by Chloe Walsh
My heart had been in my mouth for the best part of the day and when Rachel had shouted out in court, I swear my heart had stopped fucking beating altogether. “I’m guilty . . .” Those two words had been music to my ears and glue to my soul. We were drawing to a close. Cam would finally rest in peace. And maybe I could, too . . .
All that stood between my future and me was a sentencing hearing and this wedding. Something had clicked inside of me in the court today, and now that I was standing here about to witness Kyle and Lee get married, it felt like everything was coming full circle. Closure . . . The word drifted into my mind and for the first time in a year I dared to believe it was a possibility.
“Is she gonna take much longer?” Bob asked, and I swear I smelt the fucker before I heard him.
Kyle, in all his cleverness, had forgotten that he needed two witnesses—hence the homeless guy we’d found lurking around the dumpster outside.
Tracy had met us here with Hope, and was sitting quietly in her seat, but since she didn’t have a fucking clue of who she was and was using a false name and identification, she wasn’t legal enough for Kyle—the fact that he’d bribed the homeless was proof that he was determined to make sure every i was dotted and every t was crossed on their marriage certificate.
“Why?” Kyle growled, swinging around the glare at him. “You feeling cold or something, Bob? Oh no, that’s right, you’ve got my jacket to keep you warm.” Kyle hissed out a sharp breath and muttered, “She’ll take as long as she takes, so just sit your ass down.”
“Sure hope there’s no window in that bathroom,” the toothless homeless man said with a grin before taking a seat on one of the plastic fold-up chairs.
“You know what the wise men say, Kyle,” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood and distract myself from the fact that there should be a stunning blonde inside that bathroom with Lee, helping her get ready and then taking her seat beside me. “Only fools rush in.”
“What the fuck?” Kyle glared at me. “Did you just quote UB40?”
“What the fuck right back,” I snorted, my tone laced with disgust. “I quoted Elvis, you ignorant teenybopper.”
“I’m older than you,” he shot back in irritation.
“Perhaps in the body,” I taunted. “But in the mind I trump you by a decade.”
“On my wedding day?” Kyle asked, his tone incredulous. “Really dude? You’re gonna start this shit on my goddamn wedding day.”
“Oh, calm your shit,” I grumbled. “I’ll go bring her out.”
Twenty-four hours.
I never truly believed that one day could alter the course of a person’s future.
Until now.
Rachel had admitted to the whole world what I’d always known. I’d done it. I’d broken her down. I’d taken down my best-friend’s killer. Camryn Frey had spent her entire life taking care of me, she’d given up her life for me, and I could only hope that a part of her had been in that courtroom today because I’d done it for her. Rachel was going to prison. Daddy was in prison. I’d found my mother again. And Kyle . . . he was on the other side of that door—waiting for me.
This was happening. This was really happening to me.
Kyle Carter was going to marry me.
I was marrying Kyle Carter and I was going to do it today.
Oh god, I couldn’t feel my legs or my lips. My heart was pounding so hard against my chest that I felt faint. My heart . . . oh god, my heart . . . The door opened inwards and I quickly stepped out of the way.
“You look gorgeous.” Derek smiled broadly at me, and all I could think was, ‘my brother.’ “Who’d have thought,” he added with a smirk. “The first time we met I’d be giving you away.”
“I love you, Derek,” I whispered, grinning from ear to ear. I had no doubt that without Derek Porter, Kyle and I wouldn’t be where we were. That man had been the glue that held us together and he didn’t even realize how important to us he was.
“Okay, enough of confessing your undying love for me,” Derek chuckled, red-faced, as he took my arm and looped it through his. “We need to do it at the right moment during the ceremony,” he told me as we stepped through the door way. “For the best effect.”
The minute I saw Kyle, I pressed my hand to my chest, praying to god this was real. He swung around, his eyes locked on my face and the nervous butterflies that were fluttering around in my belly exploded.
My eyes drank in the sight of him. He was wearing a white shirt, no tie, and gray slacks–the same clothes he had on the night we first met, and he was holding our daughter in his arms.
My breath hitched in my throat as the excitement bubbling inside me threatened to spill out of me. His lips tipped up in a half smile.
“You ready, ice?” Derek whispered in my ear. I had never been surer of anything in my life . . .
Taking a deep breath, I smiled and took my first step forward. “I’m ready.”
She was wearing that white gypsy dress she’d worn years ago—the one with the straps that fell from her shoulders and the floating skirt. Her hair was half up, with a bunch of curls flowing down her back. Her face was clear of make up with the exception of some pink glossy shit on her lips and I swear I’d never been so ruined in my life.
My eyes flickered to Derek who released Lee’s arm before placing a kiss on her cheek. He winked at me before taking a seat. He’d be boasting about this forever . . . My gaze wandered over to Tracy, who was sitting on a fold up chair with my daughter in her arms, and then to Bob, the homeless guy we’d found behind the dumpster. Fucker looked nice in my jacket . . .
“Are you ready, Delia?” Tobias Greene, the gray-haired registrar in his late sixties—with five thousand dollars of my money in his pocket—asked Lee.
I held my breath, the noise of my heart beat deafening me, while I waited for her answer. Lee inhaled deeply, stepped forward, took my outstretched hand and smiled. “I’m ready.” Thank god . . .
I stood beside Lee with her small hand in mine, listening to the registrar, but I couldn’t hear a fucking word.
I was so nervous. It took all of my self-control to keep my feet on the floor. My whole body was thrumming with excitement and the only thing keeping me grounded was the way Lee was stroking my hand with her thumb.
It was happening. Finally. She was marrying me.
From the moment she’d stepped through my front door in the back of my mind I’d known this was where we would end up and there was nothing I wouldn’t have done to make it happen. My actions were shit, my choices were worse, but Lee was standing beside me, promising to be mine forever, so I guessed I’d done something right along the way . . .
“Do you have rings and vows prepared?” Tobias asked me, breaking me from my reverie. “Or would you like to skip those.”
“No, I have,” I mumbled. Clearing my throat, I turned to face her and held her small hands in mine. Placing a simple gold band on her finger, I looked into Lee’s beautiful gray eyes and repeated the words that had been churning around in my mind for two years . . .
“I, Kyle Anthony Carter, take you, Delia Rose Bennett, as my lawfully wedded wife. In your arms I will take sanctuary from the storms of life. In your heart I will build my home. With you, I will build our family and protect it from malice. From you, I will never wander. From you, I will seek comfort. For you, I will never lose hope. With you, I will stand strong, and unified . . .” I paused to wipe a tear from Lee’s cheek.
“Don’t stop,” she half-sobbed, half-laughed. “Please keep going.”
I grinned down at her, inhaled a steadying breath, and tried to remember where I’d left off . . .
“Together we will raise our children, and our souls will never separate. Without you, I cease to exist, and because of you, I am reborn. Entwined with you, our lives will never separate. To you, I surrender my heart. From you, I take yours. To you, I give my body, my heart, my love and my offering is eternal.”
&n
bsp; I cupped her cheeks as I pressed my forehead to hers. “It will be yours for every second your heart beats on this earth,” I vowed, my voice breaking slightly as the truth of my words squeezed at my heart. “And when we grow old, and our souls depart from this world, we will not be parted because we have unified ourselves.”
I stroked her cheeks and looked nowhere but her eyes. She needed to hear this. This was my truth. She was my world.
“In front of our friends and daughter, I declare myself yours, Lee Carter . . .” My voice did break and I had to pause to get my shit together. “I am eternally yours,” I whispered. “And you are forever mine. No human disease, ploy or illness will keep us apart. When you are too tired, I will carry you. When your body is weak, I will protect it with mine. I will protect you every moment of everyday, for every day I am privileged to walk by your side. And even in death, I will be there because, princess, there isn’t a force strong enough to tear us apart . . . though many have tried.” I stepped back and smiled down at her. “I love you, princess. Now and always.”
“Do you have a tissue?”
“Oh god . . .”
“Goddammit, give me a tissue . . .”
“He killed me on the last line . . .”
Lee was gazing up at me with tears trickling down her checks, but the loud wailing noises that were ruining this moment were coming from my dumb-as-fuck best friend.
Sighing heavily, I turned to glare at Derek. “Dude, you’re at a goddamn wedding. Show some restraint.”
“Kyle,” Lee said softly and my attention was completely refocused on her. Taking my hand, she placed a gold band, identical to hers, on my ring finger. I watched as she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, before opening them and smiling up at me . . .
“I, Delia Rose Bennett, take you, Kyle Anthony Carter, to be my lawfully wedded husband,” she said in her soft, gentle voice. “I vow before god, our family, and Bob, to stand beside you as your wife, as your lover and as your best friend.”
Jesus, I was ruined.
Ruined.
My legs shook as I listened to her words—as I drank in her love.
“I will cherish your kindness, protect our friendship and steer our love through the darkest hours,” she whispered. “I promise to love you for always and to never give up hope.”
We both smiled knowingly at each other.
“I vow to never give up on you,” she continued. “I take you as my husband with the knowledge that while our pasts are unchangeable, our future together is an unwritten story.”
She stepped closer to me. “I declare myself yours. I give myself freely to you, without doubt or prerequisite. I promise you, that for as long as I live, I will never run from you . . .”
She paused to wipe a tear from my cheek. “I will trust you, have faith in your love and always listen to you. I will learn from you, I will teach you. I am now, and forever will be, yours. Heart and soul.”
Clearing his throat to get our attention, the registrar smiled at us. “By the power invested in me by the state of Colorado . . .” he paused to wink at me and tap his pants pocket. Smooth. I glared at him and quickly continued. “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
“Finally,” I sighed and I grabbed her hips, pulled her into my arms, and covered her mouth with mine.
I poured everything into kissing her. Her arms came around my neck as she kissed me deeply. All I could think about, as I held Lee in my arms, with her lips on mine and heart thundering in my chest, was this is my wife . . .
Lee was my wife.
If I never accomplished another thing for the rest of my life, I’d find peace in the knowledge that I’d made two fucking perfect decisions. The first being the night I pushed that shot glass into Lee’s hand, and the second being the night I came inside of her. They say every action has a corollary—a consequence. Well, I wasn’t proud of a lot of my actions, but I would never regret, never alter a single moment spent with Lee. The consequences of my actions led me to fatherhood—gave me a daughter who stole my heart, and a wife who purged my soul . . .
My wife.
My wife.
My wife.
“I’m ruined,” I heard Derek wail from his chair. “So f-f-fucking b-b-beautiful . . .”
“Calm down, you big girl’s blouse,” Bob snapped and both Lee and I laughed.
Mrs. Carter,” I mused, grinning down at her. “About fucking time, don’t you think?”
Lee laughed softly and the sound curled around my heart like a blanket of comfort. “Do you have to swear in every single sentence?”
“Jesus,” I muttered, feigning weariness. “The inks not even dry and you’re ordering me around.”
“I love you, Kyle Carter,” she whispered.
I closed my eyes and smiled. “I love you, too, Lee Carter.”
“Well, my little wife,” Kyle teased as he carried me through the doorway of our bedroom.
Our bed had been replaced with a new one, and to anyone who didn’t know better, they would never have guessed the sadness and destruction this room had borne a little over a month ago.
Dropping me down on our cream covered bed, Kyle placed his hands on either side of me and smirked. “What am I going to do with you now?”
“I’m so sleepy,” I mumbled. “It’s been a very long day.” The trial entered my mind and I batted it away quickly. No way in hell was I going to think about Rachel Grayson on my wedding night. “I’m pooped,” I half said-half yawned, smiling sleepily up at Kyle’s face.
“Well, wake the hell up,” Kyle growled in feigned outrage. “I only plan on doing this once. No fucking way am I not making love to my wife on our wedding night.”
“You said it,” I teased, a huge smile spreading across my lips. “You said make love.”
“Yep.” Kyle laughed before sitting down on the bed next to me. “I figured I’m a big boy now. Gotta use the correct vocabulary.”
“Can you believe Derek cried that much?” The memory of Derek weeping uncontrollably on Bob’s shoulder entered my mind and I burst out laughing. I only wished I had a camera for evidence.
“I can,” Kyle snorted. “It’s the reason I refuse to watch anything remotely romantic with him. The guy is as tough as a marshmallow.”
“We’re married, Kyle,” I giggled, biting down on my lip, as I laid back on the bed. Sighing happily I reached for Kyle’s hand and tugged him down to lay with me. “Can you believe it, Kyle?” I whispered. “We did it.” I paused for a moment, debating whether to say it or not, before letting the words fall from my lips. “She’s gone, Kyle. She’s out of our lives. Forever.”
“You were amazing today, Lee,” Kyle murmured. “I’m so fucking proud of you for standing your ground.”
“What about you?” I asked softly. “It must have been hard for you, too.” Shrugging, I smiled sadly. “Having to face Rachel, and getting married without Linda . . .”
“I had you,” he replied quietly before turning his face to look at me. “Thank you, princess,”
“For what?” I asked, confused.
“For not giving up on me.” Twisting onto his side, Kyle rested the palm of his hand on my cheek. “For believing in me and trusting I’d make good on my word. For not letting all the shitty things I’ve done push you away.”
“I love you,” I told him, covering his hand with mine, as I stared into his beautiful eyes. “I mean it, Kyle. And I trust you so freaking much. I’d follow you to the ends of the earth on blind faith.”
“You’re my home, Lee,” he admitted, his voice hoarse, his eyes unblinking and locked on mine. “I will never fuck this up again. I promise.”
Rolling over, I straddled Kyle’s lap and pressed my lips to his. “You have me,” I breathed, sliding my hands under his shirt to trace the grooved muscles that seemed to ripple every time I touched him. “You made good on everything.”
Closing his eyes, Kyle let out a shak
y breath as I freed the buttons on his shirt, desperate to see the taut muscles I was feeling.
The sight of his tanned chest and that single line of hair trailing from his navel under the waistband of his pants was enough to make every muscle in my pelvis tighten and throb. “You’re so beautiful,” I told him as I bent my head and pressed a kiss to his toned chest. “So sexy.”
Jerking off his lap, I lowered myself to the floor and grabbed the waistband of his pants, undoing his fly, tugging his pants down his narrow hips. “No, Lee,” Kyle croaked out, sitting up quickly. “Not like this,” he whispered, cupping my face in his hands. “Not tonight.”
Leaning forward, Kyle gripped me under my arms before standing up and lifting me to my feet.
“I’ve dreamt of this night at least a hundred times,” he whispered, his hands wandering around to my back. “And not once,” he purred as he lowered the zipper of my dress. “Did any of those dreams . . .” His hands trailed up my arms, pausing to fist the fabric of my dress. “Involve my wife on her knees on our wedding night.”
Pushing my dress down to my hips, he stepped forward and unclasped the front clasp of my bra before sliding the straps down my arms, his eyes never once leaving mine. “I fucked up your first time,” he husked as he shrugged his opened shirt from his broad shoulders. “I’ll be damned if your wedding night is anything less than perfect.”
“There’s no such thing as perfect, Kyle,” I breathed, stepping out of my dress, standing naked before him with the exception of the small, triangular scrap of ivory lace between my legs.
“You think so?” he mused. Shrugging out of his pants, I swallowed deeply when Kyle’s erection sprung free, thick and heavy and long. The glistening head sparkling with heady arousal. “Watch me prove you wrong, baby,” he growled as he grabbed my hips and pulled me towards him. “Better yet,” he whispered in my ear as he lowered me onto our bed beneath him and tugged the sides of my panties, ripping them away easily. “Feel me prove you wrong.”
Kyle’s weight on me was ecstasy as he trailed hot, lush kisses over my breasts, taking one puckered bud into his mouth, swirling his tongue with tortured precision.