She was all smiles. “Seriously? The way you two are with one another, I thought you’d been together for ages.” She laughed uproariously. “Well, so what? We’re in Vegas!” she trilled, her voice slurring just a bit. “And we need a witness. You can be ours, and we’ll be yours!”
“A double wedding!” Billy proclaimed.
It didn’t take too much more prodding to get Harley to agree. This is all a joke, I kept in mind as Harley bent the knee. “Sorry, I don’t have an engagement ring, but will you marry me?” he asked flirtatiously.
My face flushed. I looked from Harley to Victoria to Billy. Victoria’s hands were clasped between her breasts, excitedly awaiting my answer. “Don’t keep us in suspense any longer, Emily! I can’t take it!” she pleaded.
“Yes,” I said, rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of the situation. Harley laughed. He stood up and whisked me off my feet, just as if it was real.
“Let’s go sign up,” Victoria demanded, leading the way to the chapel.
Billy and Harley left Victoria and me while they went to sign us up. White bouquets were placed in our hands, and I stared at it.
Before I could ask, the woman who’d handed us bouquets asked, “Do you want to change or freshen up?”
“No, we’re ready now!” Victoria said too happily. The lady nodded.
The four of us were led to a small chapel set in the middle of everything. The chapel was pretty, more gold and red with white floral bouquets and red garlands lined the room and a red carpet led to the altar. I glanced at Harley and noticed he was wearing a matching white rose that had been pinned to his jacket. He also had a small black box in his hand.
“You two can go first,” Victoria said excitedly.
“Alright.” After a few words, Harley pulled a shiny ring out of the box and placed it on my finger. “You can kiss the bride,” the minister said. And with that kiss, we were married.
I laughed and hugged Harley’s neck. It was fun to pretend. Even though the words had sounded official, we couldn’t just get married on the spur of the moment. Licenses and applications and such were required by the state to make it legal, correct?
Still thinking the entire thing was a joke, I was shocked when the lady was back with a marriage certificate framed in a fancy holder. Both of our names were on it, mine listed as Emily Hunter. I looked in shock at Harley.
“Emily Hunter. It has a nice ring to it,” he laughed.
I looked at the ring, cubic zirconia, for sure. It was big and super shiny. “How much did this cost you?”
“Five hundred bucks.”
“Five hundred!” I shrieked.
“Well, five hundred and eighty. Eighty for the minister,” he said matter-of-factly.
My eyes bulged from their sockets. “What?”
“Now, we party!” Victoria bellowed blissfully, gazing at the rock on her finger.
“We party,” Harley told me with a grin as he agreed with Victoria.
The fact that Harley wasn’t freaking out about the situation somehow made me believe it still wasn’t real. I was drunk, so maybe I was missing the joke. “Okay,” I decided, allowing Harley to take me by the hand to our next stop.
Soon, I didn’t care about the wedding anymore. I was too drunk to care much about anything. The night went on, and I ended up in Harley’s hotel room for a nightcap.
Harley grabbed a beer from his mini fridge and asked what I wanted. “A water if you’ve got it,” I told him, though I wasn’t sure if I could drink another drop.
“Here you go, Mrs. Hunter.”
It did have a nice ring to it. I took the bottle and gulped half the water. As I lowered the bottle from my lips, Harley was looking at me intently. My gaze roamed eagerly over his features, his thick, dark hair and deep blue eyes with their extravagantly long lashes, and his full luscious mouth. I took in his perfectly straight nose and strong jawline.
My attention returned to his mouth. I remembered the texture and pressure of those warm, knowing lips against mine. Rashly, I reached up and touched his hard chest with the palm of my hand. Our eyes met, and my heart hammered when I saw the raw desire in Harley’s eyes.
Harley’s fingers closed around my hand. Bending his head, he pressed his warm lips against the palm of my hand and muttered in a tormented voice, “You have no idea what you do to me.”
I stared at him, desperately wanting him to kiss me again. My lips parted, unconsciously inviting him to me. With a groan, Harley dropped my hand and captured my slender shoulders. He dragged me roughly against him, his mouth crashing down demandingly on mine. Mindlessly, I returned his kiss. His tongue entered my mouth, and I trembled with pleasure when he hungrily probed the inner warmth.
An urgent need aroused within me. My arms closed around his waist, and I embraced him, wanting even more. Harley continued to kiss me, his hands sensuously kneading my shoulders, his chest hard against my tingling bosom.
Driven by pure instinct, I ground myself against him. I felt his hard-on for me, and a bewildering mix of delight and fright shuddered through my body. I blindly followed his lead and kissed him more deeply. I was helpless from the powerful tide of passion that suddenly rocked through my body.
Harley moved us toward the bed. I bumped up against it, and he lifted me to lay upon it. He only stopped kissing me to crawl up beside me so that we were lying side to side. He brought his lips back to mine again and again, giving me long kisses that weakened and dazed me.
But kissing didn’t satisfy the blazing hunger I felt between my legs. I moved my thigh over Harley’s leg, and he reached his hand up my dress. I groaned and arched my back to tell him I wanted more. Harley straddled me and pushed my dress up over my black panties, flat tummy, and plump breasts. He lifted me with one strong arm and slid the dress over my head with the other hand. Laying in my black silk panties and bra, his hands roamed over my body.
I groaned in complete delight. Again, I arched my back, and Harley slid his hand behind me to unclasp my bra. He pulled it off my bosom and flung it aside. I was speechless as I felt his warm, seeking fingers on my naked breasts. He erotically, teasingly stroked and caressed my erect nipples.
A moan escaped from deep within my throat. “I must have you,” Harley murmured, his voice thick with desire as his thumb moved rhythmically over my pulsating nipple. I nodded.
He leaned in to kiss me before sliding his mouth sensuously down my throat to my round breasts. His tongue curled around my nipple, his teeth lightly gazing it. The feel of his knowing mouth on my breast sent shivers through my body. He sucked, and my fingers went to his head and clenched onto his thick hair.
I wanted to touch his naked body. As if hearing my thoughts, Harley lifted his torso and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. As he shrugged it over his biceps, I put my hand up to his flexed pecs and deliberately slid it down to his molded abs.
Harley’s fingers caressed my inner thighs. Oh, dear God. It might be wrong, my soul might be damned for all eternity, but I desperately wanted Harley Hunter to take me. His fingers found my pussy, and he softly stroked the tender flesh. I turned my head to the side and closed my eyes, waiting for his fingers to enter me.
He pushed two digits inside momentarily, feeling my juicy insides. Then he abruptly pulled them out. I opened my eyes to find him unbuckling his belt and pulling down his pants. His cock, hard and long, sprung out to greet me. I gasped at its utter girth.
“Harley,” I groaned as I spread my legs for him. With one fluid movement, he thrust his hard member deep into my wet heat. His size made me ache, and I cried out as he filled me. He pulled out and pushed back inside, continuing in a solid rhythm. A flood of heat and desire swept through my body at the probing intimacy he was wreaking upon me.
I wrapped my legs around his hips and leaned up to him, wanting to move with him. He pulled me up with his strong arms and sighed softly as we moved together. With an odd tenderness, he fucked me slowly as we indulged our entangled bodies.
I felt
his cock stiffen inside me, but I was too shattered by the pulsating explosion of waves of orgasm that shuddered through my body. I couldn’t think of anything else.
“Harley,” I whimpered.
He let me fall back to the bed. “Come, baby,” he leaned over me and whispered into my ear.
I came hard as he pushed his thick cock into me. Harley let me finish before he executed one last deep thrust. I watched as he threw his head back in orgasm. His muscular chest rose and fell as he held his breath and slowly released it. After a moment, his body relaxed, and he collapsed onto me. His glossy blue eyes showed his complete contentment.
Harley hugged me for a moment and kissed my lips. “Let’s get under the covers,” he suggested.
We snuggled in, and Harley wrapped his arm around my petite body. The last thing I thought before drifting off was how perfect it all felt.
Harley
I felt something stir, and it woke me. Before I even opened my eyes, I remembered last night with Emily and hoped it wasn’t a dream.
When I did open my eyes, I instantly felt the pains of drinking too much. My head throbbed, and my vision was blurry. But seeing Emily made it all worth it. It wasn’t a dream, I thought happily.
When I focused on her face, my happiness wavered. “What’s wrong?” I asked her. She was staring at her hand. The ring! Oh, shit. What did we do? I sat up quickly.
I wanted to pull her to me but hesitated. Her look told me that it might not be such a good idea. “Emily?”
Finally, she looked at me and bursts into tears. Oh, double shit. “We’re married?” she squeaked in disbelief.
Thinking about the night before, Treasure Island Chapel resonated in my mind. “Maybe…”
“Maybe!” she yelled, her voice thick with tears. “Not maybe. We got married, Harley! I can’t be married!”
“Wait. No, there’s no way that was actually real,” I denied.
Emily got up and started looking around the room. She spotted a folder on the table near the window and picked it up. “It looks damn pretty real,” she cried, sounding utterly defeated as she tossed the folder at me and sat back down on the bed.
I stared at the folder in my hands and the wedding license it contained. Apparently, you could get married to a virtual stranger on a whim in the middle of the night in Vegas.
Huge tears rolled down her cheeks, and it broke my heart. “Emily,” I began. But I wasn’t sure what else to say. I was speechless for the first time in my life.
“What?” she cried.
“Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
“There’s nothing to figure out, Harley. We need to annul this marriage immediately,” Emily informed me.
“I don’t know how we do that,” I stated, trying to remain calm. “Don’t we have to go to the courthouse or something. It’s Sunday.” I wasn’t sure if that was true but didn’t know what else to say.
Emily lightly blew her nose. Her body heaved with sorrow, and I felt bad for her. I moved closer to her to console her, and she stiffened.
“Emily, we’ll figure this out,” I repeated for lack of better words. Truthfully, my brain was in a fog and wasn’t working properly yet.
She relaxed for a moment and let me cuddle her. I wrapped my arms around her small, naked body and pulled her to me. I kissed the top of her head, and a fresh round of tears erupted. I didn’t move, didn’t speak. Just let her cry.
When she stopped, I whispered, “Can we talk about this now?” She shook her head into my chest. I could feel her tears all the way down on my abdomen. “Is this really the worst thing?” I asked. That was the wrong question to ask.
She jerked out of my embrace and looked at me as though I’d sprouted a second head. “Yes, Harley. This is the worst thing. We don’t know each other. We live thousands of miles apart. This isn’t some fun vacation story we have to tell. We are married, for Christ sake!”
I nodded, surprised by the twinge of pain that stuck in my chest. We didn’t know one another. We did live thousands of miles apart. But since I’d first laid eyes on her, I’d known there was something different about Emily. Something special. Maybe this was fate.
She stood up and grabbed her clothes. “I need to go,” she announced, her voice stilted. “I need to pack.”
“Okay, what time does your plane leave?” I asked.
“Five o’clock,” she answered without looking at me.
“Mine leaves at a quarter to six. We have some time to discuss this. Meet me in the lounge before you leave the hotel? Or we can get lunch and share a cab to the hotel? Please?” I begged her when she didn’t answer.
She stared straight ahead for a moment. I thought for sure she was going to say no. But to my relief, she nodded slowly. Without looking at me, she murmured, “I’ll meet you downstairs after checkout at twelve.”
“Okay. And Emily. Please try not to worry about this. I’ll take care of it,” I told her earnestly.
She finally looked at me, total despair in her eyes. “How are you going to take care of it when we live a thousand miles from each other?”
“I’ll think of something,” I offered lamely, and her tears began to fall again.
She looked at me through her drenched, blue-grey eyes, and I noticed how bloodshot they were. Damn, she probably felt as rough as I did. I was sure it didn’t help the situation.
“I’ll see you in the lobby,” she said and turned to put on her clothes. I turned my head as she dressed, not wanting to offend her any more than I already had.
“Want some coffee before you leave? I can make a cup?” I offered.
“No.” Dressed, she picked up her shoes and evening bag and headed for the door. It banged shut behind her.
I sighed. Now what? I wondered. I got up and put a pod in the one-cup coffee machine. Once my cup was filled with black gold, I meandered to the shower.
I put the coffee where I could reach it while the hot steam cleared my head some. Out of the shower, I reached for the ibuprofen in my carry-on bag, swallowing four with the rest of the coffee. I trimmed my beard and mustache, brushed my teeth, and splashed on some cologne. I dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans. No need for a suit on the way home.
I packed my one large carry-on bag, the largest the airport would allow on the plane. If anyone saw how I treated the expensive suits, they’d probably have a cow. Especially, the tailored tuxedo I’d purchased last minute on Friday.
Checking the ibuprofen bottle, only a few remained. I put those in my pocket for later and trashed the big bottle, along with my toothbrush and tube of toothpaste to save on space.
Ready to go, I turned on the TV to wait until it was time to check out. I couldn’t stop thinking about Emily. What if she checked out early? Maybe I should go down to the lobby and wait for her? No, if she wanted to leave early, she could. I couldn’t force her to have lunch with me and share a cab to the airport. But what about the marriage?
I looked at the clock. It was a quarter past eleven. I couldn’t wait another second. I went down to the common area, and Emily was nowhere to be found. I checked out at the front desk and bought a newspaper. I checked my watch. Eleven thirty. She still had a half an hour. I tried to read the news, but my mind wouldn’t focus on the print. I kept glancing toward the elevator.
Eleven forty-five. Still no sign of Emily. My nerves were on fire. Maybe she’d already left? I thought about going up to her room and checking, but I didn’t want to piss her off. Better to give her space.
Eleven fifty. I was fidgeting in my seat.
Eleven fifty-five. Nothing.
Twelve o’clock. Checkout time.
Five after twelve. Still nothing. What the fuck? She ditched me! Pissed, I tossed the paper on the table and grabbed my bag and remembered that I was late for our date the other night, and she had graciously waited for me. She probably felt the same way, I realized, thinking I stood her up.
I hesitated. Undecided. I hated being indecisive.
> Ten after twelve. Shit. I needed to know. No more waiting. Either she was still in her room, or she was gone. I took long, hurried strides to the elevator before I changed my mind. I pushed the up button and watched impatiently as the down arrow above the elevator lit up. It stopped on several floors. I tapped my foot. The doors opened, and I rushed forward right into someone.
“I’m sorry, excuse me,” I said.
“Harley?” A familiar voice called my name.
I looked down into the prettiest face I’d ever seen, even if it was red-eyed and puffy from all the tears. “Emily. I thought you’d left. I was coming up to find you.”
She gave me a small smile. “Thanks for waiting. Let me go check out. I called the desk and asked for an extension so I could get my shit together.”
“Okay, let me help you.” I took her rolling suitcase from her and followed her to the front desk. After checkout, we walked outside, me still rolling her yellow-flowered suitcase.
“You sure you got that?” she asked with a smile.
I nodded. “I’d roll this silly yellow-flowered suitcase anywhere for you,” I informed her. And I would have. That got a bigger smile, and it warmed my insides.
“Where to?” she asked.
“There’s a café across the street and up the ways a little bit. Noticed it last night when we walked by. Looks like a good place to have lunch.”
“Okay, lead the way,” Emily said.
I offered her my arm, and she easily snaked her hand through and fell into step beside me. We fit together well, I noted, as we walked in silence. Suddenly a crazy thought filled my head. Was there a way we could actually make this work? No, I told myself.
We made it to the café, and a waiter sat us at a table near the bar. Emily ordered a glass of lemon water, and I did the same. We flipped through the menu in silence. I hated the silence between us but didn’t want to push her.
I sipped on my water and watched the people walk by the windows. It was another nice day in Las Vegas, and many were in summer clothes. I glanced at Emily, and she was gazing out the window as well, though she didn’t seem focused on anything in particular.
Take a Mountain Man Home for Christmas: A Mountain Man Romance Christmas Collection Page 64