Flynn nodded and began to unbutton his jeans. I stood watching him discard every item of clothing and change into a gorgeous, dark gray suit, white shirt, and dark silver tie. He looked stunning. “Will I do?” he asked holding his hands out and twirling around. I looked at his feet and so did he, “The Chucks can stay, right? I mean…this is Vegas, and I am a rock star remember?”
I nodded smiling as he came over and slid his hands around my waist until his fingertips teased the edge of the dress at the base of my spine, “Damn, Valerie, you’re so fucking sexy in this dress, if I weren’t desperate for you to take my name I’d throw you over that console table and fuck you hard— dress be damned. Hold that thought, I’ll do that later,” he chuckled, delighted at his own joke and reached for the door. Turning to look into my eyes his face became serious, “Valerie Darsin, I love you, and you know what?” he asked.
I stared puzzled and shook my head. “That’s the last time I’m ever saying that to Valerie Darsin—the only woman I’ll be saying that to, is my wife, Valerie Docherty,” he said as he flung the door open wide where everyone was waiting, “All right, it’s show time. Lee take us to that office place that Valerie says we have to get to. We’ve got a wedding to go to.”
*****
The blurb on the website about applying online met all my expectations. We were fast tracked to the counter and back out on the sidewalk with our license in less than five minutes. Lee rode in the car with us to the chapel while Rita was in the car in front. We only got about half a mile along the road before we encountered a massive crowd that had gathered in the street. It was only when we drew closer that I saw we were nearing the chapel from the signs and realized the press had obviously been tipped off that we were going there.
“Fuck. Can’t trust anyone these days,” Flynn growled. “Sorry, babe. I wanted this to be private.”
“Once we’re inside it’ll be fine,” I said trying hard to convince myself as much as him. It was one thing to be standing on stage with the protection of the security barriers and venue staff, but I’ll admit to being scared when the time came to get out of the car and face all those angry women who thought they should be married to Flynn, instead of me. As we drove up in front of the small building, the crowd roared like we’d scored a winning touchdown at the Superbowl, and my adrenaline made my breathing shallow as the fear, excitement, and anticipation built up inside me. It made my scalp creep and goosebumps spread like wildfire across my skin.
In the distance, we heard sirens, lots of sirens, and eventually, six motorcycle officers cleared a path for our car to make it to the door of the chapel.
“Shit. Stay here. Don’t move until I give you the nod. Lock the door as soon as I’m out,” Lee said to us, and then to the driver. He waited for a small window of opportunity when one of the motorcyclists was passing about three feet from his door and grabbed the handle. The door opened, and he jumped clear while the car was still rolling to a stop, and slammed it closed behind him. The force of the door hitting the car made the suspension rock, and the sound of the lock clicking back in place made my heart pound in my chest a little harder. Flynn must have seen the worry on my face.
“Hey. It’s fine. Don’t stress, babe. Look, they’ve got this,” he said pointing to Rita and Lee who were making a pathway from the front door of the chapel. Lee spoke to some male fans and pulled them to the front. I wondered what the hell he was doing. Seconds later, they had linked arms and formed a human barrier on both sides holding back the crazy female fans, and we had a clear walkway into the chapel.
Four more police officers arrived and stood on either side of the car as Lee and Rita came walking back toward us. Lee stood with his back to us surveying the scene again, slapped his palm against the door, and I heard the driver free the lock. Flynn gripped tighter on my hand, and he pushed his door open, “Ready, babe?” he asked giving me a tight smile.
“Yep,” I answered as he helped me onto the sidewalk. The sudden escalation in noise was deafening as my nerves connected to my limbs. Another adrenaline dump made my whole body shake.
Flynn wrapped an arm around my waist and quickly walked us toward the chapel door. I had to run to keep up with his pace. The faces of the fans closest to us smiled and congratulated us, while some further back screamed out names like whore in my direction. When Flynn heard them, he stopped dead for a second, glared at them then resumed guiding me inside until we reached the foyer of the chapel.
“You okay, babe?” he asked his face full of concern.
“Totally, but I’m worried we’ll be arrested for inciting a riot,” I smirked feeling instantly calm that it had been just the two of us again for a moment.
“See? That’s one of the reasons I want to marry you, babe.”
I glanced up, puzzled at what he meant.
“You’re gutsy and sassy. You don’t like what they say, but deep down, you couldn’t care less about them. What you did earlier, Valerie? If you were a guy, I’d have said that was like taking your dick out and pissing all around me. You marked your territory and warned them off. It was so fucking hot.” He smirked and bent to kiss me as the door opened and Rita and Lee quickly entered the hallway.
“Everything okay?” Lee asked.
“It will be in half an hour,” Flynn replied and took my hand, “Come on Ms. Darsin, it’s about time you made an honest man of me,” he said, and pulled me through the double doors into the room where my parents, Simone, Amber, Kayden, and the rest of the band sat.
“Mommy, Daddy,” Liam shouted in a loud, excited voice from a pew at the side. I looked at Flynn, and he nodded. He’d obviously called Niven who had our son sitting on his knee in a pair of superhero pajamas, clutching his soft toy bunny.
Flynn dropped my hand and leaned over to pick up his son and cradled his head after kissing him. Once he was securely in his arms, he took my hand again as we walked down toward the preacher who thankfully looked like a real one.
“He’s staying with us,” Flynn stated as Liam wrapped his arms tightly around Flynn’s neck as if to say to the pastor, “Yeah…what he said,” and I smiled lovingly at the both of them.
I guessed the preacher had seen all sorts of things, because he never batted an eyelash, instead, opening the small book in his hand to perform his duty.
“Friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness the union between Valerie Darsin and Flynn Docherty. If anyone has any reason why these two may not be joined in holy matrimony, can you please speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“You look soooooo pretty, Mommy,” Liam interrupted and reached forward to stroke my cheek.
The preacher grinned and shook his head. “Indeed she does young man, but that’s no reason for stopping her from getting married now is it?” Laughter rippled through the room.
Flynn cradled Liam’s head again, kissed his cheek and shushed him while the preacher continued with the ceremony. The only time Flynn put Liam down was when he slipped my engagement ring off and pushed an old platinum band on my finger. I wondered where it had come from. “My mom’s,” he said a little choked up as he lifted my hand to kiss it. I stared down at it for a minute and swallowed back tears because I knew it was the one remaining thing his mother had to give him on that day. He must have felt her loss so deeply during such an emotional occasion.
When the preacher announced us as man and wife, Flynn’s grin was a mile wide as he turned and passed Liam to Kayden. He turned back to look at me and for a moment the world stopped spinning as he gave me a look that melted my heart. Inhaling deeply, he exhaled a long contented sigh and pulled me to him. Our witnesses watched in silence as he almost squeezed the life out of me with the energy and passion in the hug he gave me. It forced the air out of my lungs and made me realize just how much that moment really meant to him.
Releasing his grip, he took my face in his hands and gazed lovingly into my eyes like I was the only girl in the world. He dropped his forehe
ad to mine and allowed his lips to take mine. We fell into a deep, bone-melting kiss, so full of desire that it made my toes curl and seemed to go on forever. When he broke the kiss, I became aware of the cheers of family and friends around us as he took my hand and laced his fingers in mine.
“Thank you. I love you so much, Valerie Docherty. It was a massive surprise what you did today. Can I ask what changed your mind?”
“It’s simple really Flynn, you should know better than anyone. It suddenly dawned on me you’d been right all along. It was during the time leading up to Kayden’s wedding that I realized I’d been a fool all this time, but then again, I had to be sure I could handle a guy like you and that you were serious about wanting this. As soon as I walked into that church last week and saw you standing with Kayden, I knew I wanted more than what we had. I needed that commitment from you. I knew I loved you that much. I couldn’t think of anything else in the world I wanted more. I’m so sorry it took me so long, but nothing else mattered to me once I knew I was ready.
“Baby, you’ve been about ready for me since the day I came back.”
“No, I don’t think I was. I’m glad I waited, because in all the time we’ve been together, I’ve let the actions of others cloud my judgment to what a fabulous man you are. My trust issues had left emotional scars which made me doubt your loyalty when I should have doubted mine to you. Today, I placed my total trust in you.”
Without another word, Flynn’s hands swept over my bare back and down to rest at the base of my spine. Smiling affectionately, his glance dropped to my lips as his tongue licked his in anticipation. Leaning forward he poured all the love he felt in that connection into his kiss. It was then that I knew no matter what we faced in our future, our love was undeniable and rare. Love that was pure, and more importantly, it wasn’t too good to be true. As we headed back to our suite, Flynn’s hand brushed under my breast, and I flinched.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in a concerned tone.
“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just that your wedding present is still a little raw,” I smirked.
Flynn delicately pulled back my plunging neckline and exposed the dressing of the tattoo I’d had done.
“Jesus, Valerie, what have you done?” he exclaimed.
“Nothing that you haven’t…well, maybe a little more,” I smirked.
Flynn put on the overhead light in the car and peeled back the melanin dressing, under my breast at the bra line I’d had the artist tattoo a replica of the one he had on his chest but underneath it, I had made an addition in italic script writing that read, Ready for Flynn.
“Damn, Valerie, you are such a badass rock chick today,” he laughed as his finger scrolled along the writing on my skin near the tattoo.
When he’d finished inspecting my artwork he glanced up and fixed his eyes on mine. “Valerie Docherty, loving Valerie Darsin taught me many things. Falling in love is so damned easy. It caught me completely off guard. Being in love with the girl I knew then wasn’t a choice for me, babe, it was a compulsion. Staying in love with you hasn’t been hard at all. When someone owns your heart the way you own mine, it’s pretty unconditional no matter how many tantrums I throw.”
Skimming my cheek with the back of his fingertips, he smiled. “Baby, you taught me that love and trust don’t always go together and that it’s possible to love someone yet still hold back on your trust. I think we’ve both found out how toxic that makes a relationship. That taught both of us to work toward a better understanding of our flaws…and it taught me that loving someone can hurt badly sometimes. I’m not sorry you waited because I think after all that, everything we’ve said and felt, the emotions that have been wild during our difficult times, it’s made us deep thinkers. I think if anything, after the past few weeks, the woman I married is more ready than I could ever have imagined.”
I leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips, and he pulled my head against his chest. He began playing with my hair and sighed deeply. “All right, Mrs. Docherty, now that the formalities are out of the way I need to ask you this? Have you ever slept with a married man before?”
I pushed my head away from him and giggled, “No, actually. I haven’t,” I smirked.
“That’s what I thought, I’ve never slept with a married woman before either,” he said, playfully.
“Are you nervous?” I asked, continuing to play along.
“A little…you?” he smirked and bit back a grin.
“Hmm, not sure. Do you think it will hurt?” I said through my laughter.
“Well, that depends if you let him in the back door or he spanks your ass,” he said, in his best opportunist approach.
“There’s a lot riding on this evening, huh?” I said trying to keep my face straight.
“Oh, there’s always a lot riding on the evening. Just depends on who the jockey is,” he said, gently lifting me across his lap. Flynn reached across and flicked off the light, hit the switch on the tinted partition and once it had rolled up, his lips curved into his wicked sexy grin, “but as I’m a rock star, and I aim to please, I’m happy to give you a dry run on the way home. I hear married men take a bit more time to warm up,” he grinned, as he grabbed my butt and pulled my hips against his.
“Flynn, correct me if I’m wrong with your horny highly sexed track record, I figure you’ll be putting in regular practice to dispel that particular theory.”
Flynn laughed out loud and pulled me in for a kiss. “Damn, you know me too well.”
I did know him well and despite my age, we’d already proven all those people wrong who thought we were together because we had to be. We had learned not to care what anyone else thought, and we were determined to live our lives our way, and for us.
The End
Epilogue
Five years later
Flynn
Silence is a rare luxury for us since we formed RedA, but these days I’m happy for the noise and constant bustling vibe that surrounds me. I’m sitting on the porch with Val’s old acoustic guitar while she’s upstairs resting. Meanwhile, I’m being a Dad and watching over what’s mine.
Tilting my head skyward, it’s like a blank vivid blue canvas. There’s not a cloud in sight, and I thank God for the life he has chosen for me. My journey thus far has been a blast. Squeals of delight pierce my ears and make me turn in the direction of the sweet sound of children laughing. The scene in front of me makes me laugh out loud as I watch my kids playing with something as simple as a garden hose.
Liam is just like me; always the opportunist he’s stolen the lawn guy’s garden hose. He’s a mischievous little guy for sure and from the way he’s grinning I can tell he feels smug after turning it on his three year old twin sisters. They’re soaked from head to toe, their little peach-colored cotton sundresses have turned transparent as they cling to their bodies and their hair is a mass of dark wet ringlets. Their faces are beaming, though, they love whatever Liam does and follow him around like two six-week-old puppies.
Fresh squeals fill the air as they stand there not minding at all when he does it again. Their smiles are like sunshine and the air is filled with the sounds of Liam’s laughter and the lighter giggles of Alana and Sophia. Liam didn’t get the brother he wanted yet, but Valerie is seven months pregnant again and this time it’s another son. What can I say? We love the one’s we have, but we’re definitely stopping at four. For a woman in her late twenties, Valerie has her hands full with all of us and the band.
As for my beautiful woman, every day she does something that makes me fall in love with her a little more. The spark that’s been between us since the beginning has never stopped growing, and even after all this time my still heart burns for her when she’s not with me. I believe most rock stars have an addiction; she’s definitely mine.
We’ve worked damn hard to ignore the shittier side of my world, and she accepts now that my life is with her regardless of how hard the media tries to discredit what we hav
e. It doesn’t stop them from trying, but Valerie’s attitude these days is if they’re focused on us and we’re as strong as we are, then bring it on, because when they run our story they’re leaving some other poor celebrity alone.
With all the kids, we’ve had to widen the net and include more security into our world. Aside from Lee and Rita, Niven is still with us, but we tour less so his role is more when we need him for Liam. As much as it still pisses me off, I’ve learned to accept him because Lee was right, Liam needs a guy to take care of him because he’s headstrong and a tad impulsive. He’s so innocent and doesn’t understand the potential threats that could be lurking out there for him.
Traveling is a part of a habit now. It’s important we keep ourselves out there performing for our fans, but it takes a lot more planning these days with the kids. Valerie’s still managing us, but our tours revolve around their schedules rather than mine. We tour during Liam’s school vacation time and do a couple of short tours that are closer to home so we can fly home each night whenever possible. I used to see airplanes as a luxury but I eventually caved and bought one for the band after being let down by a charter company. Val and I almost missed one of Liam’s music recitals after promising him faithfully we’d be there. After that I wasn’t interested on being dependent on other people to get us where we needed to be.
On the road, we still use tour buses when we have the kids with us. Amber and Kayden’s bus looks more like a kindergarten class with our three, Kayden’s two boys, as well as Craig and Simone’s little girl, Ashley. Kayden named his boys Martin and Adam after his brothers.
The next generation of the RedA family is growing all the time, with our next baby due in seven weeks and Simone and Craig’s next one in nine. We know at some point we’re not going to be able to keep bringing them, but for now we’re going with the flow and enjoying our time while they are all little. Even Niamh and Teague join us sometimes after she and Lee moved in together a few years back.
Ready For Flynn,Part 3: A Rockstar Romance: Ready For Flynn Series Page 32