by Anne Mercier
"And all it took was marrying Cage Nichols to get her to do that," Meggie says while she bounces, dancing the ridiculous dance with Xander and Kennedy. Holy smokes, Kennedy! He’s hilarious! Busting a move.
Xander hops up on the stage and grabs the drumsticks from Trace and they segue into What I Like About You by The Romantics—again, Ethan singing.
"Are you serious? Are you all playing the entire wedding?" I ask.
Ben scoffs. "You didn’t think we were going to get a wedding singer did you?"
I shrug.
"This is so much better," Lucy says, busting into the eighties dance, arms swinging with Jesse’s, who stands there looking at her like she’s lost her mind.
"You have three babies in there, baby. You shouldn’t be hopping around like that."
"Oh for heaven’s sake, why not?" Lucy asks Jesse, exasperation clear.
"What if they’re bumping heads or something? They could get hurt."
Lucy rolls her eyes. "Amniotic sacs, remember?"
"So?" he asks.
"They’re like cushions surrounding the babies."
"There’s not much room in there. And remember, they’re all in one sac, not three," he tells her.
She sighs. "Fine. I’ll be a dud."
"It’s okay, Luce. I’ll be dorky enough for both of us," Meggie announces.
"That’s new?" Ben asks, which earns him a smack.
"Alright!" Ethan shouts into the mic and I gape. "We’ve got this joint hoppin’ now! Xander, this next one is all you!"
"That’s my cue," Ben says and heads up on stage, picking up his black guitar, flames shooting all over the place. To think, I nearly played that guitar on the set of the music video. I should have stolen it.
"What are they up to now?" Lucy asks.
The first chords are played and I burst out laughing, Cage along with me. There is no holding this back. Everyone’s cracking up when they recognize Rick Springfield’s Jessie’s Girl.
"Oh hell no, man!" Jesse heckles. "Get your own girl!"
Xander just laughs through the words as he sings and whales on the drums.
"Awww, Xan my man!" Lucy shouts and Jesse just shakes his head.
All of Falling Down is up there except Jesse and they’re cracking me up.
"Eighties tunes it is!" I shout.
When the song is over, Ethan steps back up to the mic. "Hell yeah, eighties tunes. All for you Sera."
"What?" I shout.
"I know how you love the movie The Wedding Singer and I know it’s not because you think Adam Sandler is hot... so it’s gotta be the music!" Ethan shouts.
"Damn right! I love eighties music. I’ll own right up to that shit!" I tell everyone with a laugh.
"My turn," Kennedy tells us, taking Ethan’s place. I gape and Lucy meets my gaze. We let out a surprised squeal and start fangirling.
"Yeah! Woohoo! Go Kennedy!"
"Show us what you got, big boy!" Lucy shouts, earning a scowl from Jesse.
"Wow," Kennedy says. "Because you’ve shown such enthusiasm, I’m going to steal one of Xander’s songs."
"What the fuck?" Xander complains.
"Dude, you have a shitload so shut the fuck up and play."
"Aye, aye cap-e-ton," Xander tells Kennedy, saluting him with his middle finger. I snort.
When they start a Michael Jackson song I swear Lucy nearly swoons. P.Y.T.
"Can you believe this?" I ask Cage incredulously.
"This is a first," he tells me with a laugh.
"He’s got to be drunk off his ass," Trace says.
"Kennedy doesn’t get drunk," Jesse says to Trace. "I’ll be damned if these two along with the rest of you Blushers didn’t bring Kennedy out of his shell."
I shout praise to Kennedy and Lucy and Meggie join me. We’re standing in front of the stage cheering and half dancing, like we were at a concert rather than our wedding reception. We’re not the only ones, even mama and daddy are out here. And Grandpa steps out of the corner with Nana.
"Nana!" I run over and hug her tight.
"My Serafina." She cups my cheeks in her hands. "You’re beautiful. I am so happy for you and your young man."
"Thank you, Nana. I’m so happy you’re here! How are you here? No one told me..." I look to Cage who’s standing behind me with his signature smirk. Tears well in my eyes. Is there anything he won’t do for me? "Thank you," I tell him.
"No thanks needed. The smile on your face is more than enough," he tells me. "Carlotta. I’m so glad you could make it." He takes her hands in his and kisses them. My nana blushes. Blushes! I can’t blame her. I mean, he is a whole lot of hotness.
"Thank you for inviting me. To see both my grandbabies get married is something I’ll carry in my heart forever," she tells him.
He merely nods.
"Serafina. You need to burn those running shoes."
Cage laughs. "I already incinerated them."
Nana nods. "Good. Your friends—your family," her smile softens, "they are very entertaining and fun."
I laugh. "I can’t say I’ve ever seen them all this lively before. Xander yes, but the rest?" I shake my head. "This is a whole new level of rockstar insanity."
She looks at me and winks.
"Oh my God. Did you...?" I ask and she winks again. I let out a loud laugh and hug her tight. "You are amazing. I’ve always wanted to see what Ethan and Kennedy were like when they let go."
"And now you are. I don’t want to sadden you," she says, "but I wanted to let you know your mother and father were there today, watching you pledge your love to this man. They couldn’t be more proud."
Tears well again and I nod. "Mama scolded me."
Nana smirks. "I know. Our Lily will always tell you like it is. Even in death you can’t escape the lectures of your mother."
I let out a snicker. "It doesn’t surprise me one bit, either."
"Cage," she says, looking to him. "They are happy and want you to know you have had their blessing from the very beginning."
Cage nods. "Thank you."
"Man of few words," Nana says with a smirk. "Let’s go dance." She leads me to the dance floor where Grandpa is standing and he immediately envelops her in his arms. I sigh when Cage does the exact same to me.
I turn to look at him. "I am so lucky. This is the kind of love I’ve always dreamed of."
"You don’t have to dream anymore, Fee."
I nod and rest my head on his chest while Xander and the boys play Walk This Way by Aerosmith—the version with Run DMC.
I look up and meet his gaze, my hands resting on his chest, since I’m too short to reach around his neck. "You’re my dream come true."
"As you are mine," he replies and kisses me tenderly, lingering, and I feel his love flow through me. I never knew, never imagined I could have this. I’m not sure what I did to be worthy of something so incredible, but I will love this man every second of every day for the rest of my life.
The cakes are cut, garters and bouquets are tossed, champagne is flowing, and laughter floats through the air. This reception is perfect.
"Sera," Xander calls from the stage and I look up. He nods and I grin. I slip from Cage’s arms and give him a wink as I head up to join Xander.
"What do you think she’s got planned?" I hear Lucy ask Cage.
"I have no idea," he replies.
Good. I finally managed to surprise him.
"Hi everyone," I say into the mic. "Thank you so much for joining Cage and I as well as Lucy and Jesse on our wedding day. Having our family with us today makes it even more special so, again, thank you." I blow out a breath and find and hold Cage’s stare.
I nod to Ben who starts playing the piano, the intro to I Found In You by Sarah Darling. When I start singing, Lucy gasps then mouths along as I sing, "All that I thought I’d lost, I found in you." A tear slides down her cheek and I look back at my husband and sing the words to him from the depths of my soul.
He shakes his head, his eyes gla
ssy with emotion, and when I sing the last word, he stalks toward me, drops to his knees, and hugs his arms around my waist.
I hold him close, and kiss the top of his head.
"You undo me, Fee," he whispers.
I drop to my knees with him. "Every single word of that song," I say, swallowing down the emotion threatening to break out in the form of a sob, "is exactly the way things are and always will be for us. Thank you for loving me."
"You act like I had a choice. It’s only you. Always and forever yours Fee."
"Only ever you," I whisper and kiss my husband again. Cheers erupt and I sniffle while wiping a tear.
"God damn it, Cage, dude. Sera. Fuck," Xander says, wiping tears. "I’m so fucking happy for you." He gets up and walks off the stage, heading straight to the bar.
I look at Lucy. "Is he alright?"
She looks back at me worriedly. "I don’t know. But I think this is one of those times when he needs his space. He gets like this every once in a while."
"I wonder who she is."
Lucy shrugs. "I’ve never pushed and I won’t. He’ll tell us when he’s ready."
I nod.
Kennedy starts to sing Stuck With You by Huey Lewis and the News and I burst out laughing.
"Can you believe this?" I ask Lucy.
She shakes her head. "No! This is awesome!"
And it gets even better when Kennedy and Ethan start dancing around. Ben shakes his head and heads toward the bar where Jace is with his lady of the night and Xander is making time with one of her friends.
"We’re gonna take a break," Kennedy announces and a CD takes place of the live music.
Cage leads me over to the bar and orders us champagne. I give him a wink and he lifts a brow. Oh yeah. I am so going to rock his world tonight.
"Dude," Ben starts, "she’s not here. Besides, there’s nothing going on there and there won’t ever be if you don’t tell her. So go find a chick to fuck already."
"Fuck you," Ethan tells him, slamming back a shot.
"Whoa," I mutter.
"It’s only the truth," Ben says, putting his hand on some strange chick’s ass. How the women got in here I have no idea. Likely they were "arranged". I curl my lip and Xander shoots Lucy and I a glare.
"Don’t even start judging, you two. This is who we are. You’ve always known it, you’ve just never seen it up close and personal. We’re guys. We like to fuck—a lot," he says.
I nod, properly chastised. It’s the truth. They’re rockstars. They’re manwhores. It’s nothing to me. I really don’t care if they fuck half the population. All I care about is them being safe about it.
"Just be careful where you dip your wick, pal," I tell him. "You never know what kind of flame is going to ignite once the wax starts to melt."
Xander turns his back. Sheesh. Whoever this woman of his is, she’s hurting him. If I ever meet her, she better have a damn good reason.
"We’re going to call it a night," Lucy says. "My feet and back hurt and I’m not even halfway there."
"Cupcake, I’ll rub your feet and back and then give you a new kind of ache to think about," Jesse tells her, licking the edge of her ear.
"Gah. Get a room," I tell them.
"Exactly what we’re going to do," Jesse says and leads a giggling Lucy away.
Kennedy’s got a girl on his lap, his hand easing up her thigh. Yep, definitely time to leave.
I turn to Cage.
"Husband of mine, take me to our room and let’s get our honeymoon on."
He nods and wraps an arm around my waist.
"Thank you, everyone, for coming."
Everyone murmurs their congratulations and hugs are exchanged before we finally make our escape.
Once we’re out on the path to our bungalow, Cage stops me.
"Fee."
"Hmm?" I ask.
"Tonight I’m going to make you mine completely," he tells me, his eyes dark with desire.
Holy smokes.
Cage
Brass Bed by Josh Gracin
Gravity by John Mayer
I OPEN THE DOOR FOR HER and carry her inside.
"Can’t break tradition," she murmurs with a smile. I nod and then I kiss my wife with all the emotion that’s been building inside of me since this morning. My wife. She’s my wife. Finally.
"Serafina," I murmur.
"Uh oh. What did I do wrong?" she asks.
"Nothing. Why?"
"You only call me Serafina when you’re pissed off at me."
I grin. "Not this time."
"Oh."
"Serafina Rosalie Nichols," I whisper, staring into her eyes, which immediately fill with tears. She nods. "You’re my wife now so there is definitely no running," I tease.
She snorts. "You told Nana you incinerated my running shoes and you did. They’re nothing but ashes."
"Good, because I can’t live without you, Fee. I can’t and I won’t."
Her breath hitches. "I don’t want to live without you either. I’m done running. I love you so much. I love our life together. I love having breakfast with you."
I smirk. "You just like my coffee."
She closes her eyes and moans. "Yes, yes I do."
I chuckle.
"But I also like your company. Cage," she hesitates, "you’re not only my husband but you’re my best friend. I tell you my deepest, darkest secrets. I tell you things I don’t tell Lucy. And now I know I can tell you everything without having to worry that you’ll be angry or judge me. I know that now. I am so, so lucky to have you love me." She hugs me close and I hold her tight, a tear slipping down my cheek.
"God, Fee. I have wanted you to know that, really know that for so long. I love you so much."
A sob slips free from my lovely wife’s chest and I kiss away her tears, then her beautiful full lips. She kisses me back and I lift her into my arms, carrying her to the bed where I lay her down. I stand up and strip off my shirt and pants, leaving only my white boxers. I open my toiletry case I set on the nightstand earlier and take out the tube of lubricant and a small vibrator.
Sera crawls up to her knees and starts to take off her—as Spenser would call it—"reception" dress.
"Wait, Fee. I want to watch you."
She nods and I head into the bathroom to wet a couple washcloths and a towel, and then set them on the bedside table beside the other items. I look at Sera to gauge her reaction and she looks calm, peaceful... happy.
"Take your dress off for me, baby."
She smiles and slowly slides the zipper down the side of her dress and it slips down her body, leaving her in a strapless white lacy bra and white lacy thong.
"You’re so unbelievably beautiful, Sera." She smiles softly. The woman is a fucking model, a musician, and now she’s my best friend and wife. "I don’t know what I did to get so lucky, but I’m not going to take one single second of it for granted."
Sera shifts on the bed and I pick up her pretty dress and drape it over the chair.
I kneel on the bed in front of her and slide my fingers into her hair, kissing her deeply, letting her know how much she means to me and how much I love and want her. I slowly remove the pins from her hair as our tongues brush against one another, tasting, tempting, teasing. I pull back when I continue finding pins and chuckle.
"How many pins did Spenser put in your hair?"
She laughs. "I have no idea. Can you imagine if he’d pinned up all of it?"
"No," I tell her and finally, finally pull out the last pin, setting the pile of them on the table.
I run my fingers through her long, dark hair. I reach up and run a finger over her forehead, down her temple, over her prominent cheekbone, to her nose, down over her lips to her chin. Her breath hitches when I let that finger trail down between her full, firm tits, then sliding the same finger over the tops of the cups of the bra before reaching around behind her and unhooking it and tossing it aside.
"Lie back," I instruct and she does as I say. I lean in and
take one of her pink nipples into my mouth, sucking it softly, flicking my tongue against the tip. I cup both breasts in my hands and push them together before fingering her nipples, plucking at them, and teasing the tips with my thumbs.
"Cage," she breathes, her voice laced with desire, her expression one of need.
"Tonight we go slow, Fee. Tonight I get to make love to my wife."
She nods.
I kiss my way down her flat stomach, pausing to kiss along the scar, reminding me how close I was to losing her. I slowly work my way down further, tucking my fingertips into the top of her thong before pulling it down slowly.
"So pretty," I tell her, kissing her thighs and legs as I go, slipping the panties over her feet. I take her foot in my hand and rub the arch and she groans.
"That feels so good. Those heels were killer," she admits.
I look over at the four-inch heel sandals she was wearing and wonder how the hell women can stand to wear shoes like that. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, because it’s sexy as hell when a woman wears high heels, accentuating the arch of her foot, the curve and length of her legs. I rub the other foot and kiss my way back up her body stopping when I get to her thighs.
"Spread your legs for me, Fee."
She does and I lay between her thighs. I look up and she’s biting her lip as she watches what I’m going to do next.
"I love that you watch me," I murmur before sliding my tongue along the folds of her pussy. I close my eyes and savor the taste of all that is Fee. "You taste so fucking good. I will never get enough of you," I whisper, then thrust my tongue into her. Her back arches off the bed and she cries out. I suckle her clit softly and slip a finger into her wetness. So wet. So hot. So ready. I finger her pussy slowly, then add another finger and she moans. Gently I flick my tongue against her clit, feeling it harden with my ministrations. I curl my fingers inside her, crooking my fingers and she moans louder, wiggling against my hand. My cock is so hard it’s painful and with that moan she just let out, I swear I could have come from that alone. My wife is totally fucking sexy.
Licking and sucking her clit while working my fingers faster and harder into her sets her off. She comes on a muted scream and I press my cock into the bed to try and relieve some of the ache. I look up and she’s got the pillow over her head, muffling her screams of pleasure.