Secluded Nature

by Lindsey Brewster

  We get there and Brayden is waving out the window, running over to meet us at the door.

  “You’re late and everything’s started!! We only have two hours until midnight.”

  “I’m sorry, kiddo. Mr. Luke was being slow.”

  He just shakes his head. I’m grabbed and lifted into a bear hug which I return.

  As I pull away, Mason staggers a bit. “How many drinks have you had already, Mason?”

  “Enough, but I’m fine.”

  “Sure you are.”

  I turn around to find Luke and Brayden sneaking off.

  “Where do you two think you are going?”

  Luke sticks his tongue out at me, “To play. It is boys only, and you can’t come.”

  “Yeah. No girls allowed.”

  “Watch it, you two.”

  They both turn away from me and leave, hand in hand.

  I make my way into the house and sit beside my dad who is watching his favorite winter time movie and laughing his ass off. He pulls me up under his arm to watch with him. I gladly join him, though we are interrupted constantly by people offering food and catching up with me.

  It’s 11:30 when the final credits roll and I get up to find Luke. He’s nowhere to be found. Everyone seems to be looking at me, but I ignore them. I walk to the kitchen and find Brayden.

  “Hey, handsome, where is Luke?”

  “I don’t know, but I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

  Brayden’s face is completely serious, which worries me. I let him pull me into the living room, and he pulls a ring pop out of his pocket.

  “You’re supposed to open this. You liked the last one right? I helped pick this one out. You should like this one. I know you will!”

  “Is this what’s so important, handsome?”

  “Yeah. Open it! Tell me if you like it.”

  I take the ring pop from him, but the package feels different.

  Brayden steps beside me as I open it, his eyes glued to my face.

  A box falls out of the wrapping, and I look down at him before I open it.

  When I open it, my heart stops. There’s a gorgeous ring in the box. The diamond in the middle is round and is completely encircled by diamonds. The rest of the ring is covered in smaller diamonds. I can’t remember ever seeing any ring as beautiful.

  I can’t seem to look away from the ring. There’s a cough, and I look up to see Luke kneeling in front of me. My hand comes up over my mouth.

  “Abbey, I didn’t know that I fell in love with you until I almost lost you. You mean the world to me, and I don’t know what I would do without you. I love that you’re such a smart ass and that you’re stubborn, but you’re also strong and caring. We’ve been through some of the happiest times in our lives and some of the absolute worst. We made it through them together. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want my day to start and end with you. So, Abigail Elizabeth Cartwright, will you marry me?”

  Tears are streaming down my face, and I realize I feel the exact same way about him. He makes me so happy, yet he makes me mad. I love him so much, and I don’t know what I would do without him.

  I nod and manage to croak out “Yes.”

  He takes the box from my hand and slides the ring onto my shaking hand before he pulls me into a kiss. Everyone around us cheers.

  As we part, the ball drops, and it’s officially a new year. I’m beginning it with the man of my dreams.

  Everyone is kissing their husband or wife, and I lean in for another kiss from Luke. He cradles my head in his hands and wipes the tears away from my eyes.

  “Happy New Year, baby.”

  Chapter 25

  October 19

  “Abbey, why are you freaking out?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, Leah! Maybe it’s because I’m getting married in four hours.”

  “Alright, smartass, calm down. We’ve got to get down to business once the rest of the girls get here.”

  “Are you sure I can’t see him one more time?”

  “Girl, will you calm down if I let you see him for an hour or so? You’ve only been without him for two days.”

  “Yes, I’ll calm down, just please.” I’m literally shaking from my nerves.

  Leah walks out of the room and Sydney walks in. “Hey, babe. How’s it going?”

  “I’m so anxious. I can’t sit still, and I’m shaking. Is that normal?”

  She laughs and gives me a hug.

  “Yes, it’s normal. I was shaking all the way down the aisle.”

  “I can’t shake while walking down the aisle! I’ll fall! Have you seen my shoes?!”

  “Abbey, breathe and relax for me. It’s going to be okay.”

  I take some deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I run my sweaty palms against my shorts.

  Leah walks back in, smiling at me.

  “Go all the way down the hall. He is in the last room on the right, waiting for you.”

  I run out the door and all the way down the hall, opening the door and hardly waiting until it is open before barging inside.

  I run straight into Luke, knocking us both on the floor. I don’t care. I wrap my arms around him and hold on to him. His arms come around me, holding me even tighter against him.

  “Baby, is everything okay? Leah sounded worried about you.”

  I lean back and look at him. He is in jeans and a t-shirt, and his hair is all a mess.

  “I’m just nervous and anxious. I’m shaking, and what if I shake as I’m walking down the aisle and I fall? What if when we go to kiss, I fall forward because my heels are so big? What if something goes wrong and we don’t have enough—”

  He cuts me off by bringing his lips down on mine. One of his hands comes up and caresses my cheek while the other pulls me closer to him. He holds me in the kiss until I’m fully relaxed against his body. Once he pulls away, he looks down at me and traces my lips with his index finger.

  “You aren’t going to fall, and if you did, I would catch you. Nothing is going to go wrong, and we will have enough spots for everyone here. I promise; everything is going to be perfect, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I love you, even though you caused both of us to crash to the floor.”

  “I love you, too. We are getting married.”

  “I know, and I can’t wait to see you walking down the aisle to me. We weren’t supposed to see each other until then, you know?”

  “I know, but I wouldn’t be able to make it down the aisle if I hadn’t seen you before then.”

  He pulls me in for another kiss before letting me go. “Go get ready! I’ll see you at the altar.”

  “Fine,” I groan, planting one more quick kiss on his lips before I climb off of him.

  I walk out and back down the hall to where all of my bridesmaids have arrived. They are all ready when I get in except for putting on their dresses.

  “She’s back! We have to get started on her.”

  I’m pulled into the bathroom and planted into a chair. They start working on me in a confusing swarm of curlers, hair pins, brushes and sprays. Leah and Sydney work on my hair. Collins and Chelsea do my makeup while I sit there with my eyes closed, letting them all work their magic.

  “You’re much more relaxed.”

  I peek an eye open at Leah.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “What did he have to do?”

  “He talked to me and held me.”

  There’s a collection of awws and sighs.

  The remaining hours preceding the wedding pass, filled with laughter and preparations before I’m finally ready to walk down the aisle to my future. Each of the girls hug me before they go and line up. My mom comes to hug me before she leaves, crying, and then my dad is beside me.

  “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”

  “Thanks, Dad. I’m so nervous.”

  “You should be. That’s your future you’re walking down to.”

  “I love him.”

  I watch Brayde
n walk down the aisle with a sign that says ‘Mr. Luke, your princess is on her way.’

  “I’m glad you do, or I wouldn’t walk you down this aisle. He did ask me for permission before he asked you, you know.”

  This catches my attention and I look up at him. “Really?”

  “Yes. He came over the night he was shopping for you for Christmas.

  “I didn’t know.”

  “I really like him, Abbey.”

  With that, the music for us to start walking is cued. We turn around the corner and my eyes lock onto Luke’s. Everyone is standing and smiling at me, but I’m only worried about the man waiting for me at the end of this long walk.

  Once we are down to him, the preacher asks, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”

  My dad kisses my forehead before he responds. “Her mother and I do.”

  With that, he places my hand in Luke’s and we go move up before the preacher, but I stumble a bit.

  Luke’s other hand comes out to grab my arm and steady me.

  He looks at me and chuckles.

  “I told you I would catch you.”

  Everyone lets out a laugh before we begin.

  Luke is the first to give his vows.

  “Abbey, to put it lightly, we have been through hell and back. I don’t think I would have been able to get through it without you there. With you, I was able to walk through hell with a smile on my face. I didn’t know what living was until I met you. We fight over some of the most stupid things, but I enjoy every moment of it. I love that you are so stubborn, but I hate it, too. You are so beautiful, even when you are wanting to strangle me.”

  That elicits a laugh from everyone.

  “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, because I don’t know what I would do without those moments with you. I love you.”

  Tears are sparkling in my eyes when the preacher signals that it’s my turn.

  “We met because of that idiot over there.”

  I point to the best man who snorts.

  Mason waves to the crowd with a cheesy grin on his face.

  “If it wasn’t for him coming in, I would have never met you. I am forever grateful to you, Mason. You’re right, we’ve been through hell, but we went through it together, and it made us closer than I would have ever imagined. I didn’t want to fall in love with you. I argued with Will about it for a while, but our love was stronger than all my arguments against it. It always was. I can’t imagine spending another day without you. I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  The preacher finishes the formalities and finally says “You may kiss the bride.”

  The crowd cheers as Luke bends down to kiss me.

  Our lives may not be perfect, but we will make it through it. I don’t want some perfect happily ever after. That would have never worked.

  I wanted my happily ever after.

  We break away turn to face down the aisle, smiling at the family and friends who have gathered for our celebration.

  “May I present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Luke Roberts!”

  He pulls me closer into his side as we make our way down the aisle with huge grins on our faces.

  This is my happily ever after.

  Epilogue

  “Earth to Abbey!”

  I shake my head, clearing my thoughts.

  “What?”

  Luke pulls me into his lap as we both gaze out at the sunset.

  Italy is beautiful, and being in Rome makes it even better.

  I sigh and snuggle into him.

  “Can you believe our honeymoon is almost over?”

  “No, and I don’t want it to end. It’s been so peaceful, and everything has gone perfectly.”

  He snorts. “Well, our wedding night rather afternoon was entertaining, to say the least.”

  I laugh and think about our wedding morning.

  We left the reception and got onto a plane at five that night. We didn’t get to our hotel in Rome until six the next morning our time. We made our phone calls home and finally sat down. It was early afternoon here and we were completely exhausted, but we pushed that to the back of our minds and walked outside to look at the spectacular view outside. Luke stands beside me as we stare out at the city and all the hustle and bustle that’s going on.

  “Two weeks here to ourselves, Mrs. Roberts.”

  I smile and turn to face him.

  “Abbey Roberts has a nice ring to it.”

  He pulls me into his arms, smiling.

  “It does. You know, I’ve heard there’s something couples do on their wedding night?”

  I raise an eyebrow. “And what’s that?”

  “I hear we have to be naked and in bed.”

  I lean up and nip at his bottom lip.

  “Why don’t we do it and see what the fuss is all about?”

  He scoops me up into his arms and goes to cross back into the room when he trips over the step up. As we fall forward, I cling onto him. We land in a heap on the floor. I’m sprawled out on the floor with him lying on top of me.

  I groan from the impact of the fall and Luke curses under his breath.

  I start giggling at his frustrated expression, and he rolls off me and onto his back.

  We both end up in a fit of laughter on the floor. Soon, we pull each other up and make our way to the bedroom.

  Luke pulls me into his arms and trails kisses from my temple to the corner of my mouth.

  I turn my head to meet his, but he pulls back, shaking his head.

  He motions for me to turn around, and I happily oblige. This dress is so damn tight and annoying.

  He slowly unzips my dress and his lips follow the path down. As the dress falls off and onto the floor, he takes a step back and sucks in a breath.

  I’m left in a thong that is baby doll pink with black lace around the top and a bra to match.

  “You look absolutely stunning, baby.”

  “Thank you. Now, let’s get you out of this shirt.”

  I unbutton his white shirt and slide it off his shoulders. I trace my hands down his body to his belt when he grabs my hips, throwing me onto the bed. I can’t help but to laugh.

  He crawls his way up the bed, kissing all over my body on his way up. Once he makes it up to my face, he kisses my lips while his hands trace the edge of my bra. He bites my lip before our tongues twist in a dance of their own.

  As he unhooks my bra and I undo his belt, there’s a knock at the door.

  I groan and he growls.

  “Who the fuck would that be?”

  “I don’t know, babe, go see.”

  He stomps out of the room and to the door.

  I hear mumbles and then the door closes. He comes back in holding up a bottle of champagne.

  The sight of him with his pants unbuttoned and shirtless causes everything in my lower body to clench.

  “Now or later?”

  “Luke, if that is a serious question, you can drink that bottle alone.”

  He grins and sets the champagne down, coming to join me on the bed.

  “Now, where was I?”

  He finishes taking off my bra and takes one nipple in his mouth while he rolls the other with his hand. I moan as he kisses the rest of the way down my body and removes my panties.

  He gets off the bed, causing me to make a sound of protest, but he shuffles out of his pants and underwear before he gets back on the bed, resting his body on top of mine.

  “We’ve got all night for this to be slow later. I want you now.”

  I bring my hands onto his back, tracing his muscles.

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  He moves my legs a bit and then positions himself before thrusting into me. I moan as he keeps moving inside of me, meeting him thrust for thrust and taking him as deep as possible each time.

  He occasionally circles his hips, and I pull him in closer.

  Our moans are mingled together. He puts his hands on either side of my h
ead and he picks up the pace.

  The phone rings.

  “Fuck it. Forget about it. Just fuck me.”

  Luke laughs and continues to pound into me. “With Pleasure.”

  He picks up his pace more, and when he can’t go any faster, he goes harder, pushing me closer to the edge.

  I yell his name as I cum.

  He thrusts a few more times before stilling and cuming inside of me.

  We lay back in the bed and pass out from exhaustion, forgetting about the phone and everything around us. It’s just us. Together forever.

  “Yeah, that was an entertaining night, but it was fun.”

  Luke pulls me in closer.

  “That is was. Do you want to do it again? We might not get interrupted this time.”

  I wrap my arms around his neck. “We’ve done it again and again the past two weeks.”

  “Another time won’t hurt.”

  With that he picks me up and carries me into the room.

  This time he doesn’t trip.

  “Have I mentioned I love you, Mr. Roberts?”

  “I believe you have. I love you, too, Mrs. Roberts.”

  About the Author

  Lindsey Brewster lives in Johnson City, Tennessee. When she isn’t curled up on her couch writing, she is usually spending time with friends, camping, cuddling with her three cats, or watching the newest Marvel movie. She is constantly searching for new ideas along with new places to travel. She’s an animal lover, and wishes she could rescue all the animals she visits at the animal shelter. Her resume consists of everything from payroll specialist to medical assistant. She strongly believes in helping people and making sure they get better, so she has found her place in the medical field. She finds her home amidst words whether it be the ones she is writing, or the ones she is reading.

  Secluded Nature, book one in The Cartwright Cousins Series, is Lindsey Brewster’s Debut Novel.

  Follow her on Facebook to keep up to date on her new releases.