"I don't know Bianca."
"Trust me, he'll play the bear with everyone else, but when it comes to you he'll be a big old softy. Now don't get me wrong, he's still going to be all man and there'll be times you'll want to punch his lights out, but those times are far and few in between and they do love getting their way so you'll have to choose your battles. You follow those few little guidelines and you'll be good to go."
I listened as my two new sisters chatted away as if my life wasn't being changed in a very monumental way. They seemed to be taking things in stride and truthfully their calmness was helping to ease my anxiety.
As soon as I was dressed and they were both out of the room I caved and called home. I couldn’t let Talon make a mistake that would get him into trouble, I’d already caused him enough as it was. Mom answered on the second ring and turned everything on its head.
"Skylar if this is you I can't stay long, you need to hide baby. Your father and William got into a huge blow up and I overheard some things. Seems your father had some financial issues with the farm a while back, make a long story short they made a deal, if they get their hands on you you'll be married to that no good Robert Stark whether you like it or not." She hung up the phone quickly leaving me with a racing heart and bile in my throat.
"TALON..." I was off and running like a bat out of hell. Like hell I'll marry that two timing dog, next time I'll just let Talon kick his head in.
Chapter 18
TALON
"What the fuck! Babe what's wrong?" I heard her screaming for me from all the way downstairs; by the time I met her in the hallway on the second floor I was well on my way to a heart attack. I grabbed her as she came barreling towards me.
"My mom, on the phone, she said..." She was babbling and out of breath and her body was shaking like a leaf. None of this was good to me and I still didn't know where the threat was.
"Calm down babe, come 'ere." I pulled her face into my chest and held on, now my heart was racing. Something had scared the fuck out of my baby and the way this day was shaping up I wasn't in the mood for any more surprises.
"Okay now take your time and tell me."
"Mom said dad made a deal, he sold me to William Stark and if they find me they'll force me to marry Robert." Her words ran together but I got the gist of it all and all I could think was, yeah okay, that fucker must be tired of living, the fuck. I'd like to rip her father a new one while bitch slapping the Starks but that'll have to wait; Skye looked like she was about to fall the fuck out so first things first.
"Okay throttle back babe, first off they can't find you here because they don't know where we live. Avery Landing isn't exactly on the map and all your parents know is that we're in New York a few hours outside of the city. Second if by some miracle they should find us they'll never get past the gates and beyond all that, Damien already told us that whatever your father has going with them is not legally binding. We'll be married in less than an hour this is our day, look at me. This is our day we're not thinking about them and when we're done, once my ring is on your finger, the fight's mine...stop crying babe I got this."
I need to have a pow wow with the men in the family but that too could wait; nonna had done her thing and the officiant was waiting downstairs. I hadn't even had time to notice how beautiful my girl looked in her wedding dress before the women acted like the house was on fire when they caught us together and dragged her away.
Standing in a corner of the garden that my family hastily hooked up for us I took stock. I thought I would be nervous on this day but somehow I'm not, I just want to get it done. It's like once I make shit official there's nothing standing in my way. To someone watching this shit from the outside it's fucked up, I just met my baby what a few months ago? I could hear the critics now like I give a fuck! This is what I want and I don't need to answer to anyone for the shit I do end of story. My family was happy for us, my girl was happy if not a little dazed at the hurriedness but I knew what I was doing, my gut said this was the way to go. I never went against my gut.
She came down the makeshift aisle that someone had made out of a runner strewn with rose petals and little tea lights, on my father's arm. Stunning, that's the word that flashed through my head at my first sight of her; my heart puffed up with pride that this woman was mine and if we were both really blessed we might get at least fifty, sixty years together. I can't fucking wait.
Her hand held a slight tremble when dad passed her off to me so I gave her a squeeze and a reassuring smile. We hadn't had time to prepare vows so the officiant did the original sermon which was fine by me, as long as at the end of his rhetoric she became mine and I hers it was all good.
I never stopped looking into her eyes the whole time because I knew what was there; what it was she would see, and that's all that was needed on this day as unorthodox as it was, as hurried and unconventional. We had it all, a love that knew no bounds, and a commitment that I felt to the depths of my soul. This was right, we were right and it didn’t matter how long we’d known each other.
With the I dos said and our signatures on the dotted line I was ready for part two.
"How long before the papers are filed?"
"First thing tomorrow morning son but not to worry, it's been witnessed and signed the filing is just for legal purposes which shouldn't be a problem."
If only he knew.
Mom produced a cake from somewhere and we did the whole cutting of the cake thing; Rye took a million pictures and my girl was happy. I was in fucking warrior mode at this point but I wanted her to have her moment, then I would deal with the Starks and her father.
Chapter 19
TALON
This holiday shit sucks my ass, I need to get shit done and people are stuffing their faces with turkey and fuck all, I'm not that big on waiting to get shit going. Mom and nonna dragged my wife off somewhere, probably initiating her into the rituals of how to keep the Avery men on lock for life. Whatever, she's mine now, every last beautiful inch. This Avery one woman one man thing is no fucking joke just saying; she owned my ass with one look and look at me now, a member of the witless brigade.
"Well bro like we said earlier, welcome to the ranks of the whipped."
"Shut it Rye you ass, I look whipped to you?"
"Look around you bro, it is what it is." He slapped me on my shoulder as he passed me a beer.
"I do have to say though little brother that you've outdone us all, from zero to sixty in a couple months give or take a few days, I think dad had the record before that, he lasted three months, I'm still reigning king I held out for a solid six months."
"That's because Bianca wanted her dream wedding, that didn't stop you from whining like a little bitch for the four months after you proposed."
"Semantics bro, semantics; so enough with the small talk, what was the scream about?"
I looked around to make sure none of the girls were around before answering him. Then I filled him in on what was going on.
"What a dick."
"Which one? they're all fucked, as soon as I have those papers filed tomorrow it's all out war. Her dad lied about that shit, told me there was nothing to Stark's boasts, and that little prick better never let me lay eyes on his ass again in this lifetime."
"What're you gonna do when you go back to school in a few days bro? they know where you are."
"There's nothing they can do, she's my wife, her father will just have to figure out his shit one way or the other, it doesn't have anything to do with us, I just don't want her living in fear ya know."
"I can't imagine how it must feel believing your own parent would force you to marry someone who did some shit like that to you."
"Well it's a moot point now, in fact I think I should call and let her father know she's off the market. I'm gonna need you and dad later though I have to come up with some kind of strategy in case the Starks decide to play hardball."
"You know we've got your back, any ideas on what you want to do?"
SKYLAR
The Avery women, of which I am now one, are crazy, especially nonna. They dragged me off back into the house as soon as the ceremony was over and I was still in semi shock. I had no idea what was about to transpire, maybe some motherly advice but no. I was taken into a room with a vault and safes from which Olivia proceeded to remove trays upon trays of jewelry.
"These were set aside for Talon's bride." She said as she fought back tears. There was literally millions of dollars worth of gems laid out on the table.
"I can't take that, that's not mine...." I felt my legs start to tremble, was she insane, this had to be a joke right?
"Of course it is dear, now come along and let's see which pieces need resetting and what not, some of this mess is as old as dirt." Nonna was perusing the pieces fondly.
"Oh mother it is not, maybe a few hundred years old at least but not much more than that." Olivia chided her mother in law.
"A few..." I started to back up towards the door but Bianca and Kinsley blocked my exit.
"I told you she was a runner." Bianca smirked.
"Did they do this to you?" I half whispered to her.
Kinsley snorted at that which earned her an elbow jab from Bianca.
"She wore half of hers to the wedding, couldn't wait. Can't you tell she's a jewelry hog?"
"Hey watch it, I seem to recall you wearing enough diamonds to choke a horse at your wedding."
"Yes and if my grandson had any manners or patience you would've been wearing yours on your special day as well Skylar but this will work just as well. Now come along dear, we haven't got all night and I'm sure your husband will be here to drag you off any second now."
She shared a sly smile with Olivia before turning back to me.
"Who knows maybe before long we might hear the pitter patter of little feet around here, please let it happen before I get too old to run around behind it."
She's incorrigible but you gotta love her, still, this was all too much. First the rushed wedding that I'm still not sure how they pulled it off; these people were a bit scary with the power they wielded. I mean I think the guy who married us was a judge and not just any judge, like one of the highest in the land. But they just called him up like it was nothing on Thanksgiving no less and he dropped everything and came running.
The truth is that didn't scare me as much as it helped to assuage some of my anxiety over the Starks. I can't believe my dad. When Talon and I spoke to him before he said there was nothing to worry about. I guess he lied or he thought he could fix the situation; and how William could think that I would want to marry his philandering son after everything that had happened was just preposterous. I was beginning to think I'd never really known any of these people including my dad.
TALON
They'd been gone long enough, whatever hoodoo they had going on should be done by now, I was missing my girl, besides I had a union to consummate. Shit I wonder if we had time to take a few days somewhere for a honeymoon. No, better not, let me deal with the bullshit first and then we could think about going away somewhere together.
Chapter 20
SKYLAR
"Talon did we just get married?"
I'd dragged her away from the gaggle of clucking hens that is my female relatives. If you think the guys are merciless in their teasing then you have yet to meet the likes of nonna and Olivia Avery. I didn't even know my own mother thought like that and my sisters, forget it. I have to remember to have a talk with my brother about his wife.
Right now Skye's looking at me like I'm a foreign species, I think the shock was finally wearing off.
"Yep, we sure did." I wasn't expecting the slug to the arm that followed my reply.
"Hey babe what the hell?"
"Are you insane? how could we be married we only just met, what if we hate each other, what if the past few weeks have just been a fluke and you wake up tomorrow morning and realize you've made the biggest mistake of your life? oh my word I'm going to be a teenage divorcee."
"Babe your cheese fall off your cracker or something what the hell were you women talking about in there anyway?"
"And that's another thing what's with the millions of dollars worth of jewelry are you insane?"
I was busy getting undressed while she had her mini meltdown because no matter what at the end of this tirade I was taking my wife to bed. Fuck that felt good; my wife, she was going on and on about Robin egg sized diamonds and I was down to pants and nothing else. I walked over to her, took her beautiful fucking amazing face in my hands and shut her up with my tongue. She seemed to melt into me; I loved that shit, loved knowing that I could do that to her because she sure as fuck did it to me.
"You calm now babydoll? because I could do this all night."
She rested her head against my chest and took a deep breath.
"Talon you make me crazy."
"Nah babe I think maybe you were a little touched before I came along I just didn't realize it. It was those eyes of yours; you zapped me with one look and then the Avery legend kicked in and my ass was toast."
"But what if the legend was wrong what if you misunderstood something?"
"Yeah sure, I misunderstood my dick and my heart moving in tandem."
"Your dick always reacts to a pretty face." She had jokes.
"That might've been true but it never did shit for my heart, now you own both so let's get your paranoia out of the way so we can get on with the wedding night, and since you just took a few years off my life with your bullshit you better add some new tricks to the mix."
I knew talking to her like that would work to sidetrack her from her trip down crazy street.
"What new tricks? we've done pretty much everything there is to do haven't we, I mean what else is there for you to violate?"
"I can think of a few things."
"Oh no you don't mister the last time you said that I almost put my back out."
"Come on baby it wasn't that bad and besides you enjoyed it."
She blushed and hid her face against me again; always so shy and sweet I hope she never loses that, that nothing in this life ever robs her of that innocence that I loved so much. My fucking wife.
"Talon you ass put me down."
"No never." I twirled her around the room making her giggle out loud and fling her arms in the air like the reigning champ.
"That's right baby we win."
I left it there because I'd be damned if I brought those fuckers into our bedroom especially on this night. I looked up at her smiling face and my knees almost buckled with the overpowering emotion that took hold of me. She was so much everything that I wanted and needed it was almost scary. How am I going to keep her happy, how can I get through our life together and never once bring her sorrow or disappointment? If I could I would stand guard over her all her days, that's how much I loved this girl how much she meant to me. I wanted to slay all her dragons and keep the bad at bay.
"You okay now babydoll you sure?" I kissed her hair inhaling her sweet scent as I hugged her close.
"Yes I just had a little freak out there but I believe in us it's just that everything happened so fast you know; it feels like we just met and now we're married and I have to deal with my father's craziness and who knows what's going to happen there and..."
"Oh no babydoll no way, I told you, I put that ring on your finger the problems are all mine. I know it's hard for you not to stress but please try, today of all days we do not think about that shit okay. Oh yeah, sorry that your anniversary is going to be around thanksgiving every year but I'll make it up to you."
She gave me
a look like she'd just realized that same thing but I was over the talking shit already. It was time for some action. I helped her out of the wedding dress that seemed to have a million buttons, the fuck. Some twisted fucker probably designed this shit to drive men out of their minds on their wedding night. My dick was already straining against my zipper and I was only halfway down her back.
"Shit baby." I pulled her ass back against my front so she could feel the evidence of my need.
"Feel that?"
She reached back with her hand and stroked me through my pants, my boy jumped at the contact; oh he knew her touch.
"You keep that shit up I'm gonna cum in my pants."
"So?" She giggled and kept up her attack while I fumbled with buttons.
"Fuck this." I pulled the dress apart, buttons went flying and Skye screeched.
"Your mom's going to be pissed."
"She'll get over it, after the way she was talking earlier I think she might've done this shit on purpose. Fuck babydoll what're you wearing under there? sweet mercy..." My voice broke off as I took in the beauty of her in a see through white body hugging number that showed off everything in all the right places.
"You like?" She smiled at me all coy and shit.
"You attached to this shit...never mind I'll get you another one."
"Talon don't...."
Too late, I tore that shit to shreds, my horny ass didn't even make it to the bed I just dropped to my knees in front of her and buried my tongue in her sweet pussy making her cry out.
I lifted one of her legs in my hand so I could get at her and ate her to my heart's content. She dug her nails into my scalp as she rocked back and forth in my mouth. I had to fight to get my zipper over my hard on and release my leaking cock. I couldn't even sneak a few strokes of my meat because I would blow, so I just let him get some air.
Talon's Heart Page 13