Levi and Tracy’s noises brought them out of their charmed state. Wade’s thumb brushed a tear from her cheek. She looked around as the wind blew. The satin on the trees waved in the breeze, and then her eyes fell on her mama’s grave. Her heart smiled. Everything that meant something to her was right here, except for Lightning.
“Told you I could get a kiss before the ‘I do’.” Wade’s expression registered her winning kiss, and she laughed.
“Little hellion.”
“Now let’s go get a drink.” Levi patted Wade on the back and leaned down to peck her forehead.
“Wait,” Carly said as she tossed her bouquet toward Levi. It bounced between his hands until he secured it in his grasp. His color whitened, and his eyes snapped to hers.
“Oh, hell no.” He reached his arm out, holding the flowers toward her. “You take this back.”
“No.” She folded her arms, tucking her hands underneath them. “You’re next.”
“When hell freezes over. I’m not ever lettin’ a woman get her hooks in me.” He waved the flowers in front of her again. “Come on, Carly. Take this back. I’m not playin’.”
“How about a wife for the night, cowboy?” Tracy snatched the flowers from his hand and Carly blushed from the look in her eyes. She was serious. “Older women have some advantages.” The mood was light, and everyone laughed.
“We’ll meet you two back at the hotel.” Wade laced his fingers through Carly’s. He thanked the pastor, and then they turned to watch him leave.
“Daddy?” Carly stiffened. “Why are you here?” He was living on the land, but she hadn’t invited him.
“Wade.” He offered his hand to Wade, and her husband stared at it.
“Problem?” Carly put her hand on Levi’s chest, and tightened her fingers around Wade’s.
“No problem. Levi, this is my daddy.”
“Levi.”
“Yes, sir.”
Air blew from his nose. “That’s the name my wife had wanted for my son’s name. Levi John.”
Carly spun and threw her arms around Levi, knocking him back. Her hands wrapped around his head and she kissed his cheek and whispered. “You are my guardian angel. I think my mama sent you too me.” She released him and stepped back. “We’ll see you at the hotel. Once we finish up here.” Levi looked torn, but he walked toward the truck anyway. He’d become a big brother to her and just as protective as Wade was. He could read her well too, which is why he hesitated.
“Why are you here, Daddy?”
“Can we have a minute?”
“No.” She halted Wade’s forward motion, and he stood solid by her side. “Anything you have to say to me, you’ll say in front of my husband, so no one gets their wires crossed about anything.” She grabbed Wade’s hand and held it tight.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“You’ve said that already.”
“I know, but…”
“Daddy, I believe you’re sorry. I accept your apology, but that don’t erase everything you’ve done. Draggin’ me up the stairs, leavin’ bruises, lockin’ me in my room...” She felt Wade’s hand tighten and then he brought their joined hands across her belly and pushed her back as if they were in a car and he’d slammed on the brakes. She could feel a hum from Wade’s body.
“There were good times too, baby girl, before your mama died. I bounced you on my knee…”
“Daddy, you focus on whatever you need to, to help you sleep at night, but what you did was wrong.” She stepped forward, but Wade pushed her back. “No child should go through what you put me through. You took my childhood. I should have been runnin’ and playin’, but instead I was puttin’ up with your abuse!” When Wade growled, she looked up at him.
A controlled fury brewed just below the surface.
“I ought to beat the shit out of you right now, old man.” There was no respect in Wade’s tone. Then everything Levi had told her slammed into her, and she jerked her head toward Wade. He wasn’t just staring at her father; he was staring at his.
“No.” Carly pulled him back. “It’s not worth it, Wade.” She pulled on his arm when it tightened. When she didn’t receive a response, she palmed his face, and with some force turned his head toward her. “Handsome, break the cement around your boots and let it go. Leave it right here.” She turned toward her father. “Daddy, I forgive you. I don’t hate you, and I don’t wish you any harm, but I don’t know you. There’s no place in my life for you. You need to live with what you’ve done. You left me a long time ago, and now I’m leavin’ you.” She pulled Wade’s arm, and they moved toward the truck. Her legs became sturdier with each step she took.
They passed her mama’s grave, and she looked at it with a joyous heart. She was so happy Wade agreed to have the wedding here with her mama. “Thank you for a wonderful weddin’, Wade.”
He looked at her oddly. “Maybe we should have a do over.”
“There will always be that person standin’ in front of us, trying to steal our joy. If we allow it, they win.”
“How’d you get so wise for someone so young?”
“Not too young for you…” Her mind shot back to that day. If she had seen the signs then, she’d have been with Wade a lot sooner. “I left you that day, even when you asked me not too.”
“That you did.”
“I won’t do it again.”
“I know.” His eyes explored her. “That dress is going to make me wreck the truck. The sooner we get back and get our little reception over with, the sooner I get into you.”
* * * *
Carly woke with a heavy feeling on her chest. She tried to clear her foggy mind. She’d drank her fill, and had the sluggish feeling to prove it. Then a delicious sensation tore through her, and her hands reached up in the dark, wrapping around her husband above her.
“Sorry to wake you.” Wade’s tone was pure seduction, and he moved inside her. His lips traced her collarbone, and moved up to her neck where he stopped to suck in her flesh. “You make the most erotic sounds when you sleep, I couldn’t hold back any longer.”
“What? I do not.”
“Umhm…” He moved up her frame, kissing and licking all the way to her lips. “It’s little moaning sounds, and they get stuck in your throat. My cock has been hard for an hour.”
“What time is it?”
“Four a.m.” His hips rolled with the time. She’d thought he’d had his fill earlier, but he felt big and thick inside her. To her delight, they couldn’t get enough of each other.
“What would you have done if I didn’t wake up?”
“I think I’d have to use your body to stroke myself off.”
She lifted her hips and met his plunge. His words had the same effect as throwing a match on gasoline. She was hot, fast. “We keep goin’ like this, you’re gonna get me pregnant.” He didn’t miss a stroke when he trapped her in his gaze.
“Is there a problem with reproducin’, Mrs. Dawson?”
“I’d like to have sex to come.” When he threw his head back and laughed, it tingled inside her. His laugh was as free as she felt.
“I think I can make that happen.” He increased his pace, and she felt herself rising. He was right with her, and she knew they’d crash within seconds. “Give it to me, baby. Fly with me.”
©Photo by Matt Carreiro
Tina Carreiro currently lives in Florida with her two children and her extremely patient, and loving husband. She started reading her mother’s unguarded romance novels at a young age and her love for writing romance began. She holds a degree in computer programming and is a jack-of-all-trades, working in many industries from automotive to pizza since the age of thirteen. The passion for writing never died and now she’s fulfilling her dream to write and share her love for reading with others. Feel free to visit her Facebook page or her website at http://www.tinacarreiro.com or follow her on Twitter.
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