she was about the dinner my mom had planned as our homecoming. So I’d relented, and we agreed that she’d take a test first thing tomorrow morning.
“If you moved to Chicago, it’d be a lot easier for you to hold it over our heads,” Alessia muttered. “You could do it in person, instead of just on the phone.”
“I told you I’d think about it,” Ariana sighed. “For now, I’m happy where I’m at. Your white knight was somehow able to get my new landlord to agree to a six-month lease, so I’m only locked in until January. But that might work against you because moving to Chicago in the dead of winter doesn’t sound like a fun time at all.”
“Ugh, snow,” Alessia sighed.
“Enough of that. Quit trying to scare my wife into staying in Vegas,” I mock-growled. “It’s hot as fuck in Chicago right now. She’ll have plenty of time to adjust to winter, and me to keep her warm.”
“See. That right there is the reason I don’t need to move to the frozen tundra. I don’t have my own white knight to make sure I don’t freeze to death,” Ariana joked.
Alessia narrowed her eyes at her sister. “If that’s your only excuse, give me a little bit to get settled into my new home and I’ll work on it.”
“Now that my wife is talking about picking up guys, I think it’s time for me to get her on the plane
and remind her that she’s very much married.”
“For her! Not me!” Alessia cried.
I shook my head. “If it involves you talking to single guys, it’s not gonna happen.”
“Never mind,” Ariana sighed. “I don’t need my own white knight, after all. He might think he can boss me around like yours does with you.”
Alessia threw her hands up in frustration before pulling her sister into a hug. “You’re insane, but I love you anyway.”
“I love you too, sis.”
When Alessia let go of her sister and started to walk towards the plane, I gave Ariana a quick hug too. “Take care of yourself, and don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”
“Just keep taking care of my sister. That’s all I need.”
My swift nod earned me a smile, and I ran to catch up with Alessia to wrap my arm around her waist as we boarded the plane. I got her settled and enjoyed how excited she got about the plush leather seats. She stared out the window, watching Las Vegas quickly disappear from view, and fell asleep before the flight attendant had the chance to ask us if we wanted anything to eat or drink.
I’d been hoping to enjoy our time in the air by taking full advantage of the privacy the plane offered, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake her. Not with the dark smudges under her eyes. She needed her rest, and I was hoping it was because of all the running around we’d done over the past two days to make sure she was ready for the move to Chicago. So I pressed a soft kiss to her belly before leaning back and closing my eyes. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep too. I didn’t wake up until the flight attendant pressed a hand to my shoulder three and a half hours later to let me know we were preparing to land.
“C’mon, beautiful,” I whispered in Alessia’s ear. “It’s time to wake up. We’re already almost there.”
“What? Where?” she murmured sleepily, her gorgeous green eyes drifting open. “Oh my gosh! Did I sleep through the whole flight?”
“Yeah.”
Her plump lips turned down in a pout. “Darn it! My first private flight, and I missed out on the whole thing.”
Married Into Love (Bachelorette Party Book 3) Page 12